te “ HAG datinicstnn gre ae eee ee > meee ers ndacent Poh on gee he Penden eee eee . Se te renee cues Doom icine oe ng ee eta ntienan aah ese aoe ae HARVARD UNIVERSITY CET us) LIBRARY OF THE Museum of Comparative Zoology ry ay at ue i ue ne rt uN hae Aa Ra ; Ovens unt saath a er ah we sae { “¢ ¢ va uM, 1; ‘i (fs hae v im. ( yr The CANADIAN Pine ANAT URALIO® Volume 66 ee | US. COMP. 200L. LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Published by THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ .CLUB at OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA ; Hii a bet i ea reionate satire on ee es YAONGOS, Aire ent WieneNen abgaLaeL Vol. 66 January-February, 1952 No. 1 Seo the CANADIAN |. Pepi -NATURALISS CONG MUS. COMP. 2991. {LIBRARY SEP 9 1952 HARVARD UNIVERSITY Contents i. Birds of the east James Bay coast between Long Point and Cape Jones. Bye.) kis Manning and "At Et MiaAcphensOms cen, wanes cncuits.ecertnee suatccceenceectees 1 -— | _ Annual Meeting of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1951.00... aa: 35 Notes and Observations:— The European Starling on Vancouver Island. By C. J. Guiguet ........0.0000... 37 Statement of financial standing. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, IMFOVenaDeTanZ GeV EOD UD Rotts vectra Pay ec een at te Tce A a ry Dok MENS Eu ce 38 Published by the OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB Entered at Post Office at Ottawa, Ont., as second class matter. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club Patrons : Pe Their Excellencies the Governor-General and the Lady Meena . President: Dr. J. W. Groves : Ist Vice-President: Mr. R. FRITH 2nd Vice-President: Mr. W. K. W. BALDWIN fea Treasurer: RAYMOND Moore, | Secretary: H. J. Scocean, } Division of Botany, National Museum of Canada, Science Service, Dept. of Ottawa. Agriculture, Ottawa. Additional Members of Council: Mrs. Hoves Lioyp, Miss RutH Hones, Migs oe Humpureys, Miss VERNA Ross, Miss PAULINE SNURE, Miss Mary STUART, THE Rev. FATHER F, E. BANIM, MEssrs. E. G. ANDERSON, R. M. ANDERSON, J. ARNOLD, B. Borvin, A. E. Bourcuicnon, K. Bow es, A. W. CAMERON, Weal Copy, jouPy CUERRIER, W. G. | Dore, C. FRANKTON, W. E. Goprrey, H. Grou, R. D. Harris, Se D. Hicks, W. ILLMAN, a W. H. LANCELEY, D. LEECHMAN, H. F. Lewis, H. Ltoyp, T. H. MANNING, H. MarsHALL, W. H. MINSHALL, A. E. PorsILb, H. L. J. Ruopes, L. S. Russet, D. B. O. SAVILE, H. A. SENN, V. E. F. SoLMAN, ae: TENER. . | | ; | Auditors: I. Ie Conners, H. F. Lewis. Editor Dr. H. A. SENN, Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. Associate Editors a WE GADORE Ye 2s) aN oe Botany — R. M. ANDERSON ............ ee ‘Mammalogy AL SAR OCOURI UN -.. ¢hanemboge Conchology A. G. HUNTSMAN ............ Marine Biology EG CRAWFORD.) ue ee Entomology — SWE UGODEREY ()) 2). ee Ornithology Bhi ATC OCMC MAR OENS, Behe wep Geology WiswASh BREE 555 cee Oia ie _ Palaeontology CrypE Ey iPAnCH oie Wert ey Herpetology REO V MOND) ec eee Ichthyology Business Manager W. J. Copy, Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. Pe aa — The official publications of THz OrrawaA FreLp-NATuRALIsTs’ CLusB have been issued since 1879. The first were Te 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. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued bi-monthly. Its scope is the publication of the results or original research in all departments of Natural History. Price of this volume (6 numbers) $3.00; Single copies 60c each. Subscription ($3.00 per year) should be forwarded to Dr. R. J. Moore, Div. of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, OTTAWA, CANADA. The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. 66 OTTAWA, CANADA, JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1952 No. 1 “BIRDS OF THE EAST JAMES BAY COAST BETWEEN LONG POINT AND CAPE JONES! T. H. MANNING and A. H. MAcPHERSON Ottawa T HIS PAPER is based on observations and collections made between June 26 and September 2, 1950, along the east James Bay coast between Long Point and Cape Jones. Our main collecting stations were at Moar Bay and Paul Bay, but shorter periods were spent at other places and notes were kept of the birds seen during our canoe journeys along the coast. Observations made during 4 days (Aug. 8-11) on Long Island and during our trips by canoe between the Moose River and Long Point in June and September will be dealt with separately. During the summer 498 birds were collected. The study of these specimens which are now in the National Museum was done by the senior author, who wishes to acknowledge the assistance re- ceived from Mr. W. E. Godfrey. We are also indebted to Mrs. T. H. Manning for typing and checking the manuscript. Information on the birds of the inland region due east of the coastal strip covered by this paper is entirely lacking, but some idea of the probable population may be gathered from Godfrey’s records (1949) at Lake Mistassini and Manning’s (1949) at Kinglet Lake and Lake Bienville. The reader is also referred to these papers and to God- frey and Wilk (1948) and Manning (1951) for range limits which have not usually been given here. Lewis and Peters (1941) give a list of birds observed by them in southern James Bay, but as yet there is no one paper in which all the available records for the region between the Moose River and Long Point have been assembled. The first recorded ornithological col- lections from the region were made by C. Drexler, who obtained specimens at Fort George in 1860 and possibly in 1861. No faunal list resulted from his work, but re- ference to his specimens is made by Turner 1 Received for publication May 28, 1951. (1885), Packard (1891), Baird (1874), and other writers. In 1887, Bell (1879) ex- plored the coast from Moose Factory to Cape Jones and then northward to Cape Dufferin. In a paper on the birds of Hudson Bay (Bell 1882) he gives some general ornitho- logical information on this region, and mentions specimens collected at Fort Geor- ge. Most of these specimens were not pre- served (Bell 1882 p. 49), and there is occa- sional doubt as to the accuracy of their identification. In 1887 and 1888, Low (1889) and his assistant, J. M. Macoun, worked on the east coast and islands of James Bay, but only casual reference to the birds is made in Low’s report (Low 1896b pp. 323L-328L) of these trips, and his “List of Birds of the Interior of Labrador Peninsula’ seldom mentions east James Bay. In 1896, Low (1898) was accompanied by W. Spread- borough on his journey from the Moose River to Richmond Gulf. This journey lasted from June 14 to June 30, and they were in the area covered by this report from June 18 to June 24 (Low 1896a). No sepa- rate list of birds was published as a result of this journey, but a number of Spread- borough’s records, including several from the area here dealt with, were used in Macoun’s Catalogue of Canadian Birds, and some of Spreadborough’s specimens (chiefly eggs) are still in the National Museum of Canada. Unfortunately, Spreadborough’s records as published by Macoun are not al- ways reliable. Macoun’s catalogue was first published in three parts (Macoun 1900, 1903, 1904). Later they were combined in an en- larged and revised edition (Macoun & Ma- coun 1909). All the references given here are taken from the 1909 edition except for those to museum specimens which are listed in the first editions only. In 1920, Fritz Johansen collected a few birds from the James Bay region while ' Vol. 65, November-December, 1951, was issued July 4, 1952. a 2 THE CANADIAN working for the Biological Board of Canada. In 1926, Sutton (1932 p. 2), W. E. C. Todd, and J. B. Semple went by canoe from Moose Factory to Richmond Gulf, and in 1935, Doutt (1935), R. L. Fricke and J. K. Doutt travelled southward by canoe along this coast after collecting birds and mammals on the Twin Islands. Unfortunately, the ornithological results obtained on _ these expeditions, like those from other expedi- tions sponsored by the Carnegie Museum to the Labrador Peninsula, have not yet been published. Description of the Area The coastline of east James Bay is typical of low-lying Precambrian country. From Eastmain northward, there are few hills over 200 feet high, and most of the country with- in 10 miles of the coast is under 100 feet. Nonetheless, the greater part of it is very broken and rocky, with numerous little hills and ridges of solid granite gneiss or of glacial drift, the latter frequently taking the form of boulder moraines. Since this broken, hillocky surface continues westward beyond the coastline, and the general submarine slope is very gradual, a maze of small rock and drift islands fills most of the bays and extends seaward for about 10 miles. The points are rocky or bouldery, but toward the head of the bays there are wide, boulder- covered mud flats broken by occasional rocky tidal islands. Between Factory River and Long Point there is a sudden change in the character of the forest along the coast. South of Long Point, balsam poplar forms large groves near the coast and even on some of the islands, while north of there it grows near the coast in sheltered places only, and the trees are dwarfed and straggly. There are, however, some well grown groves a few miles up the rivers. North of Long Point, the outer fringe of islands as well as some of the smaller islands in the bays are tree- less except for a few scattered stunted spruce: even the tips of some of the points are barren. This sudden change in the dominant vegetation may be caused by lower early summer temperatures due to pack ice being trapped here by the Solomons Temple and Paint Hills islands. Thus, in 1950, the ice had left Factory River some time before our arrival on June 26, but it did not finally leave Moar Bay until July 3. On June 27 at Moar Bay, the leaves on alder and willow FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 were only half out along the southern shore- lines, and only just budding in places ex- posed to the northwest. A few patches of snow lay amongst the woods. Between Long Point and Attikuan Point there is no marked change in the dominant vegetation along the coast, although the islands and longer points tend to become more barren as one goes north. North of Attikuan Point, there is a narrow strip of continuous barrens along the coast. At the Roggan River, the first spruce grows about 2 miles inland in small, scattered clumps. North of the Seal River the tree line is often out of sight from the sea, and the peninsula north and west of the Salmon River appears to be entirely barren. The forests between Long Point and the Roggan River consist principally of white spruce with a few scattered tamarack. In some of the marshy areas the majority of the scattered, sickly-looking trees, are black spruce. Between the spruce and the shore there is often a narrow band of alder 6 to 15 feet tall, while on some of the treeless islands and on the coastal barrens at the Roggan River, there are large, almost im- penetrable patches of alder. A mile or two from the coast, the alder is largely replaced by willow which grows along the river banks and borders the open grass marshes. Main Collecting Stations MOAR BAY (south end). June 26-July 13. 56.5 hrs. observing: (9.5 hrs. in marsh, 9 hrs. in willow and alder, 25.5 hrs. in spruce woods, 12.5 hrs. along shore at edge of alder.) Sept. 2. 4 hrs. observing at edge of alder and in marsh. Our first camp at Moar Bay was on the grass fringe of the shore of a small, shallow, muddy bay. Immediately behind the tent, a strip of alder about 30 feet wide, bordered the main white spruce forest which here grew on the side of a boulder moraine. The top of the moraine was almost treeless, and sloped gradually westward to a barren point about a quarter of a mile from our camp. In the spruce forest behind the moraine, about a mile northeast of our camp and a few hundred yards from another small, muddy bay, was a little lake some 300 yards across. Immediately surrounding the lake was a boggy area with willow, alder, Labra- dor tea, sphagnum moss, and small, sickly- looking spruce. We visited this lake several times. Half a mile east of our camp at the Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN head of the bay, the tidal mud flats termi- nated in an open grass marsh about a quarter mile in diameter and with a wet patch of bare mud in the centre. Surround- ing the marsh was a fringe of tall willow and alder, and at its head was first an area of isolated willow bushes, then stunted spruce and tamarack, and finally, continuous ‘spruce forest. We visited or passed through this marsh most days during our stay. On the south side of our little bay were some solid rock ridges 30 to 50 feet high with small treeless patches on top. Through the spruce woods beyond these ridges was a comparatively deep lake about half a square mile in area. This lake was visited on July 2. On July 11, we went to another shallow bay between our camp and the Poplar River. Here there was a larger area of marshland, but the bird population was smaller than in the marsh near our camp. _ Except for the trip on July 11, and thase to Sheppard Island and the Poplar River which are dealt with separately, the area included in our Moar Bay observations did not extend more than 14% miles from our camp, but within that area all habitats typical of the mainland coastal region are found. Continuous forest, principally’ of white spruce with a few tamarack and some black spruce in the wetter areas, covers about 70 percent of the hinterland; 20 per- cent is water, and the remaining 10 percent is divided between barren, rocky ridges and open marshes. Around the shore at the head of the bays and along the rivers, marshes account for a larger area. The ground cover of about three-fourths of the open spruce forest is sphagnum moss and Labrador tea; the remaining quarter is dry country, often fairly open, with a luxuriant growth of cari- bou moss. In the wetter areas walking was difficult owing to Labrador tea and dead- falls. In both areas of spruce birds were scarce. SHEPPARD ISLAND. July 4, 8, 13-15. 28.5 hrs. observing in various habitats. Sept. 2. .25 hr. on bar- ren N.E. point. is separated from the mainland near our first Moar Bay camp by a strait a few hundred feet wide. We visited Sheppard Island on July 4 and 8, and moved our camp to it on July 13. The central eastern part of this island consists of dry and wet spruce forest similar to that of the Sheppard Island FIELD-NATURALIST 3 mainland. Amongst the forest as well as in places around the coast, are small outcrops of bare, solid rock. On the western third of the island, the spruce is small and scattered, and there is a considerable amount of dwarf birch. Along the north shore is a band of dense alder almost 10 feet tall. Most of the small points, including the one to the north- east where we camped from July 13 to 15, are barren. There are several small lakes on the island. A few _ partly — spruce-clad islands lie in the wider part of the strait between Sheppard Island and the mainland. These were visited on July 14, and the time spent there is included in the time given above for Sheppard Island. Most of the species seen on the mainland were also recorded on Sheppard Island and vice versa. Where the numbers of indi- viduals were about the same, the records for the two places have been given together. On the whole, passerines were more numer- ous on the island. ISLAND A. July 8. 2 hrs. observing. On July 8, we spent an hour on Island A, which lies about half a mile north of Shep- pard Island. It is only a few hundred yards long and is composed largely of bare rock. There is a small lake, some dwarf birch scrub, and a small patch of alder about 7 feet high. On July 8, the leaves were about half out on the alder. A group of similar barren islands lies a mile west of Sheppard Island, and there are others to the north in Moar Bay. POPLAR RIVER. July 6. 12 hrs. observing: (2 hrs. in marsh, 3.5 hrs. in spruce, 6.5 hrs. in tall willow and poplar). A little distance within the mouth of the river, the alder which is so plentiful near the coast is replaced by willow which lines the river banks and forms thickets 15 to 20 feet high over a considerable area. On July 6 the willow was considerably more advanced than that near our camp, but was still not quite in full leaf. We visited some extensive open sedge marshes about a mile from the river mouth, and from the air photographs it appears that there may be larger ones farther inland. About 2% miles up the river is a grove of well grown poplars. The main spruce forest was similar to and continuous with that at our Moar Bay camp. 4 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Ye - . ° 2 Great Whale ae Henrietta Maria Lake River ¢ eas =e Lo iy + o Sunday | Outs a sf Bela ntpen) Bae é au 2a 3] Piagochiwt River mness 2 rey Goose \ >""sland=tFort George | % Fort George Walrus Peninsula & Dead Duck S J\|A MIE SS &Bay EEA LY 96 ‘ TWINCD NS ISLANDS 1S ._|Rointe au Woe SQ <> q Paint Hills Islands . "e. Moar Bay Sheppard Island Long Point S O|d’Factory River 5 B A ie bes he v Gasket , CEG 5 Soe Shoal y Eastmawr Fort Albany Gharitor 8 ae, Island 2 {,Caroline Shoals upert |* Bay Rupert House Ship Sands fe) Ne Map of James Bay showing localities at which collections were made. Jan.-Feb., 1952] PAINT HILLS ISLANDS (Walrus Island). July 16. 3 hrs. observing on barrens and amongst isolated spruce. Aug. 29-Sept. 2. 17.5 hrs, observing (11.5 hrs. on barrens and near isolated spruce; 6 hrs in small spruce woods and poplar grove). Our observations on the Paint Hills Islands were confined to the largest island which is sometimes known as Walrus Island. It is a rocky island with a 150-foot hill at its western end. A few stunted white spruce grow on some open level ground below this, and near the centre of the island there are two stands of rather short, but well-formed white spruce and a small grove of stunted balsam poplar. There is some dwarf birch, but alder is surprisingly scarce. The dry barrens are covered with Dryas, caribou moss, blackberry, and a carpet of crowberry. There were also patches of strawberries, dwarf raspberries, and bakeapples. On July 16, we landed near the western end of Walrus Island and walked over and around the hill. From August 29 to Sep- tember 2, we were camped near the centre of the island close to the poplar grove. POINTE AU HUARD. July 17. 4 hrs. observing (2.5 hrs. on barrens, 1.5 hrs. in alder, and marsh with small scattered spruce and tamarack). Our camp was actually on the small un- named point about 1.5 miles north of Pointe au Huard. The outer half mile of this point is barren with patches of alder and a con- siderable amount of dwarf birch: in fact, rather similar to Stromness Harbour island. Inland, larger areas of taller alder with some open marshes and scattered spruce and tamarack merged gradually into the spruce forest. The spruce forest was not visited. WALRUS PENINSULA. Aug. 27-29. 13 hrs. observing (9 hrs. in spruce, 2.5 hrs. on barrens, 1.5 hrs. in marsh). Our camp was on the well wooded south- east point of Walrus Peninsula. Here there were both open white spruce forest with caribou moss ground cover and denser, wetter forest with sphagnum and Labrador tea. Within the forest were some small sedge and open marshes with the attendant alder and willow thickets. Macpherson also visited a larger marsh on the mainland op- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 5 posite our camp. The birds seen there were essentially the same as on the penin- sula, and the records have been included together. The northern and western parts of the peninsula are barren and rather rocky, with patches of alder about 7 feet high in the sheltered valley. The other vegetation on these barrens is similar to that on Kakachischuan Peninsula. STROMNESS ISLAND. July 18-21. 9 hrs. observing. Aug. 25-27. 6.5 hrs. observing. Stromness Island is a moderately rocky island not more than 30 feet high. A sixth of its surface consists of bare rock, a sixth is covered by spruce, a third by tall alder with a little willow, and the remaining third by grass and heath, including dwarf birch and Labrador tea. Most of our time was spent near the small spruce clumps where the passerines seemed most plentiful. PAUL BAY. July 21-Aug. 7. 63 hrs. observing (30 hrs. in spruce, 28.5 hrs. in willow, alder, and small marshes, 4.5 hrs. in larger marsh). Aug. 18-25. 27 hrs. observing (17.5 hrs. in spruce, and 9.5 hrs in willow and alder and small marshes). Our Paul Bay camp was on a southerly facing shore about half a mile west of the mouth of the Piagochiwi River. Immediately behind the tent was a dense alder thicket with occasional open patches and a few white spruce trees. Behind this was a fairly dry spruce forest with considerable under- growth. About 300 yards from the tent, the first of a series of 50-foot high rocky ridges ran parallel to the shore. Only scattered stunted spruce and tamarack grew on the ridge tops, but between and _ surrounding these ridges was the continuous spruce forest. On the ridges were some small rock pools, and between them a few little lakes closely surrounded by spruce, heavy under- growth, and numerous deadfalls which made walking difficult. Along the shore to the east and west of our camp was a narrow, broken strip of dense alder which gave place to willow a few hundred yards up the river. A quarter of a mile west of our camp was a stand of well grown and fairly open spruce, between which grew a deep carpet of cari- bou moss. Two hundred yards east of the camp was a little grove of stunted poplar 6 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 1. — MAIN CANOE JOURNEYS. ACEOSS MOAT BAY icc oe ee sence July Moar Bay to Pointe au Huard ............ July Pointe au Huard to Dead Duck Bay . July Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Harbour ...............::0ee July Stromness Harbour to Paul Bay ........ July Paul Bay to Kakachischuan Point and ‘returnyele. 8 ek eee eee Aug Paul Bay to Stromness Harbour n.d hace Pus Pee Re erat ee Aug. Paula Bay: to sealt RIVE. wc scree Aug. Seal River to Cape Jones ................0- Aug Cape Jones to Roggan River ............ Aug. Roggan River to Kakachischuan 2 OInth :.0.. uss Aug. Kakachischuan Point to Paul Bay ... Aug. Paul Bay to Stromness Harbour ........ Aug. Stromness Harbour to Wralius; PReminS ula conse. Secre--cctees Aug. Walrus Peninsula to Paints HillsOlslamds eno. wee... cee Aug. Paint Hills Islands to Send MOaReB ay tec ie neta aes Sept. searcely taller than the surrounding alder. About three-quarters of a mile west of our camp a fairly deep lake about a quarter of a mile long was visited on July 24 and 25. At one end of this was a rocky searp; at the other, an open sedge marsh with willow and scattered small black spruce. On July 31, we visited a very shallow lake about half a mile in diameter south of the Piago- chiwi River. At its eastern end were some extensive sedge marshes. On August 23 and 24, the bay northwest of our camp was visited. Here a small brook flowed from a shallow lake a few hundred yards inland. At the head of this lake, ducks, shore birds, and passerines appeared more plentiful than elsewhere, although there was no obvious difference in the country or the vegetation. On most of our longer walks, we went through part of the continuous spruce forest 15 1.5 hrs. travelling. 16 2.5 hrs. travelling. Rough. Rough and foggy at times. 17 6 hrs. travelling. Calm. 18 6 hrs. travelling. Calm. 21 2 hrs. travelling. Calm. 1 2 hrs. travelling. Calm. 4 hrs. travelling. Calm. Some fog. 7 9 hrs. travelling. Rough. 8 4 hrs. travelling. Rough and foggy. 6 hrs. travelling. Mostly calm. Calm, then 16 5 hrs. travelling. rough. 18 1.5 hrs. travelling. Calm. 25 2.5 hrs. travelling. Rough. 27 _3 hrs. travelling. Rough. Moderately 29 11 hrs. travelling. rough. 2 2 hrs. travelling. Calm. which was similar to that at Moar Bay. In it, birds were extremely scarce, and it was not unusual to walk for an hour and see none. On July 27, we went by canoe to a peninsula about 142 miles northwest of our camp and spent 4 hours observing there. Only about a third of this peninsula was wooded. Most of the remainder was covered by thickets of tall alder. On the same day we both spent an hour on a small island just west of this peninsula. Half of this island was open barrens (largely covered with crowberry), and the other half dense alder thickets. Both on the peninsula and on the island passerines were more numerous than in our camp areas. Although all our observations at Paul Bay were made within a radius of about 2 miles of our camp, I think we sampled all habitats. typical of the mainland region. Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN KAKACHISCHUAN PENINSULA. Aug 1. 10 hrs. observing. Aug. 7. .5 hr. observing. Aug. 16-18. 11 hrs. observing. Kakachischuan Peninsula is 6 miles long and is joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. It consists of broken, rocky coun- try with hills up to about 40 feet. Our three visits were to the outer 4 miles of the penin- sula. The greater part of this western end is covered by a short, dry vegetation in- cluding Dryas, blueberry, bakeapple, and crowberry, the latter being particularly plentiful and producing vast quantities of berries. In sheltered places there were also dense patches of alder about 7 feet high, and three or four stunted spruce trees. A few areas were moderately marshy, and there were three or four small lakes and one large brackish lake with a narrow exit to the sea. ROGGAN RIVER. Aug. 11-16. 28 hrs. observing (18 hrs. on barrens including alder patches and marshes, 2 hrs. in inland sedge marsh and amongst willow, 2 hrs. in burnt country, 1 hr. on barren inland plateau, 3 hrs. in spruce, 2 hrs. in canoe on river). The country about the mouth of the Rog- gan River is covered by glacial drift and rock outcrops are rather scarce The coastal barrens consist of dry tundra with vegeta- tion similar to that on the Paint Hills Islands, but with the addition of patches of dense, but fairly low (5 to 6 feet) alder. There is also a fair amount of marshland and several small lakes as well as tidal in- lets and lagoons. Toward the edge of the main spruce there is some very wet marsh with alder patches and tall sedge. The first little clump of stunted white spruce grows about 1.5 miles inland, and the main spruce forest begins a mile beyond. On August 18, we went 6 miles up the river by canoe from our camp on the north bank at the river mouth. During the day we visited a well grown white spruce forest with a thick cari- bou moss carpet, a dry, barren, bouldery plateau about 100 feet high, some sphagnum bogs with scattered spruce, and an area which had been burned over 10 or more years ago and now supported a thick growth of dwarf birch and willow. I also spent two hours near the edge of a willow thicket and an open sedge marsh. FIELD-NATURALIST 7 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS OBSERVED. In the following systematic list an attempt has been made to show the population densi- ty of some of the common species by means of tables. The dates used in these tables are the first and last dates on which the species in question was observed at the station. The time in hours represents the total time spent in search of birds during our stay at the station, or the time spent in some par- ticular habitat as indicated in the different tables. The number seen in the case of the small numbers is the sum of daily counts, and in the case of large numbers, the sum of daily estimates made during our timed observations. In the case of some of the larger birds, particularly the water birds which were also seen on canoe trips, the number seen per hour is also given to facili- tate quick comparison. In the case of some of the smaller birds, an estimate has been made in round numbers of the population per square mile at their normal habitat. This estimate is based on the number seen, the time spent observing, and the distance at which the species could usually be seen. An allowance has also been made for the fact that some species are more easily seen in the fall when they are in flock than they are during the nesting season. Common Loon, Gavia immer immer (Brin- nich). Common Loons were fairly numerous and evenly distributed along most of the coast. During our short stay at Pointe au Huard they were exceptionally plentiful, but at Stromness Island and Kakachischuan Point where they might have been expected in equal numbers, they were apparently scarcer than in the comparatively sheltered water at Moar and Paul Bays. At least one Common Loon visited the little tidal lagoon opposite our camp at Moar Bay almost every day, and at Paul Bay it was not unusual to see 2 or 3 on the sea outside our tent, but these have not been recorded in Table 2 unless they were actually seen during our timed walks, a circumstance frequent at Moar Bay, where we often walked along the shore to the marsh at the head of the bay. Both at Moar and Paul bays we noticed that the loons were very loath to take flight, and at Paul Bay one or two were seen which had con- siderable difficulty in getting off the water. This was probably due to full stomachs, as 8 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 2. — POPULATION DENSITIES OF COMMON LOON. Locality Dates Time | No. observed Remarks Moar Bay including June 27- Sheppardyliger cc es July 14 35 hrs. in open areas 29 ( .8perhr.) ¢ collected Paint EUS US pp ce tee Aug. 31- | Sept. 1 11% (73 6é 6é (73 5 ( 4 ce (13 )| Pitemau Euan geen ee July 17 3 $6 ETRE. SSS L6S (DBE! OEE) Wealtusibenie cece: Aug. 27-28) 4 $e EKSUTARES Sait hk bee nD airtel inks) | Strommess/ Maries July 20 6 SETS BES ie (Lara es eno meee) | PaulBay ee pot ete: July 22- Aug. 3 15 (73 ce 6é ce 8 ( 5 ce 66 )| A (79 Kakachischuan Pt. ......... Aug. 1, 17, 18 21 66 (<3 66 (73 5 ( 2 ce oe ) Roggan River .................0. Aug. 12-15 22 $F OSE QsCnAay avs) Pte. au Huard to Stromness Har. ......... Aug. 17-18)12 hrs. travelling 14 SGLZENS Shy RO rs Paul Bay to Kakachischuan Pt. .|Aug. 1 2 + e SUGLSUES TEE) Paul Bay to Cape Jones and return ....... PN TP ey Oar i 38. ia" aap) 11, 16, 18 Paul Bay to Stromness Har. ......... Aug. 25 2% * * QiGHB SOLES Walrus Pen. to Paint Has she. 2c: Aug. 29 ial “ - BY Ge Sy eRe) loons are seldom fat and the two specimens collected had no moulted primaries and no exceptional fat. The measurements of 3 specimens were: 6 taken July 10, wing chord 351 mm., cul- men 86 mm., testis (20x6) mm.; ¢ taken July 30, wing chord 353 mm., culmen 78 mm., testis (13x4) mm.; ¢@ taken July 17, wing chord 332 mm., culmen 83 mm., largest ovum 2.5 mm. Although none of these specimens may actually have had a nest, it seems pro- bable that they belonged to the Quebec population. Pacific Loon, Gavia arctica pacifica (Law- rence). The Pacific Loon probably breeds on Long Island and possibly on some of the barren islands in the centre of James Bay. On the east James Bay coast we saw it only near Salmon River, where we saw four flying separately over the sea on August 11. *Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata (Pontop- pidan). Spreadborough’s observation (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 2) that Holboell’s Grebe is common in the northern part of James Bay * Sight records uncorroborated by specimens. almost certainly refers to the Red-throated Loon which is sometimes fairly numerous on the west James Bay coast (Manning 1951) and has been recorded on the Twin Islands (Manning MS). There is no definite record for the east coast, however. “Horned Grebe, Colymbus auritus Linnaeus. Bell (1882 p. 49) collected a Horned Grebe at Fort George, presumably in 1877. This species appears to be fairly common near the large rivers of the west James Bay and southern Hudson Bay coast (Manning 1951), sO an occasional record for the present region may be expected. American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). According to Bell (1882 p. 51) the Ameri- can Bittern was found on both sides of Hud- son [James?] Bay. On August 12, we ob- tained a single very fat male from a sedge marsh at the edge of the spruce at the Rog- gan River. “Whistling Swan, Cygnus columbianus (Ord). According to Mr. Luttit, who has spent about 70 years at Fort George and Great Whale River, a few swans used to be seen on this coast, but they are now extremely Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN rare, and none have been seen in recent years. Barnston (1861 p. 338) says, “To- wards Eastmain James’s Fort, in James’s Bay, a considerable number of swans hatch; ...” Bell (1884 p. 55DD) says that the Trumpeter Swan nested on the islands off the Eastmain coast. However, since he records it also on Nottingham 2 and Marble islands, he has probably confused the two species. Never- theless, it is not possible to be certain that the nesting swan of the James Bay region was not the Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus bucci- nator Richardson. Ungava Canada Goose, Branta canadensis in- terior Todd. The Canada Goose is an abundant migrant on this coast. It nests on some of the islands in James Bay (Low 1896b p. 324L; Coates 1948) and probably on the inland marshes to the eastward. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 125) reported that it bred on both James Bay coasts, but whether he had actual evidence of nesting birds is not certain. Speaking more particu- larly of the west coast, Hanson and Smith (1950 p. 99) say, “Field observations and information obtained from Indian hunters indicate that few if any geese nest within 10 miles of the shore of James Bay ...”’ Per- haps this is because of hunting pressure. According to local information, when the migrants first arrive on this coast in the fall they spend much of their time feeding on the berries which grow in such profusion on the barren islands along the coast. When these have been eaten they move to the mud flats and marshes at the head of the bays. Between Kakachischuan Point and Cape Jones, large quantities of eel grass grow in some of the shallow bays, and this also is probably an important food item. We saw the first Canada Geese on July 27, when a flock of about 25 landed on one of the islands between our camp at Paul Bay and Kakachischuan Point. On August 1, another 25 were seen flying over the same region. On August 18, 12 were seen from our canoe near the northern end of Paul Bay, and between August 19 and 24, we saw 30 from our Paul Bay camp, either flying over or feeding on the tide flats. Betwen August 27 and 28, about 80 Canada Geese were seen at Walrus Peninsula, and between August 29 and September 2, we * On p. 30 he refers to Whistling Swans on Nottingham Island. FIELD-NATURALIST 9 counted over 150 at the Paint Hills Islands, where they were feeding on the crowberries which grow there in great quantity. American Brant, Branta bernicla hrota (Miil- ler). Prior to very recent years, Brant used to arrive at Eastmain in small numbers about May 1 coming from the south along the coast, and departing for the north about the end of May. About the middle of May others used to arrive at Fort George from the east, that is, descending the Fort George River, and without stopping flew on in a northerly or westerly direction. In the spring of 1935, however, Brant were much searcer in James Bay, only two flocks being seen at Eastmain and none at Fort George. The main fall flights of James Bay brant are past Cape Henrietta Maria, Akimiski and Charlton Islands, but a small flight fol- lows the more direct course past Fort Geor- ge, and often stops near Eastmain for two or three weeks. This summary of the migra- tions of the American Brant in the northern half of the east James Bay coast is derived entirely from Lewis (1937), who obtained his information for this area from J. W. An- derson of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Lesser Snow Goose, Chen hyperborea hyper- borea (Pallas). Blue Goose, Chen caerulescens (Linnaeus). Both the Snow Goose and the Blue Goose migrate along the east James Bay coast in spring and fall. However, they are probably less common there than on the west coast. According to Owen Griffith (Saunders 1917 p. 335), Blue Geese outnumber the Snow Geese on the east James Bay coast. The same authority says that in spring almost every flock of wavies and some geese stop to breed in a big bay about 3 miles north of Fort George. Our only record north of Long Point was near the Paint Hills Islands on September 1, when we saw a single adult Snow Goose amongst a flock of about 10 dark coloured geese which may have been juveniles of the snow species, Blue Geese, or even Canada Geese. Undoubtedly we left this area before the main migration, but on September 9, we found both snow Geese and Blue Geese fairly plentiful at Ship Sands in the mouth of the Moose River. Soper (1942 p. 150) says that they were exceptionally numerous at Fort George in 1936. Possibly both species 10 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 3. POPULATION DENSITIES OF BLACK DUCK. Locality Dates Moar Bay, including Sheppard Island.....| June 27 35 —sihhrs. Paint, Hills) Ts. 2:22... Aug: 30-7 lle * Sept. 1 Pointe au Huard ........ July 17 4 ss Walrus Peninsula ...... Aug. 28 4 4 Stromness Har. .......... July 20 6 ‘f Paul Bayoars hie es. | July 27,31) 15 y Aug. 23,24) 17 i Kakachischuan Point |Aug. 17-18) 1i i Roggan River ............ | Aug. 12-13 | 22 ty Paul Bay to Seal River Aug. 7 9 hrs. Seal R. to C. Jones |Aug. 8 4 sf C. Jones to Roggan R. Aug. 11 6 in Roggan R. to Kakachischuan Pt. Aug. 16 5 Kakachischuan Pt. to Raul Bay; ieee eect es Aug. 18 eae Stromness Har. to Wialleuisiy Site yy a cveieess: Aug. 27 3 ss Walrus Pt. to Paint Hillsy IS. jegun.eak..: Aug. 29 11 i Paint Hills Is. to Moar /Bayger een. 2 |Sept. 2 2 i occasionally breed on the Twin Islands (Ma- coun 1900 p. 114) and at Cape Henrietta Maria (Manning MS), but there is no evi- dence that they ever nest on the Cape Jones barrens. *Common Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos pla- tyrhynchos Linnaeus. The Mallard is rare in this region. On August 27, we flushed three ducks which were almost certainly Mallards, accompanied by a Black Duck, from the shore of Walrus Peninsula. They were probably stragglers from southern or western James Bay, and therefore referable to A.p.platyrhynchos. Black Duck, Anas rubripes Brewster. Black Ducks were not very plentiful along the southern part of the coast before the beginning of August. Later they were the commonest duck, particularly amongst the small, rocky islands north of Paul Bay. We frequently saw them on these islands near the high tide line where they were pro- bably feeding on the eel grass which had been washed up. They also appeared to feed on the barren ground berries, and at the Roggan River we sometimes saw small flocks feeding in the little lakes on the barrens. Time in open areas | (73 travelling No. observed Remarks Pane do ( 5.0 .8 per hr.) 66 66 ) 66 66 3 15 2 collected 266 collect. | 4 collected (73 YS WH WH WHY WS aS a (18.2 ay) | 25 (12.5 Sree Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909, p. 80) reported that Black Ducks bred in great numbers on both sides of James Bay. We found a few nesting by the small lakes and in the marshes near the shore, but the greater part of the breeding population is probably scattered through the hinterland. Two of the adult Black Ducks seen at Pointe au Huard were females. One of these had about 7 half-grown young with well feathered wings (flightless young are not included in Table 3); the other had a nest with 8 eggs nearly ready to hatch. One seen on July 31 at the edge of the large shal- low lake just south of the Piagochiwi River had at least one half-grown young. American Pintail, Anas acuta tzitzihoa Vieil- lot. At Fort George, Bell (1882 p. 50) obtained a duck which he calls “The long-tail (Dafilia acuta, Linn.)” and which in spite of the confusion of names was probably a Pintail rather than an Old-squaw as suggested by Rae (1888 p. 128). Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 89) found Pintails breed- ing on both sides of James Bay. We saw no evidence of their nesting in the Moar Bay region, and all of the 25 counted were in Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN small groups, 16 of them being seen on the small marsh near our camp between June 27 and 29. On August 12, at the Roggan River, we saw a female and 4 young (one collected) almost able to fly. Two others flew over on August 14. .On August 27, we saw 4 Pintails from the canoe when we were between Stromness Harbour and Walrus Peninsula. Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis Gmelin. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 85) found Green-winged Teal common and breeding on both sides of James Bay. We saw two on the small marsh at Moar Bay on July 8, and a female incubating 8 eggs was collected at Paul Bay on July 22. On August 12, a female and 9 young probably not more than a week old were seen in a marsh near the edge of the spruce at the Roggan River. On August 26 at Paul Bay, two juvenile females were collected from a group of 4 Green-winged Teal, and a juvenile male was obtained at Stromness Harbour on August 26. Eight were seen from the canoe be- tween Walrus Peninsula and the Paint Hills Islands on August 29. Baldpate, Mareca americana (Gmelin). During our stay at Moar Bay (June 26 to July 15), 15 adult Baldpates were recorded. On July 5, a female and 10 downy young were seen on a small, shallow inlet near our camp, and on July 8, we collected her and 6 of the young, which were probably under a week old. On July 27, a male and female (female collected) were seen on a large lake 2 miles northwest of our Paul Bay camp. Four or 5 ducklings 10 days to two weeks old may have belonged to this female. Two other Baldpates were seen at Paul Bay on July 31 on another large lake just south of Piagochiwi River. On August 24, on a third large lake 2 miles north of our camp, one of 3 young Baldpates not quite able to fly was collected. These three lakes were visited only on the days mentioned. On August 29, 8 Baldpates were seen from the canoe be- tween Walrus Peninsula and the Paint Hills Islands. Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris (Donovan). On June 27 at Moar Bay, 4 Ring-necked Ducks were seen and one collected. Two others were seen there on June 29, and 4 on July 6. On August 1, two were seen at Ka- kachischuan Point, and 6, probably of this species, at Paul Bay on August 24. Fifteen FIELD-NATURALIST 11 ducks seen between Paul Bay and Cape Jones on August 7 and 8 were also believed to be of this species. Greater Scaup Duck, Aythya marila nearctica Stejneger. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 94) reported a few breeding on James Bay and in the interior of Labrador in 1896, but it is doubtful if he always distinguished between this and the Lesser Scaup Duck. We collected the Greater Scaup Duck only at Moar Bay and Pointe au Huard and there- fore all sight records from other places are here given under the smaller species. It seems probable however, that some of these may have been Greater Scaup Ducks. At Moar Bay, the Lesser Scaup Duck was thought to be the commoner of the two species, and of the total of 115 scaup ducks counted there between June 27 and July 14, probably only about 40 were Greater Scaup Ducks. We found no nests of the Greater Scaup Duck, but a female of a pair collected on July 8 had an almost full-sized yolk still at- tached on the ovary, and the female of an- other pair collected on July 14 had an egg in the oviduct and one empty follicle in the ovary. At Pointe au Huard, a single male (collected) and a pair (@ collected) were seen on July 17. The female had a yolk in her oviduct and three empty follicles. Lesser Scaup Duck, Aythya affinis (Eyton). The Lesser Scaup Duck appeared to be the commonest nesting duck in the Moar Bay region, and almost every little lake was oc- cupied by a pair of this or the larger species. Since Greater Scaup Ducks were collected and identified with certainty only at Moar Bay and Pointe au Huard, sight records of scaup ducks north of there have been tentatively referred to the smaller species. About 75 Lesser Scaup Ducks were seen at Moar Bay between June 27 and July 14, and 15 between there and Stromness Harbour during the next two days. Scaup ducks were not seen on any of the smaller lakes on the mainland at Paul Bay (perhaps they were too shut in by trees), but on July 25, a group of 6 females and two males were on one of the larger lakes, and a group of about 15 was flushed from another large lake on July 31. On July 27, a pair was col- lected from a small lake on a barren island west of our Paul Bay camp. After that date, the only scaup ducks identified were 3 seen on the way into Paul Bay on August 18, and 12 6 on a fairly large lake near there on August 24. On June 28, we collected a female with a yolk in her oviduct and two empty follicles. Next day another was obtained with two nearly full-sized yolks and several collapsed ones still attached to the ovary. American Golden-eye, Bucephala clangula americana (Bonaparte). At Moar Bay on July 6, 6 American Golden- eyes were seen on a lake close to the shore, and on July 11, 14 were flushed from a shal- low, landlocked bay. We saw 30 at sea on August 17 between Pointe au Huard and Dead Duck Bay; 4 were seen on one of the larger lakes at Paul Bay on July 27; 15 on another lake on July 31, and 3 on a similar lake on August 24. While travelling be- tween Cape Jones and Kakachischuan Point on August 11 and 16, we counted 15 ap- parently flightless Golden-eyes on the sea. A male was collected near Walrus Peninsula on August 27, 3 others were seen there on August 27 and 28, and 15 between there and the Paint Hills Islands on August 29. Both the male golden-eye in eclipse plumage col- lected on August 27 and the female ob- tained near Cape Hope on September 2 are referable to B.clangula americana on the bill THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 characters given by Brooks (1920). However, a Barrow’s Golden-eye has been collected on the east Hudson coast just north of Port Harrison (Manning 1949), and it is possible that some of those seen in east James Bay may have been of that species. *Old-squaw, Clangula hyemalis (Linnaeus). Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 102) saw a pair of Old-squaws off Cape Jones in June, 1896; Lewis and Peters (1941 p. 113) saw one near Caroline Shoals in south- east James Bay on September 29, 1940; and they are known to nest at Cape Henrietta Maria (Manning 1951), Bear Island (Man- ning 1950) and Grey Goose Island (Coates 1948). We found them numerous in Long Island Sound between August 8 and 11, but did not definitely identify any south of Cape Jones, although there can be no doubt that they frequently occur there and a few pro- bably nest. Hudson Bay Eider, Somateria mollissima se- dentaria Snyder. Thirty of the Hudson Bay Eiders seen on July 17, and all those seen on August 27, were males. The latter were in one flock. The Hudson Bay Eider is common in Long Table 4. POPULATION DENSITIES OF HUDSON BAY EIDER. Locality Dates Time No. observed Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck B. .... July 17 | 6 hrs. travelling] 35 ( 5.8 per hr.) Kakachischuan Pt. to Seal River .... INU | re | + vgn epee Remmemmes) Seal River to Cape Jones ................ AUS. wsBrcudes gayi | ty | Gel Si a mete) Stromness Har. to Walrus Pen. .... ANU OTE Pay : POO ERB 8 SH) Walrus Pen. to Paint Hills Is. ...... | Aug. 29 10 heres ‘e ial iaw 2S) peter SD) Table 5. POPULATION DENSITIES OF WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. ! Locality Dates Time No. observed KakachischuanisPomt \ canes. Aug. 17-18; On salt water lake} 60 Moar Bay to Pte. au Huard ............. July 16 2.5 hrs. travelling; 40 (16.0 per hr.) Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck B. .... July 17 6 sf 5 20)\("3:39)5 ee) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har. July 18 6 +. is 10.unG Tito Paul Bay to Kakachischuan Pt. ANG TeCUENS ee ee eee eee Aug. 1 2, f a ayn Gerziaye eer OG: Paul Bay) to Seal River iece.c.25. Aug. 7 g a WY LO: iGo, Ved es oan acon) Seal River to Cape Jones ................ Aug. 8 4 ss os V2), (SiO ime cee aaa) Cape Jones to Roggan River ......... ees There eG i h awGeray SS Walrus Pen. to Paint Hills Is. ..... | Aug. 29 (11 8 Carl Se) ie) White spruce bordered by alder at the shallow bay where the Moar Bay camp was situated. July 10, 1950. Sheppard Island. July 4, 1950. At the mouth of the Poplar River. Willow thickets form a border between an open marshy area and the white spruce. July 6, 1950. Looking up the Poplar River to the first poplar stand. July 6. 1950. Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 13 Table 6. POPULATION DENSITIES OF SURF SCOTER. Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks Moarr Bay a8. scene July 2 On lake 20 42 ¢@ collected Moar Bay to tex alll Euakd Ws..; July 16 2.5 hrs. travelling, 20 (8.0 per hr.) Pte. au Huard to | | Dead Duck Bay ..... July 17 6 . f 20) (CB.3 1) eee) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har. ....... July 18 6 2 rf UO Co LAY (cae Mea) Paul Bay to SealeRivier tates Avge 7 9 fe se SHCOIS! SSeS) Seal River to CapexJONeS: -c:is.c0.-+: Aug. 8 4 f ss S) (C0 ee) Island Sound, and nests on several of the islands in James Bay, including Solomons Temple (Manning 1950), but in 1950 none appeared to be nesting on the east James Bay coast or its island fringe. In June, 1896, Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 109) found this species common from a short distance north of Moose Factory to Richmond Gulf. *King Eider, Somateria spectabilis (Lin- naeus). A King Eider was taken in James Bay, presumably on the south or east coast, by Low in June 1896 (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 112). King Eiders nest at Cape Henrietta Maria in west James Bay. White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi de- glandi (Bonaparte). Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 115) found the White-winged Scoter abundant from Moose Factory to Richmond Gulf in June 1896. Surf Scoter, Melanitta perspicillata (Lin- naeus). The 20 Surf Seoters seen at Moar Bay were in a mixed flock of both sexes feeding on a large lake which was visited only on July 2. Their stomachs contained frog and fish spawn. Nearly all the scoters of all species seen at sea prior to our return south of Long Point were males. Obviously not all the dark- winged scoters seen from the canoe could be separated specifically, and on a few of our trips where only American Scoters are recorded, some may have been Surf Scoters although none were definitely identified. Table 7. POPULATION DENSITIES OF AMERICAN SCOTER. Locality | Dates Time No. observed HIG EASES 9152 Me heron ee AL Pi | July 11 | From canoe. 20 SUGOMAMICSS iY erties: ate een | Aug. 25 |On sea 1 Moar Bay to Pte. au Huard ........ July 16 |2.5 hrs. travelling) 20 ( 8.0 per hr.) Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck Bay; July 17 (6 tf Nis 200353 ere) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har.) July 18 (6 sf TUCO sank GIR Le act )) Paul Bay to Kakachischuan Pt. .... | ANORELUTO? fence ctor scce soe ee Avoe vetes (12 cs & LSC WD, ae) Pau) Bay to’ Seal River ¢2..!:.....:... Aug. 7 /|9 n ‘ SUC OO eee) Seal River to Cape Jones ............ oN UE Cohan Cs ‘ oF SG 2:0 wien) Cape Jones to Roggan River ........ Aug. 11 |6 SS fs LOM CM Se ecm) Roggan River to | Makachisenian Pit. -.25¥.0...ei | Aug. 16 |5 mi oi LOOM C200F ee) Paaul Bay to Stromness Har. ........ PiU PAS) coal Ags) A Se sg 10". Oe ce) Stromness Har. to Walrus Pen. .| Aug. 27 |3 a ‘¢ Lond CH oa Les a ec hl ih 14 THE CANADIAN American. Scoter, Oidemia nigra americana Swainson. This appears to be the commonest scoter along this coast. *Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis rubida (Wilson). Macoun and Macoun (1909 p. 119) record that Spreadborough saw a female with 4 young about a week old on June 21, 1896, in ‘northern Labrador’. Actually on that date Spreadborough was at Fort George (Low 1896a). There appear to be no other records for James Bay, and this, together with his observation that it breeds sparingly from Richmond Gulf to Ungava probably resulted from misidentifications. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus (Linnaeus). On July 26, two Hooded Merganser were seen on a small lake at Paul Bay. One of these, a female and probably non-breeding bird, was collected. This is probably the normal northern limit for the species in this area, and Spreadborough’s record of a pair at Clearwater Lake (Manning 1949) must be accepted reservedly. American Merganser, Mergus merganser americanus Cassin. Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator serrator Linnaeus FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 A comparatively small number of the mer- gansers seen on the wing were identified specifically with certainty. The Red-breasted Merganser was probably the commoner, but a few American Mergansers were identified over most of the region. At Moar Bay a male American Merganser was collected on July 3, a male Red-breasted Merganser on July 2, and a female Red-breasted Merganser on July 8 and September 2. At Stromness Island, a male American Merganser and 6 of her 8 downy young were collected on July 9. The stomachs of the latter contained in- sects. American Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis atrica- pillus (Wilson). On August 24, an immature goshawk was seen at different times and in different areas at Paul Bay. On August 26, Macpher- son collected an immature male which had been eating a recently killed Pigeon Hawk. American Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus sjohannis (Gmelin). Although mice of all species except possi- bly Peromyscus maniculatus were unusually scarce in the area, the Rough-legged Hawk was the commonest hawk on the east James Bay coast in 1950. Its abundance may have been due to a sudden decline in lemming numbers on the Ungava barrens sometime after the summer of 1949. We saw no Table 8. POPULATION DENSITIES OF AMERICAN MERGANSER AND RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Locality Dates | Time No. observed Moar Bay, including Sheppard I. ...| June 27- 85 hrs. observing 64 July 14 | Sept. 2 2 a + 10 Paul wBaiyieihus ate et ceate eran ne nnd ene July 22- | ANE GB) "3 21 Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck Bay ...| July 17 | 6 hrs. travelling 15 (2.5 per hr.) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har. July 18 Giees és 6 CLO ee Sa) Stromness Har. to Paul Bay .......... Taba apy OA Le Bay a3 « 2 (10 Soa) Paul Bay to Kakachischuan Pt. AML eT CEUTA ee oe i ile Wa SIN cu JeXgueg eval Deities i 6.(3.0 0 Ser eae, Paul Bay to Stromness Har. | anid are FUR ee en RN INTER A Ee o 15% (357 yacse qs Paul Bay ato, seal Riveryiw.. AUS ee aaeO! Loos * 50)(6!6 eae) Seal Ri to: ;Cape Jones 48 oe AUS RSL aa) pcs ‘* 15 Gute ae Cape Jones to Roggan R. ................ Ae yell Gute es 15 (25g ec) Roggan River to Kakachischuan Pt. Aug. 16 | 5 “ cs 10... (2.0),5, eae) Stromness Har. to Walrus Pen. ...... ANTS Nigel lists Bi dae rs Ly (O:3 0 oe eae Walrus Pen. to Paint Hills Is. ........ 1 PAUP GW ZOE Mila ai ce 4 4 (0:4 tie) Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN evidence that any of these hawks were breed- ing, although there were suitable cliffs on the Paint Hills Islands and near our Paul Bay camp. At the latter place a previous year’s nest probably belonging to this species of hawk was found. At Long Island, two cliffs where Rough-legged Hawks had nested in 1949 were this year unoccupied. Most of the Rough-legged Hawks we saw during the summer were circling high over grass and willow marshes. Twenty-six Rough-legged Hawks were counted at Moar Bay between June 27 and July 13, and 25 (probably not more than 6 to 8 individuals recounted at different times during the day) at the Poplar River on July 6. The greater abundance of hawks at the latter place was doubtless due to the larger areas of open marsh. On the Paint Hills Islands we saw one Rough-legged Hawk on July 16, and one on August 31; on Stromness Island one on July 20, and an- other on August 26; 15 at Paul Bay between July 21 and August 5, and 2 between August 22 and 23; 2 at Kakachischuan Point on August 1, and one at the Roggan River on August 12. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmelin). In 1950 the Osprey was the second com- monest hawk along the east James Bay coast, and it is rather surprising that Spread- borough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 287) should have seen no Ospreys north of Moose Factory. Every day one or more (once 4 together) flew over our camp at Moar Bay, and on several occasions they were suc- cessful in obtaining fish from the shallow, muddy inlet. They were seen less frequent- ly at Paul Bay. If all those we saw from our camps had been counted, the numbers observed at these two places would have been more than double the figures given in Table 9 for those recorded on timed walks. FIELD-NATURALIST 15 Duck Hawk, Falco peregrinus anatum Bona- parte. The skeleton of a Duck Hawk was obtained at Moar Bay from one of the traps which the Indians set on the points and islands along this coast for hawks and owls. One Duck Hawk was seen at the Paint Hills Islands on July 16, and one on August 31. Two were seen together at the Roggan River on August 13. Eastern Pigeon Hawk, Falco columbarius columbarius Linnaeus. A freshly killed female Pigeon Hawk was found and collected on Stromness Island on August 26. It had been partially eaten by an American Goshawk which was also col- lected. Hudsonian Spruce Grouse, Canachites cana- densis canadensis (Linnaeus). Between June 29 and July 14, we saw 23 adult Spruce Grouse at Moar Bay, of which almost half were on the island just west of our camp. Most of the females had eggs or young, and about 6 broods were actually seen. On June 29, a female was collected which had an egg in the oviduct and 3 empty follicles. The downies collected on July 5 were probably only 3 or 4 days old, while 4 obtained on July 13, and one from an- other brood on July 24, were developing wing feathers. The crops of two adult males and 3 females collected at Moar Bay con- tained cranberries, spruce shoots, horsetail tips, willow and alder leaves, Vaccinium shoots and plant buds. The crops of the downies collected on July 5 contained cater- pillars. One female Spruce Grouse was seen at Pointe au Huard on July 17, and on July 24, two were collected together at Paul Bay. They were accompanied by several half grown flying young. Table 9. POPULATION DENSITIES OF OSPREY. Locality | Dates Time No. observed Remarks Moar Bay, including| June 30- | 85 hrs. observing 20 (0.2 per hr.) Sheppard I. ........... (PS Suly 10 Poplar River .... 2%... | July 6/12 re a ZO ZR AS) aul Baya. cies. July 21- | 63 st ri 5 COMMS) scist)s| Aug. 3 | Aug. 22 | 27 ie fe | pone (Oslusus we 4 Paine PES A1Sé os Aug. 30-31 |17% “ i I ¥25 (OM ser” pee >)! Ne collected ogcans Rivers). Aug. 13-15 28 «6 cS EL COE ters ihe ere) 16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 10. POPULATION DENSITIES OF UNGAVA WILLOW PTARMIGAN. Locality Dates MO ati Baye reser ccc tne July 1-11 | 3 Sheppand ln, eee | July 4, 8, 14 sf 13, 14 TSN anid AG essere cee er esse July 2 3 Paint balls iss Vis Gy less oe Aug. 30- Sept. 1 | Pte au wouardie es. Julie iia ee Wrallrul Sie Dingess Aug. 28 Deer EE SUGOMMESS plese eee July 18-20 14 < Le AN IS | Kakachischuan Pt. ..... Nee lle Baton 6 essen RO San RAVETw essere Aug. 12-15 18 ‘ Time hrs. in habitat No. observed | Remarks Pair with nest /2 collected 24 ad. (1.7 per hr.) 26 4, 292 | collected ce 73 One adult | 19 ad. (1.3 per hr.) : 446 collect. es 3). (12 So aaa collect: ce a3 6 x3 (1.4 <3 ce ) es S 14. “ (1.0 |“. “)) sexcolllectent Pattenden CA MPC cd, AS © | collected ss (Meee) 3g 65 42 2 | collected Two specimens from Lake Albanel were considered by Godfrey (1949) to be nearer C.c.canadensis than C.c.canace. Three of our birds from Moar Bay and one from Spit Island 30 miles to the south are slightly greyer and less brown than the Lake Alba- nel specimens, while one from Moar Bay and 3 from Paul Bay are strikingly grey. These last 4 specimens average as grey as the Yukon birds referred to C.c.osgoodi by Rand (1948), but differ from them in that the grey feather edging of the east James Bay birds is much purer — that is to say, less tinged with brown. However, in the absence of female specimens from other parts of Ungava, they are tentatively referred to C.c.canadensis. Ungava Willow Ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus ungavus Riley. On June 26, we saw 3 Willow Ptarmigan on a small, barren island between Long Point and the Factory River, but it is doubtful if the summer range of this species extends much south of there even on the islands, and on the mainland they probably do not nest south of Long Point. In 1896, Spreadborough first observed this species a short distance north of Fort George on June 23. On the same date Low’s other assistant, A. Young, found a nest with 13 eggs pretty far advanced in incubation. North of there a few were seen every day on the islands until Richmond Gulf was reached (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 225). Macoun (1900 p. 206) lists 4 Willow Ptarmi- gan taken by Bell at Fort George. On July 1, a pair (2 collected) with a nest containing 9 slightly incubated eggs was seen on the barren point near our Moar Bay camp. On the barren or sparsely treed areas of Sheppard Island, Willow Ptarmigan were fairly numerous, and their ecological range occasionally overlapped that of the Spruce Grouse. One of the females collected there on July 4 had a brood of 6 downies (about 2 days old) which were collected; the other had an incubating patch, but no apparent nest or young. One other brood was seen on Sheppard Island on July 18, and a single downy, about 6 days old, was collected from it. On July 18, a brood of 8 small flying young was seen with their pa- rents on Stromness Island, and at the Rog- gan River, a brood of about 8 slightly larger young was seen. On August 12, 14, and 15, the female parent and two juveniles were collected from it. On August 31, a brood of 7 young (244 collected) about two-thirds grown was seen on the Paint Hills Islands. Most of the female ptarmigan seen at Moar Bay had young, but farther north young ptarmigan were extremely scarce. It is pos- sible that this is normal and results from a coastward movement of adults that have nested inland and lost their eggs or young. It is more probable, however, that exception- ally few broods were successfully raised in 1950. This might be due, at least in part, to predation by Rough-legged Hawks, which, Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN having been deprived of their normal food by the scarcity of mice and lemmings, con- centrated on the downy flightless ptarmigan. We obtained no direct evidence to support this suggestion. The measurements of our adult specimens were: Bill from anterior end of nostril to tip, 14¢ 4, 12.2mm. (1lmm.-13mm..);_ 11 992, 114mm. (10.5mm.-12.5mm.). Width at gape, 166 46, 149mm. (14mm.-16.2mm.), 11 22, 14.2mm. (13.8mm.-15mm.). These meas- urements average slightly larger than those obtained by Ridgway and Friedmann (1946) and Manning (1949) from specimens taken farther north on the Labrador Peninsula. Rock Ptarmigan, Lagopus mutus rupestris (Gmelin). Rock Ptarmigan do not nest in this area, but according to local information, they are numerous during the winter on the high nearby barren country 150 to 200 miles in- land. They also winter on the coast, but are never as numerous there as the Willow Ptar- migan. Northern Sharp-tailed Grouse, Pedioecetes phasianellus phasianellus (Linnaeus). According to local information, Sharp-tailed Grouse are quite numerous in some years in the Fort George region, especially towards spring, while at the Factory River they were said to be very scarce on the coast, but fair- ly common inland. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 230) was told that they were common at Fort George in the winter. According to Townsend and Allan (1907 p. 363). Low took a set of eggs at Fort George on May 20, 1889. They are not now in the National Museum, nor are they recorded by Macoun (1900). Low was not at Fort George on that date, but they might have been collected by Miles Spence. A Northern Sharp-tailed Grouse in the National Museum collection was taken by Spreadborough in 1896 somewhere on the coast, probably at Fort George, although on the date given on the label (June 18), Spreadborough was not north of the Paint Hills (Low 1896a). On August 23, we collected a female from a patch of low scrub on a small, treeless point at Paul Bay. *Yellow Rail, Coturnicops noveboracensis noveboracensis (Gmelin). Bell (1882 p. 51) procured a Yellow Rail at Fort George. It is locally common on the FIELD-NATURALIST 17 southern and eastern shores of James Bay (Todd 1943) and also occurs on the southern Hudson Bay Coast. Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius hiaticula semipalmatus Bonaparte. A few Semipalmated Plovers breed on the barren points and islands along this coast, while in spring and fall it may be a fairly common migrant on the tide flats and coastal marshes. Macoun & Macoun (1909 p. 207) record that Spreadborough found it common in 1896 from Moose Factory along the James Bay coast and northward to Richmond Gulf. A set of 4 eggs from a nest found by Low on June 18 when he was between Factory River and the Paint Hills (Low 1896a) is now in the National Museum. Between June 27 and July 1, a loose feed- ing group of about 15 Semipalmated Plovers was often seen on the little bare mud flat in the marsh near our Moar Bay camp or on the nearby tide flats. These were presumably non-breeding birds. Two collected from the group on July 1 were very fat females (largest ovum, 5mm. and 3mm. respective- ly). After July 1, only 14 Semipalmated Plovers were seen at Moar Bay. Three of these were on Sheppard Island and 3 on Island A. One seen on July 4 on the barren point near our Moar May camp may have had a nest. On July 17, we saw 3 Semipalmated Plovers on Pointe au Huard and one on Stromness Island on July 20. On August 1, we saw 8 on Kakachischuan Point, and at Paul Bay 12 between July 21 and August 6. The latter were mostly single birds feeding on the tide flats, but one seen on the ridge behind our camp appeared to have a nest or young. Eight were seen at Walrus Peninsula on August 28. Black-bellied Plover, Squatarola squatarola (Linnaeus). The whistle of high-flying plovers was occasionally heard at the Roggan River be- tween August 12 and 15. On August 17, a single female Black-bellied Plover was col- lected at Kakachischuan Point. One was heard at Stromness Harbour on August 26, and one seen at the Paint Hills Islands on August 30 and 31. Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres mori- nella (Linnaeus). On August 17, 12 Turnstones were seen on Kakachischuan Point in groups of 4. Possibly the same group was seen three times. 18 THE CANADIAN Wilson’s Snipe, Capella gallinago delicata (Ord). Wilson’s Snipe nests in the marshes along this coast within and near the tree line, but is absent from the barren islands and pro- bably from the Cape Jones barrens. It was seen by Bell (1882 p. 51) at Fort George. At Moar Bay we saw Wilson’s Snipe only on the small marsh at the head of the bay near our camp, although two similar but larger marshes were examined on July 6 and 11 respectively. Possibly they were at- tracted to the little marsh by the small patch of bare mud in the centre. On June 27, 15 snipe were counted in this marsh. All appeared to be resident and about 6 pairs probably nested. The largest ovum of a female collected on June 27 was 4mm.; an- other female taken on June 28 had an egg in its oviduct. On July 7, two downies a day or two old, both from the same brood and probably the only ones remaining from it, were collected. There were still about the same number of snipe in the marsh when it was last visited on July 10. We again walked through it on September 2, and 3 adult Wilson’s Snipe (one ¢, 2 2@ collected) were seen. On July 17, a Wilson’s Snipe was seen at Pointe au Huard, and an- other on July 25 in a small marsh half a mile up the Piagochiwi River. On July 31, 5 (one adult female and one juvenile col- lected) were seen during an hour’s walk in the marsh on the south side of this river, and one was seen in a marsh about 2 miles up the Roggan River on August 13. Hudsonian Curlew, Numenius phaeopus hud- sonicus Latham. Two Hudsonian Curlews were seen at Moar Bay on July 14, 6 flew over our canoe just south of Dead Duck Bay on July 17, and 4 near Stromness Harbour on August 21. During 18 hours walking between August 12 and 15, 48 Hudsonian Curlews were seen on the barrens near the Roggan River. These were mostly in small flocks. Two single curlews were seen at Kakachischuan Point on August 17, and 44 in singles and small flocks at the Paint Hills Islands during 11% hours walk- ing on the barrens bettween August 30 and September 1. Spotted Sandpiper, naeus). Spotted Sandpipers doubtless nest through- out the wooded hinterland wherever there are Actitis macularia (Lin- FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 suitable lakes and rivers. Near the coast they are particularly numerous at the river mouths and frequently occur along the wooded shore line. Occasionally they visit the barren islands. Forty-eight Spotted Sandpipers (¢ col- lected) were seen at Moar Bay between June 27 and July 14. This number includes 16 seen along the Poplar River on July 6, and 5 along the shore of Sheppard Island. Most of the others were flushed while walk- ing along the shore of the small bay near our camp. On July 2, a nest was found with 4 eggs which had not hatched when the nest was last visited on July 11. At Paul Bay, 26 Spotted Sandpipers were seen be- tween July 22 and August 6, and 15 between August 19 and 22. Most of these were flushed from the edge of the alder (where they were probably nesting) or seen feeding near the high tide line. On July 23, two partially downy young were collected. These had sufficient wing feathers just to flutter from the ground. When pursued they en- tered the water and dived, using their wings for swimming under the water. A slightly younger downy from another brood was seen at Paul Bay on July 26. On August 13, we saw 10 Spotted Sandpipers from our canoe during 2 hours spent on the Roggan River. Eastern Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria solitaria Wilson. On June 20, an apparent pair (4, testis, 4 x 3mm., 9, largest ovum, 1mm.) was col- lected from the small marsh near our camp at Moar Bay. They did not appear to be nesting. On July 1, another pair was seen in the marsh. They showed considerable agitation and may have had a nest, although they had not been seen there before. The male was collected (testis 5mm. x 3mm.) and the female was not again seen. On July 7, a single male (testis 2mm.) was collected at the same marsh. Two Solitary Sandpipers were seen on the ridge behind our camp at Paul Bay on July 21. It was thought they might have a nest or young, but were not seen there again. A pair, possibly the same, accompanied by at least two juvenile flying young, was seen in a small marsh a mile distant, on July 25. The juveniles and male parent (testis, 2mm. x 1mm.) were collected. Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 19 Table 11. POPULATION DENSITIES OF GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks WialitSi "Peni ee coeycce Aug. 28 4 hrs. in open! 25 ( 6.3 per hr.)| ¢ collected JPenoye ds BULIGE UGE ae eee Aug. 31 1 ee I ie tk PCO EL Sek Se) Stromness Har. ............. | Aug. 26 5 Soe ete es ene (OD FRE ony Pate) PAU BAY, hist eee ece July 31 15 gee em SS AAG QUA ae cet een) Aug. 20-24) 7 ence | sy 160 (22:9 “. “ )| @ juv., ~¢ collect: Kakachischuan Pt. ....... Aug. 1 10 Smee a Wey TOG Oi eh eco) Aug. 17-18 | 11 Petit duane SAE Selo cna) ROGAN VRIVET ) escs.csccs.0: Aug. 12-15 | 22 CP ta ae: 90% Canty somm a) The wing chord of adult specimens meas- ured, ¢ ¢ 124.5 mm. (121.5mm. — 126.5mm.); 9, 125mm. The outer primaries of all speci- mens are immaculate. *Wandering Tatler, Heteroscelus incanus (Gmelin). Bell (1882 p. 51) says, “...1 obtained a specimen of the wandering tatler (Heteros- celus brevipes, Vieill.), supposed to be a western species, on the Eastmain coast...” This was almost certainly based on a mis- identification (Cf. Townsend & Allen 1907 p. 362). Greater Yellow-legs, Totanus melanoleucas (Gmelin). We saw no Greater Yellow-legs at Moar Bay, indicating that this species is either more northern than the Lesser Yellow-legs or else nests inland and only arrives on the coast towards the beginning of August. Eight yellow-legs seen at Paul Bay beween July 24 and 28 were not identified specifical- ly. Most of those seen at the Roggan River were on the barrens. They could not be ap- proached sufficiently closely to tell whether they were adults or juveniles. About two- thirds of the Paul Bay and later records were juveniles. One hundred and fifty of the 160 seen at Paul Bay were together near the mouth of a small brook a mile north of our camp. This brook was visited only on August 24. Lesser Yellow-legs, Totanus flavipes (Gmelin). The Lesser Yellow-legs appears to be a fairly common nesting bird in the Moar Bay region. Macoun (1900 p. 173) lists a set of eggs not now in the National Museum taken in June, 1888 at Fort George by Miles Spence. On June 27, there were 15 Lesser Yellow- legs (32 collected testis, 3mm.) on the small marsh near our camp at Moar Bay. Next day this number had been increased to about 40 by migrant flocks, but by June 29, the total was down to 6. There appeared to be three nesting pairs which remained in the vicinity until my last visit on July 10. On that date they had moved from their usual places and the eggs had therefore presuma- bly been hatched. On July 11, two yellow- legs were seen during an hour’s walk in a larger marsh at Moar Bay, but none were ob- served on July 6 in the marshes about the Poplar River. One was seen on the island at Moar Bay on July 13. Eight yellow-legs were seen at Paul Bay between July 24 and 28, but were not identified specifically. Be- tween July 12 and 14, 3 Lesser Yellow-legs were seen at the Roggan River. One of these, a juvenile female, was collected. It was very tame, but twice when I ap- proached, it quickly swam out 2 or 3 yards from the shore on a lake by which it was feeding. The water there was about 2 feet deep, and the bird’s feet could not possibly have been on the bottom. On August 28, 2 Lesser Yellow-legs (one collected) were seen at Walrus Peninsula amongst a flock of Greater Yellow-legs. Purple Sandpiper, Erolia maritima (Briin- nich). Fifteen Purple Sandpipers were seen in small flocks at the Roggan River on August Uy Pectoral Sandpiper, Erolia melanotos (Vieil- lot). On August 15, a Pectoral Sandpiper was collected from a flock of 6 on the coastal barrens at the Roggan River. 20 THE CANADIAN White-rumped Sandpiper, Erolia fuscicollis (Vieillot). The White-rumped Sandpiper was first recorded at the Roggan River, where 41 were seen on the tide flats between August 12 and 15. Five hundred (4 ¢ 6 collected) were seen at Kakachischuan Point between August 17 and 18, and 12 on Walrus Peninsula on August 28. Least Sandpiper, Erolia minutilla (Vieillot). Seven Least Sandpipers were seen in the small marsh near our camp at Moar Bay on June 27, and 10 on June 29, when a male (testis, 5mm.) and a female (largest ovum, Imm.) were collected. After June 29, their numbers decreased, and only one was seen on July 10. I doubt if any nested there, although at first two or three appeared as. if they might have nests. Two Least Sand- pipers were seen during an hour’s walk in another marsh on July 11, but none in the marshes inland up the Poplar River on July 6. One was seen at Paul Bay on July 24, 3 at the Roggan River between August 14 and 15, and one on the Paint Hills Islands on August 30. Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ereunetes pusillus (Linnaeus). A female Semipalmated Sandpiper was col- lected at Fort George by Drexler on June 30 (Sharpe 1896 p. 518). Between August 14 and 15, we saw 10 (46, 9, collected) at Kaka- chischuan Point, 8 at Paul Bay on August 24, and one at the Paint Hills Islands on August 30. All were migrants feeding near the shore. Sanderling Crocethia alba (Pallas). Eight Sanderlings (@ collected) were seen at the edge of the Paul Bay tide flats on August 24, and 4 at Walrus Peninsula on August 28. Northern Phalarope, Lobipes lobatus (Lin- naeus). On July 8, 7 Northern Phalaropes (¢ col- lected) were seen feeding on a little lake on Island A. ; Parasitic Jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus (Linnaeus). Bell (1882 p. 50) obtained a specimen of the Parasitic Jaeger at Fort George. *Glaucous Gull, Larus hype*boreus hyperbo- reus Gunnerus. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Under museum specimens, Macoun (1900 p. 34) lists a set of 3 Glaucous Gull eggs from James Bay. This is presumably the set (now two) in the National Museum taken by Spreadborough on June 18, 1896 when he was between Factory River and the Paint Hills (Low 1896a). The two eggs measure 73mm. x 49mm. and 76mm. x 50mm. respectively. While the possibility that they belong to this species cannot be definitely ruled out, one egg is extremely small for that of the Glaucous Gull, and their measurements are much closer to those of the Herring Gull as given by Bent (1947). Morover, both Low (1896b p. 323) and Spreadborough (Macoun & Ma- coun 1909 p. 36) appear to have confused the Herring and Glaucous gulls in this region (Cf. Manning 1949). The set of 3 eggs from an island near Great Whale River which Macoun ‘(1900 p. 34) also lists under Glau- cous Gull measure 75mm. x 51mm., 73mm. x 50mm., 73 mm. x 50 mm., and are also probably those of the Herring Gull. Herring Gull, Larus argentatus smithsonianus Coues. All the Herring Gulls recorded in Table 12 were in one’s, two’s, or occasionally three’s except a flock of 15 (twice seen) at a small island in Paul Bay on July 6. Most of the Her- ring Gulls seer were in adult plumage or so near adult that they could not be distinguished in the distance. In spite of the numerous small islands which might be expected to be excellent nesting grounds, we found no evidence of nesting except for an old nest on Island A in Moar Bay where a pair ap- peared to resent our intrusion. The two specimens collected at Moar Bay were adults. The female obtained at Paul Bay was an im- mature, probably two years old. *Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis Ord. Bent (1947 p. 139) mentions Fort George as within the breeding range of the Ring- billed Gull. This is probably an error since there is no other definite record for James Bay (Manning MS) or for Lake Mistassini (Godfrey 1949). *Common Tern, Sterna hirundo Linnaeus. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 53) reported the Common Tern common from Moose Factory to Richmond Gulf in 1896. However, since he does not mention the Arctic Tern in this area, it seems very likely that some, and perhaps most of the terns he Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 21 Table 12. POPULATION DENSITIES OF HERRING GULL. Locality Dates Moar Bay, including June 27- Sheppard I. ............... July 14 nt ELUNE S US cence July 16 Pointe’ au Huard) ...0)5.2.— July 17 Walrus Peninsula ............ Aug. 27 Strommness yee. ee July 18-19 Aug. 26 Raul eBayseeen ce July 21- Aug 6 Aug. 19-24 Kakachischuan Pt. .......... Aug. 1 EO CS aT ee AVC Tae caer caetecsos Aug. 13 Moar Bay camp to Poplar River and return ......... July 6 Pointe au Huard to Dead Duck Bay ............. July 17 Dead Duck Bay to Stromness, Har 7 .-.-....: July 18 Paul Bay to Kakachis- chuan and return ......... Auge. al! Paul Bay to Seal River _| Aug. 7 Seal River to Cape Jones|' Aug. 8 Cape Jones to | RO SSAN RIVET eee. Aug. 11 Roggan River to Kakachischuan Pt. ...... | Aug. 16 Kakachischuan Pt. | LO) AEERUIL BN een ee Aug. 18 Stromness Har. to Walrus Peninsula ........ Aug. 27 Walrus Peninsula to IP EW iOne, LEGUNII See Aug. 29 Paint Hills Is. to Moar B. Sept. 2 saw were actually that species, particularly towards the northern portion. (See Arctic Tern below). Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea Pontopiddan. Time No. observed Remarks hrs. in open | 42 ( 1.2 Des hr.) 24 é collected 6c 6é “ce 4 ( a 3 oe ) 6é 66 6é Ss) ( 0.7 oe 6c ) 66 oe oe 2 ( 0.5 6é 33 ) 66 “ee ce 7 ( 0.6 6eé ce ) SO aha ae 35) .CaeG Uo) eo collected ce ee 6é 8 ( 0.8 74 6e ) 66 66 oe 14 ( 0.6 oe ce ) « lg os li Gag ih eete Seeicnd ls Gl ua) cap saat ae Bt iw MO) ‘ EAN TS BN COED ES ER) s : AT Cotes a) ce ce 30 ( Oly (73 “ce ) “c “ | 5 ( 2.5 ce 6é ) which ap- In Table 13 it has been assumed that pears to be the more numerous in James Bay, all the terns seen were Arctic Terns. Unfortunately none were collected, and the bases for the assumption are our small col- lections on the west side of James Bay and Table 13. POPULATION DENSITIES OF ARCTIC TERN. Locality Dates | Time No. observed Moar Bay, including Sheppard I. .| June 27- 35 hrs. in open 85 ( 2.4 per hr.) | July 14 SEELOMIMIESS = Lo wter eee wee meee ARS July 19-20 | 6 hrs. travelling | Ai (iON: eh” rey Moar Bay N. to Pte. au Huard _....... | Sly Ge. ie 2D eile He 15@.610)) ae) Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck Bay .| July 17 | 6 ie ss Lay CS OE) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har. July 18 | 6 ae i LO © eT aces, tenip) Paul Bay to seal Hiver i s.c.2.4) Auge” 7 9 ve S° PANO) CPAP aN ud ht) ie Seal River to Cape Jones ................ Adse) (8 4 % sf OMG me) 22 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 14. POPULATION DENSITIES OF NEARCTIC MANDT’S GUILLEMOT. Locality | Dates | Time No. observed Short canoe trips at Paul Bay .............. | July 6-11 6 hrs. travelling 8 ( 1.3 per hr.) Moar Bay to Pointe au Huard ........... IM Jtulyanl'5 16 aon. és 10° ¢ 2:57 ey Pte. au Huard to Dead Duck Bay .... PGi aly We Gove ul 900: (3.3) ee) Dead Duck Bay to Stromness Har. ..... Duly, eS Ons i; 250), © 8:35 Caan) Paul Bay to Stromness Har. | and: Return dee ae os Aug. 45 Ann | 1 © 2155 eae Paul) Bay to Seale@River ee Aug. 7 Oe. « : 30 (C338 eee, Seal River to Cape Jones ................... Aug. 8 aromrt s 30 (CES ee) Cape Jones to Roggan River ............... Aug. 11 Goats 60) GOl0y ie) Roggan River to Kakachischuan Pt. ...| Aug. 16 ay i ‘f 50): CLO eae) Walrus Pen. to Paint Hills Is. ........... Aug. 29 De eeaies ‘ | LO°C@ Sa eae) on Grey Goose Island in 1947 (Manning 1951, MS) and on Gasket Shoal and Sunday Island in 1949 (Manning MS). Probably a few of the terns recorded at Moar Bay were Com- mon Terns, but it is unlikely that they nor- mally go much north of this. No terns’ nests were found, nor were any young birds seen, but it seems probable that they nest at least in some years on the low, drift islands about the Seal River. It will be noted that although terns were numerous there on August 7 and 8, they had left before our return on August 11, while on the latter date, 400 were seen near the small islands and shoals on the south side of Long Island Sound. Nearctic Mandt’s Guillemot, Cepphus grylle ultinuus Salomonsen. The small, rocky, boulder-covered islands along this coast should provide excellent nest- ing places for guillemots, but we did not examine any of the islands about which they appeared most numerous. Packard (1891 p. 441) records that Drexler obtained specimens at Fort George on July 17, 1861, and an adult female listed in the British Museum catalogue (Sharpe & Ogilvie- Grant 1898 p. 585) as from Fort George, British Columbia, July 15 (C. Drexler), was also probably taken at the Fort George on east James Bay. Stejneger (1884 p. 222) gives the exposed culmen length of a male and female taken by Drexler at St. [Fort] George on July 19 as 28mm. and 27mm., re- spectively which place them within the range of C.g.ultimus (Cf. Salomonsen 1944 p. 94). Seventeen specimens from Sunday Island and Bare Island are also referred to this race (Manning MSb). *Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius Linnaeus. Arcording to Low (1896b p. 325L), this now extinct species was very rare in the Labrador Peninsula, but eggs were obtained at Fort George in 1887. A white egg meas- uring 40.5mm. x 32mm. with “Fire Hawk, 18 May, 1887, at G. Pond” pencilled on it is now in the National Museum. An ac- companying label states that it is a Passenger Pigeon’s egg taken at Fort George by Miles Spence. Presumably this is one of those referred to by Low. Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca (Linnaeus). According to local information, the Snowy Owl is sometimes very numerous on this coast in the spring and fall. It is for this species in particular that the Indians set steel traps on the top of upright logs on the barren points and islands. American Hawk Owl, Surnia ulula caparoch (Miller). On July 8, an owl thought to be of this species was seen on Island A. On July 16, a male (testis 5mm. x 2mm.) was collected on the Paint Hills Islands. It was flushed from a lone white spruce below the rocky hill. The stomach contained the remains of a small passerine bird. Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus flammeus (Pontopiddan). Between June 28 and July 14, 9 Short- eared Owls were seen at Moar Bay. On July 2, a male (testis, 7mm.) and a female (largest ovum, 1mm.) were collected. The stomach of the male contained the remains of a small rodent; that of the female, only fur. Both were very thin. Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 23 Richardson’s Owl, Aegolius funereus richard- soni (Bonaparte). A male Richardson’s Owl (testis, 4mm.) was collected in a dense stand of white spruce at Paul Bay on July 25. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus luteus Bangs. The Yellow-shafted Flicker is moderately common in the spruce woods along this coast and probably throughout the inland region. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 346) observed a few as far north as Fort George in June 1896. Between June 29 and July 14, 23 adult Yellow-shafted Flickers (¢, 2, collected) were seen at Moar Bay. On July 8, a nest was found in a hole in a’ dead spruce on Sheppard Island, and on July 11, we collected 3 of the 6 nestlings which were then almost ready to fly. Their stomachs contained ants and ant pupae. At Paul Bay, we saw two flickers on July 23, one on July 24, one on August 3, and one on August 20. Three were seen in the spruce woods at the Roggan River on August 13, 8 (one juvenile male collected) were seen together at Walrus Peninsula on August 27, and one was flushed from an isolated spruce on the Paint Hills Islands on August 30. The measurements of our specimens were: adult ¢, wing chord, 156mm., tail, 101mm., tarsus, 29mm., total culmen, 35mm. Adult 9°, wing chord, 152mm., tail, 92mm., tarsus, 27mm., total culmen, 35mm. Juvenile 4, wing chord, 153mm., tail, 100mm., tarsus, 27.5mm., total culmen, 33mm. Even after allowance has been made for the worn plumage of the adults and incomplete growth of the juvenile, these measurements agree better with those given by Ridgway for C.a.luteus than those for C.a.borealis. They Table 15. POPULATION DENSITIES are intermediate between two larger and one smaller specimen obtained by Godfrey (1949) from the Lake Mistassini region al- most a degree farther south. This suggests that the size range in the Labrador Peninsula population is large, and strengthens Rand’s objection (1944a) to the recognition of C.a.borealis. American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus bacatus Bangs The American Three-toed Woodpecker was seen only at Moar Bay, where a female (largest ovum, 0.5mm.) was collected on June 30, and a male (testis, 4mm.) on July 1. Another female (largest ovum, 1.3mm.) was collected on July 3. Wing chord meas- urements: ¢, 112mm., 92 110mm., 114mm. Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus (Lin- naeus). On July 1, a male Eastern Kingbird (testis, 10mm. x 7mm.) was collected in the little marsh near our camp at Moar Bay. Alder Flycatcher, Empidonaxz traillii traillii (Audubon). A female Alder Flycatcher (wing chord, 65.5mm.) was collected in the willow and alder thickets at the mouth of the Piagochiwi River on July 24. Northern Horned Lark, Eremophila alpestris alpestris (Linnaeus). Horned Larks undoubtedly nest on the bar- ren islands and points at least as far south as Moar Bay. South of there nearly all the coastal islands are wooded. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 391) found Horned Larks common and breeding on the rocky islands of the east James Bay coast, and under ‘museum specimens’ Macoun (1903 p. 362) lists a set of three eggs collected by OF NORTHERN HORNED LARK. Locality Dates Time _No. observed Remarks Small island at N. end Moar Bay .| July 15 Total population, 4 | 49 collected Paint pea Si ss ccs-e.-a| July 16, 3 hrs. on barrens| 6 (=15 per sq. mi.) | ¢ 2 et We Atuio: 29-30) 1d er on < e LOCOS aa ea) MES * Pointe au Huard ...... | July 17 Oy oer Bt s nn is ee) Kakachischuan Pt... Aug. 1 10 rhe * SRC == 1G GHEE) PLIGG IG! OS. Aug. 17-18 111 “c (73 6c 50 (=35 6“ 6c 66 ) ROSan WIVELA G2s...2 Aug. 12-15 18 Sere et ff LOC ate? 00 Sete © es 24 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 16. POPULATION DENSITIES OF LABRADOR JAY. Locality Dates Time No. observed | Remarks Moar Bay, includ- ing Sheppard Is. June 27- (51 hrs. in or near 66 (=10 per sq.mi. 64 6, 299 and Poplar River | July 14 spruce of habitat) 1 sex ? collect. Moan Baye Sept. 2 3 Spain Ve 251 C—O eostiat tien) Walrus) Pen. 9 Aug, 27-28) 9 hrs. in spruce|12s(—=10 “aie Sais a Stromness I. ......... July 20 3¥Pohrs) in or near G13) sae oD) spruce | PaulvBayereeer ae July 22- | Auge (Giisile aohrsssin: SpRuces 1 Os (3 ed eke ae) (36 On Al) OES AISA G-2Ai aloe Gea Se 13 (= 6 “* “ ‘Sma OrOiye2ioe Cena Roggan River ....... Aug. 31 3 iy aati 9 IGS BNE Spreadborough on an island in James Bay on July 18, 1896. On that date Spreadborough was between Factory River and the Paint Hills (Low 1896a). This set of eggs is not now in the National Museum. It will be seen from the table that we saw no Horned Larks at the south end of Moar Bay, although we examined some suitable terrain on Sheppard Island and Island A. Flying juveniles were first seen at Kakachis- chuan Point on August 1, and thereafter juveniles made up about a third of the num- bers given in Table 15. Tree Swallow, Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot). On July 6, 5 Tree Swallows were seen fly- ing over or near the mouth of the Poplar River. Bank Swallow, Riparia riparia riparia (Lin- naeus). On August 13, 3 Bank Swallows were seen near the abandoned Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at the Roggan River, and an old nest was dug out of one of the several holes in the sandy cut bank of the river. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 580) says that this species was not common, but a few were seen in 1896 throughout the trip from Moose Factory across Ungava to the forks of the Koksoak River above Chi- mo. However, there may be a confusion here between this species and the Tree Swallow, since Spreadborough does not mention the latter north of Moose Factory, whereas Low (1896b p. 327L) reported that it was com- mon in the interior of the Labrador Penin- sula. At Lake Mistassini the Tree Swallow is the common swallow, and only one Bank Swallow was seen by Godfrey’s party (God- frey 1949). Labrador Jay, Perisoreus canadensis nigrica- pillus Ridgway. This species is a plentiful resident of the spruce forests of the coast and hinterland of this area. In 1896, Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 407) found them common throughout his journey from Moosonee to Ungava Bay. At Moar Bay we frequently saw some in the alder and willow at the spruce edge as well as around our camp. The latter, however, have not been included in the figures in the table. Juveniles comprised a little over half the total birds recorded in the table. Several jays were caught in fox and mouse traps, both at Moar and Paul bays. Thirteen of our east James Bay specimens are in fresh fall plumage. These have been compared with two specimens of P.c.nigri- capillus collected by D. F. Coates at Goose Bay, Labrador, on October 15, 1950, and 5 collected at Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay, by Hildebrand (1950) in March and April, 1948, as well as 6 comparable July and August specimens of P.c.canadensis from the Lake Mistassini region (Godfrey 1949), two from Swastika, central Ontario, taken September 15, 1950, one from the Mattawan River, P.Q., taken October 4, 1950, two from the Ottawa region, October 9, 1941, and November 6, 1933, and two from Gilmour, southern Onta- rio, October 4, 1941. Fresh typical P.c.nigri- capillus as exemplified by the Chimo and Goose Bay specimens show a bluer, more slaty tinge on the dorsal surface, and are darker and more slaty below than the speci- mens of P.c.canadensis examined (Cf. Austin 1932). Our east James Bay material is some- what intermediate, but clearly closer to P.c.nigricapillus. Jan.-Feb., 1952] Northern Raven, Corvus corax principalis Ridgway. During our first few days at Moar Bay, two Ravens were frequently seen singly or together. These were probably a pair which were nesting near by. On July 2, 6, probably two adults and 4 young, were seen together. Some Ravens, most likely members of this family, were seen nearly every day after this, and on July 14, two juvenile males were collected. On July 6, a total of 10 Ravens were seen at different times near the mouth of the Poplar River. Between July 19 and 20, 3 flew over Stromness Island, and we saw 3 more on walks at Paul Bay between July 22 and 24. On July 27, we twice passed a small, barren rocky island 1% miles from our Paul Bay camp. There were 3 Ravens on this island in the morn- ing and 10 in the evening. When we again passed on August 1, there were 15, but we could find nothing there to attract them. On August 1, we also saw 5 on Kakachischuan Point. Seven Ravens were seen on August 7 and 8 between Paul Bay and Cape Jones; one at the Roggan River on August 12 and 13; 6 at Paul Bay betwen August 22 and 23; one at Walrus Peninsula on August 28; and one between there and the Paint Hills Islands on August 29. Hudsonian Chickadee, Parus hudsonicus hud- sonicus Forster. Five Hudsonian Chickadees were seen to- gether (two juvenals collected) at Paul Bay on July 22, and another on July 26. Be- tween August 27 and 28, 4 Hudsonian Chic- kadees (two @2 post-juvenals collected) were seen at Walrus Peninsula. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 25 Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis Lin- naeus. A single female juvenile Red-breasted Nut- hatch was collected in the small spruce grove on the Paint Hills Islands. Black-backed Robin, Turdus migratorius nigri- deus Aldrich & Nutt. Robins are fairly common near the edge of the spruce along the coast, but probably less numerous inland. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 749) found them common throughout his journey from Moose Factory to Fort Chimo. Most of the robins recorded at Moar Bay were seen when they were out feeding in the marshes or other open ground, and their nests were probably in the spruce woods at the edge of the open spaces. Robins were fairly evenly distributed in suitable places in the Moar Bay region, but they were com- monest on Sheppard Island, where on July 4, 7 were visible at one time feeding on the barren northeast point. We saw none at the Roggan River, perhaps because their south- ward movement had started before our arrival on August 11. Our 9 June and July males from Moar and Paul Bays were compared with 3 June male T.m.nigrideus from Newfoundland. Five of the former agree closely with the Newfoundland birds, 3 resembled typical T.m.migratorius of the Ottawa region, and one is intermediate. The majority of the Moose estuary and west James Bay males are pale-backed (Manning MS), and the boundary between the two races is probably at the bottom of James Bay between the Moose River and Rupert Bay. However, typically dark-backed individuals have been Table 17. POPULATION DENSITIES OF BLACK-BACKED ROBIN. Locality Dates Moar Bay, including Sheppard I. and June 27- 97 Poplar River ......... July 14) Sirommness 7], 2.225..5.2. July 19-20 | 9 o Hore George”... Aug. 4 Paul Bay, 2. eee \July 2255 |63 as | Aug. 6 Aug. 19-23 27 Walrus ben) Aug. 27-28 13 e aint is) 1s... ce2. 222: Aug. 31 |17% “ Time No. observed Remarks hrs. observing 160 (=15 per sq.mi.) 194 4, 399 | collected & 4 (= 4 66 66 66 ) | 6 | “ ABE Bi Sinfhiait Dillag “ (73 5 (= 2 66 “cc 6c ) a 6c d LO: CAG fet) cc 1 a 6c 26 THE CANADIAN collected near the northern extremity of the species range well to the west of Hudson Bay (Manning MS), while pale-backed robins probably occur through much of the west- ern part of the Labrador Peninsula. Our east James Bay robins showed no correlation between dark backs and dark breasts. With one possible exception, our 5 juveniles did not show larger or darker breast spotting than comparable Ottawa specimens. Eastern Hermit Thrush, Hylocichla guttata faxoni Bangs & Penard. A female Hermit Thrush (largest ovum, 1mm.) was collected at Moar Bay on June 30, and another was seen there on July 4. Three birds, probably of this species, were seen on Stromness Island between July 19 and 20. Olive-backed Thrush, Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni (Tschudi) . In June, 1896, Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 741) found the Olive-backed Thrush along the James Bay coast as far as Fort George, and Baird (1874 p. 21) lists a specimen collected [by Drexler?] at Fort George on July 11, 1860. We saw 3 at the Poplar River on July 8, and a female (largest ovum, 4mm.) was collected. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Eastern Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus ca- lendula calendula (Linnaeus). The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is one of the commonest and most evenly distributed species of the main spruce woods of the region. It is also abundant inland (Godfrey 1949; Manning 1949). It was as common on Sheppard Island as on the mainland, but we saw none amongst small isolated spruce stands such as those on Stromness Island or the Paint Hills Islands. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 729) observed it at Fort George on June 20, 1896. American Pipit, Anthus spinoletta rubescens (Tunstall). In 1896, Spreadborough (Macoun & Ma- coun 1909 p. 684) found American Pipits common on the high, rocky islands in east James Bay. This may refer to the Paint Hills Islands which are the only ones near the mainland which can be called high, but it is fairly certain that the American Pipit also nests on some of the lower rocky islands. The two American Pipits collected at Moar Bay on July 8 may have been nesting on Island A. Pipits were also very likely nesting on Stromness Island. Those seen at the Roggan River, Kakachischuan Point, and Table 18. POPULATION DENSITIES OF EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Locality Dates Time No. observed | Remarks Moar Bay including June 27- 35% hrs. in spruce! 36 (= 45 per sq.mi.) 6446, Q Sheppard) ha: July 14) | collected Paull Bayes ct scneoc: July 22-31 | 31 Salat % Sin — 20) nl seer RS < ue 19-22) alee es - LOM (A ey Walrusieenye se. Aug. 27-28 | 9 Sete is 46. (= 100) oe De eS Oxen- mama Table 19. POPULATION DENSITIES OF AMERICAN PIPIT. Locality Dates Time No. Remarks observed Sheppard I. and July 8, 13, 446, 2299 Slade Awe. men ee 14 12 ~=ihrs. on barrens | 10 collected Sheppardieleteec.. se Sept. 2 UG ibe ie ie 40 Stromnessi abe. ae July 20 5 a ae eo) 7 Q a RogsanwRiver sees Aug. 15 | 18 Bek es 40 Kakachischuan Pt. ........ Aug. 17-18 | 11 Ss a sf 34 Paint bllsoisiey seer ee PAUSE SOG ll y2en eas fs 108 Sept. 1 Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD- NATURALIST 27 Table 20. POPULATION DENSITIES OF NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER. Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks Poplar River ............. July 6 64% hrs. in habitat 3 (= 15 per sq.mi.) | Stromness Har. ........ July 19 5 tie ie os 3) == Ouueee vege tig Oc collected Paul Bay (near camp) .......... July 24 24 ree Rae Pe LO CSE erate aang ea Nae s Paul Bay (pen.) ..... laduly e2iipaliy2 re had = VeRO) C—O) eats ar SHO Paul Bay (I.) ognnododees4 | | 2 Se OG Gs 113 (=150 Cima ramen Kakachischuan Pt....| Aug. 1 | 5 Ee re Ia CBO. nus tt 4, 2 ue Aug. 18 | 5 (74 ce ce 2 C= 20 66 66 ce Rattles ayia eee Aug. 18 1 eS Fk s (SO iy AS ‘ the Paint Hills Islands were in small flocks, usually near the shore, while the 40 seen on Sheppard Island on September 2 were in one flock. Tennesse Warbler, Vermivora peregrina (Wilson). Packard (1891 p. 412) records that Drex- ler obtained specimens at Fort George in June and July, 1860, and Baird (1874 p. 179) lists one collected there on July 11, 1860. On July 6, we saw 6 Tennessee Warblers in the willow thickets near the Poplar River, and a male (testis, 4mm.) was collected. Orange-crowned Warbler, Vermivora celata celata (Say). On June 28, a male Orange-crowned Warbler was collected at Moar Bay, and between July 27 and August 3, 8 (3 $4, 2 collected) were seen at Paul Bay. The 4 males, probably through chance sampling, average slightly more yellow than a com- parable series from Manitoba (Ilford, Dou- glas, and Shoal Lake). Average wing chord measurement of the 4 worn males is 60.8mm. (59.5mm.—62.5mm.), and the females, 56.5 mm. Northern Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia amnicola Batchelder. No Yellow Warblers were seen near our Moar Bay camp. and they were scarce or absent in the willow and alder thickets along the river and edge of the mainland spruce at Paul Bay, but in the alder thickets on the islands and on the peninsula 14% miles west of our camp they were abundant. By August 18, their numbers had considerably decreased. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 624) found the Yellow Warbler common along the east James Bay coast in June 1896, and on June 23, when between Paul Bay and the Roggan River (Low 1896a) he found a nest containing 4 eggs (nest and 2 eggs now in the National Museum). Drexler obtained a specimen at Fort George on July 12, 1860 (Packard 1891 p. 412). Table 21. POPULATION DENSITIES OF EASTERN MYRTLE WARBLER. Locality | Dates Time No. observed Remarks Moar Bay, including Sheppard I. and June 27- 39 hrs. in spruce|38 (= 25 per sq.mi.) 9446, 499 Poplar. River? =-1- July 14 collected MO ATeRE aya. tee Sept. 2 At edge of spruce 6 SnSCXrey ass Paul Bay (.202....0:0¢ July 21- SATS IN SPELUCE |, 2on(— N25) Grad! ae) hela Sexin7 Aug. 3 | 46g, 429, Aug. 20-24.)17% »«“.. “ fs WAG iGo OW cae orem ue) WialirtSeeenny se Aug. 27-28 9 ae ok [SOM STaO ee Cee Se |e collected Palit. EMS) IS: v=. Aug. 30- 6 pes snes rh ECS 5) Sept. 1 | 28 THE CANADIAN Eastern Myrtle Warbler, Dendroica coronata coronata (Linnaeus). The Myrtle Warbler is a common species in the spruce forests of the coastal region and hinterland. Fifteen of the 38 Myrtle Warblers recorded at Moar Bay were seen on June 27 when they were feeding in small groups amongst the small, scattered spruce and tamarack at the head of the little marsh near our camp. None were there the next day, and after that date they were usually seen in the main spruce forests where they were one of the commonest birds, especially in late August and September, when over three-fourths of those seen were juveniles. The first juveniles were seen at Paul Bay on July 25. The average wing chord measurement of 11 males and 8 female adults is 73mm. (71imm.-77mm.), and 69mm. (66mm.-72mm.) respectively. The males, like those from Lake Mistassini (Godfrey 1949) and the west side of James Bay (Manning MS), have breasts heavily marked with black and are clearly referable to the eastern race. Blackpell Warbler, Dendroica striata (Forster). Baird (1874 p. 193) lists a Blackpoll Warbler taken by Drexler at Fort George on July 7, 1860. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 645) observed one there on June 20, 1896, and two more between there and Richmond Gulf. We collected a male at Stromness Island on July 20, one was seen at Paul Bay on July 22 and 24, and 6 adults were seen on the peninsula 1% miles to the west of our camp on July 27: a male, a female and a nestling were collected. Our single female can be matched both by specimens from Newfoundland and from Yukon Territory. The black dorsal streaks of the male are as wide and long and pro- minent as those on any specimen in a series of eight from Newfoundland. However, this character is not constant in specimens from the intervening region. Palm Warbler, Dendroica palmarum palma- rum (Gmelin). Baird (1874 p. 208) lists a Palm Warbler collected at Fort George in 1861. We ob- tained one in post-juvenal plumage at Spit Island, 20 miles south of Long Point on Sep- tember 4. It agrees well with comparable FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 material from the Moose River’ estuary (Manning 1951) and from Manitoba and Sas- katchewan and is therefore tentatively re- ferred to the western race. However, the only specimen collected by Godfrey (1949) from Mistassini post has the typical yellow plumage of D.p.hypochrysea. Godfrey (God- frey and Wilk 1948) considered his Lake St. John specimens somewhat less yellow than birds from the maritime provinces, and it is possible that the boundary between the two races lies in the region just east of James Bay. Farther south, however, in the Ottawa region, the breeding race is D.p.hypo- chrysea (Rand 1944b). Grinnell’s Water-thrush, Sezurus noveboracen- sis notabilis Ridgway. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 659) found the water-thrush common at Fort George in 1896, but rare farther north. On July 6, we saw 4 (6 collected) in the willow thickets near the mouth of the Poplar River. Godfrey (1949) has shown that this supposed- ly western race breeds across the northern portion of the species range at least as far east as Lake Mistassini. Yellow-throat Geothlypis trichas ssp. One Yellow-throat was seen at Moar Bay on June 30 and on July 14, and one at Paul Bay on July 23 and 24. Presumably the same race is represented here as in the region of Lake Mistassini and Moose River estuary. Three adult males from the former region and one from the latter agree well in colour with 10 comparable but worn males from the Ottawa region. The upper parts of this group are greyer and average less yellowish than two New Brunswick males, but suffi- cient material is not available to check the conclusions drawn by Oberholser (1948), who has separated Ontario and Quebec birds un- der the names G.t.ontarionicola and G.t.que- becicola. Wilson’s Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla pusilla (Wilson). Baird (1874 p. 241) lists a Wilson’s Warbler collected by Drexler at Fort George on September 3, 1860, and Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 673) observed one there on June 20, 1896. He saw none north of there. On July 19, a male Wilson’s Warbler was collected on Stromness Island. At Paul Bay, 5 (3 66, 2, 1 Sex ?) were seen amongst the The highest hill on the eastern end of Walrus Island. (Paint Hills Islands). August 30, 1950. Looking west along the shore past the Paul Bay camp from the northern side of the Piagochiwi River. August 22, 1950. Kakachischuan River. August 1, 1950. Scattered clumps of white spruce about three miles inland on the coastal barrens at the Roggan River. August 14, 1950. _Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 29 Table 22. POPULATION DENSITIES OF COMMON REDPOLL. Locality Dates Time No. observed | Remarks eat EE ps eS |] mPaint Hills) Is, to. Aug. 30 15. hrs. in habitat 6 (= 10 per sq.mi.) Stromness I. ............. July 20 9 Si calor | 107 (= 200 Sass Onmcollect: Aug. 26 Gyan ce (ed CS a ress Sh EP $6 AUT BAY 252.01. tie..s | July 24- 35 iS f 2d CSS Setapas sof) il Sexe aimee Aug. 3 | Aug. 19-24 15 See Tice s Ip GO the Co | Pa Las Kakachischuan Pt. ...| Aug. 1, 7 | 7 oda ee Weve (=O) Magee ccd icc Siu Y Aug. 17-18 5 See ieee 3 (—=4 0s inn 7 Wed) Roggan River ........... Aug. 12 20 SSMS MES 2 (25) ye ey | willow and alder between July 22 and 25, and 4 (é collected) between August 20 and 24. A fledgling was also collected at Paul Bay on July 22. Rusty Blackbird, Ewphagus carolinus (Miil- ler). On July 6, a Rusty Blackbird was seen amongst the willow at the mouth of the Poplar River, and on July 22, 15 (juvenile 4 collected) were seen near the small marsh at Paul Bay. One was seen near Fort George settlement on August 4. Common Redpoll, Acanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus). Ten of the 18 Redpolls recorded at Paul Bay were seen on the peninsula half a mile west of our camp or on a small island near there. Most of the others were observed on the top of the rocky ridge behind our camp. The apparent scarcity of Redpolls on Kaka- chischuan Point on August 17 and 18 com- pared to August 1 may have been due to the gale which was blowing on the former dates and which made small birds difficult to see. Drexler collected an adult female at Fort George (Sharpe 1888 p. 250). White-winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera leu- coptera Gmelin. On July 8, two White-winged Crossbills (2 collected) were seen on Sheppard Island. On July 25, a juvenile was collected at Paul Bay, and the next day another juvenile and an adult male were obtained. Bell (1882 p. 53) obtained a White-winged Crossbill at Fort George. Churchill Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis oblitus Peters & Griscom. Amongst the scrub on the small barren islands in Moar Bay, the larger barren islands and peninsulas farther north, and the mainland barrens at the Roggan River, Savannah Sparrows were the commonest birds. On the whole, however, they were less abundant than on the west James Bay Coast. We found them plentiful at the edge of the willow and alder thickets surrounding some of the marshes near the coast, but in the small marshes a mile or so inland they were much scarcer. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 498) found them tolerably common on the islands and shore of, James Bay from Moose Factory to Richmond Gulf, but he saw none inland from there. At Paul Bay in July and early August we saw Savannah Sparrows only on our visit to the partly barren peninsula and small island a mile or two west of our camp and about the marsh surrounding the lake south of the Piagochiwi River. Towards the end of August, they were more generally distributed. At the Roggan River, Savannah Sparrows were most numerous in or near the smaller patches of alder and amongst the low dwarf birch of the barrens. In the taller alder they were outnumbered three to to one by the Tree Sparrows. A few Savan- nahs were seen inland of the Roggan River on August 14. A few juveniles were seen at Kakachischuan Pt. on August 1, and after that they probably accounted for about three- fourths of those recorded in the table. Our specimens agree well both with topo- typical material from Churchill and a large series tentatively referred to this race (Man- ning 1951) collected along the coast between there and the Moose River. Peters and Gris- com (1948) also refer James Bay (Ontario) and Lake St. John specimens to P.s.oblitus. Godfrey (1949) refers breeding specimens from Lake Mistassini region and Lake St. 30 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 23. POPULATION DENSITIES OF CHURCHILL SAVANNAH SPARROW. Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks June 27- 31 hrs. in habitat 55 (= 35 per sq.mi.) 4 66,5 29 MoaraBay (..6.022 July 12 collected Sept. 9 4 (74 66 (74 15 (= 75 ce 66 ce ) 2 4 3, 3 Q Q Sheppardies, July, 4, 8, collected 13, 14 14 (74 6é ce | 29 (= 40 ce a3 6c ) Island) “Ave July 6 : Total population: 25 Poplar River ......... July 6 | 3 GOR bac ie | 17 (=100 per sq.mi.)|2 ¢¢, 9 “ I. at N. Pt. Moar Bay! July 15 Total population: 20 Paint Hills Is. ....... July 16 1 Shae xf 2 (= 40 per sq.mi.) Aug. 30- 10 Seite: AS (= Ba ee) eae G lS ee Sept. 1 Pte. au auarder es July 17 4 SF crsahog a4 GON(=300 7 Saeco Wialrus Pen ences Aug. 27-28 | 4 gent és 86: 40) se Bp, Stromness I. ............ July 19-20 | 9 She een FP O20 eee ae) Aug. 26 614 66 “ce 6c | 4 (= 10 * ‘eG ) Paula Bayes. ee July 27-31 13 Viera it SS 16 G25) oS Saas & Aug. 18-24 7 SB Cae Aes eR) eal 5) Kakachischuan Pt. .| Aug, 1, 7, 10% “ “ bi lal'GO)}x(—3O0h 1 sauace mec) 17, 18 11 Fe ge e 100 (=200 “ “ “ jy} 9 ‘s Roggan River .......... | Aug. 1245. 21 BE OSI (EI Ga lay © @ & John (Godfrey & Wilk 1948) to the same race. Breeding birds from Long Island, just north of James Bay, appear darker. Slate-coloured Junco, Junco hyemalis hyema- lis (Linnaeus). The Slate-coloured Junco nests in the dense spruce forests of the coast and hinter- land. Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 530) saw one June 18, 1896, when between Eastmain and the Paint Hills (Low 1896a), and found a pair breeding at Fort George a few days later. Between June 27 and 30, Slate-coloured Juncos in small, loose groups were numerous at Moar Bay, especially around the small scattered patches of willow, alder, spruce, and tamarack. at the landward end of the small marsh near our camp. By the begin- ning of July these had left, and thereafter most of the juncos seen were in the dryer parts of the main spruce woods. On July 2, a nest was found which contained an un- developed egg and 3 young about two days old. One of these young had apparently left Table 24. POPULATION DENSITIES OF SLATE-COLOURED JUNCO. ac Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks Moar Bays) eee June 27- | 25% hrs. in or 86 (= 70 per sq.mi.) 6¢¢,32°2 July 10 near spruce | collected Sept. 2 1 ey me 2 Sheppard’ [ue ee. July 4, 8, 10 oi ake €or 20 (OM ey nel) tenon) sf 13, 14 | Poplar) River \i....0i3...200 July 6 | 312 facie “ M1 RGSS anc aes) Paull hBay see 20 eae July 21- SAMS, wean, Se ECT D GC IS mn ala ‘e Aug. 3 Aug. igl9-24 78S ath “oe Say (pO ee 9 ee) oi Walts. Reni abn e. | Aug. 27-28 | 9 Serine Ce Nt) GL DON eer uae ce) Paing Ris Tsay /Aug. 30- | 6 ieee unt Yaar Gash (10) fie shy SEA) | Sept. 1 ae eee eee ee eee eee ee ie eee ee ee ee. ee the nest by July 11, when the remaining two were collected. Eastern Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea arbo- rea (Wilson). Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 519) first observed Tree Sparrows a little north of Fort George where they became common and they were very abundant across Ungava from Richmond Gulf to Fort Chimo. Although areas of scattered spruce and alder and dwarf birch scrub on the island at Moar Bay appeared to offer a suitable habitat for Tree Sparrows, we saw none during the breeding season south of Pointe au Huard, and it seems likely that they do not regular- ly nest south of that except perhaps on the Paint Hills Islands. From there northward there are many areas suitable for nesting on the points and islands, and north of the Kapsausis River they probably nest in con- siderable numbers back along the edge of the tree line and amongst the patches of alder on the barrens. On the barrens they liked the taller patches of alder, and were frequently seen in or near small patches of spruce, but never in the main spruce forest. About a quarter of the Tree Sparrows recorded above on August 1 and 7 on Kaka- chischuan Peninsula were juveniles, but the actual proportion of juveniles to adults was probably considerably larger since the juve- niles kept well hidden in the dense alder. On later dates, at least three-fourths were juveniles, and the apparent increase in num- bers at Kakachischuan Point on our last visit was probably due to the increased number of juveniles on the wing as well as to their being less secretive. The specimens agree closely with a com- parable series from east James Bay and | Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 31 Table 25. POPULATION DENSITIES OF EASTERN TREE SPARROW. | Locality Dates Time No. observed | Remarks Paint Hills Is. ....... Aug. 30-31 12 hrs. in habitat 8 (= 15 per sq.mi.) ¢ collected Pte. au Huard ........ July 17 4 SER SS Ss aL SOD aeeermte cay) SSi)nllew a6 isstromness I.’ ........: July 19-20 | 9 eas it 350 CGO Ek seh le) UA Omics Aug. 6 614 6“ &< “ 6 — 920 OV GR GG ) | RaulBay 2 e. 20 Ne July 26-29 30 Se net s DD NH Gen feo Os EE | Aug. 23 12 (73 (73 (73 3 (= 5 (73 73 (73 ) | | Kakachischuan Pt. .| Aug. 1, 7, lie Sh ite oe D4) C150 Bite font) aa eo ‘ Aug. 17, 18 | 6 pattie ue | 90, ‘@_300"% “ “| _Roggan River ......... PAS MOTs homey) wc) CeIn ice 104, \(-S100amEs yl sia a No southern Hudson Bay birds. The measure- ments of the adults are: 6 worn ¢ $, wing chord 74.5mm. (74mm.-75mm.), tail 66mm. (65mm.-67mm.); 2 worn 2°, wing chord 7imm. and 72mm., tail 64mm. and 65mm.; one adult ¢ in fresh fall plumage, wing chord 77mm., tail 70mm. White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leuco- phrys leucophrys (Forster). Spreadborough (Macoun & Macoun 1909, p. 511) first observed this species a short dis- tance north of Fort George where they be- came common, and on June 23, 1896, when somewhere between Paul Bay and the Rog- gan River (Low 1896), he obtained a set of three eggs from an island (Macoun 1904 p. 480). Although there appeared to be _ suitable habitat on Sheppard Island, we saw no White-crowned Sparrows south of the Paint Hills Islands, where they inhabited isolated scrubby spruce trees. At least two pairs nested near our camp at Paul Bay, but they were commoner on the more barren penin- sulas and islands where they frequented the alder as well as scattered spruce. Their scarcity at the Roggan River was surprising, but it can be seen from Table 26 that they were less numerous at Kakachischuan on our second visit, and the majority may have left the Roggan River before we arrived. The first young were observed on Strom- ness Island on July 20. Two others were seen on Kakachishuan Peninsula on August 1: by that date most of the young White- crowned Sparrows had probably left their nests, but still kept themselves concealed in the dense alder. At the Roggan River and on later dates, over three-fourths of those recorded above were juveniles. Be THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Table 26. POPULATION DENSITIES OF WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. Locality Dates | Time | No. observed Remarks Paint Hills Is. ........... lp uly e16 | 1 hr. in habitat 4 (= 60 per sq.mi.)| ¢, 2 collected Aug. 30-. | 4 hrs» in habitat 25 (=100 <4“ “ )|3udi4e On Sept. 1 | Walrus Pen. ...........| Augzyg28, 8“ G0 ag) Stromness I. ............. | July 19-20 | 9 Baths ae aS Gee (ee re os 3.4 Sy ces | Aug. 26 | 614 ce 66 66 2 (= 5 6¢ oe G6 Pauli Bayacs:. 2s July 21- 33 ea gaia, ¢ 0 S- 44): (== 20. 6, MS Saher ace | Aug. 5 | Aug. 19 |12 66 7 ““ 1 al ( j, GG ) Kakachischuan Pt. al IN = Mle aia i ji Gee. (0) etc s-n-) |Aug. 17-18) 3 Lame iceeeae | 0i(0) (Cr SU) eames) Roggan River ........... Aug. 14-15 18 ‘ieetee ss PGMs Cae sdichees cose) Of our 13 July adults, 3 (2 from Paul Bay and one from Stromness Harbour) have an uninterrupted eye stripe. The colouration of the back, however, differs in no way from the remainder of the series, nor from 3 June (migrant?) Z.l.leucophrys from the Moose River estuary and two comparable Z.l.leucophrys from Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay. One of the two specimens from the Paint Hills Islands taken in fresh fall plumage has a continuous eye stripe; the other, an interrupted one. Out of 16 speci- mens obtained farther north in western Un- gava in 1944 and 1946, only one from King- let Lake had an uninterrupted eye stripe (Manning 1949). The name proposed by Todd for the eastern race has not been ac- cepted for reasons previously given (Man- ning 1949). White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin). The White-throated Sparrow was a com- mon nesting bird both on the mainland and on the island at Moar Bay, but at Paul Bay it was not seen on the outer peninsulas or islands, even though there was considerable dense spruce and alder on the former. In the vicinity of our Paul Bay camp, it oc- cupied much the same habitat as the White- crowned Sparrow, but occasionally it was also seen farther inland up the Piagochiwi River. Eastern Fox Sparrow, Passeralla iliaca iliaca (Merrem). Fox Sparrows were observed most fre- quently where there was a mixture of alder patches and open or stunted spruce or dry, rocky ground. They were not, however, seen in the patches of tall alder which grew in other- wise barren areas such as Kakachischuan Pe- ninsula. The first juveniles were seen on July 22, and after that date about half of Table 27. POPULATION DENSITIES 0F WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. Locality Dates | Time No. observed Remarks Moar Way, ee June 27- 56% hrs. observing 60 (—15 per sq.mi.) 236 6, 2 collected July 11) | Sept. 2 4 ms on ee ES ae pee) Sheppard I. ........... July, 8, 14,| 2842 ° “ My 15 Sire). vamee Dalkerond ‘ 15 Poplar River: .:....:.- Julys 65) 12 7 5 (= Gy flat ‘qupuled ee Pte. au Huard ...... | se Julye 17 4 ss s 44-615 048 aie Sp) ils os Stromness I. ........... July 19-20 | 9 a ie 35(=— fy Se Shee Dales $f RauleBaye one July 21- 63 ff ‘s 237(= Be” pane $ Aug. 3| Aug. 18-22 | 27 = . 1 ey) Jan.-Feb., 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 33 Table 28. POPULATION DENSITIES OF EASTERN FOX SPARROW. Locality Dates Time | No. observed Remarks MOA Bavaro... e oe \June 28- | 56% hrs. observing, 3 (=1 per sq.mi.)| collected July 3 Roplar GRIVeT, y=... .cea0-0--2 July 6 12 = se pW Cs BP Ph Om Ea) oD oe Walls emt ee... ss Aug. 28 | 13 a “ 2 (—) 2a naan) Strommness. Le. .:..csss-cse- July 19 9 Ss i Cp 2. aksaeenatss waren) aly sf Aug. 26 615 3 6c 4 (=9 6c iG 6c ) a (13 Fa Ue Aan ce ese ce July 22- | 63 5 ss LOR eee LOmon cy “f Aug. 6) Aug. 19 Wee 73 66 1 (=.5 66 66 ) those recorded above were juveniles. Spread- borough (Macoun & Macoun 1909 p. 547) re- ported that they were common along the coast from the Moose River to Richmond Gulf. Lincoln’s Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii lincolnii Audubon. At Moar Bay, occasional Lincoln’s Sparrows were seen in various habitats, but at Paul Bay they were usually observed half a mile or so inland amongst the willow which surrounded the open grass marshes about the larger lakes. At that distance inland, Savannah Sparrows were comparatively scarce, being only about equal in number to the Lincoln’s. Northern Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgia- na ericrypta Oberholser. Between June 28 and 29, 7 Swamp Spar- rows (4 collected) were seen on the main- land at Moar Bay, and 5 (4 collected) on Sheppard Island between July 4 and 8. At Paul Bay one was seen on July 24, and a 9 collected on July 31. Lapland Longspur, Calcarius lapponicus lap- ponicus (Linnaeus). A male in the British Museum collection was taken at Fort George on May 30, 1861 (Sharpe 1888 p. 584). Macpherson saw 8 Lapland Longspurs (9 collected) on the Paint Hills Islands on September 1. Eastern Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis (Linnaeus). The Snow Bunting is known to residents as a spring and fall migrant. A male in the British Museum collection was taken at Fort George on April 26. (Sharpe 1888 p. 576). REFERENCES AUSTIN, OLIVER LUTHER 1932. The birds of Newfoundland Labra- dor. Mem. Nuttall Ornithological Club, 7, 229 pp. Map. BAIRD. S* he 1874. Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institu- tion. Smiths. Mise. Coll., 12:1-478. BARNSTON, GEORGE 1861. Recollections of the Swans and Geese of Hudson’s Bay. Can. Nat. & Geol., 6:337-344. BELL ROBERT 1879. Report of an Exploration of the East Coast of Hudson’s Bay in 1877. Geol. Surv. Can. Rept. Progress for 1877-78, pp. 1C-37C. Map. Table 29. POPULATION DENSITIES OF LINCOLN’S SPARROW. Locality Dates Time No. observed Remarks Moats Bayt cx Ax: 08 3--: | June 28 |564%2 hrs. observing; 5 (= 2 per sq.mi.)| 24 6 collected Sheppard Ian. ..223.. | July 8 |28% “ « Wes Ga Ogee he ats ) Walrus Pen. ............. Aug. 28 |13 & se 2h CB retin’ Dy Stromness, I...........:..:- July 19-20 | 9 re [aC 10 ae Dees ‘i Pauls Baye ccsees.- Soe | July 24-30 63 es a SoA Cs Fae re 2iGuGyep24 Os Oumme Aug. 19-20 | 27 ss if 7 CSS VaR hase 04, Roggan River ............ Aug. 13 (28 ee as 1 LX Sse es a) 34 THE CANADIAN 1882. Notes on the Birds of Hudson’s Bay. Roy. Soc. Can. Proc. & Trans. for 1882, 1883. 1:49-54. 1884. Observations on the Geology, Miner- alogy, Zoology and Botany of the Labrador Coast, Hudson’s Strait and Bay. Geol. & Nat. Hist. Surv. Can. pp. 1DD-62DD. BENT, ARTHUR CLEVELAND 1947. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns. x+333 pp. New York. BROOKS, ALLAN 1920. Notes on Some American Ducks. Auk, 37:353-367. COATES, D. F. 1948. Geodetic Service of Canada Descrip- tive Report of James Bay Areas seen while establishing Land Con- trol Points 1947. 31+ 61 pp. (photo- graphs) Map. Mimeo. DOUTT, MARGARET T. 1935. Twin Islands: An Arctic Outpost. Carnegie Mag., 9:195-200. GODFREY, W. EARL 1949. Birds of Lake Mistassini and Lake Albanel, Quebec, Nat. Mus. Can. Bull. 114, Biol. Ser. 38, iv + 43 pp. GODFREY, W. EARL and WILK, A.L. 1949. Birds of the Lake St. John Region, Quebec. Nat. Mus. Can. Bull. 110, Biol. Ser. 36, 32 pp. Ottawa. HANSON, HAROLD C. and SMITH, ROBERT H. 1950. Canada Geese of the Mississippi Fly- way with Special Reference to an IIli- nois Flock. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 25, (3):67-210. HILDEBRAND, HENRY 1950. Notes on the Birds of the Ungava Bay District. Can. Field-Nat., 64:55- 67. LEWIS, HARRISON F. 1937. Migrations of the American Brant, Branta bernicla hrota. Auk, 54:73- 75. LEWIS, HARRISON F. and PETERS, HAROLD S. 1941. Notes on Birds of the James Bay Region in the Autumn of 1940. Can. Field-Nat., 55:111-117. LOW, A. P. 1889. Report on Explorations in James’ Bay and Country East of Hudson Bay, Drained by the Big, Great FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Whale and Clearwater Rivers. Geol. & Nat. Hist. Surv. Can. Ann. Rept., III, 1887, pp. 1J-94J. MS Journal. Geological Survey, Field Book 2464, 47 pp. Report on Explorations in the Labra- dor Peninsula along the Eastmain, Koksoak, Hamilton, Manicuagan and Portions of other Rivers in 1892-93- 94-95. Geol. Surv. Can. Ann. Rept. 1895. N.S. Vol. 8, pp. 1L-387L. Maps. Report on a Traverse of the North- ern Part of the Labrador Peninsula from Richmond Gulf to Ungava Bay. Geol. Surv. Can. Ann. Rept. 1896. N.S. Vol. 9, pp. 1L-438L. MACOUN, JOHN and MACOUN, JAMES 1909. Catalogue of Canadian Birds. Geol. Surv. Br. Dept. Mines. Publ. No. 973, vili + 761 + xviii pp. MANNING, T. H. 1949. Birds of Northwestern Ungava, pp. 155-224: appendix to “A Summer on Hudson Bay” by Mrs. Tom Manning. London. The Voyage of the C.G.M.V. Nauja to Foxe Basin in 1949. 151 pp. Typed report to Geog. Bur. Ottawa. Birds of the Southern Coast of Hud- son Bay’ and West Coast of James Bay. MS. Notes on the Birds of Some James Bay Islands. OBERHOLSER, HARRY C. 1948. Descriptions of New Races of Geo- thlypsis trichas (Linnaeus). 4pp. Cleveland. PACKARD, ALPHEUS SPRING 1891. The Labrador Coast. 513 pp. Maps. New York. PETERS, JAMES L. and GRISCOM, LUDLOW 1938. Geoographical Variation in the Sa- vannah Sparrow. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 80:443478. PI. RAE, JOHN 1888. Notes on Some of the Birds and Mammals of the Hudson’s Bay Co’s. Territories and the Arctic Coast. Can. Rec. Sci. 3 (1888-1889): 125-136. RAND, A. L. 1944a. A Northern Record of the Flicker and a Note on the Cline Colaptes auratus cl. auratus-luteus. Can. Field- Nat. 58:183-184. 1896a. 1896b. 1898. 1950. 1951. Jan.-Feb., 1952] 1944b. Notes on the Palm Warbler, Den- droica palmarum (Gmelin), in Can- ada. Can. Field-Nat. 58:181-182. 1948. Variation in the Spruce Grouse in Canada. Auk, 65:33-40. SALOMONSEN, FINN 1944. The Atlantic Alcidae. Medd. Gdote- borgs Mus. Zool. Advelning 108. 138 pp. SAUNDERS, W. E. 1917. Wild Geese at Moose Factory. Auk, 34:334-335. SHARPE, R. BOUDLER 1888. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 12:XV + 872 pp. 16 pl. 1896. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 24:XII + 794 pp. 7 pl. SHARPE, R. BOUDLER and OGILVIE-GRANT, W. R. 1898. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 26:XVII+688 pp. 8 pl. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 35 SOPER, J. DEWEY 1942. Life History of the Blue Goose, Chen caerulescens (Linnaeus). Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 42:121-225. Pl. 15-26. STEJNEGER, LEONARD 1884. Remarks on the Species of Genus Cepphus., Proc...U.S., Nat: Must ae: 210-229. SUTTON, G. M. 1932. The Exploration of Southampton Island, Hudson Bay. Mem. Carnegie Mus. 12(1): 78 maps. TODD, W. E. CLYDE 1943. The Western Element in the James Bay Avifauna. Can. Field-Nat. 57: 79-86. TOWNSEND, CHARLES W. and ALLEN, GLOVER M. 1907. Birds of Labrador. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat.” Hist. °933:277-428"" Pile ANNUAL MEETING OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB, 1951 Report of Council Since the last Annual Meeting, there were four meetings of Council as follows, all held at St. Patrick’s College: December 15, 1950, with 21 members present; March 9, 1951, with 20 members present; April 7, 1951, with 19 members present; November with 22 members present. Appointments were made for 1951 as fol- lows: Editor of the Canadian Field Naturalist — Dr. H. A. Senn. Business Manager — Mr. W. J. Cody. Chairman of the Publications Committee — Mr. A. E. Porsild. Chairman of the Excursions and Lectures Committee — Miss Mary Stuart. Chairman of the Reserve Fund Committee — Mr. Hoyes Lloyd. Chairman of the Special Lectures Commit- tee — Mr. R. Frith. Chairman of the Membership Committee — Dr. V. E. F. Solman. Chairman of the Bird Census Committee — Mr. J. S. Tener. Chairman of the Library Committee — Mr. A. E. Porsild. Chairman of the Macoun Field Club Com- mittee — Mr. W. K. W. Baldwin. 16, 1951, - Chairman of the Geological Excursion Com- mittee — Dr. L. S. Russell. Chairman of the Gatineau Park Committee — Dr. H. F. Lewis. Representatives, Canadian Section, Interna- tional Committee for Bird Preservation — Dr. H. F. Lewis, Mr. Hoyes Lloyd. Report of the Publications Committee During the period December 1, 1951, to December 1, 1951, six numbers of Volumes 64 and 65 of the Canadian Field-Naturalist were published, with a total of 233 pages. Papers, notes, and reviews were distributed as follows: Papers Notes Reviews Botany nee: 8 1 3 Herpetology ....... 3 2 — Ichthyology ........ = 3 2 Invertebrate ZOO SYS ote 2 il 1 Mammalogy ....... 3 6 5 Mineralogy ........ 1 — — Ornithology ....... il7/ Pail 0 Miscellaneous ._. — — 6 Thirteen maps and _ twenty-four other illustrations were used. The business manager reported sales of back numbers totalling $713.45, including 36 THE CANADIAN one complete set and two partial sets, the largest sale of back numbers in the history of the Club. Report of the Excursions and Lectures Committee Four meetings of the Committee were held during the year to deal with winter pro- grammes, summer excursions, publication of the Newsletter, and management of the Naturalists’ Lodge and the three study groups. Three indoor meetings were held as fol- lows: February 15 — At a meeting at the Na- tional Museum, Mr. J. Martin of Belleville spoke and showed a coloured film on the “Flora and Fauna of Repulse Bay”. April 10 About 120 members and friends attended the annual dinner at the Central Experimental Farm. Dr. L. S. Rus- sell spoke on “Fossil Hunters I have Known”. The Tree, Bird, and Fern study groups and the Macoun Field Club provided interesting displays depicting their activities. November 8 — At a members’ night at the National Museum, Mr. W. J. Cody gave a talk on his summer spent in Alaska, and Mr. J. S. Tener on a survey he conducted on Ellesmere Island. The flora and fauna of both areas were illustrated by coloured slides. There were eight meetings of the Bird Group, with an average attendance of about 30 members. Four early morning bird walks © were held, under the leadership of Miss Mary Stuart and Messrs. A. E. Bourguignon, K. W. Bowles, and R. Frith. The breeding bird census started last year was continued, and a count of mourning doves seen in the area was taken. Miss Ann Banning was named chairman and Miss Betty Gordon, secretary, for the 1951-52 season. Eight Saturday afternoon excursions were held at the following localities: Taylor’s Hill (1); Field-Naturalists’ Lodge (3); Central Experimental Farm (2); estate of the Late Rt. Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, Kingsmere (2). Excellent leadership was provided by the three study groups, and attendance ranged from 20 to 50 persons. On May 24, the second anniversary of the Field-Naturalists’ Lodge was celebrated by an all-day outing there, about 55 members attending. The Fern Group, sponsored by Miss A. W. Anderson, met seven times. The active FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 membership was 10 persons. Meetings of the Tree Group were held twice a month at the National Museum. During the summer, a survey was made of the native species of trees to be found on the Mackenzie King estate, and some collections were made which are to be mounted for the natural history museum being planned there by the Federal District Commission. The group has also undertaken to compile a list of the shrubs native to the Ottawa district and a field key for their identification. The Field-Naturalists’ Lodge was used extensively during the season. An official re- presentative of the Club was at the Lodge each Sunday afternoon during June to lead informal walks. Four copies of the Newsletter were issued during the year, totalling 28 pages with 42 articles. Reports of Council, committees, and excursions, and news items concerning members of the Club, were regular features. Assisted by the Newsletter committee, Miss Verna Ross was responsible for the first two issues, and Mrs. J. W. Groves for the last two. Report of the Special Lectures Committee Three Audubon Screen Tours completed the 1950-51 series. These were: January 26 —— The Riddle of Migration, by Roger Tory Peterson. March 31 — Wilderness Mischief, by O. S. Pettingill. April 21 — Wing Havens, by Alexander Sprunt. The following lectures of the current season have already been held: October 15 — Trails for Millions, by Allan D. Cruickshank. November 24 — Canada North, by Bert Harwell. Report of the Membership Committee At a meeting held in February, it was de- cided that the committee should direct its efforts, as in 1950, toward increasing the local membership. To this end, descriptive leaflets and membership application blanks were arranged, and cards were prepared for use in a mailing list compiled from names of those present at the last screen tour. Leaflets were distributed at the birthday party at the Macoun Field Club on April 28, and with the club notices mailed out in May. Additional leaflets and application blanks were mailed to about 250 persons who Jan.-Feb., 1952] had left their names at the Audubon lecture of April 21. Report of the Library Committee Sales of the Club’s library, handled by Mr. Bernard Amtmann, have totalled $369.00. Mr. Amtmann had originally agreed to handled this sale on a 40 per cent com- mission basis. It appears, however, that he grossly underestimated the difficulty and cost of selling this material, and that the single item of printing and distributing his catalogues alone cost $200.00. Approval was therefore given to the committee to accept an offer of $200.00 from Mr. Amtmann in full settlement of this transaction. Report of the Bird Census Committee The Christmas Bird Census was taken on December 31, 1950. A total of 33 species and 4,159 individuals was reported, including such unusual species as a winter wren, a meadowlark, and four song sparrows. A re- port of the census was published in Audubon Field Notes for April, 1951, and in two Ot- tawa newspapers. The Christmas Bird Census for all Canada was published in the March- April, 1951, issue of The Canadian Field- Naturalist. Report of the Macoun Field Club Committee During 1951, the M.F.C. was divided on the basis of age and experience into three groups of about 20 children each. Each group had 21 regular weekly meetings in three series, Winter, Spring, and Autumn. The _ two younger groups enjoyed seven excursions to points of interest in the Ottawa vicinity, while the High School group concentrated on their project area around the Champlain Bridge, being greatly helped and encouraged in the study of aquatic life through the assistance of Mr. E. Bousfield of the Museum staff. NOTES The European Starling on Vancouver Island. — Two European Starlings (Sturnus vulga- ris) were recorded at Victoria, B.C. on Sep- tember 6, 1951, following a report by Fen- wick Lansdowne of that city. The birds were roosting in a red cedar hedge when first observed, flying from there to the top of a small Garry oak where they remained under observation of the Museum ornithologist for the better part of an hour. TEE CANAbDIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 37 The third anniversary of the Club was celebrated in April with a special meeting at which 19 members were presented with club badges. The speaker was the Rev. A. E. O. Anderson, and movies taken by the Canadian Wildlife Service were shown. M.F.C. exhibits were on display at the an- nual dinner of the O.F.N.C. A number of younger members assisted Dr. Douglas Leech- man with his Eskimo lecture at the Museum by modelling Eskimo clothing and displaying implements. The first issue of the M.F.C.’s magazine “Ursa Minor — the Little Bear” has been produced, and a second issue is in preparation. Report of the Geological Excursion Committee About 30 persons took part in a two day geological excursion in the Ottawa district. On May 25, Dr. Morley Wilson conducted a tour which included stops at the Brucite mine of the Aluminum Company of Canada south of Wakefield, and other points of particular interest. On May 26, Dr. Alice Wilson conducted a tour of the Palaeozoic and Precambrian formations of the Ontario side of the Ottawa River. It is hoped that the outstanding success of this excursion will result in its becoming a regular annual activity of the Club. Report of the Gatineau Park Committee The committee has examined the Kings- mere estate on three separate occasions, and has prepared some preliminary recommenda- tions on planting, general management, and the setting aside of about 500 acres in the more remote areas to be retained as a primaeval area. (Signed) J. W. GROVES, Pres. H. J. SCOGGAN, Sec. AND OBSERVATIONS Due to city restrictions on the discharge of firearms, no specimen was collected on this occasion. From the number of reports received at the Museum during the past year it seems likely that the species is now established on Vancouver Island, and that specimen records will follow in short order. — C. J. GUIGUET, Provincial Museum, Vic- toria, B.C. 38 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL STANDING THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB, NOV. 26, 1951 CURRENT ACCOUNT ASSETS Balance in Bank, Nov. 26, 1951 .... Bills Receivable Lodge Receipts Balance in Bank, Dec. 1, 1950 Fees: Gurrenth ree Soca $1,582.30 Advances & Arrears .. 173.91 PANT OY OR Ae Sah ah WT 44.00 Separates & Illustrations ................ BacksvNumbers\ es. eeu acorns. Miscellaneous 3 eee Audubon Tours (net) .........-....0000. ASSETS Hydro-Electric Power Com. Ontario Bonds, 3% Bal. in Bank, Nov. 26, 1951 Receipts Bal. in Bank, Dee. 1, 1950 From Current Account Bank Interest Bond Interest ASSETS Hydro-Electric Power Com. Ontario Bonds, 3% Bal. in Bank, Nov. 26, 1951 Receipts Bal. in Bank, Dec. 1, 1950 Bank Interest Bond Interest Audited and found correct. (Signed) I. L. CONNORS, $2,510.29 149.35 360.00 $3,019.64 $3,774.69 1,800.21 546.40 615.62 115.42 622.25 $7,474.59 LIABILITIES Audubon Screen Tours (approx. guarantee) D BSS EWA EY SMa cher NM A A MRE lA Expenditures Canadian Field-Naturalist ................ 1 DLs Dh Ho) ater NA iN an ANRC MR MMe a Faas Business Manager Excursions & Lect. Com. ................ Newsletter Miscellaneous Separatesyr sheila oil ies tees eiemletee Illustrations Postage & Stationery Bank discount To Reserve Fund Balance in Bank (Nov. 26, 1951) .... RESERVE FUND $3,000.00 205.32 $3,205.32 134.32 961.24 1.00 75.00 $1,171.56 LIABILITIES NIL Expenditures Purchase $1,000. H.E.P.C. Bond .... Rent Deposit Box Bal. in Bank, Nov. 26, 1951 PUBLICATION FUND $1,500.00 150.30 $1,650.30 104.52 78 45.00 $ 150.30 HARRISON F. LEWIS, Auditors. Nov. 27, 1951 LIABILITIES NIL Expenditures Bal. in Bank, Nov. 26, 1951 [Vol. 66 $ 800.00 2,219.64 $3,019.64 $2,437.00 100.00 15.00 100.00 72.60 173.59 539.73 294.16 246.10 24.88 961.24 2,510.29 $7,474.59 $ 961.24 5.00 $1,171.56 $ 150.30 $ 150.30 RAYMOND J. MOORE, Treasurer. ' __-NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY He, | OF MANITOBA aR. OFFICERS FOR 1951-52 i faprecicient Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- dent: A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND R.’_LE- _ JEUNE; Vice-Presidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. pi K. STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mrs. W. A. ‘CARTWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. I. KEITH; _ Treasurer: H. MOSSOP; Auditor: W. A. CARTWRIGHT; - Social Convenor: Miss LOUISE M. LOVELL. ‘SECTIONS— Omithology: Chair. F. J. COUTTS; Sec. Miss W. DOWNES. Entomology: Chair. R. J. HERON; Sec. J. A. DROUIN. Botany. Chair. Mrs. D. B. SPARLING; Sec. JOHN S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. H. STOKES; yee P. W. GRANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. TILLE- -NIUS; Sec. O. P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. STEWART-HAY; Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Chair. / Mrs. P. H. STOKES; Sec. Mrs. R. K. HELYAR. iertaces on the first and third Monday evenings of each month will be held in the 4th floor Board Room of the Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held in Room 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- morial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Excursions are held on Saturdays or Sundays during May, June and Sep- tember, and on public holidays in July and August. Membership fee: $1 a year for adults; 25 cents for juniors. _ PROVANCHER SOCIETY OF NATURAL : Bb heh HISTORY OF CANADA OFFICERS FOR 1952 _ President: J. GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. DONALD ROSS; 2nd _ Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; Secretary-Treasurer: GEO. A. LECLERC; Chief Scientific Section: FRANCOIS HAMEL; Chief Protection Section: IAN BREAKEY; Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A. _DERY; Chief Information Section: J. C. PRICE. Other _ directors: Dr. V. PLAMONDON, T. J. A. HUNTER, " : Ree REX MEREDITH, G. H. CARTWRIGHT, U, G. Secretary's address: GEORGES A. LECLERC, 12 Desy Dts Quebec, P.Q. ‘THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB } 8 f OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 y President: A. A. OUTRAM; Vice-President: J. L. _ BAILLIE; Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. J. B. STEWART, 21 Millwood Rad., Toronto; President of Junior Club: MRS. i MURRAY ‘SPEIRS; Vice-President of Junior Club: a eied E. JAQUITH. Executive Council: G. M. BART- MAN, T. BARNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, ALFRED BUNKER, ‘MISS F. BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA _ CLARK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. _M. FRITZ, W. W. H. GUNN, DR. L. E. JAQUITH, MRS. _ Jj. D. KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, C. S. McKEE, D. S. MILLER, JOHN MITCHELE, R. M. SAUNDERS, EARL STARK, H. H. SOUTHAM. Ex. Officio: A. J. V. LEHMANN, C. A WALKINSHAW, T. F. McIL- \ WRAITH. _ Meetings are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of - each month from October to May at the Royal Ontario Museum, unless otherwise announced. Field trips are held during the spring and autumn and on the second _ Saturday of each month during the winter. fi i | AFFILIATED SOCIETIES VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTOR’ SOCIETY OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Hon. President: DR. N. A. M. MacKENZIE; Past Presiden, A. H. BAIN; President: DR. V. C. BRINK; Vice-President: DR. T. M. C. TAYLOR; Hon. Secretary; C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording Secretary: MISS C. PLOMMER; Program Sec retary: S. F. BRADLEY; Hon. Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: MRS. 8S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of Bulletin: N. PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. J. DAVIDSON; Geology — DR. J. E. Sapper et En- tomology — A. R. eon Omithology — M. HUGHES; Mammology — DR. I. McT. COWAN; Monee Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY; " Photography — H. C. FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A. R. WOOTTON; Mycology — F. WAUGH; Aubudon Screen Tours — A. H. BAIN; Additional Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors: H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbia, unless UNS wise announced, McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 1951 SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 Dundas St., London; Secretary: JOHN WISMER, 520 Huron St., London; Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. J. W. LEACH, West London P.O., London. Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library biulding on the second Monday of each month from September to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a special excursion in September. President: Mr. W. London; Vice enn: PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 President: G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr.; Vee Gara W. H. RAWLINGS; Vice-President: DR. M. J. D Treasurer: D. G. ELLIOT; Secretary: MISS R, S. ABBOTT, 166 Senneville Road, Senneville, P.Q. COMMITTEE ABBOTT, J. P. ANGLIN, Miss R. B. BLAN- CHARD, W. R. B. BERTRAM, J. D. CLEGHORN, J. A. DECARIE, DR. M. J. DUNBAR, D. G. etary Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT, G. H. HALL, W. oe aye Mrs. L. EN DERSON, Miss ee HIBBARD, Cc. JACKSON. R. LEPINGWELL, H. MONTGOMERY Jr, Miss L. MURBIY, fener OMMANNEY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. ROBINSON, C. C. SAIT, DR. D. M. SCOTT, Miss M. SEATH, L. Mcl. TERRILL, Mrs. L. MclI. TERRILL. Meetings held the second Monday of the month except during summer. Miss R. S. BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND MAMMAL SOCIETY President: KENNETH RACEY; Vice-Prseident: H. M. LAING; Secretary: IAN McT. COWAN, Dept. of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Transactions, Otta. Field-Nat. Club, No. nt 1880. Cltiawa Naturalist Cuil fe Nol Alt No: Septs ya teoon MOU GtT su No: Deca) Jew 1893 im W Vol Ty) No: Jorn) AEROS en Vol. 11, No. Feb., Ue BOS! a) Vol. 11, No: Moa Wt aN LEGS mil: i A Mol 2a Noni “Aupr.) 1) 0 1898", Nei Mola 2) No! Tuby) eh Alege) Moly) 1204s No: & 8, Oct-Nov., 1898 Vol. 12, No. | June, 1901 — Vol. 15, No. June, 1901 Volt! 15)" No. July, 1SBL vedi Vol. 15, No. Nov., CATSOR Mn ty Vol 7aiiNo! Mar., 1904(this was marked Vol. 18, No. 12), Vol. 18, No. Hyulys iy lea ! 7 Vol. 19, No. Jan., NLSOGhit Vol)20)) No. ee 1906 | Canadian Field- Naturalist Vol. 34, No. Nov., 1920 Vol. 36, No. Mary) th i inien ll 22m Vol. 37, No. Mar., — 1923 Vol Son No. May, (S250 Vol. 44, No. Dec., VRIES Vol. 45, No. May, TOS Vol. 56, No. Sept, 1942 Bik! — — POPPoORoOworns - Members and subscribers who are able to spare any Hof these numbers i || ; would greatly assist the Club by forwarding them to: s She | mi} Mr. W. oN Caden Division of Botany ‘Science Service, | Dept. of Agriculture, — Ottawa, Ontario. “LE DROIT” Printing, Otawa, Canada. fmigiigext No. 2 KUS. COMP. 7001. ——UBRARY GeTia ab? aby Contents — lant 4 ; 4 ies north: shore of the Gulf ai ‘St. Bagecnce 3 nee Winter ones c ie $8 \ (D4 ” a ae “ ‘ . ‘ oi Re * ; ry ih ‘ oe ‘4 "Y ¢ fe ; " ent t Fis ‘ ch 0 ds of three species at Pimisi Bay, Ontario. mists ar " y ‘Kiriline Lawrence oe seseeesrenseeeetsenneseetnnnescie Aveaducenatnees TAY pak ive i“ + y : * ws hie aw whe va Kingbird in ‘Westmorland Co., New Brunswick. | F: Boyer Chet ah ee eR Fase snes cag Rati NOME op vs 68 mee ; Ls eel kaa mh ial mau in ‘Neviouaand By Leslie M. Tuck .. Ro aye eth. Mei Ges SRE La OB IM 7) Sake OL MCR es eve ee Sparrow ( AOE OD leucophr ‘ys pugetensis ) and i rare iB ES a ‘Martin W. Blvidormik fea / chins tear cele a o S 4 i , ‘ ‘ : ) LEA eat eK ho Po Mod hols Se MTOR if) 69 a." AP hy) 7 i e i { A : i Near dy Ot A | . ; i fe fs Ay Published by the } ehh! Poa Kavi “OTTAWA. FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB : Age a i Hh uA » d a at Post Office at Ottawa, Ont, as second class matter. ! The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club , baron: | ‘ " Presaene. ‘Dr. ge w. eaves Beane | Ist Ngee President Mr. R. FRITH 2nd Vice-President: Mr. W. K w. BALDWIN Treasurer: RAYMOND Moore, ~ eae Secretary: ERA Scoccan, ea Division of Botany, Met a National oe of Canada, i Science Service, Dept. of ‘ Ottawa. ieee hearaal ia Agriculture, Ottawa. TAR HR GE cod ae Additional Members of Council: © Mise: Hows ee Miss RutH Horne ‘Miss Vi Humpureys, Miss VERNA Ross, Miss PAULINE SNURE, Miss Mary Stuart, ‘THE E FaTHER F, E. BAnim, Messrs. E. G. ANDERSON, R. M. ANDERSON, J. ARNOLD, B. Bor A. E. BourcumcNoN, K. EOE eS: JX, Ww. CAMERON, W. nae Copy, Hp. P. _CUERRIER, W. W. H. ian eee AE! Porsitp, H. 7 a Saas, oe ice "RUSSELL, D. B. O. Yee H SENN, V. E. F. SOLMAN, J. S. TENER. | NS Auditors: TEE Os CoNNERS, H. F. Lewis. i any Dr. H. A. SENN, Oy eS a ae | Division of Botany, po Sy het AA Sena Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. ‘ih | Associate Editors ‘a 0) Gs SDOR EY i SE Sta ..... Botany — R. M. ANDERSON pM s oh) WwW As WARGCOUE habia ae in Conchology A. G. Huntsman ............ H. G. CrawForp .................... Entomology _ W. E. Goprrey .. ie ogy F. J. ALcock .. ve tl eee WERE sae Geology = W.A. BELL. ~ Palacontolog Crypbe L. Patcs ........... hs ee H erpetology icone ed See DyMonp ... Mie eather takes ieee AN Mia Business Manager — W. J. Copy, Division of Botany, Science Service, oe a Fae ‘Ottawa. The official publications of THE Onan aha Marsan Cuus have been |] issued since 1879. The first were 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-N aturalist to |] date. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued bi-monthly. Its scope is the publication |} of the results or original research in all departments of Natural History. en) Price of this volume (6 numbers) $3.00; Single copies 60c each. Subscription ($3.00 per year) should be forwarded to Dr. R. J. Moore, a Div. of caries Science Service, Dept. of Agricdtare, | OTTAWA, CANADA. | The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 66 OTTAWA, CANADA, MARCH-APRIL, 1952 No. 2 BIRD MIGRATION ALONG THE LAKE ONTARIO] S#fot#. Z00L. OF THE NIAGARA PENINSULA * Wo. L. Vineland Station, Ontario T HAS long been known that the Great Lakes affect bird migration, both by af- fording channels for waterfowl and _ by diverting the paths of land birds. The fol- lowing notes are offered in the hope that someone will eventually correlate all the scattered data to give a more complete pic- ture of migration routes through this region. They are based on approximately fifteen years’ observations in the Niagara Penin- sula, mostly at the Horticultural Experiment Station, Vineland Station, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Lincoln County, approximately 17 miles west of the mouth of the Niagara River and 20 miles from the western end of the lake. Except where some other locality is mentioned, all observations that follow refer to this vicinity. WATERFOWL Migrating water birds generally pass west- ward along the shore in spring and eastward in the fall. The Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator L., outnumbering the com- bined totals of all other waterfowl, is the most conspicuous example. From late March until well into May and often in diminishing numbers until nearly the end of the month, many thousands pass to the west. Especial- ly on dull rainy mornings, flock after flock will stream along for hours. This movement is interrupted from time to time when large numbers remain more or less stationary for several days, and on these occasions there may be much local movement either way or even for short periods in a predominantly eastward direction, as on April 9, 1945, when over 700 flew eastward during 40 minutes in the evening to join a large aggregation near Port Dalhousie where they presumably spent the night. The earlier flocks are composed almost entirely of males. In 1949, when more at- 1 Received for publication May 3, 1951. Vol. 66, No. 1, January-February, LIBRARY PUTMAN ocT 1 1959 BEUARK BERVArH tention was given to this point, “feriales' Wid | not appear in any numbers until after the middle of April and never at any time ex- ceeded the males; in that spring at least, there was apparently a considerable excess of males among the local migrants. Large numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers pass eastward during November, although the autumn migration is never as conspicu- ous as the spring one. American Mergansers, Mergus merganser L., while by no means uncommon, are much less numerous than the red-breasted species; both follow the same routes in spring and fall. Next to Red-breasted Mergansers, scaups are the most abundant ducks during the migration seasons, going west in large flocks in the spring and returning eastward in the fall. Both the Greater Scaup, Aythya marila (L.), and the Lesser Scaup Duck, Aythya affinis (Eyton), are represented, but the difficulty of distinguishing them has pre- vented any reliable estimate of their relative numbers. The Pintail, Anas acuta L., is the only marsh duck that has been noticed migrating regularly in any numbers. Nearly every spring, flocks often of considerable size pass to the west in late March or early April. None have been observed in the fall. Several other ducks, including Redheads, Aythya americana (Eyton); White - winged Scoters, Melanitta fusca (L.); Hooded Mer- gansers, Lophodytes cucullatus (L.); Bald- pates, Mareca americana (Gmelin); and Mal- lards, Anas platyrhynchos L., appear to fol- low the same routes, particularly in the spring. All these species are not seen every year and their numbers are few, but in the aggregate they give additional evidence of the local directions of migration among waterfowl. 1952, was issued August 29, 1952. thn GS 40 THE CANADIAN The lack of any observed undirectional movement by some species may or may not be significant. For example, Golden-eyes, Bucephala clangula (L.), are common on the open lake from November to April, yet they appear to move at random at all times and no marked migratory flights are evident. Old- squaws, Clangula hyemalis (L.), are common winter visitors on the Niagara River and other sheltered waters, but are among the rarest of ducks along the open lake at Vineland Station. Among some species the longer flights are probably made at night. This is undoubtedly true of the Black Duck, Anas rubripes Brewster, Blue-winged Tea!, Anas discors (L.), and a number of others that are known to pass through the Peninsula. Until 1949, overland flights of ducks from the south had been noted on only two occa- sions: a flock of nine White-winged Scoters at Vineland Station on May 9, 1936, and 22 Pintails at Grimsby on March 2, 1948. How- ever, on March 20, 1949, a dull cloudy day, many flocks kept coming from the south, reaching the lake just west of Jordan where most of them swung westward and continued over the lake parallel to the shore. The majority were too distant to be identified but they included _ pintails, mergansers (probably red-breasted), and scaups. The first flocks were noticed about 8:30 a.m. and continued at irregular intervals until about 5:00 p.m. More than 15 flocks containing a minimum of 300 birds were noted during an intermittent watch, the greater number being seen in the forenoon. The following day heavy snow obscured any movement during most of the day but a flock of unidentified ducks came from the south as soon as the weather cleared in the late afternoon. It is altogether likely that transpeninsular migra- tion is much more common than these few records would suggest; most of it probably takes place at night. The lake has no obvious effect on the migration of Canada Geese, Branta canaden- sis L., except in affording a resting place for occasional flocks. They pass over the Vineland district in a generally northerly direction in the spring and southward in the fall. The flocks of Whistling Swans, Cygnus co- lumbianus (Ord.), that visit the Niagara River each spring are seldom seen in the Vineland area, either because they continue on a more northerly course or because they migrate largely at night. In 1938 a flock of FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 20 swans flew westward over Grimsby on March 20, and on March 29 two more passed in the same direction at Vineland Station. GULLS The migration of Herring Gulls, Larus ar- gentatus Pontopp., and Ring-billed Gulls, Larus delawarensis Ord., is very noticeable in some years in the spring; for days at a time during March or early April loose flocks or single birds aggregating many thousands may move predominantly to the west, but in other years their flight is less conspicuous. The return migration in the fall is usually not very evident although considerable numbers of Ring-billed Gulls have been seen travelling east in late No- vember. The passage of gulls in both spring and fall is obscured by the large numbers that patrol the beach at all seasons and change the direction of their flight according to the weather. Both Herring and Ring-billed Gulls move freely overland between the two lakes. The larger flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls, Larus philadelphia (Ord.), move westward offshore in the spring and eastward in the fall, but small groups have a greater ten- dency to move in either direction. This species has never been seen to travel over- land across the Peninsula. HAWKS The spring migration of hawks is one of the most interesting features of local bird life. From early March until past the middle of May the different species pass to the west in varying numbers, sometimes as solitary birds and again in mass flights on days when the weather is particularly favourable. The numbers seen by the writer vary wide- ly from year to year, to a great extent be- cause many pass over during office hours; he has often been told that “the sky was full of hawks”, yet he may not have seen one that day. Nevertheless there ap- pears to be an actual variation in the num- bers passing through this particular locality, especially of those species whose flight is most influenced by weather conditions. Al- though this migration has been known for a long time it is only within the past few years that the writer has felt competent to name the majority of those seen, and many still pass unidentified. Anyone who has tried to hold his glasses still with aching arms while focussing on a distant speck in the March-April, 1952] sky will realize the difficulty of identifying hawks during a major flight. Most of the hawks have been seen from the vicinity of Port Dalhousie to Grimsby, within a mile of the lake shore, but during large flights several species have been noted as far as five miles from the lake. On April 4, 1948, when numbers of Red-tailed Hawks, Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin), were passing over Grimsby, the writer drove west in an endeavour to trace their route in that direction and especially to learn whether they continued to the head of the lake or took a short cut to the opposite shore some- where along the narrowing western extremi- ty of the lake. Nine hawks were noticed along the Queen Elizabeth Way between Grimsby and the eastern end of Hamilton Beach, and a total of seven were sighted during short stops along the Beach. The last was noted at the canal bridge within about half a mile of the northwestern shore. By that time a storm was threatening and the flight was at an end. Hamilton Beach (or Burlington Beach) is a narrow sandbar about five miles long running in a general southeast-northwesterly direction, cutting off the western end of the lake and affording a convenient route between the two opposite shores. Although other species have not been followed much farther west than Grimsby, it is likely that they follow the same course as the Red-tailed Hawks. There has never been an opportunity to trace the source of the flight east of the old Welland Canal near Port Dalhousie, so that the course fol- lowed through the eastern end of the Penin- Sula is not known. Broad-winged Hawks, Buteo platypterus (Vieillot), although probably not as _ nu- merous as Sharp-shinned Hawks, are the most conspicuous of the local migrants be- cause of their habit of travelling in flocks. In most seasons they have been seen on only one day, some time between April 22 and May 5, the only exceptions among the last 11 years being 1949 when flight was noticed on April 25 and 27 and May 1; and 1950 when a few were seen on April 22 in addition to a large flock on May 5. Al- though some undoubtedly passed through unobserved on other days in previous years, the spring migration of this species is never- theless limited to a very short period. It is also greatly affected by weather, the major flights always occurring on calm, warm and sunny days which produce the ascending THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 41 convection currents in which these soaring hawks can fly most efficiently. If the sky becomes overcast or a strong wind arises the flight soon comes to an end. In cold wet springs, days favourable for soaring may not occur during the migration period, and few or none may be seen in such seasons. Possibly they move on a broader front in these years, for even in very bad weather an occasional straggler has been seen flying low and heavily against the wind. Some idea of the numbers of broad-wings that pass through the district may be given by the following counts: 1944.—May 1, more than 120 from 10.30 to 11:30 a.m. 1945.— May 1, 2 or 3, the exact date unfortunately not recorded, 95 from about 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. (only a fraction of the number reported to have passed that day). 1946—April 22, Grimsby, 88 between 10.15 am. and 1.30 p.m. 1947—-The weather throughout the flight period that year was very cold and wet; April 25, three; May 5, three flying low. 1948.—None seen, the weather again very unfavourable. 1949.—April 25, 94 be- tween 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.; April 27, 93 be- tween 12:45 and 1:30 p.m., many more during the rest of the day; May 1, Grimsby, 11 about 4:00 p.m. 1950.—May 3, Jordan Sta- tion, more than 70 within ten minutes, about 12:30 p.m. The great majority of the Broad- winged Hawks must pass through this dis- trict without stopping as they are very rare- ly seen perched even on days of heavy migra- tion. The spring flight of Red-tailed Hawks is usually somewhat smaller than that of the broad-wings but extends over a much longer period. The date when the first were seen ranged from March 7 to 29 during the past 7 years, but it is very unlikely that these were actually the earliest migrants in all years. The last may pass through as late as the first of May, usually in company with Broad-winged Hawks. A few red-tails may appear at any time during the migration period, but the great majority, like the Broad-winged Hawks, are concentrated in one to three major flights on calm warm days, although Red-tailed Hawks seem some- what less exacting in their weather require- ments and sometimes migrate in considera- ble numbers on overcast days. On March 30, 1950, numbers were seen following the edge of the Niagara Escarpment at Grimsby, soaring in the updraft from a cold northerly wind blowing against the cliff. 42 THE CANADIAN The following are records of typical flights: 1945.—March 30, 12 between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.; April 1, five between 11:00 a.m and 12:30 p.m.; April 9, 12 between 1:00-1:25 p.m. 1946—March 10, 12 observed during an intermittent watch. 1948—March 20, a total of 69 counted at various points from Grimsby to Jordan Harbour, 55 of them between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.; April 4, Grimsby, 15 from 1:30 to 1:45 p.m., others seen later west to Hamilton Beach. 1949.—March 29, 29 be- tween 12:45 and 1:30 pm. 1950.—March 30, Grimsby, 18 from 10:45 to 12:00 a.m. On April 12, 1949, a casual look through eight- power binoculars revealed a red-tail direct- ly overhead, so high that it was quite invisi- ble to the unaided eye. This was the only hawk observed that day. Whether any num- bers pass unnoticed at such a height is of course not known, but it is at least an in- teresting possibility. The Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus (Gmelin), is a comparatively scarce migrant. The only occasion when any numbers have been seen was on March 25, 1944, when 30 were counted going west at Grimsby during about an hour in the afternoon. In most years seldom more than three or four have been noticed, usually between March 10 and April 25. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter stria- tus Vieillot, is probably the most abundant of the migrant species. Although the num- bers actually seen in most springs are con- siderably fewer than those of the Broad- winged Hawk, they continue over a longer period and many fly so low that they cannot be seen at any distance. Getting records of the migration has been difficult because the flights are often confined to the working hours of the forenoon, so that even when they are noticed it has usually been im- possible to make accurate counts. Sharp- shins are influenced by weather to a much lesser extent than the soaring hawks. They frequently fly quite low, ascending to pass over woods and groups of trees and descend- ing again over open spaces; against strong winds they may fly only three or four feet above the ground. However, they are quick to take advantage of thermal currents and in favorable weather will soar upward in spirals to a great height in the same manner as the Broad-winged Hawks, which they often. accompany. Flight generally begins early in the day, sometimes by 8:00 a.m., and often ends by noon, although it may FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 continue until considerably later, especially on days suitable for soaring. Late in the afternoon after the main movement to the west has ended for the day, sharp-shins are often found resting in trees or making short erratic feeding flights. The time when this species appears in the spring has been difficult to ascertain be- cause its migration overlaps that of Cooper’s Hawk, and many birds are seen under such circumstances that they cannot be _ dis- tinguished. A few Sharp-shinned Hawks have been definitely identified in several seasons early in April; a few still earlier records may possibly have been wintering birds. From about April 20 to May 10 migrants pass through more or less continu- ally in varying numbers, with stragglers continuing until past the middle of May and rarely to the end of the month. The peak of the migration is usually on one or more days between April 25 and May 6. On May 6, 1948, 16 were seen during one hour in the forenoon. On May 3, 1944, eight passed within 10 minutes shortly after 1:00 p.m. In 1945, on one of the days from May 1 to 3, 28 were counted within half an hour in the afternoon, during the flight of Broad- winged Hawks described previously. In 1949 the major flights of the sharp-shins again coincided with those of the broad- wings; 23 Sharp-shinned Hawks were seen between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on April 25, and 37 from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. on April 27. Cooper’s Hawk is a regular spring migrant but is much less numerous than the Sharp- shinned Hawk. Migration appears to begin in late March; individuals have often been seen earlier but they did not follow any con- | sistent course and had probably wintered in the vicinity. Seldom have more than one been seen in a day, but on April 1, 1945, six were recorded between 11:00 a.m and 12:30 p.m., and on March 29, 1949, nine accompanied a flight of Red-tailed Hawks between 12:45 and 1:30 p.m. and a few more were noticed later in the day. They continue to pass through the district during the greater part of April but during the latter half of the month are hard to distinguish from the much more numerous Sharp-shinned Hawks. The manner of flight of the two species ap- pears to be identical; Cooper’s Hawks usual- ly fly low but on days suitable for soaring they may fly high along with red-tails in the same manner as the sharp-shins often ac- company Broad-winged Hawks. March-April, 1952] A few Marsh Hawks, Circus cyaneus (L.), follow the westward route through the Vine- land district each spring, usually flying low, but like the accipiters, at times rising to a considerable height under suitable weather conditions. The greatest number seen during one day was four, between 1:00 and 1:25 on April 9, 1945, when they were accompanying Red-tailed Hawks. Migration extends from about the last week of March to the first week in May, the last migrants passing through at least two weeks after local breed- ing birds have occupied territory on their nesting grounds. On March 31, 1937, a Marsh Hawk left the shore of Vineland Station and continued due north over the lake until out of sight, the only occasion on which a hawk of any kind has been seen to do so. If many Marsh Hawks cross the lake directly it may explain their relative scarcity along the westward route followed by other species. Sparrow Hawks, Falco sparverius L., are the earliest to appear in the spring, the greater part of the migration taking place in March, but its duration is difficult to determine because migrants of this species are relatively few and it is a fairly common local resident in both summer and winter. A single Pigeon Hawk, Falco columbarius L., going west on April 13, 1938, and another during a flight of Red-tailed Hawks on April 1, 1945, are the only positive spring records, although others seen at a distance on several occasions were probably this falcon. There are also only two spring records of the Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus (Pon- topp.), on March 11, 1938, and April 10, 1949 despite a special watch for this hawk. Two Bald Eagles, Haliaeetus lewcocephalus (L.), an adult and an immature bird, accompany- ing a large flight of Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned Hawks on April 26, 1949 were the sole representatives of the species that appeared to be definitely migrating in a westward direction; five others seen in spring during the past 12 years have been loitering or in at least one case going east- ward. Five Ospreys, Pandion haliaetus (L.), recorded over a still longer period were like- wise going in both directions. An interesting and quite unexpected sight was a flock of five Turkey Vultures, Cathar- tes aura (L.), going west at Vineland Sta- tion on April 14, 1946, during a flight of Red-tailed Hawks. Another group of three, also with Red-tailed Hawks, was seen west THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 43 of Grimsby on April 4, 1948. On both occa- sions the vultures were flying much lower than the hawks. In 1950, one was seen at Grimsby and another south of Beamsville on March 30, and one at Vineland Station on April 16; all were moving west. Hawks of any kind are quite scarce in the Vineland district in the fall. A few of the locally breeding species may occur from time to time but they do not follow any particular route. Broad-winged Hawks have never been observed at this season. Bald eagles and Ospreys occasionally appear along the lake or at Jordan Harbour late in the fall. OTHER LAND BIRDS There is some evidence that a few diurnal migrants among the passerines travel west- ward along the same spring route as the hawks. The first few Crows, Corvus brachy- rhynchos Brehm, at the beginning of the spring migration in late February and early March, usually come from the east, but very soon they form temporary roosts and their daily comings and goings make such a confusing pattern that later migration could be detected only by more careful watch than it has been possible to keep. While the writer was on holidays at Grims- by during the week of March 21 to 27, 1948, he noticed that the majority of the Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris L., were going westward. This movement was most noticeable along the lake shore, where small groups of about 3 to 20 passed every few minutes on some mornings, flying quite low. In 1949 more attention was paid to starlings, as far as time permitted, and a very definite west- ward movement took place from the middle to the end of March, and possibly before and after this period. As with crows, directional migration of starlings is hard to distinguish from their daily movements to and from their communal roosts. In 1950, migratory flight was not obvious until April 4; as the weather cleared after a heavy rain during the night, many flocks of Starlings, together with great numbers of Cowbirds, Molothrus ater (Boddaert), Red-winged Blackbirds, Agelaius phoniceus (L.), and Bronzed Grac- kles, Quiscalus quiscula (L.), continued to pass west throughout the morning. No re- turn flight occurred in the evening. Swallows are well-known day migrants and might be expected in considerable numbers during the spring migration; actually they are relatively inconspicuous. Some Barn 44 Tye CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Swallows, Hirundo rustica L., Tree Swallows, Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot), and Purple Martins, Progne subis (L.), are seen pro- ceeding westward with steady level flight each spring but their numbers seem small in comparison with the local breeding popula- tions, except in the case of the Tree Swal- lows which are very rare breeders in this district. The presence of the lake has no apparent influence on the numbers of nocturnal migrants; the writer has had no experience elsewhere but there is little or no evidence that the number of most species of small land birds that migrate through the Niagara Peninsula differs greatly from that in other comparable parts of Ontario. One obvious effect of the lake, however, is on the time of night when southbound migrants first pass over. When the writer was in Toronto in 1938 he frequently heard birds over the University campus during October shortly after 10 p.m.; at Vineland Station they are generally not heard during fall migration until about midnight. DESTINATION OF LOCAL MIGRANTS A fuller explanation of how the local paths fit into the general pattern of migration in the Great Lakes Region must be left to some- one who can assemble the data from other observers and from the literature, but the immediate source and destination of the migrants passing through the Vineland dis- trict is reasonably clear. The local move- ments of waterfowl conform to the general northwestern trend of the spring migration in Eastern North America along recognized flyways. The ducks may reach Lake Ontario either overland directly from the Atlantic coast or indirectly from western Lake Erie by way of the Niagara River, long known as a favourite rendezvous for ducks. Those [Vol. 66 seen at Vineland Station presumably follow the southern shore to the head of Lake Onta- rio and thence toward the northwest. The fall migration is the reverse of the spring one. Hawks and possibly other land birds that avoid crossing large bodies of water are probably diverted around the eastern end of Lake Erie by the northeast-southwest trend of that lake. A short distance farther north Lake Ontario lies across their path; here the stream of migrants divides. Part of them proceed eastward, as Eaton (Birds of New York) reports that large concentra- tions of hawks occur in spring at Rochester and other points along the southern shore of the lake in New York State. Other turn to the west and pass through the Niagara Penin- sula to the western end of the lake before again continuing northward. In the fall, the large flights of hawks that are a well-known feature of the Toronto re- gion miss the Vineland district completely, as they apparently continue south from the western end of Lake Ontario. Swallows like- ly take the same route at that season. SUMMARY Most ducks migrating along the northern shore of the Niagara Peninsula move west- ward in the spring and eastward in the fall. The fall migration is generally less con- spicuous. The Red-breasted Merganser is the most abundant species. Gulls follow the same route. Canada Geese do not usually follow the shore. Hawks, chiefly Broad- winged, Red-tailed, and Sharp-shinned Hawks, migrate westward parallel to the shore in the spring but the autumn migration misses this district. Some other land birds, in- cluding crows, starlings, and swallows, fol- low the same route as the hawks in the spring but their migrations are less obvious. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE NORTH SHORE OF THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE * IRA N. GABRIELSON Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, D.C. T 6:00 a.m., June 4, 1947, our party (Dr. Harrison Lewis, Mrs. Gabrielson and myself) arrived on the Steamer “Matane” at Seven Islands on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This village is a few miles 1 Received for publication November 6, 1951. northeast of the point where the 50th paral- lel crosses the shore of the gulf which geographers consider the westernmost point on the gulf coast of the Labrador peninsula. We travelled from there to Blanc Sablon, the furthest east point in Canadian Labrador, a ' March-April, 1952] trip, which with the return journey, lasted until July 10. After spending June 4 and 5 at Seven Islands, we left that village on the 6th by the steamer “North Shore” arriving at Mingan about 7:00 p.m. There we boarded the 38-foot cruiser ‘Alcea,’ the Canadian government boat used for bird protection patrol, for the remainder of the trip. The principal objectives were to study waterfowl populations and the system of sanctuaries for eider ducks and other water birds established along this coast by the Can- adian government. We visited many places studied by Au- dubon and C. W. Townsend. Dr. Lewis had previously correlated the names used by these men with current geographic and local names, and it was easy to check our observa- tions with their earlier ones. It was interest- ing to compare the present numbers of the birds with the enormous colonies described by Audubon and the dearth of birds de- scribed by Townsend. While present popula- tions do not equal those described by Audu- bon, they certainly are in excess of the num- bers reported by Townsend. Local _in- habitants still eat both eggs and the birds when they can be secured. Therefore, the increase in numbers must be due largely to the protection furnished by the sanctuaries. With few exceptions, where local sentiment protects certain bird islands, the best colo- nies are located in the sanctuaries where wardens are stationed during the nesting period. In some sections, especially east of Harrington Harbour, we saw few water birds outside sanctuary areas. The egging and year around hunting practices, despite the efforts to control them, continue to cause scarcity of birds in otherwise _ suitable habitat. Some of the areas on which great colonies existed in Audubon’s time are still completely birdless. Yet good populations of nesting water birds are now established in the sanctuaries and in some additional areas. Since the character of this coast has been described many times, this report will con- fine itself to the present status of the birds. There are, however, some general observa- tions which seem to be worth recording. On June 4, Seven Islands was filled with snowbanks and the ground was snow-covered in the surrounding forest. Lakes were still frozen and wintry conditions prevailed. During the next few days Seven Islands, Mingan, and intervening villages were filled Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 45 with birds. White-crowned sparrows, olive- backed and gray-cheeked thrushes, juncos, and white-throated sparrows predominated, but there were also many warblers, all having a hard time. In Seven Islands, re- mains of birds were everywhere, some killed perhaps by cats, others dying from starva- tion. On nearly every spot of bare ground, heads, feathers, and other fragments could be found. The local people generally re- marked on the abundance of small birds in the towns from Comeau Bay to Mingan. When the weather moderated and the birds disappeared from the villages, we were im- pressed by the abnormal scarcity of breeding birds. Lewis’s personal familiarity with the area accentuated this scarcity in his mind. It was sometimes possible to walk for hours without hearing more than one or two sing- ing birds. Subnormal breeding populations were noted among the nesting sparrows, chickadees, woodpeckers, thrushes, and warb- lers. As an example, between 4:00 and 5:00 am. on June 14, in fine weather, Lewis walked along the road from Natashquan warf to the village, a distance of a mile and a quarter, through varied country, partly open, partly second-growth coniferous woods, with two or three scattered houses and clearings, but recorded only the following singing birds: 1 robin, 1 black-poll warbler, 1 north- ern water-thrush, 1 northern yellow-throat, 1 savannah sparrow, 6 white-throated spar- rows, 1 fox sparrow, 1 Lincoln’s sparrow. Under conditions normal for that hour and season, there would have been three or four times as many robins, black-poll warblers, savannah sparrows, fox sparrows, and Lin- coln’s sparrows, as well as one of two singing individuals of each of the following species: yellow-bellied flycatcher, olive-backed thrush, ruby-crowned kinglet, yellow warbler, myrtle warbler, Wilson’s warbler, white-crowned sparrow, and song sparrow. The almost complete absence of bird song in June in many areas where the environ- ment was favorable for passerine birds was striking. In such areas, however, one might obtain an occasional glimpse of a non-singing male. In some districts where such condi- tions were found, there was more bird song in July, and it is possible that late migrants did not establish territories until after mid- June. The presence of small, woodland- dwelling birds in abnormal environments, such as cliffs and bare outer islands, as late 46 THE CANADIAN as June 18 and 21, seems to indicate such behavior. These observations also suggest, however, that small birds that survived the severe spring weather were nevertheless affected by it, presumably by an extended period of food scarcity, so that they were delayed beyond the usual time in developing territorial behaviour. Numerous white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, juncos, and olive-backed thrushes were found dead as well as a few remains of fox sparrows that obviously had come somewhat earlier, but which had suffered the same decimation. Chickadees and wood- peckers were scarce along the entire coast. Local inhabitants were unanimous in agreeing that it was one of the latest seasons on record, and there is little doubt that a serious local destruction of breeding birds occurred. In addition to the sparrows, myrtle warblers, the only bay-breasted warbler of the trip, and numerous other bird carcasses were found. Another indication of the conditions during the first few days of June was the fact that warblers or sparrows could be found, outside the villages, only on the beaches. There juncos, white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, yellow warblers, northern water thrushes, black-poll warblers, and _ others congregated, working over the beach drifts in their efforts to find food. There was also a marked scarcity of small mammals and a complete absence of grouse. No grouse and only an occasional rabbit were noted. Squirrels and mice were scarce, and there was a marked scarcity of raptorial birds. Local inhabitants told of a complete die-off of rabbits, and Mr. Salsman of Seven Islands said that rabbits had almost completely died off in his trapping area. He has regularly trapped them for food, taking between 700 and 800. annually. In the winter of 1946-47, he took only 58 on the same area. He reported there were no owls, hawks, mice, or shrews, although in the previous winter, shrews had been almost a pest in his cabin. With little variation similar conditions were consistently reported. Another phenomenon frequently mentioned was the migration of foxes to the coast. Several sanctuary wardens’ reported an increase in fox depredations on bird islands. These foxes had crossed on the winter ice to some of the sanctuary islands and had stayed through the spring break-up. Naturally, FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 they remained only on the larger islands which furnished cover and available food. On the first few islands visited numerous fox tracks and empty nests indicated that they were making some inroads upon the breeding gulls and eider ducks. At La Tabatiere, well toward the eastern end of the trip, warblers and sparrows be- came more abundant, perhaps due to the fact that some had come via Newfoundland rather than down the St. Lawrence and along the north shore of the gulf. Apparently the decimation of the land forms did not extend to the water birds since their numbers seemed normal in the colonies visited. The ten sanctuaries, around which our landings were centered, are, from west to east, Carrousel Island Sanctuary, near the village of Seven Islands; Birch Islands Sanctuary, in the western end of the Mingan Islands; Betchewun Sanctuary, consisting of one large and two small islands in the eastern Mingans; Watshishu Sanctuary, made up of small islands extending for eleven miles along the coast; Fog Island Sanctuary, a number of offshore islands; the Wolf Bay Sanctuary, several islands located in and near Wolf Bay; St. Mary’s Sanctuary, four large islands and* two small ones; Mecatina Sanctuary, a large number of islands lying off the mouth of the great Mecatina River; St. Augustine Sanctuary, again a large sanctuary covering a considerable area of coast line and including a large number of islands; and Bradore Bay Sanctuary, made up of Perroquet and Greenley Island situated on opposite sides of the point on which the village of Lourdes du Blanc Sablon is located. On all except Bradore Bay Sanctuary eider ducks bred in numbers. These islands also contained the major colonies of the black- back and herring gulls, kittiwake, razor-billed auks, Atlantic murres, Atlantic puffins, and European cormorants. There were also a number of colonies of double-crested cormo- rants, ring-billed gulls, black guillemots, and terns. Although some colonies of nearly all species were located outside the sanctuaries, the great majority were concentrated on these protected areas, each with a resident warden during the nesting season. Small numbers of black ducks, pintails, green-winged teals, and red-breasted mergansers nest in some of the sanctuaries. During the trip the weather interfered at times with observations, but it was better March-April, 1952] THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST fe ~ Se fry i=) cal i=) 2, ") <=) WW. WA Map of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 47 48 THE CANADIAN than average for such country. There were comparatively few days in which the weather seriously interfered with work ashore, although occasionally storms made landings difficult and shore travel uncomfortable. However, by taking advantage of breaks in the weather, we visited many islands both in and out of the sanctuaries and made frequent stops in the mainland. The following notes indicate the status and abundance of the birds encountered. Gavia immer immer (Briinnich). Common Loon. A few individuals were seen throughout the trip. Usually one or two were observed daily, although six were seen June 15 near the Washikuti River. We found no nests or evidence of breeding on the islands or main- land areas visited. The birds probably were breeding inland beyond the range of our activity but were feeding rather regularly in salt water. Gavia _ stellata Loon. (Pontoppidan). Red-throated This loon was well distributed, being seen nearly every day. Those to the westward were possibly nonbreeding birds which had not yet moved to breeding territories. A pair on Eskimo Island June 9 apparently had established territory on a little pond, but there was no evidence of a nest. The first nest was discovered June 17 on Fog Island Sanctuary, and in the next few days eight nests each containing two eggs and two with one egg each were found. All nests were on offshore islands and were built on small islets or small points in fresh water ponds. Even on the sanctuaries, the birds were wild, and only at St. Mary’s Island could we approach close enough to see the incubating bird on the nest. Morus bassana (Linnaeus). Gannet. There were no gannet colonies on this shore, and we saw few individuals. The first were noticed east of Natashquan on the 14th where we observed seven birds. Single birds were seen on the 15th and 28th of June, and July 2. No others were noted until July 8 when a number were fishing along the long, sandy shore and shallow bays southwest of Natashquan. Gannets, kittiwakes, and terns were actively feeding in this area, the gannets presumably coming from the Anticosti Island colony. FIeELD-NATURALIST LVol. 66 Phalacrocorax carbo carbo (Linnaeus). European Cormorant. We visited three colonies of these cormo- rants, two on islands of the Wapitagun group just east of Cape Whittle, and the third on Cliff Island in the St. Mary’s group. In the first colony on Lake Island, June 18, 85 nests were counted. There were some double- crested cormorant nests on these cliffs, and we may not have seen all nests of the carbo. On June 19, 45 nests of the European cormo- rant and 30 of the double-crested species were counted on an island a mile further east. June 19 on Cliff Island in the St. Mary’s group we counted 179 nests, only six of which were double-crested cormorants. During the breeding season the conspicuous white plumes identify P. c. carbo readily, and the larger size is quite noticeable when the two species are flying together or standing near each other. The gular pouch is not lemon yellow in life at this season. It is a dirty white with small flecks of yellow in it, giving a general impression of a gray-white color. One must be close or have the bird in hand to see the yellow flecks. We examined some birds in the hand and looked at several hundred at close range and could only occasionally detect the yellow flecks. There is a triangular yellow patch below each eye. Phalacrocorax auritus Double-crested Cormorant. auritus (Lesson). There were a dozen or more nests in small spruce trees on above the kittiwake colony on Carrousel Island. No attempt was made to reach this site, but the birds could be seen on the nests. Cormorants were scattered widely along the coast line, but we visited few colonies. Thirty-seven occupied cormorants’ nests were counted on a small rocky islet in Wolf Bay in the only colony visited, except those nesting with P. c. carbo. We observed without landings a colony of several dozen pairs in the Fog Island Sanctuary, a second on a rock a few miles west of Natashquan, another on a small rock about five miles east of Kekashka, and one on the outermost island in the Wolf Bay Sanctuary. Lewis knew of others which were too far from our route to be visited. cormorant the cliffs Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). American Bittern. March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN Two bitterns were flushed June 11 on the river above Baie Johan Beetz. Branta bernicla hrota (Miller). American Brant. Seven Islands Bay is known as a place where brant congregate prior to their taking off for overland flights to Ungava Bay. At the time of our arrival no brant were present. However, on June 5, 175 arrived as we were standing on a little point at the bay entrance. This was the only group noted, and local observers said that brant had decreased markedly in the last few seasons. On June 7, 42 individuals were found in the Mingan Islands, and two birds were seen in each of two areas in the eastern Mingans on the 9th. Anas rubripes Brewster. Black Duck. One of the objectives of the trip was to observe the black duck breeding population. In the attempt to do so, practically every marsh of any size on the coast between Seven Islands and Blanc Sablon was visited. Breed- ing birds were scattered and usually seen singly. We saw no nests, although at Wolf Bay a nest could have been found if time had permitted. On Bluff Island, a_ pair obviously had young, but such a dense growth of buck bean covered two-thirds of the pond that it was impossible to locate young birds without spending much time. Breeding areas were underpopulated, and local observers stated that black ducks had decreased markedly. Certainly, there is room for additional breeding pairs of these birds. Numerous flocks were present on the south shore of the gulf near Rimouski June 2, and some of these birds may have nested later in this area. Anas carolinensis Gmelin. Green-winged Teal. We saw one bird June 15 in a little pond near the falls of the Washikuti River, four on St. Augustine Sanctuary June 24, and two in the Mecatina Sanctuary July 4. Numbers were seen on the south shore near Rimouski. Mareca americana (Gmelin). Baldpate. A pair of baldpates were observed on June 15 in a little pool on Parson Island, east of Kegashka Bay. Glaucionetta clangula americana (Bonaparte). American Golden-eye. A single bird was found at St. Charles Island in the eastern Mingans on June 9. FIELD-NATURALIST 49 Clangula hyemalis (Linnaeus). Old-squaw. Flocks of old-squaws were common from the day we arrived at Seven Islands. They were also exceedingly common the _ two preceding days on the south shore of the gulf and were noted from the steamer on the trip across the estuary. We saw the first individuals on the north shore at Carrousel Island June 4. They were abundant on the 6th between Seven Islands and Mingan. One hundred ninety-five flew in one direction on one side of the boat in approximately ten miles. They were common for 100 miles whenever the boat was close enough to shore to permit observations. A number were re- corded on the 7th, after which date the numbers decreased, the last being seen June 11 at the Little Watshishu River. Histrionicus histrionicus histrionicus (Linna- eus). Eastern Harlequin Duck. Three birds were observed at Carrousel Island June 4, and seven offshore from Parson Island June 15. Somateria mollissima dresseri Sharpe. Ame- rican Eider. The eider was the most abundant waterfowl and probably outnumbered all other species combined. Nests without eggs were first noted June 4 on Carrousel Island where birds were common. The males on this date and for some time later were engaged in almost continual cooing both day and night. June 7, on a small island in the Birch Island Sanctu- ary, we found many eider nests, some with 4 or 5 eggs, but more with incomplete sets. From that time, nests were abundant. Several hundred nests were examined that held from 4 to 7 eggs with 4 or 5 eggs in the greatest number of nests. The season was late, and vegetation had not started to grow in many nesting areas. This may have accounted for the apparently foolhardy positions in which some nests were found without any cover whatever and with the incubating bird plainly visible. Some were close to or even in herring gull colonies. This was not the invariable rule for many were concealed by the small semi-prostrate spruces, balsams, and junipers that grew in sheltered places on the outer islands and on some of the timbered islands, the nests were exceedingly well concealed. Nests were found on every sanctuary island except in Bradore Bay and on many other islands, although they were more abundant on the protected areas. 50 THE CANADIAN On Cliff Island, June 19, we found the greatest concentration of nesting eiders. Twenty-one females left a small patch of brush as we approached. We did not trample through this cover for fear of unduly disturb- ing the birds, and unquestionably there were others that did not flush. The caretaker who collected eider-down under permit later told us that he had found 310 nests on this island and almost as many on some of the others. The first brood was found near Washikuti River Falls on June 15, and from that date we saw young in increasing numbers. Soon after hatching the young take to salt water and congregate in little gangs escorted by one or more hens. This appears to be an effective protective action against the rapa- cious black-back gulls that are continually trying to capture the ducklings. Many times we watched gulls swoop at these flocks, but as long as there were enough hens to threaten them with upraised open bills, we did not see a gull capture a young duckling. However, whenever the young became scattered, the gulls picked out a single duckling, swooped at it repeatedly, forcing it to dive until it was tired, and then caught it. We saw a number captured in this manner. One amusing incident occurred when, in a narrow passage where we could not avoid them, our boat scatted a little convoy of ducklings. The hens took off and flew some distance. The black-backs saw an opportunity and started after the downies. However, a colony of terns on a nearby island objected in a very practical fashion by attacking the gulls in squads. One gull persisted for some time but finally gave up when the terns ganged up and dove at the marauder in such rapid succession that they looked almost like a giant ferris wheel as they dove, wheeled upward, and came down again. Before the easternmost point of the trip was reached on June 28, the males were gathering in flocks. Beginning on the 29th, they poured eastward past Bradore Bay in flocks of 200 to 300 or more birds. These flocks passed into the Strait of Belle Isle and on to the eastward. Not all of the males left, however, since on the return trip numerous flocks were seen. They were practically absent from the inner channels and the breeding areas where they had been observed on the eastbound trip and had gathered in big flocks that were feeding over the most exposed rocky shoals. It would have FIELD-NATURALIST LVol. 66 been impossible to estimate the total number of eiders on this coast without spending much time, but a fine breeding population is present. This is the combined result of the sanctuaries ~ and of the efforts of Dominion officials to interest local people in collecting and selling eider-down. Only a few are doing it, but the fact that some revenue is derived from the eiders seems to put them in a special category in the mind of the average resident, and the eiders have benefited considerably. Melanitta fusca deglandi (Bonaparte). White- winged Scoter. White-winged scoters were seen in fair numbers throughout the trip although there was no evidence of breeding. The greatest concentration was encountered east of Natash- quan June 14. Flocks of this species estimated at more than 4,000 mixed with smaller numbers of other scoters were feeding off the sandy beaches for 25 miles east of Natash- quan. Melanitta Scoter. This species was less common than the white-winged scoter. We saw a few around tHe Bay of Seven Islands June 4 and 5, and perhaps 2,500 on the 14th east of Natash- quan. On July 17 we noted approximately 50 birds west of Wolf Bay in company with greater numbers of white-winged scoters. perspicillata (Linnaeus). Surf Oidemia nigra americana Swainson. American Scoter. - This was the least common scoter. Six birds were noted at Seven Islands June 5, and they were fairly numerous in the flocks east of Natashquan on the 14th. Four birds were observed off Curlew Point on the 15th and 10 at Bradore Bay July 1. Mergus’ serrator Linnaeus. Red-breasted Merganser. This merganser was seen almost daily. The first brood was found June 14 in the mouth of the Washikuti River, and from that time broods were recorded frequently. Accipiter striatus velox (Wilson). shinned Hawk. A single individual at Natashquan June 13. Sharp- Buteo lagopus s. johannis (Gmelin). American Rough-legged Hawk. This big hawk was noted only three times: one at Seven Islands on June 5, one at Baie March-April, 1952] Johan Beetz June 11, and two at the falls of the Little Natashquan River June 14. Haliaeetus leucoeephalus alascanus Townsend. Northern Bald Eagle. A single bird was watched for some time on the Little Watshishu Sanctuary June 12. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmelin). Osprey. An osprey was seen at Seven Islands on the 4th, two in the Birch Island Sanctuary on the 8th, two at Washikuti River on the 15th, and one in the Little Rigolet passage July 2. Falco peregrinus anatum Bonaparte. Duck Hawk. A fine adult was present on Perroquet Island, Bradore Bay, June 30. He had evidently been living high as we found numerous carcasses of puffins and auks, each with the feathers plucked and the breast eaten. Falco columbarius columbarius Linnaeus. Eastern Pigeon Hawk. Single pigeon hawks were seen at the following points: Eskimo Island across from Havre St. Pierre June 9, Baie Johan Beetz on the 11th, Little Watshishu Sanctuary on the 12th, falls of the Washikuti River on the 15th, and the head of the Blanc Sablon River on the 30th. Charadrius hiaticula semipalmatus Bonaparte. Semipalmated Plover. When we arrived at Seven Islands, the shorebirds were still migrating. On June 4 and 5 we saw thousands of semipalmated plovers on the mud flats, mixed with almost equal numbers of least sandpipers and fewer individuals of other species. After we left Seven Islands, semipalmated plovers were relatively scarce although a few were seen at intervals. One pair on western St. Mary’s Island obviously had a nest, but a careful search failed to find it. On July 6, this same pair had young and were in the vicinity of the spot where they were first seen June 21. Squatarola squatarola (Linnaeus). Black- bellied Plover. Numbers of black-bellied plovers in winter plumage were present at Seven Islands June 4, mixed with the semipalmated plovers and least sandpipers. On the 17th on the Fog Island Sanctuary, two in full spring plumage -yere noted. Tue CANADIAN FieL_p-NatTuRAList 51 Arenaria interpres morinella Ruddy Turnstone. (Linnaeus). This species was found on three occasions. Two were seen at Seven Islands June 4, five on the Birch Islands Sanctuary on the 7th, and one on Fog Island Sanctuary on the 17th. Numenius hudsonicus (Latham). Hudsonian Curlew. A flock of six flew over the boat in Wolf Bay July 7. Actitis macularia (Linnaeus). Spotted Sand- piper. This widely distributed shorebird was noted practically every day. A nest with four eggs was found on the 17th at Frazer’s Harbour and a second nest was found in Betchewun Sanctuary July 10. Tringa solitaria solitaria Wilson. Eastern Solitary Sandpiper. A single individual was seen at Seven Islands on the 4th and another on the 5th. Totanus melanoleucus (Gmelin). Greater Yellow-legs. Single birds were observed at Seven Islands on the 5th and Thunder River on the 6th, five on the Birch Islands Sanctuary on the 7th, and three on the 8th, two June 9 on Quarry Island, three June 10 in the Betchewun Sanctuary, and one each day June 11 and July 8 at Romaine. Erolia maritima (Brunnich). piper. Six purple sandpipers in summer plumage were observed at Carrousel Island June 4, seven much less further advanced in plumage on the Birch Island Sanctuary on the ‘7th, and four including one still in winter plumage at Betchewun on the 10th. Purple Sand- Erolia fuscicollis (Vieillot). White-rumped Sandpiper. Five birds were watched for some time among the semipalmated sandpipers on Perroquet Island near Mingan June 8. Erolia minutilla (Vieillot). Least Sandpiper. Least Sandpipers were abundant at Seven Islands June 4 and 5. Thousands were present on the wide tidal mud flats although only scattered individuals were seen subsequently. Three were noted on the 8th ‘on Perroquet 52 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Island near Mingan, three on the 9th on Quarry Island, and two on the 15th on a small island off Curlew Point. This species was not recorded again until June 30 when near the Blanc Sablon River a nest containing four eggs was discovered. The bird put up a good and persistent display of the wounded dodge in an attempt to lead us away from the nest. The eggs were beautifully cradled in a grass-lined depression in the sphagnum moss. This nest was located about midway between two lakes on a narrow isthmus not more than 100 yards in width. Erolia alpina pacifica (Coues). Red-backed Sandpiper. A single red-backed sandpiper was collected on Gull Island near the mouth of the Kegashka River June 14. Limnodromus griseus (Gmelin). Dowitcher. Ten dowitchers were present at Seven Island June 4, five were seen on Birch Islands Sanctuary on the 7th, and two in the little salt marsh at Natashquan on the 14th. Ereunetes pusillus (Linnaeus). Semipalmated Sandpiper. Over 100 semipalmated sandpipers were counted on Perroquet Island June 8. Five were noted on Quarry Island on the 9th, a number in the Betchewun Sanctuary on the 10th, about twenty on Gull Island at the mouth of the Kegashka River on the 14th, and a flock of ten on Parson Island on the 15th. Lobipes lobatus (Linnaeus). Northern Phalarope. These beautiful phalaropes were present in small numbers. Thirty were counted on Carrousel Island June 4, while from the steamer between Seven Islands and Mingan on the 6th, one flock of eleven, one of nine, and a single bird were observed. Nine were seen on Gull Island at the mouth of the Kegashka River on the 14th and three at Person Island on the 15th. Stercorarius pomarinus (Temminck). Pomarine Jaeger. Two pomarine jaegers flew by the boat at comparatively close range just after we left the village of Ile au Michon July 8. [Vol. 66 Stercorarius parasiticus (Linnaeus). Parasitic Jaeger. Five of these birds were around the boat for some time June 28 at Bradore Bay, and four east of Five Leagues Harbour July 1. Larus hyperboreus hyperboreus Gunnerus. Glaucous Gull. A glaucous gull was present at Seven Islands June 4, and a juvenile was seen from the boat July 1. Larus marinus Linnaeus. Great Black-backed Gull. Saddle-backs were ever present. They were scattered on their breeding territory and consequently not seen in numbers, but we seldom landed on an island without finding one or more nests. Usually they selected a prominent point, sometimes the highest point, at others a rock or a point on the edge of a cliff overlooking a large part of the island. The nests were better built than those of other gulls, which was quite a necessary precaution in the exposed sites chosen. We travelled for some time without finding a complete set of eggs since the caretakers were under instructions to take the eggs in certain sanctuaries and permits to collect the eggs for human use on islands outside the sanctuaries had been given to a number of people along the coast. This was in an effort to hold down the numbers of this rapacious gull. Few residents had a good word to say for it, and all the sanctuary caretakers disliked it because of its constant harrying of the downy eiders. Several told of the tactics used by these birds in catching young eiders whenever the broods had become scattered, and later we repeatedly witnessed this performance. There is little question that they are serious predators on young eiders as well as on eggs. Early in the trip, about as many eider nests had been robbed of part or all the eggs as there were un- disturbed ones. Later, as the grass grew and cover became better, the number of those molested diminished. In most cases, these birds appeared guilty, at least they received much of the blame from the caretakers who insisted that the herring gulis disturbed comparatively few eider nests. The first nest was found on June 10, in Betchewun Sanc- tuary. Since the eggs were taken from so many nests, the young hatched late, although “Blca” at Coacoacho. June 18, 1947. Eider Duck nest, showing poor early cover. Little Watshishu River. June 11, 1947. Eider Duch nest showing better cover, Wolf Island, June 18, 1947 European Cormorant nests. Wapitagun Islands. June 19, 1947. March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN on East Island in the St. Mary’s group, June 22, one nest had three eggs, one of which was pipped. No young were seen until July 7 when several broods about one-third grown were found on Bluff Island, and a brood of three were seen standing with an adult on a rock in the Fog Island Sanctuary. Larus argentatus smithsonianus Coues. Herring Gull. This was by far the most abundant breeding gull. Colonies were usually located in the grass and other vegetation on the flatter spots of the islands. In some places many were built against a piece of driftwood lying on the gravel ridges pushed up by the ice along the island beaches. On the Birch Islands many nests were found on upturned stumps and dead trees, and others were built on the ground well back in the timber. Breeding colonies were present on all sanc- tuaries except that at Bradore Bay. The largest colony visited, that on Cliff Island, consisted of hundreds of nests. There were also many nests on Eastern St. Mary’s Island in the same sanctuary. In Betchewun Sanc- tuary, a number of nests on Isle au Bois were placed well back in the bushes and several others were located on stumps and dead trees at least four feet from the ground. On this island, two nests with three eggs each and a fourth just outside the nest were noticed. Two colonies were inspected on the “Black Land” in Wolf Bay Sanctuary in which there were more than a hundred nests. On the Black Land June 18 we saw our first downy, a youngster half out of the shell in a nest in which the other two eggs were pipped. Many small colonies were not visited, but several not in sanctuaries were examined. Among these was a small colony on Gull Island, off the mouth of the Kegashka River, and a big colony on Green and Parson Islands. This was the most widely distributed gull and was seen daily in numbers varying with the distance from nesting islands. It was not possible to census these colonies, but the total population was several thousand pairs. Locally, these birds are known as blue or bluey gulls. Larus delawarensis Ord. Ring-billed Gull. The ring-billed gull, known locally as the squeaky gull, was much less widely distribut- ed, but good colonies were found both within FIELD-NATURALIST 53 and outside the sanctuaries. On Gun Island in the Betchewun Sanctuary June 10, twelve to fifteen completed nests were examined. Several of these held one or two eggs, but the majority had none. These and most other ring-billed nests, were located in the long grass in little hollows or valleys rather than on the higher land or the beaches preferred by the herring gulls. This colony was abandon- ed later, since we returned July 10 and found no evidence that the nests had been used successfully. Herring gull eggs had hatched and the young were everywhere, but the ring-bills had deserted the island. Approxi- mately 300 pairs were nesting on Gull Island at the mouth of the Kegashka River, over 200 pairs on Green Island and adjacent Parson Island, about 1,500 pairs on an island at Romaine which was not in or near any sanctuary, a few dozen nests in the Fog Island Sanctuary, and several hundred pairs in the St. Augustine Sanctuary. A colony of unknown size was noted on an island off the little settlement of Belles Amours, and a small colony on an island in Mecatina Sanctuary. At this last site we found 21 nests with eggs and several times that number without. These birds seemed to be slower than the herring gulls to renest after the colonies were raided by the eggers. At least on several occasions the herring gulls had new clutches, while the ring-bills were still excited and eggless. Rissa tridactyla tridactyla (Linnaeus). Atlantic Kittiwake. Kittiwakes were not abundant and only two colonies were visited. Several hundred pairs were building nests on Carrousel and an adjoining island June 4, and a small colony of only seven nests and not more than thirty birds was located on Gun Island in the Betchewun Sanctuary. On June 10 two of these nests had one egg each, but by July 10 no kittiwakes were around and the nests did not seem to have been used. Obviously the colony had been destroyed or vacated by the birds though human interference was unlikely. While these were the only two colonies seen, there were numbers of kittiwakes in Bradore Bay and about Greenley Island and Blane Sablon on June 28. We estimated that about 2,000 birds were present, many of - them sitting on two huge icebergs stranded off Greenley Island, one of the two islands 54 THE CANADIAN in the sanctuary at Bradore Bay. Many were in juvenile plumage as were a considerable proportion of those seen July 8 between Romaine and the Little Watshishu River. Sterna hirundo hirundo Linnaeus. Common Tern. Common terns were seen everywhere. During the eastward trip, groups were gather- ing about nesting islands, but they had not yet started to lay. In fact, we found no occupied nests until after beginning the return trip. The first eggs were found on St. Mary’s Islands on the 6th of July when two nests with one egg and two others ready to receive eggs were examined. There was a colony with eggs July 8 in the Watshishu Refuge, and a colony of considerable size on Gun Island in the Betchewun Sanctuary July 10. These birds had built nests near the site of the ring-billed gull colony, but the grass was now so long that they were difficult to find. After considerable searching, we found about a dozen, each with two or three eggs. Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan. Arctic Tern. Arctic terns were less abundant than com- mon terns, although scattered individuals were seen on the Birch Islands Sanctuary July 7 and from time to time thereafter. Like the common terns, they had selected territories, but had not yet nested on our eastward journey. In fact, the only occupied nests found were on a small rocky island in the mouth of the Little Watshishu River where July 9 four nests with two eggs, two with one egg, and one with one egg, and one downy young were examined. Hydroprogne caspia ((Coues). Caspian Tern. Caspian terns were rare. A _ single bird flew over our boat at the Natashquan wharf on the 13th, two were seen in Frazer’s Harbour on the 15th, and a colony containing about thirty birds was visited on the Fog Island Sanctuary June 17. This colony had four nests with one egg each and was close to the nesting ring-billed and herring gulls. Alca torda torda Linnaeus. Razor-billed Auk. The first auks were seen June 4 on Car- rousel Island where more than a hundred birds were present. In the Betchewun Sanc- tuary June 10, Gun Island held a colony of approximately 250 birds. There were scattered birds on the Fog Island Sanctuary, and Wolf FreLp-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Island where the first eggs were found had several hundred birds. There was a big colony on the Black Land where about 1,500 birds were sitting in offshore rafts. There were a few auks on the outer Wapitagun Islands and a big colony in the Boat Islands. Auks were numerous on the St. Mary’s Islands, and there were approximately 1,500 on Perroquet Island in Bradore Bay. Numerous smaller colonies were scattered widely. The eggs exhibited the usual variations in color and markings, and were laid in rocky crevices with no attempt at nest building. Uria aalge aalge (Pontoppidan). Atlantic Murre. Murres were much less widely distributed than the auks. A single individual was seen in the Watshishu Refuge on the 12th, but no colony was found until Fog Island was reached. Here about 4,000 murres were present on a small island adjacent to the major island for which the sanctuary is named. We could not land because of the surf, but did get close enough to see many eggs. In Wolf Bay Sanctuary, several hundred murres were established on one of the outer islands, and more than a hundred eggs were scattered among 37 double-crested cormorant nests on a smaller inshore island. There were numerous murres on the Black Land, and colonies on the Boat Islands and on St. Mary’s Islands. On Cliff Island, in addition to the usual cliff dwellers, a number of birds lived in a cave extending into solid rock. There were also about 200 murres in the puffin colony on Perroquet Island in Bradore Bay. Uria lomvia lomvia (Linnaeus). Murre. Brunnich’s We saw at least two Brunnich’s murres on a ledge on Cliff Island in the St. Mary’s group June 19. There were two or more additional individuals that showed the white mark on the gape but lacked the other characteristics of the Brunnich’s murre. Lewis returned to this ledge July 20 and saw at least two birds which he definitely identified the second time as_ Brunnich’s murres. There has been one bird known for several years in this colony, and this year there were several others that are either this species or hybrids. Certainly there were at least four birds on the ledge with the white gape line visible. These were in the front ranks of a crowd which extended far March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN back into a deep crevice among which might have been additional individuals. Cepphus grylle atlantis Salomonsen. Black Guillemot. These birds were very common. We were moving eastward with the spring, and no eggs were found until July 4 in the Mecatina Bird Sanctuary. On the 6th we found a number of nests with two eggs each on Western St. Mary’s Island, and others on the 7th on a little island off the mouth of the Etamamu River. The eggs were all laid on the gravel in crevices in the rocks or under rocks with no attempt to build a nest. Guillemots were exceedingly abundant on the 7th as we travelled through the islands from the Etamamu River mouth to Romaine. Some idea of their abundance can be gained from the fact that Lewis counted 135 from one spot while I was photographing cormorant nests on the outer Wapitagun Islands. Fratercula arctica arctica (Linnaeus). Atlantic Puffin. These birds, like the murres, were not found as far west as the auks. The first colony on Gun Island in the Betchewun Sanctuary July 10 held about 600 birds. There was a big colony on Wolf Island in a dense growth of rye grass, and a _ second seemingly almost as large in an ancient rounded boulder beach that is now elevated to the upper level of the island. There were thriving colonies on the Black Land, the Boat Islands, and the islands of the St. Mary’s group. There was also a fine colony on Greenly Island and the largest colony of all on Perroquet Island both in Bradore Bay Sanctuary. According to checks made by the Canadian officials in past years, there are approximately 45,000 puffins on this 41-acre island, and the colony rivals in size some of the horned puffin cities in the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea. Bubo virginianus heterocnemis (Oberholser). Labrador Horned Owl. A single horned owl noted in the early morning of July 1 on the mainland at Bradore Bay was probably of this form. It flew from a crevice in the rock and off into the fog as we approached. Nyctea scandiaca (Linnaeus). Snowy Owl. The carcass of a bird that had been trapped about a week previously by the caretaker FIELD-NATURALIST 55 on Perroquet Island was examined on June 30. It had probably shared with the duck hawk mentioned previously the abundant living made available by this big water bird colony as some of the partially eaten birds might have been killed by. this owl. Asio flammeus flammeus (Pontoppidan). Short-eared Owl. Lewis saw a short-eared owl at Bradore Bay June 28, and my wife and I saw one on July 1 in the same vicinity. Megaceryle alcyon alcyon (Linnaeus). Eastern Belted Kingfisher. Only three kingfishers were recorded. A single bird was present on Middle St. Mary’s Island July 6, one on St. Charles Island in the eastern Mingans on the 10th, and one on the U. S. Army wharf at Mingan on the 11th. Colaptes auratus luteus Bangs. Northern Flicker. Flickers. were not common. At Seven Islands, a single bird was seen June 4 and three on the 5th, while one was noted on Quarry Island June 9. Tyrannus tyrannus (Linnaeus). Kingbird. A kingbird was watched for some time near Wolf Bay village June 18. Eastern Empidonax flaviventris (Baird and Baird). Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. A yellow-bellied flycatcher was seen at Natashquan June 13, a second one at Washi- kuti River Falls on the 15th, two on the 23rd at La Tabatiere, and two others later in the same day along the Kecarpoui River. Single individuals were seen at Spoon Cove June 25 and at Mutton Bay July 3. Empidonax traillii traillii (Audubon). Alder Flycatcher. Two birds were seen in Betchewun Sanc- tuary June 10, and a single bird at St. Mary’s Islands on the 2\1st. Eremophila alpestris alpestris (Linnaeus). Northern Horned Lark. The first horned lark was seen June 6 at Seven Islands, the second on Fog Island on the 17th, and three on Lake Island on the 18th. They became quite noticeable on the 19th and 20th on St. Mary’s Islands where the males were in full song, and there were 56 THE CANADIAN a few on the Fog Islands on the 26th. At Bradore from June 28 to July 1, they were the most abundant land bird. By the 29th at Bradore, spotted young were out of the nest, and fledglings became numerous the next two days. Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot). Tree Swallow. This was the only common swallow. It was first seen during a short walk on June 6 at Thunder River where a number were flying over a little meadow between the wharf and the town. On the 11th there were more than 100 over the marsh and river above the village of Baie Johan Beetz. From then on they were less common. Two were seen at the mouth of the Little Watshishu River June 12; five each day at Natashquan on the 13th and 14th; two at Washikuti River Falls on the 15th; and a single individual at St. Charles Island July 10. Riparia riparia riparia (Linnaeus). Bank Swallow. Several bank swallows were with the tree swallows on the river at Baie Johan Beetz June 11. Hirundo rustica erythrogaster Boddaert. Barn Swallow. A single barn swallow was observed among the tree swallows at Baie Johan Beetz on the 11th. Perisoreus canadensis sanfordi Oberholser. Labrador Jay. This bird was not common. A single bird was seen on inner Birch Island June 8, three on Quarry Island on the 9th, five on the mainland at Betchewun June 10, and four above the Washikuti River Falls June 15. The last two groups each contained young birds, but the three on Quarry Island were all adults. All specimens have been identified by Dr. John W. Aldrich as this race. Corvus corax principalis Ridgway. Northern Raven. The raven was found largely to the east and was not abundant anywhere. Two individuals were noted at Washikuti River Falls on the 15th, two or more were seen each day on St. Mary’s Islands from June 20 to 22. There were apparently four birds in the group with one pair frequenting Western and Middle St. Mary’s Islands, and a second pair on East Island. A single bird FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 was seen on the 25th on Bayfield Island and one July 4 in Mecatina Sanctuary. Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm. Eastern Crow. Crows were fairly common around Seven Islands and Mingan, decreasing in numbers to the east and becoming scarce. Beyond Natashquan one was seen in Wolf Bay Sanc- tuary June 18, two on Wapitagun Islands June 19, and three at the Little Rigolet July 2. We saw others on the return trip, especially July 10 and 11 when we were again in the territory of greater population. Parus atricapillus atricapillus Linnaeus. Black-capped Chickadee. Chickadees were scarce, and while they were occasionally heard, the only ones actually seen were on June 4 at Seven Islands, and two on inner Birch Island June 8. East of Mingan, they were not sighted although an occasional call was heard. Parus hudsonicus hudsonicus Forster. Hudsonian Chickadee. A single bird collected above Washikuti River Falls June 15 was the only bird actually sighted although chickadees with the husky call note of this species were heard on one or two previous occasions. Troglodytes troglodytes hiemalis (Vieillot). Eastern Winter Wren. Winter wrens were quite numerous at Seven Islands and Mingan, and a single bird was observed at La Tabatiere June 23. Mimus polyglottos polyglottos (Linnaeus). Eastern Mockingbird. A single individual was watched for some time by Lewis in Seven Islands June 4. On the 5th all of us saw the bird again in almost the same part of the village. This is the first record of the species for Labrador. Turdus migratorius migratorius Linnaeus. Eastern Robin. Robins were well distributed and fairly numerous. They were abundant about Seven Islands and Mingan, some of which seemed to be in migration. The first fledglings were noted July 1 on the mainland at Bradore Bay. Specimens collected at Salmon Bay June 28 and at Bradore July 1 seem to be typical migratorius, while one taken at Betchewun June 10 is intermediate between migratorius and nigrideus. Pipit nest, 6 eggs, Perroquet Island. June 30, 1947 Red-throated Loom nest. Fog Island Sanctuary. June 19, 1947 March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN Hylocichla guttata faxoni Bangs and Penard. Eastern Hermit Thrush. Hermit thrushes were noted on Carrousel Island June 4 and at Seven Islands on the 4th and 5th. Hylocichla ustuliata swainsoni Olive-backed Thrush. Olive-backed thrushes were decidedly un- common, although we occasionally heard them singing. Several were seen at Seven Islands on the 4th and 5th, two at Mingan on the 8th, two eaeh on Quarry Island and St. Charles on the 9th, one on the Watshishu Sanctuary June 12, two June 14 at Kegashka, four at Washikuti River Falls on the 15th, and one on the beach at Wolf Island June 18. (Tschudi). Hylocichla minima aliciae (Baird). Gray-cheeked Thrush. The gray-cheeked thrush was equally un- common. There were numbers about Seven Islands when we arrived and several dead birds were found in the streets. There were also a number about Mingan June 7. The only individuals seen east of Mingan were one at La Tabatiere on the 23rd, another at the same place July 2, and one in song at Rocky Bay June 26. Regulus calendula calendula (Linnaeus). Eastern Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This was one of the more common small birds. It was seen regularly in timbered country from Seven Islands east to Kecarpoui River June 23. After that date little habitat suitable for this species was visited, and the only record was a single individual seen June 24 a few miles east of that river. Anthus spinoletta rubescens (Tunstall). American Pipit. Migrating pipits were seen at Seven Islands, Thunder River, Mingan, and Quarry Island. They were first heard in full song June 18 at Wolf Bay. They were seen frequently after that date, but were most abundant at Bradore Bay. One nest containing six eggs was discovered on Perroquet Island June 30. Pipits were still singing the full flight song at St. Mary’s Islands July 6, the last stop in good pipit territory. Vermivora peregrina (Wilson). Tennessee Warbler. Two Tennessee warblers were noted at Seven Islands on the 5th, three on Harbour FieLp-NATURALIST 57 Island at Mingan on the 8th, and one at Natashquan on the 13th. Dendroica petechia amnicola Batchelder. Newfoundland Yellow Warbler. Yellow warblers were not common. I saw one on Outer Birch Island, June 7, two at Baie Johan Beetz on the 11th, two at St. Mary’s Islands on the 21st, six at La Tabatiere on the 23rd, two at St. Paul’s River on the 27th, four at Blane Sablon River on the 30th, one on the mainland at Bradore Bay July 1, and one at Mutton Bay on the 3rd. In addition, Lewis saw one at Washikuti River Falls June 15, and one at Harrington Harbour June 21. Many times this number should have been present, particularly in the western part of the region. A skin taken at La Tabatiere June 23 has been identified as this race. Dendroica magnolia |( Wilson). Warbler. Magnolia warblers were scarce. Single birds were observed at Seven Islands June 5 and Mingan on the 8th. Two were seen at Natash- quan on the 14th, two at the Washikuti River Falls on the 15th, and one at Betchewun July 9. Magnolia Dendroica coronata coronata (Linnaeus). Myrtle Warbler. Myrtle warblers were fairly common at Seven Islands. They were numerous around Mingan June 7 and 8 and fairly common throughout the Mingan Islands. East of that point, they were noted at irregular intervals. We saw one at the Little Watshishu River June 12; one at Natashquan on the 13th, and two on the 14th; four at Washikuti River Falls on the 15th; and one at La Tabatiere on the 28rd. Dendroica virens virens (Gmelin). Black-throated Green Warbler. This species was not common. Three were seen June 8 on Inner Birch Island, two on the 10th at Betchewun, and one on the 15th at Washikuti River Falls. Dendroica castanea (Wilson). Bay-breasted Warbler. Mrs. Gabrielson found a dead male of this species June 9 on Quarry Island. Dendroica striata (Forster). Warbler. Black-poll 58 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST The black-poll was found regularly, but it was less numerous than Lewis had found it in previous years. It was numerous at Mingan June 7 and 8, but after that date only scattered individuals were seen. Six recorded July 1 on Bradore Bay were the greatest numbers, but one to three were seen on the days we visited suitable habitat. Dendroica palmarum hypochrysea Ridgway. Yellow Palm Warbler. Two birds were seen and several others heard singing June 5 at Seven Islands. Lewis had seen a single bird on the previous day. Seiurus noveboracensis noveboracensis (Gmelin). Northern Water-Thrush. Northern Water-thrushes were fairly com- mon at Seven Islands June 4 and abundant in the Mingan Islands, particularly on Inner and Outer Birch Islands, June 7 and 8, at which time there was evidently a considerable migration movement. Occasional birds obvi- ously nesting were recorded at Quarry Island, Washikuti River Falls, Wolf Bay, the Blanc Sablon River, and Bradore Bay. QOporornis philadelphia (Wilson). Mourning Warbler. One was seen on Eskimo Island June 9, one on the Black Land June 18, one at St. Mary’s Islands June 22, and two at La Tabatiere on the 23rd, and one at Spoon Cove June 25. Geothlypis trichas brachidactyla (Swainson). Northern Yellow-throat. Three yellow-throats were observed June 11 at Baie Johan Beetz and three on the 15th at Washikuti River Falls. One was heard singing at Spoon Cove June 26, and another June 30 near the Blanc Sablon River. Lewis had additional records at Natashquan June 14 and Harrington Harbour June 20. Lewis’s records show that this bird was more abundant on the eastern part of this area than in previous years. Wilsonia pusilla pusilla (Wilson). Wilson’s Warbler. This, the most conspicuous warbler, was first seen in the Birch Islands June 8 and thereafter it was observed regularly through- out the trip. The greatest number noted in any one day was six on the 25th at Spoon Cove. [Vol. 66 Setophaga ruticilla (Linnaeus). American Redstart. Redstarts were seen only twice, a single male June 15 at Washikuti River Falls, and a lone female at St. Mary’s Islands on the 21st. Euphagus carolinus (Muller). Rusty Blackbird. Rusty blackbirds were fairly common around Seven Islands June 4 and 5, and three were seen at Thunder River on the 6th. Acanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus). Common Redpoll. Redpolls were first seen at Five Leagues Harbour June 28. Others were noted June 29 and 30 on the mainland shores of Bradore Bay and along the Blane Sablon River. They were wild and difficult to approach. Loxia leucoptera leucoptera Gmelin. White-winged Crossbill. This species was seen only at Natashquan. On June 14 seven flew near my wife and me at the falls of the Little Natashquan River. Later in the day two flocks, one of five and one of six, flew over us at the edge of the village. Passerculus sandwichensis labradorius Howe. . Labrador Savannah Sparrow. The savannah sparrow was the most com- mon and widely distributed land bird and was seen in fair numbers in every suitable area. A number, all of this race, were collect- ed. Lewis found a nest July 1 at Bradore Bay, and my wife a second. Each contained four eggs. Junco hyemalis hyemalis (Linnaeus). Slate-colored Junco. Juncos had suffered materially from the frigid weather, dead birds and parts of birds being found quite commonly in both Seven Islands and Mingan. They were fairly common in the Mingan Islands as far as Betchewun, but were not noted farther east. Spizella arborea arborea (Wilson). Eastern Tree Sparrow. A few transient tree sparrows were present at Seven Islands June 4 and 5, but this species was not again observed until June 25 at Spoon Cove. A number were seen at Bradore Bay, along the little stream beside which Audubon strolled. At the head of this March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN stream and adjoining the little lake at its source, there were a number of tree sparrows including one pair with newly fledged bob- tailed young. A number were noted along the Blane Sablon River on the 30th. Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys (Forster). White-crowned Sparrow. This species suffered severely in the cold weather at Seven Islands and Mingan, although it was later found fairly common throughout the breeding range as far east as Blanc Sablon. From Wolf Bay Sanctuary eastward, 1: was particularly noticeable. Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin). White-throated Sparrow. White-throats were abundant about Seven Islands and Mingan but diminished in num- bers to the east. They were fairly common as far east as Natashquan but scarce beyond that point. The last one was noted at St. Paul’s River June 27. Passerella iliaca iliaca (Merrem). Eastern Fox Sparrow. Fox sparrows were fairly common about Seven Islands June 4 and about Eskimo Island on the 9th. The species was not again noted until the 20th on St. Mary’s Islands when one or two were seen and a dead bird was found under the ramp to the boathouse. Numbers of singing males were first heard FIELD-NATURALIST 59 at La Tabatiere on the 23rd, where as many as eight individuals were heard from one spot. Farther east the birds were rather scarce, although they were seen at Spoon Cove, St. Paul’s River, and Bradore Bay. Melospiza lincolnii lincolnii (Audubon). Lincoln’s Sparrow. Lincoln’s sparrow was not common, although it was conspicuous in migration on the Birch Islands June 7 and 8. It was seen at intervals, however, and heard more frequently east fo Bradore Bay. It was never abundant and was difficult to see in the thick brush it frequented. Melospiza georgiana subsp. Swamp Sparrow. Swamp sparrows were seen only at Seven Islands June 4 and at Wolf Bay June 18. At the latter place a single bird was on the beach with a northern water-thrush and several white-crowned sparrows. Melospiza melodia melodia (Wilson). Eastern Song Sparrow. Song sparrows were not common. Two were noted at Thunder River June 6 and four June 8 on Inner Birch Island. Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus (Linnaeus). Lapland Longspur. Six longspurs were present on the beach at Seven Islands June 4. CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUS — 1951° St. John’s, Nfld. — (City and half mile of coast at both Torbay and Witless Bay). December 26, 1951; 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.; temp. 20°F; light NW winds; overcast and intermittent snow flurries; 6 in. of snow on ground; 8 observers in 2 parties; 3 feeding station observers; total hours 51; total miles 83; (31 on foot, 52 by car). — Old-squaw, 24; Common Eider, 158 (plus); King Eider, 1; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 3; Pigeon Hawk, 1; Herring Gull, 14; Dovekie, 18; Black Guil- lemot, 10; Rock Dove, 310; Yellow-shafted Flicker, 3; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Raven, 5; Crow, 394 (plus); Black-capped Chickadee, 98; Brown-capped Chickadee, 15; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 12; Common Starling, 610; English Sparrow, 304 (plus); Evening Grosbeak, 8; 1 Received for publication March 19, 1952. Purple Finch, 42; Pine Grosbeak, 72. — Total 21 species; 2103 individuals (plus). (Seen in area next day, Snowy Owl, 1; Robin, 35). — Mrs. A. G. Gosling, Miss C. Furlong, Mr. & Mrs. G. Cameron, Mr. & Mrs. P. B. Rendell, Mr. & Mrs. J. S. Canning, H: H. Winter, John Macgillivray, L. M. Tuck (Newfoundland Natural History Society). Quebec, Que. — (Quebec city, Plains of Abraham, to Sillery, Bois Gomin, Ste. Foy and Quebec bridge area, Quebec Zoological Garden and Charlesbourg, and along the St. Lawrence River from Quebec bridge to Island of Orleans bridge); town suburbs 22%, fields 16%, coniferous forest 7%, deciduous woods 26%, mixed woodlands 20%, shores 9%. — Dec. 27; 7.00 am. to 4.15 p.m. Light snow, partly cloudy, temp. 0° to 14°F; wimd NW. 60 THE CANAvIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 1-3 m.p.h.; 22-24 inches snow on ground; small rivers partly frozen, exceptionally large and compact moving ice-fields on the St. Lawrence River. Twelve observers in 5 parties. Total party hours, 32 (28 on foot, 4 by car); total party miles, 61 (21 on foot, 40 by car). — Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 4; Ring-necked Pheasant, 2; Herring Gull, 6; Hairy Woodpecker, 5; Blue Jay, 1; American Crow, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 37; Brown- capped Chickadee, 1; Brown Creeper, 1; Common Starling, 15; English Sparrow, 383; Red-winged Blackbird, 1; Evening Grosbeak, 7; Pine Grosbeak, 18. — Total 15 species, 484 individuals. (Seen in area Dec. 25: Arctic three-toed Woodpecker, 1; Snow Bunting, 50; Dec. 26: Common Redpoll, 1). — A. Fortin, P. Grenier, F. Hamel, L. Lemieux, G. Lepage, R. Lepage, Louis A. Lord, J. Lord, G. Lord, G. Moisan, H. Talbot, R. Cayouette (La Société Zoologique de Québec). Montreal, Que. — (Mount Royal, Ville LaSalle, St. Helen’s Island, Nun’s Island, south shore from Jacques Cartier Bridge to Caughnawaga, and the north shore from Dorval to Victoria Bridge). — Dec. 23, 1951; 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Bright and clear. Wind velocity 5 to 10 m.p.h. N.N.W. Depth of snow 18 to 24 inches. All creeks and marshes frozen. Ice on river very heavy. Twenty-one observers in seven parties. Total party hours, 28; (17 on foot, 9 by car, 2 by boat.) Total party miles, 76; (15 on foot, 60 by car, 1 by boat). — Black Duck, 66; Am. Golden-eye, 1170; Am. Merganser, 88; Goshawk, 1; Sharp- shinned Hawk, 2; Am. Rough-legged Hawk, 1; Sparrow Hawk, 2; Hungarian Partridge, 14; Ring-necked Pheasant, 50; Glaucous Gull, 1; Great Black-backed Gull, 9; Herring Gull, 40; Ring-billed Gull, 1; Rock Dove, not estimated; Great Horned Owl, 2; Snowy Owl, 2; Short- eared Owl, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 8; Downy Woodpecker, 18; Horned Lark, 10; Crow, 8; Black-capped Chickadee, 47; White - breasted Nuthatch, 6; Brown Creeper, 15; Starling, 27; English Sparrow, not estimated; Evening Grosbeak, 19; Pine Grosbeak, 3; Common Redpoll, 6; Crossbill, species ?, 6; Snow Bunting, ,53. — Total 31 species; 1676 individuals. — Miss Simonne Boyer, J. D. Cleghorn, Mr. & Mrs. J. D. Elliott, D. Garneau, Rev. V. Gaboriault, Miss G. Hibbard, H. Longley, Rev. Bro. Matthias, W. McBride, Ian McLaren, G. H. Montgomery, John M. Montgomery, J. Normandin, Mrs. P. Roberts, [Vol. 66 J. W. Robinson, Dan Ryan, Mr. & Mrs. L. M. Terrill, Miss M. Wilson, Richard Yates. Ottawa, Ont. — December 31, 1951, 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. 28 observers in 12 parties. Total hours 60; total miles 205 by car, 46 on foot. — American Golden-eye, 87; Ame- rican Merganser, 20; Sparrow Hawk, 2; Ruffed Grouse, 6; Hungarian Partridge, 16; Ring- necked Pheasant, 8; Rock Dove, 239; Barred Owl, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 1; Hairy Wood- pecker, 5; Downy Woodpecker, 7; Canada Jay, 2; Blue Jay, 42; Crow, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 128; Brown-capped Chickadee, 3; White - breasted Nuthatch, 24; Red - breasted Nuthatch, 4; Brown Creeper, 1; Starling, 640; English Sparrow, 1446; Evening Grosbeak, 35; Pine Grosbeak, 79; Goldfinch, 2; Slate- coloured Junco, 2; Tree Sparrow, 6; Lapland Longspur, 2; Snow Bunting, 286. — Total 28 species, 3096 individuals. — K. Bowles, H. M. Brown, H. Lloyd, R. Frith, Wing Commander D. A. MacLulich, Mr. A. R. Taysom, W. J. Smith, B. M. Millman, P. M. Millman, Comdr. T. F. T. Moreland, Mrs. C. E. Seville, Miss V. Humphries, Miss Anne Banning, Mrs. K. Hoare, Mrs. E. Doull, Mrs. H. F. Lewis, Dr. C. Frankton, Mrs. C. Frank- ton, Dr. L. S. Russell, Mrs. L. S. Russell, Dr. Harrison F. Lewis, Dr. V. E. F. Solman, Mrs. V. E. F. Solman, J. S. Tener, Mrs. J. S. Tener, A. E. Bourguignon, Miss M. Flynn, Miss V. Ross. Carleton Place, Ont. — Dec. 29, 1951; 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m., overcast, temp. 29°; depth of snow 15”; time 12 hours; number of miles — 4 on foot 110 by car. — Ruffed Grouse, 4; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 1; Blue Jay, 9; Black-capped Chickadee, 22; White-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Starling, 9; English Sparrow, 141; Evening Grosbeak, 15; Pine Grosbeak, 9; Slate-coloured Junco, 1; Snow Bunting, 66. — Total 13 species; total birds 283. (Seen in area during December Hudsonian Chickadee, 1; Goldfinch, 25; Canada Jay, 1). — Jennifer Findlay, G. E. Findlay, H. M. Brown, D. D. Findlay, E. H. Ritchie, D. K. Findlay, Mrs. D. K. Findlay, D. H. Findlay, D. G. Findlay, W. F. Findlay, Mrs. W. F. Findlay, Kate, Pete and Jeannie Findlay. Pakenham, Lanark Co., Ont. — December 28, 1951; 7.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., temp. — 27°F. at start to 2°F., wind light, clear sky to intermittent snow after 2.00 p.m.; heavy mist over open water; 18 in. snow; 7 observers, March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN total miles 37 (12 on foot, 25 by car). — Black Duck, 1; Rock Dove, 4; Hairy Wood- pecker, 3; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Blue Jay, 7; Crow, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 5; White- breasted Nuthatch, 2; Starling, 3; English Sparrow, 89; Evening Grosbeak, 6; Tree Sparrow, 2; Snow Bunting, 56. — Total species, 13; 181 individuals. (Present in area Dec. 23-31: Hungarian Partridge, American Merganser, Pileated Woodpecker). — M. Flynn, Verna M. Ross, Edna G. Ross, A. E. Bourguignon, R. M. McKenzie, Bill McKenzie, Douglas Deugo. Kingston, Ont. — December 26, 1951; (7% mile radius centering on MacDonald Park, Kingston and including Cataraqui River and Creek, shores and waters of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River, Wolfe and adjacent Islands: farm land 30%, urban centres 4%, marshes 12%, water 30%, mixed woodlands 24% ); 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 2 feet of snow, marshes and rivers frozen, bays in Lake Ontario largely open, St. Lawrence River open; temp. 10° to 20°F., clear, wind N.W. 10-15 m.p.h. Thirteen observers in 4 parties. Total party hours 63.5; total party miles 194 (21 on foot, 169 by car, 4 by boat). — Com- mon Loon, 2; Black Duck, 24; Greater Scaup Duck, 245; American Golden-eye, 953; Buffle- head, 1; American Merganser, 502; Red- breasted Merganser, 19; Bald Eagle, 3; Spar- row Hawk, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 11; Hungarian Partridge, 73; Ring-necked Pheasant, 8; Glaucous Gull, 1; Great Black-backed Gull, 50; Herring Gull, 358; Ring-billed Gull, 5; Great Horned Owl, 1; American Long-eared Owl, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 9; Blue Jay, 20; Black-capped Chickadee, 68; White-breasted Nuthatch, 7; Starling, 564; English Sparrow, 707; Eastern Meadowlark, 3; Evening Grosbeak, 1; Pine Siskin, 3; Ame- rican Goldfinch, 7; Slate-coloured Junco, 1; Tree Sparrow, 10; Snow Bunting, 117. — Total 32 species, about 3677 individuals (seen in area Dec. 23 Horned Grebe, 3; Pied-billed Grebe, 1; Crow, 1; Brown-capped Chickadee, 4; Brown Creeper, 1; Cardinal, 1; Pine Grosbeak, 1. — J. Argue, A. Bell, I. Boardman, J. Cartwright, A. Hyde, I. Hyde, W. Lamb, A. Peters, S. Peters, R. Stewart, G. Stirrett (Compiler), R. Travers, L. Ward (Kingston Nature Club). Toronto, Ont. — Dec. 23, 1951; 7.00 am. to 5.00 p.m.; dull and cold, no wind; temp. 9° to 19°; ground everywhere covered with FIELD-NATURALIST 61 10” to 12” of snow; ponds and rivers frozen; 86 observers in 24 parties; total hours, 138. — Great Blue Heron, 4; Mallard, 373; Black Duck, 527; Pintail, 1; Redhead, 4; Greater Scaup, 2,862; Lesser Scaup, 4; American Golden-eye, 290; Buffle-head, 81; Old-squaw, 1,034; American Merganser, 95; Red-breasted Merganser, 11; Cooper’s Hawk, 7; Red-tailed Hawk, 22; Rough-legged Hawk, 6; Marsh Hawk, 6; White Gyrfalcon, 1; Peregrine Falcon, 1; Sparrow Hawk, 29; Ruffed Grouse, -10; Ring-necked Pheasant, 345; Glaucous Gull, 5; Iceland Gull, 1; Great Black-backed Gull, 21; Herring Gull, 1,863; Ring-billed Gull, 21; Mourning Dove, 1; Screech Owl, 3; Horned Owl, 7; Long-eared Owl, 10; Short-eared Owl, 12; Saw-whet Owl, 2; Kingfisher, 7; Yellow- shafted Flicker, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 45; Downy Woodpecker, 177; Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, 1; Horned Lark, 2; Blue Jay, 133; Raven, 1; Crow, 231; Black-capped Chickadee, 779; Brown-capped Chickadee, 1; White-breasted Nuthatch, 133; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Brown Creeper, 21; Winter Wren, 7; Carolina Wren, 1; Catbird, 1; Robin, 2; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 34; Starling, 6,080; English Sparrow, 2,161; Red-winged Black- bird, 1; Bronzed Grackle, 2; Cardinal, 107; Evening Grosbeak, 31; Purple Finch, 8; Pine Grosbeak, 107; Common Redpoll, 175; Pine Siskin, 10; American Goldfinch, 419; Eastern Towhee, 1; Slate-colored Junco, 246; Oregon Junco, 1; Tree Sparrow, 262; White-throated Sparrow, 5; Swamp Sparrow, 3; Song Spar- row, 40; Lapland Longspur, 16; Snow Bunting, 1,548. — Total 71 species, 20,458 individuals. — J. L. Baillie, (compiler), Robt. Bateman, Ross Bateman, D. Beacham, G. Bennett, F. Bodsworth, O. D. Boggs, A. Bunker, D. Burton, L. Butcher, W. Carrick, G. Clark, V. Clark, C. H. D. Clark, J. Comer, F. Cook, C. Davies, I. Davies, A. Dawe, M. Easto, F. H. Emery, B. Foster, G. Francis, G. Gibson, A. Gordon, W. Gunn, H. Halliday, Paul Harrington, Peter Harrington, C. Helleiner, F. Helleiner, A. Helmsley, C. Hope, R. James, F. Keim, G. Lambert, A. Lamsa, C. Leavens, B. LeVay, F. LeVay, N. LeVay, T. LeVay, C. Lennox, J. Livingston, H. Lumsden, D. Marsh, N. Martin, W. Martin, K. Mayall, L. McDougall, W. McGregor, T. McelIlwraith, J. McIntyre, F. Meuller, W. Milne, A. Mitchener, R. Pannell, D. Perks, A. Reid, R. Riseborough, R. Ritchie, T. Russell, R. M. Saunders, D. Scovell, R. Scovell, J. Sherrin, T. Shortt, D. Smith, F. Smith, W. Smith, L. L. Snyder, 62 THE CANADIAN J. Speakman, D. Speirs, J. M. Speirs, R. Stewart, J. Strickland, A. Strong, E. Talvila, R. Tasker, S. L. Thompson, E. Thorn, L. Walden, W. Wasserfall, D. West, J. D. West, J. Woodford (Brodie Club and co-operators). Barrie, Ont. (Shanty Bay, Tollendal, Highway 90, Camp Borden, Lisle, Alliston, Big Bay Point, Midhurst Park and District). — Dec. 30, 1951; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; temp. 34°; bright; mild; wind NW; depth of snow in open country 18 in.; no open water on bay; 21 observers in 5 cars; total hours, total miles, 125 (115 by car, 10 on foot). —- Ruffed Grouse, 11; Pheasant, 1; Herring Gull, 2; Great Horned Owl, 1; Barred Owl, 2; Short- eared Owl, 1; Kingfisher, 1; Hairy Wood- pecker, 4; Downy Woodpecker, 4; Blue Jay, 45; Chickadee, 118; White-breasted Nuthatch, 16; Brown Thrasher, 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1; Starling, 40; English Sparrow, 389; Cardinal, 1; Evening Grosbeak, 27; Pine Grosbeak, 72; Redpoll, 26; Siskin, 31; Gold- finch, 15; Junco, 1; Tree Sparrow, 26; White- throated Sparrow, 1; Snow Bunting, 75. — Total, 26 species, 924 individuals. — Brereton Field-Naturalists’ Club. London, Ont. — (Thames River from London to Wonnacotts and a small portion of the West end of Dorchester Swamp.) Dec. 29, 1951; 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.; 28°F.; clear; 18-24” snow. Thirty-nine observers. — Mallard Duck, 1; Black Duck, 13; Greater Scaup Duck, 1; American Golden-eye, 171; Hooded Merganser, 1; American Merganser, 45; Sharp- shinned Hawk, 3; Cooper’s Hawk, 5; Red- tailed Hawk, 19; Red-shouldered Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 2; Bald Eagle, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 4; Ring-necked Pheasant, 35; Virginia Rail, 1; Herring Gull, 8; Rock Dove, 89; Mourning Dove, 23; Screech Owl, 1; Great Horned Owl, 4; Long-eared Owl, 1; Belted Kingfisher, 7; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 17; Downy Woodpecker, 64; Prairie Horned Lark, 4; Blue Jay, 76; Crow, 16; Black-capped Chickadee, 255; Brown- capped Chickadee, 2; White-breasted Nut- hatch, 42; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Brown Creeper, 15; Winter Wren, 6; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 31; Starling, 256; English Sparrow, 828; Cowbird, 1; Cardinal, 147; Evening Grosbeak, 10; Purple Finch, 2; Pine Grosbeak, 26; Goldfinch, 80; Slate-coloured Junco, 139; Tree Sparrow, 144; Song Sparrow, 25; Lapland Longspur, 9; Snow Bunting, 118. — Total 48 species, at least 2,753 individuals. (Species 24.5; FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 observed in the area recently: Great Blue Heron, Northern Shrike, Redpolled Linnet, American Robin, Easterrt Meadowlark, Carolina Wren). — William G. Girling, The Mcllwraith Ornithological Club. Kitchener, Ont. — (Kitchener NE to Bridge- port; W. to Westmount Golf Club S. to Preston; E. to Breslau, along the Grand River to Blair.) Dec. 30, 1951; 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.; sky overcast; temp. 38° — 40°F.; no wind; deep cover of snow, 17 observers in 7 parties. Total miles on foot approximately 50. Total hours in field 30. — Mallard Duck, 12; Black Duck, 66; American Golden-eye, 23; American: Merganser, 24; Cooper’s Hawk, 1; Red-tailed Hawk, 2; Ruffed Grouse, 22; Ring-necked Pheasant, 29; Herring Gull, 8; Rock Dove, 60; Great Horned Owl, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 23; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Pileated Wood- pecker, 4; Kingfisher, 1; Horned Lark, 1; Blue Jay, 20; Black-capped Chickadee, 215; Brown-capped Chickadee, 2; White-breasted Nuthatch, 9; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Brown Creeper, 8; Winter Wren, 2; American Robin, 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 9; Starling, 97; Redpoll, 2; English Sparrow, 190; Cardinal, _59; Purple Finch, 1; Pine Grosbeak, 19; American Goldfinch, 45; Tree Sparrow, 12; Song Sparrow, 3; Slate-coloured Junco, 19; Snow Bunting 20. — Total, 36 species, 1010 individuals. (Also seen during the census week — Great Blue Heron, 1; Red-shouldered Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 1; Common Shrike, 1; Snow Bunting, 200). — E. M. Carter. Galt , Ont. — December 26th, 1951; 1.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at a feeding station near a home on the outskirts of Galt and an area stretching for 1142 miles along the west bank of the Grand River; clear, calm, temp. 20°F.; 114’ to 2’ of snow, 2 observers together. — Black Duck, 65; American Golden-eye, 50; American Merganser, 8; Sparrow Hawk, 1; Ring-necked Pheasant, 40; Herring Gull, 17; Rock Dove, 14; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Blue Jay, 8; Black-capped Chickadee, 11; Brown Creeper, 1; English Sparrow, 15; Starling, 2; Cardinal, 8; Gold- finch, 7; Slate-coloured Junco, 11. — Total 17 species; 260 individuals. — Margaret Stuart, Mary Stuart. St. Thomas, Ont. — (7% mile radius centering on a point 3 miles southeast of St. Thomas; pasture 15%, deciduous woodlots 15%, creek banks 25%, evergreen plantations March-April, 1952] 10%, lake front 10%, town suburbs 25%). Dec. 30, 7.25 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Hazy, then clear, temp. 34° to 45°; wind SW to NE, 1 m.p.h.; about 12” of snow in wooded areas; all ponds frozen, but parts of creeks open; slushy ice out to at least one mile on Lake Erie. Twenty observers in five parties, and including six feeding stations in the same area. Total party hours 36 (30 on foot, 6 by car); total party-miles, 80 (22 on foot, 58 by car). — Great Blue Heron, 2; Canada Goose, 2; Mallard Duck, 4; Black Duck, 29; American Golden-eye, 20; Red-tailed Hawk, 12; Red-shouldered Hawk, 2; Rough-legged Hawk, 3; Marsh Hawk, 1; Sparrow Hawk, 3; Ruffed Grouse, 4; Ring-necked Pheasant, 18; Herring Gull, 6; Ring-billed Gull, 4; Mourning Dove, 26; Long-eared Owl, 2; Short-eared Owl, 1; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Yellow-shafted Flicker, 2; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 9; Downy Woodpecker, 35; Horned Lark, 26; Blue Jay, 42; Crow, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 290; Brown-capped Chickadee, 5; White-breasted Nuthatch, 25; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 7; Brown Creeper, 6; Winter Wren, 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 6; Starling, 263; English Sparrow, 310; Cardinal, 56; Am. Goldfinch, 295; Eastern Towhee, 2; Slate-coloured Junco, 86; Evening Grosbeak, 7; Pine Grosbeak, 5; Tree Sparrow, 79; Field Sparrow, 12; White-throated Spar- row, 2; Song Sparrow, 11; Lapland Longspur, 5; Snow Bunting, 301. — Total 46 species; about 2,051 individuals. (Seen in area Dec. 26 Tufted Titmouse, 1). — Mrs. E. Allan, C. Ashbury, L. Auckland, C. Bartlett, Mrs. F. Bell, C. Clarke, Mrs. R. Coombs, A. Curtis, Mr. & Mrs. J. Field, M. Field (Compiler), R. Foster, Mrs. W. K. Hodkinson, C. Johnson, Mrs. J. Marr, D. Neill, W. Rankin, W. Stewart, A. Strieb, D. Young (St. Thomas Field Naturalists’ Club). West Elgin, Ont. — (area within 15 mile circle centered one mile north of West Lorne; pasture land 10%, agricultural land 10%, deciduous woods 20%, conifer groves, 5%, lake shore 15%, river banks and creek gulleys 40%). Dec. 26, 1951; 7.30 a.m. to 5.15 p.m. Clear sky until mid-afternoon when complete high overcast moved in from the NW, temp. steady at 17° all day; wind NW, 8 m.p.h., 6 inches of loose snow on top of 9 inches of crusted snow with drifts up to 3 feet in depth; walking conditions very poor. Thames river frozen, except for rapids, scattered ice THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 63 fields on Lake Erie. Fifteen observers in 5 parties. — Total Hours 2714; total miles, 72 (45 by car, 27 on foot). — American Golden- eye, 87; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 3; Cooper’s Hawk, 1; Red-tailed Hawk, 12; Red-shouldered Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 4; Bald Eagle, 1; Bob-white Quail, 8; Ring-necked Pheasant, 7; Ruffed Grouse, 2; Herring Gull, 3; Mourning Dove, 12; Screech Owl, 1; Horned Owl, 1; Long-eared Owl, 1; Short-eared Owl, 1; Red- bellied Woodpecker, 4; Pileated Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 31; Hairy Woodpecker, 10; Horned Lark, 12; Blue Jay, 8; American Crow, 10; Black-capped Chickadee, 146; Brown- capped Chickadee, 8; White-breasted Nut- hatch, 5; Brown Creeper, 3; American Robin, 2; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 30; Starling, 85; English Sparrow, 220; Rusty Blackbird, 3: Cardinal, 40; Evening Grosbeak, 1; Pine Grosbeak, 32; American Goldfinch, 64; Eastern Towhee, 1; Slate-coloured Junco, 52; Tree Sparrow, 106; Song Sparrow, 4; Snow Bunting, 210. — Total 41 species, about 1,233 individ- uals. — (Seen recently, Marsh Hawk, Sparrow Hawk, Common Redpoll). — Jack Arnold, S. M. Lancaster, H. L. Lancaster, V. Earl Lemon, R. E. Lemon, Mr. and Mrs. H. Mylrea, Ken Mylrea, David Murray, Donald Murray, Dougald Murray, David Robinson, Miss E. Sifton, Dr. A. C. Steele, Ruth Steele (West Elgin Nature Club). Point Pelee, Ont. — (The National Park and some agricultural land at north edge; agricultural land 25%, marshland, 20%, deciduous woods 20%, red cedar groves 15%, lake shore 20%). Dec. 29, 1951; 9.00 a.m. to 3.45 p.m. Complete overcast, temp. 26° all day; light SW wind, 5 m.p.h.; marshes frozen, creeks mostly frozen; Lake Erie frozen on west side of point, patches of ice on east side; 10 inches of snow on ground. Two observers in 1 party. Total party hours, 634 (3 on foot, 334 by car); Total party miles, 37 (4% on foot, 324% by car). — American Golden-eye, 21; Bufflehead, 4; American Merganser, 4; Red-tailed Hawk, 2; Bald Eagle, 3; Marsh Hawk, 3; Ring-necked Pheasant, 5; Herring Gull, 15; Mourning Dove, 3; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 6; Horn- ed Lark, 100; Black-capped Chickadee, 16; Brown Creeper, 2; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 3; Starling, 16; English Sparrow, 103; Crow, 331; Cowbird, 1; Cardinal, 23; Evening Gros- beak, 38; American Goldfinch, 3; Eastern Towhee, 1; Slate-coloured Junco, 7; Tree ’ 64 Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Sparrow, 145; Swamp Sparrow, 1; Song Spar- row, 1; Snow Bunting, 187. — Total 28 species, approximately 1047 individuals. — Fred M. Helleiner, Alden M. Strong. Meaford, Ont. — (east half of town, shore line two miles eastward, part of escarpment 11th line N., St. Vincent Township; feeding station in town; selected spots on Highway 26). Dee. 26, 1951; 10.00 am. to 4.00 p.m., 30°F, wind SW, sky clear becoming overcast in the afternoon. Seven observers in three parties. — Black Duck, 1; American Golden- eye, 3; American Merganser, 7; Ruffed Grouse, 10; Herring Gull, 200; Mourning Dove, 4; Rock Dove, 15; Screech Owl, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 4; Hairy Woodpecker, 3; Downy Woodpecker, 11; Blue Jay, 9; Black-capped Chickadee, 52; White-breasted Nuthatch, 14; Brown Creeper, 3; Winter Wren, 1; Cedar Waxing, 1; Starling, 46; English Sparrow, 90; Pine Grosbeak, 3; Redpoll, 28; Pine Siskin, 1; Slate-coloured Junco, 15; Tree Spar- row, 6; Snow Bunting, 101. — Total 25 species; total individuals 629. — L. H. Beamer. Peterborough, Ont. — Dec. 31, 1951; 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.; cloudy and mild in forenoon, some rain in afternoon; wind gusty 5-25 m.p.h. Temp. 34°F; 14” snow. Two observers in 1 party — 16 miles by car, 5 miles on foot. — American Golden-eye, 5; American Merganser, 2; Ruffed Grouse, 4; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Black- capped Chickadee, 15; White-breasted Nut- hatch, 1; Brown Creeper, 1; Northern Shrike, 1; Starling, 40; English Sparrow, 50; Evening Grosbeak, 52; American Goldfinch, 2; Tree Sparrow, 1. — Total 14 species, 177 individ- uals. — J. L. McKeever, Derek McKeever. Huntsville, Ont. — Dec. 23, 1951; 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.; temp. 7° to 20°F.; overcast, light snow falling; 24 inches snow lying; lakes frozen, river open; 9 observers in 4 parties; total miles, 70, mostly by car. — American Golden-eye, 3; Hooded Merganser, 2; Mer- ganser, 5; Ruffed Grouse, 8; Herring Gull, 1; Kingfisher, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 5; Downy Woodpecker, 2; Can- ada Jay, 1; Blue Jay, 14; Black-capped Chickadee, 14; White-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Brown Creeper, 2; Northern Shrike, 1; Starling, 1; English Sparrow, 12; Evening Grosbeak, 16; Red Crossbill, 9. — Total 20 species; 101 individ- [Vol. 66 uals. (Also seen in area during December — Redpoll, Pine Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Snow Bunting). — J. Goldthorp, C. Kay, A. May, R. May, Jean May, K. Perrin, R. Rutter, Mrs. E. G. R. Rogers, J. Walter (The Huntsville Nature Club). North Bay, Ont. — (from city of North Bay, townships of East Ferris, Bonfield, Calvin, villages of Bonfield, Rutherglen, Eau Claire, area around Pimisi Bay, Mattawa River, Kaipuskong River, Kennedy Lake, Smith’s Lake, Amable du Fond River, to 10 miles west of Mattawa, Ontario); open farm- land 30%, coniferous woodlots and _ black spruce bog 10%, second growth mixed forest 50%, lakes and rivers 10%, settlements 10%. Dec. 31, 8.00 am. to 4.00 pm., clear to freezing rain, 4 to 33 above F.; wind W. to SE, 5-15 m.p.h.; ground covered with 6 to 10 inches crusty snow; all fresh water except rapids and eddies frozen; one observer; total hours 8; total miles 43 (39 by car, 4 on foot). — American Golden-eye, 6; Pileated Wood- pecker, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 7; Downy Wood- pecker, 2; Canada Jay, 3; Blue Jay, 7; North- ern Raven, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 42; ‘White-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Brown Creeper, 1; Starling, 29; English Sparrow, 20; Pine Grosbeak, 13; Red- poll, 3; Snow Bunting, 3. — Total 16 species, about 142 individuals. — Louise de Kiriline Lawrence. Port Arthur — Fort William, Ont. — (Bare Point to Kakabeka Falls). — Dec. 26, 1951; 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; morning dull with scattered snow flurries, clearing in afternoon. About 2 inches snow on ground; temp. ranged between 15°F. to 12°F. Wind was Northwest from 20 to 30 miles per hour. Relative humidity at 1.30 was 69%. Mountain ash berries scarce, weed seeds easily obtainable. Twenty-six observers in 11 parties. Total party hours 40 ‘(25 on foot, 15 by auto), total party miles — 144 (29 on foot, 115 by auto). — Ruffed Grouse, 9; Herring Gull, 31; Rock Dove, 251; Snowy Owl, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Canada Jay, 3; Blue Jay, 18; Raven, 24; Crow, 6; Black-capped Chickadee, 67; Hudsonian Chickadee, 14; Red- breasted Nuthatch, 2; Bohemian Waxwing, 1; Starling, 112; English Sparrow, 775; Cardinal, 1 (first record of species in area); Evening Grosbeak, 17; Pine Grosbeak, 50; Common Redpoll, 262; Slate-coloured Junco, 1. — Total 21 species, 1647 individuals. — March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN Mr. & Mrs. P. Addison and sons Bill, Peter and Edward, Dr. & Mrs. A. E. Allin, Ken Campbell, Keith Denis (compiler) and son Norman, Mr. & Mrs. Ken Eoll, Claude Garton, Mr. & Mrs. Hanton, Dr. & Mrs. W. P. Hogarth, Mrs. M. Knowles, Mrs. Pengelley, Mr. A. Robinson, Mr. & Mrs. C. Rydholm and chil- dren Louise and Roy, Mr. & Mrs. James Thompson. (Thunder Bay Field Naturalists’ Club). Yorkton, Sask. — (area 15 miles in diameter with Yorkton as center); Dec. 26, 1951; 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.; Overcast for two hours in midday, otherwise clear; wind NW at 10 to 12 m.p.h.; Temp. 9° to 5°. Ground covered with two inches of snow. 15 observers in 6 parties. Total party hours, 13 (5% by car, 7% on foot); Total party miles, 55 (48 by car, 7 on foot). — Pigeon Hawk, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 1; Sharp-tailed Grouse, 10; Hungarian Partridge, 5; Snowy Owl, 1; Blue Jay, 2; Magpie, 24; Black-capped Chickadee, 10; Red- winged Blackbird, 4; English Sparrow, 373; Pine Grosbeak, 5; Redpoll, 8, White-winged Crossbill, 2; Snow Bunting, 395. — Total 14 species, approx. 841 individuals. — Norma Beck, Wayne Bjorgan, Brother Clarence, Brother Vincent, Henry Chilman, Lionel Coleman, Ronald Coleman, Dr. C. J. Houston, Dr. and Mrs. Stuart Houston, Professor Charles Lightbody, Tony Pawluck, Paul Welgan, Ronald Welgan, D’Arcy Wershler. (Yorkton Natural History Society). Saskatoon, Sask. — (10 mile radius of Saskatoon, including Dominion Forest Nursery Station, Sutherland) December 24, 1951; 8.25 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.; partly cloudy — 14°F. at start; light south wind; 2-6 inches of snow on ground; 2 observers; together most of the time; total miles 43 (3 on foot, 40 by car). — Mallard, 2; Sharp-tailed Grouse, 2; Hungarian Partridge, 6; Chukar Partridge, 7; Snowy Owl, 1; Magpie, 3; Black-capped Chickadee, 2; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Bohemian Waxwing, 130; English Sparrow, 340; White-winged Crossbill, 4; Snow Bunting, 29. — Total 12 species, 527 individuals. — F. J. H. Fredeen, J. B. Gollop. Vernon, B.C. — (west to Okanagan Landing, north to Buckerfield’s Ranch, south to Kalamalka Lake, and east to Coldstream Ranch). Dec. 30, 1951; 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Cloudy with frequent sunny intervals; wind north, 10 m.p.h., temp. 6°; 16 inches of snow. Fretp-NATURALIST 65 Shore ice on Okanagan and Kalamalka Lakes; Swan Lake completely frozen over. Ten observers in three parties. Total miles by car, approx. 45. — Western Grebe, 1; Mallard, 143; Pintail, 1; Lesser Scaup, 42; American Golden-eye, 7; Old-squaw, 7; American Mer- ganser, 4; Goshawk (?) 1; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 2; Ruffed Grouse, 1; California Quail, 1; Ring-necked Pheasant, 178; Coot, 26; Killdeer, 2; Wilson’s Snipe, 5; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Yellow-shafted Flicker, 1; Red-shafted Flicker, 38; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Ame- rican Magpie, 15; Raven, 2; Crow, 2; Black- capped Chickadee, 18; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 7; Dipper, 2; Long-billed Marsh Wren, 1; Robin, 124; Varied Thrush, 12; Golden-crown- ed Kinglet, 15; Alpine Pipit (?), 100; Bohemian Waxwing, 66; Northern Shrike, 2; Starling, 1; English Sparrow, 99; Evening Grosbeak, 327; Common ((?) Redpoll, 1; Oregon Junco, 545; Tree Sparrow, 16; White- crowned Sparrow, 1; Song Sparrow, 24. — Total 42 species, approx. 1846 individuals. (Seen during period, Turkey Vulture, Moun- tain Bluebird, Townsend’s Solitaire). — H. Baerg, J. B. Beddome, D. K. Campbell, J. T. Fowle, J. Grant, A. N. Humphries, G. Peacock, J. Quirk, D. A. Ross, B. A. Sugden. Crescent, B.C. — (Coast and bush between the International Boundary and Nicomekl River, including White Rock pier and Blackie’s Spit, Crescent) — Dec. 27, 1951; 8.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., temp. about 32°F. at daybreak; light NE wind, six inches of snow on ground, 3 observers in two parties, total miles 15 on foot. — Common Loon, 14; Red-throated Loon, 3; Holboell’s Grebe, 3; Horned Grebe, 12; Eared Grebe, 1; Double-crested Cormo- rant, 1; Great Blue Heron, 3; Black Brant, 2; Mallard, 12; Pintail, 600; Green-winged Teal, 31; Baldpate, 2; Greater Scaup, 88; American Golden-eye, 15; Buffle-head, 30; Old-squaw, 3; White-winged Scoter, 90; Surf Scoter, 55; Red-breasted Merganser, 3; Hooded Merganser, 3; Ring-necked Pheasant, 9; Black- bellied Plover, 12; Least Sandpiper, 1; Red- backed Sandpiper, 167; Glaucous-winged Gull, 54; Short-billed Gull, 20; Red-shafted Flicker, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Northwestern Crow, 24; Black-capped Chickadee, 54; Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 11; Winter Wren, 5; Bewick’s Wren, 4; Ame-' rican Robin, 29; Varied Thrush, 24; Golden- crowned Kinglet, 26; English Sparrow, 17; 66 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Brewer’s Blackbird, 200; Pine Siskin, 25; Oregon Towhee, 13; Slate-coloured Junco, 2; Oregon Junco, 84; Fox Sparrow, 6; Song Sparrow, 15. — Total 46 species; 1780 individ- uals. (Seen during period Sharp-shinned Hawk; Wilson’s Snipe and Purple Finch). — H. N. Clarke, M. W. Holdom, E. E. Woodford. Comox, Vancouver Island, B.C. — Along shore line through Comox village to foot of Comox Hill, back through Comox village; distance 4-5 miles; Jan. 8, 1952; 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 pm. Temp. 38°, bright, later clouding over; visibility good. One observer on foot. — Common Loon, 1; Pacific Loon Flock; Double-crested Cormorant, 5; Pelagic Cormo- rant, 2; Great Blue Heron, 3; Baldpate, 75; Mallard, 300; American Widgeon, 75; Pintail, 3; Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup, 350; American Golden-eye, 50; Barrow’s Golden- eye, 2; Buffle-head, 15; Old-squaw, 2; White- winged Scoter, 500; Surf Scoter, 150; Ame- rican Scoter, 2; Red-breasted Merganser, 7; unidentified ducks, 2500; Bald Eagle, 1; California Quail, 19; Ring-necked Pheasant, 1; Coot, 2; Glaucous-winged Gull, 75; Short- billed Gull, 20; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Western Crow, 1; North Western Crow, 70; Winter Wren, 1; Oregon Towhee, 3; Seattle Wren, 1; Western Robin, 3; Brewer’s Blackbird, 80; Siskin Flock; Golden-crowned Sparrow, 3; Song Sparrow, 2. — Total 35 species; 4250 (plus) individuals. — Theed Pearse. Victoria, B.C. — Dec. 17, 1951. Victoria to Sooke Harbor, Beacon Hill, Gonzales Bay, Shoal Bay, Spoon Bay, Cadboro Bay, Elk, Beaver and Swan Lakes and flats. Dull, cloudy, temp. 39°. Wind SE to 30 m.p.h. — Common Loon, 17; Red-throated Loon, 13; Holboels’ Grebe, 6; Horned Grebe, 145; Eared Grebe, 7; Western Grebe, 171; Pied-billed Grebe, 6; Double-crested Cormorant, 12; Brandt’s Cormorant, 4; Baird’s Cormorant, 201; Heron, 5; Mute Swan ‘(introduced), 3; Lesser Canada Goose, 42; Mallard, 1085; European Widgeon, 1; Baldpate, 2901; Pintail, 35; G. W. Teal, 10; Mandarin (introduced), 3; Shoveller, 188; Ring-necked Duck, 50; Canvas-back, 120; Greater Scaup, 814; Golden- eye, 33; Buffle-head, 212; Old-squaw, 20; Harlequin, 110; White-winged Scoter, 72; Surf [Vol. 66 Scoter, 98; American Scoter, 1; Ruddy Duck, 3; Hooded Merganser, 4; American Mer- ganser, 13; Red-breasted Merganser, 54; Goshawk, 1; Bald Eagle, 1; Peregrine Falcon, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 6; California Quail, 5; Ring- necked Pheasant, 5; Coot, 63; Killdeer, 12; Black Turnstone, 99; Hudsonian Curlew, 2; Glaucous-winged Gull, 512; Short-Billed Gull, 99: Bonapartes Gull, 6; Marbled Murrelet, 1; Kingfisher, 13; Northwestern Red-shafted Flicker, 28; Red-shafted Flicker, 25; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 4; European Skylark (introduc- ed), 12; Raven, 2; Crow, 57; Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 99; Nuthatch, 6; Creeper, 2; Winter Wren, 21; Seattle Wren, 8; Robin, 174; Varied Thrush, 5; Hermit Thrush, 2; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 95; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 8; Amer- ican Pipit, 35; English Sparrow, 35; Western Meadowlark, 3; Red-winged Blackbird, 1; Starling, 3; Siskin, 650; Red Crossbill, 15; Oregon Towhee, 9; Oregon Junco, 142; Golden- crowned Sparrow, 4; Fox Sparrow, 7; Song Sparrow, 17. — Total 77 species; 8757 individ- uals. — C. Guiguet, H. D. R: Stewart J. 0: Clay, A. R. Davidson, Mrs. Hobson, Mrs. Blackden. Triple Island Lightstation, B.C. — Position 54°N, 131°W (20 miles west of Prince Rupert). Bare rock islets exposed to open sea. Approx. area 3 acres; nearest wooded island 1 mile distant. Dec. 31, overcast, temp. 22° to 27°F., wind NE 10 m.p.h., light choppy sea, good visibility. No snow or ice. Two observers. Observations made only from _ lighthouse dwelling with 15x binoculars and 20x tele- scope. Numbers given are the maximum seen at one time for each species. — Common Loon, 1; Horned Grebe, 1; Brandt Cormorant, 1; Pelagic Cormorant, 3; unidentified Cormo- rants, 110; Harlequin, 15; White-winged Seoter, 5; Surf Scoter, 5; American Scoter, 19; Bald Eagle, 2; Black Oyster-catcher, 6; Surf Bird, 1; Black Turnstone, 39; Aleutian Sandpiper, 62; Glaucous-winged Gull, 7; Raven, 2; Song Sparrow, 1; (wintering on the island; same banded Song Sparrow that spent the previous winter on Triple). — Total 16 species, 280 individuals. Seen in period — Red-necked Grebe, Duck Hawk, Herring Gull. — G. C. and J. M. Odlum. March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 67 NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Wheatears in the Mackenzie Mountains, District of Mackenzie, N.W.T.—Towards the end of July, 1944, I had the opportunity of travelling on the Cano] Road from Norman Wells into the little-Known Mackenzie Moun- tains, remaining two nights at the pump station at Mile 111, situated in the valley of Bolstead Creek. On July 25 I climbed to the highest summit within reach, lying about 8 miles northwest of the camp, and estimated it to be about 7000 ft. in elevation (roughly 64° 20’ N, 128° 20’ W). This summit I indi- cated in pencil on the relevant aerial photo- graph in Ottawa in 1946, and it may in due course be designated on the topographic sheets. Reference to the botanical collections made there, together with a small-scale map, may be found in Porsild’s paper “The alpine flora of the east slope of Mackenzie Moun- tains, N.W.T.” (Nat. Mus. Canada, Bull. 101, Ottawa, 1945). As I came off the main ridge, covered with exfoliated stone blocks at 6000-6500 feet, I had a very good view of a Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) in juvenile plumage, and could hear the familiar ‘chack, chack’ of one or more others, unseen on the very rough ground. I noted the white rump, with the central shaft of black showing as a nar- row wedge forward from the tail. The wheatear has been well known to me since childhood, being an abundant bird in the Yorkshire dales where I lived, and I had more recently seen it in the eastern Arctic. July 25 is rather too early for migrants, and there would of course be little likelihood at any time of migrants in this locality. This extends the known range consider- ably to the southeast. Previous records known from northwest Canada, all in the Yukon Territory, appear to be as follows: Aug. 18, 1901, Fortymile (J. Grinnell 1909, Condor. lls 207.) 1, 1904, High ridge above Coal Creek, near Fortymile (W. H. Osgood 1909, N. Amer. Fauna No. 30, U.S. Dept. Agric., Wash.: 65). June 24, 1906, King Point, Mackenzie Bay (H. T. L. Schaanning 1933, Medd. Zool. Mus., Oslo, No. 33: 144). July 31, 1908, Herschel] Island (R. M. Ander- son 1913, in Stefansson’s “My life with the Eskimo”: 456- 494). Aug. July 15, 1943, Teepee Lake, south of Alaska highway near _ International Boundary (C. H. D. Clarke, unpublished, ‘Biological Re- connaissance of the Alaska Military Highway”, etc., Otta- wa: 15). I am very grateful to Mr. W. Earl Godfrey for bringing these to my attention. The posi- tion of the present observation is 350 miles or more east or southeast of any of the places listed above. It may be noted with interest that the gap between western and eastern records of wheatears is not much more than 1000 miles (cf. J. C. Ross’s record made on May 2-3, 1830, at Boothia Felix, in App. to Ross’s 2nd Voyage, p. xxvi, Lond. 1835). Two Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax niva- lis) and a Grey-crowned Rosy Finch (Leu- costicte t. tephrocotis) were seen slightly higher on the main ridge. Though these are not unexpected, they are perhaps worth recording from a region about which so little is known. The Rosy Finch is reported to extend as far east as the Franklin mountains, east of the Mackenzie (M. Y. Williams, Can. Fld.-Nat., 1933, p. 30)—V. C. WYNNE- EDWARDS, Aberdeen, Scotland. New Sight Records of Three Species at Pimisi Bay, Ontario—On May 25, 1950, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus a. americanus (Linnaeus), was seen perched in the top of a large-toothed aspen that was not yet in full leaf. I first noticed the bird because of its peculiar song, “tock-tock-tock”, given at even intervals, unlike that of the Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus (Wilson), which is fairly common in the district. As the bird turned about on its lofty perch in the bright sunlight, all its distinctive field- marks came into plain view. The bird re- mained in the vicinity until June 10, during which time it was seen twice again under excellent conditions. On September 13, 1951, a Virginia Rail, Rallus l. limicola Vieillot, emerged from the reeds at Pimisi Bay onto a flat rock, not more than 8 or 10 feet from where I stood. Iden- tification was based mainly on my experience of having seen the species in the field on ~ two previous occasions at Buffalo and To- ronto Islands, and I later re-checked it with skins at the Redpath Museum, Montreal. 68 THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST During the past two years, I have seen birds which I believed to be Connecticut Warblers, Oporornis agilis (Wilson), without being able to identify them positively. Mr. W. E. Godfrey, to whom I wrote for advice, then kindly sent me some skins from the collections of the National Museum of Can- ada for study. It is on the basis of this study that I identified a bird seen on Sep- tember 20, 1951, as a Connecticut Warbler. Among a large number of passing warblers, this bird projected itself upon my attention by its very conspicuous eye-ring, its notably larger size as compared to a Black-throated Blue Warbler, Dendroica c. caerulescens (Gmelin), that was feeding nearby, its pale yellow underparts with the undertail coverts reaching slightly beyond the half of the tail. The dull shade and rather indefinite outline of the “hood’’, as well as the pinkish white patch under the chin, suggested that this bird was an adult female or an immature. N. R. Brown, listing the birds of the Peta- wawa Military Reserve and surrounding dis- trict, Renfrew County, (1947, Can. Field- Naturalist, Vol. 61, pp. 47-55), about 80 miles SE of Pimisi Bay, included one August record of the Virginia Rail and three May and June records of the Connecticut Warbler. But none of the three species in question have previously been listed among the birds of the vicinity of Lake Nipissing, Ontario, by W. E. Ricker and C. H. D. Clarke, (1939, Contributions of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, No. 16), or in the later revision of that list, Birds of the Vicinity of North Bay, Ontario, (including Pimisi Bay), (1947, Can. Field-Naturalist, Vol. 61, pp. 23-38) by Doris Huestis Speirs and J. Murray Speirs.— LOUISE DE KIRILINE LAWRENCE, Ruth- erglen, Ontario. Arkansas Kingbird in Westmorland Co., New Brunswick. — On October 24, 1951 I observed an Arkansas kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) in open farmland between the village of Midgic and Jollicur Lakes, about five miles north-east of Sackville, N.B. When first seen, the bird was sitting on a fence wire near the road. I was able to drive to within twenty or thirty yards of it and clear- ly saw the outer white tail feathers, yellow- ish underparts and grayish head and neck with the slightly darker band across the eyes. An unsuccessful attempt was made to collect this bird. — G. F. BOYER, Canadian Wildlife Service, R.R. No. 1, Sackville, N.B. [Vol. 66 Dickcissel in Newfoundland. — While at Terra Nova on November 3, 1951, I flushed a Dickcissel (Spiza americana) from a small grassy field. During the next half-hour it was approached to within twenty feet on several occasions and leisurely studied with eight-power prismatic binoculars. There was only a faint suggestion of black on the throat, but other characteristics, such as the pure yellow breast, grey cheeks and yellow eyebrow-lines, convinced me that it was an adult male. About an hour after the above observation, I found, in the immediate vicinity, the rem- nants of a female (possibly an immature) which had apparently been run over by the railway train during the previous night. Its wings are now being retained by the National Museum at Ottawa, where its identity has been confirmed by Mr. W. Earl Godfrey. This species has not previously been re- ported from Newfoundland. — LESLIE M. TUCK, Canadian Wildlife Service, St. John’s, Newfoundland. White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leuco- phrys pugetensis) and Bantam Hen.—Mr. William Gardiner, of Crescent, B.C., had a broody bantam hen. One day it disappeared and was discovered later roosting as it was thought in a patch of raspberry canes. When Mr. Gardiner returned at night he took a flashlight and went down the garden to get the hen. He found it sitting on the nest of a White-crowned Sparrow which contained four eggs. Strange to relate, the White-crowned Sparrow was sitting on the back of the hen. Mr. Gardiner picked up the sparrow, removed the hen, and replaced the bird on her eggs. Next day the bantam escaped from a coop and was again found on the nest with the sparrow perched on its back. This happened several times until finally the sparrow de- serted her nest in despair. Unfortunately a camera was not available. When I saw the nest a few days later (July 15, 1951) there were only two eggs left as the weight of the hen had broken the other two. The nest was situated about four feet from the ground and the tops of the rasp- berries were beaten down making a platform so that the hen could sit comfortably on the nest. When we consider the size of the eggs it is strange that a bantam should have felt the urge to brood them.—MARTIN W. HOLDOM, Crescent, B.C. March-April, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 69 REVIEWS The Birds of Newfoundland. By Harold S. Peters and Thomas D. Burleigh; illustra- tions by Roger Tory Peterson. Newfound- land Department of Natural Resources, St. John’s, 1951; pp. I-XIX, 1-431, 32 colored plates, 40 text figs. ($6.00) With the publication of The Birds of New- foundland, our newest province becomes the first Canadian province to underwrite a com- plete book on its birds. The Newfoundland government is to be commended for its fore- sight in initiating and financially supporting the preparation and publication of this hand- some and very useful volume. The abundant information contained in the book is well organized, readably written, clearly printed with few typographical errors, and attractive- ly illustrated. The project was undertaken, the authors tell us, in compliance with a request made some ten years ago by the Newfoundland government. Both authors are officers of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and both have had extensive field experience in Newfoundland and elsewhere. Previous to 1937 Peters visited Newfoundland six times; and later intensive investigation by both authors there, occupying a total of 304 days at all seasons in the period 1937 to 1947, fitted them admirably for producing this book. They completely circled the island by boat, visited many of the coastal islands, worked in much of the interior. The notes and specimens thus obtained, supplemented by an obviousiy painstaking compilation of both published and unpublished data from numerous widely-scattered sources, provided Peters and Burleigh with an impressive amount of information which they present in simple, non-technical language. Introductory chapters deal with the phy- siography, climate, and tree cover of New- foundland and an interesting history of orni-_ thological work done there. Plumage deve- lopment, song, courtship, territory, nests, eggs, incubation, food, and feeding of young are treated succinctly; and there are brief accounts of geographical distribution, migra- tion, bird banding, and systematic classifica- tion (including a list of 24 birds that have been described from Newfoundland). A chap- ter devoted to the conservation and protec- tion of birds touches on a number of prob- lems as they apply particularly to Newfound- land. There is an interesting history of the development of game laws in Newfoundland, by H. W. Walters of the Newfoundland De- partment of Natural Resources. The bulk of the text (pp. 46-399) is de- voted to a well-annotated list of 227 birds known to occur in Newfoundland. An ac- count of each bird gives its scientific and vernacular names (including local names), its appearance, field marks, voice, nest and eggs, range, status in Newfoundland, habits, food, etc. Useful counts and estimates of breeding numbers of some species are given and there also is a considerable amount of valuable information derived from banded birds. Much new distributional information is made available and that already published by others appears to have been thoroughly compiled. The authors have obviously been cautious in admitting species to the list of birds known to occur or to have occurred in Newfoundland. The hypothetical list (pp. 401-407) contains 56 forms. The evidence for the alleged occurrence of these in Newfound- land is given impartially. As in most good books there are in this a few things not entirely above criticism. For example, Anas albeola Linnaeus (type loca- lity America-Newfoundland, ex Edwards) is missing from the list of birds (pp. 41-43) with type locality in Newfoundland. The treatment of habitats is too brief. Although 13 types of habitat are mentioned (by name only), of which three are “slopes, hills, and higher elevations”, nothing is said of such habitats, so important in Newfoundland, as beaches, marshes, cliffs, and the great ex- panse of open water entirely surrounding the island. These, of course, attract to Newfound- land a very considerable part of its avifauna. To the seven tree species listed as the main components of the forest might have been added aspen and white spruce, which are common and ecologically very important, es- pecially in southern Newfoundland. A curious discrepancy (which, however, does not affect the authors’ excellent treat- ment of bird distribution in Newfoundland) is found in the western parts of the ranges given for the Eastern Common Nighthawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-backed Wood- pecker, Baltimore Oriole, Bronzed Crow-black- bird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and White- throated Sparrow. Manitoba is given as the 70 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST western extremity of the ranges of these, whereas it is a matter of common knowledge that two of these species breed commonly west to Alberta, two as far west as British Columbia, two to Yukon, and one to Alaska. The descriptions of the birds are beauti- fully and, almost without exception, very ac- curately supplemented by 32 colored plates, depicting 153 species, by the gifted artist- naturalist Roger Tory Peterson who did also the 40 text figures as well as the attractive end maps. The Black-backed, or Arctic Three- toed, Woodpecker is painted with four in- stead of three toes, obviously a lapsus ! Such small things little alter the fact that the authors and artist have given us an excellent and much-needed account of Newfoundland birds. The book will doubtless be the standard reference work on the area for a long time to come. Combining as it does authenticity with simplicity it is a ‘must’ for novice or professional ornithologists interested in Newfoundland birds. Moreover, teachers anywhere in eastern Canada or northeastern United States will doubtless find in it just the kind of information they require. The book closes with a useful bibliography. In Canada, it is obtainable from Thomas Allen, Ltd., 266 King Street, West, Toronto, Ontario. — W. EARL GODFREY. Union Bay. (The life of a City Marsh). By Harry W. Higman and Earl J. Larrison University of Washington Press, Seattle 5, Wash. $4.00. This is to me a Surprising and delightful book. My wife opened it first and her pre- liminary curiosity led to a one session read- ing, clearly indicative of the absorbing nature of its contents. She tried it on the neighbor’s 12-year old daughter who opened it from politeness and five minutes later subsided onto her shoulderblades and lapsed into silence. My own experience with it was no less keen, in fact I am sure it was even greater than theirs; for this is a story told with sufficient vivacity and humor to in- terest the young and at the same time there is a keenness of perception and an aptness of phrase that makes it possible for the reader to enjoy in proportion to his knowledge. Starting with the thesis that it is no longer possible to ignore man in any wildlife story the authors in just over 300 pages take one again and again through this city marsh each differently, [Vol. 66 time viewing a different facet of its teeming life, each time watching this life break and swirl around human presence like the dark water parting at the canoe prow. There is good biology aplenty in it too but it is unobtrusive. The simon pure behaviorist may perhaps take exception to the few out- bursts of anthropomorphism. These the authors acknowledge and indulge for a pur- pose and I think generally achieve their aims. In only one chapter, that on the phalarope, did I find it overdone. They have had untold hours of fun, re- laxation, and absorbing interest in the marsh of which they write. If you would relive some of your own most satisfying experi- ences, if you seek to awaken others to the fascination to be found outdoors, this book will do it. — I. McT. COWAN. Bird Guide. Land Birds East of the Rockies. — By Chester A. Reed Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York; rev. ed., 1951; pp. 1-238. (Regular edition $1.75, de luxe ed. $2.25). It is with real pleasure that we welcome this‘new edition of Reed’s Bird Guide. Since the appearance of the first edition, in 1906, this little (542 x 3%) pocket guide has de- servedly enjoyed great popularity. Un- doubtedly few bird books have, over the years, contributed more to the popularizing of the field study of birds. The newest edi- tion is completely revised. The colored plates are greatly improved, nomenclature and ranges are brought up to date, and there is much good advice to the beginner packed into a few pages of the introduction. Two hundred and twenty-two species of the land birds (doves to sparrows in A.O.U. order) occurring east of the Rockies are treated. All are illustrated in color and, in cases where the sexes or young are colored these different plumages are shown. There are notes on the field charac- ters, habits, voice, nest and eggs, and ranges of the birds treated, a color key as an ad- ditional aid to identification, line drawings showing the topography of birds, and an index. Probably the reason for the popularity of this book in the past is that it combines inexpensiveness with numerous color plates, convenient size, and succinct treatment of well-chosen subject matter. It still offers all these and undoubtedly its popularity will continue. — W. EARL GODFREY. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY y (OF MANITOBA i OFFICERS FOR 1951-52: Hy ipranident Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- dent: A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND R.’ LE- _ JEUNE; Vice-Presidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. _R. K. STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mrs. W. A. CARTWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. I. KEITH; _ Treasurer: H. MOSSOP; Auditor: W. A. CARTWRIGHT; Social Convenor: Miss LOUISE M. LOVELL. fi SECTIONS— Omithology: Chair. F. J. COUTTS; See Miss W. WINES. Entomology: Chair. R. J. HERON; Sec. eA. BeereN E colcny Chair. Mrs. D. 3. SPARLING; Sec. JOHN S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. H. STOKES; Sec. P. W. GHANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. TILLE- __NIUS; Sec. O. P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. by by) STEWART-HAY; | Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Chair. ie ‘P H. oa Sec. Mrs. R. HELYAR. He. | cae on the first and third Monday evenings of each month will be held in the 4th floor Board Room £ the Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held in Room 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- ¥ -morial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Excursions are held on Saturdays or Sundays during May, June and Sep- tember, and on public holidays in July and August. Membership fee: $1 a year for adults; 25 cents for OFFICERS FOR 1952 _ President: J. GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. nae ROSS; 2nd_ Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; Se : CLERC; Chief Scientific Gi Section: FRANCOIS HAMEL; TAN Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A. -DERY; Chief Information Section: J. C. PRICE. Other A. ' directors: Dr. V. PLAMONDON, T. J. A. TEE _ J. K. HILL, REX DARIEN G. H. CARTWRIGHT, U. _ TESSIER, ‘Secretary's address: GEORGES A. LECLERC, 12 Desy 4 Avenue, Quebec, P.Q. THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB © OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 a President A. A. OUTRAM; pee endent Dv! a JE; Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. STEWART, hog Millwood Rd., Toronto; President ‘of Baie Club: _ MRS. J. oS ‘SPEIRS; Vice-President of Bete Club: Y MRS. LL JAQUITH. Executive Council: “ BART- ; pap BARNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, ALFRED B ‘MISS. ¥F, BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA ‘CLARK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. re 3. D. KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, _ C. S. McKEE, D. S. MILLER, JOHN MITCHELE, R. M. _ SAUNDERS, EARL STARK, H. H. SOUTHAM. Ex. Officio: 5 & J. V. LEHMANN, C. A- WALKINSHAW, T. F. McIL- “Meetings are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of each month from October to May at the Royal Ontario 1 useum, unless otherwise announced. Field trips are held during the spring and autumn and on the second ae Saturday os each month during the winter. a - AFFILIATED SOCIETIES VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTOR} SOCIETY: 1s OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Hon. President: DR. N. A. M. MacKENZIE; Past Presiden A. H. BAIN; eon DR. V. C. BRINK; Vice-President: DR. T. M. C.T 'AYLOR; Hon. Secretary; C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording poecre lay: MISS C. PLOMMER; Program Sec retary: S. BRADLEY; Hon. Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: ine, S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of eS N. PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. J. DAVIDSON; Geology — DR. J. E. ARMSTRONG; ee tomology — A. R. Wootton Ornithology — W. M. HUGHES; Mammology — DR. I. McT. COWAN; wert Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY: " Photography —_— FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A. WOOTTON: Mycology — F. WAUGH; Aubudon geen Tours — A, H. BAIN; Additional Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors: H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbia, unless other- - wise announced, McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 1951 D. SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 Dundas St., London; Secretary: JOHN WISMER, 520 Huron St., London; Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. J. W. LEACH, West London P.O., London. Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library biulding on the second Monday of each month from September to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a special excursion in September. President: Mr. W. London; Vice-president: PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 President: G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr.; Vice-President: W. H. eS Vice-President: DR. M. J. Treasurer: D. ELLIOT; Secretary: R, S. ABBOTT, 166 Secnevills Road, Senneville, P.Q. COMMITTEE Miss eee J. P. ANGLIN, Miss R. B. BLAN- EEC SW. R. B. BERTRAM, J. D. CLEGHORN, J. A. DECARIE, DR M J. DUNBAR, D. G rember De G. ELLIOT, G. H. HALL, W. S. ark Mrs. C. = ERSON, Miss G. HIBBARD, H. A. C. JACKSON. wor D LEPINGWELL, G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr, Miss L. M G. G. OMMANNEY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. ROBINS ‘ON, C. C. SAIT, DR. D. M. SCOTT, Miss M. SEATH, L. Mcl. TERRILL, Mrs. L. MclI. TERRILL. Meetings held the second Monday of the month except during summer. BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND MAMMAL SOCIETY KENNETH RACEY; Secretary: IAN McT. Hy Dept. of Vice-Prseident : WAN, President : LAING; Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, the ‘owing are eeaiae n Transactions, Otta. Field-Nat. Club, No. | Sept., Dec., Jan., Feb) Mar., Apr., July, & 8, Oct-Nov., June, June, July, Nov., Mar., July, Jan., July, Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 34, Vol. 36, Vol. 37, Vol. 39, Vol. 44, Vol. 45, Vol. 56, Nov., | May, Mar., May, Dec, May, Sept., 1920 1922 1923. 1925 1930 1931 1942 yh ‘Mr. W. J. Cody, Division of Botany — ‘Science Service, «> Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ontario. — MAY-IUNE. 1952 en No. 3 ANADIAN Contents: 71 81 83 84 ap eee we migration in James Bay area. ant s | ES Caen Stirrett a Ae. LR ADs Serge oe Se TE ania tae ac eS SEN Bo Raa ee eS ; 87 ee ‘spring ¢ occurrence i the tree Sree at Ottawa, Gutare fea ae By (Giese Bennett at et ee NES CORR Cris AIR see eo MeL EH eS or ] er Fox sparrow needs | no crutch. By J. Mitchell Car ela Bee: AL) alee ad ge 88 \ va ist ue ‘ownsend’s solitaire in New Brunswick. By Mrs. WACEBY sonnel gle. ee ay haves Summer steer ational ot the evening grosbeak in southern Ontario | vate and Quebec. By W. John Srinithy ©) oe) ar rere abate brian esc emenae 89 ri _ northern | agen for A plodinotus grunnicns. t} va ae By Ww. SEN SCO tT Daa OO EAL a” oN ps ican st Mae ay he Pte eee 89 r LS ‘records of ‘Empidonax wrightit in Manitoba and at Belvedere, rarer sty By WT ar OG STO y sere Os) cnceh recent 89 ) 90 t Published by the _ OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB Biles Cw Me ie a | “Entered at Post Office at Dees Gris. as St ae class matter. ‘ y 7 Mg Zé i ; : Eperaee Dr. ho W. ee | 1st Vice-President: Me. R. -FRita 2nd Vice-President: = W. s w Treasurer: RAYMOND Moore, Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of — : Ota. A Agriculture, Ottawa. | WER Me nae ALR eNO Additional Members of Council: Mrs. Hoves anes nies Rura hives HUMPHREYS, Miss VERNA Ross, Mees PAULINE ‘SNURE, Miss Mary STus A. E. Bocnencean in Bow es, m~ W. Caen W. ci ‘Gone: oy Dore, C. FRANKTON, W. E. GODFREY, H. Grou, R. D. ‘Harris, ol HDL W. H. LANCELEY, D. ‘LEECHMAN, H. F. Lewis, H. Lioyp, T. H. MANNING W. H. MINSHALL, AGE Porsitp, ps Be eal Rupes, & Ss. RUSSELL, ae B. SENN, Ves 1B git SoLMAN, Ji8. TENER. ! ; Auditors: I. L Conners, i. F Lewis. Editor — Ne ea DR. Eg AL SSENIN, Us yn Pec aa aie Division of Botany, i "Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. Associate Editors TW Coe ED OR ra Fie 2 We praia aw Botany Al) AIR GCOUEY Iii) au! Ren haat Conchology ss PAS 6 SUES ie EL G). CRAWFORD 2.200). As OF Entomology _W. E. Goprrey FS eAG COCK Cat uns, aN atti Geology DOW AS Brn 9 0c. Ue ee aca CLYDE LpPALCEI A yoda Herpetology | ~ J. R. DY MOND! 1") 0ed i. ee Business M anager W. J. Copy, Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. The official publications of Tue OTTAWA oo Sea Sa uum: ae bean 4 issued since 1879. The first were The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-N aturalists’ 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. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued bi-monthly. Its scope is the pee | of the results or original research in all departments of Natural History. : Price of this volume (6 numbers) $3.00; ee copies 60c each. Subscription ($3.00 per year) should be fonganded to Dr. R. Ale Moore, , Div. of Ais Science Service, Dept. of Agricult OTTAWA, CANADA. The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. 66 NESTING OF THE RING-NECKED PHEASANT| ON. PELEE, ISLAND; ONTARIO ®* | KE. EN THOUSAND ACRE Pelee Island, in western Lake Erie, is noted for its high population of pheasants (Clarke and Braffette 1946, Stokes 1948, Ball 1950). Nesting studies were carried on during 1947 and 1948. Acknowledgement of aid is gratefully made to the Department of Lands and Forests of Ontario for making this study possible. Weather For the spring months for the period 1935 to 1946 the average rainfall was 13.3 inches. The average spring rain for 30 years was 11.1; the average for 1934 to 1939 was 12.4; and the average for 1940 to 1946 was 14.1. During April there was only one storm in the ten years 1937-1947 with over four inches of rainfall in 24 hours accompanied by a high wind. Before 1939 the rainfall was slight for several years, but during the best years for pheasants it was still above normal. The 1948 spring was not as wet as the 1947 spring, and consequently not as many pheasant nests were under water. Mr. E. Behn, who spoke of seeing 6 or 7 nests along one of his fence rows ‘drowned out” in 1947, went along the same row in 1948 and OTTAWA, CANADA, MAY-JUNE, 1952 BALL { Radar 4 ; none of the nests were under water. However, q f there were some nests under very wet condi. tions along the ditches in 1948. Most of these were early nests. Three such nests were observed May 18, 1948, along one road. All had large clutches (i.e., 27, 36, 19). Non-hayfield nests Pelee Island pheasant nests were construct- ed essentially as described by Hamerstrom (1936). They usually consisted of a scooped out depression lined with near-by weed stems. The lining of the nest increased as the number of eggs increased. The early nests were along the dykes and ditches, and on the edges of wood lots. Later, as alfalfa and hay fields provided sufficient cover, nests were found there. Eggs dropped at random were common during the early part of the spring in both years. Laying eggs at random and deserting one or two nests is thought to be typical behavior of the wild hen (Buss, Meyer and Kabat, 1951). Table 1 shows the nesting cover for 42 nests (excluding hayfield nests) observed in 1947. Table 1 Type cover Number of nests Number of successful nests l. grass 19 4 2. hedgerow 12 4 3. wood and brushpile 5 3 4. weeds (mostly Solidago sp.) 5 2 3. alfalfa 1 - Nests in woods and brushpiles were most from grass or weeds their nests were easily found because of the contrasting color of the eggs. The number of available sites of this kind was limited in comparison to the other nesting cover. If hens flushed 1 Received for publication August 15, 1951. Vol. 66, March-April, 1952, was issued Sept. 30, relatively easy to locate, but if they did not, very difficult. Contrary to Leffingwell’s (1926) findings, but similar to Buss’s (1946), whether or not the hen flushed seemed to depend on the individual bird rather than on the 1952. rey 8 72 THr CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST stage of incubation. Some birds could be stroked on the nest while others flushed at (for example) 15 feet, yet both had been incubating some time. Some birds would be less than six inches from my foot yet not flush. Finding the nests of these inconspicuous birds often depended on the hen’s making some small movement such as blinking an eye. C. Hoare, a farmer, reported stepping on a hen sitting on her nest and hearing the eggs break under her. There were several interesting nest sites chosen; one hen nested at the foot of a large elm tree, with not a weed or stem of grass near it, and right beside a cow track. Every time the cows were driven past in the evening the bird would flush, and every time return. This pheasant was said to have hatched eight eggs successfully, gone off with the brood, then later returned and hatched the remaining five. Two nests were among the bushes of a well cultivated raspberry patch. One of these was successful. Another barren location was a roll of wire in the middle of a pasture. One nest was located at the foot of a tombstone. The grass was kept mowed around it but the nest was successful. Forty-two non-hayfield nests were found in 1947. Of these 3344 per cent definitely hatch- ed some of the eggs. In 1948, 251 nests were located or reliably reported. Of these 74 hatched some eggs, 156 definitely had no hatch and 21 were doubtful. This is a nesting success of 29.5 per cent (see figure 1.). If hens normally lay eggs in two nests before they start laying and incubating eggs in a third nest (Buss, Meyer and Kabat, 1951) two-thirds of these nests would not have been successful. In such a case this would have produced the very successful nesting season which the subsequent open season proved it had been. In four nests of the 74 it was not possible to tell the number of eggs hatched, although some had. In the 70 remaining nests 777 eggs were laid, giving an average clutch of 11.2. There was an average hatch of 8.3 eggs. In 1947 the non-hayfield nests produced a higher number of eggs laid (11.5) and a lower average hatch (7.6). Many early pheasant nests are unsuccessful, but this is not necessarily detrimental to the [Vol. 66 fall population as Errington and Hamerstrom (1937), and Buss, Meyer and Kabat (1951) have pointed out. About 80 per cent of the hens will bring off broods later. Similarly Stoddard (1931) found that 60 per cent to 80 per cent of bob-white quail first nesting attempts were unsuccessful, yet few pairs were completely unsuccessful in bringing off young. This is corroborated by the work of Meyer, Kabat and Buss (1947) with ovulated follicles. The hatching date of 50 non-hayfield nests in 1948 is known. Twenty hatched between June first and June fifteenth, 16 between June fifteenth and June thirtieth, 13 between July first and July fifteenth, and one between July sixteenth and July thirtieth. This cor- responds with the hatching dates determined by summer brood observations by Buss, Meyer and Kabat (1951). The highest nesting density I found was in an alfalfa field. This two and one-half acre field contained 20 nests, a density of eight nests to the acre. The nesting density during the peak pheasant years on Pelee Island is illustrated by Clarke and Braffette (1946): “Mr. Wiebe has a garden of a few square rods and an orchard of a few trees under which the ground is kept bare by barnyard fowl, and there are a few hands-breadth of weeds along the fence. Real cover is completely lacking and the whole area on which the house stands along with fowl pens, drive sheds and other buildings, does not exceed half an acre. Mr. Wiebe found eleven nests around his house in one season, yet in other areas one would never expect a nest in such a situation.” One nest in 1948 was situated somewhat similarly to those Mr. Wiebe mentions. It was in a rock garden right against the farmhouse. The owner weeded the rock garden but left the weeds right around the pheasant’s nest. It was later deserted. During the spring and summer of 1948 I made an intensive study of one weed field of about 27 acres. One hundred and four nests were located in this field. The field consisted mainly of goldenrod (Solidago sp.), common ragweed (Ambrosia elatior), giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) and _ nettle May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ogg3 , hatched / /\ a S fon) so nt wo tn ati i 13 12 11 number of nests figure 1, number of eggs 73 74 THE (Urtica sp.). The giant ragweed was promi- nent in the southeast corner of the field, reaching a height of at least 15 feet by August, making the nest hunting increasingly difficult as it grew. The nettle was limited to the northwest corner and was later plowed under, soy beans being planted in its stead. This field was flanked on both east and west by extensive bean fields. A small woods lay to the north, and, to the south a regular dyke with the usual sumach-dogwood flora. Seventy of these 104 nests were located on May 22. A group of 20, mostly school children, aided in an organized drive of the field. The northwest and north central por- tions were plowed June fourth. Fortunately this area contained only five nests. The rest of the field remained in weeds during the summer. The map of plotted nests shows that nesting occurred generally over the whole area, not with the majority of nests on the periphery as Hamerstrom (1936) and Wight (1950) found. Stoddard (1931) states that over 74 per cent of the bob-white nests studied were within 50 feet of some opening. Yeatter (1934) found a similar preference for edges shown by the Hungarian Partridge. Leedy (1940) found no such preference in Ohio pheasants. Small metal-rimmed tags were used as nest markers in the beginning, but these were found to be only partially satisfactory. Even by using a wax pencil the figures became illegible after exposure to the elements. Winds twisted the tags around the plants, sometimes tearing them completely off. (One wind in the spring demolished 11 barns on the island). Later in the season strips of tobacco cotton were used with numbers in wax pencil. These stayed on the plants but were heavy enough to weight the plants down, in some cases till they were actually on the ground. Although ‘white’ in the beginning they quickly became a dirty brown which did not help in their location. If this study were to be repeated I would suggest reference markers of bamboo (such as garden stakes) be placed early in the season at frequent surveyed intervals through- out the field, and time permitting, the nests located at paced intervals in a given direction from these. The height of the markers would have to be determined by the truly luxurious growth of Pelee Island vegetation. CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Twenty-four (about 23 per cent) of the 184 nests in this field hatched. Many of the nests were lined with golden- rod stems (Solidago sp.) which were abun- dant. Measurements of 107 Pelee pheasant eggs showed an average length of 44 mm., and an average width of 36 mm. Buss and Hawkins (1939) give the average measurements for pheasant eggs as 44 by 34 mm. Asmundson et al (1948) give measurements of 42.77 by 33.65. Pelee’s pheasant eggs measure slightly above average. Westerskov (1950) gives 39 mm. as the maximum width of pheasant eggs, 37 mm. medium width, 35 mm. minimum width. Maximum width and minimum width on Pelee Island eggs were 41 mm. and 33 mm. respectively. Sheppard (1945) noted the occurrence of a blue pheasant egg in a pheasant’s nest as a rarity. I found many instances of blue pheasant eggs on Pelee Island. Some nests contained all blue eggs; others contained only one or two in a clutch. Figure 2 shows the first dates for laying of the first egg compared to the dates Hamerstrom (1936) found in Iowa. Eggs were laid almost every day. Some were laid in the forencon some in the after- noon. Shick (1947) gives an average egg laying rate of 1.4 days per egg; Buss, Meyer and Kabat (1951) give an average egg laying rate of 1.3 days per egg. Dates for the laying of the first egg were calculated on the basis of a 23 day period of incubation. Longer incubation, ordinarily of eggs which will not hatch, is not unusual. In 1947 the following data were taken from a nest situated in a large meadow: June 21: bird flushed: 1 egg July 2: bird flushed: 4 eggs 7: bird flushed: 4 eggs 15: bird flushed: 4 eggs 21: bird flushed: 2 eggs 25: bird absent: 2 eggs 31: bird flushed: 2 eggs This hen evidently laid three eggs between June 21 and July 2. Then she ceased laying. Two of her eggs disappeared, yet she con- tinued sitting on the remainder. Thus this patient bird sat on this nest a minimum of 41 days. In 1941 a hen had begun to incubate on July 5 when a small boy pulled out some of May-JUNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 75 number of nests Pelee Island, 1948. ae ea ae, a ee ee teil nd mpg omnes te fe Py (2) (om iS) rn an ree llcc a aihgumeeargee tt sit ofstacancl adi” viotets Mine eS Oy oi Riiwietan | & April May June July dates of beginning of clutch figure 2 76 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST her tail feathers. She was still sitting on August 4, the thirty-first day. Another hen incubated for 32 days. In both these instances the nests were later destroyed. In the latter case the number of eggs diminished with time. On July 8 there were eight eggs; July 14 only five; July 23 only four, yet the hen continued to sit. Hens sometimes knock eggs out of the nest when ieaving it, but a search of the surrounding area revealed none. .One hen was observed sitting on 41 eggs, another on 32. A dump nest of 36 eggs was found in 1947. It had not been incubated, as is usually the case with such nests. Average clutch size in 1947 was 11.5, in 1948 11.2. During the nesting season 375 eggs were opened and examined for fertility. The “ring test” recommended by the Ontario Agric- ultural College was used as a criterion. These eggs were gathered from dump nests, or from nests in fields which were about to be plowed. Of these 375 eggs 21 were rotten when examined. Some of these had lain under water for at least a week. Of the remaining eggs 284, or 82.2 per cent were found to be fertile. Fifty-three, or 15 per cent, were found to be infertile, and 17 or 4.8 per cent were questionable. Newcomb (1940) on _ Protection Island, Washington, found the fertility of pheasant eggs to be 83.57 per cent, approximately the same as on Pelee Island. The Township Council thought the sex ratio of one cock to 10 hens on the island might adversely affect the fertility. This was proved not to be the case. Since that time Twining, Hjersman and McGregor (1948) have reported that game farm birds show one cock to 50 hens results in normal fertility of eggs. Some nests showed wide range in develop- ment of embryos. Baskett (1947) found similar conditions prevailing in Iowa. The following example of an unhatched hayfield nest illustrates this point. Nest with 12 eggs eggs hatched egg a 21 day embryo egg a 20 day embryo egg an 18 day embryo egg a 5 day embryo egg a 2 day embryo egg infertile oe ell oe Ol ol oe lo =) [Vol. 66 Twenty-three nests in which some eggs hatched were examined and fertility of the remaining eggs determined. In these nests 201 eggs had hatched, 44 were fertile but did not hatch (at various stages of develop- ment, 33 were infertile and 21 had disintegrat- ed too far to determine their status. English (1941) discusses the hatchability of pheasant eggs in relation to some known temperatures. He concludes that temperature is seldom an important cause of hatching failure. Lack (1933) has suggested that in some birds (he does not mention pheasants) laying is primarily dependent on the state of the gonads, yet it is immediately controlled by the nervous system, through which nesting conditions, sudden cold, and perhaps other factors may limit breeding. The Pelee pheasants nested approximately two weeks earlier in 1948 than in 1947 which may be correlated with less rainfall in 1948. Hayfield nests Buss (1946), Randall (1940a), Strode (1942) and Bach (1943) have shown pheasants prefer to nest in hayfields. Fortunately the hayfield nesting sites on Pelee are limited. Many Pelee farmers cooperated with my nesting study by informing me when they cut their hay, thus it was possible to get information on nesting densities and mortality. In 1947, 51 hayfields were observed. In 1948, 41 were seen. Mowing dates were about a week later in 1948 than 1947. Mr. R. Stoltz mowed the first field in 1947 on June 26. This two and one-half acre field situated near the centre of the island is bordered by hedgerow, a woods, a tobacco field and a pasture. I believe this surrounding cover made possible the high density of pheasant nests found there. I had walked through this field about a week prior to mowing and had found only one nest. Mr. Stoltz marked this nest at the time, avoided it during mowing, and later the hen returned and hatched four of the 10 eggs. During mowing two men walked before the horses to flush any birds, yet even so two hens had their feet cut off before they could take off. The inadequacy of one person nest hunting in such a field was shown by the discovery of 20 nests during mowing; one was revealed nearly every round. No young were seen though three of the nests had hatched. The May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 77 Table 2 Date cut Owner Acreage Crop No. nests No. hens Ne. chicks June 26 R. Stoltz 2% alf. 20 2(i)* 0 June 28 G. Nageleisen 2 alf. ? 2(h)* 40(?) June 30 |E. McCormick 2 alf. 7 or 8 0 (h) June 30 C. Crawford 1 alf. 6 or 7 3(h) 20-(h?) July 1 E. Wiebe Vy ali. 0 1(h) 1(k)* 11% alf. 2 4(h) 8(i) O(h) July 1 P. Nageleisen 2 alf. 2 1(k) 0 1(i) July 1 E. Callow 2 alf. 0 0 0 July 3 D. Rinkel 2' hay 4 1(k) 1(k) July 3 V. Solman 3 alf. 2 1(i) 0 1(h) July 7 N. Garno 4 alf. several? 4(h) 4(k) 1(1) 1(h) July 8 D. Rinkel 4 clover 6- ? ? | 314 tim. 1 % ? July 16 | Airport 20 mixed 0 1(i) 50-(h) | 24-(h) 2(k) i\July 22 |C. Hoare = tim. alf. ? 1(h) 4(k) | | est. 20 (k) ‘July 24 (E. Behn 1 hay 4 ? 1(k) | | 50-60 est. (h?) ? E. Garno 1 alf. 2 ? ? f i — injured, k — killed, h — healthy. ‘majority of nests were virtually destroyed, 29.5 in 1946 (for 702 nests)... with an ‘the eggs either scattered or smashed. Eight average of 30.3 for the years 1937-1940, nests remained more or less intact. Eggs which had rolled out were replaced in these eight, but the only successful one of the /20 was the one marked previous to mowing. | ‘ ‘ : Immediately upon cessation of mowing ‘crows came to the field. By June 30 all eggs seen, with the exception of five near the house had been destroyed. During the mowing of later fields mortality of chicks was high. Table 2 summarizes the 1947 mowing operations in relation to pheasants. Leedy (1949) found in Ohio that farmers reported three-fourths of the nests actually present in hay they cut in pre-war years... when tractors were not used as much as ‘they are today. In alfalfa he reported 11.6 pheasant nests per hundred acres in 1947, 1946, 1947. The difficulty in getting accurate mowing data should be emphasized at this point. One farmer insisted he had not seen any pheasants while mowing. A minute later a hen ran through the vegetation. Upon rapid investiga- tion of the heavy mat five chicks were found beneath, none of which he suspected. There may have been more. With the _ possible exception of the Stoltz field, which was very carefully scrutinized, the figures in table 2 are all minimum. Mowing operations in 1948 were slightly later than in 1947, and the birds were nesting almost two weeks later, hence much less damage to the birds from mowing occurred in 1948. Again many farmers cooperated by letting us know their mowing dates. Table 3 gives the results of the hayfield nesting data, 1948. 78 THE CANADIAN Egg losses Egg losses on Pelee Island are in four categories: dropped eggs, desertion, preda- tion, nesting parasitism. Some hunters board their dogs at Pelee farm houses all year in order to have them available during the open season. These dogs cause desertion. I saw three examples of their killing nesting hens. Others were reported. There were 168 licensed dogs on the island in 1947. The town clerk estimated more than half of these were hunting dogs. A municipal ordinance to keep hunting dogs tied during pheasant nesting season was of questionable effectiveness. Four mornings in April I observed two hunting dogs working the hedgerows, one on either side, as they are taught to do during the hunt. One farmer reported waking at 1 a.m. to the sound of dogs in his yard. Before he could get out three of his chickens were dead. Another farmer reported seeing a pack of seven dogs in his field one morning. He emptied both barrels of his shotgun into the pack, killing five and injuring one. Such drastic methods should cut down pheasant predation from this source. The subject of predation on Pelee is a controversial one. It certainly cannot be claimed to be a predator-free area. As the nesting losses are about the same as in other areas the so-called “lack” of predators on Pelee cannot be the reason for the high pheasant population. Aside from human beings the birds suffer considerable losses from feral cats and wandering dogs, and many exposed eggs are destroyed by crows in the spring. Migrating hawks and fox snakes take very few eggs, and loss through them is negligible, though it is interesting to note that there were three substantiated cases of “wompers”’ (Elaphe vulpina) taking pheasant eggs in the 1948 nesting season. Hardy (1951) reports ruffed grouse nest predation by black snakes in Kentucky. Road kills are another decimating factor. Scott (1938) in Iowa calculated an annual kill of 2.2265 birds on each mile of improved FIELD-NATURALIST highway in pheasant range. There are approximately 60 miles of roads on Pelee Island, but only about 20 miles of highway. This would make an annual kill of about 44 birds based on Scott’s figures. Most ground-nesting birds suffer heavy nesting losses. The pheasant is no exception. In many cases of deserted nests the cause of desertion is unknown. The disappearance of eggs is another problem. The snakes certainly take some, but they seem to stay at the nest till they have swallowed all the eggs. I suspect that the rats may be the predators but have no proof. Chipmunks do not occur on the island. Mc- Cabe and Hawkins (1946) found fox squirrels would not take Hungarian partridge eggs. Most of the crow damage is a result of the exposure of eggs by mowing. Grackles abound, but I did not observe any egg preda- tion by them. Several grackles were walking in the rock garden which contained the pheasant’s nest, but they did not touch the eggs. The feral cats are one of the worst Pelee predators. One farmer declared that with a dog in winter you could find six or seven of these cats hunting along the ditches. I observed several instances of mother cats feeding their kittens young pheasants daily. I watched a Cooper’s Hawk fly over a field containing at least 50 feeding pheasants. The hawk made a few darts at the birds but did not come close enough to get one. There were two nests of this species on the island. A Marsh Hawk fed on a pheasant in the nesting-study field. Randall (1940b) found that ring-necked pheasants in Pennsylvania constituted 1.1 per cent of the food taken by Marsh Hawks. He concluded that the effect of Marsh Hawks upon the pheasant population was negligible. English (1933) found three pheasant bands in Marsh Hawk pellets. He also found that winter mortality was largely due to Great Horned Owls and Cooper’s Hawks. There were no Great Horned Owls on Pelee Island. Parasitism Pheasant nesting parasitism has been discussed by Bennett (1936). He found ducks’, rails’, and European Partridges’ nests parasitized by pheasants. Clarke (1939) found [Vol. 66 May-June, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 79 Table 3 Incubated Deserted No. eggs Hatched Hatching date D.¢ xX 11 — — x x 6 _ — xX — 7 5 June 23 x — 11 11 prior June 29 x — 13 — pipped June 29 ».¢ — 10 10 approx. June 26 xX — 9 9 approx. June 19 xX — 10 8 June 26 x ».¢ 10 — — x ».¢ 8 — — x x 10 — — ».¢ — 6 4 approx. June 5 x x 10 —_ — — x 12 — — xX — 8 8 June 29 — ».¢ 14 — —— ».¢ 12 — — eae x 7 = noe x ».4 eh: — — ».¢ — 10 9 July 1 x x 9 — — xX — 10 7 July 2 me x 2 ae ae — ».¢ 9 9 — las K 5 = ail ».¢ x 8 — ~- D.¢ ».¢ 9 — — — x 18 = — x — 16 10 approx. June 23 — x 11 — = x — 9 6 approx. July 7 4 — 10 9 July 3 piss x 3 bu, aos xX — 13 13 July 1 ».¢ — 12, 10 July 10 ».« x 6 — x D.¢ 8 — — x — 10 10 July 1 x — 8 7 July 2 xX — U 5 approx. July 2 Xe — ea 4 Approx. June 24 X — incubated, deserted re column — not incubated, not deserted re column pheasant eggs in a Ruffed Grouse nest. Knott, Ball and Yocom (1943) found seven of the 113 Hungarian Partridge nests they studied parasitized by pheasants. __ I observed pheasant eggs in duck, chicken, ‘and guinea hen nests on Pelee Island. I observed only one mixed brood, however, a guinea hen with four or five small guinea hens and three pheasant chicks. Eight out of 34 nests observed on Old Hen Island had chicken eggs. None of these hatched. It was later reported that three pheasant hens there had adopted broods of chickens. 80 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Hatching The hatching process takes about 12 hours. For about an hour or two after hatching the young remain in the nest, drying off. They then leave the nest and do not return. A combination of hatched hayfield nests and non-hayfield nests showed the 1948 dates of hatching as follows: June 1 — June 15... 21 nests hatched June 16 — June 30... 23 nests hatched July 1 — July 15 ... 22 nests hatched July 16 — July 30 ... 1 nest hatched Stokes aged broods on Pelee Island by measurements of primary wing feathers and foot lengths using the tables worked out by Trautman (1948) and by the wing molt method as described by Buss (1946). The hatching dates as derived by these methods corresponded closely with the hatching dates derived from my nesting study. REFERENCES 1. Asmundson et al. 1943. Certain Relations between the Parts of Birds’ Eggs. Auk, 60 (1). 2. Bach, R. N. 1943. North Dakota Upland Game Nesting Studies 1942. Unpub. MS. North Dakota State Game and Fish Dept. Div. of Fed. Aid. Project 7 R. 3. Ball, K. E. 1951. Breeding Behaviour of the Ringnecked Pheasant on Pelee Island, Ontario. Can. Field-Nat. 64 (6). 4. Baskett, T. S. 1947. Nesting and Produc- tion of the Ring-necked Pheasant in North-Central Iowa. Ecol. Monogra. 17 (1). 5. Bennett, Logan J. 1936. The Ring-necked Pheasant as a Nesting Parasite of Some Other Game Birds. Iowa State College Journ. Sci., 10 (4). 6. Buss, Irven O. 1946. Wisconsin Pheasant Populations. Wise. Conservation Dept., Madison. 7. ———_————————_ and Arthur S. Hawk- ins. 1939. The Upland Plover at Faville Grove, Wisconsin. Wilson Bull., 51 (4). 8. —_——_—_——_———., Roland K. Meyer and Cyril Kabat. 1951. Wisconsin Pheasant Reproduction Studies Based on Ovulated Follicle Technique. Journ. Wildl... Mgt. 1G): 9. Clarke, C. H. D. 1939. Ring-necked Phea- sant Parasitizes a Ruffed Grouse Nest. Can. Field-Nat. 53 (6). 10. THe 12. 13. 14. 16. Li. 18. 19: 20. 21. 23. —_______—__—., and R. Braffette. 1946. Ring-necked Pheasant Investigations in Ontario, 1946. Dept. of Lands and Forest of Ontario, Toronto, Ont. English, P. F. 1933. Causes of Pheasant Mortality in Michigan. Unpub. PhD thesis. Univ. of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, Mich. , 1941. Hatchability of Pheasant Eggs in Relation to some Known Temperatures. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 5 (2). Errington, Paul L., and Frederick N. Hamerstrom, Jr. 1937. The Evaluation of Nesting Losses and Juvenal Mortality of the Ring-necked Pheasant. Journ. Wildl., Migs al) Clete 2): Hamerstrom, Frederick N., Jr., 1936. A Study of the Nesting Habits of the Ring- necked Pheasant in Northwest Iowa. Iowa State College Journ. Sci., 10. . Hardy, Frederick C. 1951. Ruffed Grouse Nest Predation by Black Snakes. Wilson Bull... 63) - (ys Knott, N. P., C. C. Ball and C. F. Yocom. 1943. Nesting of the Hungarian Partridge and Ring-necked Pheasant in Whitman Co., Washington. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 7 (3). Lack, David. 1933. Nesting Conditions as a Factor Controlling Breeding Time in Birds. Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1933. Leedy, Daniel L. 1940. Natural Pheasant Production in Relation to Agricultural Land-Use. Unpub. PhD Thesis. Ohio State Univ. Library, Columbus, Ohio. 1949. Ohio Pheasant Nest- ing Surveys based on Farmer Interviews. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 13 (3). ——__——_— and Lawrence E. Hicks. 1945. The Pheasant in Ohio. in The Ring- necked Pheasant and its management in North America. W. L. McAtee ed. Amer. Wildl. Inst. Leffingwell, Dana J. 1926. A Study of the Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus Linné) with Notes on its Artificial Propagation. Unpub. PhD Thesis, Cornell Univ. Library, Ithaca, N.Y. . McCabe, Robert and Arthur S. Hawkins. 1946. The Hungarian Partridge of Wis- consin. Amer. Midl. Nat. 36 (1). Meyer, R. K., C. Kabat and I. O. Buss. 1947. Early involutionary Changes in the Post-ovulatory Follicles of the Ring- necked Pheasant. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 11 (1). May-June, 1952] THE CANADIAN 24. Newcomb, Hugh R. 1940. . Ring-necked Pheasant Studies on Protection Island, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, Unpub. MS Thesis, Oregon State College Library, Corvallis, Oregon. 25. Randall, Pierce E. 1940 a. The Life Equa- tion of the Ring-necked Pheasant in Penn- sylvania. N. Amer. Wildl. Conf. Trans. 5. 26. ——_———_————_ 1940 b. Seasonal Food Habits of the Marsh Hawk in Pennsyl- vania. Wilson Bull. 52 (3). 27. Rasmussen, D. I., and W. T. McKean. 1945. The Pheasant in the Inter-mountain Irrigated Region. in The Ring-necked Pheasant and its Management in North America. W. L. McAtee ed. Amer. Wildl. Inst. 28. Scott, Thomas G. 1938. Wildlife Mortality on Iowa Highways. Amer. Midl. Nat. 20 C2) 29. Sheppard, R. W. 1945. Blue Egg in a Pheasant’s Nest. Auk. 62 (3). 30. Shick, Charles. 1947. Sex Ratio — Egg Fertility Relationships in the Ring-necked Pheasant. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 11 (4). FIELD-NATURALIST 81 31. Stoddard, Herbert L. 1931. The Bob-white Quail. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. 32. Stokes, Allen W. 1948. Status of Pelee Island Pheasants, 1947-1948. 10th Midwest Wildl. Conf. (mimeo.). 33. Strode, D. H. 1942. A Three-Year In- tensive Study of Natural Pheasant Pro- duction. Unpub. MS Thesis. Ohio State Univ. Library, Columbus, Ohio. 34. Trautman, Carl. 1948. South Dakota P-R Quart. Progress Report. Jan. 1, 1948. 35. Twining, Howard, H. A. Hjersman and W. MacGregor. 1948. Fertility of Eggs of the Ring-necked Pheasant. Calif. Fish & Game, 34 (4). 36. Westerskov, Kaj. 1950. Methods for De- termining the Age of Game Bird Eggs. Journ. Wildl. Mgt., 14 (4). 37. Wight, Howard M. 1950. Nesting Loss — the Pheasant Bottleneck. Penn. Game News, 20 (2). : 308. Yeatter, Ralph E. 1934. The Hungarian Partridge in the Great Lakes Region. Univ. Mich. School Forestry and Con- servation Bull. 5. ’ FRASER’S OBSERVATIONS OF SCREECH OWLS AT A NEST-BOX?! N. D. MArtTIN York Mills, Ontario. URING THE WINTER of 1947-48, a screech owl roosted in a bird-box on a gable of the home of W. J. Fraser, of Toronto, Ontario. In the spring of 1948, a second owl appeared, and a pair nested in the box. The bird-box was not more than 15 feet from a bay window on the south side of the second floor. From this window, Fraser watched the owls, and made notes on their activities from February 16 to May 16. These notes were not made with the intention of publishing them. However, since they include some details of the nest life of this species prior to the hatching of the eggs, the author has secured permission from Mr. Fraser to summarize them and publish the summary. Due to a serious illness of his wife, Fraser was in a position to spend long periods ob- serving the owls at all hours of the day and night. Binoculars and flashlight were em- 1 Received for publication September 17, 1951. ployed on occasion, and one glass pane of the bay window was replaced with “Vitaglass,”’ permitting the calls of the birds to be heard easily in the room. The roof of the bird-box was hinged, and by walking out on the verandah roof, Fraser made inspections of the box interior at irregular intervals. Thanks are due Mr. T. M. Shortt who read the manuscript of this paper critically. SUMMARY OF FRASER’S DIARY February 16. Diary began. March 26. Two owls instead of one around the box for the first time. April 1 and 3. Owls observed copulating at about 20 minutes after sunset on the bough of a nearby tree. Male (?), with wings working, on top of female. Part of one egg seen protrud- ing from under sitting bird. May 3. 82 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST May 15. May 16. One young owl in nest. Diary ended. Upon discovering that his screech owls were killing song-birds, Fraser ceased making no- tes, and desired only to be rid of the owls. On May 22, two young owls and one egg were seen in the box. This egg remained un- hatched, and the author collected the female with her two young on May 31. DISCUSSION There appears to be no published record of the length of time between fertilization and egg laying in this species. With Fraser’s owls, the first egg was seen about 30 days, or roughly four weeks, after copulation. The first young was seen 12 days, or roughly two weeks, after the first egg. However, Bent (1938) gives 26 days, or roughly four weeks, as the average period of incubation. The eggs in Fraser’s nest may have been laid several days before they were observed, but it is fairly certain that they hatched about the middle of May, since the young one ob- served on May 15 was the size of a newly- hatched screech owl. If the incubation period is considered to be four weeks, then it is probable that the eggs were laid about thé middle of April. If it can be assumed that fertilization occurred on or about April 1 or 3 at the observed copulations, it seems justifiable to conclude that with Fraser’s screech owls, the period between fertilization and egg laying was about two weeks. Figure 1, drawn from Fraser’s observations, shows that the owls using the box, both prior to and during the nesting season, frequently spent a period of “lookout” through the box entrance before setting out on the night’s activities. To a lesser extent, a period of lookout was also spent in the morning after returning to the box. In the evening, this period usually commenced shortly before sun- set, and ended with the bird’s departure shortly after sunset. Although there are less . data for the morning periods, Fig. 1 shows that there is at least a tendency to return to the box, spend a period of less than 15 minutes on lookout, and retire for the day, all before sunrise. In addition to the periods indicated in Fig. 1, Fraser saw an owl at the box entrance for 10 minutes at mid-day on February 18, one hour in the early afternoon sun of [Vol. 66 March 1, off and on all day for a total of over 3.5 hours in the sun of March 5, and for an undetermined period during the mid- morning of March 31. In the evening the owl may come to the entrance when the interior of the box grows dark, and wait there for darkness before set- ting out; but this does not explain the dawn or daytime lookouts. The lookout period may be a vigil against enemies, or an assessment of the surrounding territory as a food pro- ducing area, or merely the means of satisfy- ing a curiosity regarding the environment of the box. On April 16 and later nights, the male called from near the nest-box, and the female either answered him from inside the box, or joined him, or joined him after answering. Sherman (1911) records this phenomenon with a pair of nesting screech owls, and sug- gests that the male calls the female to go hunting with him. SUMMARY 1. A screech owl roosted in a bird-box beside the bay window of a home during the winter 1947-48. It was joined by a second owl in the spring of 1948, and the two nested in the box. 2. The period between fertilization and egg laying was probably about two weeks with this pair of owls. 3. Both prior to the nesting period and during it, an owl frequently spent periods, usually of less than an hour each, looking out through the entrance of the box. These periods occurred at sunset, sunrise, and occasionally during the day, and may have represented periods of reconnaissance by the owl. 4. In the evenings, after the middle of April, the male frequently called near the- box, and the female responded by calling from inside the box, or by joining the male outside. LITERATURE CITED Bent, A. C. Life histories of North American birds of prey. Part 2. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 170. 1938. Sherman, Althea R. Nest life of the screech owl. Auk, 28: 155-168. 1911. TIME, BOX USED FOR ROOSTING 20 yy 7 21 FEBRUARY MARCH Fiqure 1. Periods of “lookout “4 BOx USED FOR NES TING 10 20 30 APRIL through bird-box entrance by screech owl. 3) May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 83 THE CLAM HOSTS OF NAJADICOLA INGENS (K.) ACARINA IN A QUEBEC LAKE’* ARTHUR G. HuMEs and Stuart K. Harris Department of Biology, Boston University HE NORTH AMERICAN water-mite, Naj- adicola ingens (Koenike), according to the observations of Koenike (1895), Wolcott (1899), and Humes and Jamnback (1950), lives as a parasite in the gill chambers of various freh-water clams. On the basis of data then available Humes and Jamnback (1950) concluded that in the New England area Anodonta cataracta Say seemed to be the preferred host, Elliptio complanatus Sol- ander next in preference, and Lampsilis ra- diata (Gmelin) the least preferred. They found N. ingens in 16 (89 per cent) of 18 L. radiata from Lake Massawippi, Province of Quebec, Canada. One L. radiata from Lake Champlain at Sandbar State Forest Park in Milton, Vermont, also contained N. ingens. L. radiata from fourteen other localities where mites were present in either E. com- planatus or A. cataracta were unparasitized. The exceptionally high incidence of the mites in Lake Massawippi indicated the desirability of further study. Accordingly, this lake was revisited and large samples of clams gathered from a strip of shoreline about 500 feet long at the southern end of the lake near the town of Ayers Cliff. On May 27, 1950, 65 A. cataracta, 299 E. com- planatus, and 237 L. radiata were collected, and on September 1, 1951, 22 A. cataracta, 231 E. complanatus, and 141 L. radiata were obtained, making a total of 87 A. cataracta, 530 E. complanatus, and 378 L. radiata, or 995 clams in all. The specimens of E. complanatus, whose average length was 74 mm. (49-93 mm.), were entirely without mites. The specimens of A. cataracta, whose average length was 87 mm. (57-112 mm.), were only rarely parasit- ized (3 out of 87 or 3.5 per cent). Only four specimens of N. ingens were recovered from these three clams. Eighty-six per cent of the specimens of L. radiata, whose average length was 82 mm. (45-112 mm.), were parasitized (79 per cent in the 1950 group and 98 per cent in the 1951 collection). The number of N. ingens 1 Received for publication Nov. 19, 1951. found in a single clam ranged from 1 to 32, with all four gills capable of harboring the mites. The distribution of the 32 mites found in a single L. radiata which measured 90 mm. in length was as follows: left outer gill—l male 4 females, left inner gill—4 males 6 females, right inner gill—5 males 4 females, right outer gill—4 males 4 females. A total of 2375 mites (1235 males and 1140 females) was recovered from L. radiata, the average number per parasitized clam being 7.4. Humes and Jamnback (1950) reported only 1.7 mites per parasitized E. complanatus and 1.8 per parasitized A. cataracta. Humes and Jamnback (1950) found a dis- tinct preference in location of the mites in A. cataracta (where they almost invariably lived in the outer gills) and in E. complan- atus (where they nearly always occurred in the inner gills). A preference in location exists also in L. radiata, where the distri- bution of the mites was as follows: left outer gill—478 mites, left inner gill—742, right inner gill—737, and right outer gill, 418. There is thus a tendency to live as parasites in the inner gills of L. radiata more often than in the outer ones, but any or all of the gills may be parasitized. In L. radiata a parasitized suprabranchial chamber usually contained only a pair of mites, one male and one female, in its anterior half. The suprabranchial chamber seems to be the site for oviposition, since egg masses occurred only there. Conspicu- ous papillae occurred on the walls of the chamber around the mites, having been ap- parently induced by their feeding. Varying numbers of both sexes of mites occurred along the distal margins of the gills between the gill lamellae. In the May 27, 1950, collection of L. ra- diata no egg masses of N. ingens were found. Apparently oviposition begins in Lake Mas- Ssawippi sometime after that date. In the September 1, 1951, collection 38 per cent of the parasitized L. radiata contained already hatched or dead egg masses of the mite. These data may be compared with the observation 84 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST of Humes and Russell (1951) that N. ingens in a New Hampshire pond breeds in A. cataracta only during June, July and Aug- ust. These observations indicate that in Lake Massawippi, at least, L. radiata is very fre- quently and heavily parasitized by N. ingens, while E. complanatus and A. cataracta, though living side by side with L. radiata, are not at all or only rarely parasitized. Although the mites may parasitize all four gills, they show a definite preference for the inner gills. If mites are present in a suprabranch- ial chamber, they usually consist of a male and a female. Varying numbers of both sexes occur in the distal margins of the gills between the gill lamellae. TVol. 66 REFERENCES Humes, A. G. and Jamnback, H. A. 1950. Najadicola ingens (Koenike), a water - mite parasitic in fresh-water clams. Psyche o7: 77-87. Humes, A. G. and Russell, H.D. 1951. Seasonal distribution of Najadicola ingens (K.) (Acarina) in a New Hampshire pond. Psyche 58: 111-119. Koenike, F. 1895. Nordamerikanische Hy- drachniden. Abhandl. naturw. Ver. Brem- en 8: 167-226. Wolcott, R. H. 1899. On the North Amer- ican species of the genus Atax (Fabr.) Bruz. Trans. Amer. Micros. Soc. 20: 193- 259. MEMBERS OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB AND SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST New members and changes in address since May, 1951 HONORARY MEMBER Lewis, Harrison F., West Middle Sable, Shel- burne Co., N.S. MEMBERS AND SUBSCRIBERS Saat Verio Airey, Mrs. H. T., 49 Joicey Blvd., Toronto 12, Ontario. Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles 7, Cal., U.S.A. Anderson, Roy, Zoology Department, Univer- sity of Toronto, Toronto 5, Ontario. Arctic Health Research Center, Library, Box 960, Anchorage, Alaska. Assumption College, Library, Windsor, Ont. Es eae Balecom, Mrs. C. E., 263 O’Connor Street, - Ottawa, Ontario. Ball, Mrs. George, 194 E. Veterans PIL., Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.A. Barratt, H. G., 374 Brock Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. Bartlett, C. O., Department of Lands and Forests, Aylmer, Ontario. Boisvenue, R. J., 402 C. Hawthorn Lane, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Mich., U.S.A. Bourne, George C., 36 Ossington Avenue, Ottawa 1, Ontario. Bowman, R. I., Museum of Vertebrate Zool- ogy, University of California, Berkeley 4, Cal., U.S.A. Boyer, George F., R.R. 1, West Sackville, N.B. Braid, P. E., 478 Cole Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Brandt, Herbert, 2425 N. Park Blvd., Cleveland 6, Ohio, U.S.A. ee Ea California Fisheries Laboratory, Terminal Is. Station, San Pedro, Cal., U.S.A. California, University of, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles 24, Cal., U.S.A. California, University of, College of Agricul- ture, Davis, Cal., U.S.A. Charles, Bruce, 93 Colin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. Clark, Thomas H., Department of Geological Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Correll, F. W., 211 Ontario Street West, Whitby, Ontario. Cowan, A. W., 197 Cartier Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Cringan, A. T., Box 565, Sioux Lookout, Ontario. May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN ee | ee Davison, John M. H., 24 Driveway, Ottawa, Ontario. Defense Research, Northern Laboratory, Administration Officer, Ft. Churchill, Man. Duboulay, Philip H., Apartment 25, 1145 Graham Blvd., Montreal 16, Quebec. La Edwards, R. Y., Wildlife Section, Parks and Recreation Division, B.C. Forest Service, Victoria, B.C. Elliot, Mrs. D. G., 35 Tunstall Avenue, Gardenvale, Quebec. Elliott, John, 3994 Park Avenue, Seaford, L.I., N.Y., U.S.A. Elton, C. S., Bureau of Animal Population, Department of Zoological Field Studies, Botanical Garden, High Street, Oxford, England. eae nities Field, C., 418 Metcalfe Avenue, Westmount 6, Quebec. Findlay, D. D., Carleton Place, Ontario. Findley, James S., Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. Flook, D. R., Canadian Wildlife Service, Ft. Simpson, Ontario. ey eee Gibson, G. G., 265 Sheldrade Blvd., Toronto 12, Ontario. ; Goodman, R. C., 73 Leonard Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Gourlay, Louise, 4 Howick Place, Ottawa, Ontario. Grant, J., Dominion Forest Insect Laboratory, Box 740, Vernon, B.C. pees peas Haight, D. E., 208 Young Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Hamilton, R. A., Manotick, Ontario. Harris, R .D., 12 Rupert Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Hastings, R. C., Jeffery Hale’s Hospital, St. Cyrille Street, Quebec, Quebec. Hart, W. S., 62 Forden Cres., Westmount 6, Quebec. Helleiner, F. M., c/o M. K. Drew, Chaput Hughes, Ontario. Heming, W. E., Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Ontario. Herbert, Violet, 51 Frank Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Hibbard, Gladys E., Chambly Canton, Quebec. FIELD-NATURALIST 85 Horner, Ruth M., Apartment 3, 179 Patterson Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Houston, C. Stuart, Box 279, Yorkton, Sask. Hrapko, Julie, 1820 34th Avenue West, Calgary, Alberta. Hudson, J. H., 136 Main Street, Saskatoon, Sask. Hughes, Elwyn O., 1 Research Road, R.R. 1, Ottawa, Ontario. Pitch bes Jenezon, Olive, 1925 Stafford Avenue, S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. Jones, Mrs. H. W., Apartment 207 Mayfair Apartments, 260 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario. layers Kantola, K., 319 Tupper Street, Port Arthur, Ontario. Kayes, Walker H., Apartment 6, 59 Mark Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Kenny, C., Apartment 12, 136 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Klein, David R., Box 626, College, Alaska. pe pe Laing, H. M., Box 82, Comox, B.C. Laker, Robert E., 57 St. Clair Gardens, Toronto, Ontario. Lawrence, A. G., 104 Shelburn Street, Winnipeg, Man. Leafloor, Mrs. Jean, 11 Aylen Avenue, Woodroffe, Ontario. Leith, L., Apartment 2, 21 Fentiman Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Le Sueur, Edna, 106 Grove Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Lewis, Edith, Science Service Laboratory, University Sub P.O., London, Ontario. Lewis, Mrs. H. F., West Middle Sable, Shelburne Co., N.S. Lillington, J. N., c/o Milton Hersey Co., Manicougan Project, Baie Comeau, Quebec. Longhrey, A. G., Box 118, Yellowknife, N.W.T. Lowe, C. W., 1826 Hollywood Cres, Victoria, B.C. pas ea Maddox, D. C., 167 Faraday Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Mair, W. W., Defence Research Northern Laboratory, Ft. Churchill, Man. Mann, Peter, 565 Cheapside Street, London, Ontario. Martin, John E., 1068 Fisher Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. McEwen, E. H., c/o District Administrator, Aklavik, N.W.T. 86 THE CANADIAN McGinn, Mrs. F., 449 East 8th Street, North Vancouver, B.C. Meredith, R., 80 St. Peter Street, Quebec, Que. Milne, W. H., Suite 401, Dominion Square Building, Montreal, Que. Mitchell, G. J., 3282 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. Mitchener, A. J., Collingwood, Ontario. Montgomery, G. H., 4689 Westmount Avenue, Westmount, Quebec. Morkill, A. B., 750 Pemberton Road, Victoria, B.C. Morrison, Mrs. Lloyd, Farm Point, Quebec. Moskowskoje Otdelenije, Biblioteka Akad. Nauk, ul. Kujbysheva 8, Moscow 12, U.S.S.R Muise, Annette Genevieve, Nurse’s Residence, “Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario. LNs N. Central Saskatchewan, Regional Library, 56 12th Street West, Prince Albert, Sask. Nilsson, Mrs. Mary H., Apt. 3, 317 Somerset Street East, Ottawa, Ontario. sia See Oldenburg, M. E., c/o First Trust Company, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.A. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, District Forester, Swastika, Ontario. | — p= ¥ Pengelley, W. G., 140 Lyndhurst Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. Pirnie, Miles D., 201 Conservation Building, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Mich., U.S.A. eS Raines, W. C., Dundurn, Sask. Riley, Mrs. G. C., 4 Elm Avenue, Hudson Heights, Quebec. Ross, Verna, Apartment 5, 179 Patterson Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. penieiees Schultz, F. H., 150 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, Eng. Sharp, F. B., 208 Bloor Street West, Toronto, © Ontario. Sherrin, John, 1425 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Sims, M., 5 Thornton Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Stefansson, V., 3 Pleasant Street, Hanover, N.H., U.S.A. Stevens, Ward E., Defence Research Service, Operational Research Group, A. Building, Cartier Square, Ottawa, Ontario. Stewart, Mrs. J. G., 197 Fifth Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario. Stiver, Pearl, Billings Bridge P.O., Ottawa, Ontario. Suomen Riistanhoito-Saatio, P. Rautatienkatu 13, Helsinki, .Finland. eet ee Thompson, A. W., Box 80, St. Mary’s Ontario. Tuck, Leslie M., P.O. Box E 5366, St. Johns, Newfoundland. Turnham, Mrs. A. J., Director, Redpath Museum, Montreal, Quebec. oy ea Ussher, R. D., 101 Grandview Avenue, Newton- brook, Ontario. an Vee- Van Camp, J. L., Canadian Forestry Associa- tion, 4795 St. Catherine West, Montreal 6, Quebec. Vancouver Natural History Society, c/o F. J. Sanford, 2862 W 19, Vancouver 8, B.C. Van Horne, H. B., 122 E. Lewis Avenue, Chilliwack, B.C. Beh 5, ee Waltho, E., 140 Balliol Street, Toronto 12, Ontario. Washington University Library, Seattle 5, Washington, U.S.A. Waters, O., Apartment 22, 223 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario. Webster, H. M., Box 213, Brighton, Ontario. Weems, F. C., 270 Park Avenue, New York 17, N.Y., U.S.A. Wheeler, Iris M., Apartment 3, 314 Somerset Street East, Ottawa, Ont. Williams, T. D., Ottawa Welfare Bureau, 283 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ont. ays Yale University Library, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A. May-JUNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 87 NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Rough-legged Hawk Migration in James Bay Area. — While visiting Hannah Bay, on the Ontario shore of southern James Bay, on October 15, 1949, the writer observed a defi- nite migration of the Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus). The birds were passing, singly, at the rate of about one every five minutes, in a southwestward direction. The flight continued during the afternoon spent in the area by the writer. The birds were following the shore-line and were first observed from a boat while the writer was approaching the shore to enter the Harricanaw River, after a trip across southern James Bay. No hawks were seen either over the open bay or any dis- tance inland during a voyage of about five miles up the river. When the attention of Constable P. Holmes, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Po- lice, was drawn to the migration, he stated that he had seen the same kind of hawks migrating during the previous week (week of October 2) along the shores of Cabbage Willows Bay, Quebec, where he was then stationed, some thirty-six miles northeast of the mouth of the Harricanaw. The writer left Hannah Bay early on the morning of October 16, 1949, but Constable Holmes re- mained there all that day and observed that the hawk flight continued throughout the day. No observations were made after Octo- ber 16 because Constable Holmes did not re- main in the area after that date. When the hawk flight commenced or when it terminated is not known. There was, how- ever, a noticeable southwestward flight, both at Cabbage Willows Bay and at Hannah Bay, on the dates indicated. At the time of observation, the flight con- sisted of Rough-legged Hawks only. A lone Bald Eagle was the only other species seen at that time that might have been in migra- tion. The origin of the hawks in this particular migartion is, of course, not known, but it may be that the Rough-legged Hawks breed- ing east and northeast of James Bay, in the Ungava Peninsula, migrate southward along the east coast of Hudson and James Bays. The birds we saw certainly came from the northeast to our observation points and continued along the coast in a southwest- ward direction. — GEO. M. STIRRETT, King- ston, Ontario. 1952 Cooperative Study of Fall Migration. —In the autumn of 1952, observers all over the United States will be training telescopes on the moon to obtain counts of migrating birds passing before its disc. These counts will be used to determine the volume and direction of night migration at different times and places. By the analysis of such data, it will be possible to map the flow of migration, to study the effects of weather, and to determine the hour-to-hour pattern of activity. The methods to be employed, and some of the surprising results already achieved by them have been described in a recent paper by George H. Lowery, Jr. (“A Quantitative Study of the Nocturnal Migra- tion of Birds,” University of Kansas Publica- tions, Museum of Natural History, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 361-472). In a previous cooperative effort in the spring of 1948, brief and inconclusive ob- servations were made at Pt. Pelee and at Toronto. Otherwise Canada was not repre- sented. It is hoped that this year Canadian observers will be able to join with observers in the United States in saturating the conti- nent with stations. The observational pro- cedure is a simple one. Any one who has access to a small telescope, or to a large one, can participate. Interested persons are urged to write at once for further details to RO- BERT J. NEWMAN at the Museum of Zoo- logy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rou- ge, Louisiana. Early spring occurrence of the Tree Swal- low at Ottawa, Ontario. — On March 25, 1952, a companion and I observed from Billings Bridge a bird that appeared to be a swal- low. When first seen it was several hundred feet downstream from the bridge and was flitting here and there over open places that had developed in the disintegrating ice of the Rideau River. With the aid of bino- culars the bird was kept under observation for ten minutes or more. Suddenly it flew toward the bridge, thus coming to close range and providing an opportunity for us to observe it in detail and to identify it. Its iridescent blue upper-parts, pure white under-parts and shallowly notched tail were clearly seen as the swallow flitted near us. It was identified with certainty as a Tree Swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor). In my ex- perience this species is not usually found at Ottawa at such an early date. — CHAS. H. BENNETT, Ottawa. 88 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Fox Sparrow needs no crutch. — Feeding in a baited area among Sparrows and Juncos I noticed a Fox Sparrow bobbing and rolling in an unnatural manner and, upon _ close inspection, the cause of the peculiar motions was the lack of a right leg. However, in spite of the handicap, it was able to hop about in rough brush with agility and needed only occasional help from its wings in especially awkward situations. It had no dif- ficulty in perching or turning about and carried out these movements with leg ex- tended as normal birds do, not from a crouch as one might expect. It was even able to come to rest on an upright stalk without teetering enough to lose balance two out of three attempts. When feeding rapidly in competition with others it would lose its equilibrium and to recover would stoop until the breast touched the ground and then push up in balance; these movements being performed very quickly accounted for the bobbing and rol- ling which first brought the bird to my at- tention. When foraging at leisure, seldom would it be necessary for it to bob. Most remarkable of all, it would attack fiercely any bird encroaching on its ter- ritory and, in addition, it could and did scratch vigorously with its one leg in typical Fox Sparrow fashion at frequent intervals. — J. MITCHELL CAMPBELL, Ottawa, Ontario. Townsend’s Solitaire in New Brunswick.— On January 15, 1952, a bird approached our garden by way of the elm trees and took up residence for the winter in two Japanese bar- berries in the shrubbery under the elms. The bird was smaller than a robin, grey breast, brownish grey back, forked tail with outer tail feathers white; bill was thrush- like. Looking it up in my books I concluded it must be a Townsend’s Solitaire. (Myadestes townsendt). I communicated with Mr. W. A. Squires, Curator of the Natural Science Department of - the New Brunswisk Museum. He suggested it might be a Mockingbird and sent me a spe- cimen of one that had been picked up in the province years ago. The bill ruled out the mockingbird, and there was no conspicuous white patch in flight. Rather the bird showed two buffish stripes across the wings in flight. A large eye with white eye-ring, and two light buffy patches on the edge of the wing at rest, whitish outline of: the tertials all in- dicated the Solitaire. [Vol. 66 On March 19, Mr. George F. Boyer, Dom- inion Wildlife Officer at Sackville, N.B., de- finitely identified the bird as a Townsend’s. Solitaire. He succeeded in getting a good photograph of it at three feet showing the feather pattern clearly enough for certain identification. We had the bird under observation contin- uously until March 31. On that day it sang for us, a beautiful long subdued song, touch- ing some of the robin’s high notes. I think it had been singing for several days earlier as we noticed its body heaving as it perched. Mr. Boyer tried to trap it for banding but was unsuccessful and the next day it was gone. The bird was very sparing of its barberries, but when they got too difficult for it to gather we thought of trying dried currants. These he soon ate ravenously, taking almost a quar- ter of a cupful in two days. We changed his. feeding station to a stump where we had a closer view of him. As far as I know he ate practically nothing else until the March sun exposed the leaves on the bank, when he would go to the ground occasionally. He kept a careful eye on the berries and currants, chasing off all comers smaller than himself, and frightening a red squirrel away. His flight was most interesting and should attract any- one’s notice, as it was so unusual for a winter bird. A recent letter from Mr. Squires tells me that Mr. W. Earl Godfrey finds the record acceptable at the National Museum, based on Mr. Boyer’s photograph. Mr. Squires informs me that the most easterly report in Canada for this bird is Manitoba in 1923, and in U.S.A., Long Island, New York, in 1905. Mrs. A. B. CONNELL, Woodstock, N.B. Summer observations of the Evening Gros- beak in southern Ontario and Quebec. — As several species of western birds have re- cently been displaying an eastward expansion of their nesting ranges, the following ob- servations of Evening Grosbeaks, Hesperi- phona vespertina, made by me in Ontario and Quebec during the summer of 1951, may be of interest. MANIWAKI, P.Q. (1) June 12 to 22, quite common, usually in flocks of from four to twenty birds. (2) August 13 to 18, slightly less common. SOUTHWEST ALGONQUIN PARK, ONT. May-JUNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN June 27 to July 12, comparatively few. VALCARTIER, P.Q. July 16 to August 6, fair numbers, still fewer than at Maniwaki. LAC EDOUARD, P.Q. (north of Shawinigan) August 7 to 10, several birds were seen in the area. MATTAWA, Ont. August 20 to 25, flocks of up to fifteen birds. W. JOHN SMITH, 45 Second Ave., Ottawa, Ont. A Northern Record for Aplodinotus Grun- niens. — The freshwater drum or sheeps- head, Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, reaches its northern limit of distribution in North America in Manitoba waters. In Lake Winnipeg it reaches its greatest abundance in the southern portion, but is considered to be rare in the northern part of the lake. In 1949 a pair of pharyngeal teeth identi- fied as those of a freshwater drum were sent to the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoo- logy, the fish from which they came having been caught by a trapper in Little Playgreen Lake, Manitoba. The occurrence of the species in this lake was not surprising since it is readily accessible from Lake Win- nipeg. However, in September, 1951, during field studies in the lower Nelson River region for the Manitoba Department of Mines and Natural Resources, Game and Fisheries Branch, the second author heard from the local inhabitants that a _ bass-like fish was occasionally caught on artificial lures. The species proved to be the fresh- water drum. One fresh animal was taken but only the head was procured for a speci- men since the owner wished to retain the remainder for food. This particular speci- men was caught at the mouth of the Lime- stone River where it joins the Nelson River (56° 31’ N, 94° 07’ W). It was reported by the local people that one or two are caught by angling each summer and are apparently in good condition. The head, which measures 134 mm, in length, is deposited in the fish FIELD-NATURALIST 89 collection of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. — W. B. SCOTT, Royal Ontario Mu- seum of Zoology — B. KOOYMAN, Manitoba Department of Mines and Natural Resources. Erroneous Records of Empidonax wrightii in Manitoba and at Belvedere, Alberta. — Taverner (1927, Auk, Vol. 46, No. 2, p. 224) recorded four flycatchers from Whitewater Lake, Manitoba, as the Wright Flycatcher, Empidonax wrightit Baird, with the com- ment that “in wing measurement these fall between the Least and Wright’s but, all have the outer primary shorter than the sixth, the acknowledged characteristic of this species (i.e. wrightii) at present.” Re- ference to Taverner’s manuscript notes shows that the specimens concerned. are National Museum of Canada nos. 20007, 20012, 20112, and 20118. The writer recently examined these. Unfortunately they are all, without any doubt whatever, Empidonax mi- nimus (Baird and Baird). While it is true that the tenth primary is very slightly shorter than the fifth in all four this is an extremely variable character in minimus and these Manitoba species resemble wrighti in no other way. Empidonax wrightii, there- fore, should be removed from the Manitoba bird list. From Belvedere, Alberta, also, Taverner (1928, Nat. Mus. Canada, Bull, 50, p. 96) recorded Empidonaw wrightit, commenting that “two birds taken June 3 and 12 have the size and wing formula of this species.” Reference to the specimen catalogue and Taverner’s field notes shows that two fly- catchers of this genus were taken there on June 3 and two on June 12, 1926. Examina- tion of these discloses that of the four, three are unquestionably Empidonaz minimus, the other Empidonax traillii. Taverner’s 1926 field notes read, ‘“‘The boys watched care- fully all flycatchers this summer but saw nor heard nothing that suggested the pre- sence of any other small species of fly- catcher than the Least”. — W. EARL GOD- FREY, National Museum of Canada, Ottawa. 90 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 REVIEWS ANNOUNCING direct economic value. To the casual ob- A NEW JOURNAL IN ZOOLOGY The Society of Systematic Zoology will in- itiate publication this year of a new quarterly journal, SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY. Articles of general interest to all zoological system- atists will occupy most of the space in the journal. Book notices, news items, projects, people, museum activities, lists of systematic societies, and other miscellany will round out the contents. Occupying a hitherto conspicuous void in the coverage of zoological fields by scientific journals, the new serial has three purposes: (1) to publish, and therefore to encourage the preparation of, contributions on basic aspects of all fields of systematic principles and problems; (2) to provide a suitable forum for discussion of the problems of the system- atist and his methods; and (3) to report the other activities of the Society of Systematic Zoology as news.” The Society of Systematic Zoology was organized in 1947 and now has over a thous- and members, of cosmopolitan distribution. The president for 1952 is Dr. Alfred S. Romer of Harvard University, and the Secretary- Treasurer is Dr. Richard E. Blackwelder of the U.S. National Museum. A rotating coun- cil of eight members supervises activities of the Society, and an editorial board of thirteen members (including the editor and two asso- ciate editors) will control publication policies. On a pro tem basis Dr, Blackwelder is acting as editor, with the aid of an eight-member editorial board. Subscription rates per annum are $4.00 to members, $7.00 to non-members and institut- ions. A discount of $1.00 is offered to non- members making payment with order and without invoices or bills. Correspondence re- garding subscriptions and membership should be addressed to the secretary of the Society, Dr. R. E. Blackwelder, Room 429, U.S. Nation- al Museum, Washington 25, D.C. The Life of the Spider. By John Crompton. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. | Of all the groups of animals none is more fascinating and yet so little understood by the public as that containing the spiders. The ignorance on the part of the general public concerning spiders is perhaps in part due to the fact that they have little or no server, spiders build webs, or tangled masses of silk, in dark corners of cellars and out- buildings. It comes as a great surprise that there are many hundreds of kinds of spiders that do not build webs but seek their prey in the manner of a carnivorous mammal. “The Life of the Spider” by John Cromp- ton, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, effectively presents the fascinating side of the life of spiders. The words and descriptions of the author are well chosen so that the reader is compelled to read the book from cover to cover. The book is divided into thirteen chapters dealing with such subjects as the character of the silk of spiders, the method of web construction, and the habits of various non-web-making spiders such as wolf spiders, crab spiders and trap-door spiders. In the chapter dealing with the trap-door spiders, the author inserts a fascinating account of the hunting habits of a particular species with which he is well acquainted. The method by which young spiders are dispersed is excellently described. This book is one which should be read by all those interested in natural history. It would make an excellent reference book for students in secondary and primary schools, since it deals not only with the life history of spiders, but also brings out the importance of spiders and the fact that few of them are poisonous. — T. B. KURATA. Carolina Quest. By Richard M. Saunders. University of Toronto Press and University of South Carolina Press, Toronto and Co- lumbia, 1951; pp. I-XI, 1-119. ($3.50). This is a delightful account of a first trip by two young ‘Northerners’ to the deep South in June. A month of enthusiastic and discerning observations on the ways of both birds and men are set forth, and these ex- periences are interestingly, often humorous- ly, told. The vivid word pictures of first ex- citing impressions of new birds, gracious people, and enchanting scenery will be poignantly nostalgic to those who have visited South Carolina, and are entertaining reading for those who have not. Moreover, readers do not have to be dyed-in-the-wool bird en- thusiasts to enjoy the book. It is well printed on good paper and is decorated by twelve attractive wood engravings by Sylvia Hahn. — W. EARL GODFREY. May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN The Dusky-footed Wood Rat. Linsdale, Jean M. and Lloyd P. Tevis. pp. 664, illus., Uni- versity of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1951. Price $7.50. Dr. Jean M. Linsdale is well known to zoologists as the author of The California Ground Squirrel, a monograph that won wide acclaim, when it appeared in 1946, as ‘one of the most complete studies of a North American mammal ever made”. In the pre- sent monograph he co-authors with Dr. Lloyd P. Tevis to produce a book that will be re- ceived with equal enthusiasm. This report is the result of a study of the Dusky-footed Wood Rats in one locality, the Hastings Natural History Reservation. Ob- servations were made over a period of ten years and data obtained on no less than 580 individuals. The chapter headings give a fairly accurate picture of the _ topics covered: Habitat, Houses, Animal Associates, Behaviour, Food, Reproduction, Morphology, and Population. There is also a short but adequate summary. As the authors point out in the Intro- duction, they are primarily interested in the rats as individuals, rather than as mere com- ponents of an aggregation. This is perhaps the first serious attempt ever made to form a “personal acquaintanceship” with a wild animal in its native habitat. Certainly it is the first time that any biologist has succeeded in knowing the individual life histories of such a large number of wild animals. If for no other reason, this monograph should be reserved a unique place in mammalogical literature. Even in his study of the Cali- fornia ground squirrel, Dr. Linsdale never succeeded in knowing his subjects as inti- mately as he has in the case of the dusky- footed wood rat. All of the topics are discussed in conside- rable detail and will prove interesting to both the mammalogist and ecologist. Perhaps, however, the chapter on behaviour will at- tract the greatest number of readers. Some of the findings are rather surprising. For example, although the rats can recognize the general vicinity of their homes, perhaps by sight and smell, they appeared to possess no homing ability and were completely lost when released only a short distance outside their home territory. Presumably they re- cognize their own houses, and those of the neighbouring rats, by their distinctive odor. FIELD-NATURALIST Ot However, they do not appear to recognize a house as such. If a house has been vacated for a considerable period of time so that it has lost all traces of rat odor, it is treated merely as if it were a pile of sticks! How- ever, some rats did not even recognize their own houses after having been absent from them for less than forty-eight hours. The authors concluded that they were recent invaders to the territory. Although this might seem to indicate a short memory, rats re-trapped after a period of several months showed evidence of recalling previous ex- periences in the laboratory where they were weighed, marked, and measured. The authors avoid any interpretations of cbserved behaviour, which seems rather un- fortunate. In one case they discuss at con- siderable length a particular female who tried fo cross a stream by climbing a rose bush and walking out on a limb that almost touched the branch of a shrub on the other side. Finding this impossible, she paused for a few moments to nibble at a leaf shoot on the rose bush. This seems to be a fairly good example of displacement behaviour. However, the authors make no comment on the possible significance of this behaviour. There are numerous other examples. There are many observations that will in- terest field collectors. The authors found that the rats move about very little when there is bright moonlight and that they usually remain in their houses on rainy or stormy nights. The animals are very adverse to getting wet, and, when caught in live traps, they seem to suffer more from excess moisture than from cold. Provided they had plenty of food in the traps, they seemed to fare reasonably well in the cold weather. However, if they had access to grass or other material, they usually proceeded to construct crude shelters for themselves. It is interest- ing to note that although excessive moisture may prove detrimental, a drought may have a similar effect by reducing fertility. These are but a few of the many interest- ing facts contained in this report. Although the study is confined to the wood rat, un- doubtedly many of the remarks are equally applicable to other small rodents. If the collector will recall the occasions on which he had his best trapping results, he will probably find that they occurred on warm, dark, rainless nights. 92 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Any naturalist interested in life history studies would do well to study this mono- graph carefully. Not only will it serve as a guide with regard to the type of data that should be recorded, but it will help to restrain over-enthusiastic researchers from drawing broad conclusions on the basis of a few observations. If, after studying a single species on a small area for a period of ten years, Linsdale and Tevis are unwilling to make generalizations, surely those who have conducted briefer studies should be particu- larly cautious. And for those who feel that briefer studies are adequate, the following statement made by the authors is pertinent: “Even with our abundant information, many questions re- main unanswered, and often we cannot un- derstand the full significance of the details we have”. — AUSTIN W. CAMERON, Algae cof the Western Great Lakes Area. By G.W. Prescott. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bull. 31, 1951, pp. i—witt 1-946, pls. 1-136. Numerous text-figures and tables. Price $10.50 (U.S.). This excellent systematic treatment of the fresh-water algae (excluding desmids, and diatoms) is the first of its scope to appear since Wolle’s Fresh-water Algae of the United States (1887). The bulk of the work consists of keys to and descriptions of the genera and species of all algae hitherto reported from Wisconsin and Michigan. The ubiquity of the commoner species and the prevalence of similar habitats throughout most of southern Canada and the northern United States renders this work much more widely applicable than the title implies. No one is better qualified than the author, Professor G. W. Prescott of Michigan State College, to present and discuss such a wide segment of the Plant Kingdom. Since the ap- pearance in the mid-twenties of his first major work on Iowa algae, the author has published at least forty papers dealing with algal taxonomy and ecology. His explorations of algal habitats from Latin America to Alaska have equipped him well for a work of this kind. His familiarity with the scattered but bulky literature on algae is reflected in the bibliography of the present volume: and in the recently available Bibliographia Des- midiacearum of Prescott and Brunel. Of especial interest to the limnologist, ecologist, and general botanist are the in- [Vol. 66 troductory sections on the geological, physical and chemical factors affecting distribution and growth of algae. This section includes numerous text-tables and graphs. Those interested in the identification of algae will be particularly pleased with the glossary and illustrations of morphological terms, supplementing the keys and species descriptions in the text. In addition, nearly all of the well over a thousand species are beautifully illustrated by line drawings. This volume brings together for the first time many specific and generic transfers pre- viously recorded only in brief and specialized papers. When the author has not accepted such transfers, he has shown good judgment in ineluding the synonymy together with explanatory notes. The usefulness of the bibliography is increased by the author’s use of a superscript to indicate major works on morphology and taxonomy. It is to be expected that the appearance of Algae of the Western Great Lakes so soon after the new edition of Smith’s Fresh- water Algae of the United States will. be re- flected in a renewed general interest in the taxonomy, morphology, and ecology of the algae. These two complementary volumes, in addition to their extreme usefulness to the professional phycologist, provide an excellent starting point for beginners in the field. The publishers are to be congratulated on the quality of the paper, print, and binding used in this volume. For these inflated times, the price is low, thanks to elimination of any profit to the author, publisher, or printer. — ELWYN O. HUGHES. A Guide to Bird Finding East of the Mississippi. By Olin Sewell Pettingill, Jr.; illustrated by George Miksch Sutton. 1951, Oxford University Press, New York. Pp. 1-xxt, 1-659. ($5.75). Anyone expecting to make field studies of birds in personally unfamiliar parts of the eastern United States (east of the Mississip- pi) will find this book a most valuable piece of equipment. If your itinerary and destina- tion are already planned, you will find listed in the book the best places to observe birds in or near the localities you visit, as well as local directions for getting there. If your itinerary is not already planned and you want to observe particular kinds of birds this book tells you where, when, and how to go. May-JuNE, 1952] THE CANADIAN The twenty-six states entirely east of the Mississippi are treated. In most cases a whole chapter is devoted to one state, these arranged alphabetically. Each chapter de- seribes briefly and non-technically the physiographic regions and ecological com- munities of the area concerned, lists the more interesting breeding and _ wintering birds, gives local migratory and concentration points and other migration peculiarities. Dates given indicate the best seasons to visit any given area. The principal points of ornithological interest listed include the National, State, and Municipal parks and refuges; National forests and monuments; private sanctuaries; museums; ornithological societies; research stations; universities; libraries; zoos, and best of all, the most out- standing places to find birds. Useful local in- formation is given including common-sense directions for reaching the points described, accommodations, etc. There is a list of refer- ences to regional ornithological publications and a good index. The 72 pen-and-ink sketches by George Miksch Sutton are both decorative and ac- curate. — W. EARL GODFREY. Beginner’s Guide to Attracting Birds. By Leon A. Hausman. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, and Thomas Allen, Ltd., Toronto, 1951; 127 pages; Illus. with drawings by Jackson Miles Abbott and the author. $2.00. One of the most delightful of home sports of our day is attracting wild birds with food, water and nesting-places. It can be _ prac- tised in country or city; even, in some cases, by dwellers in vast apartment houses. It provides interest and cheer for the whole family, and for the birds as well. No one profits by it more than the busy housewife, for in most families she is the one who spends most hours at home. If the romances of the tree swallows or the engaging gym- nastics of the chickadees take such hold of her attention that sometimes a meal is a little late, who so churlish as to mention it? Dr. Hausman’s little book is practical and convenient, an excellent guide to the sub- ject. He speaks simply and with kindliness and a touch of humour, so that reading his book gives the impression of a pleasant chat with him. The advice presented is based on the author’s long experience and has all been fully tested. Topics discussed include the maintenance of successful winter feed- FIELD-NATURALIST 93 ing-stations, nesting boxes for those birds that will accept them, storm shelters for birds, bird baths, drinking fountains, feed- ing birds in summer, planting to attract birds, how to deal with cats and other creatures that are out of place among bird guests and how to identify birds that are commonly seen at feeding stations. A list of books and other helpful publications and an index round out the volume. The advice in this guide is based on condi- tions in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, but of course the book will be very useful far beyond those regions. Our experience leads to dimensions for nesting boxes that in some cases differ some- what from those recommended by Dr. Haus- man, but that is presumably a situation to be expected. Each user of this guide will, as his experience grows, be able to refine dimensions according to his own judgment. All in all, this book is very suitable for its purpose. It should have a wide distribu- tion. — HARRISON F. LEWIS. An Introduction to Wild Flowers. By John Kieran, Hanover House, Garden City, N.Y., 1952; 77 pp., 100 coloured drawings. — Price, $3.29. The idea of the book is to get the flower- lover to look more carefully at the structure and form of the wild plants he admires, to get a fuller appreciation of their beauty and growth peculiarities. After referring to the pages, he will want to go back and look again. An even hundred wild flowers are illus- trated by coloured habit-sketches and describ- ed in fascinating, ordinary—and accurate— terms, in the lively style characteristic of the expert of “Information Please’. Ninety of the flowers are to be found in Eastern Canada “They are presented more or less in the gener- al order in which you may find them coming into bloom” from Skunk Cabbage and Colts- foot to Aster and Gentian, and constitute a well-balanced selection for each season. A goodly proportion are common _ introduced plants such as Dandelion, Devil’s Paintbrush, Chickory, Corn Cockle and Queen Anne’s Lace, but, on account of their beauty, the author cannot come to call them weeds. —W. G. DORE 94 Tur CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Ecological Animal Geography. Second edition by W. C. Allee and Karl P. Schmidt, New York, John Wiley and Sons Inc., London, Chapman and Hall, Limited, Copyright by the University of Chicago, 1951; pp. 1-x111, 1-715, 142 figs. $9.50. When the late Richard Hesse, Professor of Zoology of the University of Berlin, pro- duced his “Tiergeographie auf oekologischer Grundlage” in 1924 he said in his original preface “Ecological animal geography is a young science....... I hope that this treat- ment will stimulate further expeditionary re- searches in this field. We have had an over- supply of travel which yielded animal pelts and alcoholic material; we need rather ob- servations on the relations between animals and their environment”. The first translation and extension of the work was done by Allee and Schmidt in 1937. Even by this time it was possible to add con- siderably to the literature references and to revise sections of the text in the light of new information and of conditions on the North American Continent. Dr. Hesse ap- proved of the revisions and additions. After an additional fourteen years Allee and- Schmidt have brought out a second edition of the work, still more comprehen- sive both in treatment of material and in review of pertinent literature. The second edition contains the same ar- rangements of 4 parts and 28 chapters as the first and a good idea of the scope of the book is given by a brief review of the parts. PART 1. The ‘Ecological Foundations of Zoogeography”’, in which are traced the rela- tions of the subject, the effects of environ- mental selection, the factors influencing dis- tribution of animals, including barriers to, and means of, dispersal, historical zoogeo- graphy, the effects of geographic isolation and extent of range and the meaning of bio- topes and biocoenoses. PART 2. “The Distribution of Marine Ani- mals”, in which are reviewed the physical and chemical conditions of the oceans in relation to animal life, the biotic divisions and the animal communities of the sea and the geographic divisions of the animal com- munities. PART 3. “The Distribution of Animals in Inland Waters, a Phase of Limnology”, which discusses. the environmental factors in in- land waters and the nature of animal com- munities in all types of inland waters. ~ [Vol. 66 PART 4. “The Distribution of Land Ani- mals”. In this part are discussed the eco- logical factors connected with terrestrial life in communities ranging through forest, grassland, desert, swamp, shore, alpine, polar, island and subterranean. The final chapter on “The Effect of Man on the Dis- tribution of Other Animals” brings out some of the more important areas of impact of human ecology on animal ecology. Most of these, unfortunately, act to the detriment of animal species and their habitats through unwise use of natural resources and through increase in pollution and other detrimental factors related to increasing human popula- tion. The creation of great national parks to preserve unchanged natural areas in various countries is mentioned at the end of the chapter as a hopeful note. The second edition has been expanded from the 597 pages of text in the first edi- tion to 674 pages, with similar type size and general format. The illustrative material is generally unchanged from the first edi- tion, the original 135 figures having been increased to 142. The book is attractively printed in clear, easily-read type and is largely free from typographical errors. Dr. Hesse’s hope that his 1924 work would stimulate further researches in the field has been fulfilled, as is indicated in the wealth of information published since that time. The chapter-end bibliographies of the first edition have been much revised and are now listed in complete form and in alphabetical order by author, which is a great improve- ment over the abbreviated, non-alphabetical arrangement of references used in edition one. The total number of references, vary- ing from 17 to 161 per chapter, has been increased from 1390 to 1461 through the addition of new material up to and including 1950 and the replacement of some of the older references. This replacement has not been allowed to interfere with the retention, for special values, of many of the older re- ferences. The first edition of the book has served as a valuable text and source in zoogeo- graphy since its issue and the second edi- tion now provides a more valuable and up- to-date treatment of this expanding and in- creasingly important phase of biology. — VICTOR E. F. SOLMAN. "NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MANITOBA | OFFICERS FOR 1951-52: esident Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- dent: A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND R.’ LE- JEUNE; Vice-Presidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. _K. STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mrs. W. A. RIWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. I. KEITH; easurer: H. MOSSOP; Auditor: W. A. CARTWRIGHT; Social Convenor: Miss LOUISE M. LOVELL. rithology: Chair bes je COULIS: DOWNES. Entomology: Chair. R. J. A. DROUIN. Botany. Chair. Mrs. D. B. SPARLING: Cc. a S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. H. STOKES; Hie Sec. O. P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. ;WART-HAY; Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Chair. . P. H. STOKES; Sec. Mrs. R. K. HELYAR. Lectures on the first and third Monday evenings of ach month will be held in the 4th floor Board Room the Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held in Room 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- _morial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Excursions are held . Saturdays or Sundays during May, June and Sep- mber, and on public holidays in July and August. embership fee: $1 a bibees for adults; 25 cents for OFFICERS FOR 1952 GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. 2nd Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; Be ciary“lreceuror: GEO. A. LECLERC; Chief Scientific Pantone FRANCOIS HAMEL; Chief Protection Section: BREAKEY; Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A. DERY: Chief Information Section: J. C. PRICE. Other directors: Dr. V. PLAMONDON, T. J. A. HUNTER, is ays Sa REX HEERED ITE G. H. CARTWRIGHT, U. G. Secretary's address: GEORGES A. LECLERC, 12 Desy pare Quebec, P.Q. CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 President: A. A. OUTRAM; Vice-President : Si ew Le Smee Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. J. B. STEWART, p21. Millwood Rd., Toronto; President of Junior Club: a ee “SPEIRS; Vice-President of Junior Club: M JAQUITH. Executive Council: G. M. BART- ; MAN, ¥ BAUNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, ALFRED BUNKER, MISS F. BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA CLARK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. M. FRITZ, W. W. H. GUNN, DR. L. E, JAQUITH, MRS. 'D. KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, es McKEE, D. S. MILLER, JOEN MITCHELE, R. M. / Meetings are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of each tmaonth from October to May at the Royal Ontario Museum, unless otherwise announced. Field trips are held during the spring and autumn and on the second Saturday of each month during the winter. ry W. GRANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. TILLE- AFFILIATED SOCIETIES VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTOR} SOCIETY OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Hon. President: DR. N. A. M. MacKENZIE; Past Presiden A. H. BAIN; President: DR. V. C. BRINK; Vice-President: DR. T. M. C. TAYLOR; Hon. Secretary; C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording pete ary MISS C. PLOMMER; Program Sec retary: S. BRADLEY; Hon. Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: me S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of Bulletin: N PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. Jj. DAVIDSON; Geology — DR. J. E. ARMSTRONG; En- tomology — A. R. oe: Ornithology — W. M. HUGHES; Mammology — DR. I. McT. COWAN; Marine Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY: " Photography — Cc. FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A. WOOTTON: Mycology — F. WAUGH; Aubudon eas Tours — A. H. BAIN; eee Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors: H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER | All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbia, unless other- wise announced, -McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 1951 President: Mr. W. D. SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., London; Vice-president: Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 Dundas St., London; Secretary: JOHN WISMER, 520 Huron St., London; Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. J. W. LEACH, West London P.O., London. Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library ‘biulding on the second Monday of each month from Seplember to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a _Bpecial excursion in September. PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 ae G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr.; Vice-President: H. RAWLINGS; Vice-President: DR. M. J. DUNBAR; Totatioe D. G. ELLIOT; Secretary: MISS R. §. ABBOTT, 166 Senneville Road, Senneville, P.Q. COMMITTEE — . S. ABBOTT, J. P. ANGLIN, Miss R. B. BLAN- CHARD, W. R. B. BERTRAM, J. D. CLEGHORN, J. A. DECARIE, DR. M. J. DUNBAR, D. G. ELLIOT, Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT, G. H. HALL, W. = HART, Mrs. C. L. HEN- DERSON, Miss G. HIBBARD, H. A. C. JACKSON, A. R. LEPINGWELL, G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr, Miss L. MURPHY, G. G. OMMANNEY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. ROBINS ‘ON; C. C. SAIT, DR. D. M. SCOTT, Miss M. SEATH, L. Mcl. TERRILL, Mrs. L. Mcl. TERRILL. Meetings held the second Monday of the month except during summer. Miss R BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND MAMMAL SOCIETY President: KENNETH RACEY; Vice-Prseident: H. M. LAING; Secretary: IAN McT. COWAN, Dept. off Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. ; WEN, a ‘ bt! hth aN | uae ' s er, -F ee) rie i Ww af ) i J et [ *t' it ests 1 ‘hi }, 4 i “f os ahs, ; Bait Mh bi sai | In order to meet the demand for ack a of Hy - publicc of the Ottawa F ield-Naturalists’ Club, the following | are ‘wegen! Y Transactions, Ota. Field-Nat. Club, ‘No. 1, 1880. — ie fe & yy ‘\ ok = Ottawa Naturalist sien Wal!) Noe iB), 3) {Sept tk Viol gn Now o, Dee. a mein Vol slr: gato. 10, Gain) ai \formsh Ge ey Vol) 1 No! 1 it tp eb.e a VoL ME Nowlin. aia" Mic. | Woli2 iia Now le) ohh Agrs Vol! 12h) No )4, July. heat Vol. 12, No. 7&8, Oct-Nov., 189 Wold2i No.9)! 0 ah Teme) ea SOL Woll 15.5 7) No. 134) Oc sumed) i 4 aye 8 2 Vol: 15,)°) Now\4) an July, Vol.(15,) “No! 8, 6) iNew: Moleviga Moi 12) jae vor., Vol. 18, No. 4, ‘July, ‘Vol. 19, No. 10, — _Jan., Vol 20), Nom 94.) 0) A) july: Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 34, No. 8 Vol. 36, No. 5 eB MOL at i NOG, DP AWOL. 39; INO WS) inh ce Vol. 44, No. 9, - Dec., Mol! 45) Nios 15), May, Vol. 56, No. 6, Sept., Members and subscribers Hee are euis to” ‘spare any of thes would Greatly assist the Club by formas them t to: Phra ce | Mr. W. ios apne Division of Botany Science ‘Service, inee : a oy Dept. of Agriculture, | Ottawa, Ontario. 7 "Le Droit” Printers, Ottawa, y A ean) ON. OLY RUGUST. 91952 No. 4 - The CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST nm Mite. COMP. Z00L. oRERY i? Ee , , C % 4952 1M ce eit eee Nis Contents DEG 1 e identity of Carex misandroides Fern. with notes on the hue otha _ North American Frigidee. BygeiarceltRarymond alee 21 20 es eae 95 otes on the flora of Chesterfield Inlet, Keewatin District, N.W.T. ByBys D: B. O. Savile and iE A. Calder ae acetate Me eR Me 103 ) predators as prey. By B. gel shade diag ht cra) Sy Ses aM Mee ia BU alae eh 107 ak ey fD the genus Rubus of the Ottawa Valley. Le stgys end jello hasy a eka soma ne nresG waatee Nan 108 an ae y Motes and Giaerearois: — a | , Sea, | Be #8 Lawrence’ s Warbler in Canada. By Geo. M. Stirrett 0.0.0.0... 111 Bh OA. new North American host for the fish parasite Triaeno phorus _nodulosus (Pallas). BVA EL sawier freuen ee eM RR 111 “Unusual foot colouration in Pintails (Anas acuta) and note on ” ee? European recoveries. By vGralani once, We ya, Jean alcoho 111 ica ee: “Mortality of ered fish in Lake Simcoe during spring temperature i + vy a warm-up. Veh a ARS ENO Le(C oi tute oa rey Mee Baer BONE fs PRS RNR had 102 BF ae jaa | Winter records of the White-throated Spaow in western Ontario.. , ite By APPAR TAM ALE Shs: MD, Ue Oe ed ada el, Rape |g Coes, Moe 112 oy" Wee. ‘Yellow-breasted Chat in Newfoundland. By Leslie M. Tuck ......0...00.000.... 112 és Reneebes ES yaeloe Worrall opine fee SPL) Aaa nils Pale Ae bi elu 114 sod dos EO i OIE TRE SARE ce aI Meg ont ica ay a 114 , ‘ % ; ey ie a mks + ~ yj be ? Ws 4 aa 4 Te SR, Published by the iis OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB nies te hee ; ; % fists’ _ Entered at Post Office at Ottawa, Ont., as second class matter. int The Cttawa Field Haturalists’ elu : f ‘ q et " " { ) f ¢ i Woy Nasa Patron: Wn cn His Excellency, The Rt. Honourable Vincent Massey, C. Hy Cove cee of President: Dr. J. W. Groves S mi ee ¥ | Ist Vice-President: Mr. R. FRITH Rend Vice-President: Mp. Ww. 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M ey ap j aye A ‘ The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. 66 OTTAWA, CANADA, JULY-AUGUST, 1952 THE IDENTITY OF CAREX MISANDROIDES FERN. WITH NOTES ON THE NORTH AMERICAN FRIGIDAE*? MARCEL RAYMOND Montreal Botanical Garden, Canada ESCRIBED in 1915 (6) from specimens collected in Newfoundland, Carex mis- androides Fern., was discovered 12 years later at one single station in the Gaspé Peninsula (9). When describing it, the late Dr. Fernald believed the plant to be related to C. misandra R. Br., which explains the choice of the name. He wrote: “Simulating C. misandra R. Br. of the Arctic, a species in which the terminal spike is staminate at base only, the scales and perigynia narrower, the latter pro- longed into a slender distinctly serrate beak, the stigmas commonly 3, and the leaves broader and flat. Only one knoll of C. misandroides was observed during a hurried trip across the tableland of Tab‘e Mountain and the material collected shows scarcely any individuals which are clearly duplicates, so great is the diversity in length of the culms and peduncles. In one individual a tall culm (1 dm. high) bears an umbel with a nearly sessile staminate spike and 4 pistillate spikes on peduncles from 2 mm. to 3.5 cm. long; others have long slender peduncles arising from near the base of the plant, one of them bear- ing sessile staminate and pistillate spikes, and one extreme individual has the stam- inate spike essentially sessile at the base of the plant, with the long-peduncled pistillate spikes over-topping it.” A more recent description and illustration have been made available through the latest edition of Gray’s Manual (8). Meanwhile, Fernald realized the affinity of his species to western ones such as C. petricosa or C. Franklinii, for, in 1925, he wrote (7): The section Frigidae of the great genus Carex has two specially notable Rocky Mountain species, Carex petricosa Dewey 1 Mémoires du Jardin Botanique de Montréal, no 29. 2 Received for publication July 4, 1951. Vol. 66, May-June, and C. Frankliniz Boott, both excessively rare plants, the two together thus far known from only three or four stations in Alberta and British Columbia. On Table Mountain on Port a Port Bay and on the adjacent St. George Peninsula in western Newfoundland and on the high cliffs above Lac Pleureuse in Gaspé County, Quebec, occurs a third species of the Frigidae, C. misandroides Fernald (map 16), in some of its variations close- ly simulating C. Franklinii, in others as similar to C. petricosa, yet differing from them both in fundamental characters of the fruit. In 1943, Dutilly & Lepage found the plant on dolomitic cornices in the central islands of Lake Mistassini (5). Dr. Fernald, seeing the material, wanted at first to describe the Mistassini material as a new species; and on some labels one may find written the name Carex mistassinica Fern. A little later, in 1945, on one of his trips to Lake Mistassini, Jacques Rousseau made an ample collection of the plant in the same locality as Dutilly & Lepage. The material exhibiting identical variations in the spike-arrangments as he had observed, in 1915, on the Newfoundland plant, Fernald dropped the idea of a new species. Again in 1945, Dutilly & Lepage on another of their trips through subarctic Québec, added a new locality for the hitherto localized sedge: Larch River, about 57° lat. N., in much the same type of habitat. More recently, in July 1948, Rouleau, discovered a new locality for the species in Newfoundland. I had always suspected, especially after having myself collected the plant with Rou- leau, at Anse Pleureuse, in Gaspé, late in August 1948, the species to be very close to the rare Carex Frankliniu Boott of the Rocky Mountains (3, 4). Boivin, in a revision of the Canadian rep- resentatives of the FERRUGINEAE, in 1948 1952, was issued October 25, 1952. pec 17 1952 06 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (2), expressed the same view, without elabor- ating the point any further. I recently had the opportunity to see an interesting set of some 40 sheets of C. Frank- linii, C. petricosa and C. misandroides, from the National Herbarium in Ottawa, as well as 12 sheets from the Gray Herbarium, in- cluding isotypes of C. Franklini and the type of C. petricosa, from Dewey’s herbarium, kindly placed at my disposal respectively by Mr. A. E. Porsild and Dr. R. C. Rollins, and a photograph of the type of C. Franklinii made at Kew in 1888, by Dr. L. H. Bailey, which Miss Ethel Zoé Bailey has courteously sent me. Moreover, I have had access to all specimens of C. misandroides, which have been collected in Quebec and which are preserved either in the Marie-Victorin Her- barium, or the Herbarium of the Montreal Botanical Garden. After close comparison, I have reached the conclusion that C. Frank- liniti and C. misandroides intergrade in their mutual variations. The descriptions of the two species, taken mainly from Mackenzie (13, 14) and Fernald (6, 8) and modified whenever the material at hand necessitates it, are compared in Table I. Concerning the disposal of the flowers in the uppermost part of the spike, Holm (11) with abundant material collected by James M. Macoun, in 1919, at or near the place along the Athabaska Trail, where Drummond first discovered C. Franklinii made the following observations: ; Terminal spike: mostly androgynous, very seldom purely staminate. Uppermost lateral spike: staminate or androgynous, very seldom purely stamin- ate. Second lateral spike: pistillate, seldom androgynous or staminate. With material of C. misandroides (10 her- barium sheets from Lake Mistassini, 3 from Newfoundland, 4 from Gaspé and 1 from Larch River), I reached the same conclusions. Rousseau’s material collected at the end of July, is smaller, has narrower leaves, while the Dutilly & Lepage collection, from the same area, made in August, is more robust. In the Larch River material, the terminal spike is staminate (with one female flower at the base, in one specimen), and the upper lateral one pistillate. We must then admit that the intermixing of the androgynous and the pistillate in the terminal group of spikes is in this subsection of no taxonomic value. Boivin described (2) [Vol. 66 C. Franklinii var. nicholsonis with the diag- nosis “differt spica apicali floribus et mas- culis et foemineis intermixis,’ from Nichol- son Island, in the Northwest Territories, a phase which Boott had already covered in his description: ‘“‘spica terminalis ovata apice con- spicue mascula, ad ejus basin 1-3 arcte ses- siles lineares tote masculae vel flosculis foemineis paucis basi instructae...” Further- more, the plant appears to be but a luxuriant C. petricosa Dewey. Rousseau’s material also shows many pis- tillate spikes from the base borne on the tip of long capillary peduncles. This charac- ter likewise is of no taxonomic value, as I have before me specimens of C. membranacea Hooker (from Alaska), C. petricosa Dewey (from the Rocky Mountains), C. stylosa C.A. Meyer (from the Aleutian Islands) and C. Bigelowii Torr. ex Schwein. (from Ungava) all exhibiting the same peculiarity. As to the number of styles, Boott in Hook- er’s Flora boreali-americana (3) illustrates a specimen with two styles while in Illustra- tions of the genus Carex (4), he shows a fe- male flower with three. His description reads “stigmatibus — 3 vel 2”. Fernald’s more re- cent description of C. misandroides (8) makes the following allowance: “style branches 2 (rarely 3)”. In opposition to Mackenzie’s state- ment that the achene is triangular, it should be observed that in C. Franklini or in C. misandroides, the achene is lenticular when there are 2 stigmas, and trigonous when there are 3, since the number of stigmas commands the number of ovules as well. Mackenzie (13) and Boivin (2) based their keys on the number of styles, a character of no value whatever in this group, as shown immediately above. So, in these two treatments, C. misan- droides does not appear with C. Franklini and C. petricosa, where it rightly belongs, but is set at the end, by itself. In his description of C. Franklinii, Mackenzie states “stigmas 3”, which is not in full harmony with established fact. The author’s conclusion is that C. misan- droides Fern. is identical to C. Franklinii Boott and could, at the most, be treated as a geographical variety. Consequently, this rare and supposedly local Rocky Mountain species is actually a transcanadian one. Presumably, some day, some very closely related, if not identical, species from eastern Asia will ap- pear and thereby add another element to a type of distribution with which we are now Juty-Avucust, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 97 Table 2.— Comparison of Carex misandroides Fern. and C. Franklinii Boott Carex misandroides Fern. Carex Franklini Boott Vegetative characters: Loosely cespitose, the rootstocks slender, elongate, descending oblique- ly. Loosely cespitose, the rootstocks sled- er, elongate, slenderly long-stolonifer- ous. Leaves: Terminal spikes: Leaves with well-devolped blades, 4-8 to a fertile culm, clustered above the base, not septate-nodulose, the blades yellowish-green, stiff-involute, 5-10 cm: long, 1-15 mm. wide, long-attenuate, little roughened, as long or shorter than the culms, those of the previous years conspicuous. Leaves with well-developed blades, 4-8 to a fertile culm, clustered above the base, not septate-nodulose, the blades light green, stiffish, usually 20-30 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, channelled above, much roughened toward the attenuate apex, usually shorter than the culm, those of the previous years conspicu- ous. Terminal 1-4 spikes aggregated, an- drogynous or staminate. Terminal 3-4 spikes, aggregated andro- gynous or staminate. Lateral spikes: Perigynia: Lateral spikes 1-4, sometimes andro- gynous, the uppermost sessile or short-peduncled, the others on long capillary peduncles, the lower 1-2 on arcuate spreading peduncles, the low- est frequently basal or nearly so, the spikes ovoid or oblong-ovoid. Lateral spikes 2 or 3, not approximate, the uppermost at least androgynous, erect and short-peduncled, the lower strongly separate, drooping on a slend- er, slightly roughened peduncle 2-4 times its own length, the spikes oblong. Perigynia 15-30, appressed-ascending in several to many rows, oblong-lanceo- late, 5-6 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide, strongly flattened, not inflated, min- utely asperulous on nerves, ciliate on margins, obscurely and_ slenderly several-nerved, tapering at base and short-stipitate, tapering at apex, scarce- ly beaked. Perigynia 20-40 appressed in several rows, oblong-ovate 4.5-6 mm. long, 2- 2.5 mm. wide, strongly flattened not in- flated, minutely roughened, ciliate on margins, finely many-nerved, rounded at base and short-stipitate, tapering and minutely beaked at apex, the beak 0.25 mm. long. Scales: Scales oblong-ovate, thin, closely-ap- pressed, minutely roughened, shining, about the width of but exceeded by the perigynia, obtusish to short-rough- awned, purplish-black with narrow white-hyaline apex and yellowish mid- vein conspicuous to tip. Seales closely-appressed, oblong-ovate, short-rough-awned to obtusish, thin, minutely roughened, light-chestnut or reddish-brown with yellowish midrib sharply defined to the tip and white hyaline margins, about the width of but exceeded by perigynia. Stigmas: Stigmas 2 (rarely 3), slender, blackish. Plate I, fig. 1 and 4. Stigmas 3 (rarely 2), slender, black- ishsePlatephehicwouand) 5: 98 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST familiar: transcanadian species transgressing into eastern Asia. According to Holm (loc. cit.), C. cruenta Nees, from the Himalayas, comes very close to C. Franklinii. C. petricosa Dewey, in some of its ex- tremes, is another species, very difficult at times to distinguish from C. Franklini Boott. As many botanists have recently been con- fusing the two, for the present revision, I took the opportunity to borrow from the Gray Herbarium and the National Herbarium, all the specimens preserved there, in addition to the critical material from Alaska collected respectively by Reverend Ernest Lepage (Ri- mouski), and the late Louis H. Jordal (Uni- versity of Michigan). C. petricosa was collected also by Drum- mond in the same area as C. Franklinit (Sum- mit of the Rocky Mts, Drummond 283, lat. about 59°), and its description has been based on a very young specimen, as Bailey (1) has pointed out, and which the author has been able to judge for himself. The type is in the Gray Herbarium, with photographs of it in the National Herbarium, Ottawa, and in the Herbarium of the Montreal Botanical Garden (plate II, fig. 1). It has been very erratically and poorly interpreted as may be seen from an examination of collections under that name in many herbaria. In Carex petricosa as well as in C. Frank- linii, the terminal group of spikes represent the same combinations of staminate and an- drogynous ones when intermixed. Holm (1) has likewise studied the former species. In both, the perigynia are slightly hairy with the scales roughened along the midvein. There is such variation in the arrangement of the spikes and the flowers, that very few reliable characters remain. One is the shape of the lateral spikes (usually nearly as wide as long). Another is the length of the perigynia: lan- ceolate, 1.5-1.75 mm. wide, tapering at the apex, in C. petricosa Dewey; oblong-ovate, 2- 2.5 mm. wide, abruptly minutely beaked in C. Frankliniit Boott. Stamen size, very seldom used to determine sedges, may be relied upon here. They are relatively very long (2-2.25 mm.) in C. petricosa, much shorter in C. Franklin (circa 1 mm.). Because of the great variation in the disposition of the ter- minal spikes from one specimen to another, I cannot agree with Kiikenthal’s (12) placing them in different subsections under the FRI- GIDAE. C. petricosa Dewey is more restricted in its range, being limited to Alberta, Yukon and Alaska. [Vol. 66 There is also Carex distichiflora Boivin, a species admittedly close to C. Franklinii Boott, in fact too close. It comes under one of the arrangements of flowers and spikes al- ready noted by Holm. One of the main difficulties, in working the FRIGIDAE is the great difference within the same species between mature and over- ripe material. Only one closely familiar with the species in the field is able to determine correctly specimens collected at the end of a season, when the material appears all grey- ish and with the scales or the perigynia part- ly fallen off. With the material at hand, a new key has been built and the precise localities for each species given: the present clarification © adds a most interesting Asiatic species to the flora of Alaska and necessitates the descrip- tion of two new species of the Carex tristis M.B. group, one from Alaska, the other from the Northwest Territories, all three having been referred to C. petricosa with which, as one shall see below, they have very little in common. The results are summarized in the accompanying key. 1. CAREX ATROFUSCA Schkuhr, Riedgr. 1: 106, tab. Y, fig. 82. 1801; Kiikenthal, Pflan- zenr. 4 (20): 553. 1909; Lindman, Sv. Fanero- gamfl. 152. 1926; Kreczetowicz, in Komarov, Fl. USSR, III: 282. 1935; Mackenzie, N. Am. Fl. 18 (6): 313. 1935; N. Amer. Cariceae, tab. 364. 1940; Hiitonen, Suomen Kasvio, 163. 1933; Polunin, Nat. Mus. Canada, 92: 124. 1940; Duman, Cath. Univ. Amer. Biol. Ser. 36: 61. 1941; Hultén, Fl. Alaska and Yukon, II: 373. 1941; Atlas Vase. Pl. NW. Eur. fig. 398. 1950; Lid, Norsk Fl. 154. 1944. — C. ustulata Wah- lenb., Vet. Akad. Nya H. Stockholm 24: 156. 1803; Schweinitz and Torrey, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N.Y. 1: 349. 1824; Kunth, Enum. Cyper., 462. 1837; Andersson, Cyp. Scand. 37 tab. 6, f. 68. 1849; Meinshausen, Acta Horti Petr. 18 (3): 356. 1901. Arctic-alpine and circumpolar. Throughout arctic Canada. la. C. ATROFUSCA var. DECOLORATA Porsild, Sargentia 4: 20. 1943. — f. decolorata (Porsild) Boivin, Nat. Can. 75: 208, 1948; C. stilbophaea V. Krecz., Fl. USSR, III: 605. 1935. Known in North America only from Great Bear Lake (NWT), and in Asia, from Altai, Sajan and Siberia. 1b. C. ATROFUSCA var. major (Boeckl.) Raymond, n. comb. — C. ustulata var. major Boeckl., Linnaea 41: 260. 1877. — C. corio- phora Fisch. et Meyer, ex Kunth, Enum. pl. Noh Hagan Be Plate I. Fig. 1. Carex misandroides Fern. from Lake Mistassini. — Fig. 2. Type of Carex Franklinii Boott in Kew Garden Herbarium. — Fig. 3. Carex Franklinii Boott from the type region. — Fig. 4. Detail of fig. 1. — Fig. 5. Detail of fig. 2. Plate II. Fig. 1. Type of Carex petricosa Dewey in Gray Herbarium. Fig. 2. Carex petri- cosa Dewey from the type region. — Fig. 3. Carex petricosa Dewey from Nordegg (Alta). — Fig. 4. Carex petricosa Dewey from Jasper National Park (Alta). Pe ee le re | | | Juty-Aucust, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 99 Key to the Canadian FRIGIDAE Fries 2 1. One (occasionally 2) terminal spike, staminate or gynecandrous; 3 stigmas, about half the length of the perigynia; arctic-alpine species. 2. Lateral spikes ovoid or short-oblong, round-truncate at base; ‘perigynia 4-5 mm. long, 1.75-2 mm. wide; loosely cespitose with short stolons; leaves not recurved; reaching 78° 52’ N. in Ellesmere Land. 3. Usually 1.5-3 dm. high. 4. Perigynia and scale purplish-black. 1. C. atrofusca Schk. 4. Perigynia and scale purplish-black at base, cinnamon-coloured at tip. ER EAC eeraauinen la. C. atrofusca Schk. var.decolorata Porsild. 3. Taller (reaching 6 dm.); Alaska. MN OP ADR Pichi tents sansa 1b. C. atrofusca Schk. : var. major (Boeckl.) Raymond 2. Lateral spikes linear-oblong. 4. Leaves very short, all curled, in dense mats; lateral spikes about 1 cm. long; circumpolar and limited to arctic regions reaching 83° N. in Greenland. 5. Perigynia brownish. Tess 25 Cemisandia Re Br: 5. Perigynia pale cinnamon. sats ab aap cota ds 2a. C. misandra R. Br. f. flavida Fern. 4. Leaves not curled in dense mats; lateral and terminal spikes 1.5-2.3 cm. long, all drooping on capillary pedicels 5-6 mm. long; northeastern Asia and westernmost Alaska (Nome). Fee Ee St Cr roe 3. C. stenocarpa Turcz. 1. A group of terminal spikes, the uppermost sessile, the remainder on peduncles which in- crease in length towards the base so as to give the group of terminal spikes a pyramidal shape; ultimate spike androgynous, seldom purely staminate, the uppermost lateral stamin- ate or androgynous, the second lateral pistillate, seldom androgynous or staminate; pis- tillate scales ciliate on the back; 2 or 3 stigmas, nearly as long as the perigynia; mostly alpine species. 2. Lateral spikes linear-elliptic, 3-4 mm. wide, 8-25 mm. long loosely-flowered and often with empty scales at base and male flowers at top. 3. Plants reaching 30 cm. in length; lateral spikes 8-12 mm. long; leaves 1 mm. wide, strongly curved reaching about one third of the plant; Great Bear Lake ESTO M I ree. Roe aes Maen 4. C. magnursina Raymond 3. Plants reaching 60 cm. in length; lateral spikes 20-25 mm. long, linear-elliptic; leaves 2 mm. wide, not curled, reaching more than half the size of the culms; terminal spikes digitately grouped; vicinity of Nome, Alaska. See ER ce EPROP RRS AS eee 5. C. Lepageana Raymond 2. Lateral spikes ovoid, 6-9 mm. wide, 8-15 mm. long; anthers 2-2.5 mm. long. 3. Lateral spikes nearly as broad as long; perigynia 1.5-1.75 mm. wide, dark brown. 4. Plants relatively small (10-30 cm.); lateral spikes on relatively short (circa 2 cm.) peduncles, more or less erect; Rocky Mountains, Yukon andwAMlaskaneess.s7e 6. C. petricosa Dewey 4. Plants tall (circa 40 em.); lateral spikes strongly drooping on longer and more slender peduncles; Yukon and Brooks Range in Alaska. toh ol me nsiiee.. rsd tys 6a. C. petricosa Dewey var. Edwardsu Boivin 3. Lateral spikes much longer than broad; perigynia 2-2.5 mm. wide, yellowish- brown. % To which should be added the phyllopodic Carex ablata Bailey (from B.C. to Montana, Wyoming, Utah and California). 100 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 4. Leaves 1-3 mm. wide; plants usually tall (reaching 90 ecm.): no baso- gynous spikes; LS ec ed a ee le Alberta and Yukon. C. Franklin Boott 4. Leaves narrower; plants usually smaller; basogynous spikes frequent; Ungava, Gaspé and Newfoundland; Alaska. ae II: 463. 1847. — C. ustulata Boott, Ill. Carex I: 70-71, tab. 193. 1858. — C. atrofusca var. nortoniana Boivin, loc. cit. Known only from the Bering Sea and the Bering Straits districts in Alaska, and central and northwestern Asia (Altai, Dahuria, Si- beria). This tall phase was well illustrated and discussed by Boott, a century ago. 2. CAREX MISANDRA R. Br., in Parry Voy. App. 283. 1823; Schweinitz and Torrey, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N.Y. 1: 325. 1824; Kunth, Enum. Cyper. 435. 1837; Kreczetowicz, in Komarov, Fl. USSR, III: 92, tab. 18, fig. 1. 1935; Mackenzie, N. Am. FI. 18 (6): 312. 1935; Polunin, Nat. Mus. Canada, 92: 125. 1940; Duman, Cath. Univ. Amer. Biol. Ser. 36: 65. 1941; Hultén, Fl. Alaska and Yukon, II: 373. 1941 (probably at the exclusion of the Nome specimens cited); Atlas Vase. Pl. NW. Eur. fig. 397. 1950; Lid, Norsk Fl. 141. 1944. — C. fultginosa Schk. Riedgr. I: 91. 1801 (as to the arctic plant only); Andersson, Cyp. Scand. 26, tab. 7, f. 90. 1849; Kunze, Suppl. Riedgr. 57. 1840-50, in part.; Boott, Illus. II. 77, tab. 212. 1860, in part.; Meinshausen, Acta Horti Petr. 18 (3): 358. 1901, in part.; Lindman, Sv. Fanerogamfl. 152. 1926; Hiitonen, Suomen Kasvio, 163. 1933. — C. fuliginosa var. mis- andra O.F. Lang, Linnaea 24: 597. 1851; Kii- kenthal, Pflanzenr. 4 (20): 557. 1909. — C. frigida var. B. Trev. in Ledeb. FI. Ross. 4: 294. 1853. Throughout arctic Europe, Asia and North America‘), from Alaska to Greenland. 2a. f. FLAVIDA Fernald, Rhodora 36: 91. 1934; Polunin, loc. cit. Northwest Greenland, southern Ellesmere and southern Baffin. 3. C. STENOCARPA Turcz. ex Besser, Flora 18. Beibl. 1: 27. 1834 (nomen); Krec- zetowicz, in Komarov Fl. USSR, III. 291, 607 (deser)s tabs 18) fis. 261935) = Cr etristis Turez., Bull. Soc. Nat. Mose. 28: 349. 1855; Fl. baic.-dah. II (2): 234. 1856; C. A. Meyer, in Ledeb., Fl. Alt. 4: 228. 1833; Trev. in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. 4: 294. 1853, quoad pl. asiat.; Meinsh., Acta Horti Petr. 18 (3): 358. 1901, ‘ The plant from Colorado belongs to the very close alpine C. fuliginosa Schk. Mackenzie’s plate in N. Am. Cariceae, tab. 363 (1940) represents C. fuliginosa not C. misandra. C. Frankliniw Boott var. misandroides (Fern.) Raymond excl. pl. caucas.; V. Krecz., in Fl. transb. II: 131, non Marschall von Bieberstein, Fl. taur- eauc. 3: 615. 1819. — C. tristis var: asiatica Litw., Trav. (Mus. Bot. St. Petersb. 7: 94. 1910. -— C. sempervirens var. Boott, III. Carex IV, 569, 1867 (quoad pl. asiat.) — C. semper- virens ssp. tristis Kikenthal, Pflanzenr. 4 (20): 569. 1909; Journ. Russ. Bot. 3-6: 155. 1911. — C. sempervirens ssp. tristis var. asia- tica B. Fedtsch., Acta Horti Petrop. 38 (1): 217: 1924. — C. frigida Regel, Acta Horti Petrop. 7: 569. 1880, non Bellardi ex Allioni in Fl. Pedem. — C. fuliginosa Kiu- kenthal, 1.1.¢.c. 556, 151, quoad pl. Lessing. ex Sibiria. — C. fuliginosa ssp. pronella Printz, Veg. Siber. Mongol. Front. 157, tab. Spatice2 eto Gole ALASKA: Dry slope of Cape Nome. Aug. 7, 1948. Ernest Lepage 23820 (L). — Dry slope of Anvill Hill, Nome. Aug. 9, 1948. Ernest Lepage 23900 (L, NH). Plate III, fig. 18 ASIA: Asia Media, mountains of Altai and Sajan, Siberia and Mongolia (Kreczetowicz, loc. cit.). Father Lepage’s remarkable find adds still another to an already imposing list of Asiatic species which transgress into Alaska. 4. C. MAGNURSINA Raymond, n. sp. — Planta 20-30 cm. alta, stolonibus brevibus dense vestitis foliis reductis scabris acutis basi amplectentibus; foliis mortuis numerosis cur- vatis; foliis omnibus basilaribus 9-15 cm. longis 1-1.5 mm. latis curvatis scabris; cauli- bus fructiferis gracilibus; spica terminali tam mascula, tam cum 1-2 floribus foemineis basil- aribus, tam cum 1-2-3 spiculis foemineis brevi- bus, imis sessilibus; spicis lateralibus 5-12 mm longis, 3-4 mm. latis, laxis basi rarifloribus, pe- Cunculatis; pedunculis tenuibus scabribus 8-20 mm. longis nutantibus; perigyniis lanceolatis 3.5 mm. longis .75 mm. latis, flavo-virescenti- bus demum apice cinnamomeis, enerviis, sti- pitatis, cum margine setuloso et rostro breve bidentato; squamis late ovatis, brunneis cum carina pallidiore sub-aequilongis aut paulo brevioribus perigyniis; akeniis 1.5 mm. longis, 0.9 mm. latis, breve stipitatis trigonis; stig- matibus tribus, 3 mm. longis. SENSE BUBEAR IE OE PIN AESK ELEY: IRIRRERE: FEBUSTSR IE Plate III. Fig. 1. Type collection of Carex petricosa var. Edwardsii Boivin from Yukon. — Fig. 2. First North American collection of Carex stenocarpa Turcz. from Nome (Alaska). — Fig. 3. Type collection of Carex magnursina Raymond from Great Bear Lake (NWT). — Fig. 4. Type collection of Carex Lepageana Raymond from Nome (Alaska). Juty-AucustT, 1952] THE CANADIAN CANADA NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: Great Bear Lake Region. In boggy valley near rapids of the Harrison River, eastern end of McTavish Arm. 30 July 1948. Steere, Lowrey, Phillips, Shacklette & Kucyniak 3228. (TYPE in the Herbarium of the Montreal Botanical Garden). Plate III, fig. 3. Affinis C. Gorodkovio V. Krecz. sed differt foliis angustioribus et dispositione spicularum terminalium. On first sight, Carex magnursina looks like some strong and robust specimen of Carex capillaris. But there the resemblance ends since both species do not belong to the same section. 5. C. LEPAGEANA Raymond, n. sp. — Planta circa 70 cm. longa, sine stolonibus (?) in specimine unico; foliis 30-35 cm. longis 1-2 mm. latis, caerulea-viridibus, numerosis, mortuis evidentibus; spiculis terminalibus tri- bus digitate dispositis, terminali mascula, basi foeminea, 15-20 mm. longa, basilaribus paulo brevioribus; spiculis lateralibus 20 mm. longis, 3-4 mm. latis, basi et apice attenuatis, laxi- floribus, nutantibus; pedunculis 20-30 mm. longis, capillaribus; bractea ima 9 cm. longa, foliis simili, cum vagina 20-25 mm. longa, eburnea; utriculis 5 mm. longis, 1-1.25 mm. latis, fusiformibus, basi viridescentibus, apice brunneis, minute hispidulis; squamis 44.5 mm. longis, 1.5-2 mm. latis, brunneis, hispidis, mar- gine nervo medioque hyalino, brevioribus sed latioribus utriculis. Akeniis trigonis 2 mm. longis, 1 mm. latis, puncticulatis, basi stipita- tis; stigmatibus (an semper?) tribus. ALASKA: Dry slopes of Anvil Hill, Nome. Aug. 15, 1948. Ernest Lepage 24031 (TYPE in the Herbarium of the Montreal Botanical Garden). Plate III, fig. 4. C. stenocarpae affinis, sed spiculis termi- nalibus digitate dispositis, majora_ statura, foliis longioribus, squamis hispidulis valde differt. A. C. Gorodkovio V. Kreez. cui con- sanguinea magnitudine, spicularum termina- lium dispositione valde differt. 6. C. PETRICOSA Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 2925 2465 spl. aW, if. 70; 18365 Bailey, (1c; Hi, Proc. Amer. Acad. Sci. 22: 92. 1886; Holm, Amer. Journ. Sci. IV. 26: 488-491, fig. 21-24. 1908; Kiikenthal, Pflanzenr. 4 (20): 570. 1909; Mackenzie, N. Am. FI. 18 (5): 311. 1935; N. Amer. Cariceae, tab. 361. 1940; Porsild, Sar- gentia 4: 19-20. 1943, in minima parte, excl. numer. 4676, 4887, 6647, 6648; Raup, Sargentia 6: 135. 1947; Boivin, Nat. Can. 75: 207. 1948. — C. Franklinii Boott var. nicholsonis Boivin, loc. cit. FIELD-NATURALIST 101 ALBERTA: Summits of Rocky Mountains. Drummond 283. Herb. Hook. (GH). Photo- graphs in NH and JB. — BANFF NATIONAL PARK. Banff on the Peak. Alt. 8000 feet. Macoun 7425 (GH, NH); Samson 25498 (NH). — Rundle Mountain, 6000 feet alt. Sam- son (GH). — Vicinity of Sunshine Ski Lodge, south of Healy Creek: forested lower slopes and rocky, alpine summits between 7200 and 9300 feet elev. Porsild & Breitung 13358 (NH). — Vicinity of Athabasca Glacier: moraines and alpine meadows, elev. 6500-7000 feet. Porsild & Breitung 14492 (NH). — Head- waters of N. Saskatchewan River: Ridge be- tween Mt. Athabaska and Saskatchewan Glacier, near mile 114 on Banff-Jasper high- way, elev. 7000-8000 feet. Porsild & Breitung 14541 (NH). — Upper North Saskatchewan River; alpine slopes of Mt. Saskatchewan, com- mon in alpine tundra. Porsild & Breitung 16053 (NH). — JASPER NATIONAL PARK. Moraines along the side of Athabaska Glacier near Columbia Icefields. Porsild & Breitung 16330 (NH). — Athabaska Glacier, Columbia Icefield, elev. 6525 feet. Scamman 2734 (GH). Moose Mt. Elbow River, Alt. 6700 ft. Macoun 25533 (NH). — Nordegg, Mt. Coliseum. Alt. 4500-6500 feet. Malte & Watson 1479 (GH, NH). YUKON: CANOL RD.: Mackenzie Range. Bolstead Creek. Mile 111 East. Pump Station no. 4. 4420 feet. High alpine valley. Porsild & Breitung 11830 (NH). — Rose-Lapie R. Pass: East slope of granite-schist mountain west of mile 118; alpine screes and rocky chimneys. Forming small colonies on dry gravelly slope, 5000 feet. Porsild & Breitung 10113 (NH). — Arctie Coast: Liverpool Bay, Nicholson Island about 70° N., 129° W. Edge of summer-dry tundra pool. A. E. & R. T. Porsild 2840 (NH). (Type of C. Franklini Boott var. nicholsonis Boivin). ALASKA: Edge of a cliff. Toglat River. McKinley Park. Lepage 25510 (L.). 6a. var. EDWARDSII Boivin, Nat. Can. 75: 207. 1948. Plate III, fig. 1. MACKENZIE DISTRICT: Lone Mt.: lower N. Nahanni R. 6 miles above confluence with Mackenzie R.; steep wooded slopes and cliffs from base to summit, 2500 feet. Porsild 16625 (NH). — Lone Mt. near the confluence of the North Nahanni R. and the Mackenzie. Wynne- Edwards 8438 (NH). TYPE. — North peak of Nahanni Mt., near the confluence of North Nahanni R. and the Mackenzie; elevation 2700 feet. Wynne-Edwards 8439 (NH). CANOL RD.: Mountain Range west of Head of Bold- 102 stead Creek, 6 m. northwest of Pump Station No. 4. Mile 111 East. Wynne-Edwards 8251 (NH). ALASKA: BROOKS RANGE. Loose clumps in clayey open ground. Lowlands near Arctic Village. Lowis H. Jordal 3608 (MICH; JB). 7. C. FRANKLINII Boott, in Hooker, F1. bor.-am. II: 217, tab. 218. 1839; Illus. Carex TE 47, Stabs 21eels60s Bailey, LishHs.Proe Amer. Acad. Sci. 22: 93. 1886; Kiikenthal, Pflanzenr. 4 (20): 542. 1909; Holm, Amer. Journ. Sci. 49: 195-200, fig. 1-4. 1920; Mac- kenzie, N Am. Fl. 18 (5): 311. 1935; N. Amer. Cariceae, tab. 362. 1940; Boivin, Nat. Can. 75: 206. 1948. — C. distichiflora Boivin, loc. cit. ALBERTA: BANFF NATIONAL PARK. Rocky Mountains. Drummond 293. Isotypes from Herb. Hook. and Herb. Dewey in GH. Type in Kew. Photographs at the herbarium of the Bailey Hortorium, at the Gray Her- barium and in the Herb. of the Montreal Botanical Garden (Plate I, fig. 2). — North Saskatchewan River: flood plains and dry river banks near junction with Howse R. Porsild & Breitung 16083 (NH). — Upper drainage of N. Saskatchewan R.: valley of Mistaya R., between Saskatchewan crossing and Water-fowl Lakes. elev. 4500-7000 feet. Common on river flat. Porsild & Breitung 14672 (NH), 14673 (NH), 14674 (NH), 14676 (NH). — Jasper. Malte 123959 (NH), 123960 (NH),94208 (NH) — Jasper Park, Right bank of Athabaska Riv. about %4 mile above bridge. J. M. Macoun 97623 (NH). — Along north side of Athabaska River. Across the river. J. M. Macoun 97625. — Along the Athabaska River. Near Buffalo Prairie. Alt. 3600 ft. J. M. Macoun 97624 (NH, GH). — Along the Athabaska River at discharge of Beauvert Lake. Alt. 3300 feet. J. M. Macoun 97621 (NH). — Raised alluvial bank (same loc. as 97621). J. M. Macoun 97622 (NH). YUKON: CANOL RD.: Rose-Lapie R. Pass. Southwest slope of granite mountain west of mile 116. Alpine slopes from road to below summit. Elev. 4000-6000 feet. Porsild & Breit- ung 10054 (NH). MACKENZIE DIST. MACKENZIE RANGE. Sekwi R., mile 174 E. Pump Station 5, elev. 3625 feet. Porsild & Breitung 11848 (NH). Type of C. distichiflora Boivin. 7a. var. misandroides (Fernald), Raymond, n. comb. — C. misandroides Fernald, Rhodora 17: 158. 1915; Gray’s Manual, 8th ed. 352, fig. 673. 1950; Mackenzie, N. Am. Fl. 18 (6): 317. 1935; N. Amer. Cariceae, tab. 370. 1940; Boi- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 vin, Nat. Can. 75: 207. 1948; Dutilly & Lepage, Contrib. Arct. Inst. Cath. Univ. Amer. Wash- ington 1 F: 89, fig. 9. 1948; Scoggan, Nat. Mus. Canada, 115: 136. 1950. — C. mistassinica Fernald, in sched. (GH). ALASKA: Brooks Range, Battles River, 20 m. NE of Wiseman. Jordal 2271 (JB). NEWFOUNDLAND: Table Mountain, Port a Port Bay. Fernald & St. John 10801 (GH). — Green Gardens, Cape St. George. Dry limestone barrens. Mackenzie & Griscom 11010 (GH, photograph in NH). — Humber District. Goose Arm, William Wheeler Point (east of): dry limestone ledges at the summit of the talus. Rouleau 184 (MV). UNGAVA: Lac Mistassini et iles du centre. Dutilly & Lepage 11556; Rousseau 1895, 1866, 1821. — Riviere aux Mélézes, au 56° N., 70° W. Dutilly & Lepage 14589 (MV, NH). — Riv. Koksoak, Lat. 57° 42’. Dutilly, Lepage & DBuman 28128 (JB). GASPE: Lac Pleureuse. East shore. Kelsey & Jordan 48 (GH, NH); Scoggan 1786 (NH); Raymond & Rouleau 485 (JB). The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Reed C. Rollins (Gray Herbarium), Mr. A. E. Porsild (National Herbarium), Dr. Ernest Rouleau (Marie-Victorin Herbarium), Father Ernest Lepage (Rimouski), and Louis H. Jordal (University of Michigan), for the loan of material. He also wishes to thank Miss Ethel Zoé Bailey (Bailey Hortorium) who supplied him with a photograph of the type of Carex Franklini Boott made by her father at Kew, in 1888, in connection with his extremely valuable work on the types of Am- erican carices housed in European as well as in North American herbaria. To his col- leagues at the Montreal Botanical Garden, Dr. Jacques Rousseau, Director, and Mr. James Kucyniak, he is moreover indebted for vari- ous technical suggestions and stimulating ad- vice. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Bailey, L. H. A preliminary synopsis of ‘North American Carices, Proc. of the Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., 22: 92-93. 1886. 2. Boivin, Bernard. Etudes caricologiques: Carices Ferrugineae. Le Naturaliste Cana- dien, 75: 204-208. 1948. 3. Boott, Fr. in Hooker. Flora boreali-amer- icana, 2: 217. Tab. 218. 1839. 4. Boott, Fr. Illustrations of the genus Carex, 2) Baby 21360: 5. Dutilly, A. et Lepage, E. Coup d’oeil sur la flore subarctique du Québec de la baie James au lac Mistassini. Contrib. Arctic Juty-Aucust, 1952] THE CANADIAN Inst. Catholic Univ. Amer. Washington, 1 F.: 89. fig. 9. 1948. 6. Fernald, M. L. A new Carex from New- foundland. Rhodora, 17: 158-159. 1915. 7. Fernald, M. L. Persistence of plants in unglaciated areas of boreal America. Mem. Gray Herb. II: 252 (map 16). 1925. 8. Fernald, M. L. Gray’s Manual, 8th ed., 352 sahiie6a5 0950: 9. Fernald, M. L., and Weatherby, C. A. Some new plants from the Gaspé Penin- sula. Rhodora, 33: 231-240. 1931. 10. Holm, Theo. Remarks on the structure and affinities of some of Dewey’s Carices: FIELD-NATURALIST 103 Carex petricosa. Amer. Journ. Sci. IV. 26: 488-491. fig. 21-24. 1908. 11. Holm, Theo. Notes on Carex Franklinii Boott, and C. spectabilis Dew. Amer. Journ. Sci., 49: 195-200. fig. 1-4. 1920. 12. Kiikenthal, Georg. Cyperaceae-Caricoideae Das Pflanzenreich, 4 (20): 542: 570, 1909. 13. Mackenzie, K. K. Carex, in North Amer- ican Flora, 18 (5): 310-318. 1935. 14. Mackenzie, K. K. North American Cari- ceae, 2: tab. 362, 370. 1940. 15. Porsild, A. E. Materials for a flora of the continental Northwest Territories of Can- ada. Sargentia, 4: 19-20. 1943. — NOTES ON THE FLORA OF CHESTERFIELD INLET, KEEWATIN DISTRICT, N.W.T.*? D: By O:) SAVILE NE OF THE AUTHORS (D.B.O.S.) spent the summer of 1950 at Chesterfield Inlet (63°21’N 90° 42’W), Keewatin District, on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, engaged in botanical work under the auspices of the De- fence Research Board, Canada Department of National Defence. Polunin (1940) notes that a number of botanists have collected at Ches- terfield, and lists a total of nearly 160 species, varieties, forms, presumptive hybrids, etc., from the locality. The purpose of this paper is to present a number of additions to the flora recorded for this station and to discuss the status of a few plants already noted from it. All collections listed below were made within about 8 miles of the _ settlement, and nearly all within about 4 miles. No men- tion will be made of plants that have clearly been recorded from Chesterfield by Polunin under names other than those applied to the present collections, but a few will be included for which there is an element of doubt. Discounting plants possibly reported un- der other names, and including entities de- scribed as new, the present report adds 20 species, varieties or forms to the known flora of Chesterfield Inlet; 13 of these are unrecord- ed in Polunin’s district 10; and 9 are not re- ported by Polunin from the Canadian eastern arctic as defined by him. Numbers cited without name are those of D.B.O. Savile and C. T. Watts. All specimens are in the herbarium of the D/vision of Botany Contribution No. 1119 from the Division of Botany and Plant Pathology, Science Service, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada. Received for publication August 16, 1951. =" and J. A. CALDER and Plant Pathology, Science Service, Can- ada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. Festuca brachyphylla Schultes f. flavida Pol- unin This yellow form, reported by Polunin only from Lake Harbour and Sugluk, was. mixed with the typical purple form in one colony (1550). Calamagrostis lapponica (Wahl.) Hartm. Plants from Chesterfield (1582) exactly match a specimen from Frobisher Bay (Calder 2155) identified by Pére Louis-Marie as C. lapponica var.? Dr. W. G. Dore notes that both these collections differ from Scan- dinavian specimens of C. lapponica in having culms smooth or, at most, puberulent with minute ascending-appressed hairs on and just below the lowest node of the panicle, rather than scabrous; and in having shorter callus hairs. This is possibly the plant reported by Polunin under C. deschampsioides Trin. Eriophorum brachyantherum Trautv. A few plants were found in three loca- tions (1229, 1325, 1347) in habitats varying from bog to moist slope. Not recorded by Polunin, but this Division has specimens from Coral Harbour (Cody), Ross Bay (Cody) and Repulse Bay (Bruggemann). Eriophorum russeolum Fries var. leucothrix (Blomgr.) Hultén This plant proved to be moderately com- mon (1109, 1277, 1437). It has probably passed as E. chamissonis C. A. Meyer f. albidum (Nylander) Fern. and, as such, may have been collected at Chesterfield. 104 THE CANADIAN Carex rotundata Wahl. Duman (1941, p. 65) has recorded C. membranacea Hook. from Chesterfield on the basis of a number of- collections made by Father A. Dutilly and himself. Their No.1751, a sheet of which we have at hand, should be referred to the above species, and as such is new to the Canadian eastern arctic as defined by Polunin. Luzula groenlandica Bocher var. fuscoatra Bocher Recently described (Bocher, 1950) from West Greenland, this species has been spar- ingly collected from the Canadian eastern arctic, including Chesterfield, generally as L. sudetica (Willd.) DC. Bocher indicates that little is known of the ecology of var. fuscoatra. It may, therefore, be noted that one collection (1399) was made on a muddy gravel flat beside a brackish pond, and a second (1454) on moist, but apparently fresh, grassland. Salix brachycarpa Nutt. var. sansonii Ball A single small collection (1207) was made on rocky ground; det. Carleton R. Ball. Not reported by Polunin from the eastern arctic. Salix fullertonensis Schn. This species has been collected several times at Chesterfield; but, as Mr. Ball has remarked on the unusual height (up to 12 in.) of some of our collections, some explana- tion is desirable. When growing on gravel beaches, which are generally swept bare of snow, S. fullertonensis is usually completely prostrate, probably as a result of snow abra- sion; but it often grows in pockets of the bedrock near the coast, in which situations the snow cover is usually adequate, and it is then about 6-12 in. high. Even in prostrate plants no indication of adventitious roots on the twigs was noted. This species, like others in sect. Glaucae, is probably erect when con- ditions permit. Salix fuscescens Anderss. var. reducta Ball (S. arbutifolia Pall. fide Hultén) Single plants or small colonies were found at four stations (913, 1230, 1359, 1419). It was determined by Carleton R. Ball who re- marks that it ‘‘was supposed to be confined to Alaska and adjacent Yukon but here are four collections from Chesterfield Inlet, and Father Lepage of Rimouski has just sent one collection from near Fort George in Ungava, on the east side of Hudson Bay. Strange that it escaped collectors so long.” FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Salix myrtillifolia Anderss. var. brachypoda Fern. Two small colonies (1090, 1102) were found at the edge of the settlement and a third (1212) about 4 miles inland. Mr. Ball states “never have I seen it so prostrate and depauperate.” Raup (1943) shows the typical variety aS occurring north to Churchill, but these specimens seem to constitute a great range extension for var. brachypoda. Salix richardsonii Hook. Polunin reports this species from Chester- field, but it may be of interest to note that the one shrub found within several miles of the settlement (912, 1178, 1533) was herma- phroditic, every catkin having a scattering of stamens among the pistils. Arenaria rubella (Wahl.) Sm. Reported, in Polunin’s district 10, only from Eskimo Point; but a large colony oc- curs on a gravel beach adjoining the settle- ment at Chesterfield (1100), and four small colonies were located at distances up to 3 miles (966, 982, 1148, 1429). Arenaria uliginosa Schleich. A single colony (1387) was found on a muddy flat near a brackish pond. Not re- ported by Polunin from district 10. It is possible that it was overlooked elsewhere at Chesterfield owing to its similarity in habit to Sagina intermedia Fenzl. See, however, under Gentiana tenella. Stellaria laeta Rich. (S. longipes sensu Pol- unin p.p.) Occasional, three small colonies being found (1145, 1224, 1453). See under next species. Stellaria monantha Hultén var. monantha Abundant. This is presumably, at least in large part, the plant reported by Polunin from Chesterfield as S. longipes, but S. laeta may also have been collected there under this name. Ranunculus hyperboreus Rottb. This species was so variable in leaf form at Chesterfield Inlet that a detailed study was made of it. Chesterfield is the type locality of the plant described by Polunin as var. turquetilianus. It soon became clear that plants on rock or sand with little enrichment were always assignable to the typical form, whereas those fringing rich, stagnant muck pools were generally var. turquetilianus. In Juty-AucustT, 1952] THE CANADIAN intermediate habitats, notably a fertile, slight- ly brackish sand flat with appreciable leach- ing, remarkable intergradations occurred be- tween the typical form, var. turquetilianus, and the form described below. The same cor- relation between habitat and leaf form is sug- gested by specimens from Coral Harbour and Fort Chimo. It thus appears that the variation is ecological rather than genetic. In view of the complete intergradation that may occur within a few yards the following recombina- tion is proposed: Ranunculus hyperboreus Rottb. f. turquetilia- nus (Polunin) Savile & Calder stat. on. (Ranunculus hyperboreus Rottb. var. turque- tilianus Polunin 1. c. p. 211). A much scarcer, but fully as striking, variant was seen in which the Jeaves were never truly lobed, but were broadly ellipsoid and either entire or with a shallow notch near the apex on one or both sides. It is proposed to call this plant: Ranunculus hyperboreus Rottb. f. integrescens Savile & Calder f. n. Differt foliis ab integris ovatisque tridentatis. At edge of muck pool, 8 mi. south of Chesterfield Inlet, Keewatin, 16 Aug. 1950, D.B.O. Savile (1464) and C. T. Watts (TYPE). One other collection has been seen that clearly belongs to this form, W. J. Cody (1547), Coral Harbour, Southampton I. The following Chesterfield collections are assignable to f. turquetilianus: 1329, from a pool near the Mission that may have been the source of Monsignor Turquetil’s specimen, agreeing well with Polunin’s description and illustration; 1198, from 3 mi. southwest, in which the narrowness and toothing of the lobes is even more extreme; and 1187, tending slightly toward the typical form. One speci- men from Coral Harbour (Cody 1236) is also much closer to f. turquetilianus than to the typical form. Chesterfield collections belonging to the typical form are: 1030, 1176, 1337, and 1407. Three collections from the brackish sand flat mentioned above are: 1017 and 1189, inter- mediate between the typical form and f. turquetilianus; and 1566, with almost equal tendencies to the typical form, f. turqueti- lianus and f. integrescens. One specimen from Coral Harbour (Cody 1545) and one from Fort Chimo, Que., (Calder 2141) are intermediate between the typical form and f. turquetilianus. FIELD-NATURALIST 105 Ranunculus pallasii Schlecht. Dense colonies, 10 by 30 ft. and 30 ft. diameter, were found in ponds about 3% of a mile apart (1349, 1438, 1545). The free water in August varied from % to 8 in. in the colonies, below which was a tangle of moss and debris up to 12 in. deep in which the plants were rooted. Flowering and fruiting plants were abundant. Polunin reports R. pallasiti from Lake Harbour, Baffin I.; Fort Harrison and Mos- quito Bay, Que.; and Okak, Labrador. The Division also has specimens from Frobisher Bay, Baffin I., Fort George, Que., and Eskimo Point, Keewatin. The National Museum of Canada has specimens from Cape Henrietta Maria and Lake River, James Bay, Ont., in addition to a number from the Mackenzie District coast. Hultén (1944) cites specimens from the Mackenzie coast and Churchill, Man., in addition to various Alaska records. All North American records appear to be coastal or virtually so, but the species occurs far inland in Siberia. Where plants in one of the colonies at Chesterfield intermingled with Colpodium fulvum (Trin.) Griseb. they bore aecia of a rust. Heteroecious grass rusts do not generally persist north of about tree-line; and it is thought that rust spores, blown in from the south in 1949, established telia on the Colpodium plants, which in turn infected the Ranunculus in 1950 but too late for re- infection of the grass to occur. If, as is quite quite probable, the rust is a form specialized to these two hosts, the inference is that Ranunculus pallasii must be relatively abund- ant, in association with Colpodium fulvum, in parts of the virtually unexplored country to the southwest. Cochlearia officinalis L. oblongifolia (DC.) Gelert Two collections (959, 1122) are assignable to this variety and one (1248) to var. groen- landica (L.) Gelert. The latter is reported from Chesterfield, but the former only from Rankin Inlet in district 10. var. Draba alpina L. var. alpina A single colony was found on a gravel beach northeast of the settlement. Reported in district 10 only from Whale Point and Marble I. Saxifraga tricuspidata Rottb. f. ligulata Savile & Calder. f. n. Differt a varietate typica petalis angustis ligulatisque, ca. 8.0 mm. long., ca. 1 mm. lat. Gravel beach, Chester- 106 THE CANADIAN field Inlet, Keewatin, 29 July, 1950, D.B.O. Savile (1185) and C. T. Watts (TYPE). Un- fortunately only a single clump of this form could be found despite a prolonged search. The petals are strikingly different from those of the typical species, and appear to be amply distinct from those of any entities already named. Potentilla hyparctica Malte var. hyparctica f. tardinix (Polunin) Savile & Calder comb. n. (Potentilla emarginata Pursh f. tardinix Pol- unin l. c. p. 275). As indicated by Fernald (1943), the name P. emarginata is invalid; the above transfer is accordingly necessary. This form was de- scribed from Cape Dorset, Baffin I. It was fully developed in some plants of one colony at Chesterfield (1074). Intermediates, normal plants and f. tardinix occurred close together in the same colony with absolutely no dif- ference in exposure, soil or any other evident environmental factor. A few intermediate plants were seen in a second colony. The in- termediate plants flowered sparsely, but those with the most extreme foliage modifi- cation were completely sterile. This form has the appearance of being due to infection by a virus, but will have to be maintained until proof can be secured. The presence of several potential insect vectors at Chester- field, including three species of aphids, one cicadellid and one fulgorid, indicate such an explanation to be feasible. Potentilla palustris (L.) Scop. var. parvifolia (Raf.) Fern. & Long Polunin reports P. palustris from Burwell, River Kovik and Chesterfield, but states that it is ‘very rare, and no more than local and occasional in its three stations.” It may, therefore, be noted that it was found in 1950 along nearly all creeks and was abundant, oc- casionally dominant, in the flood zone of most muddy or sandy ponds, both at the settlement and at distances up to 8 miles. Primula egaliksensis Wormsk. Reported by Polunin only from northern Quebec and from south of Eskimo Point. P. egaliksensis f. egaliksensis was found 8 mi. south of the settlement (1455), and f. violacea Fern. was common in two areas within 2 mi. of the settlement (1181, 1421). Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd. This species is well known from Chester- field. Almost all colonies in the area appear FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 to be typical A. maritima var. labradorica (Wallr.) Lawrence (A. labradorica Wallr.) (958, 1026, 1068, 1273), but a single small colony with noticeably flattened and broad leaves (1386) proved closer to var. sibirica (Turez.) Lawrence. See discussion under Gen- tiana tenella. Gentiana tenella Rottb. Not recorded by Polunin from the Cana- dian eastern arctic. Determined by Mr. J. M. Gillett, who cites specimens at the Missouri Botanical Garden from Kotzebue, Alaska, and southern Greenland. Raymond (1950) has re- cently reported this species from Stony Point, Ungava Bay, Que., about 75 miles south of Polunin’s limits. The Chesterfield colony (1391) consisted of seven very small plants 2-4 em. high, largely without basal branches, on a muddy gravel flat near a brackish pool 2 mi. WNW of the settlement. This site is at the side of a valley that connects the settlement with the inlet and forms part of the winter trail between Ches- terfield and Baker Lake. The fact that Arenaria uliginosa, Epilobium davuricum, Armeria maritima var. sibirica and the pre- sent species were found only on this site sug- gests that some, at least, of them may have been transported, in mud on a sled runner, from some point inland. Limosella aquatica L. This species, unreported by Polunin, was _found at the bottom of a dried-up rock pool in the settlement (1404, 1507). The pool is one of two that harbour Ranunculus flammula L. var. filiformis (Michx.) Hooker, recorded by Polunin. It is possible that both have been introduced from further south. This record adds a third annual plant to the eastern arctic, those previously reported being Koenigia islandica L. and Montia lamprosperma Cham. Pinguicula villosa L. A single, scattered colony on hummocks in a marsh west of the settlement (1106). New to the eastern arctic. Senecio congestus (R. Br.) DC. Two small colonies were seen on the main- land near the settlement (1184, 1567), and the overwintered stems were abundant on Fairway I. early in the season. Reported, un- der S. palustris, from Whale Point and Depot I. by Polunin. Juty-Aucust, 1952] THE CANADIAN REFERENCES Bocher, T. W. 1950. Contributions to the flora and plant geography of West Greenland II. The Carex capitata, the Luzula multiflora, and the Torularia humilis- complexes. Med- delelser om Gronland Bd. 147, Nr. 7:1-39. Duman, M.G. 1941. The genus Carex in East- ern Arctic Canada. The Catholic University of America. Biol. Ser. 36. Washington, D.C. Fernald, M. L. 1943. Two later homonyms. Rhodora 45: 111-112. FIELD-NATURALIST 107 Hultén, E. 1944. Flora of Alaska and Yukon. IV. Lund. C.W.K. Gleerup. Polunin, N. 1940. Botany of the Canadian Eastern Arctic. Part I. Nat. Mus. of Can. Bull. 92. Raup, H. M. 1943. The willows of the Hudson Bay Region and the Labrador Peninsula. Sargentia 4:1-135. Raymond, M. 1950. Esquisse phytogéographi- que du Québec. Mém. Jard. Bot. Montreal 5:147 pp. TWO PREDATORS AS PREY? B. HockING Depariment of Entomology, University of Alberta HILE collecting biting flies in northern Manitoba, two rather unusual in- stances of predatory insects falling prey to other predators were encountered. In both instances, attention was drawn to the event by the violence of the struggle taking place close to the ground, in rather short grass. The earlier and more interesting instance was at Wabowden on August 6, when a fe- male dragon-fly, Sympetrum, probably rub- icundulum Say, had been captured and was finally overcome by a worker of Vespula mac- ulata (L.). The specimens were taken with a net and transferred to a killing tube, by which time the dragon-fly had already lost its head and one wing but was still struggling violently. The wasp apparently did not use its sting, relying on the mandibles as an of- fensive weapon. The second instance was at Mafeking on August 11, when a worker of Vespula vul- garis (L.) was captured on the wing by a female asilid, Promachus bastardi Macq. The wasp was a rather small specimen and although struggling violently when taken in the net, was completely immobilised by the time it was transferred to the killing tube. That wasps fall victim to asilids has long been known (Aaron 1894, Cockerell 1894) but the list of species is probably far from complete, and the rapidity of action of the asilid poison, although also previously reported (Whitfield 1925) is of perennial interest. 1 Received for publication December 6, 1951. Other more normal prey taken by rep- resentives of these groups were also ob- served during the summer: workers of Ves- pula norvegica var. albida (Sladen) were often seen to capture Chrysops nigripes Zett. and other species of Chrysops on the wing at Churchill, Manitoba, July 28 to August 1. The wasp would alight, rapidly trim off the legs and wings of the deer-fly, and then take off again with the dressed carcass, presum- ably returning to the nest. This species was also observed to capture black flies (Sim- uliidae) on the wing. Richards (1951) has recently reported the South American vespid Polybia occidentalis (Oliv.) collecting sim- uliids off cows. I am indebted to Messrs. C. D. F. Miller and J. F. McAlpine, Division of Entomology, Ottawa, Canada, for confirmation of the species mentioned. LITERATURE CITED Aaron, S. F. (1894). The bold robber fly. Ent. News, 5:110-112. Cockerell, T. D. A. (1894). On the habits of some Asilidae. Ent. News 5: 173-174. Whitfield, F. G. S. (1925). The relation be- tween the feeding habits and structure of the mouthparts in the Asilidae. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. pp. 599-638. Richards, O. W. and M. J. Richards (1951). Observations on the social wasps of S. America. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 102: 1-170. 108 KEY TO THE GENUS RUBUS THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY’? A. J. BREITUNG Ottawa D URING the past five years (1946-51) the writer had occasion to study the genus Rubus in the Ottawa valley (Ontario and Quebec). In most Rubus species, the canes represent a biennial succession of growth, very dissimilar in aspect during the two seasons; sterile the first year (primocanes), flowering and fruiting the second (floricanes) after which they die. Consequently, it was ne- cessary to secure adequate primocane and floricane specimens, as previous collections were few and incomplete. Approximately 200 herbarium numbers were collected consisting of from one to sev- eral duplicates. The first set of specimens is deposited in the herbarium of the Division of Botany and Plant Pathology, Science Service, Key to Rubus species A. Leaves simple; flowers rose-purple, 3—5 cm. Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. Another set is in the Bailey Hortorium, Ithaca, New York. In identifying the collections, the writer consulted the following references: Gentes Herbarum, Vol. 5: 1-932, 1941-5, and Gray’s Manual of Botany, 8th ed., 1950. Resulting from the study, 28 different spe- cies of Rubus have been recognized in the area. Of this number, the following three species were not previously recorded from Canada: Rubus complex, R. perfoliosus, and R. pugnax. For additional usefulness, data as to hab- itat and locality of rare and localized species are included in the following key. in the Ottawa Valley across . odoratus L. A. ‘Leaves compound; flowers white, 1—3 ecm. across. a. Stems unarmed, semi-herbaceous, without definite primocane and floricane succession . pubescens Raf. a. Stems armed, woody, with definite primocane and floricane succession. b. Ripe berry readily separating from. the receptacle or core. c. (Canes erect, bristly; leaves, when having more than 3 leaflets, pinnate; inflorescence racemiform; fruit red . strigosus Michx. ce. Canes arching, tip-rooting, prickly; leaves, when more than 3 leaflets, quinate; inflorescence cymiform; fruit black . occidentalis L. b. Ripe berry not separating from the receptacle. d. Armature more or less prickly. e. Canes erect or merely arching. f. Inflorescence and leaves, especially the undersurfaces, soft pubescent. g. Leaves of the primocanes usually 5-foliolate. h. Inflorescence glandular-pubescent. i. Pedicels subtended by large leaf- like bracts which often exceed the pedicels in length. | Received for publication November 16, 1951. Jurty-Aucust, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST j. Primocanes densely covered with short, gland-tipped bristles, interspersed by weak prickles of different lengths ...........0000000. j. Primocanes sparsely armed with simple, strong prickles. Sand dunes. Constance Bay, Ontario .... i. Pedicels without subtending leaf- bracts. k. Canes armed with scattered DLIUCKICS: paeteeah einen Svs earns k. Canes armed with numerous, crowded prickles. Sandy soil. Chalk, River Ontario po orc) eee h. Inflorescence pubescent, without gland- stalked hairs. 1. Leaves thin, terminal leaflet of primocane leaves 8—10 cm. long, longer than broad, gradually acuminate; inflorescence greatly overtopped by the long-petioled Leahy MD TACES hc eeerssver sce eR ae ae ]. Leaves thick; terminal leaflet of primocane leaves 5—7 cm. long, nearly as broad as long, abruptly acuminate; inflorescence corymb- iform, not exceeded by the leafy bracts. m. Leaf-margins cut-toothed or jagged; canes mounding, often tip-rooting. Sand dunes. ‘Constance Bay, Ontario ................ m. Leaf-margins sharply and evenly serrate; canes erect or ascend- ing. Sand dunes. Constance Bay Ombario oo) cess ctaetnsnancsewsnncss g. Leaves of the primocanes usually S-LOMOL ACC (Bie Ae ccse aectec eons Picts t nap ceae f. Inflorescence and leaves glabrous or nearly so. n. Terminal leaflet of the primocane leaves 9—12 cm. long; flowers 9—25, racemiform ... n. Terminal leaflet of the primocane leaves 5—8 cm. long; flowers 4—7, corymbiform ... e. Canes prostrate, trailing, tip-rooting. o. Primocane leaves prevailingly 5-foliolate. p. Flowers 3—6; leaves glabrous _..............0........- p. Flowers 1—3; leaves pubescent beneath .... o. Primocane leaves prevailingly 3-foliolate. q. Leaves glabrous, firm, margins deeply cut-toothed, terminal leaflet obovate; flowers 3—5; pedicels 3—6 cm. long, erect. 109 . glandicaulis Blanch. . alumnus Bailey . allegheniensis Porter . pugnax Bailey . recurvans Blanch. . pensilvanicus Poir. . perfoliosus Bailey . attractus Bailey . canadensis L. . kennedyanus Bailey . flagellaris Willd. . baileyanus Britt. . maltei Bailey 110 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST q. Leaves pubescent beneath, thin, margins closely serrate, terminal leaflet broadly obovate; flowers several, pedicels 2—3 em. long, spreading. Sand dunes. Con- stance: “Bays sOntarton eee cs os. cee eater d. Armature bristly. r. Primocanes erect, ascending or mounding; floricanes reclined or even prostrate, not tip-rooting. s. Leaves of the primocanes mostly 5-foliolate. t. Canes densely armed with bristles of different: empty ee. ieee ates eerete eee t. Canes sparsely armed with simple bristles or weak setae. u. Armature of stiff bristles; leaflets longer than broad. v. Canes erect; pedicels spreading ........ v. Canes mounding; pedicels ascending . u. Armature of weak setae; leaflets nearly as broad as long. Swamp. Chalk River, Ontario)... Bel asa an dial s. Leaves of the primocanes mostly 3-foliolate. w. Primocanes bristly; leaves thinly pubescent; inflorescence compact, 2—4flowered, overtopped by large, long-petioled floral leaves. Gravelly soil. Aylmer, Quebec ...... w. Primocanes almost unarmed; leaves glabrous; inflorescence several-flowered, pedicels slender, not overtopped by the floral leaves. ius. ein ee eRe oes r. Primocanes and floricanes prostrate, trailing, tip-rooting. x. Primocane leaves generally 5-foliolate. y. Inflorescence glabrous or nearly so, leaty=bracted 2.0. Nee ee Ba an ee y. Inflorescence villous; only the lowest pedicel] subtended by a large leafy bract. Sandy pine barrens. Chalk River, Ontario ... x. Primocane leaves generally 3-foliolate. z. Leaves of the primocanes dark glossy- green, leathery, persistent over winter; pedicelsmewithout) acicullage ence e z. Leaves of the primocanes light green, thin, not persistent over winter; pedicels aciculate. Sandy soil. Chalk River, Ontario [Vol. . complex Bailey . setosus Bigel. . vermontanus Blanch. . tardatus Blanch. . univocus Bailey . jaysmithii Bailey . recurvicaulis Blanch. . plicatifolius Blanch. . licens Bailey . hispidus L. . trifrons Blanch. 66 Jurty-AucustT, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 111 NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Lawrence’s Warbler in Canada. — There is apparently no museum specimen of the hy- brid form that is known as_ Lawrence’s Warbler (Vermivora lawrencei) taken in Canada, and its existence and status in Can- ada rest upon two sight records, neither of which has been published. On June 20, 1947, at Morton, Ontario, some twenty-five miles north of Kingston, I saw and heard one of these warblers in the road- side growth of a comparatively young mixed forest. The bird was sitting in a small white spruce tree and was singing lustily. I listened and had a close-up view for some fifteen mintues. Its song resembled that of the Golden-winged Warbler and until I saw the bird I thought I had discovered one of that species. In the bird I had discovered, the black eye patch and throat markings were about the same size as in the Golden-winged Warbler but, unlike the condition in that bird, the facial markings surrounding the eye patch, the breast and the underparts were an in- tense yellow colour. The forehead was yel- low as in the Golden-winged Warbler. The bird lacked the yellow wing patch of the Golden-winged Warbler and, although whitish wing bars were present, they were not con- spicuous. Although I am not particularly adept in interpreting the song of birds, as soon as I heard the song I mistook it for that of the Golden-winged Warbler which I had heard many times in southwestern Ontario. It was lazily given in the low pitch characteristic of the song of the Golden-wing. It could be interpreted phonetically, like the song of the Golden-winged Warbler, as bee zee zee zee. The four-syllabled songs were repeated continually while I listened, with but short pauses between songs. The other record was made by Wm. W. Smith of Toronto. Mr. Smith saw and heard a Lawrence’s Warbler singing at Highland Creek, near Toronto, on the evening of May 20, 1951. This bird also gave the typical Golden-winged Warbler song. Mr. Smith was searching for Golden-wings, which were known to frequent this particular swamp. He was surprised to find a bird with golden- yellow underparts and facial markings in- stead of one with the typical colour markings of the Golden-winged Warbler. — GEO. M. STIRRETT, Kingston, Ontario. A new North American host for the fish parasite Triaenophorus nodulosus (Pallas). — A plerocercoid of the pseudophyllidean cestode Triaenophorus nodulosus was found encysted in the liver of a Miller’s thumb, Cottus cognatus. The cyst was spherical, ap- proximately 3 mm. in length, and opaquely white in colour. Only 1 of 48 fish of this species examined had this parasite. The fish were taken with emulsifiable rotenone, Sep- tember 4, 1951 at Heming Lake, Manitoba, Canada, approximately 54° 53’ N. lat., 101° 7 W. long. T. nodulosus has not been previously re- ported in C. cognatus and it is concluded this is a new North American host record. At least 15 species of North American fishes have been reported to harbour T. nodulosus while European investigators have found that 35 species possessed this parasite. European literature reported that Cottus gobio occa- sionally contained T. nodulosus plerocercoids. —G. H. LAWLER, Central Fisheries Research Station, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba. UNUSUAL FOOT COLOURATION IN PINTAILS (ANAS ACUTA) AND NOTE ON EUROPEAN RECOVERIES. — The normal foot colour of the Pintail (Anas acuta) has been described as “greyish blue to olive grey with dusky webs’. (Kortright, 1943. Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America, p. 189). Since 1948 the writer has banded nearly 2,000 Pintails in widely separated parts of Canada and the United States. The Kortright description of foot colouration has held true in all but four instances. From August to September 1951 the Can- adian Wildlife Service operated a _water- fowl banding station at Tinker Harbour, Labrador, Newfoundland. A total of 108 Pintails were banded during this period; of these, four immature birds were noted to lack the characteristic grey webs. Instead, the colour varied from white to a fleshy pink. The courses of the blood vessels were easily traced by their vivid red colour which showed up clearly through the translucent flesh. The plumage of these birds, when compared with other immature specimens of the same _ species, showed no _ albinistic features. One of these birds, an immature male, was banded September 7, 1951 with band number 506-65268. It was retrapped several times, 112 the last being September 16, 1951, when the station was closed. On September 25, 1951 this bird was shot by Mr. J. L. Hunt at Nudeford, Christ- church, Hants, England. Mr. Hunt wrote that the bird was “in poor condition but in good health, very strong on the wing. The weather during the previous two weeks was character- ized by southeast gales and winds.” This is the second European recovery for a Pintail banded at Tinker Harbour. The first was a bird which Alex Reeve of the Northeast Wildlife Station, banded on August 19, 1948. It repeated again on August 25, 1948. On September 15, 1948, the bird was shot in South Devon, England, approximately 100 miles northeast of Nudeford. — GRAHAM COOCH, Department of Conservation, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Mortality of Coregonid Fish in Lake Simcoe during Spring temperature warm-up. — A mortality took place in Cook’s Bay, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, on June 10th, 1950. By June 13 the distribution of dead fish was noted along 5 miles of the east shore of the bay and over a large area of the bottom in shallow water. A rough estimate of the total number of fish killed set the mortality at a million or more. The fish were about 80 per cent ciscoes (Leucichthys sp.) and 20 per cent whitefish (Coregonus clupea- formis). There was no evidence of disease in the specimens examined. The stomachs contained normal food. The days preceding the mortality had been warm and clear and it is tentatively con- cluded that these fish had been resident in the bay during the winter and spring and thus became acclimated to low temperature, and that the sudden warming in this confined shallow bay subjected them to lethal temper- atures. In support of this theory it per- haps should be mentioned that similar mortalities of small extent have occurred previously in certain localities from time to time in Lake Simcoe during the spring warming. — H. R. McCRIMMON, Department of Lands and Forests, Toronto. Winter Records of the White-throated Spar- row in Western Ontario. The White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin), is a common summer resident of northwestern Ontario including the area surrounding Fort William and Port Arthur. The average ar- rival date, 1938-1952, is April 27, the earliest, THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 April 17, 1952, and the latest, May 6, 1951. In the fall the majority have left by early October. Until the season of 1951-52, there were no winter records. On January 12, 1952, we were observing birds at a feeding station in Neebing Town- ship, west of Fort William, being particularly interested in the presence of an Eastern Car- dinal Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis (Lin- naeus), a newcomer to the Lakehead, which had been reported at this station by members of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists’ Club taking the Christmas Bird Census, December 26, 1951. Two white-throated sparrows were noted feeding on a compost heap. This feed- ing station is situated at the edge of the valley of the Kaministiquia River. The heavily wooded slopes would offer shelter for the wintering birds. Subsequently we learned that a white-throated sparrow was spending the winter at a feeding station at Caramat, 200 miles northeast of Port Arthur in relative- ly unsettled bush country. This bird was still present in mid-February and apparently found protection in a large brush heap. It should be noted that the snow fall for this winter was relatively light, and the winter could be considered mild. Nevertheless, an early cold wave had brought a foot of snow by November 3 when the temperature was seven degrees below zero. Few summer resi- dents had remained after that date. Due to our location, it is difficult to compare our observations with comparable Ontario stations but the white-throated spar- row does not appear particularly hardy. For Duluth, Minnesota, 200 miles southeast, there are only two winter records, January 12, 1924 and a bird which remained throughout the winter of 1924-25. (Roberts, Thomas S. The Birds of Minnesota, Vol. 2, p. 427. Univ. Minn. Press, 1932.) Winter records for West- ern Canada are also unusual. In the 30-year history of “Chickadee Notes,’ a weekly na- ture column appearing in the Winnipeg Free Press, there are but two winter records, viz. Winnipeg, January 5, 1932, and Minitonas, December 19, 1939.—A. E. ALLIN, Fort Wil- liam, Ontario. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT IN NEWFOUND- LAND. — An adult male Yellow-breasted Chat was found dead in a field at Cappahayden on February 8, 1951, and was sent to me by Mr. Harold Lawlor of that place. Another Chat (a post-juvenal female) was found dead on January 5, 1952, near the feeding station of Mrs. A. G. Gosling, Waterford Bridge Road, Juty-AucusT, 1952] THE CANADIAN St. John’s. Remnants of both these specimens were sent to the National Museum, where Mr. W. Earl Godfrey confirmed their identifi- cation and stated that they belonged to the eastern race, Icteria virens virens. It may be of interest to relate the information relevant to these specimens. Mrs. A. G. Gosling reported to me at odd intervals between January 14 and 20, 1951, that a Yellow-breasted Chat was appearing at her feeding station. She felt quite sure of the identity as there were numerous opportunities to observe it at close range. It was seen to feed on suet. This bird was not seen after January 20, and it would appear incredible that the Cappahayden specimen (90 miles southeast) mentioned above was the same bird. On October 31, 1951, a Yellow-breasted Chat appeared at Miss Caroline Furlong’s feeding station on Winter Avenue, St. John’s. During the next several weeks I had the opportunity to study it within several feet. It did not have the distinct eye-ring of the Cappahayden specimen, and I felt it might be an immature or at least a female. I watch- ed this bird on a number of occasions as it fed on beef suet. Miss Furlong last reported this bird on November 23. Nearly two weeks later (December 4), Mr. H. H. Winter saw a Yellow-breasted Chat in some shrubbery in his garden on Robin- son’s Hill, St. John’s. On December 18, Mrs. A. G. Gosling again reported that a Chat was at her feeder. We all felt that these recent observations were of the same bird. It was interesting to speculate on its route (presuming it held to shrubbery) from one end of the city to the other. It now ignored (or was not seen at) the suet station, preferring instead bread crumbs, and although there was always some competition from the more aggressive English Sparrows, the Chat usually remained aloof and preferred to eat while the sparrows were elsewhere. It seemed to have two favourite perches, one in a sparse hedge of Symphori- carpos and the other in a thicket of the same plant, where it undoubtedly spent the nights. It probably had a daily route which it follow- FIELD-NATURALIST 113 ed as it appeared in the feeding area every day at roughly the same time. On December 27, it remained all morning and most of the afternoon in the thin hedge, coming down to the ground now and again to feed on bread crumbs. The day was sunny, and it made the most of the available sunshine to fluff its feathers and preen from time to time. It was last recorded alive on December 30, still feed- ing on bread crumbs. On January 1, a severe snow storm oc- curred, temperatures dropped thirty degrees to -4°F. and several days of blustery, wintry weather followed. This storm was presumably the cause of the chat’s death as, on January 5, its solidly frozen carcass was found not far from its favourite perch. The occurrence of at least two, possibly three, of these birds wintering so far outside the normal range seems noteworthy. The Yellow-breasted Chat has not heretofore been recorded from Newfoundland. — LESLIE M. TUCK, Dominion Wildlife Officer, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Snipe at Sea. — In crossing the Atlantic ocean from Manchester to Montreal (on the Manchester Merchant) a Snipe (Capella sp.?) was spotted by me on a lower deck. I had a copy of Taverner’s “Birds of Can- ada” with me and was able to be quite definite in deciding it was either a “Wil- son’s” or “Common Old World’. I firstly noted its appearance around 2.30 p.m., May 4, 1951, some 1,000 miles from Newfoundland long. (W) 27.0 lat. (N) 53.8 and its arrival appeared recent from its apparent tired state. The Snipe was around the following day when I saw it in flight (some 21 hrs. later). I could not discern the colour of under-wing surface well enough to be able to decide the actual species. Two junior officers told me the bird was around the ship for a day or two and reported the 7th as the day when last seeing same — per- sonally, the 5th (noon) was the last occa- sion when seen by the writer. — L. W. H. MILBOURN, Elmers Court, Surbiton, Eng- land. NOTICE The annual meeting of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club will be held on Tuesday, December 2 at 8.00 p.m. at Carleton College, cor. First Avenue and Lyon Street, Ottawa. 114 Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 BOOK REVIEWS The Birds cf Greenland. Text by Finn Salomonsen: illustrations by Gitz-Johansen. Part 2, pp. 159-348. Ejnar Munksgaard. Co- penhagen, Denmark, 1951. ($9.00). The excellence that characterized Part 1 of this splendid work on Greenland birds, which was reviewed in The Canadian Field- Naturalist, 1951, Vol. 65, p. 124, is fully maintained in Part 2, here reviewed. The second part deals with the Rock Ptarmigan, the plovers, sandpipers, phalaropes, jaegers, gulls, and the Arctic Tern. As in Part 1, the text is in both Danish and English arranged in parallel columns. The species accounts are unusually full, the information given is definite, and the nature of the subject matter chosen demonstrates a re- freshing ability on the author’s part to sepa- rate “wheat” from “chaff”. Treatment of the species concerned includes a description of each subject, its taxonomy, detailed distri- bution in Greenland, seasonal and numerical status, habitat requirements, behaviour, food, nesting, eggs, young, voice, enemies, ete. Data on taxonomy, food, the reproductive cycle, and local distribution are particularly full. The account of the Rock Ptarmigan, for example, occupies 22 pages yet there is no redundancy, the information given being pertinent and succinctly written. This book contains a great deal of first-hand informa- tion and that derived from other sources is well-documented. The illustrations, by Gitz- Johansen, are handsome. Some of his birds are excellent but a few are a little faulty in posture or structural detail. — W. EARL GODFREY. The Zygnemataceae. By Edgar Nelson Transeau. The Ohio State University Press. Columbus. 1951; pp. i-xiv, 1-327. pl. 41. Nearly all biology students are exposed at least once to the filamentous green alga, Spirogyra, and perhaps also to the related genera Mougeotia and Zygnema. However it comes as a Surprise to most of them to learn that several other genera and more than 500 species are included in the family. The genus, Spirogyra, alone accounts for nearly 300 of these species. Dr. E.N. Transeau, Professor Emeritus of Botany at the Ohio State University, has long been recognized as the world authority on this group. For many years students of the family have been dependent on his mimeographed keys for identification of the species. The present volume, completed dur- ing the early years of the author’s retire- ment, is the result of a life-time study of the Zygnemataceae and the first monograph of the family to appear in the English language. The scope of the work is world-wide. Thirteen genera are recognized, although “three genera (Hallasia, Plewrodiscus and En- transia) are tentatively and purposely defined to emphasize the need for further study of (their) development and reproduction.” Keys are provided to the species of all genera. Each species is fully described and illustrated, and distributional data are given. Reference is made to the original description of each species and to later transfers and emenda- tions. In the words of the author, ‘No at- tempt has been made to guess at the syno- nymy of all previously published species names. — In the absence of complete des- criptions, or of the actual specimens, such conjectures seem gratuitous.” Confidence in this monograph is inspired by the knowledge that thousands of collec- tions have been examined by the author and his colleagues at the Ohio State University. These collections, from all parts of the world were sent in by other phycologists, many of them former graduate students. It is “to the Graduate Students who discovered many new species and extended the known range of many other Zygnemataceae” that the author dedicates his work. — ELWYN O. HUGHES. Flowering trees of the Caribbean. Paintings by Bernard and Harriet Pertchik. Intro- duction by William C. White. 1i-xit. 125 pp. 29 coloured plates. Rinehart & Co. Inc., New York. Price $10.00. Travellers in the American subtropics and tropics, whether they are botanists or casual tourists, are invariably impressed by the beauty of some of the flowering trees. They exult over the avenues of flamboyants in southern Florida or Cuba and the striking specimens of shower of gold (Cassia fistula), the African tulip tree (Spathodea campanu- lata) or-the queen of flowers (Lagerstroemia speciosa). Here is a book to bring back memories of tropical visits, to leaf over when winter’s snows are piled high outside our windows. Juty-Aucust, 1952] The book consists primarily of 29 coloured reproductions of paintings by Bernard and Harriet Pertchik. The subjects chosen are all cultivated trees of the Caribbean area (chiefly the West Indies, the Guianas, and Venezuela). The task of choosing which species to include must have been difficult; there are other species one would like to have seen so superbly illustrated, for example Erythrina crista-galli. But many of the best known trees are included along with some that are usually seen only in botanic gar- dens or on large estates. The quality of the paintings is outstanding. There is an al- most photographic reproduction of detail and yet each plate is most satisfying artistically. The six-colour process used in printing has resulted in very accurate portrayal of co- lour, notable especially in the flowers of the cannon-ball tree (Couroupita guianensis) and in the blue-violet flowers of the fern tree (Jacaranda filicifolia). About two pages of text accompany each plate. This includes a brief account of the folk-lore and legends that have grown up around each tree, a description of the chief characteristics of the tree, and notes on its uses, habitat and distribution. Botanists and plantsmen of the New York Botanical Gar- den and of some of the Caribbean countries have assisted in providing information for the text and the artwork. The volume con- cludes with a bibliography and a glossary of the technical terms used. Flowering trees of the Caribbean is not intended as a botanical text though it con- tains much useful and accurate information. It is not the sort of book you carry with you for quick identification of unfamiliar trees but it is a volume that will help the reader relive his visual memories of brilliant flower- ing trees of the tropics—HAROLD A. SENN. A New Flora of the Lake Erie Islands: The Flora of the Erie Islands; an Annotated List of the Vascular Plants, by Earl L. Core, Ohio State University, Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory, Contribution no. 9, VIII + 106 vages, 43 illustrations. 1948. This is a most welcome and useful addition to the rapidly growing series of local Floras covering in a detailed manner limited areas of Canadian territory. Actually the present publication covers the 21 islands of Lake Erie, 9 of which, including Pelee Island, are Canadian territory. Under each entity re- cognized are listed the island or islands where it is known to occur. Thus it is possible THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 115 to extract from this book a list of the known flora of each one of the 21 islands. The list itself is preceeded by 40 pages of text giving a description of each island and a good ecological description of the major associa- tions and more important habitats to be found in the archipelago, with shorter chapters on the history, geology, soils and climate of the area. Some 43 illustrations, mostly photo- graphs, enliven the text and actually render it much more intelligible. Under most entities also appears a brief statement of the habitat where each species grows. This is a very useful and valuable feature of the Flora. The total number of entities reported is stated as being 818, but their author has not actually seen all of them and quite a number of them are included on the basis of previous mentions in the botanical literature. There are no keys or descriptions. The area concerned has long been the subject of floristic studies and the botanical literature on those islands is fairly consider- able. The last major previous study was an Annotated List of Flowering Plants and Ferns of Point Pelee, Ont., and Neighbouring Districts, by R.C. Dodge, in 1914. The flora prepared by Core adds well over 100 species to the flora of the area, but there still remains quite a lot of exploration to be done before the list is anywhere near comple- tion. As pointed out by Core himself, Pelee Island is larger than all the other islands together, but its known flora is less than that of the much smaller Kelley’s Island and over 100 species less than the flora of the still smaller South Bass (or Put in Bay) Island. This is due to the fact that for various reasons some of the islands have been sub- jected to much more intensive botanical ex- ploration than others. Core’s flora has brought up to date the nomenclature of the flora of the area and this is invaluable as Dodge’s list was be- coming rather outdated. This book will undoubtedly prove very useful to people interested in the flora of the Lake Erie Islands, some of which represent the southern- most extension (lat. 42° 40’) of Canadian ter- ritory. — BERNARD BOIVIN. American Wildlife and Plants. By Alexander C. Martin, Herbert S. Zim and Arnold L. Nelson. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1951, Pp. IX, 1-500. $10.25. In the Preface to “American Wildlife and 116 THE CANADIAN Plants” it is stated that the book is ‘‘planned not only for wildlife technicians, sportsmen, naturalists, bird students, and all others di- rectly interested in wildlife, but also for foresters, landscape gardeners, botanists, and additional groups concerned with the vegeta- tion upon which our country’s wildlife de- pend.” The authors have been most suc- cessful in achieving their goal. The text is clearly written.and at the same time presents a vast amount of data in compact form for ready reference. The book is a compilation of food habit studies from many sources, in large part from records of the former United States Biological Survey and related programs. In general concept it somewhat resembles Cot- tam’s “Food Habits of North American Diving Ducks” and Martin and Uhler’s “Food of Game Ducks in the United States and Canada”. It covers, however, a vastly broader field in a more tompact and convenient form, although references to plants in Canada are the most pertinent material has been omitted. che authors have introduced maps, graphs, abbreviations and star and numerical systems of rating to reduce to a minimum the writ- ten descriptions required and to make the information quickly available. There are no pages devoted to a long and comprehensive bibliography, but references are given although of necessity in less detail. All but with the topics to which they pertain. While the data are compiled primarily rrom observations in the United States and are presented to apply to that part of North America, mention is usually made of those animal ranges which extend into Canada, throughout the text immediately associated few. The book is still of use, however, to many people in Canada, since for ease in presentation of data the United States is divided into 5 major vegetation-wildlife dis- tricts. In Canada the southern and populus areas, at least, are easily related to those United States areas immediately adjacent. The book is divided into three parts. The first gives a brief general discussion of the relations of wildlife to its food, including such topics as the value of plants as food and cover, the problem of the “good, bad, or indifferent” values of wildlife to the farmer, and the methods of food habits studies. FIELD-NATURALIST LVol. 66 The second part of the book deals with animals and their food. There are brief general discussions of the diets of bird and mammal families which are almost entirely carnivorous, and fish, amphibians and rep- tiles are treated in a short chapter. The section is principally devoted, however, to detailed data on more than 200 species of birds (divided into waterbirds, marshbirds and shorebirds, upland gamebirds and song birds) and some 75 species of mammals (fur and game mammals, small mammals, and hoofed browsers). Although the amount of information varies, these data usually in- clude a range map, a graph of the propor- tions of plant to animal food eaten during each of the four seasons of the year, a general listing of the types of animal food eaten, if any, and brief notes on matters of special interest. Frequently there is a sketch of the animal in a typical pose. In most cases the bulk of the treatment is given over to a list of the plant foods taken in each region where the animal occurs and from which data are available. For each region the plants are listed according to their star rating of use. The number of animal specimens examined in each season, the season the plants are taken and the parts used are also indicated. The third part of the book is, in a sense, a cross indexing of the data of the second section, using the plants as the basis for presentation and listing the animals which use them. The plants are treated most often as genera, sometimes as species. For each plant there are notes of interest, often a range map, frequently a sketch, and a ratio of the total number of use stars to the total number of users, which indicates in a general way the degree of importance that the plant has as an animal food. Finally, there is a list of the actual users with their star ratings and the regions in which the plant is used by them. Some 100 woody plants, 100 up- land weeds and herbs, 30 marsh and aquatic plants and 20 cultivated plants are treated in this way. The book concludes with a summary of this part in the form of a series of tables of wildlife plants ranked according to their approximate food-use values. A wealth of valuable information concisely presented, careful editing and attractive pre- sentation make this a reference book of great interest to both amateur and profes- sional naturalists. — RUTH H. SOLMAN. Juty-Aucust, 1952] THE Arizona and its Bird Life. By Herbert Brandt. Illustrated by 20 color plates by Brooks, Peterson, Sutton, and Shortt; 25 photographs; numerous pen-and-ink draw- ings. 1951. The Bird Research Foundation, 2425 North Park Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio. Pp. 1-725. ($15.00). Rarely is a bird book written that appeals alike to novice and expert as well as to people not particularly interested in birds. Herbert Brandt has shown in the past, nota- bly in books on birds in Alaska and Texas, that books with such broad appeal can be written, and he has done it again in his latest volume ARIZONA AND ITS BIRD LIFE. The author is one of the most dis- cerning observers on this continent and so has much to tell, and, being an unusually gifted writer, he knows how to tell it. In selecting southeastern Arizona as a study area the author chose to work in one of nature’s great wonderlands. Fascinating birds in fantastic surroundings are common by the standards of most bird enthusiasts, and rarities include certain species that there overflow into the United States from the rich avifauna of Mexico. It is a land of abrupt altitudinal variation and of corre- spondingly abrupt ecological changes. One can travel quickly by car on good roads from the heat and cactus of the desert to the cool and conifers. of the mountain tops. In travelling between these great extremes, he passes through three additional life zones each with its characteristic plant-animal associations. In that intriguing outdoors laboratory it is scarcely surprising that the author devoted considerable attention to the ecology of the area concerned. In intro- ductory chapters he combines features of the ‘life zone’ and ‘biome’ concepts of life distribution. To these he adds his original ‘life island’ concept which is fully and sim- ply explained and is illustrated by a care- fully-devised chart of his own making. The bulk of the book is devoted to the author’s bird adventures in Arizona. In vivid writing, now narrative, now dis- coursive, he takes the reader in turn through the wonders of desert, grassland, foothills, and mountains, emphasizing numerous in- triguing aspects of the birds he encounters, their home life, and their relationship to the habitats they frequent. Little-known and new facts appear on many a-page. Various CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 117 other subjects such as the climate, vegeta- tion, and certain mammals, notably man, are often touched upon. Occasional bits of the colorful history of the country gain vivid- ness as he tells of them. Especially delight- ful is his account of famous old Fort Lowell. One is impressed by his sustained good literary style and vigorous, infectious enthu- siasm. His investigations in Arizona were very prolific of new information. A new bird subspecies, the Sahuaro Martin Progne subis oberholseri, is described in the volume here reviewed and another new race, the Apache Wren Troglodytes brunneicollis vorhiesi, al- though described elsewhere, was also a result of Brandt’s Arizona studies. Nests of the Richmond Becard, Spotted Screech Owl, Mexican Chickadee, and Apache Wren were located and are described in detail, ap- perently for the first time. The appendix comprises (a) an annotated list of 170 birds known to breed in southeastern Arizona; and (b) a supplemental list of possibly breeding birds. ARIZONA AND ITS BIRD LIFE is a sumptuous example of modern book making. It is well-printed on excellent paper, is handsomely and durably bound, and is superbly illustrated by paintings and draw- ings of some of the best artists of this continent as well as by numerous photo- graphs of usually outstanding quality and interest. There are twenty full-page bled-to- the-edge color plates, nine of which are some of the last and best work of the late Allan Brooks. Paintings and drawings by Sutton, Peterson, and Shortt represent these outstanding artists at their erstwhile best. Anyone, whether he knows a little or a lot about birds or is just plain interested in the out-of-doors, will find it a source of great pleasure, profit, and inspiration. The traveller to Arizona will get ineffably more out of his stay there for having read this thoroughly delightful volume and its graphic story of adaptation and survival. — W. EARL GODFREY. How I Draw Birds. A Practical Guide for the Bird-Watcher. By Roland Green, Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd. 1951. 96 pp. Price $3.25 Canada. Desiring to record the features of some elusive bird, or to effectively describe some 118 odd posture, every bird-watcher has at one time or another wished that he were able to draw. Here is a book that will aid him in learning a few basic techniques that will make his drawings more useful and artistic. Although it will prove especially helpful to the novice in bird portraiture, every bird student will value it as an aid in expanding his own general information and capabili- ties. There is no question of the fact that the ability to sketch is invaluable to the naturalist. Roland Green, one of the most eminent of British bird artists, is to be complimented for taking us “behind the scenes’, so to speak, to show us, in clear and readily un- derstood terms, how he paints birds. He has taken the more common species as examples in illustrating his instructions as to how to paint birds. Fortunately, many species depicted are familiar to bird stu- dents in this country, such as, — golden eagle, mallard, barn owl, coot, cormorant and many others. This book differs from, or rather is an improvment on the usual “how to draw” books by the thoroughness with which it covers the salient features of the subject. It begins with pertinent information on anatomy, plumage, beaks and heads, ete. Following this, there are sections devoted to ducks, waders, and song birds, covering in a general way most of the species that one is likely to encounter. There are no- portraits resembling “stuffed birds” in this book. The writer wisely advocates sketching in the field. Brief but sound instruction is given in field prac- tice. The ground work, i.e., the structure of birds, is then followed by elementary les- sons on wash and pen drawing, both media being easily obtained and handled by the beginner. Although the many illustrations are largely rapid sketches taken directly from the artist’s field note book, the mas- terful treatment makes them most in- structive. A combination of effective art work and accuracy are rare enough and I feel that the artist has distinglished himself in this respect. In all I feel confident in recommending this book to beginners in bird painting to shorten the arduous path to proficiency and to all bird-watchers who at one time or an- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 other are required to record their observa- tions by graphic illustrations. — JOHN A. CROSBY. Stalking Birds with Color Camera. By Arthur A. Allen. The National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1951, pp. I-VII, 1-328, 424 illustrations. ($7.50 U.S.). The 424 cleverly-captioned photographs in this book, 331 in natural color, 93 in mono- chrome, are nothing short of magnificent. They show intimately 266 species of North American birds. The majority are close-ups illustrating plumage detail and color, soft- parts coloration, posture, and often nests, eggs, and young. The many action photos are truly amazing. With the aid of the re- cently adapted speed flash apparatus (per- mitting flashes of 1/5000 of a second) the details of a swiftly-flying bird, even the wing tips are as sharply recorded as if the subject were motionless. One of the many impressive pictures ‘stops’ a Cooper Hawk, with a plucked bird in its beak, in the last few inches of its plunge to the nest and young. Even the hawk’s eye color is faith- fully recorded. The 55-a-second wing beats of hummingbirds are ‘frozen’ and details of the spread wing are registered with remark- able clarity. This collection of bird photo- graphs surpasses in quality and beauty any- thing of its kind heretofore seen by this reviewer. Two hundred and sixty-four of the pictures are from the camera of the internationally-known author himself. The text is divided into 13 chapters, of which 12 are written by the author. They are extremely readable popular accounts of many aspects of birds and of the travels, tribulations, and triumphs afield of this master wildlife photographer and ornitholo- gist. One chapter tells the fascinating story of the 1948 discovery in Alaska by a party under Dr. Allen’s leadership, of the nest of the Bristle-thighed Curlew. This was the last North American bird species to re- linquish to man the secret of the locality of its breeding grounds. Most of the photographs and articles brought together here were originally pub- lished in the National Geographic Magazine. Obviously it would have been impossible otherwise to produce this outstanding book at anything like the price asked for it. — W. EARL GODFREY. OF MANITOBA OFFICERS FOR 1951-52: ent Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND R.’ LE- - Vice-Presidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mis. W. A. TWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. KEITH; ree H. MOssOr: Auditor: he A. cantWniGnt, J. COUTTS; Sec. Miss W. ] 5 ceaonrioee: Chair. R. J. HERON; Sec. |. A. DROUIN. Botany. Chair. Mrs. D. B. SPARLING; OHN S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. H. STOKES; W. GRANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. TILLE- Sec. O. 'P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. ART-HAY; Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Snete P. H. STOKES; Sec. Mrs. R. K. HELYAR. res on the first and third Monday evenings of onth will be held in the 4th floor Board Room . Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held om 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- morial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Excursions are held mn Saturdays or Sundays during May, June and Sep- er, and on public holidays in July and August. ership fee: $1 a year for ise 25 cents for HISTORY OF CANADA OFFICERS FOR 1952 President: J. GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. DONALD ROSS; 2nd Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; Secretary-Treasurer: GEO. A. LECLERC; Chief Scientific Section: IAN BREAKEY; Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A. Chief Information Section: J. C. PRICE. Other ee V. Saige oe T. jj. A. “HUNTER; . CARTWRIGHT, U. G. for: baddrane: GEORGES A HEGRE, 12 Desy ere puobee: P.Q. E TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ | CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 A. A. OUTRAM; (re A ag ote ie S Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. J. B. STEWART. wood Rd., Toronto; President of Junior Club: MURRAY “SPEIRS: Vice-President of Junior Club: L. E. JAQUITH. Executive Council: G. M. BART- . BARNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, ALFRED BUNKER, . BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA RK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. . FRITZ, W. W. H. GUNN, DR. L. E. JAQUITH, MRS. Di: : KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, S. McKEE, D. S. MILLER, JOHN MITCHELE, R. M. DERS, EARL STARK, H. H. SOUTHAM. Ex. Officio: |. V. LEHMANN, C. A WALKINSHAW, T. F. MclIL- i are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of onth from October to May at the Royal Ontario um, unless otherwise announced. Field trips are during the spring and autumn and on the second a of each month during the winter. FRANCOIS HAMEL; Chief Protection Section: — -DERSON, Miss G. HIBBARD, H. VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY BEI: OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Bae Prasiients DR. N. A. M. Tee RENAE, Past President H. BAIN; President: DR. C. BRINK; Vice-President: DR. T, M. C. TAYLOR; Hon. Lp cal C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording Bae & MISS C. OER: Program Sec retary: S. BRADLEY; on” Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: sme S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of Bulletin: N. PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. J. DAVIDSON; Geology — DR. J. E. Seeger tomology — A. R. WOOTTON; Ornithology — HUGHES; Mammology — DR. I. McT. COWAN; Marine Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY; Bhi arap ny —_— Cc. FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A. R. WOOTTON: Mycology — F. WAUGH; Aubudon Screen Tours — A. H. BAIN; Additional Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors: H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbia, unless other- _ Wise announced, McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 1951 President: Mr. W. D. SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., London; Vice-president: Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 Dundas St., London; Secretary: JOHN WISMER, 520 Huron St., London; Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. J. W. LEACH, West London P.O., London. Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library biulding on the second Monday of each month from Sepiember to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a special excursion in September. PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 President: G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr.; Vice-President: W. H. RAWLINGS; Vice-President: DR. M. J. DUNBAR; Treasurer: D. G. ELLIOT; Secretary: MISS R. §. ABBOTT, 166 Senneville Road, Senneville, P.Q,. COMMITTEE Miss R. S. ABBOTT, J. P. ANGLIN, Miss R. B. CHARD, W. R. B. BERTRAM, J. D. CLEGHORN, J. A DECARIE, DR. M. J. DUNBAR, D. G. ELLIOT, Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT, G. H. HALL, W. S. HART, Mrs. C. L. ae A, C. JACKSON, Rh. Peas G. H. MONTGOMERY Jr, Miss L. MURPHY. _G. OMMANNEY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. ROBINSON, C. SAIT, DR. D. M. SCOTT, Miss M. SEATH, L. Mcl. TERRILL. Mrs. L. Mcl. TERRILL. Meetings held the second Monday of the month except during summer. BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND . MAMMAL SOCIETY Prasideuty KENNETH RACEY; Vice-Prseident: H. M. LAING; Secretary: IAN McT. COWAN, Dept. ot Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club tae A ‘limited number of this very useful paper. There! are available free ah cost to libraries and institutions. NAO Waar eh A o hi i ’ eRe tht ache Said POCO Grea ‘ “A: : Why 644 ; is 1 , } : ave { i My ha Th Tiny We Me eeny ie agsts nH A ais 40 As Librarians should write to: mR Gi ; hy peewee ag +h nf: ens ty ey vk ee Mr. w. J: ‘CODY, BUSINESS MANAGER, OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ ce DIVISION. OF BOTANY, ‘SCIENCE SER DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OTTAWA, ONTARIO. a may "Le Droit” Printers, Ottawa, Coma - The CANADIAN SIELD-NATURALIST | Danes! Contents wn 1953 rdovician fossils from Waswanipi Lake, Quebec. [Were By Tv Pe @larkrandeD) vAC NVrme aes. ain OP Vn MP eon de De 2k weed nae: 119 On the cyclic abundance of animal populations. By W. A. Clemens .................... 121 e Greenland cod (Gadus ogac) in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. BE VETO Scott paar ten ee E MER MOG A Tae hh. NASI Uie, (e eae mel ie Maw . 123 le amphibians and reptiles of Nova Scotia. By Sherman Bleakney ................... Jie 125 e Black ‘Tern me, anvansect-eaters) By Ro, Wi sheppardy), viens cs eh deat me Males) register of lichenological workers and contributors. By George A. Llano ............ 130 Notes on three additions to the rodent fauna of eB By i: Moorese 9.2: 142 ie brriientia iardeits found nesting again at Churchill. | By R. T. and Mrs. Congdon DE Br ee AEA Ae ACN ae . 143 “Dead opossum on Point Pelee, Ont., shore. By C. Harold Zavitz ... ............ 144 An Indigo Runting inAlpertar ys, Os Elon sue t,he rales yas tee: . 145 ste records of millipeds from southern Ontario. sor ENT US SO" GEN AN AP is Ye Perrine e018 RPMS oO Page ci . 145 ~The Clay-colored Sparrow in southeastern Ontario. Rib ye wewss sVick mWenciWys aly Sh pe BE di Spe Seti d caste Tae . 145 ‘Published by the OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALIST’ CLUB | Entered at the Post Office at Ottawa, Ont., as second class matter. Patron: His Excellency, The Rt. Honourable Vincent Massey, C aes) Governor-General of ‘om a. ‘ i i ay) We President: Dr. J. Ww. Groves. | ; Ist Vice-President: Mr. R. Frito Treasurer: RAYMOND Moore, | ut ies Ne Senceus me a abe, Division of Botany, National Museum: of Canada, Science Service, Dept. of ' Ottawa. ea ane Agriculture, Ottawa. Ae ee Sites of Council: CUERRIER, WG: iors ic. FRANKTON, W. E. GODFREY, i. Grou, my De Hicks, W. ILLMAN, W. H. LANCELEY, D. LeecHMaN, H. F. Lewis, H. MANNING, H. MARSHALL, W. 4H. MINSHALL, A. E. Porsixp, H. L. J. RHovEs, L. DAB O: SAVILE, EA SENN, V. E. F. SoLMAN, JaiSe TENER. Auditors: I. L. CONNERS, C. FRANKTON. x Editor . Se Dr. H. A. SENN, Boe ah). Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. Associate Editors Wo Ga Dore feo yn) ee Meee Botany R. M. ANDERSON .............. ASLAROCOUR cuts Conchology _ A. G. HunTSsMAN . hay H. G. CRAWFORD .................... Entomology W. E. 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Moore, Ni Div. of oe Science Service, Dept. of Agricul c OTTAWA, CANADA. {Sean 4 The Canadian FiatéMaturaliat : fae ° . & 5 cee 13 MAR 6 Vol. 66 OTTAWA, CANADA, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1952 ae ORDOVICIAN FOSSILS FROM WASWANIPI LAKE, QUEBEC *” T. H. Crarxk and D. A. W. BLAKE URING THE SUMMER of 1949 the junior author, while mapping the areal geology of Waswanipi Lake Area (east half) for the Department of Mines of Quebec (1, p. 5), collected fossils from three exposures of horizontally bedded limestone on the shores of the lake and from boulders distributed across the intervening terrain. Though boulders of Ordovician limestone have been reported from this area, the first outcrop was not found until 1948. The distribution of boulders suggests that limestone is fairly widespread in this district, possibly under- lying an area about the south-central part of the lake some 40 square miles in extent. The collection consists of seven lots of medium grey crystalline limestone, which weathers light grey and contains patches of buff dolomite. Some argillaceous material occurs scattered along bedding planes, allow- ing the rock to break easily, and exposes these as thin dark shaly films. Otherwise bedding is rarely apparent. There is no reason to suppose that the exposures and boulders from which the collection was taken represent more than one formation. Identifiable species of fossils are none too plentiful in the collection. Nevertheless, the following list provides enough information for a sure correlation of the limestone. Receptaculites oweni Hall Halysites gracilis Hall Streptelasma corniculum Hall or S. rusticum Billings Plasmopora lambi Schuchert Pleurocystis sp. Heterocrinus? sp. Rafinesquina alternata (Emmons) R. sp., cf. R. trentonensis (Conrad) Strophomena incurvata (Shepard) Platystrophia sp., cf. P. extense McEwan Dalmanella sp. Hormotoma major (Hall) 1 Published with the permission of the Department of Mines of Quebec. 2 Received for publication April 24, 1952. Vol. 66, No. 4, July-August, 1952, was issued December 11, Liospira angustata Ulrich & Schofield Lophospira augustina (Billings) Maclurites crassus (Ulrich & Schofield) Maclurina manitobensis (Whiteaves) M. cuneata (Whitfield) Triptoceras sp. Actinoceras sp. Lambeoceras sp. Though at first sight this fauna seems to be of Trenton age, very few of its species occur in the Trenton beds of the Ottawa—St. Lawrence lowland area. Instead, one finds in the Liskeard formation of Lake Timiskaming (200 miles southwest of Lake Waswanipi, see map) a fauna almost completely embracing that of the present report. Hume (5, p. 24) gave a list of 37 species for the upper Liskeard limestone, and with few exceptions the Was- wanipi species occur in this list. Unless further collecting should show sedimentary types dif- fering lithologically from the beds described by Hume, or other important relevant informa- tion, it seems best to refer the Waswanipi beds to the upper limestone horizon of the Liskeard formation. Hume determined the Liskeard limestone to be of Trenton age largely because of the similarity of its fauna with that of the Galena limestone of Minnesota. Since Hume’s work doubt has been expressed as to the Trenton age of the Galena limestone beds (9, p. 18; 4, p. 146) and, although it now appears (7, p. 82) that the Galena is to be correlated with the Trenton, parts of its fauna recur in the Arctic Richmond. Nelson (6, p. 130), as part of a thorough discussion of the correlation of the Rich- mondian rocks of Central Canada, concludes that ‘The Waswanipi fauna appears to be very close to that of the Red River formation of the Lake Winnipeg area...” The Nel- son River and Shamattawa limestones of Hudson Bay, (600 miles northwest of Lake Waswanipi), the Red River and Stony Mount- ain limestones of Manitoba (750 miles west of Waswanipi lake), and the Liskeard lime- stone of Lake Timiskaming are now all dated 1952. — 119 — 120 Paleogeographic map of part of North America during Richmond time showing exposures mentioned in the text, and the suggested distribution of land (ruled) and sea (plain). 3. Anticosti Island. 4. Lake St. John. 5. Nelson River. 7. Lake Winnipeg. 8 Galena limestone. wanipi Lake. 2. Lake Timiskaming. tawa River. as Richmond (2, p. 186; 6). This means that the Waswanipi Lake exposures carry the area of outcrop of this western (Arctic) type of Richmond 150 miles further east than has hitherto been recognized, and as a conse- quence a correction in the standard paleo- geographic maps of North America for Richmondian time should be made. It is customary (e.g. 3, p. 154) to show a land area from James Bay extending southwest- wards across the International Border. The assumption of such a land barrier is rendered untenable by the reasonable lithologic and faunal correlation of the Richmond limestone from Lake Winnipeg, Nelson River, Lake Timiskaming and Waswanipi Lake. Few faunal and fewer lithological characteristics of the Richmondian beds of southern Quebec and of the Lake St. John outlier recommend them as correlatives of the Liskeard Rich- mond beds of Waswanipi Lake or of Lake Timiskaming. However, further research may still extend the Liskeard sea eastward pos- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 the locations of the 1. Was- §. Shamat- sibly as far as Anticosti, a prediction made by Twenhofel (8, p. 67) as a result of his finding so great a faunal, though not litho- logic, similarity between the Vaureal forma- tion of Anticosti and the Stony Mountain beds of the Lake Winnipeg area. Such an ex- tension would indicate a land barrier between the Liskeard sea and the St. Lawrence-Cin- cinnati sea. These paleogeographic specula- tions are indicated on the accompanying map. The Lake St. John outlier is shown to be north of this barrier, though it may have lain to the south of it because its fauna is more closely related to that of the St. Lawrence lowland than to either the Arctic or the An- ticosti faunas. The Gaspé embayment is not shown. Literature Cited 1.— Blake, D. A. W.—Preliminary Report on Waswanipi Lake Area (East Half) Abitibi- East County. Quebec Dept. of Mines, P. R. No. 233, 1949. September-October, 1952] THE CANADIAN 2.—Canada, Geological Survey. Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada. 3rd. Ed., 1947. 3.—Dunbar, C. O.—Historical Geology. John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., 1949. 4.—Foerste, A. F.—The Cephalopods of the Red River Formation of southern Man- itoba. Denison Univ. Bull. Vol. 24, 1929. 5.—Hume, G. S. — The Paleozoic Outlier of Lake Timiskaming, Ontario and Quebec. Geol. Surv. Canada, Memoir 145, 1925. 6.—Nelson, S. J.— Ordovician Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Churchill and FIELD-NATURALIST 121 Nelson Rivers, Manitoba. McGill Univer- sity, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1952. 7.—Stauffer, C. R. and Thiel, G. A.—The Paleozoic and Related Rocks of South- eastern Minnesota. Minn. Geol. Surv. Bull. 29, 1941. 8.—Twenhofel, W. H.—Geology of Anticosti Island. Can. Geol. Surv., Mem. 154, 1928. 9.—Ulrich, E. O— Ordovician Trilobites of the Family Telephidae and Concerned Stratigraphic Correlations. Proc. U.S.N.M., 76, art. 21, pp. 1-101, 1930. ON THE CYCLIC ABUNDANCE OF ANIMAL POPULATIONS! W. A. CLEMENS Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia CRITICAL EXAMINATION of cyclic abundance in animal populations reveals the fact that all such are not basically similar. In the cases of such animals as the varying hare, Lepus americanus; the field mouse, Microtus montanus canescens; the ruffed grouse, Bonasa wmbellus umbelloides, and many others, the populations over periods of years vary regularly from relatively few to very large numbers of individuals. Each peak of abundance is fol- lowed by an interval in which there is a rather sudden decrease in numbers and this in turn by a lengthy period of increase, slow at first but accelerating with the years. Each growth period of the population should be capable of being illustrated by a sigmoid curve which is characteristic of population growths in general (Pearl and Reed, 1920). Each decline of the population should be rep- resented by a line of steep slope. The period of years from peak to peak or from depression to depression is remarkably constant and constitutes the cycle. For the varying hare the period is approximately 9.7 years; for the mouse 4 years; for the ruffed grouse 10 years. With these animals there may be one or more litters or broods per year and the individuals may live several years with the result that there is a mixed population through the interbreeding among the individuals of the various litters and broods. The whole population follows a cycle of growth and decline as outlined. ! Received for publication December 29, 1951. On the other hand consideration of the cycles in abundance of certain fishes, insects and other animals shows that it is not mixed populations that are involved but pure year- classes. One of the best examples is that of the pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha. This species of Pacific salmon has a two-year life-history, that is, the individuals mature invariably at two years of age, spawn and die. In view of this invariability of maturing and dying there can be no mixed population. In some regions of British Columbia no pink salmon appear in the alternate years. In other regions pink salmon do appear in the even as well as in the odd numbered years, but the two populations must be as distinct as though they spawned in widely separated streams. The data available on the pink salmon run to McClinton creek, Queen Charlotte islands, as published by Pritchard (1948) may be used to illustrate the year-class cycle. As stated previously the pink salmon spawns without exception at two years of age and all individuals die. The next generation is represented first by a relatively large number of eggs deposited in the gravel of the streams, six months later by fry proceed- ing to sea reduced to approximately 14 per cent of the number of eggs and 18 months later by adult fish reduced by natural and fishing mortalities to approximately one per cent of the fry which went to sea. Figure 1 illustrates these features. It will be seen 122 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST MILLIONS 140 ° 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 | 30 | 20 + 5 1930 §=6©1932 1934 1936 §=©1938 i940 I942 Fig. 1. Year-class fluctuations in abundance of pink salmon, Oncorhynchus Gor- buscha, in McClinton Creek, British Columbia. ® — number of eggs: -+ = number of fry; ©® = number of adults. [Vol. 66 September-October, 1952] that there is no regularity in the abundance of the fish comprising the year-classes either as eggs, fry or adults. While there could be a long-term cycle superimposed on these year-class cycles, it is doubtful if such actually occurs in view of the extreme varia- tions in climatic conditions from year to year. Coho salmon (O. kisutch) which, with very few exceptions, reach sexual maturity at three years of age, spawn and die, illustrate the year-class cycle. Sockeye salmon (O. nerka), which mature predominately at four years of age also de- monstrate this feature. For example, the large run of sockeye every fourth year to the Fraser river in the early days was due to the fact that the fish which proceeded to the upper Fraser river areas matured almost exclusively at four years of age. For some reason the cycle 1897-1901-1905-1909-1913 was particularly successful and attracted attention. The other three year-class cycles, that is, 1898-1902-1906-1910, etc; 1899-1903-1907-1911, etc; 1900-1904-1908-1912, etc. were smaller in numbers of individuals. Since the Hell’s Gate disaster of 1913, the first mentioned popula- tion has been greatly reduced in numbers and the second mentioned, the 1898-1950 cycle, has been represented by the largest numbers (Clemens, 1938). But each cycle is essen- tially independent of the others and each shows irregular fluctuations with no evidence of a superimposed long-term cycle of abun- dance. In some regions of British Columbia sock- eye individuals resulting from a given spawn- ing may mature at three, four and five years of age (Clemens, 1935). Here, there is un- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 123 doubtedly a mixture of year-classes and clear- cut year-class cycles do not exist. At the same time, it has not been possible to demon- strate mixed population cycles for these. Other species of animals show year-class cycles. Among the insects, the seventeen- year cicada, Cicada septemdecem, in Canada is an excellent example. The fairy shrimp, Eubranchipus, with a one-year cycle, is a fur- ther illustration. In view of the fact that a great deal of study is being given to animal populations, it has seemed pertinent to call attention to the phenomenon of the year-class cycle and to point out how it differs from that of the mixed population cycle of abundance. Clemens, W. A. 1935. On the ages of maturity and the sex proportions of sockeye salmon in British Columbia waters. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., sect. V, p. 161-174. Clemens, W. A. 1938. Contributions to the life-history of the sockeye salmon. (Paper 23) Rept. B.C. Fish. Dept. for 1937, Victoria, B.C. Pritchard, A. L. 1948. Efficiency of natural propagation of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in McClinton Creek, Masset Inlet, B.C. Journ. Fish. Res. Bd., Vol. VII, No. 5, pp. 224-366. Pearl, Raymond and Reed, Lowell, J. 1920. On the rate of growth of the population of the United States since 1790 and its mathematical representation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Se., Vol. 6, pp. 275-288. a Dr. Lawrence E.—Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A.—1952. Zahlbruckner, A., Dr.—Wien, Austria—1938. Zschacke, Hermann, Dr.—Bernburg, Germany) —1937. 5 Late Curator Farlow Herb., Harvard Univ., Cambridge Mass. taken on his property near Aden were for warded to this Department. It was ther possible to determine that we were dealin; with Marmota flaviventris nosophora Howell a race which does not seem to have been re ported before in Canada2. Our information parts of the State of Montana and have novyj4 spread north to the Milk River valley at leas} between Aden and Verdegris Coulee. It i)) of interest to note that Wright and Conawa‘|ab (The Murrelet, Vol. 31, No. 2, p. 32, 1950) have reported a northward extension of thi}, range of nosophora in northwestern Montandé Investigations in the central part of norther] Montana could be expected to reveal a simila| condition. ny Perognathus fasciatus Wy In trapping for small mammals on thjth north bank of Chin Coulee near Foremos}t}) we obtained two specimens of the pocke ti mouse, Perognathus fasciatus fasciatus Wie(, | September-October, 1952] THr CANADIAN One of these had its burrow in an area of clay covered by a scattered growth of spear grass, winter fat, sage and June grass. The cheek pouches of this specimen were filled with ripened seeds of a June grass which Dr. E. H. Moss of the Botany Department, University of Alberta, has identified as Koeleria gracilis. The carcass of a third animal was picked up on the road leading to Etzikom Coulee which lies a few miles south of Foremost. Its pouches were packed with kernels of wheat which had obviously spilled from a passing truck. Details for the Chin Coulee specimens and for two others procured at Manyberries and Medicine Hat by Mr. Haynes are: Chin Coulee, Allta., Aug. 11, 1951. ¢ 130-60-17.5 mm. 11.9 g. Chin Coulee, Alta., Aug. 12, 1951. 4 (139-60-18 mm. 11.2 g. Manyberries, Alta., May 12, 1951. ¢ 130-65-15 mm. Medicine Hat, Alta., June 30, 1951. ¢@ 103-55-15 mm. ‘A review of the literature indicates that P. f. fasciatus has been recorded from at least four localities in southwestern Manitoba (Aweme, Oak Lake, Treesbank and junction of Antler and Souris rivers). With the dis- covery of this race in Alberta it seems quite certain that it must also occur in the in- tervening prairie region of southern Saskat- chewan. FIELD-NATURALIST 143 Reithrodontomys megalotis The third addition to the rodent fauna is the harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalo- tis dychei Allen. We took a single specimen at Medicine Hat and Mr. Haynes collected another at Milk River. Data for these are: Medicine Hat, Alta., July 16, 1951. Milk River, Alta., May 28, 1951. 6 105-49-14 mm. The female contained six embryos, each approximately 4 mm. in length. Although the related race R. m. nigrescens occurs in British Columbia (Holland, G. P. — The Murrelet, Vol. 23, No. 2, p. 60, 1942), these appear to be the first records of dychei for Canada. Another harvest mouse, R. hu- mulis, has been reported for Alberta (Dowd- ing, E.S—Can. Jour. Res., E. 25: 195-206, 1947) but in our opinion this was a case of misidentification involving specimens of the common house mouse. I am indebted to Dr. David H. Johnson of the United States National Museum for confirming the subspecific determinations of our material. Study skins of the specimens involved are deposited in the Department of Zoology Collection, University of Alberta. The material collected by Mr. Haynes is in the Museum of the Alberta Department of Public Health. @ 147-62-17 mm. 15.2 g. NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS HUDSONIAN GODWITS FOUND NEST- ING AGAIN AT CHURCHILL. — One day early in July, we were exploring a wide expanse of tundra a few miles out of Chur- chill, Manitoba, and were pleased to discover a pair of Hudsonian Godwits. They alighted on the margin of one of the numerous shallow ponds. A few days later we were tramping about in the same area when the Godwits appeared circling about and calling their Burt-like note. Directly they were joined by another pair which flew about adding to the excitement. While I searched about an area of tundra bordering a pond, one pair seemed much perturbed and repeatedly one flew to- ward me not far above my head as though threatening me. We searched the area very thoroughly but no nest could we find. A couple of days later when we were watching a pair of Hudsonian Curlews, hoping to locate their nest, the Godwits again appeared and behaved in a way that seemed to indicate that we had invaded their nesting area. Again we made a careful search of the place, which was not far from the area we had searched before, and again we found no nest though the Godwits kept up their excited actions. But good fortune was in store for us. We had found the Curlew’s nest. While we were watching the birds and trying to get a line on the nest location, partner, (Mrs. C.) who has proven to be very adept at nest finding, saw a Stilt Sandpiper fly near and alight. Watching, she saw the Sandpiper go to a hummock and settle down where it was hidden by the sparse growth of grass. When we went to the spot, the Stilt Sandpiper flushed from her nest on top of the hummock. The nest held four beautiful eggs. After spending a couple of days at 144 nests of the Curlew, Golden Plover, Smith’s Longspur and others, we returned to the Stilt Sandpiper’s nest to take photographs of the birds. The Sandpiper was very co- operative and readily returned, walking through the grass and approaching her nest by a circuitous route. The picture taking was interrupted by a rising wind and rain and we set out across the tundra toward the roadway. We had gone only a short distance when a pair of Godwits appeared and flew about calling and acting as though very much concerned over our presence. That place would receive a thorough searching on the morrow! Hudsonian Godwit nest at Churchill, Man. Next morning the weather broke clear and we started out. With us were two young people who were attached to the Defense Research Laboratory. They were interested in ornithology and wished to take pictures at the Stilt Sandpiper’s nest which we had located. I led the way toward the place where the Godwits had acted so concerned the previous afternoon and when we came near, the birds appeared as before, acting very much perturbed as we entered a moderately wet grass-grown marshy area. We all felt that here must be the location of their nest THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 and we started a systematic search. We had covered quite a large area when suddenly my eye caught a glimpse of broken egg shells on a low hummock. Bending over, I discovered a little downy baby hidden in the grass blades on the edge of the nest! Overjoyed at the discovery I called to the others who were nearby and, directly, on approaching the spot, Ann discovered another downy youngster a few feet from the nest! The parent Godwits flew about coming close to us and making quite a fuss. We carried the cunning downy youngsters from the marshy place to a nearby border of tundra where the girls could kneel down and hold the young on the mossy turf, giving me an opportunity to take pictures of the Godwit parents as they came near to see what was happening to their captive babies. One of the parents flew about alighting a little way from us, then taking wing again and coming to alight a little nearer to her cheeping babies. The old bird kept up a frequently repeated call note. When the bird alighted on a near mound, wings held high above the body, the white of the upper tail coverts showed in striking contrast to the darker coloration of the back, and the rusty red coloration of the breast completed a beautiful picture. After a little while we released one of the youngsters and the parent came closer, calling to the chick which went to her and cuddled under the protecting body. Finally, we took the two youngsters back to the. nest where we photographed them and then left them to the care of the handsome and deeply interested parent. The discovery of the nest of the Hudsonian Godwit with downy young, was a thrilling experience and the high spot of two sum- mers of photographing the birds of Churchill. R. T. CONGDON, M.D. and MRS. CONGDON, Wenatchee, Wash. Dead opossum on Point Pelee, Ont., shore. —On October 3, 1949, during a visit to Point Pelee National Park, I discovered the carcass of a mammal amid driftwood and other debris on the east beach only a few hundred yards from the extreme southern tip of land. It had apparently been cast upon the shore along with other drift material. (I was accom- panied on this trip by Mr. R. J. K. Murphy, Assistant Zone Forester, Department of Lands and Forests, Chatham.) The carcass was in an advanced stage of putrefaction and practically all the hair and September-October, 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST fur had sloughed off. I tentatively identified it as an opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and re- moved the head for further checking. Upon presenting the skull to the Royal Ontario Museum, Mr. S. C. Downing informed me that it definitely was an opossum skull and that my original identification had been correct. This incident might raise the interesting question as to the possibility of an opossum, dead or alive, crossing Lake Erie from Ohio to Ontario, by land and water, aided by lake currents, through the Erie Island Archipelago. — C. HAROLD ZAVITZ, Aylmer, Ont. An Indigo Bunting in Alberta.—The Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, must be a very rare visitor to Alberta, since Taverner, in his “Birds of Canada” mentions only one record for this province and one for Saskat- chewan. Professor W. Rowan informs me that he had a bird of this species obtained at Sul- livan Lake, Alberta, and this record is pre- sumably additional to that mentioned by Taverner. In view of these facts the following recent observation of an Indigo Bunting seems worthy of being reported. On June 21, 1952, while staying at Elkwater, at the foot of the Cypress Hills in southeastern Alberta, I twice caught brief glimpses of a bird which appear- ed, to the naked eye, blue above and whitish below. I returned to the spot, an area of bushes and trees, with 8 x 30 binoculars and soon had another good view of the bird. It appeared to be a little larger than a Yellow Warbler, was blue all over, darker above than below, except for the wings which were a very dark brown. The bill was dark grey and was about the shape of a Song Sparrow’s. The bird was clearly a male Indigo Bunting, prob- ably not quite mature in view of the wing colour. Its call was a sharp “tsit.” I looked for the bird again later the same day and the following morning, but did not see it again. It would hardly appear to be possible to confuse this species with any other, but I may add that I am quite familiar with the Mountain Bluebird and have seen the Lazuli Bunting, the only western birds which at all resemble the Indigo Bunting in the field.— E. O. HOHN, Dzpartment of Physiology, Uni- versity of Alberta. New Records of Millipeds from Southern Ontario.—It was recently my privilege to identify the millipeds in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology and Palaeontology. The following list, although 145 representing only part of that collection, is of interest because the records are new for the localities indicated. More extensive col- lections, made especially during the late sum- mer and early fall months and with care to get small specimens, should yield interesting information about the northern limit of dis- tribution of Canadian species, some of which are known as far south as Texas and Ten- nessee. Cleidogona sp. Fort Severn, Ont., July 21, 1940, larvae, willow swale. Dixidesmus branneri (Bollman 1887). Pot- tageville, York Co., Ont., June 8, 1934. Scytonotus granulatus (Say 1821). Peter- borough, Ont. Oriulus venustus Wood (1864). Palermo, Ont., Sept. 26, 1936; Kettleby Kabin, York Co., Ont., June 3, 1934. Aniulus bollmani Causey 1952. Palermo, Ont., Sept. 26, 1936; Seaforth, Huron Co., Oct. 29, 1940, sugar maple woods. This species has been incorrectly referred to as Aniulus wmpressus (Say) by many writers. Uroblaniulus immaculatus (Wood 1864). Palermo, Sept. 26, 1936; King Twopence, York Co., Ont., Sept. 20, 1941; Palermo, Ont., Sept. 26, 1936; Rattlesnake Point, Milton, Halton Co., Ont., Nov. 1, 1941; Cache Lake, Algonquin Park, Nipissing Dist., Ont., July 1935 and Aug. 8, 1936. Uroblaniulus canadensis (Newport 1844). Turkey Point, Norfolk Co., Ont., Aug. 25, 1940; Seaforth, Huron Co., Ont., Sept. 29, 1940. Uroblaniulus sp. Sanfield, Manitoba, July 16, 1939, larvae; Manitoulin Is., Ont., larvae. Ptyoiulus sp. Rattlesnake Point, Milton, Halton Co., Ont., June 29,1940. Polyzonium bivirgatum (Wood 1864). Rat- tlesnake Point, Milton, Halton Co., Ont., Nov. 1, 1941; Cache Lake, Algonquin Park, Nipis- sing Dist., Ont., July 1935 and Aug. 8, 1936. Polyzonium mutabile Causey 1951. Mine- sing, Ont., May 19, 1934. This species is known to occur also in Illinois and Wisconsin. —NELL B. CAUSEY, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Clay-colored Sparrow in Southeastern Ontario. On July 1, 1951, while watching a pair of Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) at their nest in an old, bushy pasture near Merrickville on the Rideau River (Lanark County), my wife drew attention to an un- familiar song and we soon traced the source to a Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) perched in the top of a hawthorn bush about twelve feet from the ground. It continued to 146 sing the insect-like b2zz-bzzz-bzzz-bzzz pe- culiar to this species. Before we found that the singer was within fifty feet of us, the song suggested somewhat the disconnected singing of the cicada heard at a distance early in the season before the insect is in full voice, but of course lacked the strident quality of the cicada’s drone heard near at hand. Unlike the Field Sparrow, which had quite an extensive singing range, the Clay- colored Sparrow was heard singing only within a radius of little more than a hundred feet. Its territory appeared to lie within a radius of about 225 feet. It sang most per- sistently from the hawthorn where we first heard it and less frequently from perches eight to fifteen feet high in the tops of three other hawthorns. It also sang occasionally from the tips of lone spruce and cedar saplings, never more than eighteen feet in height, and sometimes close to the ground from the tops of dead mullein stalks. We visited this area on numerous oc- casions from July 1-10 and were always greeted with the song of the Clay-colored when we came within range. It was not audible until we were quite close to its habitat in contrast with the songs of two other associates, the Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) and Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) which often sang from isolated trees, such as oak and elm, scattered throughout the pasture. This sloped gradually from wooded land to more or less open fields. Prominent amongst the undergrowth were patches of raspberry and gooseberry, scrubby cedar shrubs and bar- berry bushes. The thin, sandy soil, with many rock outcroppings, maintained a rather sparse growth of mullein (Verbascum), blue- weed (Echium vulgare), ragwort (Senecio pauperculus), St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum) and several cinquefoils, especial- ly a depauperate form of the silvery cinque- foil (Potentilla argentea), probably dwarfed by overgrazing. There were also many rounded mats of waxberry (Symphoricar- pos albus) both in the open pasture and en- circling the hawthorns. This plant we thought might have special significance. The compactly matted growth, less than a foot high, probably provided the best nesting cover for the Clay-colored Sparrow in this dry area. Several times we saw it fly to the ground where it generally disappeared THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 either in grassy cover beneath the haw- thorns, in raspberry tangles or in patches of waxberry. We were unable to observe its actions in the undergrowth but concluded that it was merely feeding there. A search of the cover revealed no sign of nest and although we watched the bird closely for lengthy periods it exhibited no sign of alarm nor was there any indication of the presence of a mate. It always returned to one or other of its singing perches in a very few minutes. Singing seemed to be this Clay-colored Sparrow’s principal occupation. Once it sang seventy-one times successively from its favourite hawthorn at the rate of eight to nine songs per minute. Four evenly-spaced buzzes, less commonly three, composed the usual song. Once when we startled the singer the song ended abruptly with the first note. Only one other variation was noted — a song of five notes. Occasionally the bird would alight in the thick of a bush then move up to the top to sing. Between songs it would often spread a wing, preen a moment or fidget as if about to fly, then compose it- self, jerk its tail, throw up its head and sing again. On several occasions it was observed to fly to a densely foliaged cedar upwards of 200 feet from the principal singing perch and give chase, almost immediately, to a Chipping Sparrow which it followed per- sistently from perch to perch. This appeared to be an aggressive action. It is under- standable that the Clay-colored would show more antipathy towards a Chipping Spar- row than towards an Indigo Bunting (Pas- serina cyanea) which sang several times from one of the singing perches of the Clay-colored Sparrow while the latter was singing unperturbed twenty feet away. Ap- parently Chipping Sparrows were not tolerated near its singing perches. Most Chipping Sparrows observed in the district were engaged in feeding young out of the nest, but a few were incubating or had young in the nest. Three Field Spar- rows’ nests held respectively, three young, three eggs, and three eggs of the sparrow and one of the Cowbird. These were believ- ed to be second nestings. The persistent singing of this Clay- colored Sparrow in a very restricted area suggested that it was breeding there, or was it a stray looking for a mate? We visit- September-October, 1952] THE CANADIAN ed this locality in June, 1952, hoping to learn something definite regarding its status but failed to find the bird. ‘Merrickville is approximately 100 miles farther east than the previous most easterly FIELD-NATURALIST 147 Canadian record for this sparrow — a male taken July 10, 1930, near Golden Lake, Ren- frew County, by Hoyes Lloyd (Canadian Field-Naturalist, 47:36, 1933). — LEWIS MclI. TERRILL, Montreal. REVIEWS The Birds of Greenland. Text by Finn Salo- monsen; illustrations by Gitz-Johansen. Part III, pp. 349-608, 16 pls. Ejnar Munksgaard, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1951. This, the third part of The Birds of Green- land, fully maintains the high standard of excellence that characterized the two pre- ceding parts of that important work. Sub- ject treatment is similar to that of Part I, which was reviewed in The Canadian Field- Naturalist, 1951, Vol. 65, p. 124. The third part deals with the auks, guillemots, puf- fins, hawks, owls, Greenland Wheatear, Field- fare, pipits, White Wagtail, redpolls, Lap- land Longspur, and Northern Raven. In addition, Part III contains (pp. 561-575) the complete list of Greenland birds, in- cluding the rarities and accidentals. This list comprises 224 species and subspecies known to occur or to have occurred in Greenland. The status of each form is given in general and for details there are one or more cita- tions to the literature. Numerous foot-notes give taxonomic and other pertinent informa- tion. Also, there is an imposing bibliography which is intended to contain reference to all publications concerning the birds of Green- land. An index completes this handsome and scholarly work. A useful map, showing Greenland localities mentioned in the text has been prepared by the Danish Geodetic Institute and the author of The Birds of Greenland. It is obtainable from the pub- lisher for ten Danish kroner and may be in- serted in the work. — W. EARL GODFREY. This Fascinating Animal World. By Alan Devoe. McGraw-Hill Company of Canada, pp. 1-303, 1951. Price, $4.75. Here is a book that every amateur natural- ist will want to acquire for his library. Not only will it provide plenty of entertaining reading, but it will also serve as a useful reference. There are many fine natural his- tory books that have succeeded in serving one purpose or another, but this is the first that has come to this reviewer’s attention which seems to accomplish both objectives. Per- haps this is not surprising in view of the fact that Alan Devoe is one of the foremost nature writers in the United States. He has been writing popular articles for many years and is probably better qualified than most natural- ists to write a book for the general reader. As a well-known naturalist who receives many requests for information from the read- ing public, Mr. Devoe could see the need for a book that contained within its covers the answers to the majority of questions the ama- teur is likely to ask. As he points out in his Introduction, it is often necessary to consult a whole library in order to find the answer to even the most simple question. And it some- times happens that even the most exhaustive | treatments on a given subject may fail to do so, or, if they do, they may be so technical as to be of little value to the average person. Where, for example, would one find the an- swers to such questions as: what do animal die of? could a fish drown? how do sea birds man- age to get fresh water to drink? why don’t sleeping birds fall off the perch? The entire book is devoted to questions such as these. Each topic is discussed in a readily understandable non-technical language. There is a complete index so that it is a simple matter to turn up any topic desired. In any case, it is well for the reader to con- sult the index as many interesting bits of information are discussed under headings other than those in which one would expect to find them. The author digresses a good deal in his writing, a feature which gives it a conversational tone that would otherwise be lost. The information contained in the book ap- pears to be technically correct and there is very little that can be criticized. Naturally, many topics could have been discussed more fully, but considering that the information is intended for the amateur rather than the professional, this is understandable. The line drawings add greatly to the attractiveness of the book—AUSTIN W. CAMERON. 148 THE CANADIAN Check-list of North American Birds and Synopsis of the North American Mammals. Condensed and compiled by J. E. Keays, 1952. London Typesetting Co., London, Ontario. 50 pp. ($1.50). The unwary are told that the bird list pre- sented in this publication is condensed and compiled from the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds, fourth edition, 1931. Actually the sequence of order families, and apparently in most cases the species also, is that of the second edition which was published in 1895! Why any compiler, with the latest edition before him, should copy instead the obsolete ar- rangement of 1895 and attempt to sell the results to amateurs of today is a mystery indeed. Without any explanation whatever and with no warning to the inexperienced user of this list, the compiler has placed the English Sparrow and European Tree Spar- row (both clearly shown in the A.O.U. Check-list, fourth edition, to belong to the family Ploceidae) in, of all places, the Icteridae between the meadowlarks and orioles ! The species names are, as the compiler claims, those of the A.O.U. Check-list, fourth edition, but many of them are obsolete. Ap- parently the compiler was unaware that no less than eight supplements to the A.O.U. Check-list have appeared since the 1931 edition was published. The least that one can expect from a list of this kind is that the correct spelling of the names be given. The very first generic name in the list is mispelled and this sets the pattern throughout. The many strange combinations of letters that follow are ab- solutely inexcusable, above all in a list that is purported to be “a handy reference for students of Ornithology”. In a number of instances generic or subfamily names are used where family names were intended and, in the mammal list, the family name Sciuridae is listed ten times as a generic name. Fortunately annotations on the birds are few. The reader is given the erroneous impression that there have been no reports of the Eskimo Curlew since 1926; or of the California Condor since 1931; and that the Trumpeter Swan is close to extinction. Pages 39-55 are devoted to mammals of North America. The classification and ar- rangement of the orders and families are those of D. G. Elliott, 1901! Nomenclature FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 is pathetically obsolete. Vernacular names, except in a few cases, are not given. Many familiar mammals such as the Varying Hare and Cottontail seem to be missing entirely from the list while space is wasted in an utterlly futile hodgepodge of irrelevant or out-dated information. We are told that the first edition is small which would appear to be the best that can be said for it. — W. EARL GODFREY. Conservation in Canada. By Dr. O. M. McCon- key. J. M. Dent & Sons (Canada) Limited, 1952; pp. 215, with 70 photo- graphs, 6 diagrams and endpaper maps. (Price, $3.50). Here is a book which will be welcomed by all who are concerned about the proper use of land in Canada. For the first time in book form, the problems of conservation in Canada are set forth clearly and fully by an author who views our situation from a world-wide background of practical experience and study. Farmers, cattlemen, foresters, engineers, hunt- ers, naturalists, teachers, and those respon- sible for legislation on conservation, have all much to gain from this important book. Professor McConkey deals first with the basic factors in land use. Practical applica- tions are emphasized as the author turns to each of the basic industries of Canada. Farm- ing, pasturing and forestry are given most attention. The text is nicely supplemented with maps, diagrams and photographs which will be valuable aids to teachers of conser- vation theory and practice. By clear and simple use of words and pictures the author has managed to compress a wealth of facts and figures into a short book. Author and publisher deserve praise for a handsome and well designed book. Bad patterns of land use have had disas- trous results when successive generations have followed poor traditional practices. We have been warned that the exhaustible re- sources of Canada have been dangerously wasted by extravagant practices. Dr. McCon- key urges every Canadian, in no uncertain terms, to learn the lessons of older lands, to “tend his forest, cultivate his fields, and main- tain a balance with nature, or he will destroy his heritage and perish”. Promising begin- nings have been made in Canada with certain aspects of conservation. What is needed now is a sustained effort which, Dr. McConkey believes, requires “a national plan, an oper- September-October, 1952] THE CANADIAN ation map, and a national classification of the soils of Canada according to type and use.” “Conservation in Canada” deserves a wide audience and it is recommended both as a review of the present situation of land use in Canada, and as a reference book on the prin- ciples and practice of conservation. —wW. K. W. BALDWIN. HUNTERS AND HUNTED. By Stephen Collins, Canadian Wildlife Service, Depart- ment of Resources and Development, Ottawa, 1952; illustrations by Ted Ingram; pp. 19. The demand for well-written, accurate liter- ature on natural history subjects far exceeds the supply. This is particularly true of inex- pensive booklets and pamphlets that are with- in the financial means of the average student. Most of those available have been written by professional writers who are often careless about their facts, or by scientists who have little to recommend them from the literary standpoint. It is an unfortunate fact that “those who know about science can’t write about it and those who can write about it don’t know about it.” It is a pleasure, threfore, to review the present pamphlet. It seems to have achieved that rare quality of literary excellence com- bined with scientific accuracy. Although ob- viously written for students in the interme- diate and senior grades, it should provide pleasant and informative reading for the adult who has an interest in wildlife conservation. “Hunters and Hunted,” as the title implies, deals with the relationship that exists between predators and their prey. The author sets out to answer the question, “Are predators, in the long run, detrimental to man’s interests?” This is a very pertinent question that is almost cer- tain to arise in any discussion on wildlife con- servation. Most of us, unfortunately, are biased in favour of the prey. From the days of bed- time stories onward, we have been taught to look upon the wolf, the bear, and the hawk as blood thirsty killers that deserve the harsh treatment meted out to them by farmers, trap- pers, and hunters. Personal experience is un- likely to change our attitude greatly. When we see a fox run down and kill a rabbit, our reac- tion is unfortunately emotional rather than ra- tional and the episode serves only to strength- en our preconceived ideas. In this day and age, however, it is time we relinquished our prejudices and considered the problem from a disinterested vantage point. “Hunters and Hunted” will provide a good basis for such a reconsideration. FIELD-NATURALIST 149 By means of well-chosen illustrations bas- ed on scientific evidence the author points out that (1) predators play an important role in the ‘“‘balance of nature,” and their existence is necessary in order to maintain a proper balance between herbivorous species and the latter’s food supply, (2) since the number of herbivorous species resident in an area is strictly limited, the excess population must be removed by predators and other factors, (3) predators are the natural, and, therefore, most effective means of limiting the Censity of prey species, (4) each predator is especial- ly adapted for the capturing and killing of a certain type of prey, and it is, therefore, capable of doing so much more effectively than any means devised by man, (5) if the proper balance between predator and prey is upset through the partial or complete elimina- tion of predators, many prey species may in- crease to such an extent that they constitute a serious threat to man’s interests (examples: meadow mice, rabbits, squirrels, etc.), (6) predators are often accused of killing do- mestic and game species, when in fact, the ne- cessary evidence is lacking, or at least wrong- ly interpreted. And most important of all, it must not be forgotten that man himself is the most effective and, at the same time, the most despicable predator there is. The excellent illustrations by Ted Ingram add immeasurably to the value of the pam- phlet as a teaching aid—_AUSTIN W. CAME- RON. NOTES ON THE BOBCATS (LYNX RU- FUS) OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW RACE. By Randolph L. Peterson and Stuart C. Down- ing. Contributions of the Royal Ontario Mu- seum of Zoology and Palaeontology, No. 33, p. 23, illus. The present study is a review of the taxo- nomic status and distribution of the bobcats (Lynx rufus) in eastern North America, with the description of a new race, Lynx rufus superiorensis from the area around Lake Superior. Heretofore only two forms, rufus and gigas have been recognized from eastern Canada and their taxonomic status has been poorly understood. Consequently, the _ tho- rough study carried out at the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology and Palaeontology will be welcomed by mammalogists who have had to deal with this perplexing genus. As many mamalogists have long suspect- ed, gigas is shown to be conspecific with 150 THE CANADIAN rufus. Examination of specimens from west- ern New Brunswick, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire revealed that this region is a zone of intergradation between the two forms. The Nova Scotia bobcat, gigas, is a well-defined race, but the characters separat- ing it from rufus are bridged by specimens in the area of intergradation. The three races, rufus, gigas, and superior- ensis are separable on the basis of several morphological characters, but the invest- igators found that the cranial differences are the most constant and reliable. L. r. superior- ensis has a relatively smaller upper third premolar than rufus and a relatively wider and shorter palate than gigas. L. r. rufus differs from gigas in averaging smaller and in having a relatively broader skull. Other less striking differences are mentioned in the paper. These three races differ from the western subspecies in the structure of the auditory bullae. The authors set forth the interesting theory that gigas was the original bobcat in most of Ontario and that rufus was restrict- ed to the extreme southern tip of the prov- ince. So far as is known, the three races have not come into contact with one another. It has been assumed that gigas was a form that arose in the Maritime Provinces region, east of the Alleghenies, but this raises the possibility that it may have evolved in the region north of rufus. In addition to several photographs of skins and skulls, there are two maps, one showing the distribution of the three races occurring in eastern North America and another show- ing the distribution and spread of bobcats in Ontario. — AUSTIN W. CAMERON. Under the Sea-Wind. By Rachel L. Carson. (Oxford University Press, New York, 1952) 2nd ed. — 314 pp., $4.00. In the new edition of ‘Under the Sea-Wind’ Rachel Carson uses the imaginative yet highly informative style of her extraordinary book ‘The Sea Around Us’ to depict the endless struggle of life over death in the marine environment. In the first section of the book Miss Carson introduces the reader to the sand beaches of North Carolina where gulls, terns, skimmers, herons, and sandpipers com- pete with one another for the young fishes, - shrimps, sand bugs, and other marine crea- tures which form their food. On the wings of a champion long-distance migrant, the sanderling, it is but a few days’ journey to FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 the arctic tundra where lemmings, rock ptarmigans, and tiny shore birds fight to survive the dangers of blizzards and cold, as well as the ever-present snowy owls, foxes, and other predators. The second part of the book tells the story of Scomber, the mackerel. Beginning with the egg and embryo that drifts helples- sly with other minute organisms of the ocean plankton and is preyed upon by comb jellies, crab larvae, and larger fish, the author fol- lows the hazardous life cycle of the mackerel to the young adult stage that feeds in large schools on the swarms of copepods near the surface, and is in turn in constant danger of attack by large cod, dogfish, and man himself. The third section of the book portrays the life of Anguilla the eel in fresh- water lakes and streams, and describes its long journey down the rivers into the sea, to spawn and die in the deep abyss of the Atlantic off Bermuda. Miss Carson briefly but skilfully works into the main theme of each section the complex ecological relations of such widely differing members of the animal kingdom as comb jellies, copepods, fiddler crabs, mullets, turtles, and petrels. She plunges the reader very realistically into the vast gold and green fluidity of the sea, through the changing conditions of coastal waters and estuaries, and even pauses for a few para- graphs in the unique man-made environment of a big inlet buoy. In illustrating the rapidity with which the ‘precious elements of life are passed on and on in endless chains, she condenses into a single paragraph an entire food chain — beach flea to ghost crab to channel bass to shore debris to beach flea again. Mindful of the great need for conserva- tion of our marine resources, the author has depicted man himself as a formidable source of danger to coastwise fishes; his efforts are sometimes successful, sometimes wasteful of the bounteous sea-life, but often in the face of great hardship and wariness of the prey they meet with failure. In adding to the educational value of the book the author has also included an illustrated glossary of terms. Miss Carson is to be commended on her ability to translate our limited knowledge of the vast numbers and kinds of sea creatures into a story that cannot fail to hold the attention of all who read it, young and old alike. — E. L. BOUSFIELD, National Museum of Canada. et : _ NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY hit OF MANITOBA OFFICERS FOR 1951-52: resident Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND 8.’ LE- __Vice-Presidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. . STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mrs. W. A. ‘ARTWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. I. KEITH; ate urer: H. MOSSOP; Auditor: W. A. CARTWRIGHT; 1 Convenor: Miss LOUISE M. LOVELL. } ‘SECTIONS— rmithology: Chair. F. J. COUTTS; Sec. Miss W. OWNES. Entomology: Chair. R. J. HERON; Sec. A. DROUIN. Botany. Chair. Mrs. D. B. SPARLING; JOHN S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. H. STOKES; Sec. P. W. GRANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. TILLE- _NIUS; Sec. O. P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. STEWART-HAY; Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Chair. . P. H. STOKES; Sec. Mrs. R. K. HELYAR. ctures on the first and third Monday evenings of sh month will be held in the 4th floor Board Room he Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held com 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- ial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Excursions are held ‘Saturdays or Sundays during May, June and Sep- ber, and on public holidays in July and August. bership fee: $1 a year for adults; 25 cents for i OFFICERS FOR 1952 dent: J. GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. ALD ROSS; 2nd _ Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; etary-Treasurer: GEO. A. LECLERC; Chief Scientific tion: FRANCOIS HAMEL; Chief Protection Section: 1 BREAKEY; Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A, RY; Chief Information Section: J. C. PRICE. Other tors: Dr. V. PLAMONDON, T. J. A. HUNTER, cretary’s address: GEORGES A. LECLERC, 12 Desy Avenue, Quebec, P.Q. : 1 % THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 A. OUTRAM; Vice-President: J. L. AILLIE; Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. J. B. STEWART, Millwood Rd., Toronto; President of Junior Club: , J. MURRAY SPEIRS; Vice-President of Junior Club: L. E. JAQUITH. Executive Council: G. M. B , J. BARNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, ALFRED BUNKER, MISS F. BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA RK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. .. FRITZ, W. W. H. GUNN, DR. L. E. JAQUITH, MRS. . D. KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, S. McKEE, D. S. MILLER, JOHN MITCHELE, R. M. UNDERS, EARL STARK, H. H. SOUTHAM. Ex. Officio: . V. LEHMANN, C. A WALKINSHAW, T. F. McIL- A. Meetings are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of each month from October to May at the Royal Ontario Ss eld during the spring and autumn and on the second aturday of each month during the winter. AFFILIATED SOCIETIES VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Hon. President: DR. N. A. M. MacKENZIE; Past Presiden A. H. BAIN; President: DR. V. C. BRINK; Vice Pregideue DR. T. M. C. TAYLOR; Hon. Secretary; C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording Secretary: MISS C. PLOMMER; Program Sec retary: S. F. BRADLEY; Hon. Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: MRS. S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of Bulletin: N. PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. J. DAVIDSON; Geology — DR. J. E. ARMSTRONG; En- tomology — A. R. WOOTTON; Ornithology — W. M. HUGHES; Mammology — DR. I, McT. COWAN; Marine Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY; Photography — H. C, FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A. R. WOOTTON: Mycology — F. WAUGH; Aubudon Screen Tours — A. H. BAIN; Additional Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors: H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbiarr unless other- wise announced. McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 1951 President: Mr. W. D. SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., London; Vice-president: Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 aes pots Peondons gueecoay: JOHN WISMER, 520 uron a5 mdon; ecretary-Treasurer: Mrs. J. 5 LEACH, West London P.O., London. rth _Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library biulding on the second Monday of each month from September to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a special excursion in September. PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1952-53 President: G. H. MONTGOMERY; Vice-President: W. H. RAWLINGS; Vice-President: J. P. ANGLIN; Treasurer: D, G. ELLIOT; Asst.-Treasurer: Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT; Secretary: Miss R. S. ABBOTT, 166 Senneville Road, Senneville, P.Q. COMMITTEE Miss R. S. ABBOTT, J. P. ANGLIN, W. R. B. BERTRAM, Miss R. B. BLANCHARD, J. D CLEGHORN, Dr. M. J. DUN. BAR, D. G. ELLIOT, Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT, DeLISLE GAR- NEAU, G. H. HALL, W. S. HART, Miss G. HIBBARD, Miss A. HORSFALL, A. R. LEPINGWELL, IAN McLAREN, G. H. MONTGOMERY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. ROBIN- SON, C. C. SAIT, Miss M. SEATH, H. F. SEYMOUR, Dr. J. H. SUMMERBY, L. MclI. TERRILL, Mrs. L. Mcl. TERRILL, Miss F. M. WALLACE. Meetings held the second Monday of the month except during summer. Field Trips held in spring and autumn, BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND MAMMAL SOCIETY President: KENNETH RACEY; Vice-Prseident: H. M. LAING; Secretary: IAN McT. COWAN, Dept. of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. libraries sd institutions. Librarians should write to: ¥ i ; 4 I Mn w. J ‘copy, BUSINESS MA NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1952 No. 6 The ‘CANADIAN Not otes and Observations— Wayne’: s Nong bites Marsh Wren in New Brunswick. ate By Kenneth C. Parkes .........0:00....0-0 ae ee Met eee et a AR 173 a A Hooded Warbler from Churchill, Manitoba. By R. W. Sutton ................... 175 Paine 4 tty Pa MA h ‘Scarlet Tanager near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. By Harrison F. Lewis ............ 175 Wa ie ne 7 ’ . \ K 4 _ Index to Volume 66 ................ AT I ae ARERR OOOR 2 y UAB WSeg hs uA Li Published by the OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALIST’ CLUB yf i C w i _ Entered at the Post Office at Ottawa, Ont., as second class matter. The Ottawa Field-Natucalists’ Club Patron: Nah + red ee His repre The Rt. Honourable Vincent Massey, C. H., ‘Governor-General of an President: Dr. J. W. Groves irae 2)" oe, 1st Vice-President: Mr. R. Frito 2nd Vice-President: Mr. W. K. w. Bato wit Treasurer: RAYMOND Moore, Secretary: H. ob SCOGGAN, _ ve i Division of Botany, National BARS Et) of Canada, i Science Service, Dept. of Ottawa. Agriculture, Ottawa. ae Additional Members of Council: Mrs. Hoyes Lioyp, Miss Rura Horner, b Humpureys, Miss VERNA Ross, Miss PAULINE SNURE, Miss Mary Stuart, FATHER F, E, BANim, Messrs. E. G. ANDERSON, IRC M. ANDERSON, pe ARNOLD Gone W. G. Dore, io) FRANKTON, W. E. Gane, e Grow, in: DA Hicks, W. ILLMAN, Ww. H. LANCELEY, D. Leecuman, H. F. Lewis, H. 1 MANNING, H. MarsHALL, W. H. MINSHALL, A. E. PorsItp, H. L. J. RHODES, a D. B. O. SAVILE, H. A. SENN, VB. SoLMAN, J. Sh TENER. Auber: j Wea Bes CONNERS, CG FRANKTON. hg Editor Dr..H. A. SENN, Division of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, otal Associate Editors AW: Ge UDORR ote okey 4 Ad he ctonet non Botany R. M. aaeeic ee): Ae AS LAROCQUR, i. Mey ae Conchology A. G. HUNTSMAN Bess tvaanil J H. G. CRAWFORD .................. .. Entomology WE. GopEREY i eg ne Bd VAL: COCK Mr tn ete SM ats .. Geology Wi Ad} BEED (6 yey ee SHERMAN BLEAKNEY ............ Herpetology Je RADY MONDES San hae Business Manager W. J. Copy, Division of Botany, — Science Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa. The official publications of THE Chas F1ELp-NATURALISTS’ Cher Hage eee issued since 1879. The first were The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1879, 1886, two volumes; the next, Tke Ottawa Naturalist, 1886-1919, thirty ‘ two volumes: and these have been continued by The Canadian 'Field-Naturalist ) date. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued bi-monthly. Its scope is the publication of the results or original research in all departments of Natural History. | Price of this volume (6 numbers) $3.00; Single copies 60c each. Giteoecn ($3.00 per year) should be forwarded i Dr. R. J. Moore, Div. of Botany, Science Service, Dept. of Anta _ OTTAWA, CANADA, | ti The Canadian Vol. 66 CHIMNEY SWIFT BANDING AT KINGSTON, FROM 1928 TO 1947? R. I. BowMAN Berkeley, California ECAUSE of widespread interest in the migratory habits of the Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) by birdbanders in eastern North America, it has been deemed appro- priate to report on the results of 16 years of banding at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, one of the oldest permanent banding stations on the continent. The writer ex- presses his thanks to Mrs. Amelia R. Laskey of Nashville, Tennessee, and Mr. Ben B. Coffey, Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee, who have supplied complete data on Chimney Swift recoveries from their respective stations. Mr. Coffey has also carefully read the manuscript and made many valuable suggestions. Early swift banding operations have been reviewed by Calhoun (1938), Coffey (1938), and Calhoun and Dickinson (1942), thus mak- ing a further summary of the literature up to 1942 somewhat superfluous. Lowery (1943) reports on the dispersal of 21,414 Chimney Swifts banded at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 1937 to 1939. In a review of Lowery’s paper, Coffey (1944) noted an interchange of Louisiana banded swifts with 20 other stations including 10 at Kingston. In 1944, Lincoln published an account of the recovery of 13 North American banded Chimney Swifts killed by Indians in northern Peru, probably during November or December 1943, thus establishing the wintering area of this species. Details of circumstances surrounding the dis- covery in Peru are related by Ganier (1944), Beck (1948), and Brackbill (1950). One of the 13 swifts was banded at Kingston, Ontario. Hitchcock (1945) banding at London, Ontario, trapped 2 flocks of swifts totalling 845. Swifts banded in Georgia and Blind River, Ontario, were among a flock of 758 captured at London during September 1940. At Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, banding of Chimney Swifts was started in the 1 Received for publication February 22, 1952. OTTAWA, CANADA, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1952 Field-Naturalist No. 6 == ONTARIO: 5.37 i spring of 1928 by the late R. 10. Mercia! In recent years the banding program has been under the supervision of the Department of Biology. The writer has participated in band- ing from 1945 to 1947 and is especially grate- ful to Miss Ida Merriman and Dr. H. W. Curran for help and encouragement during many phases of the work. Except for a three- year period (1941-1944), Chimney Swifts have been banded every year from 1928 to 1947, involving 45 banding operations. Only on two occasions has banding been attempted in the fall of the year, since swifts rarely roost in large flocks in the Kingston area during that season. The swift trap used at Kingston is similar in design to that described by Lincoln (1947). (See Figure 1.) The birds were collected in 6 wire screen covered cages, each about the size of an orange crate. The open end of the cage was equipped with a cotton sleeve which could readily be slipped over the bot- tom of the stove-pipe funnel leading from the trap. As many as 75 birds were placed safely in one collecting cage. For many years the trap was set in place during the dark hours just before sunrise, but later it was found te be more convenient, and perfectly safe for the birds, to cover the chimney in the evening, shortly after the birds had entered. Many devices were employed in efforts to arouse the trapped swifts within the chimney. A cowbell proved to be most effective. Some difficulty was experienced with large flocks where the ‘flow’ of birds was frequently stopped by means of a door, to prevent over- crowding of the cages. After several inter- ruptions of this nature the birds were usually reluctant to rise. Great care was exercised in handling indi- vidual birds while banding for it was noticed that an “alarm” note from one swift would cause considerable unrest among those still remaining in the cages. During the 16 years Vol. 66, No. 5, September-October, 1952, was issued February 28, 1953. — 151 — APR 119 ZGUL. 4 | | 5 | 3 152 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 : BOTTOM VIEW f og gt motal collecting funnel ei ae a a A MIN FE CANE TR TCI pipe cotton celluloid | window |] notal collecting funnel 24° $2* ; COLLECTING CAGE Fig. 1. Design of Chimney Swift trap aud collecting cage. Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN of banding, less than 50 birds have been killed accidentally. The following method of holding a swift for banding has been found to be most satis- factory. (See Figure 2.) With the bird placed ventral side up in the palm of the hand, the protruding wing and tail feathers are pressed firmly between the index and second fingers. In this position the bird is not compressed yet it is unable to move. The tip of the index finger with the aid of the thumb is stiil relatively free to hold the tarsus while attaching the band with the other hand. Bands were closed with the fingers alone so that an experienced bander working by him- Figure 2. FIELD-NATURALIST 153 self could handle as many as three birds per minute. Banding operations were not always at- tempted on the days that swifts were known to be roosting in one of the campus chimneys. Usually banding was done only as free time allowed and then only if the flock contained at least 200 birds. Thus only a small fraction of the total swift population migrating through Kingston in the spring has been trapped, banded, and released. The largest flock of swifts to be trapped at one time contained 3,967 birds (May 18, 1845), only \1,000 of which were banded, while the remainder were examined for returns. Method of holding a Chimney Swift while banding. 154 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF RETURNS ON CHIMNEY SWIFTS BANDED AT KINGSTON, ONTARIO, FROM 1928 TO 1947 COMPILED FROM DATA RECEIVED UP TO APRIL 1, 1948. Year Day No. birds No.of Percent No. of swifts recaptured banded returns* return two or more times * 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 1928 June 9 .......: 271 22 8.1 3 1 Tul ye 20 ee 232 31 13.4 3 2 1929 May 10 ........ 222 10 4.5 2 TUNE ae eee: 435 40 9.2 9 1 1 1930 May 10 ........ 87 11 12.6 4 2 May 24 ........ 218 42 19.3 8 1 Sue ine We 157 37 23.6 5 4 3 1 1931 May 16 ........ 81 21 25.9 6 1 June 6 ........ 202 51 25.2 a5 1 1932 (May 7 ........ 469 20 4.2 10 1 May 16 ...... 127 26 20.5 5 May 2982). 1260 48 3.8 6 2 June 9 ........ 662 77 11.6 15 3 1933 ‘May 5. ........ 591 46 7.8 4 1 (May ulig t 460 62 13.5 10 3 1 Mayall. 64 14 21.8 2 19384 (May 12 ...... 1141 86 8.0 15 7 19350. Maye 8) a... 308 33 10.8 3 1 (Miayjel 2inwas 451 66 14.6 12 4 May 16 ...... 337 25 7.4 5 2 2, May 24 ...... 1606 108 6.7 25 Uf 1936" May .10 ...... 247 52 DALAL 6 1 May 16 ...... 856 120 14.0 20 5 May 24 ...... 394 99 25.1 22 3 (May 30 ....... 538 71 sy 4 0 1 19387 May 16 ...... 1259 122 9.7 ial 2 May, (23 852 64 18.1 10 Uf suney’6: ....2.. 288 108 37.5 2 6 1 Sept. 20 .... 464 50 10.7 10 1 19380) Maywnan ys 226 31 13.7 May 22 ...... 488 88 18.0 11 1 May 29 ...... 524 12 PALS 16 1 1 19389 May 14 ...... 420 70 16.6 1 May 28° ...... 180 30 20.5 2 1 1940 (May 12 ...... 1100 54 4.9 3 (May 16 ...... 236 28 11.8 © 1 May: 19 |... 600 46 let 2 May 22 ...... 200 24 12.0 2 1941 May 6 ......... 200 12 6.0 2 May 12 ...... 200 15 7.5 4 1945 May 18 ....... 1000 43 4:3 1 May 29 ...... 218 if 0.5 1946 May 7 ......... 527 18 3.4 1947 (May 15 ....... 1892 1 0.0 145** 1928 ~ 1947s 21,930 2142 9.76 316 Ue 10 2 1 * All “returns” and “recoveries” are included in these figures; “repeats” are not. ** This figure includes miscellaneous banded birds on which no recoveries have been reported. Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN The average flock size is 500 birds, although on 7 occasions flocks of over 1,000 have been trapped. On May 14, 1947, a flock estimated to contain about 10,000 swifts was seen migrating cver Kingston. Large flocks of Chimney Swifts have been observed at other stations. During the fall at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, flocks of swifts have been observed by Lowery (1943) numbering in excess of an estimated 7,000 individuals. Bent (1940) cites an account given by Audubon (1840) of Chimney Swifts roosting in a hollow tree in Louisville, Ken- tucky during July. Audubon estimated that 9,000 birds roosted in this single tree. Peters (1937) banding in Georgia during the fall of 1936, captured 6,025 birds from one chimney at one time! At Memphis, Tennessee, approxi- mately 350 airline miles due north of Baton Rouge, Coffey has reported flocks numbering over 5,000 swifts in the fall, while Groskin (1945) has observed many flocks between 5,000 and 10,000 at Ardmore, Pennsylvania, also in the fall. Hitchcock (1945) at London, Ontario, trapped a flock containing 758 birds in late September. On the average, the peak of the Chimney Swift migration at Kingston is reached about the third week of May. When the month of May is warm and dry, the swift migration appears to be steady, with regular nightly roosting in Fleming Hall chimney. During rainy weather small flocks arriving at the chimney apparently remain there until the weather clears. As many as 4,000 swifts have been observed to accumulate over a 3 or 4 day rainy period. The large chimney on Fleming Hall, al- though never used for smoke, is connected with the basement of the building and serves as a warm. air flue. The temperature within the chimney on one occasion was found to be 65°F. The smokeless warm air and large inner surface area makes the chimney attrac- tive to swifts, especially on cool, damp nights in April and early May. During the 20-year period (1923-1947), 21,930 Chimney Swifts have been banded at Queen’s University. (See Table 1.) Up to April 1, 1948, a total of 2,142 swifts have been heard from as returns at Kingston or as recov- eries at other localities.2 During the same period there has been a recovery of 46 swifts originally banded at a station other than Kingston. The average per cent return for FIELD-NATURALIST 155 all swifts banded at Kingston during the 20- year period is 9.7. All flocks of swifts trapped at Queen’s University are examined for returns and repeats.2. Table 2 analyzes the data on flock composition for the years 1935 to 1947. In particular, it should be noted that there is a high percentage of returns toward the end of the migration season which is taken to mean that the late flocks are composed largely of younger birds. Many swifts have been recovered at King- ston after a lapse of more than one breeding season subsequent to banding. For example, 312 swifts have been captured at Kingston two or more years after banding. (See Table 3.) One swift has been captured as a return no less than 6 times. An interesting record is that of a swift banded at Kingston on September 2, 1928, which was recovered 12 Gays later at Charleston, W.Va., and again the following spring on May 10 at Kingston. One of the most striking multiple recaptures is that of a swift banded at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 24, 1938, which was trapped and released at Campbellton, New Brunswick, on June 1/1, 1939, and again at a point 15 miles southwest of Upsalquitch, New Brunswick, on August 22, 1940. Such records as these clearly demonstrate that a Chimney Swift may return year after year to the same locality. An attempt has been made to construct a form of life table for the Chimney Swift, based on 2,480 returns and recoveries of Kingston banded birds. Pond (1940), in a review of Green’s paper (1940), analyzes 627 returns and, recoveries of swifts banded at Chattanooga, Tennesssee. Both series of data are presented in Table 4. Returns and recov- eries have not been segregated in the calcula- tions for Kingston or Chattanooga. Even so, these data are not strictly comparable because Green banded for only a three-year period (1928-1930) and hence could not obtain any returns after 1930, although recoveries would continue to be reported after this time. The almost continuous banding program at King- ston (1928-1947) has resulted in the accumu- lation of recoveries and returns throughout the entire period. Thus, data for Kingston 2 A “return’’ is a recapture of a bird at the same station where banded, or within 5 miles of that station if more than 3 months after banding. A “repeat” is the same as a return except that the time between banding and recapture must be less than 3 months. A “'recovery’’ is a recapture of a bird at any time if more than 5 miles away from the point of banding. 156 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 TABLE 2 COMPOSITION OF CHIMNEY SWIFT FLOCKS TRAPPED AT KINGSTON, ONTARIO, 1935 - 1947 Year Date No. Percentage banded Mise.* No. returns Flock of returns in flock** total in flock 1935 ANE IZuit oy: PaaS eaae mney ee eden 303 25 86 414 20.8 IWiayail2e Rare Reta 451 9 43 503 8.5 Mays Gi eee eer es 337 15 14 3656 3.8 DEN AS 22 ater ae oas semte accone 1606 43 8 1657 0.5 1936 INTER a Dee a peceseesasontebe 247 14 56 817 14.8 DIRT? 1H One nea qnooeosannoe 856 50 260 1166 22.3 Miaiya 2a ive iter. inc muse 394 6 11 411 Poll INVER ANGLO Iie s oie dueeneccsepasess 538 13 18 569 See 1937 Manger GU etek sets cceerme ee 1259 4315** 315 2005 15.8 OE ee ee easundees 352 11 3 366 0.8 hub ave ven ccna os Seren eesee ater: 288 18 2, 308 0.6 DED (2 Oe eae eses. 464 — 97 560 17.3 1938 IM) pO cele easel ae 226 = 144 370 30.6 IND Agr 2 2s os stine ches cere rences 488 = 104 592 17.6 May g29) pte merce cesarean 524 25 51 600 8.5 1939 INT itl Ae Soe N cece ce ccect 420 — 218 638 34.2 ANE OAC e sco nasnoseecencbedes 180 — 1 181 0.6 1940 Way 2y me eietacce eee eee 1100 53 193 1346 14.3 MlayiliGi ireees Sienna 236 28 27 291 9.3 ONY eee IRS ec 600 40 153 793 19.3 IE eae at dcdeseeameracoceas 200 7 9 216 4.2 1941 (Maa Go ccseeee oc astewnacetse 200 50 157 407 38.6 AVE Vio ryrsbeae te sntice SS waco 200 — 69 269 34.5 1945 Mia SG eee ee ee 1000 DATTA 95 3967 9.5 (Miaiy2e 210! Wecisites sc cseteee none 2028% ** 19 2047 0.9 Mia 29 Tet eek eae 218 7 2 237 0.9 1946 (Mia yaad oe SU Ree 527 40 79 656 12.1 1947 Mays beat ee 1892 100 50 2042 2.4 * These figures include accidental kills, escapes, and ‘repeats’. ** These figures include all “returns” and “recoveries’’. *** Swifts released without banding. include a greater proportion of returns than the data for Chattanooga. It will be realized that for any one banding, recoveries depend upon the total number of birds banded, while returns depend upon the amount of subse- quent retrapping. Table 4 is not so imposing when it is understood that in making the calculations for the Kingston data it was assumed (1) that the decrease in returns during subsequent years is the result of mortality, (2) that the mortality rate is the same for all age groups, and (3) that all birds at banding are the same age. In order to construct a more meaningful life table for the Chimney Swift, it will be necessary to conduct a comprehensive pro- gram of nestling banding or devise some method of identifying first-year birds. Green (1940) states that few swifts live to be more than four years of age and that the majority of the birds die between 2 and 3 years of age. Comparative data for King- ston do not support this conclusion nor could we justly expect these data to settle this matter in view of certain inherent fallacies in calculation mentioned above. Only 5 Chattanooga banded swifts were reported alive 6 years after banding. Accord- ing to Pond’s calculations this figure is in- creased to 8. At Kingston, 177 banded swifts were reported alive 6 years after banding. Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN TABLE 3 FIELD-NATURALIST 157 ANALYSIS OF RETURNS* ON CHIMNEY SWIFTS 1 TO 11 YEARS SUBSEQUENT TO BANDING AT KINGSTON, ONTARIO. Year Date Year of recapture subsequent to banding (il ¢ 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 ODS UME HON ees. 2 3 2 4 9 2 1 AGB 720) 5 Sates 3 8 iI 8 5 4 — 1 1 1929 (May 10 ............ 1 il 6 1 1 il SFUITT Cali teereeeee es 12 4 14 fal 4 2 3 1 1OZOM(Mays VON... al qf 4 3 1 2, Maye 2A 08.5: 9 13 14 3 7 2 1 UT Oi seer cee 11 20 9 7 5 3} 2, 19ST. May Gay. ee: aie Hl 4 3} 4 1 June Ome Ms AD) NL 5 6 i! GEA OIE 7. 9 9 3 — 1 Mays sGii ee 12. 1 9 3 5 1 1 15 6 (Mave 20 5e sce. 24 8 4 7 4 2 il SUT CPO eres eseese= SOUP b a ee 14 6 1 OSS Ia ye Dee ece ne: 21 18 9 1 2 1 (MiaiyiGiess ee 30) 19) 12 6 2 2 3 uf WEN Gil pete 5 + 4 + 11157 Sema Lee eee 20a lel 2, 1 9 1 ICE Sy EA A ees 25 9 3 INTE pl PA eta ees 48 18 tf 6 7 1 AVI aes IG eeeeescess 16 8 3 — 1 (May 24 oooo.....::-: WGoa elo, ol: 9 7 5 1936" May, 10) -........ Soh weed 8 5 5 UM LAR Gieee at 90 15, 16 15 6 1 (Mavi 24e ea CI 15 9 10 4 ft Miaryars Oleccsees 49 12 8 9 it 1O37aiMay eG" ...6--25 36" 246 25 13 3 May 23 eee 42, fabled ke) 5 5 2 JUNE Onee eee ee ae 22, 10 5 i Sept 202... Dyker 1A teerenl ey 5 4 1933 (May 15. 39 «(ol 2 12 IIB WZ ADA Mae ee Qe *a9) ees 3 it 1 Miaiyie Zor ete oes. 3OMe2 dar 2a 8 2 iL 1GSOm (May 14 45° 115 a 2, 1 MWA 2GM oe. 2. 21 7 4 5 1 1940R May 12) 2 30 15 9 Miayamel' Gime cere. 18 + 3 1 Miavael One 25 10 4 1 IMaviG22.08's ae 11 8 4 2 1941+ AMayuGie..22 et 14 (Maya 112) eae. 8 UI 2 19450 May. 18iedieh:. 35 5 (Maywi29 hae. 1 W946) Mayas 2 15 Potalsw see LI41° ~521° 312 191 138 71 48 Al 14 2 * These figures include all “returns” and “recoveries” 11 158 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 TABLE 4 NUMBER OF CHIMNEY SWIFTS RECOVERED 1 TO 11 YEARS SUBSEQUENT TO BANDING AT CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE AND KINGSTON, ONTARIO.* No. of years Chattanooga** Kingston*** subsequent Tennessee Ontario to banding Totals Percentages Totals Percentages 1 APR rahe 406 65.9% 1141 46.0% Dihse HOE 147 23.2 521 21.0 ike eine: 20 3.4 312 12.5 A eelice nnd 11 1.8 191 Hall Die ekeid ay 2.8 138 5.5 (Gye aie otis 8 1.3 Til 2.9 Ti Nese een 3 0.5 48 1.9 Siisctie yi = — 41 ee Qe i, 3 0.5 14 0.6 TO es suse. shoe 1 0.3 2 0.08 id) See oe 1 0.3 1 0.004 * Totals include “returns” and “recoveries”. ** Totals as calculated from Green’s data (1940) by Pond (1940). “== Totals from table 3. Green’s age record is 11 years 6 days, i.e. banded October 16, 1928, recaptured October 22, 1939. The age record for Kingston is 11 years less 19 days, ie. banded June 7, 1929, recaptured May 19, 1940. In fact this bird was at least about 10 months older since it was banded in the spring and not in the fall of the year as was Green’s record bird. Bent (1940) states, “Every ten years or so the swifts do not appear about our house in the spring. Something has gone wrong on their journey northward. Our chimneys will be empty this year. . .” Examination of the somewhat scanty data on flock size and per cent return (Table 1) reveals no evidence in support of a ten-year population fluctua- tion as suggested by Bent. A continuous record of repeats was not kept at Kingston although a few complete records are available and these are presented in Table 5. From these meager data it seems that there is a decided shift in the local popu- lation of swifts every few days, if not daily. For example, on May 25, 1945, only 2.2% (22) of the 1,000 swifts banded 7 days previously were retrapped as “repeats”. The change in flock composition may be due primarily to a mass immigration and emigration of birds and secondarily to local movements within the Kingston area. There is need for addi- tional trapping stations in the Kingston area in order to determine the nature of flock turnover during migration. In general, the breeding range of the Chimney Swift extends from Newfoundland across southern Quebec to southeastern Sask- atchewan south to Fiorida and eastern Texas. Kingston banded swifts have been recovered over a considerable part of this range. (See Figure 3.) The most northerly as well as easterly point of recovery in North America is Kamouraska, Quebec, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, approxi- mately 300 miles northeast of Kingston. The most westerly point in Canada is Blind River, Ontario, on the northwestern shore of Lake Huron. In the United States, the most west- erly recovery point is Beeville, Texas. Gaines- ville, Florida, is the most southeasterly recov- ery point. One notable Kingston banded swift was recovered in Peru, South America, near the Yanayaco River, in the region be- tween Putamayo and Napo rivers. It is interesting to note that no Kingston banded swift has been recovered west of a line running from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to ‘Chicago, Illinois, exclusive of two records in the Gulf region. Calhoun and Dickinson (1942) banding at Charlottesville, Virginia, and Hitchcock (1945) at London, Ontario, likewise reported no recoveries west of the aforementioned line. By contrast, banders in Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, aS well as in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have recoveries both east and west of the Mississippi River. This suggests that the Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN TABLE 5 ANALYSIS OF REPEATS ON CHIMNEY SWIFTS AT KINGSTON, ONTARIO. Year Date No. banded banded 1928 june’ (9 ey Ps Dia! 1935 IY EE TNZs Coy fee eee: et Re 303 1936 Mayiil0: aces, 247 MayiehGp re. ee 856 Miayee oat Bcc kecc 394 1938 IMayaubs . ne eae 226 Maven 22a see: 488 1945 May, 18). 20... 8 2... 1000 eastern “flyways’” are relatively stable, with little or no diffusion with more westerly ones. From an analysis of the returns of Chim- ney Swifts banded at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lowery (1943) states that the Lower Missis- sippi Valley is an area of convergence as shown by the recovery of birds in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and South Dakota. Calhoun and Dickinson (1942) suggest that in the spring, Chimney Swifts passing through Charlottesville, Virginia, “. . . follow a route which seems to be limited on the east of the Appalachian Mountains to the Piedmont Region, lying at an elevation be- tween 500 and 1,000 ft. This flyway between Alabama and southern New York is desig- nated the Piedmont Flyway.” They conclude that part of the migrants use the Mississippi flyway in the fall migration, “. . . but they nearly always use the Piedmont Flyway in the spring.” Recoveries of Kingston banded swifts dur- ing the fall are, interestingly enough, equally numerous at points both east and west of the Appalachian Mountains (Tables 6 and 7). These data would support Calhoun and Dick- inson’s conclusion that part of the swifts using the Piedmont flyway in the spring, use the Mississippi flyway in the fall migration. The fact that there are so few recoveries west of the Appalachians during the spring is probably explained by the fact that there FIELD-NATURALIST 159 Date of No. of Percentage repeat repeats repeats July 20. 30 11.0% May eel aie a 3 1.0 iMate Gin sateen meted 3 1.0 May 24: he ws oottoek 2 0.7 May PilGiysscossecess oe ccnes 39 16.0 (Mianys 24) ys suaeeetwceesc. 2 0.8 (May (S30) koacsk. cco 2 0.8 [May ) 24k scccccdeicccesk 4 0.5 May 130) 3.5 eee: 4 0.5 IMayroOy esc tei ceses 8 2.0 HAY Ta? PPro osc e 2 0.9 (Maye 20 eo eeavccres 3 1.3 May 29 Meretern 11 2.3 (Mia yist 25 tee ee sce 22 Pape Wiaty R290 ee ate conan: 1 0.1 are few banding stations in this region, and what few there are operate chiefly in the fall of the year. To a lesser degree this also applies to the area east of the Appalachians. Thus our data at present strongly suggest that swifts use the Mississippi and Piedmont flyways to about the same extent during the autumn, but due to a paucity of records east and west of the Appalachians during the spring, little can be said about flyway prefer- ence for that season. For a discussion of the probable migration routes of the Chimney Swift between North and Central America, the somewhat contro- versial papers of Lowery (1943, 1945, and 1946) and Williams (1945, 1947, 1950a, and 1950b) should be consulted. Within the Province of Ontario there has been an interchange of birds between King- ston and Blind River, between Blind River and London; however, there are none between London and Kingston. One Toronto banded swift has been trapped at Kingston, and vice versa, banding and recapture in both cases eccurring in different years. In correlating the data on banding recov- eries with possible migration routes, it is often useful to have a general picture of the rate of advance and retreat of a species throughout its range. With this in mind, the. writer has prepared a tentative isochronal map which shows the rate of dispersal of the THE CANADIAN 160 LEGEND @ POINT OF RECOVERY OF SWIFT BARDED AT KINGSTON ® TOTAL NUMBER OF FIECOVERIES PER STATE OR PROVINCE FIELD-NATURALIST & POINT OF BANONG OF FOREION SWIFT RECOVERED AT HINGSTON [Vol. 66 Ne 1 i) 1 f SS \ i} y 1 Figure 3. Distribution of recoveries of Chimney Swifts banded at Kingston, Ontario. Chimney Swift in North America in the spring (Figure 4). In preparing the map, two types of spring migration records were used: (1) an average of several years’ records of earliest spring arrival dates obtained by one or more ob- servers in the same area (the bulk of the records), and (2) a record of first appear- ance for any one year. There are many single records of first arrivals not marked on the map for the reason that they dupli- eated the data for a station close by, but nevertheless were considered when establish- ing the position of an “isochrone” in the area concerned. The records were obtained directly from observers and from the litera- ture, but in areas where data were unavail- able, extrapolation was resorted to. Isochronal lines have been drawn at 5-day intervals. The Chimney Swift disperses over Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 161 TABLE 6 RECOVERIES OF KINGSTON BANDED SWIFTS EAST OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS DURING THE SPRING AND FALL Locality Spring Fall ‘Collinsville Camp Hill Opelika FLORIDA: Gainesville GEORGIA: Atlanta Forsyth Macon NORTH CAROLINA: Franklinton Greensboro Henderson Te ealkswvallliesaies ce tie eee een Sanford SOUTH CAROLINA: Spartanburg PENNSYLVANIA: New Albany Bushkill VIRGINIA: Charlottesville Fredericksburg TOTALS see 3 6 1 | to | NON bo | = (28) (12S) Bde 9 37 * S indicates the number of birds banded and recovered during the same year. most of its breeding range in North America on the average from March 21 to May 24, roughly 2 months. The distinctive cone- shaped “isochrones” of the lower Mississippi Valley suggest that the movement of swifts is more rapid along the axis of the cone, i.e. the Mississippi River, than at the peri- phery. The Mississippi delta is probably a focal point for the northward dispersal of swifts arriving from Central America. Un- doubtedly a funnelling of swifts occurs along other river valleys throughout the country, e.g. along the Hudson, Mohawk, and Delaware rivers in New York State, where slightly cone-shaped “isochrones” exist. The average records of first arrivals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Memphis, Ten- nessee, differ at the most by only about 5 days. This means that the Chimney Swift advances as much as 60 miles in one day. The same rate applies to the period April 19-24 although at other times the pace is considerably slower. The fairly rapid rate of advance of this species seems entirely plausible in view of an interesting record mentioned by Coffey (1944). A swift banded 162 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 TABLE 7 RECOVERIES OF KINGSTON BANDED SWIFTS WEST OF THE APPALACHIAN (MOUNTAINS DURING THE SPRING AND FALL Locality Spring Fall KENTUCKY: MERA DIS OVA NTAU INE) gee hsseasbsosooedaon, anspor == il MISSISSIPPI: Brookav.eni see cee saree ere neice — 1 Wiatervallleyy: 2en. vee emer eee 1 — OHIO: (POGESITUO UG le aoe Un Aue uot — 1 TENNESSEE: ‘Chiattanoogae 2x0 see cma ees nee — 5) ACES) TEM ORV Ae) A een NE ae oak ane get — 3 WWeEnaip MS! jee ce eens eee — 10 (6S) IMICTRGNI ZION eee lo ene clr umnen eit — 1 NaS hi vallilies 7 {peer ee Oe eee — 12 (3S) Wal Oat ae 26 driereenv.c. taken A semen — 1 (S) WEST VIRGINIA: IG aABlESEOME i. Me NOE UL Oh Na UTM eee — 2 (2S) TOTALS eh Ae a Le 1 37 (12S) * S indicates the number of birds banded and recovered during the same year. at Lexington, Mo., on September 23, 1938, arrived at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sep- tember 26, 1938. A rate of 200 miles per day would be necessary to cover the 600 airline mile distance in 3 days. Calhoun (1938) remarks on a swift banded at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 27, by G. H. Lowery, Jr., which was captured 5 days later at a point 460 miles north-northwest. Thus the bird must have flown about 100 miles a day in order to cover the distance. Green (1940) reports that a swift banded a Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, was recovered on the same day, 100 miles distant. Rapid travelling such as this may help to explain why arrival dates along the Gulf coast have no regular pattern. For example, Williams (1945) gives the fol- lowing dates for the Chimney Swift: in 1940 they were first seen at Rockport on March 29; at Kemah, 170 miles north of Rockport, on March 30; at Cover, 190 miles northeast of Rockport, on March 24, and at Pensacola on March 27. It is interesting to note that the records of swift arrival in Florida are later than those in Texas and Louisiana. This fact, correlated with the paucity of recoveries of banded swifts, is taken to mean that the Chimney Swift reaches the continental United States by a route other than through Florida. In general, the isochronal lines of April 14 and May 14 correspond reasonably well with the average 50 degree F. isotherms for April and May. The average arrival date for the swift in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (March 21, 9 year record) corresponds more closely to the average 60 degree F. isotherm for March. This suggests that the arrival of this species in the Gulf region is adjusted to a time which will assure the birds an ade- quate supply of aerial insect food, presuma- bly when the 60 degree isotherm has reached the north Gulf coast. SUMMARY This paper reports on the results of Chimney Swift banding at Kingston, Ontario, from 1928 to 1947. During the 19-year period, 21,930 Chimney Swifts have been banded with 2,142 returns and recoveries reported up to April 1, 1948. The average per cent return on Kingston-banded swifts is thus 9.7. Band- Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 163 oF Gay S=s7 772 MAY 9 og “mL MAY 4 BY NOE APRIL 29 & A 5 APRIL 24 gee Oe > APRIL 19 HOY n \ WI 4 \ — Si. APRIL 14 aS \ SGA APRIL 9 ~s sei 4 \ ‘ig ah r\ | ald dere on -™; MARCH 31 PONS APRIL 4 Se ] TRS NY MARCH 26 > \ \ 4 \ yaya boar) lh ( MARCH 21 bee Were. aS ‘ \ as Sey renner ~. aa K ( Fm oO 7 “ tie ae a . aS Fah DS : cea ee en | SEN, » SPRING MIGRATION RECORD ih PI ——--|ISOCHRONAL MIGRATION LINE 0 100 200 300 400 Scale of Miles Resse BE he na kd ge Same Figure 4. Isochronal map for the Chimney Swift in North America, 164 THE CANADIAN ing at Kingston has been done almost exclu- sively in the spring of the year. Only a small fraction of the total swift population passing through Kingston in the spring has been trapped, banded, and released. The peak of the Chimney Swift migration in Kingston is reached on or about the third week of May. ‘The largest flock of swifts to be trapped at one time contained 3,967 birds. In view of the higher percentage of returns in flocks trapped toward the end of the migration season, it has been assumed that the late flocks are composed largely of younger birds. The age record for a King- ston-banded swift is approximately 12 years. A rapid turnover of the swift population in the Kingston area during the spring migration is suggested by the data on repeats. A map showing the distribution of recoveries of Kingston-banded swifts is included. Birds have been recovered in 15 states, 2 provinces, and in Peru, South America. A form of life table for the Chimney Swift is presented with a discussion of its limitations. Recovery data strongly suggest that swifts use the Missis- sippi and Piedmont flyways to about the same extent during the autumn, but due to a paucity of records east and west of the Appalachian Mountains during the spring of the year, little can be said about flyway preference for this season. A _ tentative isochronal map for the Chimney Swift is included. The Chimney Swift disperses over most of its breeding range in North America on the average from March 21 to May 24, roughly 2 months. LITERATURE CITED Audubon, J. J., 1840. The birds of America. Vol. 1. Beck, H. H., 1948. The winter home of the ‘Chimney Swift; local man helps to find it. Bulletin, Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, Bird Club, No. 15, pp. 1-2. Bent, A. C., 1940. Life histories of North American cuckoos, goatsuckers, humming- birds, and their allies. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 176, p. 278. Brackbill, H., 1950. The man who turned in the first Chimney Swift bands from Peru. Migrant, Vol. 21, pp. 17-21. Calhoun, J. B., 1938. Swift banding at Nash- ville and Clarksville. Migrant, Vol. 9, pp. 77-81. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 and J. C. Dickinson, Jr., 1942. Mig- ratory movements of Chimney Swifts, Chaetura pelagica (Linnaeus) trapped at (Charlottesville, Virginia. Bird- Banding, Vol. 18, pp. 57-69. Coffey, B. B., Jr., 1988. Swift banding in the south. Migrant, Vol. 9, pp. 82-84. , 1944. Lowery: Probable migration routes of Chimney Swifts. A review. Mig- rant, Vol. 15, pp. 3-6. Ganier, A. F., 1944. More about the Chim- ney Swifts found in Peru. Migrant, Vol. 15, pp. 39-41. Green, W. R., 1940. Banding of Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica), in the region of Chattanooga. Bird-Banding, Vol. 11, pp. 37-57. Groskin, H., 1945. at Ardmore, Pennsylvania. pp. 361-370. Hitchcock, H. B., 1945. Recoveries of banded Chimney Swifts. Canad. Field-Nat., Vol. 59, pp. 148-149. Lineoln, F. C., 1944. Chimney Swift’s winter home discovered. Auk, Vol. 61, pp. 604- 609. ————, 1947. Manual for bird banders. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lowery, G. H., Jr., 1943. The dispersal of 21,414 Chimney Swifts banded at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with notes on probable migration routes. Proc. La. Acad. Sci., Vol. 7, pp. 56-74. , 1945. Trans-Gulf spring migration of birds and the coastal hiatus. Wilson Bull., Vol. 57, pp. 92-121. , 1946. Evidence of trans-Gulf migra- tion. Auk, Vol. 63, pp. 175-21/1. Peters, H. S., 1987. Chimney Swift banding in Alabama during the fall of 1986. Bird- _ Banding, Vol. 8, pp. 16-24. Pend, J., 1940. Green: Banding Chimney Swifts in the region of Chattanooga. Mig- rant, Vol. 11, pp. 38-44. Williams, G. G., 1945. Gulf of Mexico in spring ? pp. 98-111. 1947. Lowery on trans-Gulf migration. Auk, Vol. 64, pp. 217-238. , 1950a. Weather and spring migra- Auk, Vol. 67, pp. 52-65. , 1950b. The nature and causes of the ‘coastal hiatus’. Wilson Bull., Vol. 62, pp. 175-182. Chimney Swifts roosting Auk, Vol. 62, Do birds cross the Auk, Vol. 62, tion. Nov.-Dec. 1952] - THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 165 “VASCULAR PLANTS FROM MILL ISLAND, HUDSON STRAIT? NIcHOLAS POLUNIN Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1D eee July and August, 1951, some time was spent on Mill Island by Dr. Deric O’Bryan and Mr. Daniel Rogers of the Arctic, Desert and Tropic Information Center, Re- search Studies Institute, Air University, Max- well Air Force Base, Alabama, U.S.A. The main object of their visit was archaeological, the work being under the auspices of the Arctic Institute of North America under contractual agreements with the Office of Naval Research and undertaken with the co-operation of the United States and Royal Canadian Air Forces; but the opportunity was fortunatelq taken to collect some plants. These appear to have been the first to be gathered on this little-known island, and, as the vas- cular species among them were recently sent to me for identification, I feel it incumbent upon me to record them. Mill Island and the adjacent smaller Put- nam Island lie around lat. 64°N. and long. 78°W. near the western outlet of Hudson Strait into northeastern Hudson Bay (see map). From a distance they look dark and hummocky, the coast-line being rugged and the bedrock igneous. According to notes kindly supplied by Mr. Rogers, the plants were collected at “Morrissey Harbor, Mill Island, July to August 1951’”—some of them “in the immediate vicinity of the camp site” where “The soil was sandy without humus... There was no bedrock and permafrost could not be found at five feet ... The rest of the plants, except those marked as coming from ‘meadows’, were collected in the sandy area over a humus type of black soil. The flower- ing plants were generally associated with moss-covered soil. In thie area there was permafrost or bedrock within eighteen inches of the surface. The soil was very damp and cold. The plants collected from the... ‘meadows’ were found in very marshy type of soil.” There follows an annotated list of the 28 species of vascular plants which I have de- termined in this material from Mill Island (whether from orthodox specimens or mere chance scraps) and arranged according to my ‘Botany of the Canadian Eastern Arctic. Part 1 Received for publication March 2, 1952. 2 National Museum of Canada Bulletin No. 92, pp. vi + 408, 1940. I, Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta’,2 the nomenclature being brought up to date where necessary, and it may be noted that each is not merely a commonly recognized arctic species but is already recorded in that work as widespread and usually plentiful in such adjacent regions as have been botanical- ly explored. EQUISETACEAE Equisetum variegatum Schleich. Recorded from most adjacent areas that have been actively botanized, and probably overlooked in the others. LYCOPODIACEAE Lycopodium selago L. Plentiful probably throughout this general region. GRAMINEAE Trisetum spicatum (L.) Richt. Plentiful probably throughout the general region. Poa arctica R. Br. Abundant probably throughout the general region. Puccinellia phryganodes (Trin.) Scribn. & Merrill. Widely overlooked owing to its un- attractive matted habit and salt-marsh habitat, but recorded from nearby Southampton Island and both sides of Hudson Strait, and probably abundant along sea shores in the general region. Elymus arenarius L. var. villosus KE. Meyer. Plentiful along shores in the general region. CYPERAICHAE Eriophorum scheuchzeri Hoppe. Abund- ant probably throughout the general region. | Pr [nee | Pn ann CRE) SIN Sketch map showing location of Mill Island. 166 THE CANADIAN Plentiful probably and very Carex misandra R.Br. throughout the general region, likely abundant, but the records are not as - numerous as for many species—presumably owing to its unassuming grass-like form. C. membranacea Hook. Abundant probab- ly throughout the general region. SALICAICEAE Salix reticulata LL. Abundant probably throughout the general region, but represent- ed by only a few loose and withered leaves in the present collection. S. herbacea L. Abundant throughout the general region. probably S. aretica Pall., s.l. Abundant in several of its numerous forms probably throughout the general region. S. caleicola Fernald & Wiegand. Plentiful in at least some adjacent areas. POLYGONAICEAE Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill. Abundant prob- ably throughout the general region. Polygonum viviparum L. Abundant prob- ably throughout the general region. CARYOPHYLLACEAE Silene acaulis L. var. exscapa (All.) DC. Abundant probably throughout the general region. Lychnis apetala L. Abundant probably throughout the general region. Cerastium alpinum L., s.l. Abundant in one or another of its various forms probably throughout the general region. Stellaria humifusa Rottb. Appears to be recorded among the islands of Hudson Bay and Strait only from Southampton Island (and an immediate satellite), but this is probably owing to its diminutive form and restricted salt-marsh habitat, as it has been found almost everywhere along shores in the general region that have been searched by a sufficiently ecologically minded collector. PAPAVERACEAE Papaver radicatum Rottb. Abundant prob- ably throughout the general region. CRUCIFERAE Draba alpina L. Abundant in various forms probably throughout the general region. The presence of only a single species of this usually well represented family suggests that the collecting in 1951 was largely fortuitous. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 SAXIFRAGACEAE Saxifraga cernua L. Abundant probably throughout the general region. S. oppositifolia L. Abundant probably throughout the general region. S. tricuspidata Rottby. Plentiful probably throughout the general region. ROSACEAE Dryas integrifolia M. Vahl. Abundant probably throughout the general region. ONAGRACEAE Epilobium latifolium L. Although there are rather few reports of this handsome species from the islands of Hudson Strait and Bay, it may yet prove to be plentiful thereon, as it is in the adjacent parts of the mainland and on Baffin Island. ERICACEAE Cassiope tetragona (L.) D.Don. Abundant probably throughout the general region. COMPOSITAE Erigeron humilis Graham (E. unalasch- kensis (DC.) Vierh.). Even though there are not many reports of this species from the Islands of Hudson Strait and Bay (apart from southern Baffin Island), it is probably plenti- ful throughout the region, being often over- looked owing to its characteristic ‘late-snow’ habitat and diminutive form. In addition there were collected on grav- elly soil near the shore at Seashore Point, which is the easternmost extremity of South- ampton Island and the nearest point of that considerable land-mass to Mill Island (see map), the following 6 phanerogams—all of which have previously been recorded from Southampton Island where indeed each one is plentiful and widespread: Salix herbacea L., Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill, Silene acaulia var. exscapa (All.) DC., Saxifraga tricuspidata Rottb., Dryas intergifolia M. Vahl, and Pedi- cularis lanata Cham & ‘Schlecht. For such reasons as the very poor re- presentation, or even omission, of some of the larger families and genera, and their fre- quency in the better-known areas of the same general region, it seems safe to conclude that the above list of plants from Mill Island, although useful as a start, indicates only a small proportion of the total vascular flora, while the lower cryptogams are doubtless far more numerous. In this and other connect- ions it may be of interest to list the special vascular florulae that in recent years have Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN been published of islands in Hudson Bay and (Strait; although most of the relevant informa- tion was gathered together and the data revised in my work already cited, much of significance has been added since. On Southampton Island we have H. M. Raup’s “Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta of Southampton Island” (Memoirs of the Car- negie Museum, vol. 12, part 3, pp. 17-30 1936), the present writer’s “The flora of Southampton Island, Hudson Bay” (Journal of Botany, vol. 76, pp. 93-103, 1938) and “Additions to the floras of Southampton and Mansel Islands, Hudson Bay” (Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard Uni- versity. No. 165, pp. 94-105, 1947), and W. J. Cody’s “Additions and annotations to the flora of Southampton Island, Northwest Territories, Canada” (Canadian Field-Natu- ralist, vol. 65, pp. 140-3, 1951); on Mansel FIELD-NATURALIST 167 Island, we have the present author’s ‘Vas- cular plants from Mansel (Mansfield) Is- land, N.W.T.” (ibid., vol. 52, pp. 5-9, 1938) as well as his “Additions” cited above; on Salisbury Island, we have the present wri- ter’s “On some plants from Salisbury Island, collected by Major L. T. Burwash in 1924 and by the Hon. J. N. S. Buchan in 1938” (ibid., vol. 54, pp. 9-10, 1940), and on Akpa- tok Island we have his earlier ‘The flora of Akpatok Island, Hudson Strait” (Journal of Botany, vol. 72, pp. 197-204, 1934). Besides the gentlemen mentioned above to whom is owed this opportunity to offer a preliminary florula of Mill Island, it is a pleasure to thank the John Simon Guggen- heim Memorial Foundation for a research fellowship and Harvard University for a re- newed honorary appointment to help me continue my various studies in arctic botany and ecology. PHYTOPLANKTON OF SOME MARITIME LAKES? ELwyn O. HuGHEs 2 N an earlier paper (Hughes, 1950) the author has reviewed the literature on the fresh-water algae of the Maritime Provinces. Since most of the species reported in that paper were found in collections taken from the littoral regions of lakes, ponds, and streams, the strictly limnetic phytoplankton is not adequately described. Professor C. W. Lowe’s list of algae from Lake Jesse, Nova Scotia, (M. W. Smith, 1938) appears to be the only previous record of freshwater phytop- lankton from the Maritime Provinces. From Dr. M. W. Smith of the Atlantic Biological station, the author has received 22 collections? of phytoplankton taken over a period of several years from eight small lakes in Charlotte County, N.B. The algae were collected by towing a No. 20 bolting silk net to a depth of one metre. Names of the lakes and dates on which collections were made are: Bonaparte Lake—July, 1948. Crecy Lake—Aug. and Sept. 1942; June 1948. Gibson Lake—Sept. and Oct. 1947; June, Aug. and Sept. 1948. 1 Manuscript received March 11, 1952. 2 Division of Applied Biology, National Research La- boratories, Ottawa, Ontario. 3 Species identified from eight of these collections are also being reported by Smith (1952). Kerr Lake (North Lake)—July 1948. Limeburner Lake—June 1948. Potter’s Lake—/May, June, July, Sept. and Oct. 1938. St. Patrick Lake—July 1948. Welch Lake—Aug. and Sept. 1942; July 1948. The limnology of seven of these lakes (excluding Potter’s) is described in detail by M. W. Smith (1952). In general it may be stated that they all lie in a Devonian granite region and that their waters are stained to varying degrees by bog drainage. The lakes are low in carbonates (mean value of bound CO., 3.3 ml. per 1.) with a surface pH of 6.8-7.0. Calcium content is low (2.4-4.3 p.p.m.) and total phosphorus content averages about 0.015 p.p.m. Physical and chemical charac- teristics of the lakes are similar to the soft- water lakes of northern Michigan and Wis- consin (Prescott, 1951). The primary concern of the author has been the specific identification of the algae present in the Charlotte County lakes. It was evident that dominance in the collections was restricted primarily to six genera (ex- . cluding diatoms). These genera were Ana- baena, Microcystis, Ceratium, Dinobryon, Bo- tryococcus and Staurastrum. The same six 168 THE CANADIAN genera were also the most widespread, each of them occurring in at least five of the lakes examined. Over half of the species identified were desmids, the long-armed species of Staurastrum being especially numerous. The sparsity of Chlorococcales (excepting Botryococcus which may not belong in this order) and the great variety of the desmid flora leads one to assign the phytoplankton to the Caledonian type (G. M. Smith, 1950). This interpretation is in keeping with the low pH and calcium content of the waters, and with the geology of the region. Further examination of some of the author’s collections from a small lake in Nova Scotia has revealed the presence of several previously unidentified dinophyceans. For the sake of the record, these species (identified by Dr. R. H. Thompson of the University of Kansas) are included in the appended cata- logue. All genera in the taxonomic list are described in G. M. Smith’s “Fresh-water Algea of the United States’, in which are also contained useful references for identification of species. Most of the species are illustrated by Smith (1920, 1924), Irénée-Marie (1939), or Prescott (1951). Additional references where necessary are cited in the catalogue of species. The list includes 119 species and varieties of algae, 45 of which are new records for the Maritime Provinces, six new to Nova Scotia, and 74 new to New Brunswick. Distribution is indicated. by the initial letter of the name of the lake or lakes in which each species has been found. CATALOGUE OF SPECIES * New to New Brunswick ** New to the Maritime Provinces Myxophyceae ** Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyngb.) Bréb. (B,G, K,W) ** Aphanocapsa elachista W. & G. S. West (S,L) ** A. elachista var. planctonica G. M. Smith (L) * A. delicatissima W. & G. S. West (G) ** Aphanothece clathrata W. & 'G.S. West (S) A. stagnina (Sprengel) A. Braun (G) * Chroococcus limneticus Lemm. (G) Coelosphaerium naegelianum Ung. (L,P) ** Gomphosphaeria aponina Kitz. (L) Microcystis aeruginosa Kiitz. (B,G,L,K,S, W) Reasons for the retention of the name FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Microcystis rather than Polycystis are given by Prescott (1951). ** M. incerta Lemm. (G,W) ** Rhabdoderma sigmoidea Carter (W) Dinophyceae All dinophyceans reported as new records from the Maritime Provinces (**) were col- lected from a small artificial lake near Charleston, Queen’s County, Nova Scotia. Peridinium cinctum (O. F. M.) Ehrenb. (?) listed by Smith (1952) from St. Patrick Lake ghoul be excluded. : * Ceratium carolinianum (Bailey) Jorgensen (W) Ceratium hirundinella (O. F. M.) Schrank (B,G,K,S,W) C. hirundinella fa. robustum Amberg (W) ** Cystodinium iners Geitler ** Glenodinium penardiforme (Lind.) Schiller ** G. palustre (Lemm.) Schiller ** Peridinium centenniale (Playf.) Lefev. P. limbatum (Stokes) Lemm. (P) ** P, umbonatum Stein ** Raciborskia bicornis Wolosz. Chrysophyceae 1 Chrysosphaerella longispina Laut. (W,P) Dinobryon bavaricum Imhof (B,C a W) D. cylindricum Imhof (L,S) * D. divergens Imhof (B,G,K,L,S) D. sertularia Ehrenb. (P,S,W) Mallomonas caudata Iwanoff (P,S) Synura uvella Ehrenb. (P,S) Me % Bacillariophyceae 4 Asterionella formosa Hass. (B,G,L,K,P,S) Cyclotella compta (Ehrenb.) Ktitz. (S) Diatoma elongatum (Lyngb.) Agardh (G) Eunotia pectinalis (Kiitz.) Rabenh. (L) Eu. robusta Ralfs (S) Fragillaria crotonensis Kitton (G) Melosira granulata (Ehrenb.) Ralfs (G,P) Tabellaria fenestrata (Lyngb.) Kiitz. (‘L,S) T. flocculosa (Roth) Kiitz. (G) Chiorophyceae Volvocales ** Hudorina elegans Ehrenb. (S,W) * Pandorina morum Bory (S,W) Chlorococcales Botryococcus brauni Kiitz. (G,K,L,S,W) * Coelastrum cambricum Archer (G) Crucigenia irregularis Wille (P) Dictyosphaerium pulchellum Wood (G,S) * Dimorphococcus lunatus A. Br. (L) 4 Identified by Ivan L. Ophel. Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN Kirchneriella lunaris (Kirch.) Moeb. (G,S) Oocystis borgei Snow (G) * O. lacustre Chodat (G) Pediastrum araneosum Racib. (G,S) P. araneosum var. rugulosum (G. S. West) G. M. Smith (G,K) P. boryanum (Turp.) Menegh. (G,P) P. duplex var. clathratum (A. Br.) Lagerh. (L) Scenedesmus armatus (Chod.) G. M. Smith (G) Scenedesmus (S) Selenastrum bibraianum Reinsch (G) S. bibraianum var. gracile (Reinsch) Ahl. & Tiff. (G) Sorastrum americanum (Bohl.) Schmidle (G) Westella botryoides (W. West) de Wildm. (G,L) Tetrasporales ** Gloeocystis gigas (Kiitz.) Lagerh. (C,G,S) ** Tetraspora lacustris Lemm. (?) (L) This material is distributed throughout the collection but because of partial disin- tegration the identification is uncertain. Desmidiales All the following species of Arthrodesmus and one of the Staurastrum species (St. cuspi- datum Bréb.) have been transferred by Teil- ing (1948) to the genus Stawrodesmus. There is sound argument for the recognition of this genus, created to contain the monospinous species of Arthrodesmus and Staurastrum. The name has not been adopted in this paper chiefly because extensive nomenclatural changes would be involved if the author did not choose to follow the infra-specific con- cepts introduced by Teiling. * Arthrodesmus incus (Bréb.) Hass. (B) A. incus fa. minor W. & G. S. West (S) * A. incus var. extensus Andersson ((C) ** A. ralfsi var. brebissoni (Racib.) G. M. Smith fa. limnophilus (Teil.) comb. nov. (C) syn. Staurodesmus glabrus (Ehrenb.) Teil. subsp. brebissonii (Racib.) Teil. fa. limnophilus Teiling 1948 ** A. subulatus Kiitz. (W) ** A. triangularis Lagerh. var. inflatus W. & G. S. West fa. robustus W. & G. S. West (K) A. triangularis var. rotundatus (Racib.) G. M. Smith (P) he tok quadricauda (Turp.) Bréb. * A. triangularis var. subtriangularis (Borge) . W. & G. S. West (W) Differs from previously published des- FIELD-NATURALIST 169 criptions by a slight convergence of the spines. Closterium archerianum Cleve (P) Cl. costatum Corda (P) Cl. costatum var. westii Cush. (P) Cl. kuetzingii Bréb. ((P) Cl. moniliferum (Bory) Ehrenb. (P) Cosmarium contractum Kirch. (P) C. moniliforme (Turp.) Ralfs (W) C. moniliforme fa. punctata Lagerh. (C,W) C. monomazon var. polymazum Nordst. (P) C. panamense Prescott var. smithii Hughes (P) Desmidium grevillii (Kiitz.) de Bary (C) Euastrum didelta (Turp.) Ralfs (P) Eu. elegans (Bréb.) Kiitz. (P) Eu. humerosum Ralfs_ var. Krieg. (P) Eu. verrucosum Ehrenb. (P) Hyalotheca dissiliens (J. E. Smith) Bréb. (K,W) parallelum * H. mucosa (Dillw.) Ehrenb. (W) * H. neglecta Racib. (W) ** Micrasterias fimbriata Ralfs (G) M. mahabuleshwarensis Hobs. var. ringens (Bail.) Krieg. (P,W) * M. muricata (Bail.) Ralfs (C) M. radiata Hass. (C,S) * Onychonema filiforme (Ehrenb.) Roy & Biss. (W) Pleurotaenium ehrenbergii (Bréb.) de Bary (P) * Sphaerozosma excavatum Ralfs (C,G,K) * Sph. exiguum Turner (S) Spondylosium planum (Wolle) W. & G. S. West (P,W) Staurastrum anatinum ‘Cooke (G,P) & Wills = St. anatinum var. curtum G. M. Smith (G) Boe St. anatinum var. denticulatum G. M. Smith (K) * St. ankyroides Wolle (C,K,S,W) %* sh St. ankyroides var. pentacladum G. M. Smith (W) St. arctiscon (Ehrenb.) Lund. (C,P) St. avicula Bréb. (G) St. brachiatum Ralfs (S,W) St. brasiliense Nordst. var. lundellii W. & G. S. West (W) * St. breviaculeatum Bréb. (G) * St. brevispinum Bréb. fa. majus W. West (K) St. cerastes Lundell (W) * St. cuspidatum Bréb. (C,G,S) St. furcatum (Ehrenb.) Bréb. (W) * St. grallatorium Nordst. var. forcipigerum Lag. (W) 170 THE CANADIAN St. johnsonii W. & G. S. West (P,W) ** St. johnsonii var. depauperatum G. M. Smith. (C) ‘Processes more divergent than in Smith’s (1924) or Irénée-Marie’s (1939) drawings. ** St. johnsonii fa. parvum G. M. Smith (G) ** St. lacustre G. M. Smith (G,K) * St. leptacanthum Nordst. (W) * St. leptocladum Nordst. (K,S,W) * St. leptocladum var. denticulatum G. M. Smith (G,K) ** St. leptocladum var. insigne W. & G. S. West (C,G) ** St. leptocladum var. sinuatum Wolle (B) A specimen of this variety was found with one semi-cell identical to G. M. Smith’s forma planum. ** St. longipes (Nordst.) Teiling (1946) (S) (syn. St. paradoxum Meyen var. longipes Nordst.) * St. megacanthum Lund. (B,G) * St. paradoxum Meyen (C,G,S) * St. pentacerum (Wolle) G. M. Smith (B, G) St. pseudopelagicum W. & G. S. West (P) St. rotula Nordst. (P,S,W) ** St. subnudibrachiatum W. & G. S. West var. incisum G. M. Smith (G,W) ** St. tohopekaligense Wolle var. brevispi- num G. M. Smith (G) ** St. wolleanum Butler var. Wolle (P) This species was listed and described as Staurastrum sp. by Hughes (1950). kissimmense Xanthidium antilopaeum (Bréb.) Kiitz. (S) * X. antilopaeum var. polymazum Nordst. (C,G,W) Netrium digitus (Ehrenb.) Itz. & Rothe (P) FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is indebted to Dr. M. W. Smith for supplying the collections and to Dr. R. H. Thompson and Mr. I. L. Ophel for their kindness in identifying dinophyceans and diatoms. REFERENCES HUGHES, E. O. 1950. Fresh-water algae of The Maritime Provinces. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sei. 22: 1-63 (1947-48). IRENEE-MARIE, Fr. 1939. Flore desmidiale de la région de Montréal. 388 pp. 69 pl. ‘Laprairie, Québec. PRESCOTT, G. W. 1951. Algae of the western Great Lakes area. Cranbrook Inst. Sci. Bull. 31. Bloomfield Hills, Mich. SMITH, G. M. 1920. The phytoplankton of the inland lakes of Wisconsin. Bull. Wisconsin Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. 57 (1): 1-243. 1924. Idem. Ibid. 57 (2): 1-227. 1950. The fresh-water algae of the United States. Second edition. McGraw-Hill. New York. SMITH, M. W. 1938. A survey of Lake Jesse, Nova Scotia. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci. 19: 253-263. 1952. Limnology and trout angling in Charlotte County Lakes, New Brunswick. J. Fisheries Research Board Can. 8(6): 383-452. TEILING, E. 1946. Zur Phytoplanktonflora Schwedens. Botan. Notiser 1:61-88. 1948. Staurodesmus, genus novum. Botan. Notiser 1: 49-83. NOTES ON FISHES COLLECTED FROM LAKE WINNIPEG REGION * J. J. KELEHER Central Fisheries Research Station, Winnipeg, Manitoba HE MOST RECENT CHECKLIST of Manitoban fishes is Hinks (1943). It is based partly on literature records, some of which are disputed (Hubbs, 1945). The dis- tribution of many species is generalized which tends to conceal our ignorance of their precise occurrence. The cautious presentation 1 Received for publication, April 28, 1952. of Manitoban distributional records in Dy- mond (1947) reveals the paucity of collected material. For these reasons, collecting fishes from this region is worthwhile. Field studies for a research project of - the Central Fisheries Research Station, Win- nipeg, provided the opportunity for collect- ing specimens. The majority of the fish were Nov.-Dec. 1952] collected by J. E. Matheson and the writer. The contribution of specimens by L. C. Hew- son, K. G. Roberts and K. H. Doan is grate- fully acknowledged. Useful suggestions for the improvement of the manuscript were provided by R. M. Bailey and G. H. Lawler. The species list which follows is based on the specimens listed in Table 1 and does not contain all the species collected. Com- mercial fish generally are omitted and four other abundant species are not treated. These are Notropis hudsonius, spot-tail minnow, N. atherinoides, emerald shiner, Percopsis omis- comaycus, trout-perch and Boleosoma nigrum, Johnny darter. The table presents for each locality the number of fish, range in length and the date collected. Length is the straight line distance from the tip of the snout to the end of the middle caudal fin rays. The lati- tude of the localities are as follows: Red River, 49° 48° and 50° 6’, Victoria Beach, 50° 42’, Black Island, 51° 12’, Loon Straits, 51° 32’, Bullhead, 51° 35’ Black Bear Island, 51° 46’, Dauphin River, 51° 58’ Spider Island, 53° 30’ and Warren Landing 53° 42’. All fish listed in Table 1 have been de- posited in the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoo- logy and Palaeontology. 1. Ichthyomyzon castaneus Girard — Chestnut lamprey. The lamprey from the Red River was col- lected between Selkirk and St. Andrews Locks. It was attached to a pike which was caught by angling. The Black Island specimen was caught in a commercial gill-net. This species appears to have a very limited Canadian dis- tribution. Hubbs and Trautman (1937) re- port it from Lake Manitoba, and accept literature records from the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. Hinks (1948) states that it is abundant in the Winnipeg River. 2. Hiodon tergisus Le Sueur — Mooneye. The mooneye and goldeye, Amphiodon alosoides both occur in Lake Winnipeg. 3. Rhinichthys cataractae (Valenciennes) — Longnose dace. Approximately 10 individuals collected at Black Bear Island possessed a bright orange tinge on the pectoral fins and premaxillary. At every locality these minnows were seined on a rocky bottom. 4. Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill) — Golden shiner. The two specimens were collected in four feet of water at the mouth of the Mukatawa THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 171 River. This record extends the Manitoban range since Hinks (1943) reports the oc- currence of the golden shiner only “around the southern half of Lake Winnipeg.” 5. Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque)—Channel cat. These fish, collected in gill-nets, are un- common at Victoria Beach. The explanation for the change in the trivial name of this species is given in Speirs (1952). 6. Ameiurus nebulosus (Le Sueur) — Brown bullhead. Schools of young bullheads frequently are observed in quiet bays at Victoria Beach. Hinks (1943) states that A. melas, the Black bullhead also occurs in Manitoba. Dymond (1947) does not give any Manitoban distri- butional records for this species. Specimens if collected should be retained. 7. Schilbeodes mollis (Herman) — Tadpole madtom. This species was collected by still fishing with earth-worms at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, Winnipeg. One fish at Black Bear Island was taken at a depth of 33 feet. The others were obtained at the sur- face in shallow water. Hubbs and Lagler (1947) list this species from the Red River system of North Dakota. Hinks (1943) notes that it occurs occasionally in the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The Lake Winnipeg re- cord is an extension of known distribution. 8. Imostoma shumardi (Girard)—River darter. The Mukathawa River specimens were collected either in the river mouth or the river proper. There is no record of the exact date collected but it was between June 15 and July 31, 1947. Another fish taken in the river in 1947 was identified by Dr. W. B. Scott, Toronto. These records extend the northern distribution given by Hinks (1943). Etheostoma guntheri Eigenmann and Eigen- mann is treated by Hinks (1943) as a syn- onym of Hadropterus maculatus (Girard), the Black-sided darter. This appears to be in er- ror since Hubbs and Greene (1928) and Carlander (1941) regard guntheri as syn- onymous with Imostoma shumardi. 9. Percina caprodes (Rafinesque)—Log-perch. At Victoria Beach this species was col- lected from a sandy bay; at the other local- ities it occurred on rocky bottom. 10. Poecilichthys exilis (Girard)—Iowa darter. The single specimen was obtained from a small pool at Black Bear Island. 172 Tur CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Table 1. Records of fish collected from Lake Winnipeg region Species and No. of locality fish . castaneus FROCERDVGT: eee ee: eles EERE al Blacksalislai ieee ee tae cceseeee es: 1 . tergisus Wal ctOrtaim beac limes cetera sree oe 10 . cataractae Bullheaiskk. Ashes ee See eleees 23 Black Bearsislandige sees: 30 WiarnenialsanGine, pets reenetatet..50- 9 . crysoleucas Nita Gawial PEGLViGI? pe eee etees ecco 2 . punctatus Wil chonta eB each re eee eee 5 . nebulosus Wictorigm Beach? eee es 5 . mollis RGU BG RIV. Clg ee cee es PAs RES 5 Black Bearmlislands se ..c8..seeeccce 3 . shumardi Bult agi ee ectiee te enar ae ce 3 INURE RHE TRURKETE: cacauneeeendoneannedaribaacce 6 . caprodes \WAIGTHONENSY, FI ERYO] al 35. coasebkconosseeosocodbocoobee 5 TROD DG S¥EYG bcc AD Sa al ae aa al ie 9 BlacksBeaneislandia ieee cass 14 . exilis Black Beare Islandia eee... 1 . vbairdi oon StraitSece.s La eee eee 2, BlackeBearawislandgesncea eee 24 Dauphin MRivers ..2.5- ee eee ee on 1 Mukatawauwskvivierige-ce cee eeneanae 1 . ricer Mialkkatawaraiviers ee. coer eees es 1 . pungitius Moone StkaltS eee ee 3 Black Bear clslanti se ese aeess 1 Mita panies EVLV Glen eee See ee eereeeeee 2 Spider rTsland ee ees ethene 4 E. inconstans Blacks Bearalslandiet ee 4 Range in Date length collected 245 4/18/51 255 1/ 9/52 47-61 7/21/51 36-68 7/29/51 35-73 7/21 & 28/51 39-94 7/15/51 93-95 6/30/47 248-356 9/2 — 28/51 32-42 8/23/47 82-98 5/10/51 91-100 7/ 8— 26/51 51-57 7/29/51 32-36 —/—/47 36-51 8/21/51 54-80 7/29/51 55-82 7/21 & 28/51 44 7/28/51 42-49 6/18/51 43-82 7/21/51 71 2/ 7/45 76 7/22/50 — —/—/47 41-44 6/18/51 33 Ty Payal 49-58 6/29/49 44-57 6/12/51 30-38 7/28/51 [Vol. 66 Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN 11. Cottus bairdi Girard—Muddler. All were taken in Lake Winnipeg. The Dauphin River fish was caught in a gill-net one mile off the river mouth, while the Mukatawa River sculpin was collected 7 miles west of the river mouth in 54 feet of water. 12. Cottus ricei Nelson—Rice’s sculpin. This sculpin was found dead on the river bank about 5 miles upstream from the mouth of the Mukatawa River. 13. Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus)—Nine- spine stickleback. No pertinent observations were noted. 14. Eucalia (Kirkland)—Brook stickleback. This species was collected in the same small pool at Black Bear Island as the Iowa darter. inconstans LITERATURE CITED Carlander, Kenneth D. 1941. The darters (Etheostominae) of Minnesota. Proc. Minn. Acad. Sci. 9:41-48. FIELD-NATURALIST 173 Dymond, J. R. 1947. A list of the freshwater fishes of Canada east of the Rocky Moun- tains with keys. Mise. Publ. No. 1, Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. Hinks, David. 1943. The fishes of Manitoba. Dept. of Mines and Natural Resources, Province of Manitoba. Hubbs, Carl L. and C. Willard Greene. 1928. Further notes on the fishes of the Great Lakes and tributary waters. Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts and Letters. 7 (1927): 371-392. and Milton B. Trautman. 1937. A re- vision of the lamprey genus Ichthyomyzon. Mise. Publ. Mus. Zoo., Univ. Mich., No. 35. 1945. Corrected distributional records for Minnesota fishes. Copeia No. 1: 13-22. and Karl F. Lagler. 1947. Fishes of the Great Lake region. Cranbrook Inst. Sci., Bull., No. 26. Speirs, J. Murray. 1952. Nomenclature of the channel catfish and the burbot of North America. Copeia No. 2: 99-103. NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Wayne’s Long-billed Marsh Wren in New Brunswick.—Until the recent discovery of a breeding colony of Long-billed Marsh Wrens (Telmatodytes palustris) at Midgic, only three specimens of this species had been collected in New Brunswick. The earliest was taken, ac- cording to the label, on the ‘Shore op. Meo- gone I. near Carleton, St. John.” It was eollected by William H. Moore on October 3, 1895, and is now in the collection of the Teachers’ College at Fredericton, N.B. On October 8, 1930, Allan Brooks and Allan L. Moses collected two Long-billed Marsh Wrens near Castalia, Grand Manan (Brooks, 1933, Can. Field-Naturalist, 47: 71). One of these specimens is now with the Brooks collection at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berke- ley, California. Brooks (loc. cit.) described both of the specimens simultaneously, imply- ing that the two were alike, and stating definitely that they were both “unlike any- thing I have seen of this species.” I have been permitted to examine the 13895 specimen through the courtesy of Melvin B. Moore, and the 1930 specimen through the courtesy of Alden H. Miller. I have not seen the other Grand Manan specimen, and I am not aware of its present location. I am as- suming Brooks to have been correct in con- sidering the two 1930 specimens to have been of the same form. C. EK. Addy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service kindly loaned me a breeding speci- men of Telmatodytes which he collected at Midgic on July 5, 1949. It is an adult female just beginning its post-nuptial moult. Al- though very worn and faded, it is a fairly good match for breeding specimens of the Marsh Wren of New England, central New York and eastern Ontario, of which I have had access to a large series while attempting a partial revision of this species. The breeding Long-billed Marsh Wren of New Brunswick, then, may be known as Telmatodytes palus- tris dissaéptus Bangs. The two October specimens examined are very different. Brooks (loc. cit.) stated of his — two Grand Manan specimens: ‘‘They are very black and white birds most nearly resembling the form recently named waynei from North 174 THE CANADIAN Carolina by Sprunt and Dingle. They are even darker than this form of which I have two September birds taken by A. T. Wayne.” Although the darkness of the two specimens examined, especially the Grand Manan bird, is indeed striking, the most significant fea- ture of the plumage of these two birds is the black barring on the rump and upper tail coverts. This is an important diagnostic character among the subspecies of Telmato- dytes palustris. Such barring is absent in all of the Long-billed Marsh Wrens which breed east of the Rocky Mountains and north of North Carolina, but is typical of the southern and western races. In color, the two New Brunswick specimens are a good match for T. p. waynei, the breeding form of the coast of North Carolina. As noted above, Brooks compared his specimens with only two ex- amples of waynei, and failed to appreciate the range of variation within the latter sub- species. Actually the 1895 specimen is rather lighter in color than the 1930 specimen ex- amined, but both fall within the extremes of waynei. The subspecies most nearly re- sembling waynei in color is marianae of the west coast of Florida; this subspecies does not have the immaculately white underparts characteristic of waynei and emphasized by Brooks (loc. cit.) in describing his specimens. The rest of the subspecies with barred upper tail-coverts are quite different in color and need not be considered. The presence of these peculiar Marsh Wrens in New Brunswick in October may be explained in three different ways. The first possibility to be considered is that these in- dividuals represent mutant variants of the expected subspecies dissaéptus. This explana- tion seems improbable because of the num- ber of differences, certainly involving several genes. It seems unlikely that a chance ac- cumulation of mutations in a dissaéptus pop- ulation would reproduce the very different waynei so exactly. A second possibility involves the postula- tion of an undiscovered breeding population of waynei-like Long-billed Marsh Wrens somewhere to the north of New Brunswick. This too, seems unlikely. Surely more speci- mens would have been detected over the years of collecting in the Maritime Provinces and the northeastern United States if such a colony actually existed. Again, it would stretch credulity to suppose that such a north- eastern colony would duplicate in its striking colour characters the far-distant waynez of the North Carolina coast. FIELD-NATURALIST al North Carolina quite credible. [Vol. 66 The third possibility supposes that these specimens actually represent individuals from the Carolina breeding population of waynei which have found their way somehow to New Brunswick. In view of the many remarkable authenticated accidental occurrences of birds far from their normal ranges, this suggestion seems the most probable. The fact that these stray wrens have upon two separate occasions come to the attention of ornithologists who have preserved the specimens need not excite surprise. The Long-billed Marsh Wren has been considered so rare in New Brunswick that an effort would have been made to col- lect almost any individual of this species seen. Brooks (loc. cit.) mentioned that upon the occasion of his collecting the two strange wrens, “a Long-billed Marsh Wren of the ordinary brown type as in Ontario birds was seen but not secured.” Mr. George F. Boyer informs me that this species is now a fairly regular fall migrant at Midgiec; “during mid October it is not unusual to see six or seven at one time” (letter of November 25, 1952). These birds are presumably also of the “ordinary brown type” of Brooks (=dis- saéptus), although it would be desirable to have specimens of these fall migrants. My first thought was that these wrens might have been carried from North Carolina to the Bay of Fundy region by tropical hur- ricanes, since these storms are most frequent at the time of year when the wrens were collected. Many such hurricanes follow a path which would make the deposition on the coast of New Brunswick of a bird from coast- However, Tannehill (1943, Hurricanes, their nature and history, Princeton Univ. Press), in his his- torical summaries, showed no hurricanes with North Carolina—New Brunswick tracks for either 1895 or 1930. The possibility still re- mains that the wrens were transported to New Brunswick by a meteorological disturb- ance of less than hurricane (wind force 12 on the Beaufort scale) intensity. A weak flyer like a wren might well be carried involunta- rily by winds well below the 75 m.p.h., min- imum required by the definition of a hur- ricane. It thus seems that the best disposition to be made of these specimens is to list Wayne’s Long-billed Marsh Wren (Telmatodytes pal- ustris waynei) as an accidental visitor to New Brunswick—_KENNETH C. PARKES, Labor- atory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN A Hooded Warbler from Churchill, Man- itoba.—A fine male Hooded Warbler, Wilsonia citrina, was received this summer from Mrs. R. M. Beckett of Churchill, Man. The bird was found dead in an open shed in the vicinity of the townsite of Churchill, on June 10, 1952. The specimen was fresh when received, and was in good flesh, though the stomach was empty. Mrs. Beckett notes that extreme cold prevailed for three days prior to the finding of the bird, suggesting exposure as the cause of death. This constitutes the first verifiable, record of this species for Manitoba, and its occur- rence in such a northern latitude makes it doubly interesting. The specimen is now in the study collection of this museum.—R. W. SUTTON, Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg. FIELD-NATURALIST 175 Searlet Tanager near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia——On May 1 and 2, 1952, I saw a male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) at the home of Mr. Lawrence Perry, on his farm in Central Chebogue, three miles southeast of the town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. This bird, in brilliant plumage, was watched by me for minutes at a time, at close range, on each of the dates mentioned. A binocular (x6) was used as much as was convenient. The tanager spent a large part of its time about the manure pile in the barnyard, where it presumably obtained some insects. Members of the Perry family have in- formed me that this Scarlet Tanager appeared at Mr. Lawrence Perry’s home about the middle of April and remained there until about the middle of May.HARRISON F. LEWIS, West Middle Sable, Shelburne Co., N.S. REVIEWS Variation in Anas cyanoptera. By L. L. Snyder and H. G. Lumsden. Occasional Papers of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, No. 10; August 10, 1951; 18 pp., 3 figs. This interesting study indicates that there is considerably more geographical variation in the Cinnamon Teal than had heretofore been realized. The nominate race is restrict- ed to southern South America mainly from Uruguay west to Chile and south to Pata- gonia. Our North American bird is thus left without a name and the name Anas cyanoptera septentrionalium is proposed for it by the authors. Two additional races, A.c.borreroi and A.c.tropicus, are described from Colombia; and the large form A.c. ori- nomus (Oberholser) is recognized. Plumages of this duck are profitably discussed in some detail. — W. EARL GODFREY. Waterfowl and Their Food Plants in Wa- shington. By Charles F. Yocom. University of Washington Press, Seattle. 1951. Pp. i-xvi, 1-272, 63 figs., 48 pls. $5.00. This attractive and durable volume con- tains information collected by the author and his associates during ten years of field work. The present study has been prepared, accord- ing to the author, to lay the groundwork for future research on waterfowl in Washington. To this end, pertinent features of the geography and climatology of the State are set forth, and the status of the various waterfowl species is defined on the basis of all available records. An attractive series of photographic figures well reflects the diversity of waterfowl habitat in Washington. An abundance of data are presented in the text and in tables. The results of studies of nesting and brood survival are given in detail. A study of sex ratios based on autumn and winter counts of over 9,000 ducks, a pre- ponderance of which were mallards, is re- corded. Results of an investigation of water- fowl hunting, based mainly on questionnaires, are also given. While such data will afford a useful basis of comparison for future studies of waterfowl, particularly in western North America, much of the present discussion is rather tentative, and one wonders if it should best have been published in the relatively expensive format at hand. The latter portion of the book, which deals with the results of analyses of 251 duck stomachs, and lists and illustrates the most important waterfowl food and cover plants found in Washington, will prove consistently useful to many workers, including the re- viewer. Data on stomach contents are pre- sented in such a manner that initial refer- 176 THE CANADIAN ence may be made either to waterfowl species or plant species, according to the interest of the reader. Keys for the identifica- tion of families, genera and species are pro- vided: in some cases, seeds may be identified with the aid of the keys. For each group of plants there are notes on propagation, distribu- tion (there are also some specific distribu- tion maps) and utilization by waterfowl. The line drawings depicting plants and seeds are of excellent quality and definition, although their usefulness is somewhat reduced by the lack of any reference to scale in habit sketches and detail drawings of vegetative parts. The scale of seed drawings is clearly indicated. A useful feature is the separate index ref- erring to plants. — DAVID A. MUNRO. Ca- nadian Wildlife Service, Department of Zo- ology, University of British Columbia, Van- couver. The Unvanquished Buffalo. Collins, Jr., Blue Heron Press, Bronxville, N.Y. Price 25 cents. By Henry H. Box 236, Much has been written about the history of the North American Buffalo or Bison but few accounts are as complete and authentic as that contained in this booklet. In brief, it is the story of the bison from the time of the early settlers, when sixty million roamed the plains, up to the present day. Not only are the factors responsible for the decline of this magnificent animal discussed in considerable detail, but also such topics as past and present ranges, migration routes, food habits, breeding and herding behaviour, enemies, etc. A perusal of the various chapter headings give some indication of the scope of the treatment: Physical Characteristics, Family Life, Natural Enemies, Pioneers and the Buffalo, The Incredible Multitude, The Buf- falo and the Indian, The Great Slaughter, The Buffalo in Canada, ete. Particular emphasis is placed on the factors responsible for the rapid decline of a species which is believed to have once attained a density greater than that of any other large mammal in the world. FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 The author cites a number of incidents in this epic of wholesale slaughter which seem almost incredible. For example, one man alone killed 4,280 in 18 months to supply a construction camp, and 500 were killed in a single hour by a small group out for a day’s ‘fun’. Little wonder that by 1883 only 10,000 animals remained, and that by 1889 this was reduced to 541. Concern over the fate of the buffalo was almost too late to save it from extinction. At the eleventh hour the few remaining animals were trans- ferred to refuges and slowly but surely the herd was built up. Today in Canada alone there is an estimated 13,000, compared with only 1,200 in 1922. Thanks to the protection extended to the buffalo by the governments of the United States and Canada its survival now seems assured. There are a number of photographs and three colored plates which add immeasur- ably to the appearance of the booklet. As a concise account of the North Ameri- can buffalo, the present booklet can be highly recommended. Teachers will find it especially useful as a reference for nature study and conservation education classes. — AUSTIN W. CAMERON A Pocket-Book of lLesser-Known British Birds. By Wilfred Willett and Charles A. Hall. 1952. Adam and Charles Black, 4, 5, and 6 Soho Square, London, England. The MacMillan Co. of Canada, Toronto. 97 pp., 47 color plates, 1 diagram. Price, $2.00. This little volume, a companion to A Pocket-Book of Common British Birds, deals with 64 British birds that are uncommon, but not rare, in the British Isles. The British status, appearance, voice, nest and eggs, and food are given succinctly for each species. Forty-eight species are illustrated in 47 full- page plates in color and the topography of birds is clearly shown in a pen drawing. This compact, adequately illustrated, and inex- pensive little book will be particularly useful to bird-minded travellers to the British Isles and to others who need a brief popular treat- ment of the species treated—_W. EARL GOD- FREY. ) Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN APR 1 1953 SENT Ne Acanthis flammea flammea, 29, 58 Accipiter gentilis atricapillus, 14; 42; striatus velox, 50 Actinoceras, 119 Actitis macularia, 18, 51 Aegolius funereus richardsoni, 23 Agelaius phoeniceus, 43 Alca torda torda, 54 Algae of the western Great Lakes area, re- viewed by Elwyn O. Hughes, 92 Allin, A. E. Winter records of the White-throated Spar- row in western Ontario, 112 Ambystoma jeffersonianum, 125; maculatum, 125 Ameiurus nebulosus, 171, 172; melas, 71 American wildlife and plants, reviewed by Ruth H. Solman, 115 Amphibians and reptiles of Nova Scotia, The, by Sherman Bleakney, 125 Amphiodon alosoides, 171 Anabaena flos-aquae, 168 Anas acuta, 39, 111; acuta tzitzihoa, 10; caro- linensis, 11, 49; discors, 40; platyrhynchos, 39; platyrhynchos platyrhynchos, 10; rub- ripes, 10, 40, 49 Aniulus bollmani, 145; ampressus, 145 Annual meeting of the Ottawa Field-Natu- ralist’s Club, 1951, 35 Anodonta cataracta, 83 Anthus spinoletta rubescens, 26, 57 Aphanacapsa_ delicatissima, 168; elachista, 168; elachista var. planctonica, 168 Aphanothece clathrata, 168; stagnina, 168 Aplodinotus grunniens, 89 Arenaria interpres morinella, 17, 51; rubella, 104; wliginosa, 104 Arizona and its bird life, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 117 Arkansas Kingbird in Westmorland Co., New Brunswick, by G. F. Boyer, 68 Armeria maritima, 106; maritima var. labra- dorica, 106; maritima var. sibirica, 106 Arthrodesmus incus, 169; incus fa. minor, 169; incus var. extensus, 169; ralfsi var. brebissonii fa. limnophilus comb. nov., 169; subulatus, 169; triangularis var. inflatus fa. robustus, 169; triangularis var. rotun- datus, 169; triangularis var. subtriangula- ris, 169 Asio flammeus flammeus, 22, 55 Asterionella formosa, 168 Auk, Razor-billed, 54 striatus, FIELD-NATURALIST 177 INDEX TO VOLUME 66 Aythya affinis, 11, 39; americana, 39; col- laris, 11; marila, 39; marila nearctica, 11 Eee aie eeat Baldpate, 11, 39, 49, 65, 66 Baldwin, W. K. W. Review of: Conservation in Canada, 148 Balle Ee Nesting of the Ring-necked Pheasant on Pelee Island, Ontario, 71 Beginner’s guide to attracting birds, review- ed by Harrison F. Lewis, 93 Bennett, Chas. H. Early spring occurrence of Tree Swallow at Ottawa, Ontario, 87 Bird guide. Land birds east of the Rockies, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 70 Bird migration along the Lake Ontario shore of the Niagara Peninsula, by Wm. L. Put- man, 39 Bird, Surf, 66 Birds of Greenland, The, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 114, 147 Birds of Newfoundland, The, W. Earl Godfrey, 69 Birds of the east James Bay coast between Long Point and Cape Jones, by T. H. Man- ning and A. H. Macpherson, 1 Bittern, American, 8, 48 Blackbird, Brewer’s, 66; Red-winged, 43, 60, 61, 65, 66; Rusty, 29, 58, 63 Rlack Tern as an insect-eater, The, by R. W. Sheppard, 129 Blake, D. A. W. See Clark, T. H. and D. A. W. Blake Bleakney, Sherman The amphibians and reptiles Scotia, 125 Bluebird, Mountain, 65 Boivin, Bernard Review of: A new flora of the Lake Erie Islands, 115 Boleosoma nigrum, 171 Botaurus lentiginosus, 8, 48 Botryococcus brauni, 168 Bousfield, E. L. Review of: Under the sea-wind, 150 Bowman, R. I. Chimney Swift banding at Kingston, tario from 1928 to 1947, 151 Boyer, G. F. Arkansas Kingbird New Brunswick, 68 Brant, American, 9, 49; Black, 65 reviewed by of Nova On- in Westmorland Co., 178 Branta bernicla hrota, 9, 49; canadensis, 40; canadensis interior, 9 Breitung, A. J. Key to the genus Rubus of the Ottawa valley, 108 Bubo virginianus heterocnemis, 55 Bucephala clangula, 40; clangula americana, 12 Buffle-head, 61, 63, 65, 66 Bufo terrestris americanus, 125; terrestris copei, 125 Bullfrog, 126 Bullhead, Black, 171; Brown, 171 Bunting, Eastern Snow, 33; Indigo, 145; Snow, 60-65, 67 Buteo jamaicensis, 41; lagopus, 43, 87; lago- pus s. johannis, 14, 50; lineatus, 42; pla- typterus, 41. aL ei Calamagrostis lapponica, 103 Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus, 33, 59 Calder, J. A. See Saville, D. B. O. and J. A. Calder Cameron, Austin W. Review of: Hunters and hunted, 149 Review of: Notes on the bobcats (Lynx rufus) of eastern North America with the description of a new race, 149 Review of: The dusky-footed wood rat, 91 Review of: The unvanquished buffalo, 176 Review of: This fascinating animal world, 147 Campbell, J. Mitchell Fox Sparrow needs no crutch, 88 Canachites canadensis canadensis, 15 Canvas-back, 66 Capella, 113; gallinago delicata, 18 Cardinal, 61-64 Carex ablata, 99; atrofusca, 98, 99; atrofusca f. decolorata, 98; atrofusca var. decolorata, 98, 99; atrofusca var. major n. comb., 98, 99; atrofusca var. nortoniana, 100; bige- lowiz, 96; capillaris, 101; coriophora, 98; cruenta, 98; distichiflora, 98, 102; frank- lintt, 95, 100, 102; franklinii var. misan- droides n. comb., 100, 102; franklinii var. nicholsonis, 96, 101; frigida, 100; fuliginosa, 100; fuliginosa ssp. pronella, 100; fuligino- sa var. misandra, 100; lepageana n. sp., 99, 101; magnursina n. sp., 99, 100; membrana- cea, 96, 166; misandra, 95, 99, 100, 166; misandra f. flavida, 99, 100; misandroides, 95, 102; mistassinica, 95, 102; petricosa, 95, 99, 101; petricosa var. edwardsii, 99; ro- tundata, 104; sect. Frigidae, 95, 99; sem- pervirens, 100; sempervirens ssp. tristis, 100; sempervirens ssp. tristis var. asiatica, THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 100; stenocarpa, 99, 100; stilbophaea, 98; stylosa, 96; tristis, 98; tristis var. asiatica, 100; ustulata, 98; ustulata var. major, 98 Carolina quest, reviewed by W. Earl God- frey, 90 Catbird, 61 Cat, Channel, 171 Cathartes aura, 43 Causey, Nell B. New records of millipeds from southern Ontario, 145 Cepphus grylle atlantis, 55; grylle ultimus, 22 Cerastium alpinum, 166 Ceratium carolinianum, 168; hirundinella, 168; hirundinella fa. robustum, 168 Chaetura pelagica, 151 Charadrius hiaticula semipalmatus, 17, 51 Chat, Yellow-breasted, 112 Check-list of North American birds and synopsis of the North American mammals, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 148 Chelydra serpentina serpentina, 127 Chen caerulescens, 9; hyperborea hyperborea, 9 Chickadee, 62; Black-capped, 56, 59-65; Brown-eapped, 59-63; Chestnut-backed, 65, 66; Hudsonian, 25, 56, 60, 64 Chimney Swift banding at Kingston, Ontario from 1928 to 1947, by R. I. Bowman, 151 Chlidonias nigra surinamensis, 129 Christmas bird census — 1951, 59 Chroococcus limneticus, 168 Chrysemys. picta picta, 127 Chrysops, 107; nigripes, 107 Chrysosphaerella longispina, 168 Circus cyaneus, 43 Ciscoe, 112 Clam hosts of Najadicola ingens (K.) Acarina in a Quebec Lake, The, by Arthur G. Hu- mes and Stuart K. Harris, 83 Clangula hyemalis, 12, 40, 49 Clark, T. H. and D. A. W. Blake Ordovician fossils from Waswanipi Lake, Quebec, 119 Clay-colored Sparrow in southeastern Onta- rio, The, by Lewis MclI. Terrill, 145 Cleidogona, 145 Clemens, W. A. On the cyclic abundance of animal popula- tion, 121 Clemmys insculpta, 127 Closterium archerianum, 169; costatum, 169; costatum var. westii, 169; kuwetzingiz, 169; moniliferum, 169 ; Coccyzus americanus americanus, 67; eryth- ropthalmus, 67 Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN Cochlearia officinalis var. groenlandica, 105; officinalis var. oblongifolia, 105 Cod, Greenland, 123 Coelastrum cambricum, 168 Coelosphaerium naegelianum, 168 Colaptes auratus luteus, 23, 55 Colymbus auritus, 8 Congdon, R. T. and Mrs. Hudsonian Godwits found nesting again at Churchill, 143 Connell, Mrs. A. B. Townsend’s Solitaire in New Brunswick, 88 Conservation in Canada, reviewed by W. K. W. Baldwin, 148 Cooch, Graham Unusual foot colouration in Pintails (Anas acuta) and note on European re- coveries, 111 Cooperative study of fall migration, 1952, by Robert J. Newman, 87 Coot, 65, 66 Coregonus clupeaformis, 112 Cormorant, Baird’s, 66; Brandt’s, 66; Double- crested, 48, 65, 66; European, 48 Corvus brachyrhynchos, 43; brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos, 56; corax principalis, 25, 56 Cosmarium contractum, 169; moniliforme, 169; moniliforme fa. punctata, 169; mono- mazon var. polymazum, 169; panamense var. smithu, 169 Cottus bairdi, 172, 173; cognatus, 111; gobio, 111: ricei, 172,173 Coturnicops noveboracensis noveboracensis, aly Cowan, I. McT. Review of: Union Bay. marsh), 70 Cowbird, 43, 62, 63 Creeper, 66; Brown, 60-64 Crocethia alba, 20 Crosby, John A. Review of: How I draw birds, 117 Crossbill, 60; Red, 64, 66; White-winged, 29, 58, 65 Crow, 43, 59-66; American, 60, 63; Eastern, 56; Northwestern, 65, 66 Crucigenia irregularis, 168 Cuckoo, Black-billed, 67; Yellow-billed, 67 Curlew, Hudsonian, 18, 51, 66 Cyclotella compta, 168 Cygnus columbianus 8, 40 Cystodinium iners, 168 4 Ay ates Dace, Longnose, 171 Dalmanella, 119 Darter, Iowa, 171; Johnny, 171; River, 171 (The life of a city FIELD-NATURALIST 179 Dead opossum on Point Pelee, Ont., shore, by C. Harold Zavitz, 144 Dendroica caerulescens caerulescens, 68; cas- tanea, 57; coronata coronata, 28, 57; magno- lia, 57; palmarum hypochrysea, 58; palma- rum palmarum, 28; petechia amnicola, 27, 57; striata, 28, 57; virens virens, 57 Desmidium grevillii, 169 Diadophis punctatus edwardsii, 127 Diatoma elongatum, 168 Dickcissel, 68 Dickcissel in Newfoundland, Leslie M. Tuck, 68 Dictyosphaerium pulchellum, 168 Didelphis virginiana, 145 Dimorphococcus lunatus, 168 Dinobryon bavaricum, 168; cylindricum, 168; divergens, 168; sertularia, 168 Dipper, 65 Dixidesmus branneri, 145 Dore, W. G. Review of: An introduction to wild flowers, 93 Dove, Mourning, 61-64; Rock, 59-62, 64 Dovekie, 59 Dowitcher, 52 Draba alpina, 166; alpina var. alpina, 105 Drum, Freshwater, 89 Dryas integrifolia, 166 Duck, Black, 10, 40, 49, 60-64; Eastern Har- lequin, 49; Greater Scaup, 11, 61, 62; Les- ser Scaup, 11, 39; Mallard, 62, 63; Ring- necked, 11, 66; Ruddy, 14, 66 Dusky-footed wood rat, The, Austin W. Cameron, 91 reviewed by a eee Eagle, Bald, 43, 61-63, 66; Northern Bald, 51 Early spring occurrence of the Tree Swallow at Ottawa, Ontario, by Chas. H. Bennett, 87 Ecological animal geography, reviewed by Victor E. F. Solman, 94 Ectopistes migratorius, 22 Eider, American, 49; Common, 59; Hudson Bay, 12; King, 13, 59 Elliptio complanatus, 83 Elymus arenarius var. villosus, 165 Empidonax flaviventris, 55; minimus, 89; traillii, 89; traillii traillui, 23, 55; wrightit, 89 Epilobium latifolium, 166 Equisetum variegatum, 165 Eremophila alpestris alpestris, 23, 55 Ereunetes pusillus, 20, 52 Erigeron humilis, 166 Eriophorum brachyantherum, 103; russeolum var. leucothrix, 103; scheuchzeri, 165 180 THE CANADIAN Erolia alpina pacifica, 52; fuscicollis, 20, 51; maritima, 19, 51; melanotos, 19; minutilla, 20; 701 Erroneous records of Empidonax wrightw in Manitoba and at Belvedere, Alberta, by W. Earl Godfrey, 89 Euastrum didelta, 169; elegans, 169; humero- sum var. parailelum, 169; verrucosum, 169 Eucalia inconstans, 172, 173 Eudorina elegans, 168 Eunotia pectinalis, 168; robusta, 168 Euphagus carolinus, 29, 58 European starling on Vancouver Island, The, by C. J. Guiguet, 37 ane ga Falco columbarius, 43; columbarius columba- rius, 15, 51; peregrinus anatum, 15, 51, sparverius, 43 Falcon, Peregrine, 61, 66 Fascinating animal world, This, reviewed by Austin W. Cameron, 147 Festuca brachyphylla f. flavida, 103 Finch, Grey-crowned Rosy, 67; Purple, 59-62, 66 Flicker, Northern, 23, 55; Northwestern Red- shafted, 66; Red-shafted, 65, 66; Yellow- shafted, 59, 61, 63, 65 Flowering trees of the Caribbean, reviewed by Harold A. Senn, 114 Flycatcher, Alder, 23, 55; Wright, 55; Yellow- bellied, 55 Fox Sparrow needs no crutch, by J. Mitchell Campbell, 88 Fragillaria crotonensis, 168 Fraser’s observations of Screech Owls at a nest-box, by N. D. Martin, 81 Fratercula arctica arctica, 55 Frog, Grass, 126; Green, 126; Leopard, 126; Mink, 126; Pickerel, 126; Wood, 126 Ll Ome Gabrielson, Ira N. Notes on the birds of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 44 Gadus ogac, 123 Gannet, 48 Gavia arctica pacifica, 8; 48; stellata, 8, 48 Gentiana tenella, 106 Geothlypis trichas, 28; trichas brachidactyla, 58 Glaucionetta clangula americana, 49 Glenodinium palustre, 168; penardiforme, 168 Gloeocystis gigas, 169 Godfrey, W. Earl Erroneous records of Empidonax wrightii in Manitoba and at Belvedere, Alberta, 89 immer immer, 1, FIELD-NATURALIST LVol. 66 Review of: A guide to bird-finding east of the Mississippi, 92 Review of: A pocket-book of lesser-known British birds, 176 Review of: Arizona and its bird life, 117 Review of: Bird guide. Land birds east of the Rockies, 70 Review of: Carolina quest, 90 : Review of: Check-list of North American birds and synopsis of the North American mammals, 148 Review of: camera, 118 Review of: The birds of Greenland, 114, 147 Review of: The birds of Newfoundland, 69 Review of: Variation in Anas cyanoptera, 175 Godwit, Hudsonian, 143 Golden-eye, 40; American, 12, 49, 60-66; Bar- row’s, 66 Goldeye, 171 Goldfinch, 60, 62; American, 61-64 Gomphosphaeria aponina, 168 Goose, Blue, 9; Canada, 40, 63; Lesser Can- ada, 66; Lesser Snow, 9; Ungava Canada, 9 Goshawk, 60, 65, 66; American, 14 Grackle, Bronzed, 43, 61 Grebe, Eared, 65, 66; Holboell’s, 65, 66; Horned, 8, 61, 65, 66; Pied-billed, 61, 66; Red-necked, 66; Western, 65, 66 Greenland Cod (Gadus ogac) in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, The, by D. M. Scott, 123 Grosbeak, Evening, 59-65, 88; Pine, 59-65 Stalking birds with color Grouse, Hudsonian Spruce, 15; Northern Sharp-tailed, 17; Ruffed, 60-66; Sharp- tailed, 65 Guide to bird-finding east of the Mississippi, A, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 92 Guiguet, C. J. The European Starling Island, 37 Guillemot, Black, 55, 59; Nearctic Mandt’s, 22 Gull, Bonaparte’s, 40, 66; Glaucous, 20, 52, 60, 61; Glaucous-winged, 65, 66; Great Black-backed, 52, 60, 61; Herring, 20, 21, 40, 53, 59-64, 66; Iceland, 61; Ring-billed, 20, 40, 53, 60, 61, 63; Short-billed, 65, 66 Gyrfaleon, White, 61 eatin 3 (} pa Haliaeetus leucocephalus, 48; alascanus, 51 Halysites gracilis, 119 Harlequin, 66 on Vancouver leucocephalus Nov.-Dec. 1952] Harris, Stuart K. See Humes, Arthur G. Harris. Hawk, American Rough-legged, 14, 50, 60; Broad-winged, 41; Cooper’s, 42, 61-63; Duck, 15, 51, 66; Eastern Pigeon, 15,. 51; Marsh, 43, 61, 63; Pigeon, 43, 59, 65; Red- shouldered, 42, 62, 63; Red-tailed, 41,61-63; Rough-legged, 48, 61-63, 65,87; Sharp- shinned, 41, 42, 50, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66; Sparrow, 43, 60-63 Hemidactylium scutatum, 125 Hen, Bantam, 68 Heron, 66; Great Blue, 61-63, 65, 66 Hesperiphona vespertina, 88 Heterocrinus, 119 Heteroscelus incanus, 19 Hiodon tergisus, 171, 172 Hirundo rustica, 44; rustica erythrogaster, 56 Histrionicus histrionicus histrionicus, 49 Hocking, B. Two predators as prey, 107 Hohn, E. O. An Indigo Bunting in Alberta, 145 Holdom, Martin W. White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leu- cophrys pugetensis) and Bantam Hen, 68 Hooded Warbler from Churchill, Manitoba, A, by R. W. Sutton, 175 Hormotoma major, 119 How I draw birds, reviewed by John A. Crosby, 117 Hudsonian Godwits found nesting again at Churchill, by R. T. and Mrs. Congdon, 143 Hughes, Elwyn O. Phytoplankton of some maritime lakes, 167 Review of: Algae of the Lakes area, 92 Review of: The Zygnemataceae, 114 Humes, Arthur G. and Stuart K. Harris The clam hosts of Najadicola ingens (K.) Acarina in a Quebec lake, 83 Hunters and hunted, reviewed by Austin W. Cameron, 149 and Stuart K. western Great Hyalotheca dissiliens, 169; mucosa, 169; neglecta, 169 Hydroprogne caspia, 54 Hyla crucifer crucifer, 126 Hylocichla guttata faxoni, 26, 57; minima aliciae, 57; ustulata swainsoni, 26, 57 debe (pieen Ichthyomyzon castaneus, 171, 172 Ictalurus punctatus, 171, 172 Icteria virens virens, 113 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 181 Identity of Carex misandroides Fern. with notes on the North American Frigidae, The, by Marcel Raymond, 95 Imostoma shumardi, 171, 172 Indigo Bunting in Alberta, An, by E. O. Hohn, 145 Introduction to wild flowers, An, reviewed by W. G. Dore, 93 Iridoprocne bicolor, 24, 44, 56, 87 Sea py gaeger, Parasitic, 20, 52; Pomarine, 52 Jay, Blue, 60-65; Canada, 60, 64; Labrador, 24, 56 Junco hyemalis hyemalis, 30, 58 Junco, 62; Oregon, 61, 65, 66; Slate-coloured, 30, 58, 60-64, 66 faa RG a Keleher, J. J. Notes on fishes collected from Lake Win- nipeg region, 170 Key to the genus Rubus of the Ottawa val- ley, by A. J. Breitung, 108 Killdeer, 65, 66 Kingbird, Arkansas, 68; Eastern, 23, 55 Kingfisher, 61, 62, 64, 66; Belted, 62, 63, 65, 66; Eastern Belted, 55 Kinglet, Eastern Ruby-crowned, 26, 57; Golden-Crowned, 59, 62, 63, 65, 66; Ruby- crowned, 66 Kirchneriella lunaris, 169 Kittiwake, Atlantic, 53 Kurata, T. B. Review of: The life of the spider, 90 pas wpa Lapogus lapogus ungavus, 16; mutus rupes- SS | alz/ Lambeoceras, 119 Lamprey, Chestnut, 171 Lampsilis radiata, 83 Lark, Horned, 60-63; Northern Horned, 23, 55; Prairie Horned, 62 Larus argentatus, 40; argentatus smithso- nianus, 20, 53; delawarensis, 20, 40, 53; hyperboreus, hyperboreus, 20, 52; marinus, 52; philadelphia, 40 Lawler, G. H. A new North American host for the fish parasite Triaenophorus nodulosus (Pallas), 111 Lawrence, Louise de Kiriline New sight records of three species at Pi- misi Bay, Ontario, 67 Lawrence’s Warbler in Canada, by Geo. M. Stirrett, 111 Leucichthys, 112 182 Leucosticte tephrocotis tephrocotis, 67 Lewis, Harrison F. Review of: Beginner’s guide to attracting birds, 93 Scarlet Tanager near Scotia, 175 Lichenology, 130 Life of the spider, The, reviewed by T. B. Kurata, 90 Limnodromus griseus, 52 Limosella aquatica, 106 Linnet, Redpolled, 62 Liospira angustata, 119 Llano, George A. A register of lichenological workers and contributors, 130 Lobipes lobatus, 20, 52 Log-perch, 171 Longspur, Lapland, 33, 59-63 Lophodytes cucullatus, 14, 39 Lophospira angustina, 119 Loon, Common, 7, 8, 48, 61, 65, 66; Pacific, 8, 66; Red-throated, 8, 48, 65, 66 Loxia leucoptera leucoptera, 29, 58 Luzula groenlandica var. fuscoatra, 104 Lychnis apetala, 166 Lycopodium selago, 165 fide es Maclurina cuneata, 119; manitobensis, 119 Maclurites crassus, 119 Macpherson, A. H. See Manning, T. H. and A. H. Macpherson Madtom, Tadpole, 171 Magpie, 65; American, 65 Mallard, 39, 61, 65, 66; Common, 10 Mallomonas caudata, 168 Mandarin, 66 Manning, T. H. and A. H. Macpherson Birds of the east James Bay coast between Long Point and Cape Jones, 1 Mareca americana, 11, 39, 49 Marmot, Golden-mantled, 142 Marmota flaviventris, 142, flaviventris noso- phora, 142 Martin, N. D. iFraser’s observations of Screech Owls at a nest-box, 81 Martin, Purple, 44 MeCrimmon, H. R. Mortality of coregonid fish in Lake Simcoe during spring temperature warm-up, 112 Meadowlark, Eastern, 61, 62; Western, 66 Megaceryle alcyon alcyon, 55 Melanitta deglandi deglandi, 13; fusca, 39; fusca deglandi, 50; perspicillata, 13, 50 Melosira granulata, 168 Yarmouth, Nova THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Melospiza georgiana, 59; georgiana ericryp- ta, 33; lincolnii lincolnii, 33, 59; melodia melodia, 59 Members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club and subscribers to the Canadian Field-Naturalist, 84 Merganser, 64; American, 14, 39, 60-66; Hooded, 14, 39, 62, 64-66; Red-breasted, 14, 39, 50, 61, 65, 66 Mergus merganser, 39; merganser america- nus, 14; serrator, 39, 50; serrator serrator, 14 Micrasterias fimbriata, rensis var. ringens, 169; radiata, 169 Microcystis aeruginosa, 168; incerta, 168 Milbourn, L. W. H. Snipe at sea, 113 Miller’s Thumb, 111 Millipeds, 145 Mimus polyglottos polyglottos, 56 Minnows, Spot-tail, 171 Mockingbird, Eastern, 56 Molothrus ater, 43 Mooneye, 171 Mocre, J. E. Notes on three additions to the rodent fauna of Alberta, 142 Mortality of coregonid fish in Lake Simcoe during Spring temperature warm-up, by H. R. McCrimmon, 112 Morus bassana, 48 Mouse, Harvest, 143; Pocket, 142 Muddler, 173 Munro, David A. Review of: Waterfowl and their food plants in Washington, 175 Murre, Atlantic, 54; Brunnich’s, 54 Murrelet, Marbled, 66 Myadestes townsendi, 88 169; mahabuleshwa- muricata, 169; oy Nes, Najadicola ingens, 83 Nesting of the Ring-necked Pheasant on Pelee Island, Ontario, by K. E. Ball, 71 Netrium digitus, 170 New flora of the Lake Erie Islands, A, re- viewed by Bernard Boivin, 115 Newman, Robert J. 1952 cooperative study of fall migration, 87 New North American host for the fish para- site Triaenophorus nodulosus (Pallas), A, by G. H. Lawler, 111 New records of millipeds from southern Ontario, by Nell B. Causey, 145 Nov.-Dec. 1952] THE CANADIAN New sight records of three species at Pimisi Bay, Ontario, by Louise de Kiriline Law- rence, 67 Newt, Spotted, 125 Northern record for Aplodinotus grunniens, A, by W. B. Scott and B. Kooyman, 89 Notemigonus crysoleucas, 171, 172 Notes on fishes collected from Lake Win- nipeg region, by J. J. Keleher, 170 Notes on the birds of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, by Ira N. Ga- brielson, 44 Notes on the bobcats (Lynx rufus) of eastern North America with the description of a new race, reviewed by Austin W. Came- ron, 149 Notes on the flora of Chesterfield Inlet, Keewatin District, N.W.T., by D. B. O. Savile and J. A. Calder, 103 Notes on three additions to the rodent fauna of Alberta, by J. E. Moore, 142 Notropis atheronoides, 171; hudsonius, 171 Numenius hudsonicus, 51; .phaeopus hudsoni- cus, 18 Nuthatch, 68; Red-breasted, 25, 60-65; White- breasted, 60-64 Nyctea scandiaca, 22, 55 Ds Qe Oidemia nigra americana, 14, 50 Old-squaw, 12, 40, 49, 59, 61, 65, 66 Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, 121; kisutch, nerka, 123 On the cyclic abundance of animal popula- tions, by W. A. Clemens, 121 Onychonema filiforme, 169 Oocystis borgei, 169; lacustre, 169 Opheodrys vernalis vernalis, 127 Oporornis agilis, 68; philadelphia, 58 123; Opossum, 144 Ordovician fossils from Waswanipi Lake, Quebec, by T. H. Clark and D. A. W. Blake, 119 Oriulus venustus, 145 Osprey, 15, 43, 51 Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, Members of the, and subscribers to the Canadian Field-Naturalist, 84 Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1951, Annual meeting of the, 35 Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, Statement of financial standing, Nov. 26, 1951, 38 Owl, American Hawk, 22; American Long- eared, 61; Barred, 60, 62; Great Horned, 60-62; Horned, 63; Labrador Horned, 55; Long-eared, 61-63; Richardson’s 23; Saw- whet, 61; Screech, 61-64, 81; Short-eared, 22, 55, 60-63; Snowy, 22, 55, 59, 60, 64, 65 FIELD-NATURALIST 133 Oxyria digyna, 166 Oxyura jamaicensis rubida, 14 Oyster-catcher, Black, 66 uv bya, Pandion haliaetus, 43; haliaetus carolinensis, iby, yal Pandorina morum, 168 Papaver radicatum, 166 Parkes, Kenneth C. Wayne’s Long-billed Marsh Wren in New Brunswick, 173 Partridge, Chukar, 65; Hungarian, 60, 61, 65 Parus atricapillus atricapillus, 56; hudsonicus hudsonicus, 25, 56 Passerculus sandwichensis labradorius, 58; sandwichensis oblitus, 29 Passerella iliaca iliaca, 32, 59 Passerina cyanea, 145 Pediastrum araneosum, 169; araneosum var. rugulosum, 169; boryanum, 169; duplex var. clathratum, 169 Pediocetes phasianellus phasianellus, 17 Peeper, Spring, 126 Percina caprodes, 171, 172 Percopsis omiscomaycus, 171 Peridinium centenniale, 168; limbatum, 168; umbonatum, 168 Perisoreus canadensis nigricapillus, 24; cana- densis sanfordi, 56 Perognathus fasciatus, 142; fasciatus fascia- tus, 142 Phalacrocorax auritus auritus, 48; carbo car- bo, 48 Phalarope, Northern, 20, 52 Pheasant, 62; Ring-necked, 60-63, 65, 66, 71 Phytoplankton of some maritime lakes, by Elwyn O. Hughes, 167 Picoides tridactylus bacatus, 23 Pigeon Passenger, 22. Pinguicula villosa, 106 Pintail, 39, 61, 65, 66, 111; American, 10 Pipit, Alpine, 65; American, 26, 57, 66 Piranga olivacea, 175 Plasmopora lambi, 119 Platystrophia, 119; extense, 119 Plectrophenax nivalis, 67; nivalis nivalis, 33 Plethodon cinereus, 125 Pleurotaenium ehrenbergi, 169 Plover, Black-bellied, 17, 51, 65; Semipalmat- ed, 17, 51 Poa arctica, 165 Pocket-book of lesser-known British birds, A, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 176 Poecilichthys exilis, 171, 172 Polunin, Nicholas Vascular plants from Mill Island, Hudson Strait, 165 184 THE CANADIAN Polygonum viviparum, 166 Polyzonium bivirgatum, 145; mutabile, 145 Potentilla hyparctica var. hyparctica f. tar- dinix comb. nov., 106; palustris var. parvi- folia, 106 Primula egaliksensis, 106; egaliksensis f. egaliksensis, 106; egaliksensis f. violacea, 106 Progne subis, 44 Promachus bastardii, 107 Ptarmigan, Rock, 17; Ungava Willow, 16 Ptyoiulus, 145 Puccinellia phryganodes, 165 Puffin, Atlantic, 55 Pungitius pungitius, 172, 173 Putman, Wm. L. Bird migration along the Lake shore of the Niagara Peninsula, 39 By gps Quail, Bob-white, 63; California, 65, 66 Quiscalus quiscula, 43 pik i Ppl Raciborskia bicornis, 168 Rafinesquina alternata, 119; trentonensis, 119 Rail, Virgina, 62, 67; Yellow, 17 Rallus limicola limicola, 67 Rana catesbeiana, 126; clamitans, 126; palus- tris, 126; pipiens, 126; septentrionalis, 126; sylvatica sylvatica, 126 Ranunculus hyperboreus, 104; hyperboreus f. integrescens f. nov., 105; hyperboreus f. _..turquetilianus stat. nov., 105; pallasii, 105 Raven, 59, 61, 64, 65, 66; Northern, 25, 56, 64 Raymond, Marcel The identity of Carex misandroides Fern. with notes on the North American Frigi- dae, 95 Receptaculites oweni, 119 Redhead, 39, 61 Redpoll, 62, 64, 65; Common, 29, 58, 60, 61, 63-65 Redstart, American, 58 Register of lichenological workers and con- tributors, A, by George A. Llano, 130 Regulus calendula calendula, 26, 57 Reithrodontomys megalotis, 148; dychei, 143 Rhabdoderma sigmoidea, 168 Rhinichthys cataractae, 171, 172 Riparia riparia riparia, 24, 56 Rissa tridactyla tridactyla, 53 Robin, 59, 61, 65, 66; American, 62, 63, 65; Black-backed, 25; Eastern, 56; Western, 66 Rodents, 142 Rough-legged Hawk migration in James Bay area, by Geo. M. Stirrett, 87 Ontario megalotis FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 66 Rubus, 108; allegheniensis, 109; alumnus, 109; attractus, 109; baileyanus, 109; cana- densis, 109; complex, 108, 110; flagellaris, 109; glandicaulis, 109; hispidus, 110; jay- smithii, 110; kennedyanus, 109; licens, 110; maltei, 109; occidentalis, 108; odoratus, 108; pensilvanicus, 109; perfoliosus, 108, 109; plicatifolius, 110; pubescens, 108; pug- nax, 108, 109; recurvans, 109; recurvicau- lis, 110; setosus, 110; strigosus, 108; tarda- tus, 110; trifrons, 110; univocus, 110; ver- montanus, 110 wb ACSI a Salamander, Four-toed, 125; Jefferson’s, 125; Red-backed, 125; Spotted, 125 Salix arctica, 166; brachycarpa var. sansonii, 104; calcicola, 166; fullertonensis, 104; fus- cescens var. reducta, 104; herbacea, 166; myrtillifolia var. brachypoda, 104; reticula- ta, 166; richardsonii, 104 Salmon, Coho, 123; Pink, 121; Sockeye, 123 Sanderling, 20 Sandpiper, Aleutian, 66; Eastern Solitary, 18, 51; Least, 20, 51, 65; Pectoral, 19; Purple, 19, 51; Red-backed, 52, 65; Semipalmated, 20, 52; Spotted, 18, 51; White-rumped, 20, 51 Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, 62 Savile, D. B. O. and J. A. Calder Notes on the flora of Chesterfield Inlet, Keewatin District, N.W.T., 103 Saxifraga cernua, 166; oppositifolia, 166; tri- cuspidata, 166; tricuspidata f. ligulata f. nov., 105 Scarlet Tanager near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, by Harrison F. Lewis, 175 Scaup, Greater, 39, 61, 65, 66; Lesser, 61, 65, 66 Scenedesmus armatus, 169; quadricauda, 169 Schilbeodes mollis, 171, 172 Scoter, American, 13, 14, 50, 66; Surf, 13, 50, 65, 66; White-winged, 39, 50, 65, 66 Scott, D. M. The Greenland Cod (Gadus ogac) in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, 123 Scott, W. B. and B. Kooyman A northern record for Aplodinotus grun- mens, 89 Scytonotus granulatus, 145 Seiurus noveboracensis notabilis, 28; novebo- racensis noveboracensis, 58 Selenastrum bibraianum, 169; var. gracile, 169 Senecio congestus, 106 Senn, Harold A. bibraianum Nov.-Dec. 1952] Review of: Flowering trees of the Carib- bean, 114 Setophaga ruticilla, 58 Sheepshead, 89 Sheppard, R. W. The Black Tern as an insect-eater, 129 Shiner, Emerald, 171; Golden, 171 Shoveller, 66 Shrike, Common, 62; Northern, 62, 64, 65 Silene acaulis var. exscapa, 166 Siskin, 62, 66; Pine, 61, 64, 66 Sitta canadensis, 25 Skylark, European, 66 Smith, W. John Summer observations of the Evening Gros- beak in southern Ontario and Quebec, 88 Snake, Common Garter, 127; Red-bellied, 127; Ribbon, 127; Ring-necked, 127; Smooth Green, 127 Snipe, 113; Wilson’s, 18, 65, 66 Snipe at sea, by L. W. H. Milbourn, 113 Solitaire, Townsend’s, 65, 88 Solman, Ruth H. Review of: American wildlife and plants, 115 Solman, Victor E. F. Review of: Ecological animal geography, 94 Somateria mollissima dresseri, 49; mollissi- ma sedentaria, 12; spectabilis, 13 Sorastrum americanum, 169 -Sparrow, Churchill Savannah, 29, 30; Clay- colored, 145; Eastern Fox, 32, 33, 59; Eastern Song, 59; Eastern Tree, 31, 58; English, 59-66; Field, 63; Fox, 66, 88; Golden-crowned, 66; Labrador Savannah, 58; Lincoln’s, 33, 59; Northern Swamp, 33; Song, 61-66; Swamp, 59, 61, 64: Tree, 60- 65; White-crowned, 31, 32, 59, 65, 68; White-throated, 32, 59, 61-63, 112 Sphaerozosma excavatum, 169; exiguum, 169 Spiza americana, 68 Spizella arborea arborea, 31, 58; pallida, 145 Spondulosium planum, 169 Squatarola squatarola, 17, 51 Stalking birds with color camera, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 118 Starling, 43, 60-66; Common, 59, 60; pean, 37 Statement of financial standing, The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, Nov. 26, 1951, 38 Staurastrum anatinum, 169; anatinum var. curtum, 169; anatinum var. denticulatum, 169; ankyroides, 169; ankyroides var. pen- tacladum, 169; arctiscon, 169; avicula, 169; brachiatum, 169; brasiliense var. lundellii, 169; breviaculatum, 169; brevispinum fa. majus, 169; cerastes, 169; cuspidatum, 169; Euro- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 185 furcatum, 169; grallatorium var. forcipige- rum, 169; johnsonii, 170; johnsonii var. depauperatum, 170; johnsonii fa. parvum, 170; lacustre, 170; leptacanthwm, 170; lep- tocladum, 170; leptocladum var. denticula- tum, 170; leptocladwm var. insigne, 170; leptocladum var. sinuatum, 170; longipes, 170; megacanthum, 170; paradoxum, 170; pentacerum, 170; pseudopelagicum, 170; rotula, 170; subnudibrachiatum var. inci- sum, 170; tohopekaligense var. brevispi- num, 170; wolleanum var. kissimmense, 170 Stellaria humifusa, 166; laeta, 104; monan- tha var. monantha, 104 Stercorarius parasiticus, 52 Sterna hirundo, 20; hirundo hirundo, 54; pa- radisaea, 21, 54 Stickleback, Brook, 173; Nine-spine, 173 Stirrett, Geo. M. Lawrence’s Warbler in Canada, 111 Rough-legged Hawk migration in James Bay area, 87 Storeria occipitomaculata, 127 Streptelasma corniculum, 119; rusticum, 119 Strophomena incurvata, 119 Sturnus vulgaris, 37, 48 Summer observations of the Evening Gros- beak in southern Ontario and Quebec, by W. John Smith,88 Surnia ulula caparoch, 22 Sutton, R. W. A Hooded Warbler from Churchill, Mani- toba, 175 Swallow, Bank, 24, 43, 56; Tree, 24, 44, 56, 87 Swan, Mute, 66; Whistling, 8, 40 Swift, Chimney, 151 Sympetrum rubicundulum, 107 Synura uvella, 168 20, 52; pomarinus, LT ie Tabellaria fenestrata, 168; flocculosa, 168 Tanager, Scarlet, 175 Tatler, Wandering, 19 Teal, Blue-winged, 40; Green-winged, 11, 49, 65, 66 Telmatodytes palustris, 173; palustris dissaép- tus, 173; palustris waynei, 173 Tern, Arctic, 21, 54; Black, 129; Caspian, 54; Common, 20, 54 Terrill, Lewis Mcl. The Clay-colored Sparrow in southeastern Ontario, 145 Tetraspora lacustris, 169 Thamnophis sauritus sauritus, 127; sirtalis, 127 Thrasher, Brown, 62 sirtalis 186 Thrush, Eastern Hermit, 26, 57; Gray- cheeked, 57; Hermit, 66; Olive-backed, 26, 57; Varied, 65, 66 Titmouse, Tufted, 63 Toad, Common, 125; Cope’s, 125 Totanus flavipes, 19; melanoleucas, 19, 51 Towhee, Eastern, 61, 63; Oregon, 66 Townsend’s Solitaire in New Brunswick, by Mrs. A. B. Connell, 88 Triaenophorus nodulosus, 111 Tringa solitaria solitaria, 18, 51 Triptoceras, 119 Trisetum spicatum, 165 Triturus viridescens viridescens, 125 Troglodytes troglodytes hiemalis, 56 Trout-perch, 171 Tuck, Leslie M. Dickcissel in Newfoundland, 68 Yellow-breasted Chat in Newfoundland, 112 Turdus migratorius migratorius, 56; migrato- rius nigrideus, 25 Turnstone, Black, 66; Ruddy, 17, 51 Turtle, Eastern Painted, 127; Snapping, 127; Wood, 127 Two predators as prey, by B. Hocking, 107 Tyrannus tyrannus, 23, 55; verticalis, 68 aes (ppp Under the sea-wind, reviewed by E. L. Bous- field, 150 Union Bay. (The life of a city marsh), re- viewed by I. McT. Cowan, 70 Unusual foot colouration in Pintails (Anas acuta) and note on European recoveries, by Graham Cooch, 111 Unvanquished buffalo, The, Austin W. Cameron, 176 Uria aalge aalge, 54; lomvia lomvia, 54 Uroblaniulus, 145; canadensis, 145; immacu- latus, 145 reviewed by ah Oy abe: Variation in Anas cyanoptera, reviewed by W. Earl Godfrey, 175 Vascular plants from Mill Island, Hudson Strait, by Nicholas Polunin, 165 Vermivora celata celata, 27; lawrencei, 111; peregrina, 27, 57 Vespula maculata, 107; norvegica var. albida, 107; vulgaris, 107 Vulture, Turkey, 43, 65 we RU es Warbler, Bay-breasted, 57; Blackpoll, 28, 57; Black-throated Blue, 68; Black-throated Green, 57; Connecticut, 68; Eastern Myrtle, THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. 65 27, 28; Hooded, 175; Lawrence’s, 111; Mag- nolia, 57; Mourning, 58; Myrtle, 57; New- foundland Yellow, 57; Northern Yellow, 27; Orange-crowned, 27; Palm, 28; Tennessee, 27, 57; Wilson’s, 28, 58; Yellow Palm, 58 Waterfowl and their food plants in Washing- ton, reviewed by David A. Munro, 175 Water-mite, 83 Water-thrush, Grinnell’s, 28; Northern, 58 Waxwing, Bohemian, 64, 65; Cedar, 64 Wayne’s Long-billed Marsh Wren in New Brunswick, by Kenneth C. Parkes, 173 Westella botryoides, 169 Wheatear, 67 Wheatears in the Mackenzie Mountains, Dis- trict of Mackenzie, N.W.T., by V. C. Wynne- Edwards, 67 White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leu- cophrys pugetensis) and Bantam Hen, by Martin W. Holdom, 68 Whitefish, 112 Widgeon, American, 66; European, 66 Wilsonia citrina, 175; pusilla pusilla, 28, 58 Winter records of the White-throated Spar- row in western Ontario, by A. E. Allin, 112 Woodpecker, American Three-toed, 23; Arctie Three-toed, 60, 61; Downy, 59-66; Hairy, 60-66; Pileated, 60-64, 66; Red- bellied, 63 Wren, Bewick’s, 65; Carolina, 61, 62; Eastern Winter, 56; Long-billed Marsh, 65, 173; Seattle, 66; Wayne’s Long-billed Marsh, 173; Winter, 62-66 Wynne-Edwards, V. C. Wheatears in the Mackenzie Mountains, District of Mackenzie, N.W.T., 67 Maha SR Xanthidium antilopaeum, var. polymazum, 170 seca Nr flee Yellow-breasted Chat in Newfoundland, by Leslie M. Tuck, 112 Yellow-legs, Greater, 19, 51; Lesser, 19 Yellow-throat, 28; Northern, 58 170; antilopaeum LL Ae pd Zavitz, C. Harold Dead opossum on Point Pelee, Ont., shore, 144 Zonotrichia albicollis, 32, 59, 112; leucophrys leucophrys, 31, 59; leucophrys pugetensis, 68 Zygnemataceae, The, reviewed by Elwyn O. Hughes, 114 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MANITOBA OFFICERS FOR 1951-52: resident Emeritus: Charles W. Lowe; Honorary Presi- ent: A. G. Lawrence; President: RAYMOND R.’ LE- EUNE; VicePresidents: Mrs. D. B. SPARLING, Prof. K. STEWART-HAY; General Secretary: Mrs. W. A. ARTWRIGHT; Executive Secretary: Mrs. G. I. KEITH; Treasurer: H. MOSSOP; Auditor: W. A. CARTWRIGHT; Social Convenor: Miss LOUISE M. LOVELL. ECTIONS— mnithology: Chair. F. J. COUTTS; Sec. Miss W. DOWNES. Entomology: Chair. R. J. HERON; Sec. J. A. DROUIN. Botany. Chair. Mrs. D. B. SPARLING; Sec. JOHN S. ROWE. Geology: Chair. P. Sec. P. W. GRANT. Mammalogy: Chair. C. I. una NIUS; Sec. O. P. GIBSON. Herpetology: Chair. R. K. Eee Hey Sec. H. MOSSOP. Archeology: Chair. Mrs. P. H. STOKES; Sec. Mrs. R. K. HELYAR. Peerares on the first and third Monday evenings of ach month will be held in the 4th floor Board Room f the Free Press. Friday evening lectures wil be held in Room 200 of the University Extension Service, Me- morial Boulevard, Winnipeg. Field Meee ons are held m Saturdays or Sundays during June and Sep- ember, and on public holidays bat fi and August. Membership fee: $1 a year for adults; 25 cents for HISTORY OF CANADA OFFICERS FOR 1952 _ President: J. GERALD COOTE; Ist Vice-President: F. DONALD ROSS; 2nd _ Vice-President: JOS. MORIN; _ Secretary-Treasurer: GEO.-A. LECLERC; Chief Scientific _ Section: FRANCOIS HAMEL; Chief Protection Section: _ IAN BREAKEY; Chief Propaganda Section: Dr. D. A. _ DERY; Chief Information Section: J. C. Pee Other Bere Dr. V. PLAMONDON, T. J. HUNTER, i Je KK. , REX MEREDITH, G. H. CARTWRIGHT, While, _ Secretary’s address: GEORGES A. LECLERC, 12 Desy _ Avenue, Quebec, P.Q. | THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ i CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1950-1951 A. A. OUTRAM; Vice-President: J. L. Secretary-Treasurer: MRS. J. B. STEWART, 21 Millwood Rd., Toronto; President of Junior Club: _ MRS. 4 an “SPEIRS; Vice-President of Junior Club: MRS. L JAQUITH. Executive Council: G. M. BART- _ MAN, if BARNETT, MRS. N. BROWN, | MISS F. BURGESS, ALEXANDER CAMERON, MISS VERA CLARK, MISS B. DOUGLAS, PROF. T. W. DWIGHT, DR. _M. FRITZ, W. W. H. GUNN, DR. L. E. JAQUITH, MRS. 1 _ D. KETCHUM, MISS V. KOHLER, MRS. H. H. MARSH, P " ‘Meetings are held at 8.15 p.m. on the first Monday of _ each month from October to May at the al Ontario Museum, unless otherwise announced. Field trips are held during the spring and rsa and on the Saturday of each month during the winter. ATRL ATED) SOCIETTES VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OFFICERS — 1951-1952 Hon. President: DR. N. A. M. MacKENZIE; Past Presidem A. H. BAIN; President: DR. V. C. BRINK: Vice-President: DR. T. M. C. TAYLOR; Hon. Secretary; C. B. W. ROGERS; Recording pecuelalys MISS C. PLOMMER; Program Sec retary: S. BRADLEY; Hon. Treasurer: F. J. SANFORD; Librarian: me S. F. BRADLEY; Editor of Bulletin: N PURSSELL; Chairmen of Sections: Botany — PROF. J. DAVIDSON; Geeloay, — DR. J. E. ARMSTRONG tomology — A. WOOTTON; Omithology — W. M. HUGHES; eros — DR. I. McT. COWAN; Marine Biology — R. W. PILLSBURY; pine ae — HC FRESHWATER; Junior Section — A, WOOTTON; Mycology — F. WAUG H; Aubudon Soeen Tours — A. H. BAIN; Additional Member of Executive: J. J. PLOM- MER; Auditors; H. G. SELWOOD, J. H. PROSSER All meetings at 8 p.m., Room 100, Applied Science- Building, University of British Columbia, unless other- wise announced, McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB LONDON, ONT. OFFICERS FOR 195] President: Mr. W. SUTTON, 313 Wharncliffe Rd., N., London; Vibe eemaaet: Mrs. R. G. CUMMINGS, 361 Dundas St., London; Secretary: JOHN WISMER, 520 Huron St., London; Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. I. W. LEACH, West London P.O., London. Meetings are held at 8.00 p.m. in the Public Library biulding on the second Monday of each month from September to May. Field trips are held during the spring and a special excursion in September. , PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS INC. OFFICERS FOR 1952-53 President: G. H. MONTGOMERY; Vice-President: W. H. RAWLINGS; Vice-President: J. P. ANGLIN; Treasurer: D. G. ELLIOT; Asst.-Treasurer: Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT; Secretary: Miss R. S. ABBOTT, 166 Senneville Road, Senneville, P.Q. COMMITTEE Miss R. S. ABBOTT, J. P. ANGLIN, W. R. B. BERTRAM, Miss R. B, BLANCHARD, J. D CLEGHORN, Dr. M. J. DUN. BAR, D. G. ELLIOT, Mrs. D. G. ELLIOT, DeLISLE rene NEAU, G. H. HALL, W. S. HART, Miss G. HIBBAR Miss A. HORSFALL, A. R. LEPINGWELL, IAN McLAREN, G. H. MONTGOMERY, W. H. RAWLINGS, J. W. SON, C. C. SAIT, Miss M. SEATH, H. F. S Dre Jaye. SUMMERBY, L. Ma TERRILL, Mrs. L. TERRILL, Miss F. M. WALLA Meetings held the second Sears of the month except during summer. Field Trips held in spring and autumn. Mech BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRD AND MAMMAL SOCIETY President: KENNETH RACEY; Vera ea H. M. LAING; Secretary: JAN McT. WAN, Dept. of Zoology, University of Bri‘ish Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. THE NATUR AI HISTORY | PUERTO CORNORAT (Phalacrocorax auritus auritus (Lesson) ). x ore by HARRISON F. LEWIS The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club has a leaned prior of copies . this very useful paper. These are available free of cost to ie libraries and institutions. Librarians should write to: Mr. W. J- CODY, BUSINESS MANAGER, | OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB, DIVISION OF BOTANY, SCIENCE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OTTAWA, ONTARIO. “Le Droit’ Printers, ‘Ottawa, Canada. a Ne fit der,» a i Wtiae Pn An ue AY} ue Ay ay Atal H, OM aL hue ALG 2 ERNST MAYR LIBRARY “tii iia 44 114 198 062 Date Due