1907. VOL. XXI. 1907.

THE

OTTAWA NATURALIST,

Being Vol. XXIII. of the

TR AN S ACT IONS

OF THE

OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB.

Organized March, 1879. Incorporated March, 1884.

OTTAWA, CANADA:

The Rolla L. Chain Co. Limited, Printers

1907

^be ©ttawa ffielt)^1WaturaU0t0' Club, 1907^1908

patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

IpresiOent :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

\Dtce=lPresiDent0:

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xtbrartan :

J. W. Baldwin.

Secretary: treasurer:

T. E. Clarke, B.A. Arthur Gibson,

(470 O'Connor Street). (Central Experimental Farm).

Committee ■

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

KuOitors:
R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

StanDing Committees of Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

XeaOers:

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. Dowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macotm, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: 'E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
Archaeology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.
THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

JEDitoc:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Hssociate BOitorS:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Svirvey of Canada.— Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Paloson-

tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St.— Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klqtz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C., with "Ottawa Naturalist,'

$1.00 per annum

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF THE

Otta-wa Kielci=Naturalists' Club

April, 190r

Adams, Prof. F. D., M.Sc, Ph.D.

(Montreal).
Airth, Miss E.
Ami, H. M., M.A., D.Sc, F.G.S.,

F.R.S.C.
Ami, Mrs. H. M.
Ami, S. T.

Anderson, Miss Constance.
Anderson, James R. (Victoria,

B.C.)
Anderson, Lieut-Col. W. P., C.E.
Attwood, A. E., M.A.
Baldwin, J. W.
Ballantyne, James.
Bangs, J. S.

Barbour, W. C. (Sayre,Pa.)
Barlow, A. E., M.A., D.Sc,

F.G.S.A.
Bate, H. Gerald.
Bate, H. N.
Bate, Miss Marjorie.
Bate, Miss Morna.
Beaupre, Edwin. (Kingston).
Bell, Robert, B.A.Sc, M.D., LL.D.

F.R.S., F.R.S.C, F.G.S.A.
Bell, George.
Belliveau, A. K.
Bennett, L. H., (Regina).
Billings, C. M.
Billings, W. R.
Blackadar, Dr. E. H.
Blackadar, Lloyd.
Borden, Hon. Sir F. W., M.D.
Bowen, Miss Alice. (Quebec).
Bowles, Miss Sibyl M.
Boyd, MissM.

Boyd, W. U., B.A.Sc.

Bradshaw, G. H. (Morden, Man.)

Brainerd, Dwight. (Montreal).

Brennan, Mrs. H. H.

Brewster, W. (Cambridge, Mass.)

Brown, Mrs. R. D.

BrowTi, W. J. (Westmount, Q.)

Bruce, L. (Rossland, B.C.)

Bryce, H.P.,M.Z:>.

Burgess, T. J. W., M.D., F.R.S.C ,

(Montreal).
Burland, G. L.

Burman, Rev. W. A. (Winnipeg).
Calder, Alex. (Winnipeg).
Cameron, E. R., M.A.
Cameron, Roy.
Casson, J^o). C. W.
Campbell, D. A., B.A.
Campbell, A. M.
Campbell, R. H.
Chalmers, Robert, LL.D.
Clark, G. B..,B.S.A.
Clarke, C. K., M.D. (Toronto).
Clarke, T. E., B.A.
Cobbold, Paul A. (Haileybury,

Ont.)
Cooper, H. W.
Cole, H. W.

Cole, John, (Westboro', Ont.)
Cole, Mrs. John, (Westboro', Ont.)
Collins, J. Franklin, (Providence,

R.I.)
Collins, W. H.
Connor, M. F.,B.Sc.
Cote, J. C.
Courtney, Harold D.

The Ottawa Naturalist

[April

Cousens, W. C, M.D.

Cowley, Miss Mary A. (Aylmer, Q.)

Craig, Prof. John, (Ithaca, N.Y.)

Criddle, N. (Treesbank, Man.)

Currie, P. W.

Curry, Miss E. E.

Daly, R. A., M.A., Ph.D.

Dawson, S. E., Lit. D.

Dearness, J., M.A. (London, Ont.)

Dempsey, J. H. C. (Hamilton).

Denny, J. D.

Director, Christian Brothers'

Academy.
Dixon, F. A.
Dixon, Miss M. F.
Doherty, T. Keville.
Dowling, D. B., B.A.Sc.
Dulau & Co., (London, Eng.)
Dunne, J. P.
Durnford, F. G. D.
Dwight, Jonathan, Jr.", M.D. (New

York).
Eifrig,i?^u. G.
Ells, R. W., LL.D., F.G.S.A.,

F.R.S.C.
Evans, Jno. D., C.E. (Trenton,

Ont.)
Ewart, D.

Farley, F. L. (Red Deer, Alta.)
Farr, Miss E. M. (Philadelphia).
Fisher, How. Sydney.
Fitzpatrick, Hon. Chas.
Fleck, A. W.

Fleming, J. H. (Toronto).
Fleming,- Sir Sandford, K.C.M.G.,

C.E.,F.R.C.I., F.R.S.C.
Fletcher, J., LL.D., F.LiS.;

F.R.S.C.
Fraser, Geo., (Ucluelet, B.C.)
Fraser, Miss.
Gaboui^,' V; H. (Plantagenet,

Ont.)
Gallup, A. H.
Gibson, Arthur.
Gibson, J. W.
Gilbertson, Miss B.

Glashan, J. C, LL.D., F.R.S.C.

Gorman, M. J., LL.B.

Graham, W.

Grant, Sir J. A., K.C.M.G., M.D.,

F.R.C.S. Edin. F.R.S.C, F.G.S.
Gregson, Percy B. (Blackfalds,

Alta.)
Grisdale, J. H., B. Agr.
Grist, Henry.
Grist, Miss Mary L.
Greensf elder, M. B. (Cokimbia,

Mo.)
Halkett, Andrew.
Hamilton, Robert.
Hamilton, Mrs. F. L. H.
Hann, H. H. (Summit, N.J.)
Harcourt, Geo. (Edmonton, Alta.)
Hargrave, Miss L (Sherbrooke, Q.)
Harmer, Miss G. (Mosgrove, Ont.)
Harrington, W. Hague, F.R.S.C.
Harrison, Edward.
Harvey, R. V. (Vancouver, B.C.)
Hay, George, Sr.
Hay, G. U., D.Sc, MIA:, PhB.,'

F.R.S.C, (St. John, N.B.)
Hayes, J. A.
Hennessey, F. C.
Herriot, W. (Gait, Ont.)
Hewit, H. O
Hodge, C. F., Ph.D. (Worcester,

Mass.)
Hodson,F. W.
Hodson, Mrs. F. W.
Hod son, Ronald.
Hope, James.

Houghton, J. A. (Bennington, Vt.)
House of Commons Reading Room.
Hvighes, Miss Katherine.
Ida, Wm.

Irwin, Lt.-Col. D. T.
Jackson, Miss Queenie.
Jacobs, Miss C. M. (Hamilton,

Ohio).
Jameson, R. H. (Victoria, B.C.)
James, C. C, M.A. (Toronto).
James, H. C.

1907]

List of Members

-5

Jenkins, S. J., B.A.

Joly de Lotbiniere, Hon. Sir Henry

(Victoria, B.C.)
Jones, Harold, (Maitland, Ont.)
Kearns, J. C.
Keefer, Thos. C, C.M.G., C.E.,

F.R.S.C.
Keele, ].,B.A.Sc.
Kells, W. L. (Listowell, Ont.)
Kendall, E. W. (Guelph, Ont.)
Kingston, A. G.
Klotz, Dr. Otto.
Klugh, A. B. (Guelph).
Labarthe, J. (Trail, B.C.)
Laidlaw, G. E., (Victoria Rd., Ont.)
Lajeunesse, Rev. J. A.
Lambart, Hon. O. H.
Lambe, L. M., F.G.S., F.G.S.A.,

F.R.S.C.
Latchfor.d, Hon. F. R., B.A.
Leavitt, T. W. H. (Toronto).
Lee, Miss Kath. (Clinton, N.Y.)
Lees, Miss V.

Legislative Library, (Toronto).
Lemieux, E. E.
LeSueur, W. D.,5.A.
Lewis, J. B., C.E.
Leyden, Miss M.
Library Dept. Ont. Agr. College,

(Guelph).
Library of Parliament.
Liebner, E. O., B.A. (Brampton,

Ont.)
Lingwood, Miss F. H.
Lochhead, W., B.A., M.Sc. (St.

Anne de Bellevue, Que.)
Lyman, H. H., M.A. (Montreal).
McCallum, Frank.
McCready, Prof. S. B. (Guelph).
McDougall, Miss J. C.
McDunnough,Jas. (Berlin, Germany)
McElhinney, M. P.
McElhinney, Dr. M. G.
McGill, A., 5.A.,S.Sc.
Mclnnes, Wm. ,B.A.
MacLaughlin, T. J.

McLeod, Miss M. F.
McNeil, Alex.
McNabb, J.
McNichol, Miss C. C.
McQuesten, Miss Ruby B.
MacCraken, John l.,B.A.
MacKay, A. H., LL.D., B.Sc,

F.R.S.C. (Halifax).
Macoun, Prof. John, M.A., F.L.S.,

F.R.S.C.
Macoun, J. M.
Macoun, W. T.
Malcolm, Jno. (Fergus, Ont.)
Matthews, Miss Annie L.
Mearns, Dr. E. A. (Washington,

D.C.)
Megill, W. H.T.,B.A.
Metcalfe, W.
Millar, H. H. (Calgary).
Miller, Prof. W. G. (Toronto).
Milne, Wm.

Moore, W. H. (Scotch Lake, N.B.)
Morris, F. J. A. (Port Hope, Ont.)
Murray, James, B.S.A. (Regina,

Sask.)
Nash, C. W. (Toronto).
Nelles, D. H., D.L.S.
Newcombe, C. F., M.D. (Victoria,

B.C.)
Newman, L. H., B.S.A.
O'Brien, S. E.
Odell, W. S.
Orde, J.F.
O' Sullivan, Owen.
Owen, Beverley.
Perrin, Vincent, C.E.
Pitcher, Rev. T.
Pitts, H. H.

Prince, Prof. E. E., B.A., F.L.S.
Putman, J.H.,B.A.
Raine, Walter, (Toronto).
Richard, A. E.
Ritchie, Miss Isabella.
Robertson, Prof. J. W., LL.D. (St.

Anne de Bellevue, Que.)
Robinson, Miss M.

The Ottawa Naturalist

[April

Rodman, Miss A. E.

Ruddick, J. A.

Rush, M. L.

Saunders, Wm., C.M.G., LL.D.,

F.G.S., F.L.S., F.R.S.C.
Saunders, W. E. (London, Ont.)
Saunders, H. S. (Toronto).
Scott, Geo. Inglis.
Scott, Mrs. G. I.
Scott, Norman M.
Scott, John A.
Scott, Harry S.
Scott, Miss Mary McKay.
Scott, W.,B.A. (Toronto).
Scott, Rev. C. T. (Montreal, Que.)
Senate of Canada, The.
Seton, E. Thompson, (Coscob,

Conn.)
Shannon, Frank.
Shearman,F. J. W.
Shore, John W.
Shutt, F. T., M.A., F.I.C., F.C.S.,

F.R.S.C.
Simpson, Willibert.
Sinclair, S. B., B.A.,Ph.D.
Skales, Howard, (Mt. Forest, Ont.)
Small, H. Beaumont, M.D.
Snider, W. W.
Soper, John.
Sowter, T. W. E.
Souliere, O.
Spence.J. C-B.A.
Spreckley, R. O.
St. Jacques, H.
Summerbv, Wm. J., M.A. (Russell,

Ont.)
Sutherland, J. C.,B.A. (Richmond,

Que.)
Sutton, Mrs. L. L.
Sullivan, J. F.

Symes, P. B.

Taylor, F. B. (Fort Wayne, Ind.)

Terrill, L. M. (Montreal).

Thompson, R.

Thomson, Evan, (Red Lodge,
Alta.)

Thorne, James, B.A.

Topley, Mrs. W. J.

Tufts, H. F.

Tyrrell, J. B., B.A., B.Sc, F.G.S.,
F.G.S.A. (Toronto).

Walker, B. E., F.G.S. (Toronto).

Walker, Bryant, (Detroit).

Walhs, J. B. (Winnipeg, Man).

Warwick, F. W., B.Sc. (Bucking-
ham, Que.)

Weston, T. C, F.G.S.A. (Minnea-
polis, Minn.)

Whelen, Peter.

Whelen, Miss A.

White, E.G.

White, George R.

White, James, (Snelgrove, Ont.)

White, J. F.,M.A.

White, Lt.-Col. W., C.M.G.

W^hiteaves, J. F., LL.D., F.G.S.,
F.R.S.C., F.G.S.A.

Whyte, Miss Ida.

Whyte, Miss Isabella.

Whyte, R. B.

Williams, Miss M. B.

Williams, J. B., (Toronto).

Willing, T. N., (Regina, Sask.)

Wilson, W.].,Ph.B.

Wilson, E. (Armstrong, B.C.)

Winchester, H. S.

Wood, Hon. Josiah, (Sackville,
N.B.)

Young, C. H.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS

Bethune, Rev. C. J. S., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.C, Guelph, Ont.
Greene, Dr. E. L., United States National Museum, Washington, D.C.
Hill, Albert J., M.A., C.E., New Westminster, B.C.
Holm, Theodor, Ph.D., Brookland, Washington, D.C, U.S.
Merriam, Dr. C. Hart, Department of Agriculttire, Washington, U.S.
Smith, Prof. John B., D.Sc, Rutger's College, New Brunswick, N.J.
Taylor, Rev. G. W., Ai.A., F.R.S.C, F.Z.S., Wellington, B.C.
WicKHAM, Prof. H. F., Iowa City, lowa.U.S

LIBRARYISCi

W^^

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

Vol. XVIII. OTTAWA, APRIL, 1907 No. 1

THE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE OTTAWA

FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB FOR THE YEAR

ENDING MARCH 19th, 1907.

The Club membership has now passed the 300 mark. During
the year twenty-three new ordinary members have been elected,
bringing the present membership up to 301, composed of 293
ordinary members and eight corresponding members.

Soirees.

The Soir6e Committee is to be congratulated upon the ex-
cellent programme of lectures it has provided this winter, and
also upon its departure in printing the programme in neat pocket
form, besides publishing it as usual in The Ottawa Naturalist.

The opening soiree was held on December 6th, when the
President, Mr. Wilson, gave an able and timely address on the
benefits and pleasures to be derived from a participation in the
work of the Club. Dr. Jas. Fletcher then read a short paper,
prepared by Prof. Bradley, of the University of California, on
"An Entomological Excursion to the Selkirk Mountains." The
paper was illustrated by a number of excellent slides. The re-
mainder of the evening was given up to a demonstration exhibi-
tion. Rev. Mr. Eifrig, by means of mounted specimens, a field
glass, and popular books on birds, gave a demonstration of first
steps in ornithology, using color as a means of identification.

On January 8th, Mr. D. A. Campbell gave a demonstration
on the Physics of the Atmosphere. The various laws of gases
and many interesting phenomena were illustrated in a series of
well-chosen experiments, so skilfully performed as to call forth
frequent applause.

Dr. P. H. Bryce, Chief Medical Officer of the Dept. of the
Interior, addressed the Club on The Relation of Climate to
Health, with special reference to prevention and treatment of
tuberculosis. This address, one of the ablest ever delivered be-
before the Club, is shortly to appear in fu]1 in The Ottawa
Naturalist.

8 The Ottawa Naturalist [April

On February 12th, Dr. R. N. Daly gave an address before
a large audience on The Physical Conditions of Life in the Deep
Seas. He pointed out the factors, such as temperature, presence
of light, heat, air, low pressure, wave motion, and the facility
of obtaining food, that make life more abundant near the sur-
face than at greater depths. Deep sea types were then described
with the conditions under which they live.

In the absence of Dr. Robertson, the paper on The Mac-
donald College was given by Prof. Lochhead of that institution,
who described the college at Ste. Anne de Bellevue, and dealt
with the great educational value of the work which Sir Wm.
Macdonald's generosity is making possible.

The paper to have been given on March 12th, by Mr. Stewart
on The Forestry Problem had to be cancelled because of Mr.
Stewart's removal to Montreal. On that date Dr. Fletcher read
before the Club a chapter on The Grey Wolf, from the manu-
script of Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton's forthcoming book, The
Mammals of Manitoba. The chapter describes the appearance,
habits, and range of the Grey Wolf, and is replete with stories
gleaned from all sources from Hudson Bay days to the present
time. On the same evening, Dr. Ami presented the Report of
the Geological Branch, and gave an illustrated address on The
Methods of Work of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. Some
of the slides shown illustrated local geology, especially as ob-
served in excavations made during the past few years, and others
exhibited the kind of work done by the Club on its Saturday
excursions and in connection with the Summer School of Science.

Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, a valued member of the Club,
very kindly gave an illustrated lecture on Animal Minds and
Heroes, on the evening of February 16th, before an audience
that completely filled the large Assembly Hall of the Normal
School. Mr. Seton held his audience in the closest attention
for a space of an hour and three-quarters while he described the
famous heroes of animal history. To quote from a lengthy press
notice, "Delivered with fire of oratory, and enlightened with
frequent flashes of the keenest wit, the address was one of the
best heard in Ottawa for many years."

Excursions.
The following programme of excursions was drawn up:
April 28th, Blueberrv Point, Avlmer.
May Sth, Rockliffe Park.
May 12th, Beaver Meadow, Hull.
May 19th, Cement Works, Hull.
May 26th, General Excursion, Chelsea.
June 2nd, Experimental Farm.

1907] Report of the Council 9

June 9th, Rideau Park.

June 16th, General Excursion, Galetta.

June 23rd, Hemlock Lake.

Sept. 18th, General Excursion. Chelsea.

Feb. 9th, Snowshoe Tramp, Beaver Meadow.

Feb. 23rd, Snowshoe Tramp, Rockliffe.

The Club regards its excursions as the strongest means of
awakening public interest in its work and enlisting new members.
This year, special efforts had been put forth to make the excur-
sions as successful as possible, but an unusual number of rainy-
Saturdays interfered with the plans of the Club. When weather
conditions were favorable, however, the excursions were well
attended, and much good work was done, as appears in the re-
ports of the excursions published from time to time in The
Ottawa Naturalist. The snowshoe tramps have shown that
a great deal of field work can be carried on in winter. The
botanists, for example, observed at Beaver Meadow the distri-
bution of evergreens and deciduous trees, the occurrence of
species easily passed b}^ unnoticed in summer, the branching of
deciduous trees, the persistent fruit of the Climbing Bittersweet,
the characteristic winter appearance of the Juniper, various
methods of bud-protection, and many other interesting features
of winter vegetation. A continuance of field work in winter
would be certain to reveal many things to which attention has
not yet been directed because of the unfamiliarity of people
in cities with woods in winter.

The Ottawa Naturalist.
Volume XX of The Ottawa Naturalist, the official organ
of the Club, has been published under the editorship of Mr. J. M.
Macoun. It consists of twelve numbers which contain in all 253
pages and tw^o plates. The following are among the papers that
appear in this volume:

1. Notes on a Collection of Fossil Fruits from Vermont, in
the Museum of the Geological Survey of Canada, Dr. H. M. Ami.

2. On the Structure of Roots, Theo. Holm.

3. A May Morning with the Birds in New Brunswick, W.
H. Moore.

4. List of some Fresh-water shells from Northwestern
Ontario and Keewatin, Dr. J. F. Whiteaves.

5. The Migration of Birds, Rev. C. Eifrig.

6. The Ottawa Species of Eriophorum, J. M. Macoun.

7. A Sagacious Crow, A. H. Gallup.

8. The Chambord Meteorite, R. A. Johnston.

9. Nesting of Wilson's Snipe, Wm. L. Kells.

10 The Ottawa Naturalist [April

10. Some Canadian Antennarias, Dr. Ed. L. Greene.

11. The Caribou of Queen Charlotte Islands, J. M. Macoun.

12. Ivy Poisoning and its Treatment, J. M. Macoun.

13. The Great Gray Owl, Rev. C. W. G. Eifrig.

14. The Species of Botryocrinus, F. A. Bather.

15. Some New Plants from the Canadian Rockies and Sel-
kirks, Edith M. Farr.

16. Richardson's Merlin, W. J. Brown.

17. Bird Migration, Sable Island, James Boutelier.

18. Notes on Cyrtoceras cuneatum. Dr. J. F. Whiteaves.

19. Contributions to Canadian Botany, J. M. Macoun.

20. Spring Migration of Birds at Ottawa, 1906, Rev. C.
Eifrig.

21. Animal Coloration, Prof. E. E. Prince.

22. The Cryptogamic Flora of Ottawa, Prof. Jno. Macoun.

23. A Visit to Duck Island, Hon. F. R. Latchford.

24. The Teal Weed of St. Clair Flats, J. Maughan.

25. Description of Eupithecia Fletcherata, Geo.W Taylor.

26. A Swarm of Butterflies, Geo. H. Bradshaw.

27. Notes on the Skeleton of a White Whale, Dr. J. F.
Whiteaves.

28. Some Curious Facts about Fishes, Andrew Halkett.

29. The Disappearance of the Passenger Pigeon, J. H.
Fleming.

30. Meteorological Observations at Ottawa, Wm. Ellis,

In addition to these, there have been published several
botanical and ornithological notes, book reviews, reports of
soirees, excursions, and branch meetings.

The series of articles on Nature Study, edited by Dr James
Fletcher, has been continued, bringing the number of papers
published during the past four years up to 42. In this volume
the following papers appear:

33. Definite Problems in Nature Studv, Dr. S. B. Sinclair.

34. A Cement Sidewalk, S. B. McCreadV, B.A.

35. The Gait Park Wild-Flower Garden, R. S. Hamilton.

36. The Foundations of Chemistry as seen in Nature Study,
Jno. Brittain.

37. The Cecropia Emperor Moth, Arthur Gibson.

38. School Exhibits of Pressed Plants, Dr. J. Fletcher.

39. Agencies for the Promotion of Nature Study in Canada ,
Prof. Lochhead.

40. Manual Training — the Mechanical Hobby, Dr. Mark
G. McElhinney.

41. Manual Training — the Machinist's Art, Dr. Mark G.
McElhinney.

42. The Relationof Sparrows to Agriculture, L. H. Newman.

1907] Report op the Council 11

• Your Council, believing that this series of articles is one of
the most important contributions made to the science of Nature
Study, regrets to report that Dr. Fletcher finds himself compelled
to cease editing this department of The Ottawa Naturalist.
The Club has on hand,2S0 copies of each of the forty-two articles
printed, and the publishing committee has under consideration
the question of binding these in book form.

Reports of Branches.

These reports, showing the work done throughout the year
by the various branches, are being presented at this meeting,
and will be published in The Ottawa Naturalist at an early
date. Your Council has instituted a Department of Meteorology
under the leadership of Dr. Otto Klotz. One of the leaders of
this department, Mr. Campbell, gave a Demonstration on the
Physics of the Atmosphere before a largely attended meeting in
the Ottawa Collegiate Institutte.

Entomological Branch.

The members of the Entomological Branch of the Club have
continued their good work in the collection and .study of the
insects of the Ottawa District. The leaders report that, although
the season was not a particularly good one for insects, still many
interesting species were taken, and considerable progress made
in adding to the lists of the various orders. Notable features of
the year were a remarkable outbreak of plant lice on almost all
cultivated and wild plants up till midsummer, followed by the
appearance of hordes of lady-bird beetles, which very soon
destroyed the larger number of the plant lice. It was noticed
that very many of these predaceous friends were similarly de-
stroyed by parasites. The White Cedars throughout the district
were very much injured by the larvae of two minute moths,
Argyresthia thuiella, and in far smaller numbers, Recurvaria
thujaella. An interesting occurrence was of a Nitidulid beetle,
the larvae of which were very destructive to the seeds of the
Silver Maple. The entomologists announce the appearance in
the Ottawa district of an undesirable visitor in the shape of the
Asparagus Beetle, which has done so much harm in western
Ontario. An insect which last season appeared in vast numbers
was the Greenhouse White-fly {Aleyrodes vaporariorum) , which
was abundant on many herbaceous plants and ornamental shrubs
in gardens.

Ornithological Branch.
Since the last annual report the Ornithological Section has
held meetings at more or less regular intervals. More than

12 The Ottawa Naturalist [Apr 1

usually complete observations on the spring migration of birds
in the district were rnade and recorded, also anomalies, rareties
and irregularities in the air forms of the vicinity considered.
Further progress was made in the revision of the pubHshed air-
faunal list of the Ottawa district, with a view of augmenting
and correcting it to date. As a none too comrruon occurrence in
the bird world of the vicinity may be mentioned the unusual
migration of the Goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus) noted last
October and November.

The Library.

In accordance with the report of the Library Committee
adopted at the last annual meeting, the bound volumes and the
exchanges were transferred from the Normal School to the Car-
negie Library. All exchanges received during the past year are
now stored in the Normal School. Many of these are of a technical
nature, but the Club receives a number of publications which
are of a more popular character, including:

L The Nature Study Review.

2. The Journal of Geography.

3. The Auk.

4. The Canadian Entomologist.

5. The Wilson Bulletin.

6. The Ohio Naturahst.

7. Le Naturaliste Canadien.

Under present conditions no use is made of these by the
members.

In addition to its periodical exchanges, the Club has received
numerous government reports from Washington and Ottawa,
and the following bound volumes have been placed on the shelves :

1. Anatomical Nomenclature, Dr. Barker, Prof, of Medi-
cine, Johns Hopkins University.

2. A Loose-Leaf System of Laboratory Notes, Theo.
Scheffer, Kansas State Agricultural College.

3. Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institute.

4. Report of the Welcome Research Laboratories at the
Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum.

A Summer School of Science under the direction of Mr. J. H.
Putman, gave a three weeks' course for teachers in July. Several
members of the Club delivered lectures at the Normal School
and aided in the field work. Mr. Putman gave a course in Botany,
Mr. Attwood one in Mineralogy, and Mr. Sullivan took charge of
the field work. Dr. Fletcher gave two lectures on Birds, and
two on Insects. The leaders of the Club also contribute very
largely to the lecture programmes of various societies in the city.

1907]

Report of the Council

13

The Club notes with pleasure the honor conferred upon two
former Presidents. Dr. J. F. Whiteaves has been awarded the
Lyell medal by the Geological Society of London, an honor that
has been conferred upon only two other Canadian scientists, Sir
William Dawson, and Prof. Frank Adams; and Dr. R. Bell has
been awarded the Patron's Gold Medal by the Royal Geograph-
ical Society, the Cullum Gold Medal by the American Geograph-
ical Society, and the Queen's Coronation Gold Medal for geological
work in Canada.

The Club desires to express its gratitude for the apprecia-
tion of its work shown by the Ontario Legislature in increasing
the annual grant from $200 to $300.

The Treasurer's Report shows a balance on hand of $48.63.

The thanks of the Club are due to Principal White for plac-
ing the Normal School at its disposal, to the Library Board of
the City Council, and to the Librarian, Mr. Burpee, for the use
of the Lecture Hall of the Carnegie Library, and to the Press of
the city for its efforts in furthering the work of the Club.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

T. E. Clarke,

Secretary.

14 The Ottawa Naturalist [April

TREASURER'S STATEMENT FOR YEAR ENDING
19th march, 1907.

Receipts.

Balance from previous year $61 62

Subscriptions— 1906-1907 97 00 .^t

Arrears 58 00 "m

155 00

Advertisements in Ottawa Naturalist 101 40

Author's extras sold, including separates of Nature

Study articles 61 60

Ottawa Naturalists sold 26 10

Government Grant 300 00

$705 72

Expenditure.

Printing Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XX, 12 Nos., 253

• pages $316 10

Illustrations 6 93

Author's extras, including Nature Study separates 121 50

Miscellaneous printing — wrappers, post cards, etc 60 40

$504 93

Postage 24 31

Editor 50 00

Less 5 per cent, for cash on part of printers' accts.

Secretary

Treasurer

Soiree expenses

Library expenses

Sundry expenses, postage, etc

Balance

$705 72
ARTHUR GIBSON, Treasurer.

$579 24

23 88

555 36
25 00

25 00

20 75

16 20

14 78

48 62

Examined and found correct

I

A. H. GALLUP

> A iiditors.

Subscriptions for the new club year are now due, and should be paid
at once.

The Treasurer would again direct attention to the advertisements in
our new volume. Some of these appear now for the first time, and mem-
bers are asked to remember the different firms when making purchases.
They are all good, reliable firms, and, as they are helping the Club by giving
dvertisements, we should all make it a point to deal with them.

1907] On a Tooth op Ovibos 15

ON A TOOTH OF OVIBOS, FROM PLEISTOCENE
GRAVELS NEAR MIDWAY, B.C.*

By Lawrence M Lambe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C, of the Geological Survey

of Canada. (With plate).

An upper molar tooth of a ruminant has lately been pre-
sented to the Geological Survey by Mr. C. B. Bash, of Greenwood,
British Columbia, who states in a letter accompanying the speci-
men that it is from Rock Creek about eight miles above its erftry
into Kettle River, and about four miles north of the International
Boundary. Rock Creek joins Kettle River from the west about
thirteen miles west of Midway. The tooth was found on a rock
surface beneath a deposit of unconsolidated gravel, about two
hundred feet in thickness, in a tunnel run into a hill in connection
with placer mining.

The tooth received from Mr. Bash is the posterior true molar
from the right side, and is referred provisionally to the genus
Ovibos. In comparison with the corresponding tooth of an adult
male musk-ox (O.moschattis, Zimm.) from Fort Rae, Great Slave
Lake,|in the Museum of the Geological Survey, it is seen to be
slightly smaller and less robust but otherwise remarkably similar.

Remains, principally the hinder portion of skulls with horn-
cores attached, from the Pleistocene of the United States, have been
assigned to the genus Ovibos or related genera under a number of
specific names, some of which are apparently synonyms. Ovibos
bombijrons (Harlan) is from the Pleistocene of Kentucky; O.
cavifrons (Leidv) is recorded from deposits of the same age in
Indian Territory, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, and Alaska,
and both were included by Leidy in his genus Bootherium. A
third species is 0. appalachicolus (Rhoads), from the Pleistocene
of Pennsylvania.

There are few records of the finding of the remains of Ovibos
in Pleistocene deposits in Canada. Dr. George M. Dawson, in
his Summary Report for 1898, p. 19 A, mentions the finding of
portions of a skull of a musk-ox in old gravel deposits (Pleisto-
cene) near Edmonton, Alberta. In his Report on the Klondike
Gold Fields, 1905, p. 29B, Mr. R. G. McConnell refers to musk-
ox, mammoth, buffalo, bear and mountain sheep and goat re-
mains in the "low level creek gravels" of the Klondike district
which are most probably of Pleistocene age, judging from the
occurrence of mam.moth bones in them. Lydekker in his Cata-
logue of Fossil Mammaha in the British Museum, pt. ii, 1885, p.
39, refers, under the heading Ovibos moschatus, to a specimen

♦Communicated by permission of the Acting Director of the Geo-
logical Survey of Canad.a.

16

The Ottawa Naturalist [April

consisting of the "hinder portion of the cranium of a small indi-
vidual wfth part of the horn-cores," from the Pleistocene of the
Upper Porcupine River, Yukon.

In the "Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections," Vol. iii, pt.
2, 1905, is a paper on "Scaphoceros* tyrrelli, an extinct ruminant
from the Klondike gravels," by Wilfred H.Osgood. This paper is
descriptive of the skull of an animal considered by Mr. Osgood
to be "evidently related to the existing genus Ovibos, but suffi-
ciently different to rank as a separate genus." The type skull
is from Bonanza Creek. The remains of musk-oxen in the Yukon
mentioned by Mr. McConnell in his report are the specimens on
which this new genus has been estabhshed. Mr. Osgood in his
important and interesting paper also reviews the literature of
Pleistocene species of Ovibos. He assigns 0. cavifrons (Leidy)
to Scaphoceros, and retains the genus Bootherium with bonibi-
frons as the type. In the skull of Scaphoceros tyrrelli from Bon-
anza Creek the teeth are preserved, an important feature, as no
teeth have been found with the Pleistocene remains generally
hitherto referred to the genus Ovibos under different specific
names in Canada and the United States.

The tooth from Rock Creek, B.C., is in diameter about three-
fifths the size of the last upper molar of 5. tyrrelli, and its pro-
portions are quite different. As already mentioned, it is nearly
iDut not quite the size of the posterior molar of an adult male of
Ovibos moschatus in the Museum of the Geological Survey, and
in most particulars agrees very closely with it. As the styles or
costae are more slender, is is for the present only provisionally
referred to the living form. In comparison with the correspond-
ing tooth of an adult specimen of Ovis montana Cuv., the Moun-
tain sheep or Big-horn, there are general resemblances. It is in
size between the tooth of the mountain sheep and the musk-ox,
but more nearly approaches the latter.

Figures in the accompanying plate are given of the tooth
from Rock Creek. In comparing it with the corresponding tooth
of the adult male musk-ox from Fort Rae, the three costae or
styles of its outer surface are seen to be more slender, but the
proportionate development of the intermediate costae or longi-
tudinal ribs is about the same, and the tooth pattern is almost
identical. The Rock Creek specimen is moderately worn and the
posterior cement lake (valley) in the grinding surface connects
at its anterior end with the longitudinal depression between the
lobes on the inner side of the tooth. The complete enclosure of

*The generic term Symbos has since been substituted by Mr. Osgood
for Scaphoceros (preoccupied). Vide, Proceedings Biological Society of
Washington, Vol xviii, p. 223. Oct. 17, 1905.

1907] On a Tooth of Ovibos 17

this lake would have taken place when the tooth had been worn
down about 12 mm. more. The transverse section (Fig. 1 <;) a
little below the mid-height of the tooth (at d, Fig. 1) shows the
posterior lake isolated with the addition near the inner division
point of the lobes of the "small accessory valley (e, Fig. 1 c), to
which attention is called by Dr. E. Lonnberg in his paper 'On
the Structure and Anatomy of the Musk-ox."*

In the Fort Rae musk-ox the first and second upper true
molars show this accessory valley well developed, and the third
molar, which is not so much worn as the other two teeth, shows
it in process of formation, but still attached to and continuous
with the anterior cement lake. In this specimen only the small
portion of the teeth above the alveolar border is available for
examination.

In the specimen of Ovis montana neither of the cement lakes
in the grinding surface of the last upper molar (very little worn)
are completely enclosed; the anterior one communicates with
the inner longitudinal furrow and also by a narrow surface with
the posterior lake. With further wear (Fig. 2, section at mid-
height of tooth) the two lakes become enclosed and distinct, but
without the formation of the "small accessory valley." A second
section nearer the base of the tooth reveals this small valley
well formed. The first upper true molars in the same skull show
this valley very plainly in the grinding surface, and it appears
in a section at mid-height in the second molar. The "small
accessory valley" is thus seen to be developed in both the musk-
ox and the mountain sheep in the true molars. The styles of
the Rock Creek tooth have about the same prominence and
thickness as those of the sheep.

The Rock Creek tooth is without the "accessor}'- column"
that is stated to arise in Ovibos* at the base of the inner surface
of the molars between the two lobes. This column is, however,
apparently absent in the third upper molarf of Ovibos. In the
second and third upper molars of the mountain sheep examined
there is no trace of this column.

Measurements of the Rock Creek tooth (moderately worn),
and those of the corresponding tooth in Ovibos moschatus

♦Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1900,
P-712. ^ veil

♦Lonnberg, op. cit., p. 712. ; vV)"'^-''^^

tOsgood, op. cit., p. 17 7. /^i^yJ^O^^^i^y^s. O^

18

The Ottawa Naturalist

[April

(much worn) , and Ovis montana (slightly worn) are here given:

Rock Creek Ovibos Ovis

tooth. moschatus. montana.

Height or length of tooth 54 mm. Ap. 40 mm. 55 mm.

Maximum anteroposterior dia-
meter at grinding surface 25 mm. 31 mm. 18 mm.

Same at mid-height _ 29 mm. 25 mm.

Transverse diameter (width) of
posterior lobe at grinding

surface 10 mm. 12 min. 6 mm.

Same at mid-height 13.5 mm. 11 mm.

Transverse diameter (width) of
anterior lobe at grinding svir-

face. 12 mm. 13 irnn. 9 mm.

Same at mid-height 15.5 mm. 12.5 mm.

In attempting, therefore, to determine whether the Rock
Creek tooth is properly referable to the musk-ox or to the moun-
tain sheep, the absence of the "accessory column" in the speci-
men does not afford any help in this particular case, and the
presence of the "small accessory valley" is a character belonging
to both animals. According to Dr. Lonnberg, "in sheep and goats
this 'accessory valley' seems to be less constantly developed"
(op.cit.,p. 712), than in many members of the Bovidffi. Depend-
ing principally on its size and general robustness the Rock Creek
tooth is provisionally referred to the musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus,
Zimm.),in the belief that it may have belonged to a rather small
individual.

The unconsolidated gravel under which the tooth was found
is evidently of Pleistocene age. The enamel of the specimen
varies in places from deep to light bluish-grey in colour, with a
few irregular patches that are almost white. The dentine is of
a very dark brown or almost black colour, with the cement a
shade lighter. Dr. Reginald Daly, geologist for Canada to the
International Boundary Commission, who is familiar with the
geology of the Rock Creek district, says that the only uncon-
soHdated gravels occurring there are, in his judgment, of glacial
origin and of Pleistocene age.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fu, , , J —Right posterior upper true molar of ruminant (Ovibos) from
Rock Creek, B.C.; exterior aspect.

Figure la — The same viewed from within.

Figure 16 — The grinding surface of the same viewed from below.

Figure Ic — Transverse section of the same at d, fig. 1.

Figure 2— Transverse section at mid-height of the crown of the cor-
responding tooth of an adult mountain sheep {Ovis montana, Cuv.)
e. — "Small accessory valley."
All the above figures are of natural size.

1907] The Evolution of the Macdonald College 19

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MACDONALD COLLEGE.

Professor W. Lochhead, of the Macdonald College, Ste. Anne
de Bellevue, gave an address to the members of the Field Natural-
ist's Club on the above subject in the Normal School on the even-
ing of February 26th.

The speaker said, in part: The Macdonald College, as a
future training school for young men and women for rural life,
like every other great work, is the product of adequate causes;
it is the result of ideas and tendeiicies that have been manifesting
themselves for many years in the educational world; it is an
expression of the Educational Unrest that makes for real progress
in the efforts to adapt our educational system and methods to
the conditions and needs of our time.

There is a rural life, and there is a town or urban life, with
distinctly different conditions and problems. A large percentage
of our people live on farms, while all are dependent, either
directly or indirectly, on the farms for their sustenance and pros-
perity. One would naturally suppose, therefore, that the study
of rural life would be given much prominence in our elementary
schools, and that every encouragement would be given the larger
boys and girls who had passed through the usual grades of the
rural schools, to equip themselves still further for their life work.
As a matter of fact, however, the studies in most rural schools
are quite similar to those carried on in town and city schools,
while the high schools give practically no attention to the re-
quirements of rural life. Their courses are admirably adapted
to those desirous of becoming teachers and university students,
but they fail to meet the needs of the great majority of the pupils
passing through the public schools. The high schools practically
compel every student to "face about and march" for the Normal
School or College, for the course of studies gives no alternative.
(Of late years Commercial courses are given in many high
schools).

For some time, then, thoughtful people have felt that the
studies in rural schools do not deal definitely enough with rural
things and conditions. There is no longer any real doubt that
such studies are valuable educationally, for the agricultural
colleges have shown that these possess high cultural value as
well as practical utility.

Owing to the constant changes in agricultural conditions
which result from the new applications of knowledge, each indi-
vidual citizen needs a higher degree of adaptability than was
formerly the case. Professor Sadler says: "These changes in the

20 The Ottawa Naturalist [April

condition of life call for a new spirit in education from the earliest
years upward. A vast body of new knowledge has to be brought
into educational account The old tradition has to be examined,
readjusted to new needs, and in part discarded, new studies have
to be introduced, and scientific thought has to be given to the
training of the senses. Science has furnished an immense amount
of usable information that has practically revolutionized the
older methods of agriculture ; and it is very important that the
coming rural citizens should enter into the possession of this
information with the ability to apply this new knowledge to
practical ends, to bring together different portions of knowledge
into new combinations, to realize quickly the bearing of new
developments of knowledge upon customary ways of doing
things and upon the probable demands for new kinds of service."
Besides a trained intelligence, the rural citizen should have a
sympathetic interest in the world of nature about him ; he should
see something of the beauty of the web of life, and understand
that his physical welfare depends largely upon his obedience
to the laws of nature that he has tried to grasp. More than this,
the cultivators of the soil require training in organization and
co-operation, for these spell success in agricultural as they do
in other commercial lines.

For ages the farmer did not feel much need for co-operation ;
he required little beyond his own farm; he was self-contained.
His earnings were small in spite of the hard work, and he had
no desire to speculate, lest he lose his hard earned money. He
became independent, but his independence prevented him from
getting all he could from his land. He shunned co-operation
in matters of common interest to all his neighbors. The products
of his farm went to the market alone, very frequently in incon-
venient and unattractive forms. Latterly, however, through
the desire to have good roads, good local government, good
schools and good churches, the spirit of co-operation is invading
the communities.

Good rural schools, however, imply good teachers — teachers
able "to articulate the country school closely and smoothly with
the country home, the neighborhood and the country at large;
only so can the instruction of the school take on the reality
needed to make it vigorously and practicallv effective. The
teachers should be able to utilize the local community life, its
occupations, resources, organisations, traditions and customs,
for the rural school."

But again back of this, properly prepared rural teachers
must be trained at suitably equipped and suitably located
normal schools. Our city normal schools have failed to a large

1907] The Evolution of the Macdonald College 21

extent in the training of teachers for the special work of the
country schools. These results are not due to the staff, but to
the environment of the normal schools. The city is not a suitable
place to study rural life, to gain that practical and scientific
knowledge of farm life that is so essential to the teacher, or to
get practice work in ungraded, one-master, rural schools. "City
schools teach city life and the facts that go with city life. "

There should, therefore, be a rural normal school for the
special training of rural teachers; and probably such a school
could do the most effective work if it were attached to an agri-
cultural college. This opinion coincides wdth that expressed
in the recent report of the Committee on Industrial and Tech-
nical Education, appointed by the Legislature of Massachusetts,
and presided over by Dr. Carrol D. Wright, the noted educa-
tionist and economist. This report recommends the establish-
ment of a normal school for the training of teachers for the rural
schools at the State Agricultural College.

Many efforts have been made to improve our rural schools.
The task is more difficult to-day than it has been for centuries
on account of the new conditions that have arisen as a result
of the recent scientific investigations in agriculture and the
rivalry of the great agricultural countries for the best markets.

The ideal system of schools for the rural districts would
appear to be: (1) One or two agricultural high schools in each
county, each equipped with one or more teachers on its staff
trained at an agricultural college, acquainted with the practical
side of agriculture, and able to use the farm in connection with
the high school to demonstrate in a practical way the best
scientific principles and methods advocated by the Experiment
Stations. These schools would act as feeders for the Agricul-
tural College of the province. (2) A good consoHdated school
for each township, where the first year of the high school would
be connected in course with the elementary grade work. (3)
Good rural schools where nature study would form the basis of
the school effort, as in the lower grades of the consoHdated
school. This secondary course would be adapted to the needs
of the larger boys and girls, who spend most of their time on the-
farm, but who would be w^illing to spend two or three months
each year in a study of the activities of the district for the purpose
of bettering their knowledge of farm processes, and thus gaining
power for service.

But such a system of rural schools cannot be estabtished"
without the hearty support of the farmers themselves, for it
means increased taxes. They must first be shown the value of '
education, as applied to the various branches of agricultural

22

The Ottawa Naturalist [April

industry, in making for increased profits, and more comfortable
living. To this end many agencies have been in operation during
the last ten years. First and foremost of these agencies is the
Ontario Agricultural College. The speaker here referred at
len<yth to the great work this institution was doing not only for
the^'farmers' boys and girls, but also for the farmers themselves
through the Experimental Union, the Special Short Courses,
The Farmers' Institutes, and the other allied associations aided
by the Government of Ontario and the Department of Agri-
culture at Ottawa.

The second agency, the speaker said, was the wonderful
series of object-lessons carried out by Dr. Jas. W. Robertson, as
Commissioner of Agriculture for Canada. These were illustra-
tion experiments on a large scale to show the value of the appli-
cation of intelligent labour (education) to the agricultural indus-
tries. Dr. Robertson's policy in all his efforts to make the farms
more productive was simply to break the way for new and vast
interests, and then to withdraw in favour of the spirit of self-
help that they had aroused and directed. It aimed to help the
farmer to make more of himself and of his farm through educa-
tion.

While directing this movement of the application of science,
organization and co-operation to farm labour. Dr. Robertson
was not forgetful of the boys and girls of the farm. He was
planning a kind of training in which the duties and joys of the
farm would be emphasized. For example, to show the import-
ance of the planting of selected seed in the improvement of crops,
and to create an interest in this matter among the boys and girls,
he estabhshed a seed grain competition, the results of which are
famihar to most persons. In this work he secured the co-opera-
tion and financial help of Sir William C. Macdonald. From this
time forward these two men have planned and laboured together
for the advancement of education.

The educational work in seed selection formed in reality one
phase of the Manual Training Movement organized by Dr. Robert-
son and Sir William Macdonald, whereby Manual Training was
introduced into the schools of the chief cities and towns of
Canada, and its value as an educational subject was recognized
both by the educational authorities and by the people.

Encouraged by the great interest shown in this work, they
planned what is now known as the Macdonald Rural Schools
Movement. It had a three-fold object: (a) To show the value
of consolidation of schools by the establishment of a rural con-
solidated school in each of the eastern provinces, well equipped
with a compotf^nt <;+''rf for teaching, along with the ordinary

C

at

1907] The Evolution of the Macdonald College 23

subjects, Manual Training, Domestic Science and Nature Study,
where school garden work is emphasized, (b) To train teachers
in the new subjects of Manual Training, Domestic Science and
Nature Study, (c) To provide school gardens at a group of five
schools in each province, with a travelling instructor in charge
of each group, spending one da}^ each week at each of the schools
of the group, guiding both teacher and pupils.

The term of three years during which the Fund agreed to
maintain these agencies is now nearly over, and we are able to
see the results, as it were, from a distance. These results are:
(a) A great interest has been aroused throughout Canada in the
matter of education, more especially rural education, and more
attention is now being given to the improvement of school
grounds and buildings, to the better remuneration of teachers,
and to the courses of study. (6) The leaders of education feel
that they have now a strong backing of public opinion for the
improvements they have in mind, (c) Nature Study, with the
school garden. Manual Training and Domestic Science are sub-
jects that vitalize and give interest to the work of the school.
They relate the school to the home, remove the tendency to rest-
lessness that prevails to an alarming extent in rural communities,
and furnish during the early years of the child "exercises through
which he acquires unconsciously the taste and capacity for
work," and also the mental attitude of enquiry into the meanings
of things in the presence of the facts, (d) The rural people can
be brought to appreciate good education whenever good illus-
trations are brought to their attention, and they show that they
appreciate it by increasing their school tax to maintain the new
school. The rate-payers of the consolidated schools have seen
visions during the last three years that disturb contentment,
and they will never be satisfied again with the old, poorly
equipped school of preconsolidation days. For example, the
average daily attendance has been trebled at the Consolidated
School, Kingston, N.B., and doubled at the Guelph School.

The people naturally ask if by two men's work so much
good can be done, how much good can the State do with its
resources behind it?

The Macdonald Movement is, in other words, a grand demon-
stration of the application of improved methods of education
which our most advanced educators have devised, but which the
state was unwilling to adopt into its educational system on
account of lack of public support. It is the forerunner of the
system of rural education supported by public funds, that pre-
pares the child for complete living on the farm.

Finally came the estabHshment of the Macdonald College

24 The Ottawa Naturalist [April

at S,te. Anne de Bellevue, near Montreal, an institution which
will bring together the scattered agencies making for an educated
rural people into a great educational centre. It will include (a)
an Agricultural College, carrying on work similar to the one at
Guelph, where young men will receive instruction in all branches
of agriculture; (b) a Household Science College where young
women will get instruction in those subjects that make for better
home making, and (c) a College of Education for the training of
teachers, especially for rural schools. Agencies will be put in
operation for the extension of the work to all parts of Quebec,
and perhaps to the other provinces as well, so as to reach as
many of the rural people as possible. The 560 acres of land and
the magnificent group of buildings now nearing completion, will
cost over a million and a half ; and an Endowment Fund of two
millions has been provided for maintenance, so that it will be
self sustaining for all time to come.

The Macdonald College will open its doors to students in
September next, when the work of instruction will begin. Tuition
will be free to all students from Quebec, and no distinction will
be made for language or creed ; all will be made equally welcome

PROGRAMME OP EXCURSIONS.

April 20— Rockliffe.

27 — Beechwood.
May 4 — Blueberry Point.
11 — Leamy's Lake.
18 — Beaver Meadow.

25 — Victoria Park and Experimental Farm.
June 1 — General Excursion to Chelsea.

The time and place of meeting will, for all but the general
excursion, be 3 p.m. at the point on the electric railway, nearest
the places mentioned above.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

VOL XXI. PLATE 1.

Fossil tooth from Rock Creek, B.C.

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LIBRARY

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THE OTTAWA NATURALIST >

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Vol. XXI.

OTTAWA, iMAY, 1907

No. 2

NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF A SUPERNUMERARY

TOOTH IN A DOG.*

By Lawrence M. Lambe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., Geological Survey

of Canada.

Last summer whilst engaged in field work in the vicinity
of Kamloops Lake, B.C., the writer found, near the mouth of
Tranquille River, the skull of a dog, probably that of a collie,
that is of some interest. In this skull the teeth of the mandible
appear to be normal, but in the upper jaw a supernumerary first
premolar is present on both sides.

J Natural size

Between the second premolar and the canine (see the above
figure) are two small, single-rooted teeth with simple conical
crowns. Of these the one next behind the canine, and separated
from it. by a space measuring 3.3 mm., is apparently the normal
first premolar. Between this tooth and the second premolar is
the tooth considered to be the supernumerary one. It is sHghtly
smaller than the first premolar, and its posterior edge is less
sloping ; in other words, its crown, in side view, is more bilaterally
symmetrical, a point possibly not sufficiently accentuated in the
figure. It almost entirely occupies the interval between the first
and second premolar, touching the latter but leaving a very
narrow space between it and the former. The other teeth in the
upper jaw, including the incisors, are apparently quite normal.

In comparison with the skull of a white wolf (Cams lupus
occidentalis var. albiis) from Fullerton, Hudson Bay, the
Tranquille specimen is slightly shorter with almost the same

* Communicated by permission of the Acting Director of the Geologi-
cal Survey of Canada.

26 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

breadth as measured across the zygomatic arches; its teeth, how-
ever, are decidedly less robust. Whilst in the wolf skull the
maxillary teeth (canine, premolars and molars) occupy a space
of 103 mm., a hke measurement in the Tranquille skull gives
91 mm. It is thought that the latter skull is that of a collie.
Mr. W. Fortune, the owjier of one of the ranches, of which there
are two at Tranquille, informs the writer that he has had a
number of Scotch collies of which several have died during the
past few years.

In the wolf skull the first premolar has a small interval
(about 1 mm.) between it and the second premolar with a wider
space (about 2 mm.) separating it from the canine. Here the
first premolar has the same proportions as the anterior tooth
in the supposed collie skull, but is larger, with a similarly sloping
posterior edge.

The collie shows its affinity to the wolf in its narrow skull
and lengthened muzzle. It would be interesting to have records
of the occurrence of extra teeth, in breeds of dogs having elonga-
ted skulls, and in the wolf if such teeth occur, as they probably
do, in this animal. Supernumerary upper first premolars are
known in the doinestic cat.

Measurements of Skulls.
Length of skull, occipital condyle to anterior Dog. Wolf.

end of premaxilla -- 210 mm. 216 mm.

Breadth of cranium at greatest constriction

behind the orbits 43 43

Breadth of same at greatest expansion be-
low squamoso-parietal suture 65 70

Breadth of frontals at postorbital processes. . 63.5 55.5

Breadth of skull at alveolar border above

second preinolar 41 42

Breadth across zygomatic arches .— 118 120

Length of nasals. 88 87

Length of premolar-molar series 77 88

Antero-posterior diameter of crown of upper

carnassial. ..„ ....- 20 24.5

Anterior transverse diameter of same 10 14

Antero-posterior diameter of crown of upper

first premolar 6.5 8

The upper teeth of the Tranquille skull are shown, in the
figure accompanying this note, three-fourths the natural size.

The writer "is indebted to Mr. Andrew Halkett, Naturalist
and Curator, Fisheries Museum, Ottawa, for the loan of the skull
of the white wolf above mentioned.

1907] How THE Seeds of Plants are Spread 27

HOW THE SEEDS OF PLANTS ARE SPREAD IN

NATURE.

By Norman Griddle, Awerne, Man.

In the common natural objects about us there is an endless
field for Nature Study. So vast indeed that the difficulty would
be not in seeking a subject, but rather in selecting from the
abundant material at hand one that is both interesting and in-
structive, and is at the same time not too difficult for the beginner
to understand.

The remarkable though simple methods adopted by the
different plants for the propagation of their kind, in so many
cases very dissimilar, should be known to every one, and, for a
Nature Study, form excellent subjects both for observation and
deduction, to say nothing of the interest they might awaken
and the pleasure they might give to any one making a study of
the subject. In this paper I shall try to treat part of this subject
-under the above heading.

Before going into details it may be well to state for the
benefit of the beginner, that every species of plant, however
simple or complex its structure may be, is specially adapted
for its advantage in the struggle for existence ; and that however
much one genus may vary from another in essential particulars,
the object is always the same. Namely, to multiply to the utmost
limit. A student, therefore, W'hen examining a plant, should bear
in mind that whatever the structure, it is for the plant's benefit,
and that it has maintained the species in the struggle with other
plants and with animals, for a number of centuries. There is in
fact a reason for every detail.

I. Seeds that are Carried by Wind.

Seeds under this heading always have attached to them
some fluffy material to catch the wind, like the pappus of the
dandelion, or they are winged like the vSeeds of maples and
conifers. The common dandelion and other close allies offer
simple objects for study, as some form can be found nearly
everywhere. The seeds of this plant, as the pappus shows, de-
pend almost entirely on the wind for transportation and migra-
tion. In many instances the pappus undoubtedl}^ enables them
to travel several miles. There is, however, a condition that is
absolutely necessary. The plant will not let the seeds go in damp
or wet weather, and if the air becomes damp while the seeds are
travelling, they soon drop to the ground. This applies to all the
fluffy seeds and in a lesser extent to the winged kinds. The

*&^

28 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May-

willows and poplars provide good examples of fluffy seeds, but
though the air on some occasions -seems almost choked with
little pieces of fluff — all of which contain one or more seeds — it
will be observed that a very small percentage indeed alight on a
suitable place for the growth of the seedlings, and that a still smaller
percentage of these latter ever attain the size of their parents.
Yet who can find a moist place in nature, where the conditions
are favourable, that does not contain willows? Showing that
the object for which these countless millions of seeds went forth
has been accomplished.

The milk- weeds, willow-herbs, bull-rushes and many
anemones are examples of this class of seeds. While ashes,
maples, conifers and docks are examples of the winged kinds.
There are some interesting details in this latter class for the
student to work out, which may be discovered by throwing up
into the air a few of the seeds on a moderately windy day.

II. Seeds That are Scattered by 'Tumbling' Plants.

This is a class of plants that depends upon the wind for the
locomotive power to take their seeds about the country. The
best known examples are commonly known as 'tumble weeds.'
These plants usually grow in the shape of a ball with their
branches rather tightly packed together. As soon as their seeds
are ripe they rot or break off close to the ground, and with the
first strong wind are sent rolling over the country, scattering
their seeds as they go. In the West where there are large plains
it is a common and interesting sight to see thousands of these
plants sweeping over the prairie, looking in the distance like
huge herds of cattle or sheep. In such places the country for
miles is sown with the seeds of these plants, especially Amar-
antus Alhus, Persian thistle, tumbling mustard, Cydoloma, etc.
Several grasses are also examples of this class, and many others
will occur to the reader.

III. Seeds that are Scattered by the Wind.

We now come to a class of plants which though dependent
on the wind to a large extent for their spread, yet have neither
downy nor winged seeds nor the power of tumbling. These are
plants that have the seed-capsules pointing upwards and which
open at the top. Many of these are so constructed that a strong
wind is required to shake the seeds out ; they are then not only-
scattered by the swing of the plant, but are caught up by the
wind as they are thrown out and are borne some distance away.

1907] How THE Seeds of Plants are Spread \/i/29ZL V^

In a number of these plants the seed-capsules split at the top
and form a toothed edge. The night-flowering catchfly and
other members of the allied genera, Silene and Lychnis, are ex-
amples of this class. The teeth, although in appearance looking
as if the}' were merely the result of the top splitting ojjen to let
out the seeds, in reality also answer quite another purpose,
namely, to scatter the seeds as they are shaken out, so that they
may not fall too closely together. A rather more complicated
example to gain the same end is shown in the seed pod or capsule
of the common garden poppy. Here there is a cap to prevent
the seeds from being shaken out too fast, and small holes round
the sides just below the cap. In fact, it is a natural sifter from
which the seeds are shaken out a few at a time, usually by the
wind. Indeed the only method whereby the seeds can get out
is by the plant being shaken or broken down, and this latter
alternative would be only accidental and therefore does not
need to be taken into consideration here.

There are a great many other modifications of this group
which will suggest themselves to the observant student. A large
number of seeds are, however, scattered by the w^ind that are
only partly modified for the purpose, and with some plants it is
difficult to tell whether they are in any way adapted for that
special purpose.

IV. Seeds that are Spread by Clinging and Sticking.

Seeds of this group depend principally upon mammals for
their distribution. They contain among their best known forms
those seeds which are commonly called 'burs,' though several
grasses are also included in the group.

'Burs' are known to most people, especially to owners of
thick haired dogs. Yet how few consider why they cling to al-
most any thing that comes in contact with them !

To a Nature student the reason is at once apparent. They
have become adapted to clinging so that they may be carried
to new localities and so become spread by degrees over wide
areas.

Examples of this class of seeds or seed pods will be found
everywhere. The different blue-burs, cockle-burs, bur marigolds
and wild liquorice (Glycyrrhiza) are common examples, but there
are many more, some consisting of a single seed, while in others
the whole pod with several seeds is carried.

A different method of distribution is found in seeds which

30 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May-

are also carried by animals. These when wetted become sticky.
The moisture causes a coat of mucilage to form all round them,
so that they stick to any thing that touches them, and as they
dry they become securely gummed to the object, and may then
be carried for many days before becoming dislodged. An example
of this class will be found in pepper-grass and shepherd's purse,
as well as in several others of the cress family.

V. Seeds that are Spread by Propulsion and Seeds that
ARE Spread by Trailing and Climbing Plants.

In this class are to be found some rather complicated
methods of seed distribution. In the case of the violets, the pod
bursts open when the seeds are ripe like a great many other
seed pods, but in this case the seeds remain in the separate valves
or partitions until they are expelled slowly by the drying and
contracting of the sides of the valve, which forces the seeds out
by squeezing so that in some cases they are thrown several feet
away. Anyone who has collected pansy seeds should have
noticed this.

An interesting example of a plant throwing its seeds, as if
from a sling, is shown by the common cranesbill, though the
method here employed is quite different from the last.

Another interesting plant is the jewel-weed, or touch-me-
not (Impatiens). To thoroughly appreciate the methods em-
ployed by this plant in scattering its seeds, I would suggest the
readers trying to collect some seeds. When, if a beginner, I am
sure he or she will be surprised at the rapidity with which the
seeds vanish at the slightest touch, just as if they knew one was
after them.

The peas and beans are also examples of this class of plants,
Which by the rapid curling up of the sides of the pod when dry,
part of the seeds are thrown some distance away. Many other
examples of plants which have special ways of propelling their
seeds will be found in any district if looked for.

The peas and beans also come under the class of plants that
spread their seeds by trailing and climbing. Perhaps the best
examples of these are members of the gourd family, melons,
cucumbers, etc., the seeds of which under natural conditions, by
being left where the fruit ripens, would be spread over an area of
several feet. Convolvuluses and other climbing plants will also
drop their seeds in many cases some distance from the parent
plant, but as these plants prefer"some sort of brush to climb up,

1907] How THE Seeds of Plants are Spread 31

they will seldom drop seeds outside of such places, so that they
nearly always have something to climb.

VI. Seeds that attract and are Spread by Birds.

Who has not noticed the brilliantly colored berries on many
a shrub and tree? And who has not watched the birds eating
them? But ask the average person why the fruit is brightly
colored, and probably not one in twenty will give the correct
answer. Yet, as with the 'burs,' the reason is at once apparent.
Fruits of this nature are brightly colored to attract birds, and for
no other reason. This is also why so many berries remain on the
trees in winter time. The birds eat the fruit ; but the seeds are so
constructed that many of them are not damaged, and they are
eventually dropped where they have a chance of growing, in
most cases far remioved from their parents and brethren. In this
way the species is spread. This of course does not apply so
much to cultivated fruits, which have been altered and improved
by man. Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, mountain ash, and
practically all the other small berries that are brightly colored,
can be used as examples of this method of seed distribution.
Seeds are also carried by sticking to the muddy feet of birds and
animals.

Many plants retain their seeds until the winter time, which
are then drifted along with the snow, in some cases several miles.
Small mammals and birds also carry many seeds to store them
up as food for winter use. Large nuinbers of these are lost and
if the situation is favourable thev grow.

Many seeds are only partly developed for certain methods
of migration, and in some cases a few plants will be found to bear
two distinct forms of seeds. An example of this occurs in Rus-
sian pig-weed (Axyris aniarantoides) , some of the seeds of which
are winged while others are not.

A number of aquatic plants and plants growing near water,
have seeds well adapted to water migration, the seeds or seed
capsule floating, and in still water are often drifted long distances
by the wind, or when in running water are carried along with
the current. A number of other seeds not specially adapted for
this purpose are also accidentally carried by running water,
. especially when there are floods.

Many details and variations will be found by the Nature
student to supplement the above methods of migration among
seeds, the study of which should be a stimulus both to observa-
tion and deduction — the faculties that Nature Study specially
aims at developing.

32 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

HOW TO MAKE A BIRD SANCTUARY ANYWHERE.

By C de Blois Green.
Birds have their own httle quarrels and struggles all the
time but these don't matter a bit if only you can keep down
the vermin; and by that I mean keep hawks and the largest
owls scarce, crows and magpies scarcer still, skunks and pet cats
about as scarce as the megalosaurus, and squirrels scarcer than
anything which Nature has yet invented. Under these con-
ditions the httle jealousies and quarrels amongst themselves will
only lead to enough tragedies to give the birds a wholesome
stimulus in selecting their nesting sites wisely and in watching
over the eggs and young. Ordinary care may be a nuisance, but
birds don't seem to mind that. I remember working on a hillside
near Okanagan Lake in April last year. Two white-headed eagles
were building, or rather patching up their nest, and I had that
nest commanded by my transit telescope nearly all day and every
day — -I mean I was seldom where I could not turn it on and take
a look. The second day they finished and went off on the hunt,
next day I saw a white' head on the nest. First egg, no doubt,
thought I ; now you can go oft' on another hunt till tomorrow, but
not much; when that egg was laid, ordinary care put in its
appearance and the old hen spent the balance of the day in
flying north twenty chains, then south twenty chains (a shght
flip of the wings gave her a close look at the egg) . Thence south
twenty chains, thence north twenty chains (sight of that egg,
looks all right). Thence north twenty chains, thence south
twenty chains (egg again), and so on all day without a halt.
Ordinary care seemed to me a bit overdone in this case, for I
haven't yet found out what possible danger that egg was in. No
common ordinary mortal baby was ever more closely watched.
The old bird must have known she hadn't left any pin sticking
in its leg, did she expect it to wake up and shriek for its bottle
every mmute ? The old birds had picked out for their nesting-
place a tree four miles from anywhere , and six feet through at the
base, without limbs for 50 feet. I stood at the foot of the tree
twice later and could not think of any way to get those eggs.
I certainly think she overdid it. However, perhaps, even she is
afraid of crows. But every bird is not a white-headed eagle,
some are humming-birds, and from what I can see, any relaxation
or ordinary care leads to trouble for most small birds. Apart
from the vermin, which is alwavs hunting them, there is the next-
door neighbor who covets come part of the house ; while the hen
kingbird sits on her nearly hatched eggs, two cedar birds may be
as busy as possible dragging out the bottom of her nest to build

1907] How TO Make a Bird Sanctuary Anywhere 33

their own with, and unless the old man comes home pretty often,
his hen might need a new nest, and perhaps new legs too, for
I have seen two cedar birds pull so hard on the loose strings in
the bottom of a nest that they both swung to and fro, hanging
free in the air. Young birds with their first nest have a good deal
•to learn. They have "inherited instinct" in large quantities,
but the longer they live the more they learn, and in that we have
no advantage ourselves. For instance, I never knew till last
year that a pair of Parkman's wrens might, through jealousy on
their part and a little want of ordinary care on the other side,
destroy nest after nest of their neighbours. On our verandah
the wrens certainly were the ancient Britons, they found the place
uninhabited and they unfurled their flag. I didn't notice the
skull and cross bones on it, but welcomed them with open arme.
I am bound to say they were careful to keep away from open arms
but they got tame enough to go about all their little affairs and
pay no attention to the big two-legged incumbrances, who
certainly did sometimes get in the way by keeping them off the
back of a chair that would Have been a good place to sit on for
a minute and shriek with joy. Two years' sole possession is
probably enough to rnake any wrens feel absolute lords and sole
owners of a chosen nesting place. This may account for the
anger of our wrens when the Saxons came over in the shape of
two swallows, and built a house within ten feet of their house.
I don't think the Britons felt strong enough to fight in the open
but they held much counsel in the dark, and I noticed that those
young Saxons had a hard time in feathering their nest. They
carried feathers from all over British Columbia without filling
the nest; for, what the wrens could not use themselves, I think
they sold or gave away to cedar birds, kingbirds, yellow-throats,
etc., in fact, to any bird in need. Finally, the swallows decided
that it took years of experience to feather a nest, and they laid
four eggs on such material as was left . This so upset the wrens
that they were at a loss what to do for some time. I know this
because I was laid up sick on the verandah, and they had several
chances of revenge which they did not take. There must have
been a thorough discussion of the whole case about the time the
swallows' eggs were three days incubated. For several days the
swallows had never been both absent together, as one came in
the other went out, and so on all day, in from five to ten minute
intervals. One day, however, this care was relaxed for a few
minutes ; I suppose the hen met a friend and began some dis-
cussion as to how feathers were to be worn or not worn, and over-
ly stayed her time ; then the old man having as much patience as
^ most of us would have if we had to help with the incubating,

34 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

went off in a rage to hunt her up. In a moment the opportunity
those wrens had been days in waiting for came and before I knew
what was going on, the four swallows' eggs were lying on the
verandah floor and a most delighted wren was standing on the
edge of the nest with his head on one side looking down at them.

I was so sorry for the young swallows when they came home
and talked it over that I went off to the nearest Traill's fly-
catcher's nest and divided up, giving my swallows two nearly
hatched eggs. The next day the same thing happened again,
showing that the wrens had now got an idea and were going to
watch closely enough to carry it out at a moment's notice.
I began to be afraid the swallows would think the place un-
lucky if they lost their first family, so I set out at once, and, to
make quite sure this time, I gave them a nearly hatched king-
bird's egg. This they hatched before either of them had for-
gotten to go home in time, in fact it hatched within a few hours.

This was rough on the young kingbird, and on the young
couple too, for the only idea of the latter was to get flies, and lots
of flies, and more flies, and to cram them down the throat of the
young bird and also to be as quick as possible about it.

The young kingbird grew as fast as possible; but his ap-
petite never quite satisfied the supposed parents. I've seen
them hold a consultation as to its loss of appetite (the thing had
been gorging incessantly for five hours). Then one swallow
would poke the baby up into a sitting posture and pry open the
beak while the other watched his chance to cram down another
daddy longlegs. This affair ended, as far as I could see, in
absolute disgust on both sides ; as soon as the kingbird was able
to leave, it left; it didn't sit in a long bow on the nearest tree
while the swallows fed it in the sun. And the swallows were
apparently so much annoyed about it that they migrated without
waiting for autumn. If they come back next year I may let
you know what kind of birds they rear. Shall I make it wrens
or eagles !

1907] Early Arrival of the First Migrants 35

REMARKABLY EARLY ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST
MIGRANTS OF THIS SEASON.
By Rev. G. Eifrig.
The first Spring migrants among birds have come here
earHer than usual. That is rather remarkable, when we consider
that climatic conditions in February were severer than in most
years, and that there was nothing especially tempting for birds
here in March. The first robins and bluebirds looked and
sounded strangely out of tune with the snow-covered fields and
city-lots, and the prevailing ice and frost of the second half of
March and the first half of April. What is the reason for this
unusually early arrival, when there was so little here to tempt
them? In my opinion it is the following: During the first half
of March a wave of phenomenally warm or even hot weather
struck that part of the United States which is in the latitude of
Washington, D.C., New York, and westward to Chicago. The
thermometer is reported at Washington to have climbed up as
far as 92°, showing the highest temperature ever registered there
for that part of the year, with perhaps one exception. Previous
to this hot spell there would already be a great number of birds
in those regions, their numerous permanent residents and the
thousands of winter residents from Canada, e.g., the juncos, tree
sparrows, song sparrows, etc. Now this warm wave would have
the effect of attracting further untold numbers of migrants from
further south, which in the normal course of events would have
begun their northward move somewhat later. This must have
caused a great congestion in the bird life of that section, which
in plant and insect life was also not yet sufficiently advanced to
support this teeming bird life. This would, in my opinion, have
the effect of inducing the hardiest of the northward migrants,
those who would have gone northward first at any rate, to leave
somewhat earlier than usual. And no doubt, the song sparrows,
bluebirds and robins which came here first this year, were again
in their class, in their respective species, the pioneers, the leaders,
the most hardy and intrepid ones, which would at the same time
be able to withstand adverse conditions most successfully. And
that some of them have to suffer inore or less for their bravery
and pluck, there can be no doubt. Some probably, when they
found weather conditions so uncongenial here, promptly returned
to points further south. Thus I saw a flock of about 50 tree
swallows merrily flying over the Rideau River, then full of ice,
at Cumming's Bridge at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on March
30th. Two hours later not a one was there, and I have seen no
more since. And now there has been a lull in the migration for
about two weeks; few, if any, new species having come in addi-

36

The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

tion to the first arrivals, only the numbers of those already here
must have been sHghtly augmented. Another curious fact in
the migration of this vear is, that, while the purple finch was
extremely abundant last year at this time, in and out of the city,
I have not seen one so far this season, nor have I heard of others
having seen them. There are always surprises in store for the
observers of birds, especially during their migrations.

Appended is a Hst of birds that have come here so far, and
the date of their arrival, together with lists of 1906 and 1905,
for comparison's sake. It must be remembered, however, that
last year's migration was unusually late; that of 1905, however,
normal. From this latter hst it will be seen that the first comers
this season were from one to three days earlier than usual, some
even more. It must also be remembered that the main part of
the spring migration falls into May, when the countless hosts
of the warblers, in all their variety, livehness and beauty, come;
also the thrushes, vireos, sv/allows, many of the finches, kinglets,
etc. Then new pleasures await the observer at every turn. It
is to be hoped that many members of the Field Naturahsts' Club
may take part in observing and recording the May migrations
of this year, and send in their records of species seen and posi-
tively identified, together with date and place, to the writer.
Here is the list so far: —

1907 1906 1905

Prairie Horned Lark Feb. 10(a) Feb. 20 Feb. 28(6)

RedpoU (c) Feb. 18

Crow (d) Mar. 2 Mar. 9 Feb. 18

Song Sparrow Mar. 13 Apr. 2 Mar. 18

Blue Heron Mar. 17 {e) Apr. 5 Apr. 27

Robin Mar. 16 Mar. 31 Mar. 19

Bluebird Mar. 21 Apr. 3 Mar. 24

Cowbird Mar. 21 Apr. 8 Mar. 29

Bronzed Grackle, Blackbird Mar. 23 Apr. 2 Mar. 27

Red-winged Blackbird Mar. 23 Apr. 2 Mar. 24

Tree Sparrow Mar. 23 Apr. 9 Mar. 24

Meadowlark Mar. 23 Apr. 5 Apr. 3

Shrike, Butcherbird Mar. 25 Apr. 16 Mar. 30

Marsh Hawk Mar. 25 Apr. 12 Apr. 1

Junco, Snowbird Mar. 25 Apr. 6 Mar. 23

Golden-eye, Whistler (duck) Mar. 26 Mar. 29

Flicker, Yellowhammer Mar. 26 Apr. 16 Apr. 10

Winter Wren Mar. 26 Apr. 18 Apr. 17

Golden-crowned Kinglet Mar. 26 Apr. 14 Apr. 8

Killdeer .' Mar. 26 Apr. 16 Mar. 28

Tree Swallow Mar. 26 Apr. 8 Apr. 3

1907] Early Arrival of the First Migrants 37

1907 1906 1905

Phoebe Mar. 26 Apr. 9 Apr. 8

Herring Gull Mar. 30 Apr. 3 Apr. 10

Sparrow Hawk Mar. 30 Apr. 7 Apr. 18

Savanna Sparrow Mar. 31 Apr. 15 Apr. 11

Vesper Sparrow Apr. 1 Apr. 15 Apr. 12

Brown Creeper Apr. 2 Apr. 15 Mar. 30

Chipping Sparrow Apr. 3 (/) Apr. 15 Apr. 12

Kingfisher Apr. 13 Apr. 16 Apr. 8

(a) This is an approximate date from the rifle range. The keeper
is positive that they were there the first week in Febrtiary. 1800 sheep
had been pastured there all winter. "

(b) In more favorable places it probably would have been seen
earlier.

(c) There have been unusually many great swing bands of these
around the city in March and April.

(d) A few crows remain here all winter, in the neighborhood of
slaughter houses, so it is hard to say, whether any seen before March are
migrants or residents.

(e) Recorded at Germanicus, Renfrew Co.

(f) Recorded at Germanicus, Renfrew Co., which is more northerly
than Ottawa.

Ottawa, April 22nd, 1907

COYOTE AND BADGER.

During the progress of my survey in southern Alberta, I
noticed on two occasions a badger and a coyote travelling in
company. The same thing was observed and reported by the
men who did my mounding on three different occasions, all of
which were in different localities.

The men reported having seen the animals travelling in
company in Tp. 1, R. 13, W. 4th Mer. The first time that I saw
them together was in Tp. 6, R. 17, and the second time in Tp. 7,
R. 17, W. 4th. This last time I had the best view. Seated one
day eating our noon lunch, I noticed two animals coming towards
us and drew the attention of my men to the fact. We remained
perfectly quiet so that they came within 20 to 30 feet of us before
seeing that we were so near. The coyote travelled ahead, and
the badger followed along as fast as he could, right at the heels
of the coyote.

I could see no reason nor could I explain it in any way satis-
X factory to myself, and although I asked several people in the
.^' West about it, the occurrence is still a mystery to me.

^L #* Listowel, Ont., March 20, 1907.

\^ A. H. Hawkins.

lac

33 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED ON THE PEEL RIVER
IN 1906 BY MR. CHARLES CAMSELL.

Papaver nudicaule, L., Braine Creek.

Lupinus arcticus, Wats., Stewart River.

Myosotis alpestris, Koch., Bear Creek.

Echinospermum deftexutn, Lehm., Bear Creek.

Pyrola rotundifolia, L. var. pumila Hook., Beaver River.

Primula Mistassinica, Michx., Beaver River.

Pinguicula vulgaris, L., Beaver River.

Phlox Richardsonii, Hook., Wind River.

Cypripedium guttatum, Swartz., Hungry Creek.

Linum Lewisii, Pursh., Wind River.

Dryas octopetala, L., Beaver River.

Epilobium latifolium, L., Wind River.

Hedysarum Mackenzii, Richards, Wind River.

Potentilla fruticosa, L., Beaver River.

WILSON'S PHALAROPE.*

On June 9th, 1885, a nest containing three eggs of the above
bird was found on the south bank of the Grand River a half mile
below Dunnville, Haldimand Co., Ontario. As the nest and eggs
were strange and neither parent bird was present it was de-
termined to leave it until the next morning and to visit it again
in the hope that one or both parents would be at home. On the
morning of the 10th a second visit was made when the male bird
flew off the nest and was shot. When the nest was examined I
was disgusted to find that two of the three eggs were hatched.
The young birds were tiny bits of down, stripped and sotted
with dark brown on a buf? ground color. The egg was Ij inch
in length by |in width and very dark in color, in fact the large
end was covered with two dark brown colors, while the rest of
the shell was of a dark bnfi color spotted with dark brown.

The nest was situated on the bank of the river a few feet
from its edge, near a tall tussock of marsh grass and was fairly
well formed and made of a little moss and weeds such as grow in
that locality. A depression seemed to have first been made in
the soft marsh soil which was then lined with moss and fine grass.

The female bird was not seen. The rest of the family, as
taken, are now in my collection.

G. A. MacCallum.

*See The Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XV, page 127, where this nest is
credited to the buff-breasted sandpiper. — Editor

1907] Entomological Branch 39

ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH.

Meeting No. 5 was held at Dr. Fletcher's rooms on the
evening of March 5th.

Mr. Gibson showed a box of specimens of Pseudohazis
eglanterina and shastaensis, and also Hemileuca maia with its
variety lucina from Manitoba. He also gave an account of these
insects and the method of their occurrence drawn from the litera-
ture of the subject. Inflated larvae were also exhibited.

Mr. Baldwin exliibited a pocket box of insects collected
during the past summer. All the species submitted were
identified.

Mr. Halkett showed a specimen of a blood worm, the larvae of
one of the Chironomidcs which had caused some excitement when
it came through one of the taps of the water supply in one of the
Government buildings.

Mr. Nelles, of the Alaska Coast Strip Survey Staff , exhibited
a collection of verv interesting and beautiful photographs taken
during the past summer while in the field.

Mr. Harrington showed a box of some of the rarer and more
interesting flies of the locality, at the same time reporting on the
progress he had made in getting the Ottawa species identified.
He also showed some very handsome foreign beetles. Some of
these he had collected in Japan and others had been received
from European correspondents.

Mr. Metcalfe exhibited a box of Ottawa Heteroptera and
pointed out the differences between some of the closely allied
species.

Mr. Young showed a beautiful case illustrating the life-
history of Limenitis disipptis with its food plant. A remarkable
specimen of a w411ow twig showing eight of the larval hybernacula
on successive leaves was included in this case. A boxof notodon-
tian larvae of the old genus Cerura, was also exhibited.

Dr. Fletcher spoke of the Apple Maggot, Plum Curculio, and
Asparagus Beetle and showed preserved specimens mounted in a
special way for exhibition at meetings. — J. F.

40 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May

MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL.

The first meeting of the new Council was held in the library
of the Normal School, March 25th. The members present were:
The President, Misses Matthews, Ritchie and Jackson, and
Messrs. Attwood, Halkett, Eifrig, Gibson, Clarke, Macoun,
Lemieux and Gallup. Six new members were proposed and
elected. A communication was read from Mr. Charles Pollard,
Secretary of the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America,
offering to lecture here under the auspices of the Club. A com-
mittee was appointed to make arrangements for this lecture.
A proposal from the University of California to exchange the
publications of the University for The Ottawa Naturalist
was accepted.

The Publishing, Excursion and Soiree Committees, leaders
in the various branches of the Club's work and an Editor and
Associate Editors were elected. A noteworthy characteristic
of the new Council is the number of new members, all of whom
have entered enthusiastically upon the work, and a successful
Club year is anticipated.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Editor, The Ottawa Naturalist,

Dear Sir: — -In your February issue a remarkable circum-
stance is recorded by Mr. Geo. A. Dunlop, adding a new accident
to the list of those which may befall a rufled grouse.

This individual, apparently in sound health, was found with
its tail feathers frozen into the ice crust, under a bush. In the
winter they commonly sleep on the ground, entering snowdrifts
only in the coldest weather. It is absolutely certain that its tail
could not have been frozen down, had there not been at the
place some frozen liquid. This may have been produced by a
certain condition of the bird's bowels, or the sun's heat in such
a sheltered spot may have melted the snow, so that it was wet
when the bird went in, or finally, the bird's tail may have been
wet when it went to bed, and a frosty night completed the
dilemma.

This you will remember is an accident of a class which happen
every year to the foxes in Alaska. They sit down on the wet
ice, thereby casting a shadow over it. In 15 or 20 minutes the
wet in the shadow has congealed, and the fox would be made
prisoner but that he tears himself violently away, leaving much
of his fur in the ice. The consequence is," that in the spring of
the year all the blue foxes have their buttocks more or less
denuded of fur. Ernest Thompson Seton.

Cos Cob, Conn., March 22, 1907.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST %^^%^

Vol. XXIII. OTTAWA, JUNE, 1907 No. 3

CLIMATE IN RELATION TO HEALTH.*

By Peter H. Bryce, M.A., M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Interior

Department, Ottawa.

Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen: —
In order to comprehend the problem of climate in relation
to health, we must for a moment consider the relation of the
atmosphere to the human body. Herbert Spencer has defined
life "as the concordance of a series of internal movements in
correspondence with a series of external acts;" or, as the Spanish
poet-scientist would put it, . . "Life is the harmonic rythm of
the infinitude of individual cell-organisms of. the body in conson-
ance with the Mechanism of the Universe (Mechanica ritmica)."
Briefly stated, the oxygen of the air is life and upon its
entrance into the system depends the functioning of the tissues
and organs of the body. We respire 17 times in a minute
normallv, and inhale some 25 cubic inches at each inspiration,
or in twenty-four hours some 1 1 metres of air, of which one-fifth
is oxygen. In health this air enters by way of the nose, but in
increased exercise by the mouth as w^ell. It is evident, therefore,
that normal inspiration depends upon healthy air passages;
without them the chest becomes depressed and finally deformed.
Mouth-breathing is abnormal and injurious since the air reaches
the lungs too soon to be warmed, while in addition, its impurities
reach the mucous membrane directly instead of being filtered by
the cilia of the nose. Indeed, physicians are now agreed that
it is by the mouth that infections most commonly reach the
system through the tonsils; while on the other hand, the air
entering by the nostrils is filtered, warmed and moistened before
reaching the delicate lung tissues. Assuming that this air is
dry and cold, we find that it takes up in the air passages moisture
to 92% of saturation, and is raised to 97° F. before being expired.
The water thus abstracted from the body amounts to 7,000
grains, or 1 pound, in twenty-four hours. Moreover, Miquel
has shown that air has as high as 70 living germs even in pure
outer air per metre, and as many as 20,000 in the air of hospitals
and other crowded buildings. Assume that the air inspired is
in an impure, infected house atmosphere and we cannot fail to

♦Address delivered at Normal.'School, Jan. 22nd, 1907.

•

42 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

see how the bacilli of tuberculosis reach the tissues. We thus
see that it is in the foul, deoxidized air of tenements that we are
to look for congested, catarrhal mucous membranes, and for
infection reaching the mouth, through nasal catarrh making
mouth-breathing inevitable. We thus have the double evils
of imperfect nutrition from insufficient oxygen, and of the
poisonous effects of infected air. These slum conditions, hov/ever
bad they may be in southern cities, are relieved by the outdoor
life possible even in winter, while in northern cities we have the
impure air of houses with the abnormal dryness of furnace-
heated houses, due to the great differences in temperature and
moisture between indoor and outdoor air in the winter months.
When it is realized, for instance, that in Ireland, with its small
chilly cabins, heated only with turf fires, the deaths from diph-
theria in 1893 were but 0.08 per 1,000, and in London 0.78, and
that while the death-rate in all Scotland in 1892 was 2.3 per
1,000, that in the rural fishing villages with their cold and wet,
was 1.7 per 1,000, it will be seen that the con-
ditions of house atmospheres are the most potent influences
of any single factor in climate. To give but a single Canadian
example: I have found that in the beautiful foot-hill climate
of our own Alberta, the death rate of some of the Indians on
certain reservations, where they live in small, crowded and
insanitary houses, reached last year as high as 80 per 1,000,
largely due to consumption.

Manifestly then, the maintenance of cleanliness in houses,
together with an abundance of warm air with sufficient moisture,
is primarily of all conditions that upon which health in temperate
climates depends.

Carbonic Acid — It has been already explained how oxygen obtains
entrance to the tissues, and to what extent. In the tissues it is taken
up by the red corpuscles through the thin lining membrane of the
lungs, and by them carried to the tissues where it unites with
their carbon to form carbonic acid. Some 1,400 grains, or 2
pounds of carbonic acid is given off by the lungs in twenty-four
hours. Thus we see that oxvgen burns up the wastes of the body
to the extent of nearly 3 pounds givenoff daily, further increased
one-third by active exercise. It need hardly be pointed out
that this active life process produces heat, and that it goes on
best and normally in the pure outdoor air, which on the plains
and mountains is almost germ-free. If then, wastes are pro-
duced by this organic combustion and are thrown off by the
lungs, skin and kidneys, it is apparent that the fuel thus burnt
up demands that a fresh supply, in other words, food, be taken
Jito the system. So we see how absolutelv essential it is if we

1907] Climate ix Relation to Health 43

wish not only to maintain health but also to reconstruct diseased
tissues, that we have not only an abundant supply of pure
oxygen, but also food to restore tissues, or to make new blood
and more heat and energy.

Humidity of the Atmosphere. — It has already been stated that
oxygenof the air is to nitrogen as 1 to 4 in volume. But we have in
the atmosphere water as vapor in varying amounts. Normal
air on a bright day in this climate contains about 70 to
75% of saturation with water vapour. All are aware how
depressing a damp day is. We say the air is 'heavy,' but as a
matter of fact the barometer shows it is lighter. This physical
effect means simply that with excessive moisture the air breathed
with each respiration has less of oxygen, and we are not then
receiving enough to supply the demands of the body tissues,
and so they are being over-loaded with effete matter. Moreover,
the excessive air moisture prevents our bodies from throwing
off body wastes by evaporation.

Temperature of the Atmosphere. — But there is yet another
factor of importance in our climate which effects us, that
is the coldness of the air. Remembering that air expands
1-2 73 part of its volume with every degree F. it is
plain that air at zero is, as we may sa3% more condensed,
that is every IS cubic inches which we inhale contains more
oxygen than at 90 degrees by about 25%. But air at zero holds
less than 1 grain of inoisture as vapor, so that cold air inhaled
means increased chemical action in the tissues ; more combus-
tion, more wastes produced, more waste thrown oft' and more
desire for food.

Regnault's Tables show air at 70 degrees to actually hold
7.992 grains of moisture, or 16 times as much as at zero; so that
cold, dry air means that the body throws off by both respiration
and evaporation much more moisture and w^ith it more wastes
from the body in solution. This same condition is attained
in the high, dry climate of our western foot-hills, where with a
relative humidity of often 50%, the amount of moisture actually
cast oft" in twenty-four hours is, according to Dr. Denison, 25%
more in twenty-four hours.

Sunlight. — But while the consumption ofoxygen is greater in
such climates, and the increased wastescastoff with moisture are
likewise increased, we have further another influence in the
effects of the direct sunHght of the plains and in our own climate
on bright days. Much has of late been told us regarding the
actinic rays of the sunlight, these being those at the farthest
end of the spectrum, vis., the red and ultra violet. These rays

44

The Ottawa Naturalist

[June

actually do penetrate the tissues and, like the Roentgen rays
and radium, do produce actual changes in tissues. Such rays,
we know, are obstructed and diffused Vjy vapor and clouds,
and in the summer, create with heat those conditions under
which fungi, as rust and mildew, develop on plants and in houses.

I nfittence of Altitude. — One of the most remarkable effects
of high altitudes, as in the Alps, is the notable 'increase
of red corpuscles in the blood. When one goes quickly
from sav Vera Cruz in Mexico to Mexico City, at 7,300
feet of altitude, in 12 hours, he is conscious at once
of exhaustion on the slightest exercise. The reason is that
the 4,000,000 corpuscles per cubic centimetre are not normally
capable of absorbing enough of oxygen to supply the needs of
the tissues, hence there is actually an anoxydation. Now it
is probable that the defective supply of oxygen which is rapidly
overcome, say in a fortnight, through an increase of the cor-
puscles to 6,000,000, or more is due to the bright sunshine.
Rapid metabolism or changes of tissue results, since to get enough
of oxygen deeper and more frequent inspirations invariably
and necessarily are the temporary effect.

Thus we have here again rapid reconstruction of tissue
by increased demands for food, and the rapid increase of red
corpuscles is insured, provided that exhaustion is prevented by
temporary rest or slight exercise, and protection is insured
against a loss of body heat by adequate clothing, with the
very rapid fall of often 40 degrees of temperature within two
hours as sunset approaches.

I have thus, as briefly as possible, indicated not only how
air or oxygen enters the system and produces effects there,
but have also shown how its normal constituents, oxygen and
moisture, and its abnormal contents, disease germs, produce
certain effects and how house atmospheres or excess of moisture,
cold, sunshine, and altitude all play their parts for good or ill
upon the human body. We have to deal now with actual
climatic conditions as we find them in Canada, and to indicate
some conclusions which seem to grow out of these.

Remembering that in tuberculosis we have a disease which
yearly takes its toll of some 9,000 deaths in Canada, and realizing
that all sanitarians call it essentially a house-disease, increasing
directly with house density of population, we may properly
study it in relation to climate and in this include house atmos-
pheres or artificial climates. It will further be apparent that
whatever climatic conditions influence this disease, influence
probably equally other diseases.

The problem of lessening tuberculosis presents two factors ;

iKARY

^^v^

.^^^

1907] Climate ix Relation' to Health 45

first, its prevention, and second, its cure.

Prevention of Tuberculosis. — Assuming that tuberculosis
does not exist in a family or in a house, it is plain
that with cleanliness in the house, in its atmosphere,
in the food and clothing, the disease cannot come
there. Extend this to shops, street-cars, schools, etc., and it
could not be generated there. But experience and scientific
experiment both readily teach us that in our cities and towns,
'expectoration and coughing leave its germs in every public
place. Nevertheless, it is well known that persons with healthy
mucous membranes, if care is taken to destroy sputum and use
handkerchiefs when coughing, may act as nurses for years in
consumptive hospitals and yet not become infected. Clearly
then, house, school and shop cleanliness are first essentials. But
inasmuch as infected persons must be taught these facts, and
those nursing them as well, it is apparent that education by the
familv phvsician, by the district nurse, by the school-teacher,
and by public lectures is absoluteh^ essential to prevent infection
where the disease has once been present.

But from what has been said regarding the atmosphere
of houses, as regards purity, moisture and heating, it is apparent
that municipal provisions, with the assistance of charit}^ workers,
bv which house construction, house sanitation and the number
of persons to a certain air-space are regulated, must be strictly
enforced. We thus see that the task is a large one, and one
which we have as yet scarcely begun to cope with.

Cure of Tuberculosis. — But assuming that we have
set all this in motion, we have yet to deal with the
actual cases of disease. As all have observed, it is seldom
that persons in rugged health take tuberculosis, and
it is usually where the vital powers have been reduced by some
acute disease, as pneumonia, typhoid or pleurisy, that naturally
healthv persons are infected. The reason for this is plain: the
germs do not enter the system ordinarily except by the respira-
tory tract, and obtain a lodgement only when its vitality is
reduced. If, however, house air is infected, if it is abnormally
dry, if its oxygen is lessened by over-crowding and non-ventila-
tion, if catarrhs prevent normal breathing through the nose,
if lack of exercise, lack of food and loss of rest occur, and all
these too often do occur amongst the employees of city factories,
shops and many homes, it is apparent that infection is almost
inevitable. But having occurred, it is apparent that the only
hope of preventing the progress of the disease is in removing
the patients at once from the effects of such conditions.

46 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

Home Treatment. — Can treatment of tuberculosis be carried out
at home ? Yes,inmany cases.if the patient be intelhgent and wilHng
to submit to regulations and friends are willing and able to provide
the means. For the patient's sake, leaving out the public, it
is apparent, however, that consumptives must not continue to
work indoors. It may be hard to arrange, but a life is at stake.
If then the patient remains at home, she may find light employ-
ment in rooms, bright and fresh, and hope for time and care to
assist in recovery. But if, as is commonly the case, the disease
is not diagnozed till fever is present, it is evident that active
measures are demanded. At once then the patient may in a
balcony on the south side of any house live in the pure condensed
oxygen of our winter days, and exposed to the sunshine and
wrapped in flannels and furs, breath such an amount of oxygen
that reconstruction of tissue by increased food may be fairly
expected to follow. If men engaged indoors become infected,
then a similar rest cure till the fever is reduced and strength
increased must be instituted, after which we may find it possible
to engage in light work in the outer air, and recover health.

Sleeping in tents in the open is equally effective, and in
doubled-walled tents I have had hundreds of persons, smallpox
patients, live comfortably at 20j^degrees below zero.

Treatm,ent in Sanatoria. — It is evident, however, that for
poor persons, removal from home surroundings for a
time would be better, and hence within recent years
sanatoria, or health Homes, have been instituted in differ-
ent places, where under wise medical supervision patients
are instructed in every thing likely to promote health. First,
they are removed from the danger of infecting those at home;
the varieties of type in the disease may be studied, the diges-
tion corrected, the amount and kind of food regulated, and
education in the many details of daily habits carried on.

Clim.atic Treatment — But after what has been said
regarding differences of climate, it is only natural to sup-
pose that certain places where the air is pure and cold,
exposed to no great changes as regards moisture and tem-
perature, would seem to provide conditions especially
favorable to cure. We have in Canada three distinct types of
climates, which, for reasons already stated, appear to me to
possess superior advantages.

They are, first, the great Laurentide areas of Quebec and
Ontario, where in winter, the climate if cold is equable, the
atrnosphere, owing to the forests, free from great changes,
while the air, ozonized by the evergreen forests, supplies for

1907] Climate in Relation to Health 47

many cases conditions which have proved perfect. But there
is, perhaps, too great an absence of sunshine. Second: The
cHmate of the foothills of the Rockies, from 2,000 to 4,000
feet in altitude. Cold, bright, dry, elevated prairies, they
provide ideal conditions, only affected unfavorably in my judg-
ment by often disagreeable winds. But this latter is largely
absent in the remarkable elevated belt lying between the
Rockies and the Selkirks ; the East Kootenay Valley. It is a
bright, always dry belt, where we have in addition great forests
of pines in open park lands, lessening the wind and the too
rapid radiation, yet permitting, owing to the absence of much
snow, exercise on horseback or walking almost every day in
the year. Yet it possesses the stimulating effects of 4,000 feet
above the sea. Third: But there are cases for whom this high
altitude is excessive, viz., those with poor circulation or defec-
tive hearts. For them we have the lovely valley of the West
Kootenays and Kamloops country. There at heights not greater
than the hills of the Gatineau, yet where 4,000 may be reached
in an hour, almost daily sunshine, with light snowfall, permits
of a constant outdoor life under pleasant, easy conditions;
usually not very cold, no great daily variations, and yet more,
a country where the cured consumptive can very readily under-
take a healthy outdoor occupation in fruit growing. With
dryness, brightness, slight elevation and with no excessive
changes, this glorious climate with pleasant material prospects,
may well lure the patient who, under the stress of modern life
in our cities, has proved himself tmequal to the task, and who
may with good reason, expect to gradually recover health
through a reconstruction of tissue, where a healthy life in otir
more rugged eastern climate may prove to him impossible.

48 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

THE WEATHER.

By Otto Klotz.

The continued cool weather during the past spring together
with a heavy snow-fall on the 4th May, and some snow on 28th
of the same month here in Ottawa, has not passed without com-
ment by old and young, and by the Press.

The question naturally is asked — Why is there such a con-
tinuance of low temperature ?

If the meteorologist is able to tell us what the weather is
going to be tomorrow, why not that of a month or several
months hence? Let us tr}^ and get a clear idea of how the daily
weather forecasts are made. Weather is essentially a matter of
the circulation of the atmosphere, and the circulation in turn is
due to difference of pressure, the movement of the air being to-
wards those parts of the earth's surface where the pressure is
least. The instrument used for measuring the pressure or
weighing the air is the barometer, and it is the principal one
used in obtaining data from which to make the forecasts.
Over the continent from the Yukon to the Gulf of Mexico are
distributed stations which daily report telegraphically at the
same time either to Toronto or to Washington the state of the
atmosphere, that is, the pressure, temperature, direction and
velocity of wind, so that the probability officer has the equiva-
lent of an instantaneous photograph of the weather conditions.

Entering the data for the respective places on a map pre-
pared for the purpose, and joining places having the same pres-
sure, or more strictly speaking, the places for which the pres-
sures are given, serve for drawing the lines along which the
pressure is expressed in inches and tenths of an inch. Such a
line is called an isobar, and the interval between anv two iso-
bars represents a difference of a tenth of an inch. If the iso-
bars are crowded together, it is something like having a steep
roof; the water running down it faster than on a flatter roof,
similarly it is with the air, it is a matter of gradient. When
the daily map has thus been filled with isobars immediately on
receipt of the data, the officer sees at a glance how the great
atmospheric swirl is moving, moving of course from where the
pressure is great to where it is less, or technically speaking
from an area of "high" barometer to an area of "low" baro-
meter.— The area of "high" barometer we may describe as one
where the air is piled up and flowing towards the valley of the
"low". Now when this "high" is pouring down, and our

1907] The Weather 49

*'liighs" originate mostly in the Northwest, it brings with it the
cold air of the upper regions, although modified in its tempera-
ture by descent. From years of experience the forecaster,
having his constructed weather chart before him, showing the
conditions at an absolute instant, can make a pretty accurate
estimate what the atmospheric movements are going to be for
the next 24 or 36 hours, that is, he gives us our daih' probabi-
lities. It may be mentioned that our Canadian Meteorological
Service in accuracy of prediction is second to none other.

If we know what time a train leaves Calgary or Edmonton
across the continent we have a pretty fair notion (barring bliz-
zards) when it is going to arrive at Ottawa, and so the forecast-
ers having been advised from many sources of the departure of
the atmospheric cttrrents knows pretty well when they will ar-
rive here and how they are going to behave. We must bear in
mind that electricit_v "travels faster than weather. If the tele-
graph wires were all' cut and the meteorologist were dependent
wholly on his own local observations, our daily "probabilities"
would have little value. We see then that the meteorologist
simplv tells us from what has begun to happen what is going to
happen.

But why does it happen, why has the air persisted to pile
itself up sk3'-high so to speak in the Northwest, and mam- other
whys ?

It is not known, is the answer in brief. But in saying so,
it must not be imagined that the problem is not being attacked,
and vigorously attacked. The explanation of the beginning of
the circulation is very simple. Our great furnace, the Sun, ob-
livious of the price of coal, is pouring his heat into space and
our earth intercepts a A-ery, very small part of it. Where the
rays fall vertically or nearly so, more heat is received than where
they fall slantingly ; compare the melting of snow on a roof facing
the sun straight, with one facing sideways, that's exactly the
effect in the equatorial and temperate regions. The earth and
air in the former become in consequence our terrestrial furnace,
receiving the most heat. The heated air rises, and necessarily
air to the south and north of the equator flows along the surface
to take the place of the ascending air. The circulation of the
air has begun. The rotation of the earth modifies the currents
in direction and otherwise. Without pursuing the circulation
of the air thus started any further, being outside the scope of
the present note, it may be pointed out that the earth revolves
on its axis from year to year in the same time and its journeys
around the sun follow the same old trail during our life-time,
the mountains and vallevs on the earth or other topographic

50 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

features that influence surface atmospheric currents are for our
ephemeral existence unchanged, yet who doesn't remember that
"the weather is so different now from what it was the same time
of the year ten 3-earsago." It seems absolute certainty then that
the causa belli must be sought in our source not only of all heat
but also of all life and of all energy of whatsoever nature upon
the earth — the sun.

A good deal is known about the sun, but a good deal inore
is not known. The sun as has been said is our furnace. Now
the trouble is we don't know how the furnace is run, we don't
know what kind of heating material is used; it doesn't seem to
be fed regularly; we haven't been able to measure accurately
yet just how much heat is poured out, on to say a square foot;
it is a seething boiling cauldron that is now under pretty close
scrutiny, although at rather long range, and its inner working
must yield up its story ere we can hope to give a satisfactory
answer as to the "why" of weather; for the sun and weather
stand in the relation of cause and effect to each other. Variation
in the cause produces corresponding variations in the effect.
The most promising investigation in solar ph^^^sics at the present
time is the one begun at Mt. Wilson, California, and supported
by the Carnegie Institution for at least eleven years, a sun-spot
cycle.

What the weather is going to be to-morrow we know, but
whv it is not the same as last vear, we don't know.

PECULIAR NESTING SITE OF AMERICAN BITTERN.

Last evening while walking through a clover field where
bobolinks were breeding abundantly, I flushed an American
bittern off a nest containing four fresh eggs. The nest was
placed in some long, coarse grass about 1^ feet high and was
merely com.posed of a little dead grass flattened out by the
bird. I was rather surprised at this find, as there is no marsh
within a mile of the locality. Evidently this bird does not
always nest in or near swanips. Six other nests of this species
have been examined this year, but they were all located in
large areas of bulrush swamps.

W. J. Brown.
Westmount, Que., June 13th, 1907

1907] Golden-Crowned Kinglet in Ontario in Summer 51

THE GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET IN ONTARIO IN

SUMMER.

While so far no nests have been found, there is sufficient
evidence at hand to show that the golden -crowned kinglet breeds
in the more southerly portions of Ontario more frequently than
is usually supposed. Mr. Mcllwraith, in "The Birds of Ontario,"
records the fact that he once in June met with a pair, evidently
mated, in a swamp near Hamilton. Mr. James H. Fleming, in
his list of the birds of Muskoka and Parry Sound says, "On
two occasions I have met w4th birds in May, that from their
actions must have been nesting."

On June 3rd, 1904, the writer found a pair in a dense growth
of tall black spruce, at the edge of a bog near Guelph. Both
were feeding, and the male was singing in an undertone. On
June 12th, 1906, some 14 miles west of Kingston, the writer
came across a pair in a fringe of trees between the road and
Lake Ontario. In this fringe were many white spruces. The
birds repeatedlv flew into a bunch of twigs near the end of one
of the branches of a white spruce. The male was singing a
subdued song.

A. B. Klugh.

Kingston, Ont.

NESTING OF THE AMERICAN GOSHAWK IN LATI-
TUDE 49.42.
By Norman Criddle, Aweme, Manitoba.

On the 14th of April, 1906, while in heavy timber near
the Assiniboine River, I was attracted by loud shrill cries to a
pair of goshawks. Suspecting that they were nesting, I left the
neighborhood with the intention of visiting them again later.
This I did in about a week's time, and then found the nest,
which was nearly completed, in a large balsam poplar, some
30 feet from the ground, and about 70 yards from the edge of
the larger trees. The male bird made several close swoops at
me as I walked past, but the female continued sitting just below
the nest. The remains of several bush rabbits (L. Americana)
were noted some distance from the nest on a fallen tree, and
the male bird was seen to make a dive at one in. a brush pile,
coming down with a bang among the twigs and sticks, but the
rabbit escaped, owing to the thickness of the underbrush.
I again met the male later in the afternoon nearly a mile away,

52 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

returning from an unsuccessful raid on a poultry yard, and he
made a half-hearted swoop at me as he passed.

On the 30th of April, my brother Evelyn and I again visited
the locality with the intention of securing, if possible, both birds
and nest. The female was shot with difficulty, as she was very
sh}^ but the male did not appear, in spite of the loud cries of
his mate. The nest, which was securely fastened between a
large limb and the trunk, and supported by numerous small
branches, was a bulky structure about two feet wide,
almost a foot high, and about ten inches across inside.
The material used for building consisted of sticks, twigs and
bark; a coating of about an inch of the latter being used for
lining. There were four eggs in the nest, of a bluish-white color,
unspotted. An examination of the female hawk revealed another
egg ready for being laid. The measurements of this bird were:
length, 23 J inches;' across the wings, 42 inches. The plumage
was practically the same in every respect as that of young birds,
perhaps a little grayer. The primaries and tail feathers were
much worn at the tips, and showed nearly an inch of the inidrib
bare. The stomach was empty, with the exception of a few
broken bones of a small bird, some dead leaves and bark. The
bird was in good condition, having quite a lot of fat upon it.

The male was apparently in perfect plumage, being a rich
blue gray above. We waited fully two hours without his
appearing.

These birds uttered loud cries when disturbed, somewhat
like a sharp-shinned hawk, but deeper and louder. When alone
they uttered a more prolonged cry two or three times in succes-
sion.

The eggs were evidently sat upon, as soon as laid, as they
showed different stages of incubation, one being fresh.

This is the first occasion on which goshawks have been
found nesting at Aweme, Man. The}'- are, however, rather
numerous in winter, especially the old blue birds, when they
do much harm by preying upon the different species of grouse,
which with the bush rabbit (L. Americana) form their principal
food in these parts.

1907] Meeting of Council 53

MEETING OF COUNCIL.

A meeting of the Council of the Club was held in the Normal
School on April 30th, with the President, Mr. W. J. Wilson, in
the chair. The members present were, Messrs. Halkett, Gibson,
Gallup, Lemieux, Eifrig, and Clarke, Miss Jackson, and Miss
Ritchie. The following new members were elected: the Director
of the Christian Brothers' Academy, Sussex St., Messrs. W. C.
Ewing, M.A. ; R. M. Baker, G. S. Malloch, B.A.. Ed. Hampson,
and Miss K. Waddell. A communication was read from the
New York Academy of Sciences, inviting the Club to participate
in the celebration of the 200tli anniversary of the Swedish
naturalist, Carl von Linne, by sending an authorized representa-
tive and by presenting an official document, appreciative of the
work of Linne, to be read before the members of the New
York Academy of Sciences and the assembled guests. It was
felt that the Club could not send a representative, but arrange-
ments were made for the preparation of the document suggested.

SUB-EXCURSIONS

The first sub-excursion of the season was held at Rockliffe,
on Saturday afternoon, 20th April. About fifteen persons
attended, including four leaders of branches. The day was
rather cold, but the sun shone brightly in a clear blue sky, so
that a very pleasant time was spent. After exploring the woods,
the more open spaces, or the cliffs, the party re-assembled at
the side of a sunny knoll, where the President called upon a few
of the members to speak on what they had observed; the follow-
ing is a summary of what was said.

Mr. McNeill was first called upon, and spoke in an interesting
way about the harmonies to be observed in nature, pointing
out how the lichens absorb elements out of the stones, and de-
compose them, so that other plants can assimilate them as
nutriment. He also said that there is a harmonious co-mingling
of colors among certain plants during winter (so that that
phenomenon is not altogether peculiar to the milder seasons) :
instancing that the dog-wood is red, the conifers green, and the
birches white.

Rev. Mr. Eifrig was next called upon to speak about the
birds seen by him, which embraced two juncos {Jtinco hyemalis),
two song-sparrows {Melospiza fasciata), two phoebes {Sayornis
phoebe) — which were mating — a large flock of red-polls (Acanthis
linana), and five or siyLvohins (Merulamigratona). He said that
more birds would evidently have been seen had not the day been
windy, as birds venture out less in windy than in calm weather.

54 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

Mr. Eifrig also spoke about the mysteries enshrouding the
migrations of birds, remarking, in this connection, that there
had been this season an earher migration than usual, with a
subsequent lull in April. Numbers of crows (Corvus ameri-
canus) were also seen during the afternoon.

Following, Mr. Halkett mentioned a chipmunk {Tamias
striatus), which a few of the party saw running towards and
entering its burrow, the entrance to which was inspected; and
another chipmunk seen only by himself. He also made a few
remarks on various invertebrates collected during the afternoon:
such as, specimens of two kinds on wood-lice, Oniscus and Arma-
dillo, pointing out that the latter is so called on account of the
habit of the creatures rolling themselves up into a ball, after
the manner of the mammals of that name ; certain spiders,
remarking that some members of the Club are at present engaged
in making a list of the species of that group in the Ottawa district ;
and various insects, myriapods, and land-snails.

Mr. Gibson then spoke in particular about the insects
observed, especially alluding to two kinds of small hibernating
caterpillars, and showing examples of their work; and the
following in his own words give the gist of what he said about
them: "The first of these was the larva of Argyresthia thuiella,
which has been doing noticeable injury to the white cedars in
the Ottawa district during the last year or two. The young
larvae bore inside the tips of the young twigs, killing them and
giving the cedars a rusty, sickly appearance. The other species
was a beneficial one, the larva of Hebesana penthina, which
lives in the seeds of the common weed, Mullein, eating them
out, and of course destroying them."

"With regard to the insects observed," Mr. Gibson further-
more says, "several specimens of the hedge-hog caterpillar,
Isia isahella, were found under flat stones, and one larva of
Ctenucha virginica, another common 'woolly bear.' Of the
beetles, several species of Carabidae and Staphalinidse were col-
lected. The large tortoise-shell butterfly, Grapta j-album, w^as
seen, as well as the Camberwell beauty, Vanessa antiopa, flitting
about in sunny spots in the woods."

Finally, Mr. Wilson, President of the Club, drew the atten-
tion of the party to the structure of the rocks examined along
the side of the cliff, explaining that they belong to the Black
River and Trenton formations. Slabs of stones which he showed
contained fossils of brachiopods, trilobites, etc., and he alluded
further to other fossils contained in these rocks, such as those
of corals.

One flower, at least, of the Hepatica, was found, otherwise

1907] Meeting of Couxcil 55

the few leaves of perennials protrtiding above the ground, be-
tokened the backwardness of the season. A. H.

Ottawa, 24th April, 1907.

The second field excursion of the season was held by the
Field Naturalists' Club on Saturday at Beechwood, the search
for Hepatica being one of the chief interests.

The day was perfect, and a good crowd arranged themselves
at three o'clock under the direction of the various leaders. Mr.
Wilson, the President, took charge of the Geological section,
Mr. Halkett, of the Entomological, Mr. Eifrig, of the Ornitho-
logical, and Messrs. Attwood and Blackadar, of "the Botanical
section. At the close of the afternoon, the Club assembled at
the green-houses and speeches were delivered on the various
interests of the afternoon's outing.

The President, Mr. Wilson, spoke of the formation of the
rocks in the neighborhood, making special reference to the cliffs
about McKay's Lake, which, from a distance, have a white,
ashv appearance, but which are composed of shells of varying
sizes now in process of solidification into fossil rocks. Mr.
Attwood spoke on the necessit}^ for having correct names for
things, whether the names be English or Latin, and of the dis-
advantages of misleading names founded on a superficial and
unscientific classification, such as that of our American "Robin,"
which is not a robin at all but a thrush.

Mr. Eifrig reported that though the day was warm, there
were few birds to be seen, which he attributed to the preceding
cold snap, causing the birds either to return further south, or
else to remain quietly here in some ver}^ sheltered spot. He
also spoke of it being an "oft" season" in migration for a couple
of weeks, the early birds having arrived some time ago, and it
not yet being late enough in the season to expect the warblers
and later varieties. He also gave a list of the various species
that have already been noticed this season.

Mr. Halkett exhibited a number of specimens collected
during the afternoon, amongst them being the somewhat rare
Salamander Batrachian. Mr. Blakadar named the various
plants that had been gathered by the members during the
afternoon. Anna E. Sinclair.

O. F. N. C. BOTANICAL CLUB.

April 11. An interesting meeting of the Club was held at
Dr. Fletcher's house, present: J. Fletcher in the chair, Prof.
Macoun, Dr. H. M. Ami and Messrs Attwood, G. H. Clarke, T.
E. Clarke, Harrington. J. M. Macoun and R. B. Whyte.

The chairman alluded to the suspension in the work of the

56 The Ottawa Naturalist [June

Club owing to various causes which could not be avoided. He
also drew attention to the advantages of • the meetings which
provided not only interesting reunions but also could with a
little effort be of great assistance to the Editor of The Ottawa
Naturalist if the members would prepare short notes on botani-
cal subjects to be read at the meetings and then published in
the monthly magazine.

The chairman spoke of the Tarry Cockle, Silene antirrhina
as a Farm weed in the West and also read some very interesting
extracts from letters by Mr. W. Collingridge Bing of Castlegar,
B.C., describing annoyance and losses in his poultry runs from the
young chicks being caught and held fast prisoners by the
tarry patches on the stems sticking to their down. Even a
five weeks old chick is powerless to free itself if caught over the
back. The weed is very abundant in his chicken run of 7
acres. Mr. James Macoun had seen the weed occurring in remark-
able abundance in some parts of British Columbia.

Other remarkable weeds mentioned by the chairman were
Draba nemorosa, Draha Caroliniana and Corydalis aurea all of
which occurred on stubble field in Manitoba.

Mr. G. H. Clarke spoke of the abundance of the seeds of
dodder in samples of alfalfa and other kinds of clover seed
now being offered for sale. ' Owing to a shortage in the Cana-
dian crop of 1906, a great deal of clover seed was being impor-
ted. From past experience, the speaker did not anticipate that
there would be much trouble from dodder in Canadian fields
although some species might persist for a time. Mr. Clarke
also exhibited a full set of the beautiful plates by Norman
Criddle for the illustrated bulletin on Farm Weeds of Canada
which he hoped would soon be issued.

Prof. Macoun gave an excellent address on the value of
critical study in botan}^ instancing the remarkable number of
new species of flowering plants detected by Prof. Fernald in
a few weeks collecting in Lower Canada. The speaker urged
the members to collect and study carefully all the local
plants of the district. Many of the old species under critical
study in all their parts had been found to cover several distinct
species. Dr. H.M. Ami read an account ofthe Sugar Maple and the
manufacture of Maple sugar from an old work published early
in the last century. This article brought out a most interesting
discussion on the general subject.

Dr. Ami also protested vigorously against private corpor-
ations as telegraph and telephone companies being allowed to
cut and injure the shade trees which were such an attractive
feature of many cities and which belonged to the public.

Mr. James Macoun reminded those present of an interesting
lecture which would be dehvered in Ottawa on May 3 1 by Dr.
Pollard on the work ofthe Wild-flower Preservation Society. J. F.

'ii LIBRARY

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST "^^^ ^

Vol. XXIII. OTTAWA, JULY, 1907 No. 4

FUNGI FROM THE KAWARTHA LAKES fAND A FEW
FROM TORONTO) INCLUDING SEVERAL NEW

SPECIES.

by Cephas Guillet, Toronto.

During August, 1905, the present writer traversed the
Kawartha Lakes in a canoe between Stony Lake and Coboconk.
This beautiful region, lying in Peterl;oro and Victoria counties,
is about sixty miles north of Lake Ontario, and 800 to 900 feet
above the sea. The following August a less extensive trip was
made from Stom^ Lake to Deer Lake. During these outings a
large number of fungi were collected and dried, notes having
first been taken upon the specimens in a fresh state. The speci-
mens, with the notes, were sent to Dr. C. H. Peck, Nev; York
State Botanist, an eminent authority on fungi, who very kindly
identified those given below. Several species new to science
were found among them, which Dr. Peck has named. A few
fungi were also collected in or near Toronto. As comparatively
little has been published regarding the fungi of Canada, the
following list may be of interest to readers of The Naturalist.
One mav add that a little work of this kind, which anvone mav
do, greatly increases the interest o'f such outings, already de-
lightful, and adds a pleasing, if slight, altruistic motive.

Lachnea scutel!ata (L.) Sou. (a cup-fungus).

Thelephora willeyi, Clint.

Clavaria gracilis, Pers.

Clavaria m.uscoides, L.

According to G. T. Atkinson, (in ''Mushrooms") all coral-
like or club fungi (Clavaria ceae) are edible, though a few
of them, and these mostly the small species, are rather
tough. All puff-balls likewise (Lycoperdacege) are
edible so long as they are quite white inside, though
some are better than others.

Fomes leucophaeus, Mont.

Polystictus hirsutus, (Wulf.) Fr.

Polystictus pergamenus, Fr.

Polyporus weinmanni, Fr.

Polyporus elegans, Fr.

58 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July

Polyporus albellus, Pk.
Polyporus picipes, Fr.
Poria vulgaris, Fr.

Favolus europaeus, Fr. (F. canadensis Kl.)
Lenzites sepiaria, Fr.
Boletus scaber, Fr. (edible).
Boletus americanus, Pk.
Cantharellus umbonatus, Fr.
Paxil lus itivolutus (Batsch.) Fr. (edible).
Coprinus plunibeus, Pk.
Hygrophorus mineatus, Fr. (edible).
Russula fragilis, Fr.
Russvila fallax (Schaeff.) Fr.
Lactarius chrysorrheus, Fr,
Lactarius paludinellus, Pk.
Lactarius subdulcus (Bull.), Fr.
Schizophyllum alneum, L. (,S. commune Fr.)
Marasmius rotula (Scop.), Fr.
Marasmius elongatipes, Pk.
Marasmius siccus, Schw.
Panus stipticus (Bull.), Fr.
Lentinus spretus, Pk.

Amanitopsis vaginata (Bull.), Rose, (edible).
Lepiota granulosa (Batsch.), Fr.
Armillaria mellea, Vahl. (edible).

(Another Armillaria Dr. Peck thinks a new species, but fears"
to describe or name from the one specimen secured).
Agaricus silvicola, Vitt. (edible).
Stropharia semiglobata (Batsch.)
Hypholoma hymenocephalum, Pk.
Flammula spumosa. Fr.
Flanimula flavida, Fr.
Inocybe siibtomentosa, Pk.
Pleurotus decorus, Fr. (Clitoc34;e decora [Fr.]).
Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.), Fr. (edible).
Crepidotus fulvotomentosus, Pk.
Panaeolus campanulatus (L.) Fr.
Pluteus cervinus (Schaeff. "i, Fr. (edible).
Pluteus tomentosulus, Pk.
Clitopilus albogriseus, Pk.
Leptonia serrulata (Pers.), Fr.
Leptonia subserrulata, Pk.
Omphaha fibula (Bull.), Fr.
Omphaha campanella (Batsch.), Fr.

Omphalia curvipes, n. sp. 2nd August, 1905; Horseshoe
Island, Stony Lake; growing out from underneath or

1907] Fungi from the Kawartha Lakes. 59

side of very rotten log, and turning so as to have the
gills downward.

Omphalia vestitus, n. sp. Latter part of August, 1906;
Horseshoe Island, vStony Lake; on the ground in low
places near the water.

Clitocybe nobilis, n. sp. 8th August, 1905, and 21st August,
1906; south shore of Deer Lake near and west of Vic-
toria Spring ; growing solitary or two close together on
the ground in a little clearing. The writer has given
specimens to Dr. Peck, who calls it "a fine new species,"
and to Toionto University.

Clitocybe ectypoides, Pk. Of several of the specimens of
this species which I sent to Dr. Peck, he says: "They
appear to be a small smooth variety of Clitocybe
ectj'^poides Pk. The radiating fibres on the pileus in
the type-form are absent in this form, with which I
have not before miet." They were found 16th August,
1905, near Cliff Spring, south shore of Pigeon Lake, on
a rotten log.

Clitocybe eccentrica, Pk.

Clitocybe laccata (Scop.), Fr. (edible).

Clitocybe laccata pallidifolia, Pk,

Chtocybe adirondackensis, Pk.

Clitocybe albissima, Pk.

Tricholoma rubescentifolia, Pk.

Tricholoma albiflavidum, Pk.

Mycena epipterygia (Scop.), Fr.

Coltybia dryophila (Bull.), Fr.

CoUybia confiuens (Pers.), Fr.

Collybia radicata (Relh.), Fr. (edible).

CoUybia radicata furfuracea, Pk.

Collybia hirticeps, n. sp. 23rd August, 1905; south shore
of Pigeon Lake, near Cliff vSpring; growing in a tuft of
about eight on a rotting branch in the woods. Dr.
Peck says it is allied to C. zonatus Pk.

Collybia stipitaria campanulata, n. var. 30th August, 1905 ;
Horse.shoe Island, Stony Lake; growing from the bark
on a fallen young arbor vitae, in a dark hollow. Dr.
Peck writes that he found the same variety in N. Y.
State in July of the same year, growing on arbor vitae
branches. He had not yet published it when he wrote.
The description of this new fungus will doubtless be
given in the N. Y. State Report. Descriptions of
Clitocybe nobilis and Collybia hirticeps have been pub-
lished by Dr. Peck in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botan-

50 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July

deal Club, 34: 1907. pp. 97 and 98. Descriptions of
the other new species will appear later.

Cyathus striatus (Huds.), Hoffm. (a bird's nest fungus).

Fuligo ovata (Schaeff.), Macbr., or as given in Saccardo
Fuligo septica (L.) Gmel. This is one of the interesting
M^'xomycetes or slinie-nioulds, an intermediate group
of organisms with relationships both to plants and to
animals. "In their spore-producing stage," says
Underwood {'Moulds, Mildews, and Mushrooms'),
"they resemble the fungi, but they are not true fungi.
In their vegetative or growing stage the}'^ resemble
certain of the protozoans, but the}^ are not true ani-
mals."

Toronto Speciics.

Sarcoscypha coccinea, Jacq. May, 1907. The common
scarlet ctip-fungus found on sticks in woods in early
Spring, and sometimxes late in the Fall.

Coprimis micaceus, Fr. 27th Julv, 1905 (edible).

Panus stipticus (Bull.\ Fr. IStli October, 1906.

Claudopus nidulans (Pers.\ Pk. 18th October, 1906. This
is Pleurotus nidulans, Pers.

Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.), Fr. 13lh July, 1905.

Galera lateritia albicolor, Pk. 13th Jul3^ 1905.

Geaster Hmbatus, Fr. (an earth-star), 18th October, 1906;

Fuligo ovata ^Schaeff .) Mackr. 1 8th October, 1 906.

NFW BRUNSWICK FLYCATCHERS.

By Wm. H. Moore, Scotch Lake, N.B.

We have many species of fly catching birds in this Maritime
Province, but in this paper we will deal only with the members
of the family Tyrannidae that occur here. Should we have the
specimens in hand, we find that the bill is broad and depressed
at the base, and about it grows a number of bristly feathers which
serve to assist in capturing insects, and to restrain the struggles
of captives. The number of primiaries are ten, the first of which
is long. There are twelve rectrices, or tail feathers, and the hind
claw will be found not smaller than the middle claw.

With some field practice one is enabled to recognize fly-
catchers from their habit of sitting upon some prominent perch
as they await the passing of some insect that thev desire to add
to their bill of fare, then rapidly darting forth to seize the prey
and often returning to the same perch .

1907] New Brunswick Flycatchers. 61

Our flycatchers are necessarily migratory as they depend
almost wholly upon insects for a food supply, so that six months
is about the limit of time each year, that they are with us. They
are not endowed with the power of producing a musical song as
are many of our other birds, but are quite as conspicuous through
their unmusical calls of love or rage, as are many of our musical
songsters through their powers of emitting more chordant sounds.

In nest Iniilding they exhibit various styles of architecture,
and some species display considerable ingenuity in building nests
to closely resemble surrounding objects. With the exception of
a species recentlv added to our list, none of our flycatchers have
brightly colored plumage. A11 are robed in inconspicuous grayish
or dull colored plumage and the sexes much resemble each other.

Each species has its favorite habitat, thus they are distribut-
ed throughout the province in localities that suit each species.
For this reason we find some species about orchards, others live
about water-courses, and again there are those that live mostly in
wooded tracts. One species of accidental occurrence has had its
habits very little studied while in our land, and possibly another
may not occur with us for years to come. The species referred to
is the scissor-tailed flycatcher (Milvuhis tyrannus) and is of
accidental occurrence. May 21st, 1906, a bird of this species was
secured at Clarendon Station, Queen's Co., N.B., by Mr. G. S.
Lacey. This is the only record so far known of this species being
taken in this province.' It had evidently come north with the
migration wave that passed here May 18-20. Then followed
cold, wet days, and migration was again nearly at a standstill.
Insect life was so cooled down May 21-22 by a fall in the tempera-
ture that a scarlet tanager was observed by the writer hopping
about on plowed ground searching for food. Bird life suffered
greatly in consequence of the fall in the temperature.

This scissor-tailed flycatcher when first observed was flying
about alighting upon the ground and low perches, and was at
first thought to be a shrike, but when alighting within a few yards
of Mr. Lacey, its oddity was noticed, and procuring his gun he
secured the ram avis. According to Mr. Lacey, this bird measur-
ed fourteen inches in length. The upper parts were gray or
ashv, light underneath; wings and tail blackish; the tail deeply
forked and about ten inches in length, the under side washed
with a pinkish color as was the lining of wings. The scissor-
tailed flycatcher is of decidedly greater length than any of our
other fl.ycatchers, but the body is no larger than that of the king-
bird.

The Kingbird (Tyrannus tyranmts) is a resident of or-
chards during its breeding season. While migrating, its

62 The Ottawa Naturalist, [J^ly

route seems to be along water-courses. A pair of these
birds will vigorously drive other birds from their hunting
grounds, and they displa}' special hatred to crows and hawks,
attacking them if they come near the home of the kingbird.
They fly along above their enemies and swoop down at them,
constantly uttering their shrill cry of rage. The large birds are
thus e.'^corted to some distance.

The kingbird arrives in central New Brunswick from the
south about the middle of May. The thirteenth, fifteenth a,nd
eighteenth are dates of arrival for three years. They depart
again about the first of September. Nest building begins in
June, and fiom three to five eggs are laid in a nest built of coarse
dried grass stems, intermixed with w^ool. The eggs and young
are zealously guarded by the parent birds, who raise a great
outcry if the nest is molested. The food of the kingbird consists
largely of insects, especially injurious to the welfare of man.
Some wild fruits are eaten, and but very little cultivated fruit or
berries are ever touched.

The Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is of rare
occurrence here. Some have been observed in August when on
the southward migration, and at that time were frequenting the
tops of dead trees that reached high above the surrounding forest.
The top of a very tall dead hemlock tree was a favorite stand, and
from this they would dash swiftly for a distance of fully one
hundred yards to capture some insect. Since this tree was
blown over, some half-dozen years ago, we have never seen the
birds. This species is reported to pass the summer season near
Woodstock, Carleton Co., N.B.

The Phoebe (Sayornis pJioebe) is the earhest of the ily-
catchers to arrive from the south, and is due to arrive from the
middle of April until the first of May, according to the state of the
weather, w^hir^h regulates the supply of insects upon which they
feed. I have never observed the phoebe here in summer, nor
during the autumn migration. In sioring their favorite resort is
along water-courses bordered by low" lands upon which grow elm
trees. Among the elm tree-tops and near them they find many
insects to their liking, after which they swiftly dart, snapping
their bills as they capture the insects. Then returning to their
place of observation, give vent to their feelings in utterance of
discordant harsh calls somewhat resembling the name of the bird
— phoebe. So closely do they follow the larger streams in this
section that T have never observed them a mile from streams that
are bordered by elm grown intervals.

The Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus horealis) is dis-
tributed throughot;t the wooded tracts of the province. In no

1907] New Brunswick Flycatchers. 63

section are they found in abundance, and with the exception of a
family gathering, not more than a pair will b^e found togetVier.
They arrive in this section from the south about the middle of
May, They apparently migrate at all hours. The first arrivals
have been heard in early morning, during the middle of the day,
and well along in the afternoon. When near at hand, the call
or song of the male sounds like the three notes " Whew-take care,"
but at a distance of a hundred yards or more the first note is not
audible, and we hear only the two last syllables, "take-care."
Many of the small birds and various species of insects could
undoubtedly interpret the call of the olive-side as it sounds in the
ear of the Anglo-Saxon, " take-care," for yoti are liable to he way-
laid by a feathered tyrant who seems to know no fear.

The olive-side chooses some tall evergreen tree as a screen
and foundation for its nest, which is composed of twigs and mosses
and built well out on a limb. The usual number of eggs is four.
The voung are fledged and ready to begin the southward march
by the first of August. The migration route of this species is
along the larger streams, and by the tenth of August they have
gone from this section for a period of eight mionths.

The calls of the olive-sided flycatcher made such an impres-
sion upon the memory of the writer in his early days that near-
ly thirty years later when the bird was identified and its name
learned , the calls would awaken childish reminiscences of earlier
days when not more than a half dozen birds were known to the
people of an entire settlemicnt.

The Wood Pewee {Coniopns virens) is*a bird of the orchards
and hardwood knolls. Tt is a bii-d sn'.aller than any of the fore-
going species, except the phoebe, which it closely resembles in
size. The call or song of the pewee is characteristic of the species
and is a series of modulated tones imitating the word "pewee".
The pewee is due to arrive from the south the latter part of May,
and stays with us about fotir months. During its stay the greater
part of the time is taken up with family affairs. The nesting site
is usuallv chosen upon some horizontal limb of a goodly sized
tree, and at a height varying from a few feet to fully sixty feet.
The nest is built of a downv substance inside, covered with lichens
or mosses, to closely resemble natural growths upon the limbs
and trunks of surrounding trees. The eggs, usually four in
number, are beavitifulh^ marked, an^l carefully guarded by the
parent birds. .,

The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris)
is tolerably common in southern parts of this province, but in the
int-erior it is a rare species. It breeds throughout the sections
where it is a summer resident. The writer has had no personal
experience with this species, so rare is it injthis locality.

64 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July

The Alder Flycatcher {Empidonax trailUi alnorum) is
tolerably common along alder bordered streams. It arrives from
the south late in May when one is notified of its arrival by hearing
its harsh call which, to some observers, sounds like the following
notes, "kzer-wee," uttered persistently as the bird sits at rest
upon some twig, when upon the lookout for its favorite insects.
The nest of this species is a good imitation of a bunch of dried
grasses lodged in the forks of a small bush by water during
freshets. An observer unacquainted with the habits of our fly-
catchers, would never suspect that the nests of the wood pewee
and glder flycatcher belonged to nearly related birds, yet
both rests are good imitations of objects occurring in their vicinity,
thus showing that the birds try to protect the eggs and young in
a thou'^htful manner.

The Least Flycatcher {Empidonax minimus) is a habitant
of orchards and second growth deciduous trees. With the
exception of the pewee, the call and song of the least flycatcher is
more pleasant to the ear than anv of the other flycatchers' notes.
A comnion npnie applied to this species is derived from its notes
which sound "Chebeck, chebeck," and may be heard from the
time the birds arrive from the south in May until after the youug
are fledged, in June. The eggs of the chebeck are quite unlike the
eggs of our other flycatobters, l:)eing of a spotless cream color
throughoiit. The number of eggs is three or four. The nest is
compactly built of shreds of l:)ark, weed stems and feathers, lined
with plant down, and usually placed in the forks of a small tree,
or amiong twigs of a horizontal branch of a conifer. vSquirrels and
blue jays are persistent enemies, robbing the nests of loth eggs
and young birds. This species seems to put more confidence in
man than does any of its kin, therefore, it may often build its nest
and rear its young in close proximity to our own buildings. In
the construction of their nests they like to get bits of string that
are often put out for the special benefit of the birds. The strings
make good material for binding the nest together and to its
foimdation.

1907] Meetings of the Entomological Branch. 6S

MEETINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH.

Meeting No. 6 held at Mr. Baldwin's house, 21st March,
1907 ; present Messrs Fletcher, Harrington, Halkett, Young,
Gibson, Metcalfe, W. H. Baldwin and J. W. Baldwin.

Mr. Gibson showed an inflate of the larvaof Sphinx eremitus
which had been found feeding on Monarda, also one of Sphinx
kahnicB covered with the conspicuous white cocoons of an Apan-
teles. A specimen of the larva of Parorgyia clintonii, destroyed
by an Apanteles the larvae of which on emerging from their host
spin a mass of silk like a tuft of cotton wool, and an inflate of
a white grub were also shown.

Mr. Young exhibited a large case showing life-histories of
Papaipeina pupurifascia, Papaipema harrisii, var., Papaipema
thalictri, Papaipema cataphracta, Parorgyia clintonii. Tinea gra-
nella, Peridroma occulta and Caripeta divisata. These were
much admired by those present.

Mr. Halkett showed two butterflies which he had collected
in Europe in 1900, one Vanessa atalanta, at Paris, France, and
the other Parnassius apolla, taken in Switzerland.

Dr. Fletcher exhibited a case of dragon flies which had
been determined by Dr. E. M. Walker, of Toronto. Among
these were some interesting local species which had not pre-
viously been recorded from the Ottawa district. Gomphus adel-
phns idi\^en dit Hull, P. Q., new to Canada; Gomphus brevis:
Basiaeschna Janata and Helocordulia lihleri were the species of
most interest. Dr. Fletcher also showed the 2nd Volume of
Dr. Felt's new work on "Insects Affecting Park and Woodland
Trees. This was much admired.

Mr. Metcalfe spoke of the parasite Psilomastix exesorius
which he had reared from the chrysalis of Papilio asterias and
showed specimens. An interesting discussion took place on
parasitic insects in general.

I^r. Harrington showed specimens of three species of
Panorpa which he had taken at Ottawa. He also showed some
sawflies and particularly drew attention to the wide range of
some species. Some might be found right across the continent
from New Brunswick to the Pacific Coast and up into Alaska.
'He stated that his own collection had been rearranged and that
he* would now be glad to assist any of the members who cared
to take up this interesting branch of study. He advised that as
manv as possible of the larvae should be collected in spring as
in that wav it was much easier to get good specimens than to
carrv the larvae over the winter, many of the species being
double brooded.

66 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July

* —

Mr. Baldwin exhibited his collection of lepidoptera and
pointed out some of the rarer species which he had taken at
Ottawa during the last year or two. Some of these were par-
ticularly interesting and the only records for the district.

J. W. B.

The 7th meeting of the Entomological Branch was held at
the house of Mr. Halkett, on the evening of the 4th April, 1907.
There were present, Dr. Fletcher, and Messrs. Harrington,
Gibson, Young, Baldwin, Metcalfe, Wilson, and Halkett.

Mr. Harrington exhibited two cases of hymenoptera, con-
sisting of the Siricoidea and a portion of the Tenthredinoidea.
The collection contained many interesting species from all parts
of Canada, and also some from the United States. Some of the
species were stated to be apparently undescribed, and types of
several species described by Provancher were included. Atten-
tion was directed to some of the more injurious forms, and to
the fact that the insects in this division of the hymenoptera
were of special interest, as the larvae were phytophagic, and often
so abundant as to cause great devastation. Mr. Harrington
also presented a list of forty species of spiders which had been
recently determined by Mr. Nathan Banks, and stated that
about a dozen were additions to the Ottawa list of Arachnida.

Mr. Wilson made mention of the destruction caused in
Northern Ontario by the larvse of the Larch Sawfly, Nematus
Erichsonii, chiefly eastward of Nipigon, and referred to pet-
rified wings of sawfiies found by him in slabs of slate in New
Brunswick.

Mr. Gibson exhibited a magnificent pair of the Imperial
Moth, Eacles imperialis, Dru., male and female, which had been
presented to the Division of Entomology by Mr. T. W. Ramm,
of Ross Mount, Ont. The species, although rare in Canada, has
been taken at Ottawa (once), Port Hope, Toronto, and one or
two other localities in Ontario. Specimens of Lepisesia ulalume,
Strck., from Vancouver, B.C. (A. H. Bush), and co-ty]3es of
Recttrvaria gibsonella and Recurvaria conijerella were also shown.
These two latter are new local species reared by the exhibitor,
and described by Mr. W. D. Kearfott, of Montclair, N.J.

Mr. Young showed a box of microlepidoptera, which had
just been named for him by Mr. Kearfott. Among these were
10 new Ottawa species, the descriptions of which have just
appeared. The names Enarmonia youngana, Enarnionia flet-
cherana and Carposina ottaivana were of particular interest to
those present. Regarding the collection of these small moths,
Mr. Gibson spoke of a trap which had been devised by Mr. J. D.

1007] Leucobrephos Middendorfi, Men. 67

Evans, of Trenton, Ont., and explained how it was made. Mr.
Evans has been very successful with it.

Dr. Fletcher showed specimens of two species of neuropte-
roid insects found in winter on the surface of snow, apparently
Boreus calif ornicus, Pack., and Boreus unicolor, Hine. They
were collected by Mr. J. W. Cockle, at Kaslo, B.C., during the
past winter. An ichneumon parasite and the pupa of Grapta
interrogationis, and a beautiful pair of the British Columbia
Thecla dumetorum, Bdv., the under side of which, like that of
its close ally T. rubi, of Europe, is bright green, a colour seldom
seen among butterflies, were also exhibited, as well as specimens
of Leptarciia caUfornica, Wlk., and Brephos injans, Moeschl.,
which superficially resembled each other very much, but are
in no way related to each other. Dr. Fletcher also spoke further
on insect traps, and urged the members to begin at once to lay
their plans and get apparatus in order for the coming season.

A. H.

LEUCOBREPHOS MIDDENDORFI, MEN.

Three beautiful specimens of this very rare moth were
recently received from the Mayo River, Yukon Territory, by
Mr. Joseph Keele, of the Geological Survey Department. These
were collected by Mr. J. A. Davidson, of Duncan Creek, Y.T., on
April 16th, 1907. This moth is extremely rare in collections
and these specimens are important as showing the wide distribu-
tion of the invsect. The specimens were of an unusually dark
form, but are similar to one specimen reared by me from eggs
received from Mr. Norman Cridclle, of Aweme, Manitoba. This
specimen was one of abovit a dozen from the same batch of eggs,
the remainder of which were of the normal gray form. I have
also two specimens of the dark form w^hich were brought back
from Labrador in 1894, and were taken by Mr. A. P. Low during
his exploration of that coimtry. They were collected on the
portage at Grand Falls, Hamilton River, Labrador, on May 12th,
1894-. Although so exceedingly rare in collections, the insect
appears to be of very wide distribution, and, as it is also very
difficult to capture and appears very early in the year, it is
possible that it may have been overlooked in intervening districts.
It would be well for collectors to be on the alert to capture any
specimens of a black and white very active moth ^;hich they may
see early in the year in northern regions. "' ' '

T. Fletcher.

58 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Ju-ly

SUB-EXCURSIONS.

Old Beaver Meadow, did you say? Follow the old road
past the old toll-gate and you'll come to it. You must be mis-
taken,— for the meadow where the Field Naturalists gathered
on the 18th of May, 1907, could never be called old. Such a
charmingly fresh and beautiful spot! Nature in all the sugges-
tiveness of youth! The delicate traceries of the branches of
elm and maple were half concealed, half set forth, by a wonderful
indescribable adornment of fluffy tufts and tiny tendrils and
wee curled buds. Leaves^ did you call them? Such an ordinary
name! Nature has nothing so ordinary! And, Oh! the colors
of everything! That delicate yellow green and the cool silver-
grey, and those browns — golden brown, brown and reddish
brown! How the colors of Spring haunt the mind of the artist,
as with futi^.e attempt he mingles the tints of his paint box,
trying with the seductive wiles of combination to catch just that
tone ! How it pursues him in his dreams- -just that tone !

But imagination would wander as the Field Naturalists
wandered that afternoon, and would that the results of its
meanderings might be as satisfying. Through the cedar woods
they went, some here, some there; some to find happiness in
the gentle hepatica, fair trillium and aromatic ginger-root, and
treasures of tree and shrub, others in the birds, the many
colored warblers and sweet-voiced sparrows, others again
absorbed in the little creatures that creep or fly, some indeed
that both creep and fly, and yet again, a group who find the
greatest charms in a hard, grey substance which sometimes
yields its secrets reluf^tantly, V^ut those secrets po<^sess the charm
of the classics in that, though dead, they live forever.

As.for us, and there were many like us, we enjoj^ed something
of it all. "Gleam and gloom, and woodland bloom, and breezy
breaths of all perfume!" An overturned rock showed groups of
tiny ants, brown and black, like moving beads. Ever and anon
the clear, sweet note of the white-throated sparrow came to us.
Then, through a barbed-wire fence to a cutting of lime-stone
rock. What an interesting old-time world, Mr. Wilson points
out to us! Shells and crinoids and coral, all preserved, as Mother
Nature knows how, between the leaves of her hard, grey book.
Such an alluring story for those who will trouble to read!

Then back through the woods! Now some one finds a
"good old snail with an English name." Then a flash of color
calls to our eyes, — it is a warbler! There is another! But what
a beauty! Such a brilliant orange throat and yellow head and

1907] Sub-Excursions. 69

black and white striped wings. We must ask its name! Then
following our leader — he pretends to know and takes the wrong
road for variety — we gather at the rendezvous.

It is a beautiful spot, a little green dale with hills rising
gently around it, — hills covered with many trees of lightsome
garments and here and there a sombre pine. At our feet is a
hearty little stream, and you can trace its course by the brown-
leaved bushes coaxed to its side. In and out of these bushes
flashes the black-throated blue warbler, and from all sides come
the songs of the birds. It is their even-song. Up behind the
hills, great, soft, white and grey and golden clouds are gathering,
and the light and shade fall on tlie fields before us. We see it
all and hear it almost unconsciously, for our leaders now are
telling each the results of his afternoon's search. They are
wonderfully modest, these leaders. They never make us feel
the amount of their knowledge and the littleness of ours, but
ever strive to interest and cheer us on to know more and to love
better.

Mr. Macoun speaks of the birds that have charmed us with
color and flight and song, and our unspoken questions are
answered. It is because of the shelter of the meadow that so
man}- birds have gathered here this afternoon. Warblers in
unusual variety and sparrows and black-birds! It is not on the
beauty of these little creatures that the speaker dwells, it is on
their usefulness. How dependent we are on them! For should
these little creatures cease to be, what is to save our crops from
utter V)light of insect life grown strong through absence of its
old-time foe! There is so much practical value in our stud}'- of
Nature.

And now it is Mr. Clarke's turn. And as he speaks of tree
and flovver and bush, a beauty conies to them,- — a beauty quite
apart from form and color. How, on the wooded hillside grow
the hepatica. bellwort, adder's tongue, barren strawberry,
columbine, trillium, mitrewort, squirrel corn and wild ginger.
And down in the low grounds along the stream, the violets in
profusion make their home, and the marsh-marigolds and sweet
gale and meadow rue and Spiraea salicijolia fringing the stream
in great numbers, but not in bloom. And on the dry, thin soil
the white cedar, red cedar and juniper find the land of their
choice. It is a charming talk and impossible of reproduction
by the unlearned.

Mr. Halkett speaks of various zoological objects collected
during the afternoon. Of mollusks, there were species of land
snails (Helicoids) , a specimen of a fresh- water snail (Planorbis) ,
and a shell of a bivalve-mollusk (Sphcsrhim), the last mentioned

70 The Ottawa Naturalist. [J^ily

of which was found by Mr. Lemieux. Also winged ants are shown
which were found with the rest of the colony under a stone ; and
three specimens of a salamander (Spelerpes bilineatus) found by
Mr. Lemieux, under a stone beside a brook.

These specimens are produced one after another from in-
teresting looking paper bags ranged side by side on a stump.
There is something that raises one's hopes about those paper
bags! And now, expectation, fed on snails and ants and sal-
amanders, is watching with large eyes for the next bag. This
bag has been handed to the speaker by Mr. Gibson. It is opened,
and out is Hfted a squirming, resisting, black and white object, —
a conspicuously colored milk snake {Coronella doliata). This
snake, it is pointed out, is very similarly marked to one collected
near the Rifle Range last year, and which was mentioned in the
zoological report as probably being a specimen of a southern
variety of the milk snake.

There were yet other things found this afternoon. From Mr.
Gibson we found that the backward spring had been a little too
much for our entomological friends, and they had been keeping
indoors much longer than was their custom. A single specimen
of the native white butterfly was seen, also a few geometrid
moths flying in open places. Under flat stones, the most interest-
ing objects secured were some specimens of a very large spider,
which as yet has not been determined. Hibernating larvae of
Noctua dandestina, Leucania commoides and Isia Isabella were
found, too, as well as specimens of several kinds of ground
beetles.

We had the pleasure of having with us, accompanying Mr.
Gibson, an Honorary Member of the Club, the Rev. G. W.
Taylor, a distinguished entomologist from Wellington, B.C.

And now it is over. The soft mists of early afternoon which
had gathered into great clouds, now sprinkle a few drops just to
show what they might have done. But the homeward-bound
are on the quaint old road, by its rows of elms and poplars, and
it matters not. It is just an opportunity for Nature to show
one more beauty, — her own special color scheme, — for the green
of woods and fields, the blue of sky and water, the gold and pink
of sunset, and grey and mauve of evervthing, are gathered in
one radiant, soft-tinted arch across our path — a rainbow.

R. B. McQ.

1907] Notes. 71

NOTE ON THE EUROPEAN CARP.

To the Editor of The Ottawa Naturalist: —

The species of fish, which you kindly drew my attention
to at Lapointe's, the fish-dealer's, two large specimens of which
were purchased for the museum, is the European carp {Cyprinus
carpio). The specimens are from Lake Ontario, and were trans-
ported from Toronto to Ottawa. They weigh some 22 pounds
each, being within \ pound of each other; and measure respec-
tively: (1) 2 ft. 9 ins. long; 9 ins. deep; 1 ft. 10 ins. girth; (2)
2 ft. 8 ins. long; 10 ins. deep; 2 ft. girth. A number of much
smaller specimens were also seen at the same time in the market.
Another specimen of this species in the Fisheries Museum, from
the Bay of Quinte, near Belleville, Ont., is mentioned in the
Zoological Report of the Club; and Mr. Hurley, Fishery Officer,
states that the carps are infesting the Bay of Quinte in thousands.
When fresh the two specimens from the market manifested
high coloration; they were a vivid golden colour, and the
paired fins, opercular covers, and other parts were bright reddish,
a feature which Prof. Prince considers, probably, due to seasonal
characters, owing to the approach of the spawning time. The
structure of the carp is to be found treated of in various
ichthyological works, and, therefore, need not be entered into
here; and a very full account of how injudicious it has been
to introduce the German carp into our waters will be found
in an article entitled: "The Place of Carp in Fish-culture"
(Supplement No. 1 to the 29th Annual Report of the Depart-
ment of Marine and Fisheries, Fisheries Branch, 1896), by Prof.
E. E. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries.

Andrew Halkett.

Ottawa, 22nd April, 1907.

INJURY TO NESTS BY MUSKRATS.

During the past week we have found three nests of the
Virginia rail and one nest of the American bittern, with the eggs
all smashed. As these nests were all located in marshes in
remote parts of the country, I have placed this destruction to the
credit of the muskrats, which are quite common in the district.

I shall be very glad to have the views of some of our ornitho-
logical friends on this subject, and to know if my conclusions are
correct.

W. J. Brown.
We.stmount, Que., June 3rd, 1907.

72 The Ottawa Naturalist [July

REVIEW

The Tree Book, a Popular Guide to a Knowledge of
the Trees of North America and their Uses and Culti-
vation. By Julia Ellen Rogers, with sixteen plates in color and
one hundred and sixty in black-and-white from photographs by
A. Radclyffe Dugmore. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York, pp.
589, $3.00.

Ranging from Dr. Sargent's monumental work to hastily
prepared books to supply the demand for Nature Study liter-
ature so much has been printed about trees during recent
years that where a single book is to be purchased it is difficult
to decide upon the one to buy. If the purely technical works
he excluded it may be safely said that none approaches "The
Tree Book" for general use. Profusely illustrated, printed
on paper of the best quality and full of useful information,
popular and scientific descriptions have been combined in such
a manner that one familiar with all our trees w^ill find almost as
much in it that is new and interesting as will the school-boy
who is beginning the study of trees. The first four hundred
and fifty large quarto pages deal with "How to Know the Trees"
Beginning with the pines and ending with the irburnums and
elders, every family being prefaced by a key to the genera,
each species is described, and following its description is a mass
of information which includes a detailed account of all the known
uses to which any part of the tree is put. Part II deals with
"Forestry", Part III with "The Uses of Wood", and Part IV
with "The Life of the Trees". An exhaustive index com])letes a
volume which everyone, even remotely interested in forest trees,
should own and studv.

The delay in publishing this number of The Naturalist is
due to the illness and absence from Ottawa of The Editor.

i

•*>>

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

Vol. XXIII. OTTAWA, AUGUST, 1907

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
PjOF TRINIDAD AND BARBADOS, B. W. ISLANDS.
By R. W. Ells, LL.D., Etc.

Summary of paper read before Royal Society of Canada, May, 1907,

The islands of Trinidad and Barbados are among the most
southerly of the Windward island group of the West Indies. The
former lies a few miles off the north coast of South America,
opposite the mouths of the Orinoco r^'er, with an area of 1,7 50
square miles, and a population of about 2 55,000 ; the latter, about
200 miles to the north-east, withan area of 166 square miles, and,
with a popttlation of rather miore than 1 ,200 persons to the square
mile, can rightly be considered the most densely populated
country in the world in so far as now known.

The geology of both these islands is quite simple. In
Trinidad, the northern portion from the passage separating the
north-west corner from Venezuela, known as the Bocas, to the cape
at the north-east extremity, is occupied by a range of hills with
elevations rising in places to more than 3,000 feet, composed of
slaty and schistose rocks with occasionally areas of limestone.
The schist is cut by veins of quartz, generally of small size. in
which traces of gold are foimd, while the presence of iron has also
been recognized at several points. These schists are the oldest
rocks in the island, and resemible the lower Cambrian of Canada in
miany respects.

South of this and comprising by far the greater part of the
island the rocks are much more recent, consisting for the most
part of shales and sandstones of Tertiary age, with possiblv small
areas of underlying Cretaceous, especially along the southern
flank of the mountain range. These Tertiary rocks comprise
large areas of oil-bearing sandstone, and the formation as a whole,
is thrown into a series of folds or anticlines, of which four principal
ones have been recognized as extending in a general east and w^est
direction across the southern part of the island, with several
secondary ones. Along the courses of all these, oil-springs, out-
flows of asphalt or thickened petroleum and occttrrences of
natural gas are frequently seen, with mud volcanoes which
indicate the escape of the gas in large quantity.

The most northerly of these anticlines, yet definitelv re-
cognized, comes to the west coast at the town of San Fernando

74 The Ottawa Naturalist [Atigust

where a hill rises to a height of about 600 feet auove the sea. On
both sides the oil-bearing sandstones are exposed dipping general-
ly to north and south and in the back streets of the town itself
outflows of asphalt are seen which represent the crude petroleum
which has been deprived of its volatile matter through oxydation.
This oil has originally been derived from the oil-sands in the
vicinity, some portions of the formation being fairly .satura^ted
with it. This anticline, like the others, extends across the island
to the east coast.

The second anticline, going south, extends from the west
coast at Point La Brea, about 15 miles west of San Fernando.
On this is situated the famous Pitch lake, which is one of the m.ost
wonderful features of this island. Oil is also issuing from the
rocks along the course of the anticline at a number of points, and
deposits of as})halt are found at intervals. An old oil well near
the lake, though nearly choked up, is still discharging petroleum
by simple overflow.

The third anticline extends from near Guaypo point, about
five miles south of the La Brea Pitch lake, eastward to the east
coast, and is well defined at a number of places. At the out-
crops on the Vv-est coast the strata are vertical for several hundred
yards and the blackish-grey sandstone is, in places, saturated
with oil which oozes out and forms a S'-um. along the beach, while
heavv outflows of the ashpalt are seen both along the shore and
at many points inland along the course of the anticline. Near the
west end a very strong English company, comprising Lord
Dundonald and others, has recently begun a systematic series of
borings for oil with every prospect of success. At or near the
village of Fyzabad, about 12 miles inland, there are other large
outflows of asphalt associated with thick black oil which forms
small pools, the surface over a considerable area being covered
with the oil and asphalt.

The fourth and most southerly anticline keeps along the
south coast, terminating westward near the south-we.st corner at
Icacos point and sometimes extending out to sea for short
distances. It comes to tlie south-east corner of the island at
Guayaguayare near Point Galiota. At the western end pits
svmk for a few feet through the overlying sand into the oil-bearing
sandstone soon become partlv filled with oil which is derived from,
the sandstone formation below. This has not yet been tested by
boring, but the indications for finding oil in this place are un-
doubtedly very favourable. All along the exposed course of this
anticHne to the eastern point similar occurrences of oil are seen
and mud volcanoes are observed which indicate the explosive
nature of the contained gas in subterranean reservoirs, with oil

1907] Geology Resources of Trinidad and Barbados 75

springs at intervals and saturated layers of sandstone. At the
eastern portion a number of borings have been made to depths of
800 to 1 ,000 feet, in nearly every one oil being found sometimes in
large quantity. This field is noA\- being exploited rapidly with
every appearance of success.

Borings along the east coast at several points have also
disclosed the fact that oil will be found in economic quantities at
widely separated locations, one of these near the beach on the
east coast, mereh^ a trial hole, apparently having yielded accord-
ing to the Government report at the rate of 60 to 70 barrels per
day. More recent borings at Guayaguayare have made returns
of oil at the rate of 12 to 10 barrels per hour. None of these wells
are gushers, but the oil rises to near the surface and can be easily
pumped.

These borings, made at somewhat widely separated points in
the soutliern portion of the island, point conclusivelv to the
assumption that oil fields of very great economic value exist in
this area, and require only the judicious expenditure of capital to
ensure satisfactorv returns. In geological horizon the rocks are
similar to those of the celebrated oil-wells of Baku in southern
Russia and of Texas and California in the United States. They
are of somewhat higher horizon than those of the Florence field in
Colorado, which are apparently in Cretaceous rocks, but very
similar to- those of Burmah in the East Indies. They differ
markedly from those of Canada and of the eastern United States,
in which countries the oil is obtained from^ formations ranging
downward from the Devonian to the Trenton limestone.

The Pitch lake of Trinidad, to which reference is often made,
is a feature of great scientific interest. It has been visited by
several scientists and various opinions have been expressed as to
its origin, some contending that the surface especially in its
central portion is soft and the asphalt hot, connecting its presence
with volcanic phenomena. In point of fact the surface of the
lake is hard and smooth, except for the presence of numerous
fissures which traverse it, and are filled with water, and for the
grow'th of trees which have evidently taken root in drifted areas
of sand along such fissure lines in which seeds from the surround-
ing forest have lodged and taken root.

The lake itself is a vast body of asphalt, brownish-black in
colour, with an area of nearly 140 acres. It is located near the
west coast at Point La Brea at an elevation of about 100 feet
above the sea level and at a distance of nearly one mile from the
shore. In outline it is roughly circular, is deepest near the centre
where a boring of 17 5 feet failed to touch the bottom, and
gradually shoals towards the shores, having the character of a

75 The Ottawa Naturalist [August

deep circular basin. By some it is supposed to owe its presence
to the action of a mud volcano, and the crater-like aspect of the
lake itself supports this view. By others the opinion is expressed
that it occupies the denuded crest of the La Brea anticline at this
point and that the crude petroleum has gradually flowed into the
denuded area, from the surrounding strata of oil-bearing sand-
stone, the volatile matter has been oxydized, and the remaining
asphalt now forms the lake. In the one case the denudation is
supposed to be caused by the agency of a gas explosion as with
ordinary mud volcanoes, in the other case it would probably be
caused by atmospheric agencies since it cannot V)e. supposed that
glacial action was ever experienced in these southern islands.
The origin of the pitch or asphalt is without doubt due to the
oxydation of the crude petroleum which flowed into the present
depression from the surrounding rocks.

It was long supposed that the level of the lake was constant,
but when mining began on a large scale a careful series of levels
and other measurements was commenced. In this way it was
ascertained that in the 14 years during which mining has been
vigorouslv carried on the level of the surface has been lowered
seven feet, or at the rate of six inches per year. In this period it
is estimated that about 1,500,000 tons of the asijhalt has l^een
extracted and shiiJped.

The surface is hard, and tlic asphalt is mined with an ordinary
pickaxe, the mineral breaking out readily with a sharp line of
fracture. It is loaded into tram^ cars and either sent to the ship-
ping point by a line of cable tram to the pier, or hauled along a
second tram line by mules to the ship]jing point or to the boiling
works where it is purified by the removal of the contained water
and of a certain amount of both organic and inorganic impurity.
The digging is made to a depth of one to two feet, when the trami
line is moved along the surface, but in a few weeks the depression
thus made is filled and the surface is again level. There appears
to be a certain slow movement going on which affects the greater
part of the mass, and lines of flowage are seen in the apparently
solid mineral as if the whole mass were in motion from the surface
downward. This movemxcnt is apparentlv due to convection
currents, which may be caused by the displacement of the whole
mass through mining or possibly to the still further and continued
inflow of semi-liquid pitch from the sides or bottom of the lake
basin.

From the original lake basin im.m.ense quantities of the
asphalt have been discharged seaward to the shore v\here along
the beach it now extends for more than a mile. This beach
asphalt contains a somewhat larger percentage of impurity than

I

1907] Geology Resources of Trinidad and Barbados 77

that of the lake, since it has evidently picked up certain inorganic-
as wel; as organic, substances in its passage from the lake to the
sea, the movement having apparently been made when the
mineral was in a somewhat plastic condition. In composition the
asphalt contains about 40 to 50 per cent, of bitumen, about 30 per
cent, of water, the remainder consisting of the impurities men-
tioned.

The mines of manjak, located near San Fernando, are also
exceedingly interesting. The mineral is also an altered pet-
roleum, and now occurs in fissures which traverse the shales and
sandstone of the oil-bearing series in the same way as the albertite
mines in New Briinswick have been formed. Their position is
near the crest of an anticline, and the fissures have been formxed
in the period of disturbance or crushing by which the anticlinal
folds were produced.

The mineral manjak is a very pure variety of asphalt, carry-
ing from 00 to 95 per cent, of bitumen. A certain amount of
impurity is found in the forni of clay particles, evidently detached
from the sides of the fissures in the process of vein formation. It
is jet black, glossy, and brittle, and can be lighted in the flame of a
match, dropping hke sealing wax and taking readily the impres-
sion of a seal. In this respect it differs somewhat from New
Brunswick albertite which does not fuse readily, but splinters on
the application of heat. Manjak is largely used in the manufac-
ture of high grade black varnishes, insulating paints for electric
conductors, waterproof paints, etc. The veins vary greatly in
size, the principal one worked having increased from a width of
about seven feet at the surface to over .30 feet at a depth of 200
feet. Much of the mineral in the upper 100 feet is what is known
as columnar, as if the vein matter had been shattered by pressure,
but at lower depths the massive form, comes in and forms the
greater portion of the deposit. In its conchoidal fracture it
resembles strongly the albertite of New Brunswick as also in general
aspect. The difference in the mineral is apparently due to meta-
m.orphism on the part of the latter, which occurs in Devonian rocks
while the manjak is found, both in Trinidad and Barbados in the
soft Tertiary clays and is comparatively unaltered from its pitch
condition, in this respect presenting analogies to anthracite and
lignite in the coal series. The limit of the veins in depth ha:^ not
been ascertained at any one point, with one exception in Barbados
where in a shaft at a depth of 1 50 feet the manjak became soft and
soon passed into a thick, asphaltic oil which could be removed by
baihng. The Barbados mineral is somewhat purer and ap-
parently softer than that of Trinidad and commands a higher
price in the market, some portions of the output reali7ing as

78

The Ottawa Naturalist [August

much as $75 to $90 per ton in the EngUsh market. It will be
seen, therefore, that this mineral has a high economic value, and
with the increase in the demand should form a very im.portant
article of commerce. The alhertite of New Brunswick, of which
some 250,000 tons were mined before the vein matter was
exhausted, was used largely for mixing with ordinary bituminous
coals in the manufacture of gas, possessing the property of
keeping the production at a high standard.

It can be readily seen, therefore, that the island of Trinidad
possesses great resources in the matter of asphalt, manjak and
petroleum, which are now coming into prominence and will
undoubtedly, in a few years, become a great source of wealth to
the investors and of revenue to the government, since the develop-
ment work already done is m-ost encouraging.

The crystalline schists of the northern range are also well
worthy of careful exploitation. The indications of gold in the
numerous quartz veins already observed, and of iron ores of
several kinds are important, but so far but little attention has
been directed to this formation. Nowhere in this island was any
indication of volcanic rocks observed either in loose pieces or in
actual outcrops.

In Barbados the geological formations are somewhat
different. Of the 166 square miles in the area, six-sevenths are
occupied by coral limestone, which doubtless at some time
formed a complete capping over the whole island. This coral
formation reached to the highest points of the island, or about
1,100 feet above the sea, though to the ordinary ob.server or
visitor the island is usually regarded as of but small elevation.
The remaining seventh in the north-eastern portion shews a series
of Tertiary sediments which are almost identical with those seen
in Trinidad, and like that island, contain petroleum, and manjak in
large quantities. They have been exposed by the denudation
of the overlving coral, which presents bold escarpments facing to
the east. Between the Tertiary rocks and the coral is a consider-
able thickness of earths and clay deposits with an aggregate
thickness of nearly 300 feet, which, with the overlying coral
formation, are quite undisturbed.

The Tertiary oil-bearing sandstone and shale are more highly
disturbed than those of Trinidad, the anticlines being sharper and
the strata in places overturned for short distances. As in
Trinidad, boring for oil has been carried on for some years as
well as mining for manjak, and some fifteen holes have been sunk,
several of which have been carried to depths of over 1,000 feet.
In most of these oil has been found in some quantity and a pipe-
line and refinery were erected several years ago, the oil being

1907] Geology Resources of Trinidad and Barbados 79

pumped from the wells to the height of land whence it descended
by gravity to the refining works near the city of Bridgetown.
In certain cases the location of the borings was unsuitable, the
sediments being too greatly disturbed to be largely productive
of oil, so that the yield of petroleum in economic quantity has not
been satisfactory; but at other places the conditions are more
favourable, the strata being more regular and less broken, while
beneath the coral and clay formations, the latter being known
under the name of "Oceanic beds," the oil-bearing Tertiary
probably occurs througliout the whole extent of the island.
Here also, owing to the covering of impervious clays, the pos-
sibility of finding oil in paying quantity should be more favour-
able than in those portions where the clay and coral formations
have been removed, as in the north-eastern portion. The thick-
ness of the coral formation varies from a few feet only to 200 feet,
and in some places possibly 2 50 feet, and the Tertiary rocks are
sometimes seen owing to the denudation of the coral, m^ore
especially in the southern and northern portions of tlie island.
The judicious expenditure of a certain amount of capital by
boring in this coral-capped area should be carefully considerecl.

In the Oceanic, or clav and earthy deposits, are large beds of
infusorial earths, often beautifully white and resembling the
infusorial earth obtained from the beds of lakes in eastern Canada.
The microscopic examination of the contained foraminifera,
however, shews that the forms are of deep sea water types,
instead of fresh water origin, as is the case in the northern lake
deposits. These infusorial earths should, at some tinie, be of
economic importance. No trace of volcanic rocks are seen in this
island.

The manjak deposits of Barbados occur in true fissure veins
as in Trinidad, the fissures undoubtedly being formed during the
general period of upheaval which affected the Tertiary oil-bearing
sands. The origin of this mineral is clearly seen in the case of
the shaft referred to where the manjak passed down at 150 feet
into petroleum. The inference is that this petroleum has flowed
into the fissures thus formed, either from the sides or bottom,
from the oil-sands which have been thus traversed ; the volatile
matters have been largely removed by oxyd.ation, and the
asphaltic portion has remained as a vein filling. Apparently
similar conditions affected the albertite deposits of New Bruns-
w^ick.

80 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August

DESCRIPTION OF A CANADIAN SPECIES OF
PELTOCERAS.

BY J. F. WHIT EAVES.

Tlie genus Peltoceras was constituted by Dr. V/aagen for
the reception of certain Jurassic Ammonites from Etu"ope and
India, that are most closely allied to Aspidoceras and Peri-
sphinctes. A "short diagnosis" of this genus was published in
November, 1871, in the fourth part of the fourth volume of the
Records of th.e Geological Survey of India. And, under the
auspices of that Survey, a much fuller description of the generic
characters of Peltoceras was published in 1875, in the first volume
of the " Jtu-assic Fauna of Kutch." In the latter publication Dr.
Waagen makes the following remarks: "]^.Tost essential for the
generic determination of the shells I place under the name of
Peltoceras is the form of the earlier stages of growth, which is
characteristic to a high degree, and varies biit very little in m^ost
of the species. The strong, sharp, mostly dichotome, but some-
times also undivided, ribs, which cover the inner ^vhorls of those
Ammonites, cannot be easily mistaken, and serve well to recognize
the genus, even in specimens wdiere other characteristics are not
observable. The whorls are always very little embracing, and
the transversal section of the latter somewhat rectangular."
The genus is divided into three sections, viz.: (1) The group of
Ammonites nmuilaris, Reinecke; (2) the group of A. Fug^enii,
Raspail ; and (3) the group oi A. aihleta, Phillips.

In the summier season of 1906, Mr. D. B. Dowling found a
small Ammonite, w^hich seems to the writer to belong to the
genus Peltoceras and to the group of P. atkleta, in rocks of
mesozoic and presumably of Jurassic age, on the Red Deer River,
Alberta, at the Rocky Mountain Park. This little Anunonite is
not more than an inch and a quarter in its maximum diameter,
and represents only the early stage of growth of the shell, but
that, as Dr. Waagen states, is highly characteristic in the genus
Peltoceras. The sutures of its septa are not preserved, but the
outline of its transverse section, and its surface ornamentation,
are essentially similar, in a general wav, to those of the correspon-
ding stage of growth of P.athleta, as figured by d'Orbignv, under
the name Ammonites atkleta. on Plates 163 and 164 of the" "Atlas"
to the first volume of the "Terrains Jurassiques." This Canadian
Peltoceras, however, seems to be soecificallv distinct from

1907 ] Canadian species of Peltoceras 81

P. atkleta and other known species of the genus, and mav be
provisionally named and described as follows: —

Peltoceras occidentale, sp. nov.

Peltoceras occidentale; a, side view of the only specimen collected; b,
portion of .venter of the same, showing four primary bifurcating ribs,
alternating with four secondary simple ones ; c, outline of transverse
section of the outer volution of the same, near the aperture. All the
figures of the natural size.

Shell widely but very shallowly umbilicated on both sides,
the umbilicus occupying fully tv>'o-thirds of the entire diameter.

Whorls slender, increasing very slowly in size, in close con-
tact throughout, but without embracing, flattened and widest on
the venter (as shown in figure c) angulated at its junction with
each side, and narrowing convexly and somewhat obliquely
inward, to the rather narrow dorsum, which is impressed longi-
tudinally bv a very shallow furrow of contact.

Test unknown; surface of the cast of the interior marked
with numerous, nearly straight transverse ribs. On each of the
sides all the ribs are simple and unbranched (as shown in figure a)
which rey^resents one of the sides. But, at the ventrolateral
angulation on each side of the outer whorl, each primary rib swells
into a comparatively large, circular and flattened tubercle, then
bifurcates (as represented in figure b) or trifurcates in passing over
the venter, and finally coalesces with a similar tubercle on the
ventrolateral angulation of the other side. The secondary ribs
are as long as the primaries, but the former are neither tuber-
culated on the outer mtargin of the outer whorl, nor divided on the
venter, though thev are not infrequentlv interrupted in or by the
close proximity of a tubercle on one of the alternating primaries.

Sutural line unknown.

82 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August

Maximum diameter of the only specimen known to the
writer, thirty milHmeters; that of the umbihcus, from suture to
suture, twenty-one millimeters.

Red Deer River, Alberta, at Rocky Mountain Park, D. B.
Dowling, 1906; the small specimicn figured, which shows the
characters of three of the outer whorls, the nuclear ones not being
preserved.

In the correspondingly early stage of growth of Peltoceras
athleta, as figured by d'Orbigny, the primary ribs have not begun
to develop well defined tubercles, and the^^ bifurcate froin near
the middle of each side of the outer volution.

Dr. Waagen says that a specimen of Peltoceras annulare or
athleta has been found in the "vicinity of Mombas, equatorial
Africa," so that the genus is now known to he represented in the
mesozoic rocks of Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

As Peltoceras is regarded as an exclusively Jurassic genus,
it would seem inost probable that the rocks at -Rocky Mountain
Park from which the type of C. occidentale was collected, are of
Jurassic age. On purely palseontological grounds, also, it
would seem highly likety that those presumably Jurassic rocks in
Alberta which hold P. occidentale are of about the same age as the
coarse grits from the Crow's Nest coal fields near Fernie, B.C.,
which hold Cardioceras Canadense, and as those Jurassic rocks in
the Black Hills of Dakota which hold C. cordiforme. In a Bulletin
of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, publi-
shed on December 17th, 1906, Professors Whitfield and Hovey
have shown that C. cordijorme is a very variable species, especially
in the adult state, and it is just possible that C. Canadense niay
prove to be only a local variety of that species. However that
inay be, it is abundantly clear that both C. cordiforme and C.
Canadcnsy' are very closely allied to the British and European
C. cordat'mi.

Ottawa, Julv t2th, 1907.

1907] Migration of Birds of the Past Spring 83

THE SECOND CHAPTER IN THE STORY OF THE MIGRA-
TION OF BIRDS OF THE PAST SPRING.
By G. EiFRiG

In the May number of the "NaturaHst" the present writer
published an account of the remarkably early appearance of
some of the bird migrants in this vicinity, when there was nothing
here whatever to tempt them to come earlier, together with the
probable reasons for this phenomenon. Appended was a list
of 29 species, that were the firstcomers this spring. That was,
if you please, the first chapter in the story of the past season's
migration. It was an auspicious and promising looking one.
However, the end in the migration did not bear out the promises
of its beginning. The second -chapter is an unsatisfactory, yes,
even a melancholy and sad one.

When May, the principal migration month, came, it came
not as usual, smiling, laden with fresh green leaves and blossoms;
but darksome, gloomv, with lack of sunshine and warmth.
The violent snowstorm on Ma}- 4th, leaving abotit six inches of
snow on the ground, was but a foretaste of what was to come.
Such extraordinarily cold weather had not been recorded in
May for many years. There were heavy frosts at night, and
occasional slight snow flurries as late as the 28th. Nor were we
here the only sufferers from this winter weather in May. It is
recorded as the coldest May for 35 years at Washington, and at
Detroit, Fort Wayne, Ind.; yes, even at St. Louis, where the
writer had occasion to go in May, conditions were the same.
To see furs worn in May is certainly a novel sight for St. Louis,
but it was a very common one this year.

The effect of this on plant and animal life was naturally a
very marked one. Vegetation practically remained at a stand-
still throughout May. The buds that were on the trees in the
beginning of May remained unopened until almost the end; the
trees were nearly bare. Insect life was correspondingly kept
back. Mosquitos, flies, etc., were few and far between, also the
numerous small insects frequenting the newly opened blossoms
and leaves. And the effect of all this on birds was simply
disastrous. The arrival of most species was very considerably
delaved, as the list given below shows. For instance, the chimney
swift, 1906, April 30; 1907, May 10; house wren. May 2-9; spot-
ted sandpiper, May 2-19; yellow warbler. May 4-13; bobolink.
May 5-18; black-throated green warbler. May 7-16; parula
warbler. May 7-15. The least flycatcher, whose note ckehec, from
which it also gets a name, can be heard in trees of our streets as
soon as it arrives, came in 1906, Mav 11th — which already was

34 * The Ottawa Naturalist. [August

later than UvSual — but this year it turned up only on May 15th,
and then one or two half-hearted specimens only. The tiny
hummingbird, due here between May 10th and 15th, was this
year not recorded by the writer before May 30th. The wood
pewee, with the chebec, a common breeder in our city shade trees,
who also unmistakably betrays his presence as soon as here,
came this year only on June 1st, other years it is here May 17th.
The last regular migrant in these parts,who comes here in numbers,
and whose presence can not be overlooked owing to his unique
call or song, is the blackpoll warbler. Their advance guard
usually arrives about May 20th but this year not before
the 31st. Thus the uncongenial' climatic conditions delayed
these 11 species from four to seventeen days, an. average of
10 5-11 days. Other vears the days about May 23rd produce the
largest waves of migrants, but this year the first large wave
struck the gardens along our city limits on May 29th, thus show-
ing a delay, if looked at from this standpoint, of six days.

Another notable factor is the decrease in numbers. The first
arrivals of the above mentioned species were miostly single birds
or at least in lesser numbers than in other years. And, whereas,
in other years, the species given above become common in most
cases two or three davs after their advance guard has arrived,
this was not the case during the last cold May. The first comers
were, in many instances, the sole representatives of their species,
in fact, some were seen and then not again for many days. Of
course, in most cases, the normal number was reached by late
and numerous accretions, but in many in.stances the usual
abundance was never reached. This holds good in the case of the
chimney swift, brown thrushes, whippoorwill, hummingbird,
scarlet tanager, and very noticeably so in the case of the blackpoll
warbler. Of course, there were nevertheless large waves of
warblers in certain restricted localities during the last few days in
May, and some who happened to get amongst them would say
that they had never seen so many birds, etc., but I am convinced
that there is not nearly the usual number of warblers, especially
here, this summer. So, admitting the great m.ortality which
decimated the ranks of the warblers fearfully after they did come
here, also the possibility of many having retraced their steps
for a little distance to the south — that the tree swallows did this
earlier in the season, T am almost positive — still the fact can-
not well be contraverted that the exceptional cold in May did
decrease the numbers of migrants to some extent, in many cases
seriously so.

But nature often likes to upset pet theories, often very
elabornte ones, so there are also some exceptions to these two

1907] Migration of Birds of the Past Spring 85

stated effects of the coldness in May. Thus, for the scarlet
tanager, I have a record of two days earlier than last year; the
nighthawk came on the 16th as usual as though there was no cold
weather and dearth of insects. Again, the spotted sandpiper
was unusually abundant in June. The purple martin seemed
more numerous than usual for a while, the olive-backed thrush was
decidedly commoner than usual, and on May 19th, Mr. A. King-
ston found the black-throated blue warbler exceedingly numerous
in Dow's Swamp, their numbers equaling those of all other birds
combined, while a half dozen or so, at most, is the usual number
seen together when the migration is normal and at its height.
The cedarbird, usually here in March, was not seen by the writer
till June 7th, but was in its usual abundance and superabundance
in July. And it is just these variations from one year to another,
these continual apparent anomalies and surprises that make the
work of the ornithologist so interesting and fascinating.

And now comes the harrowing part of the story. The cold-
ness of the season caused a deplorable mortality among birds,
especiallv warblers and swallows. Vegetation was, as already
stated, at a standstill for Vv-eeks; therefore, the insects, plant lice,
etc., that abound on the leaves of trees; moths, gnats, etc., that
usually fly about at that time, w^ere absent. On that account
there was great suffering among the insect-eating birds that had
come, most acute among warblers. They could be seen every-
Vv^here, apparently in great distress, wings half opened, often too
weak to fly, looking for morsels of food in places where they are
otherwise not seen. I saw Canadian and Blackburnian warblers
searching for food among tin cans and refuse heaps, on road-
sides, unable to fly. A beautiful Cape May warbler, the only one
seen by the writer, against dozens other years, was skulking
along the fence of a disreputable looking dog pound. The
Blackburnians seem to have been the greatest sufferers. Several
dead warblers, two tree swallows, a brown creeper, were brought
to me by school children, others were brought to the museum,
three Blackburnian warblers were found dead by a friend at Germa-
nicus. Renfrew County, and farmers and their children at this place,
also at High Falls, Quebec, all told the same story. Some had
found two, others as many as five dead warblers; at least, accord-
ing to the descriptions given, they belonged to this family. I
found a dead Blackburnian warbler on the banks of the Lievre
River at High Falls, where, according to the testimony of a
farmers' family, they had been very common in May, some not
able to fly away and a number found dead. At Germanicus a
strange incident was observed. On a farmer's bridge through
a swamp a myrtle warbler was in its last agonies, when a robin

86 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August

came and tried to carry it awa^^ Why?

Now it is safe to assume that for every bird found dead,
hundreds, if not thousands, are not found, showing a consequence
of the backwardness of the season, that may well stagger a
nature lover.

Another and very curious effect of this lack of food in the
accustomed places was the apparent change of habit it induced
some species to adopt, the warblers again being the most affected.
If a person had begun the study of birds, or at least of warblers,
this spring, near here, he would have formed many an erroneous
opinion, and yet .would have had observed facts to base them on.
He would e.g. not have had any hesitancy in stating, that most
warblers were ground loving birds, looking for their food on the
grass. For this is precisely what the yellow, Blackburnian,
Canadian, and other warblers could be seen doing day after day
in May. During a walk on the 20th, I saw 10 to 1 5 yellow warblers,
all on the ground or on old weed stalks, etc., not far above it.
The same was told the writer by farmers in Renfrew County, by
a returned lumberman from Lake Kippewa, who said that on
every small spot of grass in the woods or on the farm, these little
"black and yellow," etc., birds, that they had "never noticed
before" were abundant. They were very tame, too, allowing
one to catch them, caused, as alreadv indicated, by their starved
condition. On May 4th, after that great snowstorm, four hermit
thrushes came out of the pines on the veranda of Mrs. Brown's
residence, Ottawa East, to within three or four feet of Mrs. Brown
and Miss Lees, who were standing in plain sight of them on the
inside of a window, which shows much more tameness than this
species usually shows. Another curious change of habit could
be observed in the myrtle warbler. It was almost invariably
to be seen in cat -tail swamps, where, however, no sign of new
growth was yet to be seen, darting over the water, most probably
after the few flies,etc.. there, in the most approved flycatcher
style. A beginner would have undoubtedly classed the myrtle
warbler as an exclusive swamp bird. Altogether, judging from
the number of yellow and Blackburnian, etc., warblers at the edge
of rivers and pools, that must be the last place where insects can
be found when absent everywhere else.

Nesting was naturally also greatly affected. The delayed
arrival of many species would, of course, also postpone the time
of nesting. Even such that were here on time, or even earlier
than usual, like the robin and red-winged blackbird, delayed nest-
building in many instances, owing probably to the fact that the
leaves and cat-tails were so late coming out,'which would have left
their nests too much exposed. This must have been a con^^idera-

1907]

Migration of Birds of the Past Spring

87

tion with the robins at least, for never have I seen and heard of
so many nests of robins built on houses, under verandas, over
doorsills, etc., and that in places where trees are plentiful.

Finally the untowardliness of the season caused some species
to remain with us a much shorter time than usual. They delayed
coming to us longer than under normal conditions, and, wanting
to get to their breeding ranges at the usual time, they had to cut
short their sojourn here. This was the case with the rusty
grackle and the white-crowned sparrow; the tree sparrow too
was not seen by most observers, and the blackpoll warblers,
while a few single individuals were seen much later than usual — I
observed one at High Falls, Que., as late as June 12th — made
the total length of their stay shorter than otherwise, owing to
their much later arrival. Bay-breasted, Tennessee and blackpoll
warblers, olive-backed thrushes and pine siskins were seen and
heard in full song as late as June 7th at Major's Hill Park, which
will probably not happen again for years.

I add a comparative list, which begins where the one in the
Mav number left off, with April 22nd.

1907

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker April 27

Downv Woodpecker "

Purple Finch "

White-throated Sparrow "

Ruby-crowned Kinglet "

Myrtle Warbler "

Purple Martin "

Whippoorwill May

House Wren "

Chimne}' vSwift "

Black and White Warbler "

Woodcock "

White-crowned Sparrow "

Yellow Warbler "

Blackburnian Warbler "

Rose-breasted Grosbeak "

Brown-breasted Nuthatch "

Bank Swallow "

Redstart "

Waterthrush "

Kingbird "

Baltimore Oriole "

Ovenbird "

Canadian Warbler May

Parula Warbler "

Black-throated Blue Warbler "

7

1906

1905

27

April 15

April 10

27

I I

8

" 11

27

Mar.

29

Mar. 1

28

April

15

April 23

28

May

1

" 27

28

I i

2

May 1

26

April 22

April 23

5

May

1

Mav 5

9

( i

2

April 28

10

April 30

May 2

10

Mav

4

April 28

11

( I

11

13

it

16

May 6

13

( i

4

1

13

i t

10

1

13

i i

13

" 11

13

Mar.

10

Mar. 1

14

May

13

May 18

14

I i

15

5

14

i i

11

" 8

14

( t

7

5

14

( (

13

6

14

i i

13

6

15

May

19

May 12

15

( (

7

" 10

i;

f (

7

" 10

88 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August

1907 1906 1905

Goldfinch May 15 April 17 Mar. 13

Least Flycatcher " 15 May 1 1 Mav 5

Nashville Warbler " 15 "7 "7

Magnoha Warbler " 15 " 16 " 10

Veery " 15 " 6 " 6

Wilson's Warbler " 15 " 21 " 19

Scarlet Tanager " 15 " 17 " 14

Nighthawk " 16 " 16 " 14

Warbling Vireo " 16 " 6 " 10

Bay-breasted Warbler " 16 " 16 " 19

Red-eved Vireo " 16 " 15 " 6

Black-throated Green Warbler "16 " 7 " 1

Tennessee Warbler " 16 " 17 " 24

Cape Mav W^arbler " 16 " 12 " 22

Olive-backed Thrush " 16 " 13 " 16

Northern Yellowthroat " 16 " 11 " 4

Catbird " 17 " 15 " 6

Chestnutsided Warbler " 17 " 13 " 7

Bobolink " 18 "5 "2

Crested Flycatcher " 19 " 11 " 12

Blue-headed Vireo " 19 " 15 " 7

Cliff Swallow " 19 Mav 9 May 17

Rustv Grackle " 19 "' 7 April 10

Spotted Sandpiper " 19 " 2 May 4

Sora •... " 19 " 8

Solitary Sandpiper " 20 " 18

Swamp Sparrow " 20 April 18 May 8

Bittern " 20 " 16 April 24

Gray-cheeked Thrush " 23 May 14

Alder Flycatcher " 24 May 19 " 24

White-breasted Nuthatch " 24 April 4

Mourning Warbler " 29 May 19 May 12

Red-headed Woodpecker " 29 " 26

Blackpoll Warbler " 31 " 21 May 17

Pewee " 31 " 17 " 4

Hummingbird " 30 " 15 " 11

Note that in the list for 1907 there is only one species record-
ed between April 28th and May 9th, the whippoorwill, while
in a chronologically arranged list of 1906, there are 23 species
recorded as having arrived, three on the 1st, three on the 2nd,
three on the 4th, two on the 5th, three on the 6th, and seven

on the 7th. Of rare species like the Tennessee warbler, the dates

given above are not conclusive, the}^ may have been here for
days before, but escaped observation.

Ottawa, August 14th, 1907.

'**^'lI3RARY'

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST W^

Vol. XXIV. OTTAWA, SEPTEMBER, 1907 No. 6

THE SPRING MIGRATION ON THE BRUCE PENINSULA.

.•

By a. B. Klugh, Kingston, Ont.

It has appeared to me for some years that the Bruce
Peninsula, Ontario, should be a migration route for the birds
of the country lying north of Lake Huron. This year (1907) I
spent from April 27th to June 21st at the base of the peninsula
investigating the avifauna of that district. I made mv head-
quarters at the village of Colpoy's Bay, three miles above
Wiarton. From here I made frequent trips across the peninsula
which is, at its base, some seven miles wide.

The east shore is fringed with limestone hiluffs some 160
to 2 50 feet in height, while the west shore is low and sandy.

The avifauna is very similar all across the peninsula, the
only difference being that along the Pike River, near the middle
of the peninsula, there are marshes, and at Oliphant on the west
side there is a huge saiidy bog and in these localities the Mary-
land }'ellow-throat, swamp sparrow and alder flycatcher which
do not reside on the east coast, breed

Just below the village of Colpoy's Bay, between the lime-
stone bluffs and the shore, is a bush some 1^ miles long bv about
100 yards wide in most places, consisting largely of cedar
{T. occidentalis), balsam (A. balsamea), white spruce (P. alba),
paper birch (B. papyrifera) and balsam poplar (P. balsamijera).
Into this bush all the birds travelling up the east shore seemed
to pitch. Above the village, between the bluffs and the shore,
the bush consists mostly of paper birch with some poplar
(P. tremuloides) and balsam poplar, and though this looked
to be good "bird -country" birds were comparatively scarce
here during migration.

When I arrived on April 27th, only the early migrants had
yet arrived, viz. — robin, blue-bird, song sparrow, bronzed
grackle, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird,
slate-colored junco, flicker, prairie horned lark, hermit thrush,
white-throated sparrow, fox sparrow, and vesper sparrow.

On the night of April 29th and the morning of the 30th, a
foot of snow fell. This drove a host of birds into our barnyard
to seek for food. In the barnyard and in cedars about the house
were some 200 juncos, 150 fox sparrows, 100 white-throats, 50
song sparrows, many robins, several bluebirds, tree sparrows
and prairie horned larks and a hermit thrush. Many of the
juncos were in the barn and some even in the woodshed.

90 The Ottawa Naturalist [September

The fox sparrows, white-throats and song sparrows kept
up a regular chorus. I had never heard fox sparrows in full song
before. Their song is a clear, rich, very sweet warble, usually
delivered from a branch some 20 or more feet from the ground.
For the first three days of May fox sparrows were abundant,
and T saw the last on May 7th. From the large numbers seen
it is evident that the Bruce Peninsula is a migration highway
for this species.

The weather remained cold up until May 13th, and the
birds dropped in very slowly as follows: —

May .2nd: Barn swallow, kingfisher and winter wren.
May 3rd: Towhee and myrtle warbler. May 7th: Brown
thrasher, yellow-bellied sapsucker, chipping sparrow and Sa-
vanna sparrow. May 9th: Tree swallow, pine warbler and palm
warbler. May 10th: Black-throated green warbler. May 11th:
Black- and- white warbler and ruby-crowned kinglet. None of
the warblers were seen in any numbers and the myrtles were
observed only in small flocks of three or four or as single birds
and were usually flying over.

On Ma}^ 13th it w^as evident that an immense bird-wave
had come in during the night. Birds were everywhere and the
bush below the village was full of them. They appeared to
pitch into this bush during the night, travel up the bush and
a fringe of cedars as far as the village and then back again until,
about noon, they reached a stream about the middle of the
bush. Here they drank and caught the insects which were
apparently more abundant here than elsewhere. The new
species which came in with this wave were the Nashville
warbler, yellow warbler. Magnolia warbler, Blackburnian
warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, ovenbird, Baltimore oriole
and red-breasted nuthatch. With these were a host of myrtle,
black-throated green and black-and-white warblers.

That night another large wave came in and next day I
saw the woodcock, greater yellow-legs, lesser yellow-legs, white-
crowned sparrow, kingbird, least flycatcher, bobolink, house
wren, red-headed woodpecker, water-thrush, Wilson's thrush,
catbird, crested flycatcher American pipit, blue-headed vireo,
and ruby-throated humming bird. All these species which came
in on these two waves were from one to three weeks late.

;,f-'On May 15th, I saw the wood thrush, redstart, chimney
swift and solitary sandpiper and on the 16th the Parula warbler,
,XCape May warbler, black-throated blue warbler and the Can-
adian warbler.

On May 17th the scarlet tanager, and bay-breasted warbler
came in, on the 18th, the grey-cheeked thrush, on the 23rd, the

1907] The Spring Migration on the Bruce Peninsula 91

olive-backed thrush, on the 2 7th, the cedar wax-wing, and on the
29th, the olive-sided flycatcher.

On the first of Jtine the migration was still in full swing,
and on that date male black-poll warblers were common, on the
3rd I saw the red-eved vireo and the Philadelphia vireo, and on
the 6th, the Tennessee warbler, Wilson's warbler, indigo bunting
and nighthawk. The migration came to an end on June 8th.

Species which were more abundant than I have found them
elsewhere in spring were the black-poll warbler, bay-breasted
warbler, Blackburnian warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, white-
crowned sparrow and olive-backed thrush. On five days in
May these last-mentioned birds were very common and I took
several, while I only secured one grey-cheeked thrush.

This spring I took three Cape May warblers. Thi^ bird,
which was regarded some years ago as very rare, is undoubtedly
becoming commoner. I saw seven Philadelphia vireos, more
than I have ever observed before during a migration.

Other interesting things taken were an adult male American
redstart with the base of the tail-feathers pale yellow as in the
immature male, instead of orange as they should be in the adult
male; a male indigo bunting with the back still mostly brown,
and a female purple finch, with some pink feathers on the throat,
w^hich was singing when taken.

All warblers were doing far more feeding on the ground
and "flv-catching" this year than usual. It is probable that
this was caused by the scarcity of insects this spring, the birds
having consequently to work far harder than usual for their
living.

In previous vears I have heard the flight-song of the oven-
bird only occasionallv, and then usually in the evening. This
spring I heard it some eighty times and at all times of the day.
Once I saw an oven-bird describe an arc out over the waters of
the bay while singing this exquisite song. I saw flocks of pine
siskins on May 22nd and 30th and on June 2nd, 5th, 7th and 18th.
The flock seen on June 2nd contained about 150 birds. This is
unusually late for these birds to be in flocks, as they are as a rule
breeding before this.

In the cedars about the house lived a song sparrow which
sang once nearly every night between eleven and two o'clock,
and a chipping sparrow which sometimes sang about the same
time.

Some of the results of my work this spring which will be of
use to us in making out the movements and distribution of birds
in the Great Lake region are: —

92 The Ottawa Naturalist [September

(1) The Bruce Peninsula is a migration route for land

birds.

(2) At the base at least, the wave of migration extends
clear across the peninsula.

(3) Ducks and other waterfowl cross the peninsula at the
base from east to west in the spring.

(4) The base of the Bruce Peninsula has its fauna tinged
with Carolinian tendencies as shown by the common breeding
of the towhee and wood thrush.

A NEW MOUSE FOR CANADA.

While spending a few days at Point Pelee at the end of May,
1907, I had some traps out and succeeded in taking a few speci-
mens of Peroniyscus Bairdi, a mouse which appears to be hither-
to unrecorded for Canada. Peromyscus is the deer mouse genus
and this little fellow bears considerable resemblance to the
common deer mouse of the woods, in being brownish red above
and white beneath, but the brown is darker and not so reddish,
and the greatest differences are in the length of ears, tail and hind
feet, all of which are smaller in this species than in the common
one (Peromyscus americanus) .

The measurements of these mice do not accord exactly with
those given by Dr. Elliott in "Mammals of North America."
In that work P. Mickiganensis (synonym of P. Bairdi)is stated
to measure 165 mm.; tail vertebrae, 67; hind foot,20. 5 ; whereas
my three fully adult specimens average, 139; 49; 16.5, and a
specimen from Niles, Michigan, mieasures 136, 55, 18.

The habitat of this mouse, so far as hereto known, is from
Michigan to Minnesota and south. Its habitat on Pt. Pelee is
peculiar. On the centre and the east side of the point I found
nothing but P. americanus while Baird's mouse was strictly
confined to the sandy beach on the west side, living among the
logs and other miscellaneous lumber such as are found on every
beach where they have been left by high water.

I took one specimen at the edge of the red cedar thicket, but
the others were taken out on open beach beside the logs. The
inhabitants spoke of finding them frequently when taking wood
from, the Vjeach. The common deer mouse is found in the wooded,
parts of the point and its range overlaps that of Baird's niouse at
the edge of the wooded area, but the line of demarcation is
drawn with surprising distinctness. One of the specimens taken V
this year has been seat jto the Museum of the Geological Survey.

x:^'--^L X^ ^_ p^_ Saunders.

1907] Notes on Some Seal Island Birds 93

NOTES ON SOME SEAL ISLAND (YARMOUTH CO., N.S.)

BIRDS.

By H. F. Tufts.

Seal Island, situated some fifteen miles off the southwest
coast of Nova Scotia about mid-way between Yarmouth on
the north and Cape Sable on the south, is perhaps the most
interesting from an ornithologist's viewpoint of the many-
islands which fringe the coast.

While some four miles long and from one half to one mile
wide, the island is mostly low, in no place exceeding 30 or 40
feet above the sea. A sand beach on the east side near its middle,
extends with the sweep of the storms nearly across
the island, forming a lagoon and marsh, where it
backs against the ridge of granite boulders and beach stones,
which forms its western wall. From this low area the land
graduallv rises toward the north and soiith to the extreme ends.
These portions are covered with a peaty, reddish-colored soil,
supporting a dense growth of dwarf spruces and firs, in places
so closel}^ grown together as to be almost impenetrable. Under
foot is a fine carpet of velvety green moss. On the south end is
situated the government Hght station and fog-horn, in charge
of Mr. John Crowell, who is also owner of the island.

This is one of the very few islands about Nova Scotia upon
which various sea birds still attempt to nest and rear their young.
From other islands the birds have been driven by the relentless
persecution of the fishermen, who systematically rob them of
their eggs or shoot without regard to season.

On Seal Island, however, thanks to the untiring efforts
of Mr. Crowell and his family, the birds are in a measure protected
from wanton destruction.

The most numerous and conspicuous of the birds are the
herring gulls. Here we find them by thousands, perched about
on the spruce tree tops, scattered about the rocky shores or
winging their way over the surrounding waters in quest of food —
always drawing attention by their beautiful forms and plum.age
and noisy voices. Their nests are scattered about the ground,
both in the woods and amid the stumps of the recent clearings,
or on the beach — a slight hollow into which grass and moss is
scraped and the two or three eggs desposited therein. Many
nests are built in the flat tops of the dense stunted spruces,
bulky affairs of sticks, sea- weed and moss — crow style. These
gulls prove helpful allies to the fishermen, indicating the where-
abouts of shoals of fish, about which they gather in excited,
eager swarms.

94 The Ottawa Naturalist [September

Some few guillemots and puffins also lay their eggs among
the stones and rocks above high water on the beach. The two
eggs in the case of the guillemots are well hidden at the bottom
of some passage between the rounded boulders. In scrambling
over these rocky portions, we startle the sitting birds from their
eggs. They flutter forth and perch upon a nearby boulder, or
flop into the waves, watching with outstretched necks and
anxious gaze the movements of the intruder.

The peat-like turf of the elevated parts of the island was
completely honeycombed with the burrows of the Leach's
petrels — the air about being pervaded with the strong musky
odor of the birds. The petrels themselves, however, are not to
be seen at all during the day, unless you thrust your arm full
length into one of the burrows and bring forth the hiding bird,
probably the sitting female, whose mate is far out to sea search-
ing its food. But it is at night the petrels make merry. With
darkness the foragers return and the sitting ones sally forth.
Now the air becomes resonant with their soft twitterings and
duckings, while shadowy forms flit about in every direction.
The nest burrow is usually about two feet in length, just large
enough to admit the birds and most often following the side of
some tree root, or underground boulder. But one egg is laid,
that upon the bare turf at the tunnel's end.

The half-wild cats with which the island is infested, play
sad havoc with the poor petrels. Lying in wait at the entrance
to the burrows at nightfall they seize upon their unhappy
victims as they venture forth. Scattered feathers, wings and
tails, everywhere through the v/oods, attest the murderous
work of the cats.

Some fifteen or twenty eider ducks were spending the
summer about the shore, and suspecting some were breeding,
search was made among the brush for the nests. With
the aid of an aged Newfoundland retriever, who picked up the
trail of a duck, and led us into a tangle of bushes and weeds,
we discovered one nest, thickly lined with down and containing
six large, olive green eggs. Formerly these ducks nested in
great abundance on Seal Island, but of late years only an oc-
casional pair or so.

Of the shore birds, only three species were noted at that
season. These were the spotted sandpiper, piping plover and
semi-palmated plover ; all of which Mr. Crowell has found nest-
ing. A few terns, both the common and arctic, were nesting
about the big sand flat, mere remnants of the swarms that used
to nest there.

■1

1907] Notes on Some Seal Island Birds 95

Among: the small land birds of which there were many,
most interesting were the Bicknell's thrvishes and black-poll
warblers, both fairly common and breeding. These birds,
especially the thrushes, are very local in their distribution, and
here good opportunities were afforded to note their habits.
Like their cousins the hermit thrushes, the Bicknell's thrush
sings most frequently in the early morning and late evening.
Their song resembles that of the hermit in a general way, but
is not nearly so clear and liquid. The nests are built at varying
elevations am.ong the dense spruces and are exceedingly difficult
to find. The nests of former years, however, are much more in
evidence. The moisture-laden atmosphere seems to catise them
to swell and starts a growth of moss, which persisting from year
to year preserves and renders them quite conspicuous.

Other small birds fovmd breeding there were golden crown
kinglets, winter wrens, Hudsonian chickadees, brown creepers,
red-breast nuthatches, crossbills and several others.

During the migrations many birds make this a resting
place, as also do storm-driven birds of a more southern range.
Thus Mr. Crowell has taken examples of the Florida galinule,
turkey vulture, scarlet tanager and Baltimore oriole. Many
birds perish during the migrations by coming in contact with
the great light one hundred feet up. Over eight hundred yellow
warblers were thus dCvStroyed upon one occasion in a single
night.

Seal Island derives its name from the large numbers of seals
that formerly resorted there to breed. The first industry of
the place was the seal-fishery, the animals being of value for
the oil which could be extracted from their carcases. This
of course was long since overdone — now only a few scattered
seals are to be seen, but great sand-covered mounds back of
the beach mark the spots where the useless bones were piled.
At present the islanri is of importance as a lobster-fishing station.

LIBRARY

96 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Se'ptember

THE AMERICAN GOSHAWK NEAR OTTAWA,

By G. Eifrig.

The goshawk or blue henhawk {Accipiter atricapillus)
breeds in some numbers in the vast wooded area to the north
of Ottawa. It is a large hawk measuring two feet from bill to
end of tail, the wing expanse being three to four feet. It is a
beautifully marked hawk. The adults of both sexes are bluish-
slate color above, the under parts white, each feather being
pencilled with black, producing a fine effect. The young ones
are entirely different, brownish-black with some rufous above,
and the feathers below being heavily streaked with black, not
barred as the adults. Last fall they were quite common for
a while around the cit}^ Their flight is not the slow gliding of
the buzzard genus. They fly low and swift and fall on their prey
like thunderbolts, and when people come out of the house to
look for the miscreant who carried away their chicken, they may
happento see a red-shouldered hawk gliding around above, and,
taking him to be the author of the mischief, will vow vengeance,
whereas the real author, the goshawk, or perhaps Cooper's
hawk, who looks and acts much like him, is far away by this
time, enjoying his meal. The}^ are quite fearless, often carrying
away chickens or game from the very feet of the husbandman
or hunter. They would be real harmful to farmers and poultry-
men were they not so rare in settled districts. But for what
damage the quick-flying Accipiters do, the slow-gliding useful
buzzards, Buteo, are blamed and punished, as the red-shouldered,
red-tailed and broad-winged hawks. Of the accipitrine hawks,
which closely approach the falcons in build, rapacity and swift-
ness, we have only the goshawk, Cooper's and the sharp-shinned
hawk, of which only the last is at all common, and he is too
small to do much harm to man. He confines his depredations
to small wild birds, where he does much harm. In winter he
sometimes enters cities, as three winters ago Ottawa, and
makes himself useful to the community by doing away with an
enormous number of English sparrows.

The following two incidents, which came under the writer's
notice, show the fierceness of the goshawk. About May 15th,
1905, Mr. F. Sack, a farmer of Germanicus, Renfrew Co., went
into one of his fields, which he had not visited for a while.
Suddenly a large hawk swooped down upon him, sailed around
him in uncomfortably close proximity to his head, struck at
him with his claws, and all this with such fierceness that
progress was impossible. He had to turn back. The next day
he wanted to finish his tour of inspection, when the same thing

1907] The American Goshawk near Ottawa 97

happened. He was absolutely forced to turn back. The next
day, seeing that this hawk had established himself there and
was making a practice of withholding his field from him, Mr,
Sack took a gun along. Even this did not deter the hawk, which
immediately resorted to the tactics of the past two days. This
time it proved his undoing ; a well directed shot put him out of
commission. The farmer gave the bird to a friend, who mounted
it, when it was seen by the writer.

One morning last February, Mr. Hugo Paeseler, a farmer
of High Falls, Labelle Co., Quebec, went into his wood-lot near
his house. Not far in, he noticed that a fierce battle must have
been waged there not long before, because in a space of about
ten by ten feet the freshly fallen snow was plowed up and
liberally sprinkled with blood and feathers. Searching around
for the principals of the fight, he found about ten steps away a.
large adult goshawk, wings spread, frozen stiff and pretty
badly used generall3^ About the same distance in the opposite
direction from the scene of hostilities, he found a barred owl,
dead, but yet warm. It had alighted on a little spruce after
the battle, from where it had fallen off, as the condition of the
snow on the spruce and below showed, and then had crawled
in a small log that lay with its hollowness right near the owl.
Although she apparently had died later than the goshawk, she
was more ripped up than he. The farmer, knowing the rudi-
ments of taxidermy, skinned and "stuffed" the goshawk — in
this case that is the appropriate word — ,of the owl he could only
do so with the head, which he thus kept. They were later seen
by the writer. The theory is that the goshawk sallying forth
early in the morning in quest of prey, made a mistake and
pounced upon the barred owl, which was probably then return-
ing home from its nightly foraging'. She, however, did not feel
like being reduced to a breakfast for the goshawk, and so gave
battle, with the result that both had no more use for breakfasts.
It is not likely that the owl would attack the larger goshawk,
but the goshawk, especially when hungry, does not let the size
of his quarry deter him much. Last October a farmer in East
Templeton, Quebec, near Ottawa, shot a beautiful adult female
goshawk in the act of doing away with a large Plymouth Rock
rooster. That fight in the snowy woods that morning must
certainly have been a battle royal, and an interesting sight
could one have witnessed it.

Ottawa, Ont., August 16th, 1907.

98 The Ottawa Naturalist [Septemh:^:'

LIST OF COLEOPTERA TAKEN BY PROF. JNO. MACOUN
ALONG THE LINE OF THE G. T. P. RY. BETWEEN
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., AND EDMONTON,
ALTA., IN 1Q06,

Determined by John D. Evans with the Assistance of Prop.

H. F. WiCKHAM.

No. Specimens.

116 Carabus maeander, Fisch 2

1 19 Carabus tadatus, Fab 8

142 Calosoma calidum, Fab 1

145 Calosoma moniliatum, Lee S

195 Nebria Sahlbergi, Fisch 1

308 Bembidium inaequale, Say 3

630 Amara earinata, Lee 3

652 Amara pallipes, Kirby 1

666 Amara eonfusa, Lee 3

742 Calathus gregarius, Say 2

794 Platynus affinis, Kirby 1

800 Platynus cupripennis, Say 4

829 Platynus sordens, Kirby 1

883 Lebia pumila, Dej 1

940 Cymindis cribrieollis, Dej 4

1094 Harpalus herbivagus, Say 1

1101 Harpalus cautus, Dej 2

Harpalus near fraternus, Lee 1

1465 Rhantus notatus, Fab 1

1698 Necrophorus marginatus, Fab 1

1706 Silpha lapponica, Hbst 3

1711 Silpha ramosa, Say 1

Anisotoma sp 1

2124 Staphylinus badipes, Lee 1

2996 Olibrus vittatus, Lee 1

2998 Olibrus striatulus, Lee 1

3051 Hippodamia parenthesis, Say 2 '

3059 Coccinella trans versoguttata, Fab 1

3583 Saprinus lugens, Er 1

3734 Pocadius helvolus, Er 31

3739 Meligethes mutatus, Har 1

3893 Byrrhus Kirbyi, Lee 1

4287 Agriotes Hmosus, Lee 1

Melanotus sp 1

4426 Corymbites virens, Seh 1

4576 Dicerca prolongata, Lee 1

Podabrus sp 1

4952 Telephorus oregonus, Lee. Var. B 1

1907] COLEOPTERA TAKEN BY PrOP. JnO. MaCOUN 99

5513 Aphodius occidentalis, Horn 2

5550 Aphodius consentaneus, Lee 25

5659 Dichelonycha testacea, Kirby 5

5674 Serica vespertina, Gyll 1

5681 Serica sericea, 111 1

5706 Diplotaxis tristis, Kirbv 2

6550 Orsodachna atra, Ahr 2

6614a Cryptocephalus notatus, Fab 1

6781 Entomoseelis adonidis, Fab 1

6807 Chrysomela lunata, Fab 1

6810a Chrysomela Bigsbyana, Kirby 1

6838 Lina tremulae, Fab 4

6907 Galerucella deeora, Say 1

6948 Disonycha caroliniana, Fab 7

6958 Disonycha xanthomelaena, Dalm 1

7320 Eleodes tricostata, Say 6

7697 Scotodes americanus, Horn. (Not heretofore

recorded from Canada) 1

7846 Mordellistena unicolor, Lee 7

7887 Corphyra terminalis, Say 1

8061 Macrobasis unicolor, Kirby 10

8083 Epicauta sericans, Lee 1

8132 Cantharis Nuttalli, Say 1

8133 Cantharis cyanipennis, Say 4

8210 Rhynchites bicolor, Fab 8

8279 Nocheles squalis, Horn 2

83 57 Trichalophus simplex, Lee 3

8540 Gryphidius equiseti, Fab 2

8543 Erycus puncticollis, Lee 1

MEETING OF COUNCIL.

A meeting of the Council of the Club was held on Tuesday,
September 12th, with the following members in attendance:
Messrs. A. E. Attwood, E. E. Lemieux, H. H. Pitts, T. E. Clarke,
Rev. C. G. Eifrig, Miss A. L. Matthews and Miss Q. Jackson.

The following were elected ordinary members: Rev. W.
A. Mcllroy, Ottawa; Rev. B. Thompson, Hintonburgh; Mr. W.
D. Fitz-Henry, Myrtle, Man.

It was decided to recommend to the Council for the next
club year, that a programme of excursions for the season be
drawn up at the first meeting of the Council and that a printed
copy of the programme be mailed to each member of the Club.
Fall excursions were arranged for as follows: —

September 14th, Beaver Meadow, Hull; September 21st,
Queen's Park, Aylmer; September 28th, Rockliffe.

100 The Ottawa Naturalist [September

REPORT OF THE ZOOLOGICAL BRANCH, 1906.

The Zoological Branch of the Ottawa Field Naturalists'
Club have the honour to report as follows: Two meetings have
been held during the past season, the first on November 9th,
when the principal business was the making arrangements for
the zoological exhibit at the soiree on December 4th; but the
zoologists present afterwards joined in a general discussion upon
various topics of interest. On March 16th, the second meeting
took place, and the season's work was reviewed, but it is'neces-
sary in the report now presented to refer only to such matters
as may have general interest and in some cases have an element
of novelty. Both the meetings, it may be added, were held at
the house of the convener of the Branch (Professor Prince).

An important feature of the season 1906 was the abnormal
lowness of the water in the Ottawa River and tributary waters,
affecting, indeed, the whole district. Many creeks and ponds
which in previous dry seasons have retained a quantity of water
were perfectly dry, and the usual stock of aquatic animals and
plants seemed to have disappeared. Whatever the cause, the
effect of this drought upon aquatic life in many localities near
Ottawa has been serious. Certain ponds in the suburbs of the
Capital which have been favourite hunting grounds for members
of the Club, and have not been dried up before, or not for many
years, were perfectly parched, and one member instanced some
most prolific ponds along the upper Ottawa River, near Pembroke,
in which the destruction of young fishes and amphibians, and of
invertebrates, had been most disastrous. One pond was visited
when in the last stage of drying up, and in a small area of two
or three square yards, were huddled together in a seething^
mass, thousands of living creatures, including tadpoles of
various species of frogs and toads, numerous young fishes,
Lepomis, Microptems, Perca, Etheostoma, Lucius, etc., and
myriads of insect larvae, Coleoptera and Neuroptera, and
numerous specimens of Argyroneta. Several enthusiastic young
naturalists, with nets and tin vessels, rescued most of these
imperilled creatures and deposited them in shallow places in
the main river. It will be interesting to see the effect generally
of this drought upon the aquatic life in the dried-up ponds
referred to.

Of mammals mention must be made of a band of wolves
heard howling near Pembina Lake in the upper Lievre River
district, these animals uttering their weird cries even in the day
time, it is asserted. Virginia deer were reported at the Rockliffe
Range in the fall, and bears and deer at Hammond. A black
musk-rat, Fiber zihethicns, was captured near Ottawa and

1907] Report of Zoological Branch 101

added to the Fisheries' Museum collection. It is, of course, a
case of melanism. Of reptiles the interesting capture of a most
elegantly tinted milk snake {Coronella) is worthy of note as the
specimen is a very young one, not exceeding 9 inches in length,
and its coloration is quite unlike the common type, indeed it
resembles a southern variety.. It was captured at the Rifle
Range. A number of young specimens of Menobranchus have
been recently obtained from the city water pipes; one barely
2 1 inches long shows two bright longitudinal bands of con-
spicuous yellow along the head, back, and the sides of the
compressed tail, over the ramose external gills occur small
yellow spots, and the gills are pale red; so that the immature
creature differs very markedly from the adult. A larger speci-
men, 5 1 inches long, is covered with dark spots, and thus ap-
proaches the full grown mud-puppy in ■ external coloration.
Young Spelerpes, Mr. Odell mentions, is yellow on the abdomen,
but with spots, and the back is dark brown in the centre with a
lighter band on each side. Mr. Halkett, who furnished the
details regarding Menobranchus, also called attention to the
predaceous habit assumed b}^ some gold fish in the Fisheries
Museum, which ate a young gar-pike (Lepidosteus), placed in
a livelv condition in their tank. It was two inches or more long,
but only half of the speciman could be found when search was
made for the missing ganoid. The capture of a tarpon (T.
atlanticiis) near Halifax. N.S., was reported by Prof. Prince,
who points out that the range of this fish hitherto has been
stated to be the warmer Atlantic waters from Brazil to Long
Island. As several other southern fishes have been noted on
our northern shores in recent years, possibly some deep causes
are at work which encourage this migration of southern species.
Mr. Halkett stated that a series of specimens of fish had been
received from the salmon weirs in St. John harbour, N.B.
They included Cyclopterus lumptts, the lumpsucker; Lophius
piscatoruts, the angler fish ; a young specimen Cryptacanthodes
maculatus, the ghostfish; Zoarces an^uillaris, the eel-pout; and
of the picked dogfish, Sqtialus acanthias, a specimen containing
eight young w^th large yolk sac attached; this species being
viviparous. Lastly the lamprey from the old salmon-retaining
pond, Carleton, N.B. was recorded, possibly a land-locked
variety of Petromyzon marinus. Mr.E. E. Lemieux had arranged
for a collection of fishes being made at Pembina Lake, and a
series of cyprinoids introduced into the lake in 1905 had been
secured and may afford information as to the rate of growth.
A local collection of sturgeon, percoids, cyprinoids, eels, the
silvery lamprey {I chthyomyzon concolor) and young gar-pike

102 The Ottawa Naturalist. [September

were obtained during the past season, and the shipment of a
huge German carp, from the Bay of Quinte, to Ottawa, is of
interest, as this ponderous specimen measured over 27 inches
in length.

The Crustacea came in for much attention by the zoological
members of the Club. Mr. Halkett observed a specimen of the
river crayfish (Cambarus) which laid eggs, the eggs being at-
tached to the swimmerets on the under side of the body. The
eggs were not only large in proportion to the size of the female
crayfish, but they were actually larger than the eggs of the
lobster, a decapod of immensely greater size. Mr. W. S. Odell
reports an abnormal abundance of certain crustaceans observed
under the following circumstances: at the openings cut through
the ice on the clay ponds or pits near the Rideau River, crowded
masses of C anthocampus , Cyclops, and Asellus aquaticus, came
to the surface of the water. Suniish, perch, etc., indeed an
astonishing abundance of animal life, crowded thickly at these
water holes and formed a thick sheet or scum so dense that the
horses refused to drink the water. The ice was about a foot
in thickness and the cold was intense, yet these water animals
had not been so thick for many years. They decreased most
markedly on the first mild day. Mr. Odell once noticed a similar
superabundance of the dark winter eggs of Dathnia (the water
flea) which formed a sheet like a layer of soot upon the surface
of a pond, yet in no previous or subsequent season were they
ever seen to be so plentiful, being in some winter seasons ex-
ceedingly scarce.

Mention may also be made of specimens of the whitefish
and the Atlantic salmon from Magog, Que., of a few small mud-
turtles from the Thousand Islands, of a specimen of turtle from
Belleville, to be determined, and the purchase of two small
alligators for the Fisheries Museum. The Branch notes with
interest that a Fisheries Museum report is about to be issued
and will contain fuller notes for popular information than
previous reports. Dr. Whiteaves' valuable Bibliography of ^
Canadian Zoology, 1905, is a welcome addition to the scientific
literature of the year. It is also worthy of note that the early
issue of a second part of the Contributions to Canadian Biology t i
published in connection with the Marine Biological Station is
announced and will contain some very important zoological |

capers by eminent Canadian scientists. ^ i

E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, f

W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux. . !

i

li

1907] Sub-Excursion 103

SUB-EXCURSION.

On Saturday, May 25th, the 5th Sub-excursion of the Club
was held at the Experimental Farm. The weather being w^arm
and bright, w'ith a cool breeze blowing, which made walking
delightful, there w^as an attendance of about fifty members and
friends of the Club.

The leaders present were: the President, Mr. Wilson, Dr.
Sinclair, Dr. Fletcher, Mr. Kingston, Rev. Mr. Eifrig, Mr. Halkett
and Mr. Gibson. On reaching the Arboretum, the different
parties separated under leaders, to visit the spots of most interest
to them. The beautiful lawns and beds of many colored tulips
about the Farm grounds w-ere the centre of much admiration.
Dr. Fletcher, with a party, studied the different trees, shrubs
and botanical plants; while Mr. Eifrig and his followers sought
for birds of many species. With the exception of a few^ hibernat-
ing kinds there were not many insects found, owing to the late-
ness of the season.

At 5 o'clock the members reassembled in a grove of pines
and spruces near the centre of the Arboretum, and delightful
talks were given by Drs. Fletcher and Sinclair and Rev. Mr.
Eifrig.

Dr. Fletcher, in his charmiing manner, spoke of the different
kinds of pines and firs found in Canada, also the imported species
used for garden decoration, showing the difference between the
pines by the number of their leaves and the nature of their cones .
He gave both their common and scientific names, stating how
in various provinces of Canada one comm.on name is sometimes
applied to diff'erent kinds of trees. He gave a piece of useful
information in the w^ay to make a camp bed of fir boughs. By
putting the flat side of the branches uppermost, and placing all
the butt ends of the twigs towards the head, sloping the leaves to
the foot, one can procure a comfortable, springy bed. The firs
are better for this purpose than the prickly spruces.

He also spoke of the Japanese quince, which is used for
decorative purposes, and which grows luxuriantly in the Niagara
district; and told how the fruit, which is irregularly conical,
enclosing a nut-like kernel, is used as a table dessert in Japan,
but has never found favor in this country, although it sometimes
fruits well here. It has a strong aroma.

Dr. Sinclair was next called upon and spoke briefly of the
artificiality of education, stating that all education was more or
less artificial. He pointed out that the members of the Club, bv
visiting the Experimental Farm, which he called a laboratorv,
for the study and experiments of different varieties of trees, etc.,
were given a chance to study the artificial side of Nature in the

104 The Ottawa Naturalist [September

planting of and experimenting with imported trees, shnibs,
flowers, etc., of which the Farm, in trees alone, had over 3,000
specimens.

Rev. Mr. Eifrig told of the birds he had seen and heard. He
touched briefly on the lateness of the season in keeping a great
many birds away that should have been here soine weeks ago.
Therefore the birds were not as plentiful as he had hoped to find
them. 'He, however, saw or heard over 35 species during the
afternoon, some of which were fairly numerous.

His list consisted of 3 meadow larks, 10 red-winged black-
birds, 1 phoebe, 3 bluebirds, 10 bobolinks, several song sparrows,
6 cow-birds, 5 black-and-white warblers, 10 yellow warblers, 1
Blackburnian warbler, 1 junco, 10 goldfinches, chipping sparrows,
1 black swallow, barn swallows, 1 flicker, house wrens, 2 cat-
birds, 1 swamp sparrow, 1 king-bird, 2 Carolina rails, 1 Balti-
more oriole, 1 purple martin, 2 blue-jays, marsh hawks, purple
finches, 1 bronzed grackle, 1 American redstart, 1 white-throated
nuthatch, 1 red-eyed vireo, many chimney swifts, 1 crested fly-
catcher, common crows. The more important and rarer species
of his list were: 1 spotted sandpiper, 4 parula warblers, 1 black-
throated green warbler, 1 myrtle warbler. He spoke of the bad
habit of the cow-bird of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds ;
when the two broods hatch, the fledglings of the cow-bird being
much larger are apt to smother the other young birds, therefore
when fotmd the eggs should be thrown out and destroyed.

Mr. Eifrig's address brought the interesting discussions and
a most enjoyable outing to a close.

R. M. G.

^^^

•

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST \

^

Vol. XXIV. OTTAWA, OCTOBER, 1907. No. 7

THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AND ITS WORK.

A Review of "Further Contributions to Canadian
Biology," 1902-1905. 39th Annual Report De-
partment Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, 1907.

The publication by the Department of Marine and Fisheries
of Part II. of the Journal of the Marine Biological Station of
Canada, is an event of no small scientific interest, and a brief
review of its contents, and of the circumstances under which
the staff of the Station carry on their work, may be acceptable
to our naturalists generally.

The former report from the Station was entitled "Con-
tributions to Canadian Biology," and the present series, of
thirteen papers, bears the title "Further Contributions." It
is of the usual 8vo Blue Book size, of about 130 pages, and in-
cludes ten very beautiful plates, and five half-tone illustrations
in the text. Professor Prince, the Dominion Commissioner of
Fisheries, prefaces the report with a short note of explanation,
and refers to the success of the station in enlisting the aid of
voluntary workers from practically all the Canadian Universities.

"Toronto and McGill Universities have been prominently
represented," Professor Prince states. "Queen's University,
Kingston, has almost every season sent some representative of
its academic staff, while Dalhousie (Hahfax, N.S.), Mount
Allison, (Sackville, N. B.), Acadia (Wolfville, N. S.) and other
universities, including some United States institutions, have
sent workers." The staff has been unsalaried, and only scientific
workers trained and quaHfied to conduct original researches
have been given the free use of the Station, its library, apparatus,
and other advantages. By the wise generosity of the Dominion
Government it has been possible to partially meet some of the
expenses of the staff, but the fishery and other laborious investi-
gations have been carried on by voluntary scientific workers,
without the stimulus or reward of an adequate honorarium.
No Station of the kind in the world has been operated at such
slight cost to the country, and with such substantia] results.

The present publication amply bears out the claim just
made. It contains twice the number of papers contained in the

106

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[October

former report. They cover very varied topics and many of them
are of inestimable value from a practical fishery point of view,
while all are valuable from the purely scientific standpoint.
The papers admit of a five-fold classification ; they are (a) those
essentially practical in object and character; (b) faunistic; (c)
embryological ; (d) chemico-physiological, and (e) botanical.
The authors a.re Professors Ramsay Wright, A. P. Knight, E. E.
Prince, A. B. Macallum and James Fowler; Dr. Joseph Stafford
and Dr. A. H. MacKay; Mr. G. A. Cornish and Mr. C. B. Rob-
inson; but neither the present scientific papers nor the fore-
going list of authors indicate the whole of the researches con-
ducted at the Biological Station, nor include all the staff of
brilliant investigators who have spent more or less time in its
laboratories.

The primary object of the Station was to aid the fisheries
of the Dominion. As the fishes in the sea, indeed all the larger
forms of life, depend for sustenance upon the microscopic
organisms, which render sea-water "a kind of ininute broth,"
as the late Dr. W. B. Carpenter happily styled it, Professor
Ramsay Wright appropriately heads the series with an account
of the "Plankton" of the Nova Scotian waters. Professor
Wright shows how minute plants, invisible to the naked eye,
crowd the surface waters. These build up the protoplasm
necessary as food to fishes and other marine creatures. The
herring and mackerel feed almost solely on this microscopic life,
collectively called the "Plankton." They are not all tiny plants,
some are infusorian animals, Foraminifera, Radiolarians and the
like. "No one sailing over the Atlantic," Professor Wright ob-
serves, "suspects the presence of such a rich vegetation, and
indeed it can only be disclosed by filtering the water through
an exceedingly fine fabric — the finest silk gauze." Seven ex-
quisite plates indicate something of the variety and beauty of
the Plankton. More beautiful artistic illustrations it would be
difficult to imagine. They are heliotype reproductions of Mr.
J. R. G. Murray's drawings of Professor Wright's original
sketches done at the Station. No less than three species of the
tadpole-like larval Ascidians belonging to the Copelata were
secured near Canso. As, according to the poet,

"The ancestor remote of inan, says Darwin,
Was the Ascidian,"

these small tailed creatures, showing the first indications of a
back-bone, are of uncommon interest. A most pecuHar egg, no
doubt that of some Gastropod shell-fish, is figured on the same
plate as the Ascidians, and "suggests in its shape," as Professor
Wright points out, "a low broad-brimmed hat." There are

I

1907] The Marine Biological Station and its Work. 107

described many beautiful Peridinians, usually regarded as plants,
also Diatoms and various Foraminifers and Infusorians, as well
as pelagic crustaceans and larvae of higher forms, all of which
are elements in that floating food upon which young fishes feed
in Nova Scotian waters.

The three reports by Professor Knight, of Queen's Univer-
sitv, are in many respects the most valuable in the volume, for
they treat of subjects of the highest public importance. The
"Sawdust Question" is dealt with in a "further" and a "final"
report, and the laborious investigations and experiments com-
menced by Dr. Knight in 1900 and continued season after
season for four or five years, are here presented in concise and
readable form. Our law-makers must in future consult these
splendid reports before attempting legislation on the grave
"sawdust versus fish" controversy. The killing of fish by dyna-
mite has been much practised in spite of statutory prohibitions,
and Dr. Knight, at the suggestion of Professor Prince, carried
out with much skill and at some bodily risk, experimental re-
searches which prove how wasteful such nefarious fishing is.
Professor Knight's reports entitle him to the profound gratitude
of the Canadian public.

Dr. Joseph Stafford, who continues to act as Curator of the
Station, reports on the Atlantic fauna; his short list of sponges,
Coelenterates and Echinoderms, 70 species in all, is the pre-
liminary instalment of a more complete list, which wall form a
desirable supplement to the splendid list published seven years
ago by Dr. Whiteaves. A large collection has been made at
each of the five locations where the work has been carried on.
A knowledge of the animal and plant life in each locality is, from
a fishery standpoint, a necessary preliminary. "The study of
the environment of fish and fisheries" (the Director of the
Station, Professor Prince justly observes) "is as necessary as the
studv of the fish themselves and their habits, and of the practical
methods of exploiting fishery resources."

Dr. Stafford has established a wide reputation as an
authority upon Trematodes and other parasites, and his
numerous papers, published largely in Germany, are substantial
contributions to science. His paper on Trematodes or parasitic
sucker-worms (the tenth in the present series) is a concise account
of the group and their life-history, so far as known, and he gives
a list of 28 known and 10 undetermined species — a very creditable
addition to American Helminthology. Dr. A. H. MacKay,
Superintendent of Education for Nova Scotia, furnishes a list
of the Diatoms of Canso, and he states that the 73 species which
he determined do not exhaust all the material secured at the

108 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October

Station. Indeed this excellent list must be regarded as a pro-
visional one. It is a piece of careful and exact work and will be
of value to all future students of these lowly plants. A similar
observation may be applied to the "Seaweeds of Canso," by
Mr. C. B. Robinson, formerly of Pictou Academy, and now of
the New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx Park. The algae
named include 75 species.

Among the many diligent workers at the Biological Station
none were more assiduous than Mr. G. A. Cornish, of Toronto
University, now Science Master at Lindsay Collegiate Institute.
His two papers on the Polyzoa and the Fishes of Canso might be
criticised on two grounds, viz.: the lack of concise, orderly
description, and the lack of drawings. Certainly the notes on
fishes should have been thoroughly revised, as much of the
matter is somewhat well-worn, and usually fragmentary, and
might have been pruned down with advantage. As a beginning,
each list has its value, and Mr. Cornish deserves credit for his
patient work. Professor James Fowler, it is pleasant to note,
once more appears with a very extensive list of the plants
around Canso. The names of over 300 phanerogams and
cryptogams are given, while the list is prefaced by some exceed-
ingly interesting notes. Professor Fowler has been most faith-
ful in his services to the Station, and it is said that, in spite of
his years, he recently explored the wilds of Gaspe when the
Station was located there (1905-1906), and it is to be hoped
that his list of Gaspesian plants v/ill be published at an early
date.

Professor Prince's memoir on the eggs and young of certain
members of the herring f amity (the shad, ale wife, herring, etc.),
with three remarkably beautiful plates, some of them tinted,
is of biological interest, and the general conclusion reached is
that these fishes are far less rapid in growth than has been
usually surmised. Professor Huxley once stated that the
herring matured in one year, in his opinion, though he modified
his view later ; but it now appears from the more thorough and
exact researches of authorities like Professor Prince, that the
third or fourth year may elapse before the herring reaches its
mature spawning condition. It is a striking circumstance that
the herring tribe differ so greatly in the nature of their eggs
and spawning habits. The sea-herring's eggs are heav}^ cling
together firmly and are attached to the bottom of the ocean.
The egg is about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. The
sprat, so like a small herring, deposits a most delicate floating
egg. Each egg floats separately and cannot be touched without
being crushed, it is sodehcate, while itis barely one-twenty-fifth

1907] The Marine Biological Station "and its Work. 109

of an inch in diameter. The shad's eggs are separate and neither
cHng to each other nor float at the surface of the water. They
are comparatively large (one-seventh of an inch in diameter)
and roll about amongst gravel, etc., in shallow streams and
rivers above tidal limits. As Professor Prince's four beautiful
drawings of the young alewife or gaspereau (on Plate X) are the
first ever executed of these early stages, they are of great scientific
value, while the detailed drawings of the scales, etc., are of
extreme interest. Professor Prince also furnishes a very readable
account of the profound and technical researches of Professor
A. B. Macallum, one of the most distinguished scientific men
whom Canada has produced. The researches of the brilliant
Professor of Physiology in Toronto Universit}^ are better known
in England and Germany than in our own country, and London
last year honoured Dr. Macallum with the coveted F. R. S. of
England. Professor Macallum investigated the "Chemistry of
Medusce" for several seasons in the Biological Station and pub-
lished his results in the Journal of Physiology, Vol. XXIV.
Professor Prince, who edits the present publication, desired a
less technical and more popular version of the published paper;
but for various reasons, it is understood, that a simplified ac-
count could not be prepared by the author in time for the
present issue. Professor Prince himself therefore wrote this
very fascinating version of Dr. Macallum's paper, minus tech-
nicalities, and presented in a revised popular form. The lovely
floating medusae or jellyfish, often brilliantly coloured, are
generally thought to be composed of delicate, transparent skin
and water. There is certainly little solid matter in them. Pro-
fessor Owen dried a jellyfish, which weighed two pounds when
alive, and found that its weight was barely thirty grains, or
about one-five-hundredth of the original weight. Professor
Macallum establishes the complex composition of the "jellyfish
juice," and the amazing physiological independence and sta-
bility of the jellyfish cells. He disproves Professor Loeb's
contention that the chemical nature of the surrounding water
directly affects either the chemical nature of the medusa or
its living movements and functions. Professor Macallum
proves that each has its own individual resisting power and a
wonderful independence of outside chemical changes, while the
cells, composing the medusa's body, have a surprising selective
power, and accept or reject the various salts in the surrounding
sea-water, as the experiments demonstrated. Nay, more, their
chemical constitution appears to be that which must have
characterized animals in the primal seas of our planet. May it
not be that the serum, the clear part of our own blood, is the

110 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October

same as the blood of the animals in the early ages of the world,
and transmitted to us in the course of seonic development?
Professor Macallum's results suggest this. Mammalian serum
in its proportions of sodium, calcium and potassium, is not
unlike the fluid contents of the jellyfish. The evolutionist can
now claim that our blood, apart from the red corpuscles, has
come down to us from an ancestral stock as lowly as the me-
dusae, and as remote in time as the Jurassic and even the primi-
tive Palaeozoic epochs! Hardly less wonderful is the con-
clusion that the inorganic composition of jellyfishes is not due
to the sea-water environment of to-day, but "reflects the com-
position of sea-water .... of past geological periods,
possibly very remote periods." Divested of technical terms
and abstruse expressions, Professor Prince's account of Dr.
Macallum's remarkable researches, compressed into seven pages
of these "Further Contributions," furnishes reading of rare and
profound interest to all scientific students.

In reviewing a publication so welcome and of such unusual
interest to all scientific students, it might appear to be super-
fluous to call attention to errors and to faults, typographical
or otherwise. Some such faults there are, and it would have
been well to have avoided or corrected them before issue from
the press. In Professor Wright's paper the references to the
literature are in some cases detailed in the text, in other cases
they are relegated to the last page of the paper. This should
have been avoided. The magnification of the figures in the
plates should have been given in all cases, whereas in nearly
half the figures there is no clue to the size of the organisms.
Many readers will wonder what size, for example, are the interest-
ing tailed Ascidian larvae on Plate VII. (figs. 11 and 12). An
even graver complaint is justifiable regarding the description of
plates in Professor Prince's paper. Thus on Plate VIII, figs.
6c and 7 are described as the pilchard (they are evidently young
gaspereaux), while figs. 10 and 11, described on page 109 as
gaspereaux, are pilchard, and are copied as stated on page 108
from Mr. J. T. Cunningham's w^ell-known and not very good
figures in the Journal of the Marine Biological Station of Britain.
On page 57 in Dr. MacKay's very accurate paper Licmophora
IS misprinted Licmphora, while the only misprint apparently in
the venerable Dr. Fowler's botanical list is oe for ae in Gramineae
(page 67). On page 76 Memhranipora is there spelt Men not
Mem, while on page 101 the famiHar term Clupeidae has the
grotesque form Clupieidae. Finallv, on page 89 the page heading
to Mr. Cornish's notes on the fishes of Canso appears as "The
Marine Polyzoa of Canso, Nova Scotia."

i

1907] The Marine Biological Station and its Work. Ill

Naturalists generally will readily overlook these slight
errors, and will be glad to see so important and valuable a series
of contributions to Canadian biology issue from the Station on
the Atlantic coast. Much work has been done at Malpeque,
P.E.I. , at Gaspe, P.Q., and at Seven Islands, on the north shore
of the St. Lawrence, and the issue of reports on still further
contributions from the pens of the accomplished and zealous
staff of the Station will be awaited with impatience.

The Director of the Station (Professor Prince) , who occupied
the honoured position this year of President of Section IV
(Biology, etc.,) of the Royal Society, stated to one of the most
brilliant audiences of leading Canadian biologists ever assembled
in Ottawa, that a Pacific coast station is to be opened for marine
researches immediately under Dominion Government auspices.
With the station on the west coast and a new (permanent)
station at St. Andrew's on the Atlantic shore, and a Great Lakes
Station near Parry Sound, future "Contributions to Canadian
Biology" will no doubt surpass even the present most interesting
and valuable scientific publication.

C.

DATES OF ARRIVALS OF BIRDS AT CAMROSE, ALTA.,

IN 1906 AND 1907.
By F. L. Farley

Tree Sparrow March

Mallard

Canada Goose

Crow. April

Junco

Red-tail Hawk

Swainson Hawk

Killdeer

Robin

Bluebird

Meadow Lark

Song Sparrow

Sparrow Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

American Snipe

Bronzed Grackle

906

1907

irch 31

March

23

31

31

March

23

)ril 6

II

31

10

April

19

11

11

March

31

13

April

20

11

( (

19

10

Mav

26

14

April

23

14

I i

14

17

20

Mav

10

23

i i

10

24

1 1

12

112

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[October

Purple Finch

Yellow-shafted Flicke?

Horned Lark

Vesper Sparrow

Brewer Blackbird May

Sapsucker

Wilson Thrush

Pewee

White-crowned Sparrow

Savanna Sparrow

Lincoln Sparrow

Field Plover

White-breasted Swallow

Franklin Gull

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Clay-colored Sparrow

Sprague Skylark .".

Yellow Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

House Wren

Catbird

Myrtle Warbler

Barn Swallow

Least Flycatcher

Wood Pewee

Northern Yellowthroat

Baltimore Oriole

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Accentor June

Night Hawk

Leconte Sparrow May

White-rumped Shrike

Yellow-legs

Spotted Sandpiper

Co wbird

Solitary Sandpiper

Fox Sparrow

Cli ff Swallow

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Redstart

Mourning Dove

Red-eyed Vireo

Cedarbi rd

Trail Flycatcher

Warbling Vireo

24

f i

21

25

i i

16

23

24

ay 2

April
May

23

14

9

5

i (

26

5

i i

IS

5

i i

21

5

I i

17

7

i i

19

7

June

9

10
10

May

21

27

11

i i

12

10

12
12

May

20
21

13

1 1

23

17

i i

26

17

i i

27

18

( I

28

18

19

20

June

5

20

May

28

23

June

14

23
23

May

1 1

26
26

me 1

1

June

14

ay 30

( (

1

April
May

1 1

9

9

11

May

11
12

1 1

21

((

27

June

6

( (

8

((

9

(<

11

c t

11

ti

11

a

12

1907] Dates OF Arrivals OF Birds. 113

The unprecedented cold and backward Spring, all over the
northern part of this continent has been the cause of much dis-
cussion among weather men and the public generally, and no
doubt ornithologists have noticed the effect the unusual condi-
tions have had in the arrival of Spring birds.

Having taken notes on the arrival of Spring birds for the
past fifteen years, on and between the Red Deer and Battle
rivers, in 113 degrees of West Longitude as a centre, I find
they are later this Spring than in any other year. It seems
strange also, that the two extremes should be reached in the
two years 1907 and 1906; arrivals in 1906 were earlier than in
anv other year since mv arrival here.

ERUCA SATIVA. MILL.

Mr. J. Dearness has sent from London, Ont. to the
herbarium of the Geological Survey specimens of Eruca sativa
which may become a very troublesome weed in Canada. Mr.
Poland, Yarmouth tow^nship, Elgin county, has written Mr.
Dearness that this weed came to him and to a neighbour of his
as an impurity in alfalfa seed, that it was scattered all over
the field in which the alfalfa was planted, and that when he
had pulled out all he could see it made a heap as large as half
a ton of ha}'. Later he cut the tops off plants that had been
missed, and these on October 15th were again making con-
siderable show in parts of the field.

Since the above note was in type specimens have also
come to us from Mr. T. N. Willing, Chief Inspector of Weeds
for the Province of Saskatchewan. The seed from which these
plants grew came from Russia mixed with alfalfa seed. The
home of Eruca sativa is along the Mediterranean. It is not
indigenous in Russia and must be growing there as a weed.

J. M. M.

LIBRARYlSi

114 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October

NOTES ON THE GENUS VACCINIUM.
By E. Wilson, Armstrong, B. C.

The four species here named are in our collection: V.
membranaceum, V. ovalifolium, V. Canadense, and V. parvi-
folium.

V. membranaceum was collected in fruit, July 16th, on the
mountain side close to Revelstoke, also at Trout Lake, Poplar,
Seymour River, and the Horsefly River. This species produces
the finest fruit of any of the species collected. The fruit is of a
purplish black when ripe and much sweeter than V. Canadense,
so common in northern Ontario. It also averages larger in size
than V. Canadense, but does not yield so heavily. It is, however,
a very heavy producer and is much valued for household use.
The plants grow and produce the best in open or thinly wooded
places, at between 2,500 and 4,000 feet. I have not often seen
it above 4,500 feet. It seems to prefer a drier soil than V.
ovalifoliiAm, and also grows less scattered, the plants generally
being abundant where it grows,

V. ovalifolium was collected at the same places as V. mem-
branaceum, excepting near the Horsefly River. It, however,
grows at a much lower altitude and generally in damper and
more shadv places, often in quite heavy timber. It is seen in its
best state on the lower benches of the river valleys of the Gold
ranges. There it produces heavily, bright-blue berries, much
more solid and tart than those of V. membranaceum, but not so
large. A peculiarity of the fruit is its ver}^ heavy bloom. The
berries are round while those of V. membranaceum have the
diameter from calyx to stem much shorter, thus producing a flat
berry. The fruit is also more scattered on the bushes and thus
more difficult to gather. It hangs on though much longer than
that of the other species, thus producing a late fall fruit. The
shrub of this species grows often 3 or 4 feet high, and sometimes
higher, much higher and more difuse than V. membranaceum.
I have never seen it in thick patches, but always scattered thinly
over quite large areas. We mav say, then, that V . ovalifolium
begins at a much lower altitude than V. membranaceum, goes up
with, but drops out before the limit of the latter is reached.
The flower of V. ovalifolium is quite a bright pink, while that of
V. membranaceum is a yellowish green, sometimes pinkish.

V. Canadense was collected in two places only, one on a
small burned-over area of about an acre at about 2,500 feet
altitude at Revelstoke ; the other locality was near the Horsefly
River. The plants are much smaller than the eastern type and
produce much smaller fruit. It produces, however, as ^heavily

1907] Notes on the Genus Vaccinium. 115

if not more so, the berries being often quite crowded. This
species does not seem to thrive in British Columbia as in the east,
and appears to be dwarf-Hke in every particular.

V. parvifolimn was collected along the Se^^mour River
running into Seymour Arm at the northern end of Shuswap
Lake. The shrub grows about the height of V . ovalifolium, but
more erect, often producing the appearance of a small cherry
tree. It grows at the lowest altittide of any of the species, being
common on the shores of the lake, which is about 1,100 feet
above the sea. Our trip up Seymour River was for about 20
miles, and ended at nearly 7,000 feet. V. parvifolhim began at
the lake shore and at about 10 miles up V. ovalijolium began,
followed soon after by V . membranaceum. At one time for two
or three miles we had the three together, but the species dropped
out in the order named as we proceeded. All disappeared at
4,500 feet. The fruit was beginning to ripen at this date, July
24-27, and the appearance of the three shades of color was quite
interesting. V. parvijoUum was, however, in advance of the
others. Its fruit production is in about the same ratio as that of
V . ovalifolhtm, perhaps less scattered on the branches.

The fruit production of the blueberry does not seem to be
so certain in British Columbia as in eastern Canada, there being
many off seasons, or it may be abundant in one locality and very
scarce in others. The early springs of British Columbia may be
one cause of this, combined with a light snowfall. When the
snowfall is light the plants get an early start in the spring, and
often are in bloom early in May, or even the last week in April.
If a heavy frost comes at this season, as it often does, the result
is a light crop of fruit. This may account for a better fruit pro-
duction at over 3,000 feet, as the altitude retards the spring
growth as well as being less subject to late frosts.

It can readily be seen in British Columbia that Vaccinium
delights in a moderately damp climate, since it disappears
altogether in the dry parts, except in rare situations at high
altitudes.

116 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October

REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH, 1906.

(Read at meeting of Club on evening of March 19, 1907).

The Entomological Branch has been actively at work.
Throughout the past summer several members collected assidu-
ously and regular meetings have been held during the winter.
Notwithstanding the somewhat unproductive nature of the
season, as a whole, many interesting insects in various orders
were captured. Good progress has also been made in working
up the systematic lists for the locality. Large numbers of
species of diptera, hemiptera, lepidoptera, odonata and arach-
nida have been named by specialists, and records of these will
appear before long in the pages of The Ottawa Naturalist.
The fortnightly meetings held at the houses of the members
have been most helpful in holding the members of the Branch
together, and in creating and keeping up an interest in the
general subject of entomology ; they have also been the means of
the distribution of much valuable knowledge to those who have
been fortunate enough to take part.

Some of the members of the Ottawa Field - Naturalists'

Club living at a distance have done valuable work in Canadian

entomology, and also in helping to complete our knowledge of

the insects' of the Ottawa district. The Rev. G. W. Taylor, of

WelHngton, B.C., continues to study the North American Geo-

metridae; he has identified many species of these moths for our

local students and has contributed some valuable papers upon

them to The Ottawa Naturalist. Mr. Norman Criddle, of

Aweme, Manitoba, and Mr. T. N. WilHng, of Regina, Sask.,

have collected many plants and insects and have helped not only

to work up the fauna of their own districts, but have sent many

interesting specimens to their fellow workers in Ottawa. Great

advance has been made in our knowledge of the local micro-

lepidoptera. This is chiefly due to the enthusiasm of Mr. C. H.

Young, and to the generous help of Mr. W. D. Kearfott, of Mont-

clair, N. J., U.S., who has identified many hundreds of specimens

which have been sent to him by our collectors from various parts

of Canada. Mr. Young has collected at Ottawa and has had named

by Mr. Kearfott no less than 250 species, and there are still

probably another hundred species mounted and ready to go

forward. During the past summer Mr. Young collected and set

up in admirable manner over 1,500 specimens of these exquisite

little insects. Mr. W. Metcalfe continues his studies of the

hemiptera, and has added many new names to the Ottawa hst.

Mr. J. W. Baldwin has been very successful in collecting nice

series of moths at sugar. Amongst these were most of the species

of Catocala found at Ottawa.

1907] Report of the Entomological Branch. 117

During the month of May, the Rev. G. W. Taylor and the
Rev. Dr. Bethune, while attending the meeting of the Royal
Society of Canada, had an opportunity of meeting the members
of the Branch, several of whom had the great pleasure of making
excursions with them. Mr. Taylor was present at the General
Excursion of the Club to Gilmour's Grove at Chelsea, held on
the 26th Mav, where he delivered an interesting address on the
Geometridae taken during the afternoon. The members also had
the pleasure of meeting Mr. T. N. Willing, Zoologist to the
Saskatchewan Government, at one of the autumn evening meet-
ings of the Branch. He exhibited a large collection of north-
western insects and explained his plans for building up a
reference collection at Regina.

Among the more interesting insects taken at Ottawa or
within the district, as limited by the Club, the following may be
mentioned : —

Lepidoptera:

Charadra deridens, Gn., June 4, (Fletcher), June 22,,

(Young).
Hadena rorulenta, Sm., June 23, (Young).
Hadena pliitonia, Gvt., Meach Lake, July 7, (Young).

First record for the Ottawa district.
Rhynchagrotis rufipectiis, Morr., August 9, (Young).
Noctua phyllophora, Grt., June 22, (Fletcher).
Matnestradistincta, 'ilhn.,Meach'Lake, ]\Iay 16, (Young).
Mamestra cristifera, Wlk., Meach Lake, July 10,

(Young) .
Mamestra assiniilaiis, Morr. Four mature larvae found
feeding on the Common St. John's-wort, Hypericum
perforatum, Sept. 22. 1905, emerged, June 7, 1906,
(Gibson) .
BaratJira curiaJis. Sm. This interesting noctuid which
was mentioned in last year's report under the name
of Barathra occidentata, Grt., was again met with in
the Ottawa district in small numbers during 1906.
Graphipliora rnbrescens, Wlk., April 23, (Young).
Xylina iletcheri, Sm.. Meach Lake, Sept. 6, (Young).
Papaipema harrisii, Grt. var. An interesting form of
this species was reared from larvae boring in the base
of fronds of Pteris aqi{ili}ia; Meach Lake, August,
(Young and Gibson).
Papaipema appassionata, Harvey. Larvae of this very
rare species were found by Mr. Young at Meach Lake,
in the roots of Sarracenia purpurea in August.
Many of the larvae were parasitized by the small

118 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October

dipterous fly, Masicera myoidea. This is a most
beautiful moth, and one which is still rare in collec-
tions.
Tapinostola variana, Morr., Meach Lake, one specimen,
August 17, (Young). A new record for the Ottawa
district.
Gluphisia lintneri, Grt., var. arimactda, Huds., May 23,

(Young).
Cymatophora latijerrugata, Wlk. Larva found on Pru-
nus pennsylvanica, (July 1), black, with conspicuous
white spots on sides. Moth emerged in August,
(Fletcher).
Therina athasiaria, Wlk., Meach Lake, June 17 (Young).
A new record for the district.
Coleoptera:

Ludius abruptus, Say., June 20, (Fletcher).
Malachius cBneus, L., June 6, (Fletcher) ; July 1,( J. A.
Guignard). An interesting addition to the Ottawa
hst.
Prionus californicus, Mots., Grierson's Wharf, on the
Ottawa, near Fitzroy Harbour, July 30, (Metcalfe).
A wanderer from the Pacific coast.
Crioceris asparagi, L. Larvae found Sept. 20, buried
Sept. 22, emerged at end of October; the furthest
eastern record in Ontario, (Fletcher and Gibson).
Not previously found at Ottawa.
Odonata:

Gomphus adelphus, Selys., Hvdl, June 29, 1886, (Flet-
cher). The first Canadian record.
Gomphus brevis, Selys., Hull, June 29, 1886, (Fletcher);

Cumberland, June 16, (Gibson).
BasicBschna Janata, Say, May 2, 1902, (Gibson).
Macromia illinoiensis, Walsh, Hull, June 29, (Fletcher).
Helocordulia uhleri, Selys, Buckingham, May 31,

(Fletcher).
Tetragoneuria spinosa, Selys, Hull, May 22, 1886,
(Fletcher).
All of the above species of Odonata have recently been
kindly determined by Dr. E. M. Walker, of Toronto.

W. H. Harrington, \
James Fletcher, |
Arthur Gibson, - Leaders.
C. H. Young,
J. W. Baldwin.

1907] With the Field Naturalists' Club. 119

WITH THE FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB, ROCKLIFFE
WOODS, SEPT. 28th, 1907.

A grey day, with just enough of a suspicion of cold in the
air to make the blood tingle, and give intense enjoyment to a
walk in the woods, greeted the Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club
at their meeting at Rockliffe, Saturday, Sept. 28th. The
"Father" of the Club, Dr. James Fletcher, w^as there, with ever
abundant store of information on nature lore ; Dr. Sinclair, Vice-
Principal of the Normal School, with his large family of Normal
School students, with their intelligent, bright faces ; Mr.
Arthur Gibson, of the Experimental Farm, and Mr. Power, of
the Normal School, a new addition and a most helpful one, and
about sixty interested followers of Nature Study and lovers
of "God's great out of doors."

The meeting place was the pavilion, and having strolled
through the woods, the "round up" was held at the south end
of Mac Kay's Lake (Hemlock Lake). Here the stores of flowers,
plants, and insects were brought and commented upon, and
valuable lessons learned from wood, tree and flower.

Dr. Sinclair, in a few words introduced Dr. James Fletcher
as the "Father" of the Club, and remarked that Cicero's cele-
brated quotation might be used here, as there were so many
generals to call upon. In speaking of the different trees. Dr.
Fletcher called attention to the plentiful flowers on the maple,
the only specimen of the beech to be seen, the ash, the locust, and
others in the neighborhood. The interdependence of the animal
and vegetable world was commented upon. The last spring, the
cold had killed the insects which should have fertilized the trees
and flowers, the birds had suffered and died for want of insects
to feed upon. Dr. Fletcher spoke also of his success in the
destruction of the Miller m^oth, by the application of intense cold,
which was a pest to flour millers. He showed the wise provision
of Nature for the trees and shrubs for the approaching winter,
after their leaves drop in the autumn, and that of the ever-
greens and those having peculiarly shaped foliage which stood
the strain of the winds and snow. Mr. Power on being called
upon spoke on the same subject, and told in a humourous strain
of the dearth of fruit at one time in Australia, which resulted
from the loss of bees because there were too many mice, and too
many mice because there were not enough cats, and too few cats
because there were not enough old maids to care for them.
Mr. Power spoke very highly of the great good the Club was
doing in Nature Study and the great assistance it was to Normal
School students. Mr. Arthur Gibson showed specimens of the

120

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[October

tussock moth which has caused much havoc to vegetation, and
spoke of four different kinds of caterpillars which he had collected.
These were the hedge -hog caterpillar, the checkered tussock
moth (Halisidota) , the hickory tussock moth (Halisidota Caryae)
and the salt-marsh caterpillar. All of these are common species
belonging to the family Arctiidae, and with the exception of the
first named, which live as a caterpillar all through the winter
under boards, etc., spin their cocoons during the autumn, the
moths emerging the following spring. The curious caterpillars
of the large skipper butterfly Edanius Tityrus were found in
their snug tents among the leaflets of the black locust and
elicited much interest from their curious markings. They have
black heads with two large orange eye-like markings, crimson
throats and large yellow bug-like bodies dotted and streaked
with black. Several handsome spiders were also found. Mr.
Clark the secretary added his quota of interest and information.

Plants of interest found were : — ■

Linaria vulgaris, the interesting Peloria or monstrous form
which bears flowers of an entirely different form from those of
the typical plant. These do not perfect seed.

Maples. — Sugar Maple, Striped Maple, Spiked Maple, Red
Maple, Silver Maple.

Ash. — Red, White and Black Ash.

Birch. — Cherry Birch, Yellow Birch and two forms of the
Canoe Paper Birch.

Beech. — Blue Beech, and the True Beech.

Iron Wood.

^urple Vervain and Lop-seed.
With a regretful turning away from the woods and lake side
covered with burs and glory through paths carpeted with falling
leaves "The Swan song of the leaves" gold, crimson and brown,
the Club returned from a most enjoyable, if the last of the
summer's excursions.

M. McK. S.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

Vol. XXI. OTTAWA, NOVEMBER, 1907. Xo. 8

THE GREAT LEOPARD MOTH

(ECPANTHERIA DEFLORATA, FaB.).

By Arthur Gib.son.

This insect, while southern in range, has been found in the
larval state in autumn or early spring in western Ontario, but
Canadian specimens of the moths are very rare in collections.
In the annual report of the Entomological Society of Ontario
for 1903, the Rev. Prof. Bethune published an article in which
he recorded the finding of a single specimen of the larva of this
moth at London, Ont., on May 6th, 1903. This was sent to the
writer who made the following description of it, which was in-
cluded in the above article:

Length 43 mm. General appearance — a stout, black larva,
with stiff, shiny, jet-black bristles. Head 4 mm. wide, sub-
quadrate, flattened in front, only slightly bilobed at vertex;
black, shiny, excepting posterior upper part of cheek near segment
2 , which is pale ; suture and epistoma dull whitish ; mandibles
slightly reddish ; hairs on face mostly black, reddish at tips.
Body stout, dull black, with patches and streaks of velvety black
on dorsum; distinctly yellowish in the incisures; lower lateral
and ventral surface paler. Tubercles large, all black, excepting
vi, vii and viii, which are a dark amber colour, each bearing a
bunch of stiff, black, barbed bristles; from v, vi, vii and viii
manv of the bristles are tinged with dark red. Tubercles i, ii
and iii are nearly the same size; iv elongate. Spiracles dull
orange, anterior and close to, but above .tubercle iv on abdominal
segments. All the feet shiny brown tipped with black.

I was very glad indeed to have the opportunity of examining
this caterpillar, as I had never before seen a living specimen. At
the annual meeting of the above Society, held at Guelph, in
October, 1906, Mr. J. B Wilhams, one of the Toronto members
of the Club, exhibited two living larvae of this handsome moth,

154 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

which had been taken by him, in the latter part of September,
at Niagara Glen, Ont. Both of these larvae were different in
appearance to the one described above, being distinctly reddish
between the segments and almost without any yellow in the
incisures. One of the specimens found by Mr. Williams was
feeding on violet, which I think is a new food plant for the larva.
In the Canadian Entomologist, June, 1882, Dr. William
Saunders sa3^s: "The larva of this insect is comparatively
abundant in the autumn throughot;t most of the northern United
States and in many parts of Canada." Of late years, however,
these caterpillars have not been met with in Canada in any
numbers; in fact, the three larvae mentioned in this article are
the only specimens which have been found in Canada, to the
writer's knowledge, during the last fifteen years. One of the
specim^ens found bv Mr. Williams was given to the writer. It is
now inflated and in the Government collection at the Central
Experimental Farm.

Female Moth (after Riley).

The Great Leopard Moth is the largest and one of the most
beautiful of the moths of the interesting Family Arctiidae, or
Tiger Moths. The wings of both sexes are white. The rings
and spots on the upper wings are black, or dark brown. Some
of the rings near the base are covered with bright, steel-blue
scales, and in some specimens the rings are filled in so as to look
like black blots. The hind wings of the female, as shown in the
figure, have more of the black markings than have those of the
male. As is the case with many other arctian moths, the mark-
ings on all the wings of this species, however, are variable in
number and shape. The abdomen is of a steel-blue colour above,
marked, m.ore or less down tlie middle and along the sides, with
yellow or orange. The thorax is white, marked with spots or
rings of black, and spots of steel-blue, the latter being in the
.centre. The head is white above and steel-bhie in front. The

1907]

The Great Leopard Moth.

155

Male Moth (after Riley).

female is much the larger, measuring when the wings are expand-
ed about three inches from tip to tip. A specimen in the collec-
tion of the Geological
Survey Department is
as large as the female
shown here. The male
differs from the female
in being smaller and in
having the wings more
pointed. When ex-
panded it measures
about two and a quarter
inches across. The

markings, too, are less distinct.

In the Southern States this insect has sometimes been very-
abundant and the caterpillar has been given the name "Fever
Worm" by the negroes, under the absurd impression that it is
the cause of fever and ague.

The larva becomes full grown in
autumn and curls up, passing the winter
under logs or any other surface shelter it
can find. According to Saunders and
Riley, it feeds for the few days in spring,
on grass or almost any green, low-growing
: plant, and then forms a loose cocoon in-
side of which it changes to a pupa. In
this state it remains for from about two
to three weeks. The specimen sent to
me by the Rev. Prof. Bethune, was found
in its winter quarters and had no food
whatever after its capture.

On June 30th of the present year, Mr. Paul Hahn, of
Toronto, took a freshly emerged specimen of the male moth, at
Niagara Glen, Ont.

The food plants of the larvae are Wild Sunflower {Helianthus
decapetalus) , Plantain, Willow, Poke-berry (Phytolacca decandra) ;
Wild Cherry and Persimmon (Smith and Abbott), and violet,
as observed by Mr. Williams.

Larva (after RileyJ.

156 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

LIST OF COLEOPTERA COLLECTED BY MR. J. M.
MACOUN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Determined by John D. Evans, assisted by Professor Wickham.

The numbers in column "A" indicate the number of speci-
mens of the several species taken at Trail in 1902.

In column "B" at Osoyoos Lake, May 30- June 9, 1905.
In column "C" at Similkameen River, June 10-20, 1905.
In column "D" at Skagit River, July 2-20, 1905.

No A B C D

18c Cicindela montana, Lee 1

Cicindela lauta, Casey? 2

172 Opisthius Richardsoni, Kirby 2

195 Nebria Sahlbergi, Fisch ' 1

630 Amara carinata, Lee 4 3 .

670 Amara interstitialis, Dej 1

678 " remotestriata, Dej 1

680 " gibba, Lee 1

710 Diplochila laticollis, Lee 1

1054 Nothopus Zabroides, Lee 1 .

1057 Piosoma setosum. Lee 1

1067 Discoderus parallelus, Hald 1

1081 Harpalus amputatus, Say 1 1

Harpalus sp 1

Coelambus, sp 2

1382 Ilybius viridiaeneus. Crotch 1

1614 Berosus striatus, Say 1

1636 Helochares perplexus, Lee 2

3043 Hippodamia Lecontei, Muls 1

3051 Hippodamia parenthesis, Say 1

3066 Adalia frigida, Schn 1

3420 Dermestes caninus, Germ 1

3425 Dermestes lardarius, Linn 1

3455 Orphilus niger, Rossi 2

4105 Cardiophorus fenestratus, Lee 1

4245 Elater apicatus, Say 1

4253 Drasterius elegans, Fab 1

Melanotus, sp

Corymbites near hieroglyphicus, Say .. 1

4475 Corymbites fallax, Say ." 1

4484 " cruciatus, Linn 1

sp 1

Dicerca, sp. Probablv new species 1

1907] List of Coleoptera. 157

4607aLangii, Mann 1

4610 Buprestis aurulenta, Linn 1

4999 Gallops ci'ibrosus, Lee 1

5158 Trichodes ornatus, Say. Not heretofore

on record from Canada ■. 2

5232 Necrobia violaceus, Linn 1

5359 Dinoderus substriatus, Payk 1

Aphodius, sp 2

5517 Aphodius fimetarius, Linn 1

5523 Aphodius ruricola, Melsh 5

Aphodius, sp - • • 1

5726 Diplotaxis subangulata, Lee. New to

Canada 1

5939 Trichius affinis. Gory 1

5971 Asemum moestum, Hald 3

6232 RhagiuVii hneatum, OUv 1

6266 Acmasops subpilosa, Lee 1

0338 Leptura laetifica, Lee 1

6341 " chrysoeoma, Kirby 1

6348 " erassipes, Lee. 1

6353 " vittata, Germ. 1

6363 " aspersa. Lee 1

6729 Glyptoseelis albidus, Lee. Not hereto-
fore on record from Canada 1

6769 Graphops marcassita, Cr 1

10386 Seelolyperus Schwarzii, Horn 1

6905 Galerucella nymph ae, Linn . . 2

6968 Haltica evicta, Lee 1

7291 Coniontis opaca , Horn 1 2

7325 Eleodes humerahs, Lee. Not on reeord

from Canada ^

Eleodes sp 2 2 .

7728 Ditylus quadrieollis, Lee. var vestitus, Lee I

8028 Nemognatha diehroa, Lee 12

8077 Epieauta punctieollis, Mann . 1

Epicauta sp. 1 ^

8092 Maerobasis maeulata. Say 4

8158 Cantharis sphaerieoUis, Say ^

158 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

BOTANICAL NOTES.

By James M. Macoun.

Carex concinnoides, Mackenzie, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, XXXII,
440.

C. Richardsoni, Cat. Can. PI. II, 158 in part.

We have six sheets of this species from the Rocky Mount-
ains, No. 64,020*, Laggan; No. 64,021, Pipestone Creek; No.
25,556, Elbow River; No. 31,762, Kananaskis ; No. 7,464,
Sulphur Mt., Banff {Macoun), and No. 22,294, Spray Valley,
Banff {N. B. Sanson). Our British Columbia specimens are
from west of Sophie Mountain (/. M. Macoun) and Spence's
Bridge (John Macoun).

Erigonum polyphyllum, Small.

On rocky slopes. Sheep Mt., Waterton Lake, Rocky Mts.,
No. 12,944; South Mountain, Crow Nest Pass, No. 24,488 and
mountains at Elbow River, Rocky Mts., alt. 7,000 ft.. No.
24,487 (John Macoun). Described from specimens collected
in Montana in 1897 but not before recorded from Canada.

Thelypodium laciniatum (Hook.) Endl.

Dry hillsides near Osoyoos Lake, B.C., 1905, No. 70,851
(/. M. Macoun). New to Canada.

Cardamine Lyallii, S. Wats.

Shaded banks of Whipsaw Creek, nine miles west of
Princeton, B.C., 1905, No. 70,839. (/. M. Macoun). Our only
Canadian record.

Lesquerella Douglasii, S. Wats.

Similkameen River, B.C., 1877. (Dr. G. M. Dawson).
Osoyoos Valley, B.C., 1898. (C. de B. Green). Meyer's Creek,
west of Midway, B.C., No. 70,852. (W. Spreadborough). Com-
mon around Osoyoos Lake, B.C., No. 70,853„ (/. M. Macoun).

Cleome integrifolia, T. & G.

Growing beside an old stable on the bank of the Kicking
Horse River at Golden, B.C., 1906. (R. Landells). Doubtless
introduced from the prairie region.

Rhodiola rosea, L.

Sedum Rhodiola, Cat. Can. Plants, vol. I, pp. 165 and 528
in part.

* The numbers given here are those under which these plants
appear in the herbarium of the Geological Survey of Canada.

1907] Botanical Notes. 159

Our Canadian specimens of this species are all from the
Atlantic coasts. Cape Chidley, Hudson Strait; Nain and Ford's
Harbour, Labrador. (Dr. R. Bell). Port Burwell, Hudson
Strait. (Dr. L. E. Borden). Battle Harbour, Labrador. (Rev.
A. Waghorne). Nachvak, Labrador. (A. P. Low). Near mouth
of Ungava River. (W. Spreadhorough). Baddeck Falls, Cape
Breton Island. (John Macoiin). St. John Co., N.B. (Prof.
Fowler). Magagnadavie River, N.B. (J. Vroom). Flowers
yellowish-green .

Rhodiola Alaskana, Rose.

Dawson Harbour, Queen Charlotte Islands. (Dr. G. F.
Newcombe). Leaves very pale and thin. Only Canadian record.

Rhodiola integrifolia, Raf.

Sedum Rhodiola, Cat. Can. Plants, vol. I, p. 165 and 528
in part.

5. jrigidum, Contr. Can. Bot. Pt. XVI.

On manv of the high mountains in British Columbia. Our
Rocky Mountain specimens are from Sheep Mountain, Waterton
Lake; Moose Mountain, Elbow River; Cascade Mountain,
Banfif; Bow River Pass; Saddle Mountain, Banff. (John
Macoun). Kananaskis. (Dr. G. M. Dawson). Specimens from
west of the Rockies are from Old Glory Mountain near Rossland,
and Tami Hy Mountain, Chilliwack Valley. (/. M. Macoun).
Ilgachug Mountains. (Dr. G. M. Dawson). Flowers purple or
purplish.

Tillaeastrum aquaticum (L.) Britton.

Centunculus minimus, Cat. Can. Plants, vol. II, p. 340 in
part.

Tillcea simplex, Contr. Can. Bot. Pt. V.

T. Vaillantii, Contr, Can. Bot. Pt. XVI in part.

Our specimens are from Mount Stewart, Prince Edward
Island, No. 8,705; Beauport, near Quebec, Que., No. 68,640;
Kamloops, B.C., No. 8,706. (]ohn Macoun). The only speci-
mens of T. Vaillantii in our herbarium are those collected on
Prince Edward Island by Mr. Churchill. Prof. Macoun's speci-
mens referred to that species in Pt. XVI of these papers proves
to be T . aquaticum.

Potentilla strigosa, Pursh.

Dry soil at Lake La Hache, Cariboo Road, B.C., 1906, No.
70,326. (E. Wilson). Western limit in Canada.

Mertensia Virginica, D.C.

This species has been recorded only from Point Abino,

160 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

Lake Erie. Mr. W. C. McCalla collected it in 1897 near the bottom
of the ravine of "The Twenty," Lincoln Co., Ont., Mr. J. Dear-
ness reported it in 1902 from near Wardsville, Middlesex Co.,
Ont., and Prof. Macoun found it to be abundant in 1907 in
Kettle Creek Valley, two miles south of St. Thomas.

Leonurus Sibiricus, L.

Along the Cote des Neiges Road, near Montreal, Que.,
September, 1906. (Dr. Robt. Campbell). Onh^ Canadian station
known.

Nicotiana longiflora. Car.

Escaped from cultivation and naturalized at Cote des
Neiges near Montreal, Que. (Dr. Robt. Campbell). Only Can-
adian record.

Galinsoga parviflora, Cav.

Several records of the finding of this species in Ontario
have been recorded in these papers, but the first record for
Canada was overlooked. This was made in The Record oj
Science, Vol. VI, p. 402, by Dr. Robt. Campbell, who found it
in the McGill College grounds at Montreal. Dr. Campbell writes
that it is now well naturalized at Montreal, its favorite habitat
being vacant uncultivated spaces between the side-walks and
the fronts of houses.

Petasites speciosa, (Nutt.) Piper.

P.palmata, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, vol. I, 260 in part.

All our specimens from the vicinity of the Pacific Coast are
this species. They are from Port Moody, Burrard Inlet, B.C.,
No. 14,672; Gordon Head, Vancouver Island, No. 14,671;
Comox, V.I., No. 14,676, and Sooke, V.I., No. 11,596. All
collected by Prof. Macoun. We have also several Alaskan
specimens.

Senecio EREMOi'HiLUS, Rich.

Near streams 'n woods between Ashcroft and Clinton, B.C.,
1906. (E. Wilson). Not before recorded west of the Rocky
Mountains.

SONCHUS ARVENSIS, L.

Near Golden, B.C., 1906. (R. Landells). Our onlv record
west of Manitoba.

1907] Another Locality for Eruca Sativa. 161

ANOTHER LOCALITY FOR ERUCA SATIVA.

To Mr. Macoun's report in the October issue of The
Ottawa Naturalist, of the discovery of the European plant
Eruca sativa, in two widely separated parts of Canada, I am
able to add another distinct locality; namely, Preston, Waterloo
County, Ontario. The plant was found in flower about the first
of August, in a small field of lucerne, which had been sown in
June. It was present in considerable quantity, and had been
passed over as ordinary mustard {Brassica Sinapistrum) , until
one day when I went into the field and saw it at close quarters.
The habit of growth, size and superficial resemblance of leaves
and flowers contribute to this similarit}^ to mvistard. A glance
was sufficient, however, to show that it was something new.
On endeavoring to determine the species of the plant, I found
m3'self beaten ; and all our efliorts to trace it out in both Ameri-
can and English botanies proved futile. On October 31st I
took advantage of an opportunity to show my specimens to
Dr. Fletcher, Ottawa, who having just read the aforementioned
report, and also having seen the plant in Europe manv years
ago, identified it as Eruca.

There are several characters by which this plant can be
quite readilv distinguished from wild mustard. The leaves are
always more or less deeply lobed pinnately. The flowers are
not quite so brightly colored, and the petals are distinctly
veined with purple. When the plant has developed pods, it
can be known with certainty by these. The whole upper third
of the pod is a flat empty beak.

A noteworthy peculiarity about the plants which I have
seen is their extreme variabiht}^ apart altogether from the
influence upon them of crowding by other plants, Or of any of
the conditions of growth, so far as I have been able to observe.
This is shown most strikingly in the leaves and pods. In some
specimens the leaves are only very slightly lobed, while in others
they are cut in almost to the midrib. The pods vary in .shape,
those on some plants being shorter and plumper than on others.
Some pods, too, are nearly smooth, while those on other plants
have a dense pubescence.

I have not as yet been able to learn an^-thing definitely
about the source of the seed with which this weed was introduced.
It seems probable that the infestations so far known about,
may have entered the country together, since the medium in
each case is the same; and that there may be therefore many
more to be heard from when the weed becomes known.

•

H. Groh.

162 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

SKUNKS AS DESTROYERS OF POULTRY. TWO PER-
SONAL EXPERIENCES.

By Norman Griddle, Treebank, Man.

It is well known that skunks have a fondness for eggs as
well as poultry, but of the numerous accounts that are re ated
from time to time, it is difficult to secure the authenticity
necessary to make them of true scientific value.

Two instances of skunks robbing poultry houses have
come under my observation recently, and as both had points
of interest, they may prove worthy of relating.

The first of these occurred in October two years ago, when
a young skunk dug beneath the foundation of a poultry house
and killed six birds by seizing them by the back of the neck
close to the head, and apparently sucking a small amount of
blood from each. A most interesting feature of this attack
was that the brains had been eaten from every one. The
animal was trapped the next night while entering the building.

The other case which was that of egg sucking occurred
here last spring.

Several hens were "sitting" upon eggs in nests about a
foot from the ground. The nests consisted of boxes with only
the fronts open, and then were partly closed with wooden bars
some three inches apart to prevent the hens leaving the eggs
excepting at special hours.

On the third of May it was noticed that nine eggs had been
broken open and the contents e^ten, as well as three bad eggs
that were not in the nest. The hen was still sitting comfortably
on the nest, and had apparently not been disturbed. There was
a hole beneath the foundation of the building where the animal
had entered. The next night ten more eggs went, and the
following night eight more, which completed the settings of
two hens. AH the eggs were taken from beneath the hens and
eaten in the nest without anv sign of the birds having been
disturbed in spite of the fact that the animal had to squeeze
between the bars to get into the nest. The eggs were all opened
at the large end, the top being taken off as if with a knife,
without damaging the other parts of the shell. The shells were
found next morning round the hens — not under them — which
tends to confirm the theory that the hens had not been
materially disturbed, as in that case some of the shells would
have almost surely been found under them.

After the above damage had been "done a thorough search

1907] A Viviparous Snake. 163

was made for the robber, which was at last discovered between
a snow drift and a building in a hole formed by the thawing of
the snow beneath. By means of smoke and some poking
(which occasioned a very strong odour) a skunk was dislodged
and shot. It proved to be a female that would have shortly
produced young. It was broadly striped and measured 27
inches in length, with an additional three inches of hair on the
tail. The weight was seven pounds two ounces.

A VIVIPAROUS SNAKE.

On a small island one and a half miles above the Chat Falls,
Ottawa River, Mr. E. E. Lemieux on October 1st last, killed a
large milk snake {Matrix sipedon) in which he found forty-one
young snakes averaging about 8 inches in length. It was killed
at 10.30 in the morning when the sun was shining brightly,
and when first seen was taking a sun bath quietly coiled up on
a flat rock close to the river. It measured four feet from head
to tip of tail. It was not skinned until the following morning,
when the young snakes were of course all found to be dead.
The were coiled singly and crowded together. On the morning
of October 3rd — another bright day — a live young snake of
exactly the same size was found under a stone near the same
spot, probably one of the same family.

As this seemed a very late date at which to find the young
of this snake still unborn. Dr. Leonard Stejneger, the well known
herpetologist was written to and the following is his reply in
part :

"This snake brings forth living young, 40-50 at a time, during
the autumn. In New York the records cover a time from August
17th to September 30th. Several other snakes of similar habits
are known and the births of the young often cover a much longer
period. It does not seem probable that the female carries the
young over to spring. In the first place I know of no record of
very early births of these snakes; second, I know of no record
of females having been captured while hibernating which had
fully ripe embryos; third, there seems to be no good reason why
the young should not go immediately into hibernation them-
selves; and further, even if such an abnormally late brood
should perish it would mean very little in the economy of so
prolific a species."

In this connection it may be said that there is no foundation
in fact for the popvilar belief that female snakes swallow their
young when danger threatens. J. M. M.

164 The Ottawa Naturalist. [November

AN UNUSUAL VISITOR TO THE EXPERIMENTAL

FARM.

On Friday morning, the 22nd of NoA'ember, about 11
o'clock, a fine female Virginian deer suddenly made its appear-
ance on the Experimental Farm. When first I saw it, it was
bounding across the Farm, south of the Director's house. It
ran forward across the main driveway towards the river road.
Then turning it ran northward a few yards, then across the Farm
north of the Director's house towards the poultrv buildings.
Here I lost track of it and saw it no more. I subsequentlv learned
that it ran from there towards the northern boundary of the
Farm, where there is a Forest Belt 65 feet wide in which it found
temporary shelter. It made several attempts to get over the
wire fence along the boundary of the Farm, and finally got its
head entangled in the wires so that it was held fast. In making
further attempts to extricate itself, it tried to leap over the
fence and in doing so was much injured and was almost dead
when discovered by two German women living nearbv, who
finalty despatched the animal and took possession of it.

The occurrence of such large v/ild animals near cities and
large towns is always interesting, and generally attracts a good
deal of attention. During the previous day, in the afternoon,
several shots were heard near the Farm, and it is not at all
improbable that the deer was being hunted and had taken
refuge over night in a part of the Forest Belt above referred to.
When I saw it, it was very quick in its movements.

Wm. vSaunders.

CHUBBS" NESTS.

In the May number of the ' American Naturalist" of this
year, Dr, A. W. G. Wilson presents an interesting note on the
characters and location of nests made by the fishes described as
Chubb {Semotilus corporalis, Mitchill). Dr. Wilson gives ex-
cellent illustrations of the nests themselves which attain a
height of nearly four feet, and are made up of stones of various
sizes. The name which the Indians give the fish in question, .
Azvadosi, seems to be particularlv appropriate, inasmuch as '■
the word signifies "the stone carriers." The heaps of rocks
observed and described by Dr. Wilson are rather conspicuous
phenomena, and could be' readily mistaken for cairns or other
accumulations which have a semblance to artificial construction.

H. M. A.

1907] Meeting of Botanical Branch. 165

MEETING OF BOTANICAL BRANCH.

The first meeting of the Botanical Branch of the Field
Naturalists' Club for the season 1907-8, was held Thursday,
December 5th, at the house of Rev. G. Eifrig. There were present :
Messrs. Attwood, Blackaciar, Campbell, Whyte, Dr. Fletcher, and
the undersigned.

The chairman exhibited mounted specimens of some of ovir
rarer plants, as Calypso borealis, found June 12th, 1907, plenti-
fully near High Falls, Que.; Gentiana criniia, of a darker blue
than most years; Spiranthes cenma, very luxuriant this vear
at the only locality where these two species are found in the
\-icinity of Ottawa ; Lycopoditim inundatum, Habenaria ob-
tiisata. Lobelia Dortmanna, these three from Algonquin Park,
but the last found by Dr. Fletcher also, at Meech Lake, near
Ottawa. Habenaria blephariglottis from Mer Bleue, Lonicera
hirsuta, etc. Of the last named it M'as remarked that it is very
rare in the Ottawa district. It was found many vears ago near
South March, Carleton County. It is, however, abundant at
Nepigon, north of Lake Superior, and succeeds well under
cultivation. It is difficult to propagate except from seed or
from offsets from the roots.

The illustrated work on farm weeds by Clark, Fletcher and
Criddle, recently issued by the seed commissioner's ofiice, was
examined and discussed. A copy had been kindly furnished
to each member of the section by seed commissioner Clark, and
all expressed unstinted praise and admiration of the way this
highly practical, useful and at the same time beautiful work
had been conceived and executed. The colored plates of the
weeds and seeds are a revelation in their life-likeness and exact-
ness. It is a work of which the Department of Agriculture
may well be proud. All expressed their gratitude to Mr. Clark
for his kindness.

Dr. Fletcher exhibited a specimen of the large and remark-
able sclerotium of the Polyporus tuberaster. This brought to
light a bit of nice original investigation successfully conducted
by the Doctor. From time to time these black, hard balls,
rubberlike in appearance and heavy, had been sent to the
Experimental Farm from the West, with the question: What is
it? They were always found several inches under ground,
mostly adhering to or in the neighborhood of some roots of
willows, poplars, etc. No satisfactory answer could for a long
time be given, till it occurred to Dr. Fletcher to in.sert a notice
in some western papers, asking that these things be sent to him
in a fresh state. This was done and he planted several of them

156 The Ottawa Naturalist [November

and had the pleasure of finding one day a large Polyporus having
grown from the large sclerotium below. Photographs were taken
of this by Mr. Shutt. Dr. W. G. Farlow of Cambridge, Mass.,
had at the same time been making the same experiments, and
while pictures from here were sent to him, some of his were on
the way here. He determined the species as Polyporus
tuheraster.

G. ElFRIG.

MEETING OF ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF

ONTARIO.

At the recent annual meeting of the Entomological Society
of Ontario, held at Guelph, on October 31st and November 1st,
the 44th since the founding of the Society, three of the local
members of the Club were honoured by being elected to the
executive of the Society. Dr. James Fletcher was unanimously
elected President for the ensuing year, Mr. C. H. Young was
appointed Director of the Society for District No. 1, and Mr.
Arthur Gibson was elected as the Delegate to represent the
Society at the next meeting of the Royal Society of Canada.
Papers of a scientific and economic nature were presented by
the above gentlemen, and also bv Mr. H. H. Lyman, of Montreal,
Rev. Prof. Bethune, of Guelph, and Mr. C. W. Nash, of Toronto,
all members of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. In addition
to papers by various contributors, two important lectures were
delivered; "one on "Work in Massachusetts to control the
Brown-tail and Gypsy moths," by Mr. A. H. Kirkland, of
Boston, who has been connected since the beginning with this
work, the most extensive and successful experiment in practical
entomology which has ever been attempted; and the other by
Dr. E. M'. Walker, of Toronto, on "Collecting and rearing
Dragonflies at the Georgian Bay Biological Station in 1907."
Both of these lectures were well attended and were listened to
with great interest and profit by all present.

1907] Council Meetings. 167

COUNCIL MEETING.

A meeting of the Council of the Ottawa Field Naturalists*
Club was held on October* 8th in the Normal School with the
1st Vice-President, Mr. A. E. Attwood in the chair. Members
present were; Rev. Mr. Eifrig, Messrs. H. H. Pitts, A. Gibson,
E. E. Lemieux, and T. E. Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q.
Jackson, and Miss I. Ritchie.

Mr. J. F. Power, B.A., of the Normal School staff was
elected an ordinary' member of the Club.

The series of fall excursions having proved so successful,
it was decided to hold a sub-excursion to Britannia on October
12th, Rev. Mr. Eifrig to be in charge.

An informal discussion on the programme of soirees for
the approaching winter brought out so many good suggestions
that the Club may rest assured of a repetition of the success that
attended the lecture programme last season.

REVIEW.

PENHALLOW. D. P., Prof. "Manual of the North American
Gymnosperms." 8vo. 374 pp. Illustrated with 5.^ plates, &c. Ginn
and Company.

In this admirable work. Prof. Penhallow, of McGill Univer-
sity, gives a concise account of the anatomy of the North Ameri-
can Gymnosperms, and a full treatment of their histological
characters. The work deals with our Canadian as well as other
American species, together with references to Japanese as well
as Australian forms. Fossil plants referable to the Gymno-
sperms, which are so well-known in the extinct forests of the
Coal formations of old, so far as they are being and have been
studied, are included. This work is invaluable to all students
of recent as well as fossil botany. There are chapters also which
have a decided practical side and the economic problems in-
volved in manv instances add to the value of the work. Manv
interesting revelations await the reader and student who will
follow the path led by Dr. Penhallow in this most valuable
contribution to otir knowledge of the minute structure of the
Gvmnosperms.

H.M.A.

I

168 The Ottawa Naturalist [November

THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB.

LECTURE PROGRAMME.

1Q07
Dec. 10. — General Exhibition of Specimens.
Address by Dr. J F. White.
Personal Experiences in the Field during the past season :

Dr. S. B. Sinclair, "Education and Forestry." (Illustrated).

Dr. James Fletcher, "Mountain Sprites."

Dr. H. M. Ami, "A Talk on the Centenary of the Geological

Society of London."
Mr. F. T. Shutt, "Rain and Snow."

Mr. A. Halkett, "Observations in the Provinces of Alberta
and Saskatchewan." (Xormal School).
1908
Jan. 7. — -"Some Sanitary Considerations in the Construction, Heating,
and Ventilation of Dwellings." P. H. Bryce, M.D.

Report of the Zoological Branch. (Carnegie Library).

Jan. 21. — "The Honey Bee and other Bees." Dr. James Fletcher.

"The Life and Work of the Honey Bee as observed from Sprii:g
to Fall," Mr. Percy H. Selwyn.

Report of the Entomological Branch. (Carnegie Library).

Feb. 4. — -"The Height-of-Land Country between the St. Lawrence and
Hudson Bay Waters." (Illustrated). The President, Mr. W.
J. Wilson, Ph. B.

Report of the Geological Branch. (Normal School).

Feb. 18. — "Wheat, its Improvement and Uses." Dr. Charles Saunders.
(Illustrated) .

Report of the Ornithological Branch. (Normal School).

Mar. 3. — "The Time and Place for Nature Study in the Public Schools,"
Dr. John Brittain, Macdonald College.

Report of the Botanical Branch. (Normal School).

Mar. 17. — "What is the Shamrock?" Prof. John Macoun.
ANNUAL MEETING. (Carnegie Library).

All the Lectures are Free and Open to the Public. Each Meeting
will begin at 8 o'clock sharp.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

VOL. XXI. OTTAWA, DECEMBER, 1907 No. 9

RAIN AND SNOW.*

By Frank T. Shutt, M.A.,

Chemist, Dominion Experimental Farms.

The speaker, at the outset, said that if the title upon the
programme had led his hearers to imagine that his'remarks were
to be upon the weather, they were mistaken. There were
weather-wise people, ofificial and unofficial — the former con-
stituted the staff of the Dominion Meteorological Service, the
latter, the rest of the population. Weather prediction, according
to the best authorities, mtxst be based on data of temperatures,
pressures, etc., taken over wide areas — and such data can only
be obtained through the recognized, official channels. Again,
safe predictions can only be made for a period of 48 hours ahead.
Of course, some people may possess the gift of prophecy; one
cannot deny it, but judging from results as regards weather,
one is forced to the conclusion that the days when the spirit
of the lying prophet entered into man are not passed.

Considering rain and snow from the utilitarian point of view,
the lecturer said it was his desire to offer one or two thoughts on
the role of these elements? in the economy of Nature, their
influence upon the industries, the agriculture and the health
of the world.

The first fact to be pointed out — and it is one of funda-
mental importance — was that there was a constant circulation
(though that word scarcely describes the process) of the moisture,
the water of the world. Continuously, by day and by night,
summer and winter, there ascends from sea and lake and river
and moist land aqueous vapour. This evaporation is, of course,
due to the heat of the stm, though direct sunlight is not necessarv
for the operation. Water gives oft' vapour at all temperatures
and there is the direct conversion of snow and ice into vapour.

* This is a condensed report of an address delivered before the
Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club in the Normal School, Ottawa, Dec.
10th, 1907.— Ed.

170 The Ottawa Naturalist, [December

This evaporation, of course, varies constanth' v/ith the tempera-
ture, pressure, winds, etc. It has been computed that the area
of the United States, on an average, evaporates from its surface
0.4 (four tenths) inches every 24 hours. This vapour ascends
until its temperature is reduced to the " dew^ point" and thus
clouds are formed. Fogs and mists are clouds on the surface
of the earth, condensations to minute watery particles due to
reduction in temperature. Rain and snow result from further
condensation and the formation of larger particles. This
ascension and descension of the world's moisture is an essential,
fundamental factor in the maintenance of vegetable and animal
life on the earth.

In the Industrial World.

The flovv of our streams and the immense volumes of water
that pour over our numerous water-falls are dependant for their
supply upon the annual precipitation, i. e. upon rain and
snow. Possibly no country in the world has such wealth of
power in her water courses as Canada. It has onlv been partially
developed as yet, but from Niagara Falls alone — and it is only
one of many, though the largest — there is a total power chartered
for of 850,000 H.P. Of this, 299 H.P. are at present developed.
These figures include the product of the works on both sides of the
river. The three works generating electricity on the Canadian
side can to-day furnish 154,000 H.P., and their ultimate output
will be 425, 000 H.P. Datamight similarly be given for a score of
other water -falls being utilized to-day. This water-power
converted into electrical energy is employed for a thousand
useful purposes. It carries us through the streets of our cities,
and in many parts of Western Ontario from town to town.
It lights our houses, and in the realm of manufacture has already
largely replaced coal as a source of power. To tell of all its useful-
ness would be to give a catalogue of well nigh all our manufactures.
Carbide, itself a source of light, is made through the assistance
of electricity directly obtained through the power of the v/ater-
fall. Phosphorus, wood pulp, paper are similarly prepared,
a.nd so the list might be continued almost ad infinitum. It
would indeed be difficult to estimate the value from the com-
mercial standpoint of our precipitation and of our water-falls —
they constitute one of Canada's most important natviral
assets.

In the Agricultural World.

It is, of course, to agriculture that the greatest benefit
comes from our rain and snow. Vegetable life requires large

1907] Rain and Snow. 171

quantities of water for its maintenance. Oiar crop yields depend
not only on tlic amount of plant food in the soil, on a proper
texture of the soil, but also on certain climatic conditions,
prominent among which, and one might say of first importance,
is an adequate supply of available moistvire.

We are all aware, no doubt, that the footl taken from the soil
by plants is absorbed by the yoimg rootlets in the form of a very
dilute solution. This dilute food solution — non-elaborated sap —
passes up through the tissues of the stem or trunk and reaches
the leaves where chemical changes (metaboli.sm) takes place,
elaborated sap is formed and the excess of water, after the
deposition, as it might be termed, of mineral and nitrogenous
matter, passes ofif as vapour through the stomata of the leaves.
In this way enormous amounts of soil moisture are required for
our crops. For ever\- 1 lb. of dry matter stored tip in the plant,
at least 300 lbs. of water pass through its tissue and escape into
the atmosphere, Thus, a crop of Indian corn requires, per acre,
during its season of growth more than 1,000 tons of water. This
must be supplied, in addition to that lost b)' evaporation from
the surface of the soil, if a maximum crop is to be obtained.
By certain methods of cultivation, soil moisture mav be con-
served for crop use, and thus protect our crops against seasons
of drought. Indeed we now know how to keep over large amounts
of soil moisture from one season for the next vear's crops. This
is practised in the wheat fields of our Northwest by fallowing,
fohowed by frequent cultivation — the earth mulch so prepared
checks surface evaporation. In districts of sparse precipitation,
provision for the crop's need is made bv irrigation. This leads
us naturally to a consideration of the precipitation in various
parts of Canada. In a country or district to be settled the
question of the rainfall is a very important one to have some
information upon, and in this connection the data that are being
obtained and tabulated bv the Meteorological Service of Canada
are of inestimable value. The precipitation, as observed for
three consecutive years at a few important points across the
Dominion, is recorded in the following table. The data are
taken from the published records of our Meteorological vSer\-ice.

Precipitation is measured in inches. One inch of rain means
113 tons 601 lbs. of water per acre. Ten inches of snow are
considered the equivalent of one inch of rain. The average
rainfall at Ottawa for the past 16 years is 25.56 inches, and the
average snowfall" for the same period is 90.06 inches. This
latter fact means that we have had, per acre, during the winter,
approximately 1,000 tons of snow water.

172

The Ottawa Naturalist [December

Total Precipitation in Inches.

1902

1903

1904

Charlottetown, P.E.I. — As rain

— As snow

23.03
6.78

33.88
9.00

28.50
9.22

Halifax, N.S. — ^As rain

29.81

46.81

5.72

42.88

53.07
6.05

37.72
46.71

— As snow

10.81

St. John, N.B. — As rain

— As snow

52.53

36.08
4.76

40.84

35.54
11.22

59.12

37.55
9.41

57.52

36.84
8.19

Montreal, Qtie.— As rain

— As snov.'

46.96

24.88
11.27

45.03

32.40

12.32

Ottawa, Ont. — As rain

46.76

27.46
8.50

36.15

24.68
6.92

44.72
26.40

— ^As snow

10.63

Toronto, Ont.^As rain

— As snow

35.96

26.11
4.92

31.60

. 25.63
5.00

3 7 . 03

30.04
5.65

Winnipeg, Man. — As rain

— As snow

31.03

15.10

5.12

30.63

13.01
3.91

35.69

16.37
6.63

Indian Head, Sask. — As rain

— As snow

20.22

10.71
5.30

16.92

15.55
3.40

23.00

11.96
8.13

16.01

18.95

20.09

1907] Rain and Snow.

Total Puecipitation in Inches — coyitinned

173

1902

1903

1904

Calgary, Alta.^As rain

— As snow

29.63
4.54

16.62
3.71

11.82
3.06

Lethbridge, Alta. — As rain

— As snow

34.17

24.45
3.68

20.33

8.30
6.52

14.88

8.37
3.03

Edmonton, Alta. — As rain

— As snow

28.13

16.88
3.74

14.82

15.26
5.80

11.40

12.71
6.16

Kamloops, B.C. — As rain

— As snow

•

20.62

8.28
3.72

21.06

8.82
1.45

18.87

5.33
5.45

Nicola Lake, B.C. — ^As rain

— As snow

12.00

8.73
4.65

10.27

11.51
2.51

10.78

4.76
6.12

New Westminster, B.C. — As rain

— As snow

13.38

59.73
3.51

14.02

54.28
3.29

10.88

53.42
5.67

Victoria, B.C. — As rain

— As snow

63.24

24.84
1.61

57.57

24.42
1.85

59.09

25.60
.99

26.45

26.30

26.59

174 The Ottawa Naturalist. [December

Another phase of the subject is the fertiUzing value of rain
and snow. This is a matter that has received attention during
the past two years at the Experimental Farm laboratories. A
sample from every rainfall and snowfall is analysed and the
nitrogen compounds determined. The atmosphere contains
many gases in addition to those two which make up its general
composition, oxygen and nitrogen. The combustion of fuel,
the oxidation of food in animals, produce gases which find a
natural home in the atmosphere. From such sources, and also,
no doubt, to some extent from electric discharge, the air receives
gaseous nitrogen compounds. The air also contains much dust
and in the neighbourhood of cities a considerable quantitv of soot.
The rain and the snow falling through the atmosphei^e dissolves
these gases and washes out the dust and soot and thus bring
not inconsiderable amounts of fertilizing material to the soil. The
nitrogen compounds are chieflv ammonia, ammonium salts and
nitrates. All these are valuable agriculturally, because they fur-
nish available plant food. During the winter of 1 906-07 ,85.5 inches
of snow fell and this was found to possess nitrogen compounds
equivalent to 1 lb. (approximately) nitrogen per acre. Similarly,
analyses of last season's rain show that it furnished 3.5 lbs.
(approximately) of combined nitrogen per acre. As nitrogen
suitable for plant food is worth in a fertilizer about 1 7 cents per lb.
we find that the rain and snow together furnish, in the neighbour-
hood of Ottawa, about 75 cents worth of plant food per acre.

The soot and dust present in what appears to us the whitest
snow is readily made evident bv collecting some snow imimediatelv
after a fall and allowing it to melt in a clear glass jar — as the
snow liquifies the soot will be seen clinging to the sides of the
vessel and there will probably be also a deposit at the bottom
of the jar.

Snow benefits the farmer and frviit grower in other ways
besides fertilizing the land. Thus it lies as a blanket protecting
the roots of our fruit trees against excessive cold.

How Rain and Snow Affect the Health of the World.

The filtering of the atmosphere, the washing of the atmos-
X^here by the rain and snow, have already been referred to;
they purify and cleanse the air of both gaseous and solid impurities
and further, no doubt, rid it of many microbes. The large
amount of absorbent and filtering surface presented by the flakes
of snow as they fall perform this useful function to a
wonderful degree. In a very large measure the exhilarat-
ing character, the crispness, the claritv of our winter air is due
to this action of the snow. ' V^. Ui T A i ^

LIBRARYhsD

1907] Rain and Snow. 175

In this connection it was stated that from recent analyses of
the rain as it fell on the Strand, in the heart of the City of
London, it had been computed that no less than 3,738 tons of
impurities (soot, salts of ammonia, etc.) had been washed out
of the atmosphere above London (greater London comprises
about 75,000 acres) in less than a week. Of course, the air of
our Canadian cities is much cleaner than that of London — one
reason being that we burn anthracite, whereas in London soft
coal is used — but these figures are significant in indicating what
rain can do in purifying the atmosphere.

The relative humidity of the air plays an important part in
the maintenance of health. The humidity of the air is. of course,
directlv regulated or controlled bv the temperature, but the
source of the moisture which furnishes the air with aqueous
vapour is in the water that falls as snow and rain and rises again
by evaporation.

Water supplies, both large and small, from lake, river and
well, must all depend on the fall of rain and snow. A season of
drought means not only poor crops, but wells almost dry. In
countrv villages, especially, does this low water mean typhoid
fever. Over and over again has it been observed that an exces-
sivelv clrv autumn reduces the crop yield of the following year,
imless the average precipitation is brought up by heavy rains
the next spring — and not only this, but that sickness follows
quicklv in the train of drought. Stagnant water is impure water ;
the rain and the snow, as part of the cvcle which the water of
the earth performs, serves not only to give tis our water supplies,
but to keep them pure and wholesome.

ARCEUTHOBIUM PUSILLUM (Peck).

Arceuthobium pusillum is apparently widely spread through-
out Ontario, and in some places is doing serious mischief. Wherever
it occurs it is to be found in abundance, most of the branches
of the agrasitized tree being covered with it. Specimens of
A. pusillum on Picea nigra were first brought to me for identifi-
cation bv Mr. C. G. Eraser, one of mv students. They were
cohectedat Wilcox Lake, York County, by Messrs. S. R. Thomp-
son and C. G. Fraser. Later .further collections of stammate
and pistillate plants were secured at Snelgrove by Messrs. Jas.
and J. H. White, bv mvself at Wilcox Lake and at several points
in and near Algonquin Park, and by Mr. Bartlett, the Super-
intendent in Algonquin Park. The presence of this dwarf
mistletoe is at once evident by the "witches' brooms" it occasions.
It is likewise verv destructive to the life of the tree.

J. H. Faull.

176 Kawartha Mushrooms. [December

KAWARTHA MUSHROOMS.
By Cephas Guillet.

In addition to the 71 species of fungi from the Kawartha
Lakes recorded in the July issue of The Ottawa Naturalist,
the writer found eleven species in September, 1907, all at Stony
Lake. These also were identified by Dr. Charles Horton Peck,
and are given below. One of them, the "fl}^ agaric," Amanita
muscaria, L. is very poisonous. According to Underwood the
decoction of this plant is used by the Russians in Siberia for
producing hilarious intoxication. It owes its name to its use
by country people as a fly-poison. Quite a number of these
brilliant yellow and pumpkin-colored mushrooms were found
on Horseshoe Island scattered about over the ground in open
"second growth."

Lycoperdon gemmatum, Batsch. (A puff-ball).

Boletus spectabilis, Pk. (Edible).

Boletinus paluster, Pk.

Boletinus pictus, Pk. (Edible).

Hygrophorus conicus, (Scop.) Fr.

Lactarius velleretis, Fr.

Amanita muscaria L. Dr. Peck adds, "approaching A.
formosa G. and R., from which it appears to differ only in having
the centre of the cap orange color."

Cortinarius pulchrifolius, Pk.

Cortinarius coerulescens, Fr.

Cortinarius mucifluus, Fr.

Cortinarius rimosus, Pk.

Four new species discovered by the present writer in the
Kawartha region are described bv Dr. Peck in the Bulletin of the
Torrey Botanical Club, 34; 1897,' ps. 97, 98, 345 and 346.

I

WAX WINGS AT GALT.

Cedar waxwings are wintering around here in fairly large
numbers. On December 29th, several flocks were observed
feeding upon the berries of the wild holly (Ilex verticillata, Gray)
which borders our manv ponds, the fruit being very abundant
this season. When taking the fruit they would always carry it
to the higher trees to devour. Slate-colored juncoes were also
plentiful during the latter davs of December. None of our
irregular winter visitants from the north have been observed
so far.

Gait, December 3rd, 1907. W. Herriot.

1907] Additions to the Geological Survey Museum. 177

NOTES ON TWO RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE ZO-
OLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN THE MUSEUM OF
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.

By J. F. Whiteaves.

The additions are two specimens that were presented by
the Rev. J. H. Keen, of Metlakatla, B.C., per Dr. James
Fletcher, on the 24th of December, 1907. Thev are as follows: —

(1). MiCROTUs M.vcRURUs, Merriam.

{The Olympic Vole).

"Parturiunt montcs, nascitur ridiculus mus."

Skin of a female of this species. The animal was captured
by Mr. Keen at or near Metlakatla, on the 28th of August, 1907.

Under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Mr. Vernon Bailey has published a "Revision of American
Voles of the Genus Microtus'' in 1900, and Mr. David E. Lantz,
"An Economic Study of Field Mice (Genus Microtus)" in 1907.

" Field mice, of the genus Microtus," writes Mr.
Lantz, have "stout bodies, blunt, rounded muzzles, small eyes,
and short ears — often completely concealed in the fur. The
tail is short and hairy ; the soles of the feet are naked or clothed
with short hairs, and have five or six foot pads (plantar ttibercles).
The incisors are broad and not grooved.

"The molar teeth, in all members of the genus, like the
incisors of all rodents, grow continuouslv throughout the life
of the animal and do not develop roots. They are prismatic
in form, and the crowns show triangular dentinal spaces sur-
rounded by lines of harder enamel. These curious enamel
patterns are of great importance in the classification of the
animals, as they are but slightly affected by age and wear and
are remarkably constant for each species.

"About 165 living species and subspecies of Microtus have
been recognized (1904), of which about 78 are North American."

And of these 78, it may be added, about 30 are now known
to occur in Canada. In the Museum of the Survey there are
about 100 skins of Canadian voles or field mice of this genus,
representing at least 10 species or subspecies, and including a
fine series of skins of M. Drummondii from Alberta and British
Columbia.

178

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[December

The "Olympic Vole" was first described by Dr. C. Hart
Merriam, under the name Microtus fnacrwMS, in the Proceedings
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for August,
1898. The English name proposed for it by Mr. Bailey in 1900,
is intended to recall to the m.emory the circumstance that the
specimens upon which the species was originally based, were
collected at Lake Cushman, in the Olympic Mountains, State
of Washington.

As its specific name implies, M. macrunts belongs to the
"Longicaudus Group" of the genus, which, according to Mr.
Bailey, is characterized by the "long tail and gray color."

(2). Ceratokhina monocerata (Pallas) Cassin.

(Tlic Rhinoceros Atiklet).
"Rara avis in terris."

One egg, which is believed to be that of a bird of this species.
This egg, Dr. Fletcher writes, was brought to Mr. Keen in June,
1907, by an English sailor, who keeps a lighthouse on Lucy
Island, about 7 miles west of Metlakatla. At the same time he
brought an auklet, which he said he had trapped at the mouth
of the hole at the end of which he found the egg. Mr. Keen
says: "I can answer for the correct identification of the bird,
but have, of course, only the man's word that the egg is that of
a rhinoceros auklet." The egg certainly agrees very well with
Dr. Coues' description of that of Ceratorhina, which is as follows:
"Egg single, colorless or nearly so, but more or less obscureh'-
marked, as in Lundn and Fratercula; size, 2.70 x 1.80. The egg
pre.sented by Mr. Keen measures 2.70 x 1.75. Eggs of this
species would appear to be rare in collections, as they are not
listed or offered for sale in any egg dealer's catalogue that the
writer has seen.

The rhinoceros auklet (formerly called also the unicorn
auklet or horn-billed auklet) is the only known species of the
genus Ceratorhina. One of the most marked peculiarities of
birds of this genus is the horned bill, which is thus described by
Coues: — "Bill smooth, base of upper mandible with a large
upright horn, and under mandible with an accessory horny
piece lying between its rami; this piece and the horn deciduous,
when base of mandible covered with a soft cere." Coues also
says that the sy.iecies inhabits "both coasts and islands of the
north Pacific to Lower California and Japan;" that it is "not
specially Arctic;" and that it has bred as far south as the

1907] Additions to the Geological Survey Museum. 179

Farallone Islands. Lord says that it has been "found in the
Gulf of Georgia," and that it "breeds on the islands around
Vancouver Island." R. Brown also says that it occurs on the
"coasts of Vancouver Island."

This auklet belongs to the Alcidae or Auk family, and to
the subfamily Phaleridinse, which includes the auklets, murre-
lets, and black guillemots. As Coues says, the "Phaleridinae
all belong to Pacific and Polar waters, excepting some species
of Cepphus."

Six species of auklet are recorded by Professor Macoun in
his "Catalogue of Canadian Birds." In the Museum of the Survey
five of these species are represented, either by mounted specimens
or by eggs, and in two cases, by both. The rhinoceros auklet
is represented in it only by the egg recently presented by Mr.
Keen; and Cassin's auklet by a mounted specimen from Queen
Charlotte Sound. The paroquet auklet is represented in it
by two mounted specimens from St. Paul Island, Behring Sea;
the crested auklet by two mounted specimens and one egg,
from St. Paul Island; and the least auklet by three stuffed
specimens and four eggs, from St. Paul Island.

COUNCIL MEETING.

The regular monthly Council Meeting for November was
attended by the following members: The President, Mr. W. J.
Wilson, Messrs. A. E. Attwood, A. Halkett, A. Gibson, J. M.
Macoun, H. H. Pitts, E. E. Lemieux, and T. E. Clarke; Miss A.
L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson, and Miss I. Ritchie.

Six persons were elected as ordinary members, viz. :
W. A. Johnston, M.iV., B.Sc, Geological Survey.
Chas. N. Robertson, Ottawa.
J. Letourneau, Experimental Farm.
R. F. Fleming, Normal School, Ottawa.
John Blackball, 45 Dewson St., Toronto.
C. Camsell, B.A., Geological Survey.

180

The Ottawa Naturalist [December

MARL SHELLS FROM COBALT.

The following species were found in a small lot of marl
from Cobalt, recently received from Mr. George H. Clapp, of
Pittsburg, Pa. Though not extensive, it is of interest, not only
as from that locality, but for comparison with the shells from
similar deposits in Michigan and elsewhere.

I am indebted to Dr. V. Sterki for the identification of the
Pisidia and the notes accompanying them.

Zonitoides arborea Say. Apparently recent.
Pyramidula cronkhitei anthonyi Pils. Apparently recent.
Physa heterostropha Say.

Planorbis bicarinatus striaiiis Baker. The specimens are
not only spirally lineate, but also transversely corrugated, very
like the var. corrugatus Currier.
Planorbis campamdatus Sav.
Planorbis e. vacuous Say.
Planorbis parvus Sav.
Planorbis deflectus Say.
Planorbis hirsiiius Gld.
Ancylus parallelus Hald.
Valvata tricarinata Say.
SphcBrimn simile Sav.
Sphrerium striatinum Lam.
Musculium securis Prime.
Pisidium kirklandi Sterki.
with finer stria?."

Pisidium contortum Prime.
Pisidium rotundaUim Prime.
Pisidium, noveboracense Prime.
Pisidium mainense Sterki .
regular."

Pisidium medianium Sterki.
Pisidium pauper culum Sterki.
Pisidium tenuissimum Sterki.
Pisidium vesiculare Sterki.
seen from Canada and Minnesota, verv oblique and shape
different from that of the tvpes. "

Pisidium scutellatum Sterki. "Small, juvenile."
"Not a specimen was seen that might be referred to P.
abditum.

"It is interesting to note that most of the species are
represented by small, and, in some cases, specifically northern
forms especially that of vesiculare. Scutellatum, if mature,
would probablv show the same." Bryant Walker.

'Like typical examples, but

"Small."
' ' Striae extremelv

fine and

'Small."

"Small."
"Small".
"A small northern variety,

1907] Winter Birds in Montcalm County 181

NOTES ON WINTER BIRDS IN MONTCALM COUNTY,

QUEBEC.

Bv L. McI. Terrill.

During each December of the past two winters I have
spent a fortnight camping north of Lac Tremblante, Montcalm
County, Que. The weather from Dec. 8th-20th, 1906, was
excessively cold, with the exception of two or three days, the
thennometer dropping as low as 35° below zero, though the
average was about 12° below. This was probably the cause
of the appearance of large packs of wolves from the north,
which in turn drove the deer closer to civilization.

This year, during the same period, we had rain or snow
for several days (so mild in fact that at least one bear, one
chipmunk and two specimens of a species of hibernating moth,
had been induced to leave their winter quarters). The wolves
had not put in an appearance, and the deer were more scattered.
In 1906 the ice on Lac Tremblante was a foot or more in thick-
ness on Dec. 9th, whilst this year it had not taken on the day
we left, Dec. 21st.

Of the birds observed the woodpeckers outnumbered all
others, five species being noticed; namely, downy, hairy, Arctic
three-toed, American three-toed, and pileated woodpeckers.
I have named them in order of abundance, only a few specimens
of the pileated being observed each year. I did not record the
American three-toed woodpecker in 1906, bvit probably over-
looked it.

When drilling for larvae the pileated woodpecker can be
heard at a much greater distance than any of the others. Then
in turn the three-toed woodpecker makes more noise than the
hairy and downy. If one had a fine perception of sound he
might in time almost name the different species by the sound
made in drilling.

The American crossbill and pine grosbeak were noticed
daily, and both were feeding principally on the seeds of coni-
ferous trees. I heard a grosbeak singing on three or four occa-
sions. Pine siskins were noted abundantly, and less commonly
the redpoll, (.4. linaria) brown creeper, white and red-breasted
nuthatch, whilst the ever present black-capped chickadee was
everywhere. The difference in the abundance of the jays was
notable. I have no record for the blue jay in 1906, though there
may have been a few, while in 1907 they were numerous. Com-
pare this with an abundance of Canada jays in 1906, and a
scarcity in 1907 almost corresponding to that of the blue jay

182 The Ottawa Naturalist, [December

in 1906. A few pairs of northern ravens were seen. Perhaps
they are attracted by the deer that are shot in the district, as
thev feed on the entrails.

Of the Raptores the hawk owl appeared the most numerous
at least in 1Q07, perhaps because my walks in 1907 led me over
larsfe areas of burnt mountain land, for the hawk owl seems to
prefer an open space m the woods, where, from some stumps,
it can see to a considerable distance. One of the hawk owls
was engaged in devouring a Canada ruffed grouse. I heard
the great horned owl hooting on dark days and in the evening,
also saw one snowy owl in 1906, and a bald eagle in 1907.

This completes the list of birds noticed, with the exception
of the Canada ruffed grouse. These birds were fairly common,
but were not very noticeable in 1907 on account of the prevalent
dark weather, keeping hidden beneath windfalls and in the
thick of coniferous trees. In sunny weather only would thev
venture into the birch trees to feed on the buds.

A friend camping in the vicinitv during November, 1906,
gave me the following notes : —

Nov. 20, 1906 — Snowy owl seen with hare.

Nov. 23, " — Black ducks still at Lac Tremblante.

Nov. 28, " — Loons seen on Lac Tremblante.

He has had occasion to be in the locality a great deal
during the summer and fall and says that black ducks and loons
usually remain until the lake is frozen; also that bald eagles
and ravens are permanent residents.

Lac Tremblante is only a short distance from Mt. Tremblante
Station, one of the highest points in the Laurentian Mountains.

BOTANICAL NOTE.

Cassia chamcBcrista. I have received from Mr. P. M. Thomp-
son, the Science Master of the Collegiate Institute, St. Thomas,
Ont., a specimen of the partridge pea which was collected by
one of his students in the vicinity of St. Thomas. It grew in a
meadow near to the Wabash Railroad, and Mr. Thompson
suggests that this may possibly explain its occurrence at St.
Thomas. However that may be the finding of the specimen
of this annual plant growing in Canada is worthy of being
recorded, although of course it is a common plant in sandy
fields in the southern States.

James Fletcher.

I907J Food Habits of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 183

AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION ON THE FOOD

HABITS OF THE YELLOW-BELLIED

SAPSUCKER {Spyropicus varius).

While visiting Mr. R. W. Shepherd, Como, Que., on July
20th, 1907, the writer was attracted by the large numlier of
leaves which were lying on the ground beneath a specimen of
the Cottonwood {Popuhis deltoidea. Marsh) which was grovv'ing
near the house.

The leaves were green and healthy looking from a distance,
and as there had been no storm to blow them off we were puzzled
at first to know what had caused them to fall. On enquiry
we were informed that the dropping of the leaves was caused
by birds. The leaves were examined and it was discovered
that on everv petiole, close to the blade of the leaf, there was a
gall of the species known as the Poplar Stem Gall (Pemphigus
populicaulis, Fitch). Each of these galls when perfect is the
home of a colonv of slate-colored plant lice, the species being
known as the Poplar Stem Gall Louse. These galls had been
opened and not an insect was left inside. On looking up into
the tree a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Spyropicus varius) was
seen busilv engaged in picking holes into the galls and evidently
eating the insects which were inside. The galls grew, as described
above, on the petioles of the leaves and the tearing apart of
these by the bird caused the leaves to fall. Almost every leaf
on the tree was affected by this gall, and we were informed by
Mr. Shepherd that the almost constant falling of the leaves
on the ground had made this bird a very undesirable visitor,
as it was practically impossible to keep the lawn in order. This
note is published in the Ottawa Naturalist as it is believed
there have been few records of this kind made before.

W. T. Macoun.

AsPLENiUM Ruta-muraria, L. — This plant was recorded in
The Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XX., p. 135 from Southampton,
Ont.,asnewto Canada. The Rev W. A. Burman has since
shown me specimens collected by him at Banff, Rocky Moun-
tains, in July, 1893. It must be\'ery rare there, as few places
in Canada have been so well botanized as Banff, during the past
ten vears, and no one else has reported it.

J. M. M.

184 The Ottawa Naturalist. [December

BOOK NOTICE.

"Farm Weeds of Canada," by George H. Clark, B.S.A., and
James Fletcher, LL.D., F.R.S.C, F.L.S., with illustrations
by Norman Criddle: Dominion Department of Agriculture,
Branch of the Seed Commissioner.

This long looked for, beautifully illustrated bulletin, quite
recently made its appearance. In his letter of transmittal to
the Honourable the Minister of Agriculture, Seed Commissioner
Clark draws attention to the enormous losses which are ever\'
year caused by noxious w^eeds, and mentions briefly some of
the many means by which they become disseminated. It is
pleasing to note that the three men who prepared this bulletin
are all active members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.
The text of the bulletin is written by Dr. James Fletcher, our
leading authority on the subject. In the introductory chapter
the importance is pointed out of knowing a weed when seen,
and calling it by its true name, not necessarily the botanical
name, but the name it is known by and written about in agricultural
publications. Under each botanical family the chief Canadian
weeds are treated of with remedies, and a coloured life-sized
plate is given of each. In all there are 56 plates, 51 of the most
important weeds, 1 showing three grasses attacked by ergot,
and 4 of the chief weed seeds found in commercial grains. On
these latter 4 plates, 80 weed seeds are shown in colours, at
natural size and enlarged so as to show each seed as it appears
under the ordinary pocket magnifying glass used by farmers
and seedsmen. The bulletin is beautifully printed and gotten
up, and much credit is due to all concerned in its preparation.
It will be of immense value to the farmers of Canada in acquaint-
ing them with the pernicious weeds on their farms and how to
eradicate them. To the botanist too it will be a welcome addition
to the literature. As a government publication it stands in a
class by itself, and is undoubtedly one of the very best contri-
butions on the subject which has vet appeared.

A. G.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

VOL. XXI. OTTAWA, JANUARY, 1908 No. 10

DATES OF DEPARTURE IN THE FALL MIGRATION
OF THE MORE COMMON BIRDS OF OTTAWA..

By G. EiFRiG

The appended list does not claim to be complete or quite
exact. This would take several observers, who would have to
have much time and opportunity at their disposal for making
observations. However, the list gives an approximate idea.
Some vears certain birds stay longer than in others. Of many
species the bulk leaves at a fairly regular time, Avhile single
skulking, belated individuals of their kind linger much longer
and people accidently seeing «:uch a one, e.g., a robin, will feel
in position to impugn any li:.t, even if its dates were accurate
for the species in general. At its best the Fall migration cannot
be studied so successfully as the one in Spring. Then the birds
come with a greater regularity, they can be seen better on
account of the bareness of the trees and fields, they are livelier,
in manv cases in a more flashy plumage than in Fall, when
many are averse to being seen, are not given to song, and tra\'el
in smaller flocks. A few only are more noticeable in Fall than
in Spring, as the blackbirds. The Vv'riter would again urge
members of the O.F.N.C.to next year begin to keep a list of.
the birds that thev know seen by them ; when they saw the first
and last ones, and send in such lists to him. The writer must
acknowledge his indebtedness to Mrs. Brown and Miss Lees of
Ottawa East, without whose co-operation this list would be
much more incomplete than it is now. Several dates were also
furnished by Mr. C. H. Young.

1905 1906 1907

Bluebird Oct. 20 Oct. 16 Oct. 17

Robin Dec. 2 Oct. 30 Oct. 29

Hermit Thrush Oct. 21 Oct. 10

Wilson's Thrush Oct. 4

Olive-backed Thrush Oct. 2

186

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[January

1905 1906 1907

Rubv-crowned Kinglet Oct. 23 Oct. 16 Oct. 14

Golden-crowned Kinglet Oct. 23 Oct. 16 Oct. 19

White-breasted Nuthatch Dec. 4 Nov. 25 Nov. 21

Brown Creeper Dec. 4 Nov. 23

Winter Wren Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 1 1

House Wren Sept. 30

Catbird Sept. 22

Redstart Sept. 6

Canadian Warbler Sept. 10

Wilson's Warbler Sept. 10

Northern Yellowthroat Aug. 21

Mourning Warbler Sept. 9

Watcrthrush Sept. 14

Ovenbird Sept. 6

Yellow Palm Warbler Sept. 20

Black-throated Green Warbler.. . Sept. 20 Oct. 10

Blackburnian Warbler Sept. 11

Blackpoll Warbler Sept. 18

Bay-breasted Warbler Sept. 8

Chestnut-sided Warbler Sept. 10

Magnolia Warbler Sept. 9

Myrtle Warbler Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 17

Black-throated Blue Warbler. . . . Sept. 6 Sept. 6

Yellow Warbler Sept. 22

Black and White Warbler Sept. 20 Sept. 18

Blue-headed Vireo Sept. 6

Warbling Vireo Sept. 1 1 Sept. 22

Red-eyed Vireo Sept. 26 Oct. 10

Migrant Shrike Oct. 13

Cedarbird Dec. 1 Sept. 16

Bank Sv/allow Sept. 14

Barn Swallow Aug. 29 Oct. 5

Puq)le Martin Aug. 25

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Sept. 16

Fox Sparrow Oct. 16 Oct. 24

Swamp Sparrow Sept. 29 Oct. 3

Song Sparrow Nov. 1 Oct. 23 Nov. 23

Junco Oct. 23 Oct. 23 Nov. 4

Chipping Sparrow Oct. 12 Oct. 9 Oct. 11

Tree Sparrow Oct. 25 Oct. 23 Oct. 17

White-throated Sparrow Oct. 23 Oct. 16 Oct. 17

White-crowned Sparrow Oct. 12 Oct. 3

Savanna Sparrow Sept. 20 Oct. 5

Vesper Sparrow Oct. 20 Oct. 16 Oct. 5

■ Goldfinch Sept. 28 Oct. 16

1908] Dates of Departure of Common Birds 187

1905

Redpoll

Purple Finch

Bronzed Grackle Oct. 10

Rusty Blackbird Oct. 10

Meadowlark

Redwinged Blackbird

Baltimore Oriole

Bobolink

Crow Nov. 4

Prairie Horned Lark Oct. 9

Wood Pewee Sept. 6

Phoebe Oct. 10

Kingbird Aug. 3 1

Hummingbird Sept. 14

Chimney Swift

Nighthawk Aug. 2 1

Whip-poor-will Oct. 5

Flicker Sept. 28

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sept. 11

Downy Woodpecker

Hairv Woodpecker Dec. 1

Kingfisher Sept. 23

Black-billed Cuckoo

Sparrow Hawk Sept. 6

Marsh Hawk Nov. 7

Killdeer Sept. 1 1

Wilson's Snipe Oct. 30

Woodcock Oct. 16

Great Blue Heron Nov. 6

Bittern

Canada Goose Nov. 6

Bonaparte's Gull

Herring Gull

Holboell's Grebe

Loon Nov. 9

1906

190

7

Dec.

13

Oct.

2

Oct.

3

Sept.

26

Oct.

11

Nov.

6

Oct.

28

Aug.

17

Aug.

21

Oct.

26

Sept.

11

Sept.

26

Oct.

2

Aug.

10

Sept.

20

Sept.

10

Aug.

24

Sept.

16

Sept.

26

Oct.

1

Oct.

1

Oct.

17

Oct.

26

Oct.

29

Oct.

15

Aug.

21

Oct.

7

Oct.

8

Sept

. 13

Nov.

5

Oct.

15

Oct.

29

Nov.

3

Oct.

15

Oct.

30

Oct.

15

Nov.

20

Oct.

7

Nov.

3

Dec.

7

Oct.

16

Oct.

22

Dec.

18

Oct.

3

LATE BIRDS AT GALT.

On December 19th, 1907, a female, or immature male.
hooded merganser was shot on the Grand River within the town
limits and about a half hour later a coot appeared at the same
spot, which was also taken, the last named being an unusually
late record for this species. Golden-crowned kinglets were
observed Januarv 18th in some numbers. W. Herriot.

Gait, Ont.. Januarv 18th, 1908.

188 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

NOTES ON EXPERIMENTS RELATING TO THE ORIGIN

OF LIFE-FORMS.

By Mark G. McElhinney.

On January 17th, 1908, while examining se^•eral sHdes,
made on May 6th, 1906, I made an interesting find.

Near the centre of slide No. 3 was an object, very different
from the surrounding crystals. It closely resembled a small star
fish, having six radiating arms. Five of these were slightly
wavy, while the sixth had a decided curve to its outer third.
It lacked the rigid geometrical form and outlines of the usual
crystals, and the arms appeared to be rounded in section.

After it had been examined by myself, my assistant and
several members of my family, I lost it on the field. After
some minutes of searching it was found and then again lost.
Being called away I did not look for it again for several hours
and was disappointed in not rediscovering it. Some two hours
of further search failed to again reveal it, and, as the slides
change somewhat rapidly when removed from the incubator,
I concluded that further search would be useless.

It was identical in form with a diatom described by Carpen-
ter as Bacteriastrum jurcatum which is frequently found in the
stomachs of Ascidians, Salpae, Holothuriae and other marine
animals.

My highest power being a quarter inch, I w^as unable to
examine its structure and so am unable to say whether it was the
true diatom or a crystal prototype. Its disappearance would
incline one to the latter view. There not being time to stain and
cover it, it may have become detached from the slide. Generally
when crystals become detached, an outline remains on the slide;
in this case I could find no outline.

Near it was a large crystal bv which I tried to locate it.
After the disappearance of the starlike form I saw an object
which before had been unnoted; it resembled a large irregular
amoeba, but I cannot say that it was not there before.

All of the slides are covered by an open network of fine
lines which branch out irregularlv, like rivers and their tributaries
on a map. They appear to be a primitive form of vegetable life.

The slides were made by evaporating drops of a three per-
cent, solution of sodium chloride, containing certain proportions
of the elements found in animal life, and to which were added
bisulphide of carbon and .silicic acid.

On the morning of the 18th, I found, on the same slide,
a form resembling a ciliated columnar cell. No movement was
detected in either form. When my photographic apparatus
is completed, I hope to be able to make positive records of the
slides.

1908] Birds Seen on Sable Island, N.S. 189

LIST OF BIRDS SEEN ON SABLE ISLAND, N.S., FROM
MARCH 28th, 1906, TO JAN. 1st, 1907.

By James Bouteiler.

NAME OF SPECIES.

DATE SEEN.

NO. SEEN.

American Crow Mar.

Robin April

Common and Arctic Terns " '

Junco

Semipalmated Ringed Plover....

Piping Plover

Least Sandpiper

Rubv -crowned Kinglet May

Barn Swallow

Various Swallows

White-throated Sparrows

Spotted Sandpiper

Yellowlcgs

Catbird

Henslow Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Black-polled Warbler "

White-throated Sparrows

Roseate Terns

Red Phalaropc

Hermit Thrush

Magnoha Warbler

House Wren

Swamp Thrush

Chimnev Swift June

Gulls..." '^'

Pine Warbler

Black-throated Green W^arbler. . "

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher "

Long-tailed Squaws "

Red-breasted Nuthatch "

Pine Siskin July

Yellowlegs

White-rumped Sandpiper "

Wilson Snipe

Curlew

Crossbill, American "

28. . .

. . . One.

5 . . .

. . . Seven or eight

2 5...

... In numbers.

23. . .

. . .One.

25. . .

. . . Several.

30. ..

. . .Several.

30. . .

. . .Several.

4. . .

. . . One.

10. . .

. . . One.

10. ..

. . . About a dozen.

10. . .

. . .Several.

15. . .

. . .One.

15. . .

. . .Several.

16. . .

. . .Several.

16. . .

. . .Several.

16. . .

. . .One.

18. . .

. . . One.

20. . .

... In numbers.

20. . .

... In numbers.

21

... In numbers.

24. . .

. . .One.

24. . .

. . . One.

24. . .

. . .One.

26. . .

. . . One.

3. . .

. . One.

7. . .

. . .About a dozen.

17. . .

. . One.

17. . .

. . . . One.

20. ..

One.

26. . .

. . . . A pair.

27. . .

. . . . One.

2. . .

One.

9

. . . One.

14. . .

. . . . Three.

20. . .

. . . . About a dozen.

20. . .

. . . .About a dozen.

21. . .

One.

190

The Ottawa Naturalist.

[January

NAME OF SPECIES.

Yellowlegs Aug

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Black-bellied Plover

Sparrow Hawk

Pectoral Sandpiper

Nuthatch

Yellowlegs

Black-bellied Plover

Nuthatch... Aug

Curlew

Great Blue Heron

Bittern

DATE SEEN NO. SEEN

4 In numbers.

4 A few.

4 A few.

4 One.

4 One.

4 One.

4 In numbers.

4 In numbers.

3 Several.

Sept. 7 In numbers.

8 One.

8 One.

24 Four or five.

24 One.

25 One.

26 Several.

26 Various kinds.

. In flocks.

29 In numbers

29 Several.

Plover and Yellowlegs During Sept In numbers.

Hawks During Sept Several kinds.

White-throated Sparrow Sept. 23 Several.

Rusty Blackbird

Black and White Warbler

Black-billed Cuckoo '

Ainerican Pipit

Flvcatchers

Terns, all left During Sept

Sanderlings During Sept

Myrtle Warbler Sept

Pine Warbler

House Wren "

Fox Sparrow "

Golden-crowned Kinglet "

Knot Oct.

Canadian Goose "

Least Bittern "

Florida Gallinule "

House Sparrow "

White-winged Crossbill "

Long-tailed Squaws Nov

Kittiwakes "

Blue-winged Teal "

Mallard "

Robins "

J\incos "

Yellow-bellied Nuthatch "

Hermit Thrush "

Fox Sparrows "

Scaup Ducks "

Killdeer Plover "

29

29

29

6

9

9

13

One.
One.
One.
One. f

Seven.

One.

One.

06*C>|^

14 SeveralK^]^

22 Several. ^'^

1

A few flocks

1 In numbers.

1 One.

1 Six or seven.

5 In numbers.

5

5

5

13 Two or three.

13 About thirty.

13 Two.

1908] Birds Seen ox Sable Island, N.S. 191

name of species. date seen. no. seen

Baldpate Nov. 13 Two.

Grebe " 13 Two.

Common Gallinule " 22 One.

Crow " 23 One.

Cormorant Jany. 1

Notes. — ^The terns were seen in April only about the bars
at either end of the island. When the red phalaropes arrived
there were dozens of flocks of from 50 to 100 in each. The curlew
were more abundant than they have been for manv vears.
October 6th, nearly all the migrants left. The Florida galinule
taken October 13th was the first one ever taken on the island.
The robins, j uncos, nuthatches and hermit thrushes seen Nov.
5th were all noticed after a heavy gale.

SOME OF THE INFLUENCES AFFECTING SEED

PRODUCTION.

(meeting of THE BOTANICAL BRANCH).

A meeting of the Botanical Branch of the Ottawa Field
Naturalists' Club was held at the house of Mr. E. R. Cameron on
December 21st, 1907.

The members present were: Messrs. Fletcher, Whyte,
Prof. Macoun, W. T. Macoun, E. R. Cameron, Roy Cameron,
Attwood and Ami.

The chair was taken by Prof. J. Macoun who proposed a
discussion on the "Influences Affecting Fruit and Seed Produc-
tion." This subject had been brought to his attention by a
paper prepared and read to him by his son, Mr. W. T. Macoun.
After introducing the subject. Prof. MaCoun asked his son to give
some of the points brought up in his paper. This was done and
the following extract from this paper will give some of the matter
presented for discussion.

Seed Production in Nature. — ^The principal means of
reproduction in nature is by seeds, although plants frequently
increase by their vegetative parts as well. In nature, individual
plants do not necessarily produce their maximum crops, for in
the struggle of many species for existence individual specimens
may often be so crowded that they have little opportunity of
producing much seed. Under cultivation many plants will
produce much more seed than in nature, while others will .scarcely

192 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

thri\-e at all, or fail utterly. Plants may be divided for the
purposes of this paper into" Shade Enduring," "Light Enduring,"
"Shade Needing," "Light Needing."

Plants which need shade will not endure bright sunlight,
hence many wild flowers growing naturally in very shady woods
soon die if exposed to bright sunlight. On the contrary, plants
which need light will soon die in dense shade. Examples of these
are the birch and poplar, which, when they have abundant light,
grow rapidly, but if shaded, wnll soon die. Then there are the
shade enduring trees, such as the spruce, cedar, beech and hem-
lock, which will live for years under dense shade ; and there are
the light enduring species, such as some of our wild flowers,
which succeed best in shady places, but will also thrive well in
bright sunlight.

Plants which grow" naturally in shade are not great seed
producers, but to make up for this they often increase very
rapidly bv offsets, layers and suckers. It is interesting to note
that a large proportion of the plants in woods are spring flowering
species which bloom before the leaves of the trees are fully out
and before there is dense shade. Most plants need abundant
sunlight for great seed production as it is through sunlight and
by the aid of the leaves that the nourishment necessary for the
production of seed is secured. For example, take the weeds
which are great seed producers. Of the many plants which have
become weeds here there are \-ery few which are natives of this
country, as most of our species are woodland plants and also
do not succeed well in the open, while the introduced weeds have
been grown in open ground for centuries. The asters and golden
rods, which are abundant seed producers, are native plants.
These grow naturalh' in meadows or open woods.

Most of our cultivated fruits are light needing plants
thriving best and producing the largest crops in full sunlight
and the foregoing information has been giA'cn wnth a
view to impressing this fact on fruit growers. Plants
take food from the soil and air. From the soil,
the plant food passes up through the young wood in crude
sap, which, on being distributed through the leaves, is changed by
the action of sunlight and other agencies and becomes what is
known as "elaborated" or made fit to add new tissue to the
plant. This elal^orated sap returns between the bark and the
yoxmg wood and is distributed over the plant as required.
It descends to the roots and in the case of herbaceous biennials
and perennials it accumulates there and this plant food is stored
up and made available for leaf or seed production the following
year, as in the beet, turnip, carrot, mangold, and onion, which in

1908] Influences Affecting Seed Production 193

order to produce a good crop of seeds must have abundant foliage
the previous year. It is our belief that when shrubs and trees
have accumulated a certain amount of this elaborated sap they .
are induced in nature to bear fruit, but just what proportion of
such sap it is necessary for each tree to have is not known. What
is known, however, is that certain methods of cultivating fruits
will induce fruitfulness. Most fruits require bright sunshine
for the development of fruit buds, but with the sunshine there
must be an abundant supply of leaves to convert the crude sap
into the elaborated form.

There are many examples showing that when a certain
proportion of elaborated sap is in the branches of trees, that fruit
production will follow. If a branch of a tree is injured in some
way so that the flow of elaborated sap downward is checked it
accumulates in the branch above, and that branch having more
than its proportion develops fruit buds. When the roots of a
tree are severely pruned and the flow of sap downward and into
them is checked the top has a larger proportion of elaborated
sap than is necessary for the development of leaves merelv and
it develops fruit buds. A spell of dry weather at the right time
in summer will probably induce the production of fruit buds as
growth is checked and there is a larger proportion of elaborated
sap available than there would otherwise be. When one variety
of fruit is grafted on another the sap at the point of union is
more or less checked in its downward course and the top retains
a larger proportion of elaborated sap than it needs for its healthy
development and fruit "buds are produced before thev would be if
the tree were grown as a standard tree. Some plants and some
varieties take longer to come into bearing than others, but what
the vital principle is which governs this is not known, but it is
evident that just as soon as there is a surplus of elaborated sap
then fruitfulness is induced, hence methods of cultivation should
be adopted which are known to induce fruitfulness.

Plant Food and Tillage. — ^l^he relation of the supply of
plant food to fruit and seed production should be, and is, of
the greatest interest to fruit growers. Plant food, however, is
of little value unless there is moisture and heat. Some kinds of
fruit require more moisture than others, and some more heat-
It has been already explained that the place of origin of the
original type may have much to do with the kind of soil that they
will do best in.

While there is vigorous growth there is usually little seed
production. Herbaceous plants, as a rule, have made most of
their growth before they bloom. Woodv plants also have made
their strongest growth before they begin to fruit. An excess of a

194 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

nitrogenous fertilizer induces an abnormal vegetative develop-
ment and this is taken advantage of by man where the vegetative
part of the plant is needed for some special purpose. The large
amount of nitrogenous plant food near the surface of the soil
in nature is, perhaps, an important factor in inducing vigorous
growth to the exclusion for a time of the fruiting tendencv. In
cultivating fruits it is important to have a good supply of
nitrogen in the soil wdien the trees are young in order that the
vegetative habit natural to young trees should be encouraged,
as to get good crops of fruit in the future there must be a good
sized tree to bear the fruit.

There was considerable discussion on the views presented by
Mr. Macoun, which, in a few words were "that the production of
seed depended on the proportion of elaborated sap in the tree."
Dr. Jas. Fletcher did not think there was much in this theory,
and took the grouiid that it was maturity, or in cases of trees
producing seeds when they were in a weakened condition, an
endeavor on the part of the tree to reproduce its kind.

Mr. R. B. Whyte thought that there was something in the
evidence given and said that he had noticed it was vigorous
plants Vv'hich produced the largest amount of seed eventually.

Prof. Macoun was not prepared to make a definite statement
as to his views, for he confessed that the points brought up had
made him think there was something in Mr. Macoun's argument.
He had, in the past, believed that the fruiting of the tree was a
question of maturity, or an endeavor to perpetuate its kind, but
was willing to believe there was something in the theory his son
had advanced until it was disproved.

After this discussion some time was devoted to "Mendel's
Law," Mr. Roy Cameron and Mr. A. E. Attwood taking part in
what was said on this most interesting subject.

W. T. M.

908] Botanical Notes ' 195

BOTANICAL NOTES.

By James M. Macoun.

PiCEA Albertixa, S. Brown, Torreya, VIL 125.

For many years Canadian botanists who have worked in
the Rocky Mountains have recognized a spruce that was refer-
able to neither P. Canadensis nor P. Mariana, and specimens
were repeatedly sent by Prof. Macoun to Dr. Sargent, to Mr.
Elweis and other tree specialists with the request that they
should name and describe what he was convinced was an un-
described species. All these authorities, however, jiersisted in
referring this very characteristic tree to P. Canadensis, and it
was left to Prof. Brown to describe it. He separates it from
the white and black spruces by the following characters: It
differs from P. Canadensis in the longer, strongly reflexed
sterigmata. shorter, broader and darker colored cones with
broadlv rounded scales and minute sharply angled bracts,, and
from P. Mariana in the lighter colored smooth twigs with longer
sterigmata, and light-blue or blue-green leaves, and cones \vith
broader, entire scales with angular tipped bracts. This is the
common spruce throughout the Canadian Rockies between the
Canadian Pacific Railway and Crow Nest Pass, growing generally
in low ground, and in the Bow River valley near the railway it
is the most abundant tree. Near the museum at Banff.

Sagittaria cuneata, Sheldon.

Dr. J. H. Faull has collected this species at Bond Lake near
Toronto for three successive years. Its occurrence, so far from
its known range, is remarkable, but there seems no doubt about
Dr. Faull's diagnosis being correct.

Muhlenbergia Schreberi, Gmel.

M. diffusa, Willd., Cat. Can. Plants, II. 194.

Southwestern Ontario between Niagara and Amhcrstburg.

Muhlexbergia texiuflora (Willd.) B. S. P.

M. Willdeno-udi, Trin. ; Cat. Can. Plants, II. 195.

Southern Ontario from Belleville (Macoun) west to Gait
{Herriot) .

Muhlenbergia Mexicaxa, (Linn.) Trin.; Macoun, Cat. Can.

Plants, II. 184. in part.

Culms diffusely branched throughout from the base;

panicles numerous, oblong-ovoid or subpyramidal, rarely linear,

the base usuallv enclosed within the subtending leaf-sheath.

196 * The Ottawa Naturalist [January

Apparentlv rare in Canada, all our specimens havint;- been,
collected between Ottawa and Gait, Ont.

MuHLENBERGiA Mexicana, (Linn.) Trin. subsp. commutata,
Scrib. Rhodora, IX, 18.

M. Mexicana, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, II, 194 in part.

Lemmas awned; awns 4-10 mm. long. Otherwise as in the
species. Our specimens range from Ottawa to Pelee Poi.it,
Lake Erie.

Muhlenbergia foliosa, Trin.

M. Mexicana, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, II, 194 in part.

M. sylvatica, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, II, 195 in part.

CuliTLS branched above rarely to the base, branches elon-
gated; panicles narrowly lanceolate to filiform, long-exserted,
densely flowered, more or less interrupted especially towards
the base. A ver}^ common species from New Brunswick west
to Winnipeg.

Muhlenbergia foliosa, Trin., var. ambigua (Torr.) Scribn.
Rhodora IX, 20.

Lemmas awned; awns 4-10 mm. long. Otherwise as in the
species. Owen Sound, Out., No. 26,244. {John Macoun). Gait,
Ont. {W. Her riot).

Muhlenbergia racemosa, (Michx.) B. S. P.

M. glomerata, Trin.; Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, II, 194

and 391.
From Newfoundland to British Columbia.

Sporobolus filiformis, (Thurb.) Scribn.

Growing at the edge of a little pool where water dripped
over rocks at the S.E. end of Chilliwack Lake, B.C., alt. 3,500 ft.
No. 26,430 (/. M. Macoun). New to Canada.

LuzuLA Piperi, (Coville). Con. U.S, Nat. Herb. XI, 185.

Growing in dense clumps on gravelly "snow-slides" at 7.000
feet altitude on the first summit west of the Skagit River, B.C.
No. 70,307. (J. M. Macoun). New to Canada.

Habenaria stricta, (Lindl.) Rvdb., Bull. Torr. Bot. Club,
XXIV, 189.
H. gracilis, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, II, 15.
All the localities cited for this species by Prof. Macoun are on

1908] Botanical Notes 197

tht B,C. coast or Vancouver Island. It has since been collected
at many places in the interior. Emerald Lake, Rockv Mountain
Park, No. 65.652; Revelstoke. B.C., No. 27,160 {John Maconn)\
Revelstoke, B.C., No. 69,981 (C. H. Shmv). frail, Columbia
River, B.C., No. 65,656; Sophie Mountain, south of Rossland,
B.C., No. 65,657; several localities in the Skagit Vallev, B.C..
Nos. 70,241, 70,242, 70,245 and 70,246; Chilliwack Vallev, B.C.,
Nos. 65,651, 65,654 and 65,655 (/. M. Macoun). Chilliwack
Valley, B.C., Nos. 70,243 and 70,244 {W. Spreadlwrough).

Parnassia MOXTANENSis, Femald and Rydb, N.A. Fl.XXII, 79.

P. paUistris, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, I, 159 in part.

Easily separated from P. palustris, with which it w-as
formerlv included, by its shorter petals and conspicuous
hypanthium. P. palustris has petals nearly twice as long as
the sepals, in P. moutanensis they barely exceed the sepals;
the hypanthium is inconspicuous in the former and fully half
as long as the sepals in the latter. P. palustris has usually 9-15
staminodia, P. montanensis 7-9. Our specimens are all from the
Rockv Mountains and were collected at Laggan (No. 65,294),
Cascade (No. 8,580), Wapta Lake (No. 65,295), Crow Nest Pass
(No. 20,170) and Moose Mountain, Elbow River (No. 20,171).
The Moose Moiintain specimens were collected at an altitude of
6,500 feet.

Rhus occidentalis, (Torr.) Blankinship. ]\lon. Agr. Coll. Sci.
Stud., I, 86.

R. glabra var. occidentalis, Torr.; Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants,
^ IT, 505.

R. glabra. J. M. Macoun, Can. Rec. Sci. 1895, p. 11.

Though perhaps to be considered only a variety of R. glabra,
R. occidentalis is distinguished from it by its longer, usually
less spreading leaves, usually larger number of leaflets, shorter
calvx and linear-oblong anthers. All our specimens arc from
west 'of the Selkirk -Mountains. Deer Park, Columbia River,
B.C^No. 4,471 ; Spence's Bridge, B.C., No. 4,473 (John Macoun).
West of Cascade, B.C., No. 63,749; Pend d'Oreille River, B.C.,
No. 63,748 (/. M. Macoun). Kamloops, B.C., No. 70.323 (E.
Wilson). Kamloops, B.C., No. 4,472 (Foicler). Apparently
not abundant anywhere in British Columbia.

SONCHUS ARVENSIS, L.

Recorded in The Ottawa Naturalist, XXI, 150, from
Golden, B.C., as only western station. Mr. E. Armstrong reports
that he has seen it at Armstrong, B.C. for at least three years.

198 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

REPORT OF THE ZOOLOGICAL BRANCH, 1907.

To the Cowicil of the Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club: —

In presenting the Report of this Branch of the Club's work
for 1907 your leaders have to announce that the interest manifest
in the study of zoology, as evidenced at the Club's excursions
and in the contributions published in The Ottawa Naturalist,
shews no signs of diminution. In the first place the members
of the Branch feel bound to record their pleasure at the erection
of a splendid new zoological station by the Dominion Govern-
ment at St. Andrew's, N.B., and the publication in connection
therewith of a scientific report which includes a number of
valuable papers on Marine Biology, etc., by eminent Canadian
Zoologists. A new station of a similar character is now being
completed at Departure Bay on the British Columbia coast in
the vicinity of one of the richest marine zoological grounds in the
Pacific waters — perhaps one of the richest in the world. Prom-
inence was given to these marine researches at the May meeting
of the Royal Society, when Professor Prince, one of our leaders,
gave an address on Canadian Marine Biology, and zoological
subjects were dealt with in a number of able papers. The
subject of abnormalities in various animals was discussed at the
same meeting, and in connection therewith it may be stated that
Professor Prince has secured a remarkable specimen of a small
sturgeon in wdiich the long and powerful tail is absent, and in
the absence of a true caudal member the anal fin has grown
round the blunt terminal stump and acts vicariously as a tail.
The same gentleman obtained a specimen of Helix which
had evidently taken up a permanent position in a niche in the
smooth bark of a wild cherry tree. That the snail moved a little
was plain from a small patch of dried glistening mucus below the
niche; but as the smooth cuticle of the tree had apparently
grown over the shell of the Uving animal, it appeared as a small
protuberance. The patch of mucus alone revealed the fact
that the small rounded prominence like a button was the shell
of a living snail. If the marine crabs like I iiachus a.re protected
by overgrowths of sea-weeds on their backs, this land Helix
in the case mentioned was as effectually protected. Professor
Sydney Hickson says: "If the plants' be artificially scraped
off the crab will go in search of fresh ones .... and then deliber-
ately decorate the carapace with them as before. There are
some moll-asks that artificially decorate themselves wnth little
shells and other objects in such manner as to completely hide
their general form. ... In both these cases it is clear that the
reason of the phenomena described is that of affording a covering

1908] Report of the Zoological Braxcii 199

or mantle which hides or obscures the real form and character
of the living animals." The specimen of //d« is in many ways
even more remarkable if the covering of its shell be. really an
overgrowth of the outer bark of the tree upon which it was
found resting — the tree being one on the banks of the Gatineau
near Wakefield.

Mr. Andrew Halkett spent the Summer collecting and
observing in the two new provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta,
and devoted his attention especiall}^ to the fishes, numerous
specimens of which were collected, and the following list of
determined species from the chain of lakes in the Qu'Appelle
Valley, Saskatchewan, and from Beaver, Hastings, and Cooking
lakes. Alberta, are here given as follows: —

Buffalo-fish (Ictiobus bubalus).

White Sucker {Catostomus commersonii).

Red Horse {Moxostoma aureolum) .

Spawn-eater {Notropis hiidsonius).

White-fish (Coregonus clupeijormis).

Tullibee {Argyrosomus Hillibee).

Common Pike {Lucius Indus).

Brook Stickleback {Eucalia inconstans).

Nine-spined Stickleback (Pygosteus pungitius).

Sand Roller {Percopsis guUatus).

Pike-Perch, or Dore {Stizostedion vitreum).

Yellow Perch (Perca Jiavescens) .

Johnny Darter (Boleosoma nigrum).

Burbot, or Ling (Lota maculosa).

Besides these certain small cyprinoids and percoids, and
one or two larger fishes await determination.

Besides fishes, numerous specimens belonging to other
classes of the animal kingdom were collected or observed. Some
batrachians are plentiful in the two provinces, and specimens
of frogs (Rana), toads (Bufo) and salamanders were collected.
Both provinces appear to be poor in reptiles; no turtles were
seen, but- rattle-snakes (Crotalis) are known to inhabit certain
localities in Alberta. A few specimens of a garter-snake
(Eutainia) , with a bright orange dorsal band were obtained in
the Qu'Appelle Valley.

The valley of the Qu'Appelle is a regular paradise of birds,
and so is Beaver Lake in Alberta, but as birds are the theme of
the ornithological branch, they are not referred to further here;
and in the same way, it may be said, that some insects are being
submitted to Dr. Fletcher, and no doubt the entomological
branch will bring to hght anything abovit them which may
happen to be worthy of mention.

200

The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

The following observations regarding mammals may be of
interest. Rodents, especially the little gophers, were very
plentiful all over the prairies, and a few specimens of different
kinds of rodents obtained. A covote, or prairie wolf, was seen
walking over a field, some 50 yards away, in the Qu'Appelle
Valley; and having an opportunity Mr. Halkett paid a visit
to the park in Alberta where the recently acquired herd of buffalo
have been introduced. He saw about 30 of the bulls herding
by themselves, but the park vvas too extensive to devote the
time to go over the whole of it. They were massive animals,
but whether owing to their transportation, or because the en-
vironment did not suit them, the most of them, appeared to be
in poor condition. The tracks of the escaped bull, of which so
much was mentioned in the newspapers, were also seen along
the shores of Beaver Lake. A shrew was found in the village
of Chipman, Alberta, and three bats were obtained in the
Qu'Appelle Valley.

Whilst horses and cattle appear to be in the finest condition
in the valley of the Qu'Appelle, Mr. Halkett was struck with the
entire absence of sheep on the ranches. On enquiring for the
reason of this, he was told that it was impossible to keep them
because they eat the leaves and plumose styles of a plant which
the people call the prairie crocus {Puhatilla hirsutissima) which
are said to fomi masses in the stomachs of the sheep and cause
their death. Cattle, on the other hand, are said to eat this plant
with impunity.

An tmusually handsome toad {Biijo amerkana) was obtained
by Mr. E. E. Lemieux at Victoria Park, Aylmer, P.Q., and the
same gentleman secured a specimen of the milk-snake (Natrix
sipedon) in the vicinity of Chats Falls, containing over 40
perfect young, each about 6 inches long. The date was October
1st, and the capture is remarkable, not only as illustrating the
viviparous character of this species, but extending its breeding
season to a much later date than before recorded. Fuller notes
on this capture will appear immediately in the ' Ottawa Natural-
ist.'

Several specimens of the lake sturgeon (Acipenser rubicundus)
from Lake Deschene and the Ottawa River, near the Rifle Range,
Ottawa, have been mounted and placed in the collection ^in
the Fisheries Museum; but the most remarkable local find of the
season, perhaps, is a specimen of the soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx
spinifer) from I'Ange Gardien, Province of Quebec. This turtle
belongs to the Super-family Trionychoidea, whereas the most
of the turtles of Canada belong to the Super-family Cryptodira,
and it is surelv a rarity.

1908] Meeting of Entomological Branch 201

Two special reports entitled: 'The Local Movements of
Fishes' and 'The Unutihzed Fishery Products of Canada,' bv
Prof. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries, have just been |ntblished
in the 40th Annual Report of the Department of Marine and
Fisheries; and a report of the Canadian Fisheries ]\Iuseum by
Mr. Halkett, treating mostly of the vertebrate portion, and
especially of the fishes in the collection form Appendix 14 of the
same official report.

Edward E. Prince,
Andrew Halkett,
W. S. Odell,
E. E. Lemieux.

MEETING OF ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH.

Meeting held at the residence of Mr. W. Simpson, 16th ji.n..
1908. Present; Messrs. Fletcher, Young, Baldwin, Metcalfe,
Wilson, Letourneau, Gibson and Sinipson.

Mr Young exhibited a beautifully prepared case showing the
life-history of the Silver-spotted Hesperid, Eudanius tityrus.
The food plant of this species, the Common Locust, speciallv
dried and very life-like, was shown in the centre of the case with
several of the larvae working in their characteristic manner,
with the body hidden inside a case made from several of the
leaflets spvni together around it. While examining the case
a discussion arose as to what efi^ect intense cold and freezing
have on insects, and several instances were given l)y those
present of insects having been found embedded in ice and
which had afterwards revived. Reference was also made to a
paper in the 22nd annual report of the Entoniological Society
of Ontario, 1891, by Mr. H. H.. Lyman, entitled "Can Insects
Survive Freezing?"

Dr. Fletcher showed specimens of a fine collection of Tene-
brionidae and a pair of Dynastes tityus, which had been sent
to him by Prof. H. F. Wickham, of Iowa City, the well known
coleopterist and an Honorary Member of our Club. He also
showed an ant lion from Kaslo, British Columbia, sent by Mr.
J. W. Cockle and gave a short account of the larval habits of this
insect. From the same place and collector he also exhibited a
handsome pair of the large and rare water fly Chatdiodes
calijorniciis. which, in general appearance, resembles the well
known Hellgrammite Flv, but has an entirely different head.
The specimen had been named by Prof. J. G. Needham. of

202 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

Cornell University. Specimens of Nisoniadcs icelus and of
N . hrizo were shown and the differences between the two species
pointed out. It "is sometimes difficult to decide to which a
certain specimen may belong, but there is no doubt if the male
can be secured, because of the presence on the hind tibiae of the
male of icelus of a long tuft of silky hairs which does not occur
in hrizo. Specimens were also shown of Chrysophanus dorcas
and epixanihe and of the suffused female of helloides which has
been named florus.

Mr. Metcalfe brought living larvae of a Calopieryx and of
Sympetrum ruhicunduluni. He also showed specimens of the
imported beetle, Nacerdes melanura which he had found in large
numbers on a wharf in the Canal Basin at Ottawa on the 13th
July last. Dr. Fletcher stated that it had also been found under
similar circumstances in Montreal and Mr. Harrington had
once taken it at Ottawa. Mr. Metcalfe said that he had taken it
abundantlv and frequently in Toronto among the produce w^are-
houses on Front street. Mr. Metcalfe also showed a small
collection of insects taken at Nainao, Alberta, by Rev. W. J.
Conolly. Among these were noticed a specimen of the Horse
Bot Fly, Gastrophilus equi and several specimens of Colias
eriphyle. Mr. Metcalfe also made an exhibit of three boxes of
determined Homoptera and Heteroptera, among these being
some species new to the district recently named for him by Mr.
Van Duzee, of Buffalo, and including Ceresa constats which he
had found abundantly on three special basswood trees at Hull,
P.Q. Telamona reclivata was also from the same tree. Several
species of aquatic bugs were examined wnth great interest and
many questions were asked as to the habits of the species show^n.

Mr. Simpson exhibited some specimens of large water bugs,
Ranatra,Belostoma, etc., which he had taken at Ottawa some
years ago, and also a specimen of Zaitha fiuniinea with the eggs
on its back. He also exhibited some photographs by Mr. A. J.
Braba^on of the Grand Pacific glacier which he had visited
14 years ago, and also one of the same glacier taken b}- Mr. D.
H. Nelles during the past summer showing the remarkable
recession of this glacier of over 7 miles in 14 years. It was
mentioned by Mr. Simpson that this tremendous wasting away
of the glacier had been anticipated by Dr. Otto Klotz in 1894.

Mr. Baldwin showed a box containing insects which he had
received at different times from the Ottawa Fruit Exchange,
including several species of Blatta, a fine specimen of Periplaneta
americana, and a large Lamellicorn beetle. Among specimens
taken at Ottawa was a fine specimen of Albuna pyramidalis.

Mr. Letourneau exhibited some specimens of the Wanderer,

1908] Meeting of Entomological Branch 203

Feniseca tarquinius . also the curious pupa and a well blown larva,
all collected at Ottawa. The butterflies were rather abundant
for one or two days near the Experimental Farm last season,
but as a general thing this is rather a rare species at Ottawa.
It was explained that the larva feeds upon the W00II3' Aphis of
the. Alder.

Mr. Gibson showed specimens of the Oriental Moth, Cnido-
4:ampa fiavescens , which had been reared from cocoons received
from Prof. H. T. Fernald, of Amherst, Mass. The history of
the occurrence of this insect was given as related by Prof. Fernald
in his bulletin No. 114. Riker mounts were exhibited showing
the development of the larvae of Halisidota caryce and H. maculata,
both of which had been particularly abundant during the past
summer in eastern Canada. Reference was made to the ir-
ritating hairs of these species which led up to a discussion on the
Brown-tail Moth. An account was given of the wonderfully
successful efi'orts being made by Dr. Howard and Mr. Kirkland
in the New England States and also by the Government of
Nova Scotia in that province towards the control of this serious
pest. Mr. Gibson showed also a series of inflates of the larvae of
Isia Isabella, running almost from pure red to black, without
anv admixture of the other colour.

W. S.

COUNCIL MEETING.

A meeting of the Council of the Ottawa Field Naturalists'
Club was held on December 10th in the Normal School with the
President, Mr. W.J. Wilson, in the chair. Members present were :
Messrs. A. E. Attwood, A. Halkett. E. E. Lemieux, H. H. Pitts
and T. E. Clarke, Miss Q. Jackson and Miss I. Ritchie.

The following were elected ordinarv members: Messrs.
R. W\ Brock, M.A.. AVm. Young, B.Sc, Jas. G. Wallace and W.
E. Carson.

It was decided that all mail matter, unless specially address-
ed toother officers of the Club, should be delivered at the Secretary's
address. This decision was caused by the difficulty of taking
care of the exchanges received at the Normal School.

204 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January

REVIEW.

Summary Report of the Geological Survey for
THE Calendar Year 1907, pp. 132.

This report, as usual, records the additions that have l«een
made to the Geological Museum during the year. These include
a large number of mineral specimens and fossils collected chiefly
by members of the staff. Mr. Spreadborough, who collected on
Vancouver Island during part of the summer, sent in skins of
94 mammals and 172 birds, and in a few weeks Mr. Harold Tufts
collected 171 skins of birds and mammals in Nova Scotia. From
the Ottawa region two interesting specimens were secured, one
an albino Virginian deer, from North Wakefield, the other a l)lack
chipmunk from Kingsmere. The museum staff, in anticipation
of the completion of the new Victoria Museum, is collecting
material for exhibition there and Prof. Macoun reports that in
addition to the mounted specimens in the museum, 2,302 bird
skins and 1,106 skins of mammals are stored in air-tight boxes-
and unless for purposes of comparison will not be disturbed until
needed for the new Museum. Mr. Spreadborough is in the field
this winter hunting and trapping large mammals. Of the
mammal skins now stored away, 439 are of large mammals and
667 of small ones, sufficient material in itself to inake a very
creditable showing. Over 72,000 sheets of flowering plants in
the herbarium have been catalogued and numbered. A collec-
tion of woods on a large scale was commenced last summer and
trunks of 41 species of trees were secured. A series of tree
photographs was begun at the same time, forty .species being
photographed. These photographs will be a permanent record
of our forest trees and the condition of the forests at the present
time. As is the case with all reports issued now bv the Geological
Survey, a verv complete and carefullv prepared index closes the
volume.

THE NATURALIST WRONGLY PAGED.

For some unexplained reason the paging of the last number
of The Naturalist was changed by the printer. The October
number ended with page 120, but the November number begins
with page 153. The error was not noticed by the Editor until
after the November issue was distributed, and nothing can now
be done to rectifv it. Pages 121-152 inclusive will be missing
from Vol. XXL

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

VOL. XXI. OTTAWA, FEBRUARY, 1908 No. 11

THE -LIFE HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE (APIS

MELLIFICA).*

By Percy H. Selwyn.

Before speaking of the bees themselves it mav be well to
say a few words in regard to the wax combs on and in which
these interesting insects live and move and have their being.
When in a wild state the bees are necessarily their own archi-
tects and build their combs to suit their own tastes and also to
suit the environment of their self-chosen abode — probably in
some hollow tree. This results in combs of every size, shape
and thickness, and also in an excessive amount of drone comb„
which the bees appear to favor as a receptacle for their honey »
but which the practical bee-keeper considers most undesirable.
The two combs wdiich you now see were taken from an ordinary
eight-frame Langstroth hive, which is in general use both in
Canada and the United States at the present time. One of
these combs consists entirely of "ivorker" comb, while the other
is mainly "drone" comb and is the result of the bee-keeper
having used a narrow strip of comb foundation in the frame
instead of a full sheet.

Since the invention and introduction of artificial comb
foundation, which is all stamped with the base of worker cells,
the practical bee-keepers of to-day do not consider it either
advisable or economical to allow their bees to build their own
combs. The reason for this is self-evident when it is known
that in order to produce a pound of wax (the amount of founda-
tion required for eight frames) it is necessary for the bees to
consume upwards of 20 pounds of honey, which at the ordinary
market price would be worth $2.00, whereas a pound of wax
foundation costs approximately fifty cents. The combs which

* This is a condensed report of an Address delivered before the
Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club, Jan. 21st, 1908.

206 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

result from its use are both straight and of even thickness, as
well as being all worker comb, a feature which has a most
important bearing on the economic side of bee-keeping. Another
point in favor of its use is the great saving of lime to the bees,
and time in their case means honey. If a strong swarm of bees
is provided with a hive containing eight frames filled with
comb foundation, it is almost certain that within 24 hours
they will be found perfectly elaborated or drawn out into cells,
so rapidly do the bees work. If on the other hand they are
provided with empty frames or frames containing small
"starters" of foundation, it is probable that six or seven days
at least will elapse before the combs are completed, and during
this time a large number of bees are devoting their time and
energy to comb building instead of gathering honey.

In this portion of the Dominion owing to the length and
severity of the winters, bees have to be safely housed during at
least five months of the year, generally from about November
1st to April 1st. During this period of enforced idleness the
bees cluster on and between the combs in a more or less oval
mass in close proximity to the honey on which they have to
feed. Not onlv do they occupy every bit of space between
the combs, but, in order to make the mass more compact, nearly
every cell in the area of comb on which the bees are clustering
contains a bee, these bees having entered the cells head first.
That they do not remain in the cells all winter is obvious as
they must come out to feed, but it is presumed that others
take their place. The anaount of food consumed during the
winter varies considerably with the conditions under which
the bees are wintered — the colder their winter quarters are, the
more honey they will consume. Twenty-five pounds of honey
is considered to be a safe amount to carry any hive through the
winter and also to provide for the early spring, when little
nectar is available in the flowers. It must not be supposed
that the bees are in a torpid state during their period of rest,
as, though in a quiescent condition, they are very much alive
if disturbed. It is of the greatest importance that bees should
winter well, that is to say, with a minimum of loss as regards
dead bees. Weak colonies in the spring are scarcely
worth keeping as honey producers ; it is better to take two or
three weak hives and unite them, thus making one profitable
colony, rather than to allow each of them to gradually dwindle
away_ until they cease to exist, which is the usual fate of weak
colonies. After bees are once housed for the winter the less
they are disturbed the better, and while they do not appear to
notice ordinary sounds the slightest jarring sensation irritates

1908] Life History of the Honey Bee. 207

them and should be carefully guarded against. The conditions
necessary for safe wintering are briefly as follows: A drv.
frost-proof cellar with a temperature between 38° and 45°,
sufficient honey (say 25 pounds), perfect freedom from any
shaking or jarring, complete darkness, sufficient ventilation to
allow the moisture in the hive to escape, and freedom from rats
or mice, which work great havoc with both combs and bees
during the winter.

The time when colonies should be removed from their
winter quarters depends almost entirelv on the weather. If
the ground is free or almost free from snow and the temperature
fairly warm, the sooner they are placed on their summer stands
the better. After such a long period of inactivity manv of the
bees have lost their full power of flight, and it is therefore
advisable to choose a warm still day, with sunshine, on which to
give them their liberty. After even one day of exercise the
bees are able to take care of themselves and do not leave their
hives unless the weather is favorable. If thev are given their
first flight on a cold windy day, even if the sun is shining brightly,
the chances are that hundreds of bees, if not thousands, will
fall to the ground and never regain their hives, particularlv
if rain or snow should follow the next day.

A colony of bees should, in the early spring, consist of a
queen and 25 to 30 thousand worker bees. The drones,^ or
male bees, do not usually appear in the hive until the middle
or end of May, though they are sometimes found in very strong
colonies much earlier. The queen is the mother of the entire
colony. Her one and only duty seems to be to lay eggs, and it
is said on the best authority that to lay two thousand in
twenty-four hours is quite within her power. In shape the
queen resembles the workers more than the drones but is longer
than either, and like the workers she possesses a sting but will
not use it on anything below bee royalty — that is to say, on
some other queen. Unlike the workers and drones a mated
queen never leaves the hive except with a_ swarm. The average
age of a queen is probably three years, but modern bee-keepers
re-queen their colonies oftener as a young queen is usually
much more prolific than an old one. The worker bees, as their
name implies, perform all the duties of the hive. The average
life of the workers during the summer months is probably not
more than eight weeks, and often less. It seems as though they
actually work thetnselves to death, as those that are hatched
late on in the summer live much longer, in fact through the
six months of winter when they have no work to do. The
duties of the worker bees from spring to fall are manifold,

208 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

they gather the nectar and pollen from the flowers, secrete the
wax required in comb building, construct the combs, prepare
food for the young larvae, carry large quantities of water,
ventilate the hive and guard it against all intruders. Nectar
and pollen are gathered simultaneously from the flowers, the
former is carried, like water, in a sac or bag in their abdomens
and is regurgitated into the cells on their return to the hive.
•Pollen or "bee-bread" is carried in basket-like cavities on the
bees' posterior legs, and is. so to speak, kicked or rubbed off
into other cells in close proximity to the larvae for which it is
intended. Propolis or "bee glue" is carried in a similar manner
and is obtained from the buds of certain trees like the balm of
Gilead, horse-chestnut and others. This sticky substance is
used to fill up all cracks and crevices in the hive. Wax is
secreted between the rings of the bees' abdomen, on the under
side, and is in the form of thin white scales about one-sixteenth
of an inch in diameter and somewhat circular in shape. These
scales of wax are removed with the claws on the bees' hind legs
and conveyed to their mouths and are then applied to the
surface where comb building is in progress. The thousands
of larvae in the hive are carefully looked after and fed by the
workers during the six days of their larval existence, after which
the cells containing them are covered over with a thin and
porous capping consisting of a mixture of wax and pollen, thus
allowing the air to penetrate to the occupants in the chrysalis
stage, which pure wax would not do. Pure wax is however
used by the bees in capping their honey because it requires to
be impervious to the air.

The drones are unlike the queen or workers, their bodies
are large and clumsy and without the symmetry of either.
They are quite unable to defend themselves, having no sting,
and can consequently be handled with impunity. Their tenure
of life is exceedinglv uncertain and often terminates very
abruptly. Should the condition of the weather be such that
the honey flow is suddenly cut off the worker bees may, and
probably will, decide to destroy not only all the drones in the
hive, but also all the drone larvae, and when this is done swarm-
ing is indefinitely postponed. In ordinary seasons drones in
varying numbers will be found in all strong hives from May to
about September, though after swarming is over they may be
destroyed any day. The final destruction of the drones usually
takes place towards the end of August, and it is no uncommon
sight to see the v/orkerbeesin adozen different hives in the apiary
all persistently chasing the drones and ruthlesslv turning them
out to die. It is said, and I am inclined to think with some
truth, that they actually sting them to death if other means fail.

1908] Life History of the Honey Bee. 209

In the early spring the amount of brood usually found
in a hive is comparatively small, but as soon as the bees are
placed on their summer stands and the active out-door work is
resumed, the queen begins laying with extraordinary rapidity,
particularly if the colony is strong. Within a few days, if the
weather is warm enough for the bees to work, a wonderful
change takes place in the hive. Frame after frame will be found
filled with eggs and larvse in all stages of growth. A square
inch of worker comb contains 50 cells, counting both sides,
and as there are 126 square inches in the ordinar}?- Langstroth
frame, each comb contains 6,300 cells or a total in the eight
frames of about 50,000 cells. The cells of drone comb are
larger than the worker and a square inch contains only 32 cells
counting both sides.

Towards the end of May the hives begin to get crowded
with bees, and each day adds many hundreds to their number.
When these conditions prevail swarms may soon be expected,
and an examination of the hives will reveal the preparations
for this important event. Not only will there be a considerable
number of drones in the hive but all available drone comb will
be filled with eggs and larvae in all stages of growth, even to the
young drones cutting their way out. Queen cells will also be
found attached to the bottoms and sides of the frames and
occasionally to the surface of the combs where some inequality
exists. Some of these cells will be only partly constructed and
may contain eggs or still be empty, others will be further
advanced, though still uncapped and will contain the queen
larvae literally floating in food which is called "royal jelly" and
which looks like thick cream or cornstarch. This food is quite
different to that which is given to either the drones or worker
larvae, and it is in consequence of being fed this rich nitrogenous
food that a queen is reared instead of a worker, and that her
organs of reproduction are fully developed which is not the case
with worker bees.

As soon as one or more of the queen cells are capped,
probably the next day if the weather is favorable, a swarm may
reasonably be expected. Before the swarm issues, the bees,
realizing that they are going to seek a new and empty home,
fill their honey sacks with honey in order that they may be able
to secrete the necessary wax to begin comb building in their
new home, and also that they may have sufficient food should
the weather be unfavorable for a day or more following their
migration. The question is often asked, which bees leave with
the first swarm, old or young? My experience leads me to the
conclusion that both old and young alike go, and that practically

210 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

the only bees left in the hive after the swarm has issued are the
very young ones, still silvery-grey and evidently hatched within
a few hours. If the hive is examined an hour or two later a
number of older bees will be found in it, no doubt those that
were (?ut in the field when the swarm issued. These bees look
after and feed the thousands of larvde from one to six days
old and are assisted in this work by the hundreds of young bees
which are hatching every hour. First swarms accompanied
by the old queen usually leave the hive between the hours of
10 a.m. and 3.30 p.m., seldom earlier or later. Second and
after swarms are much more uncertain in their habits, and
it may almost be said of them that they will leave the hive
during any hour when the sun is shining. First swarms always
cluster for a time within a reasonable distance of the hive
which they have left, but second swarms have frequently been
known to go straight away for miles without a preliminary
halt.

The first outside indication of a swarm will be an unusual
number of bees about the entrance of the hive ; not hanging in
the listless idle manner they do for several days previously,
but all excitement, running in and out of the entrance, frying a
short distance onlv to return until at last the exodus begins in
real earnest, and a wonderful sight it is to see those thousands
and tens of thousands of insects all filled with the same desire
to leave in the utmost haste their well provided home for one
which, in the ordinary course of nature is probably as yet
unfound and certainly devoid of the necessities of bee life. It
is quite commonlv supposed that the queen leads out the
swarm; this idea is entirelv erroneous, as she seldom appears
until the swarm has partly issued and often she is amongst the
last to leave the hive. As to how or when the new home of a
swarm, possibly in a hollow tree, is selected, must always
remain a matter of doubt, but it is probable that a suitable
place is found bv some of the worker bees during the time the
swarm is hanging on the bough of some tree, and that these
bees return and lead the wav to their future abode. In about
nine days after the first swarm has issued a second swarm from
th.e same hive may be expected if the weather is favorable and
the honey flow abundant. This second swarm will be ac-
companied by a young or virgin queen, and on the seventh or
eighth day if a swarm is going to issue, she can be distinctly
heard giving the swarming note which is called "piping," and
which resembles the word "zeep" repeated several times in
rapid succession at intervals of a few minutes. Her piping
will be answered by other young queens which are ready to
leave the cells at anv time, but which are either afraid to do so,

1908] Life History of the Honey Bee. 211

or are prevented by the worker bees. The sound made by these
imprisoned queens is much deeper in tone owing probably to
their being covered up in the cells. When the second swarm
has left the hive it may be followed within two or three days
by a third or even a fourth. These after-swarms are small and
worthless, and are frequently accompanied bv two or even three
virgin queens. Practical bee-keepers of the present day do not
consider it advisable to allow even second swarms to issue,
because in doing so the parent hive is depleted of bees to such
an extent that it is practically useless as a surplus honey pro-
ducer for the remainder of the season. In order to prevent
second and after-swarms the queen cells must be carefully
removed three or four days after the first swarm issues, leaving
one promising looking cell to provide the necessary queen.
This cell must be carefully watched until the royal inmate
is safelv hatched, otherwise the hive might remain queenless.
If the queen cells are all but one removed as early as the third
or fourth day, 'the bees may, and probably will begin others,
so careful are they not to trust the fate of the hive to one cell
which may or may not produce a perfect queen. In order to
do this they have to turn worker cells, containing larvae not
more than two or three days old. into queen cells and provide
the inmates with "royal jelly" to feed on, instead of the ordinary
liquid food necessary for the worker larvae, in order that they
may now become fully developed females. If this second
supply of queen cells is started they must be destroyed
as soon as there is a queen in the hive, otherwise all the pre-
caution taken may be of no avail and a second swarm will issue
when least expected.

When the season is unfavourable the bees themselves decide
that there will be no second or after-swarms and when this
is the case they allow the first young queen which hatches to
destroy all other queen cells. This she soon does by tearing out
the sides of each one with her powerful mandibles and stinging
the inmates to death. If several queens have already hatched
there is a battle royal and the "survival of the fittest." The
young queen leaves the hive to mate with the drone about the
fifth or sixth day after hatching, but several days frequently
elapse before this takes place. After mating she returns to the
hive and does not leaA^e it again until she issues with a swarm,
probably the following spring.

A newly mated queen usually begins laying within a day
or two, and rapidly fills the now almost empty combs with eggs.
If no second swarm has issued the parent hive will, if the season
is favorable, give a considerable yield of surplus honey, and by

212 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

the end of August it will have fully regained its normal strength.
From that time onward the queen will gradually contract
the space occupied by brood, and after the young bees hatch
in the outer frames, the cells are left unoccupied or are filled
with Autumn honey. Just as the space occupied by brood is
enlarged in the Spring Idv the queen from the centre outwards,
so it is contracted from the outside to the centre as the Autumn
draws near. This contraction is necessary because in Septem-
ber, though the days may still be warm, the nights are Uable to
be cold and frosty, thus causing the bees to cluster in a compact
mass, as during the winter, for the sake of warmth, and brood
in the outer combs if left uncovered by bees would certainly
perish. Before the autumn is too far advanced it is always
advisable for the beekeeper to make sure that none of his colonies
have become queenless, or are in even a worse condition, viz.,
that of having a drone laying queen; and also to make equallv
sure that they have sufficient honey to carry the bees safely
through the long winter. When a A'irgin queen leaves the hive
for the purpose of mating, she sometimes fails to return and such
colonies must be promptly provided with another queen, other-
wise they will soon dwindle away and become a prey to the bees
worst enemy, the larvae or grubs of the bee-moth (Galleria
m.ellanoiis{\

/

Under normal conditions bees will always provide them-
selves with a new queen when necessary, but in order that they
may be able to do this successfully there must be either worker
eggs or very young worker larvae in the hive and a fair number
of drones still in the apiary. When the season is far advanced
and the drones have all or nearly all disappeared, this method
of re-queening wuth a virgin queen cannot be recommended,
owing to the uncertainty of her finding a mate. If the colony
is worth saving it will be better to purchase a mated queen
from some reliable dealer, rather than trust to chance. When
a virgin queen fails to mate within a few weeks after hatching,
she becomes what is known as a drone layer — eggs laid by such
a queen are deposited in a most irregular manner, sometimes
two, three or even more in one cell. Another peculiarity is
that while these eggs produce ofily drones they are usually
deposited in worker cells instead of drone, with the result that
the inmates when hatched are little more than half their normal
size owmg to not having had sufficient room to attain their
full growth.

A colony which has been in possession of a drone laying
queen for three or four weeks is in a sad plight and certainly
not worth trying to save as it will probably contain only a few
hundred bees and a varying number of dwarfed and useless'drones.

THE HONEY BEE AND OTHER BEES.
By James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist.

At the conclusion of Mr. Selwyn's lecture upon the life
and work of the Honey Bee, Dr. Fletcher spoke at some length
on the points brought out by the lecturer, emphasizing what
had been said with reference to the remarkable social and
communistic habits of these insects, and drawing special
attention to the many homologous characters common to them
and human beings. As with some men, the drones made a good
deal of noise, fussed a good deal, ate a good deal, and knew
how to stay where it was comfortable. The hard working
females on the other hand spent their whole lives in keeping
the house in order, in feeding the young and the almost worth-
less drones, and in laying up a store of food to sustain the
colony through the winter.

They illustrated everv^ virtue we are taught to admire
in mankind, industry, providence, love of home, and loyalty;
even to the extent not only of feeding their queen from the
time she hatched from the egg and throughout her whole
life, but they went so far as to keep her in order and make
her do what was good for her, sometimes against her own
will.

The speaker said: —

Every incident in the life of a colony of bees has been so
fully treated of by Mr. Selwyn that it is unnecessary to add
anything further on that subject. The Honey Bee is not a
native of North America, but was certainly introduced very
earlv in the settlement of the country. The colonies of wild
Hoiiey Bees which are sometimes seen in the woods, have
merely originated from swarms which left apiaries in the
vicinity and then established themselves in some convenient
hollow tree. There are, however, many kinds of wild bees in
Canada which are well worthy of study by naturalists; but
none of which produce honey of commercial value. Some of
the Bumble Bees do, it is true, store up a certain amount of
honey in their underground nests, as is well known to all
school-boys, and this is of a very rich aromatic flavor; but
unfortunately this honev is small in quantity, and moreover
has the unpleasant effect of producing intense headache in the
V case of many people who eat it.

214 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

The Bees belong to a very large order of insects known as
the Hymenoptera or membrane-winged insects. When wings
are present there are two pairs, with but few veins and having
the upper and lower wings on each side held together in flight
bv means of a series of hooks.

The mouth parts are constructed both for biting and for
sucking, the tongue often being developed into a long organ
for lapping up nectar and other liquids. The mandibles of the
honey bee form useful little trowels by means of which the
wax is shaped into cells. The ovipositor of the females in the
Hymenoptera is remarkably modified according to its required
uses. Among the Ichneumon flies it is sometimes enormously
developed for placing the egg where the young grub will find
its food on hatching. In the genus Thalessa, two species of
which are not uncommon at Ottawa, these egg-laying organs
are upwards of three inches in length and can be driven down
through as manv inches of solid maple wood. Among the saw-
flies this organ is modified into a pair of saws, by means of
which the eggs are inserted into the tissues of leaves or of
stems; and, then again, among the bees and ants, as a sting
it becomes a weapon of defense and the eggs are passed out
close to the base instead of through the tip.

It is not quite known what all the purposes are of the
poison injected by the stings of Hymenoptera. It is supposed
that it is of an antiseptic nature, and that a small quantity is
introduced by bees into honey before sealing up the cells, which
has the effect of preserving the honey from decay. It is
interesting to note that the stingless bees of the genus Melipona
make honey, but that this honey will not keep. Among several
of the Solitary wasps, the sting becomes a very important
instrument; for by its means the food of the young, which
consists entirely of other insects, is paralyzed and it has been
found that the venom of bees and wasps is chemically almost
identical in composition with chloroform; consequently, cater-
pillars or other insects stored away as food for the young wasps,
after having been stung, remain alive and fresh, but perfectly
sen.seless,for a long time. I have sometimes taken caterpillars
from sand wasps which had stung them and were dragging them
away to their nests, and these have remained almost without
motion, but evidently alive, for many days; they have even,
in one or two rare instances, gradually recovered so as to be
able to crawl awav.

The stings, then, of wasps and bees, it may be remembered
are provided for useful purposes and not for stinging careless
and thoughtless people. There is no doubt that bees are much

C

1908] The Honey Bee and Other Bees. 215

more aggressive to some people than to others; but, as all bee-
masters know, it is very seldom that they will sting if certain
precautions are taken. When moving about among the hives
you should never stand immediately in front of a hive, nor
hit at the bees when they circle round your head. Occasionally,
however, it may be necessary to kill a very persistent or irri-
tated bee. You can generally tell by the note emitted when a
bee is angry; but anger among bees, as with human beings,
must always be regarded with pity, particularly so in the case
of bees, because their excitement is only over-zeal in protecting
the home against a supposed enemy. The sting itself is a rather
complicated ■ organ consisting of barb-tipped darts which run
down through a sheath and are controlled bv levers. The
venom is produced in a poison-gland and is stored in a special
sac till required. Morphologically, the sting is composed of
six separate parts. When a bee stings, the sting remains in
the wound by reason of the barbs and the insect soon dies from
the mutilation. In this bees differ from wasps, which have
smoother stings and can use them repeatedly. The changes
in the different stages of the Hymenoptera are what is known
as "complete," that is. the larva is very or completely different
from the pupa, and the pupa from the perfect insect, and, not-
withstanding that these insects show to the greatest degree
what we call intelligence and live the most specialized or highest
kind of life, the young are more helpless and dependent on their
parents for food and safet}^ than in any other class of insects.
With the Solitary wasps and bees a supply of food is stored in
the cell with the egg, so that the young grub on hatching finds
all it requires close at hand. With the Social wasps and bees,
and all the ants, the workers feed the young all the time until
they are full grown.

The Hymenoptera constitute an enormous order embracing
in North America upwards of 8,000 species and include insects
of most diverse habits and structure. Bees, wasps and ants
are among the best known representatives of the order; but
here we also find the large and important families of parasitic
ichneumon flies, the small but most useful Chalcids and also
many gall flies and sawflies.

A point of some interest to those who do not study insects,
is the difference between wasps and bees. In general appear-
ance these may. as a rule, be readily distinguished; but their
habits are also quite different. All bees feed upon nectar and
pollen, while wasps feed upon animal food, particularly other
insects. They are also, it is true,verv fond of sweet substances,
such as the juice of fruits, and will even steal honey from bees;

216 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

but this food must be considered as exceptional. The young
are probably fed entirely upon animal matter. As a typical
example of wasps, there is no better than the large black and
white species so common here, which builds the large oval
paper nests which may be often seen hanging to trees, shrubs
and sheds, and which are generally spoken of in this country
under the name of "Hornets." The true Hornet, however,
is a very large and exceedingly venomous tawny species found
in Europe, and which, strange to say, has in some way been
imported into the State of New Jersey, where Prof. J. B.
Smith tells me that in some places it is not uncommon. Even
in the case of wasps which are useful insects which destroy many
injurious species, the sting is not produced on all occasions
and without provocation. Unless molested or when their
nests are interfered with, our wasps and, even the formidable
European hornet, will seldom sting. It is claimed by one of our
members that even when by accident he had broken down
the nest of a colony of wasps, by standing perfectly still until
the insects had settled down, and then moving away very
quietly, he has escaped without a single sting. It must be
acknowledged, however, that it requires a good deal of coolness
and pluck to carry out such a programme. The Social wasps
live in colonies similar in many ways to those of the honey bee,
consisting of males, females and workers. The winter, however,
is passed by the queens or impregnated females only, all the
males and workers dying before winter. In the spring each
female starts a new nest, and all of the first young produced
are workers, who soon build up a new colony. Perfect males
and females appear towards winter. Wasps, as a class of
insects, are divided into first, the Tme Wasps which have the
fore wings folded lengthwise when not in use. Here we find
not only the large black and white wasp mentioned, but also
the Yellow-jackets, which are social in habit, and a large
number of solitary wasps, in which only males and females are
developed; and secondly, the Diggers, which are always
solitary, including the Carpenter, Mining, Digging and Mason
wasps.

All bees belong to a super-family known as the Apoidea,
in which we find social or solitarv species with the tongue long
or short, and the hind legs or the under side of their bodies
furnished with brushes for carrying pollen. Bees of all kinds
are very beneficial from the good work they do in cross-fertiliz-
ing the flowers of fruit and other trees while visiting them to
gather nectar or pollen. The two most conspicuous divisions
of thebees are the Honey Bees and the Bumble Bees. These
latter are social in their habits in a similar wav to the Wasps,

1908] The Honey Bee and Other Bees. 217

in that it is only the perfect females which pass over the winter,
and in the spring each of these starts a new colony. Their
nests are for the most part rather clumsy, untidy structures,
the cells being irregular in shape and formed in a mass of pollen
and honey. Owing to the length of their tongues. Bumble
Bees are useful in pollenizing clover and were actually imported
into New Zealand for this very purpose some years ago. Closely
resembling the Buml:)le Bees are some species of Apathus,
which live in the same nests with them, but are parasites or
at any rate do not help in the work of the colony, and the
females have no collecting baskets on their legs for carrying
pollen. The large Carpenter Bee of Western Ontario, Xylocopa
virginica, which somewhat resembles a Bumble Bee, makes
tunnels half an inch in diameter and several inches long into
the solid wood of sheds, houses and other buildings.

Very interesting insects are the Leaf-cutter Bees, {Mega-
chile) which make their nests of several cells each one from half
an inch to three-quarters of an inch in length, and neatly in-
cased in round pieces cut from the leaves of roses, maples and
other trees. Each of these cells contains a single egg and a mass
of "bee-bread", pollen and honey, sufficient to feed the young
larva to full growth. A small grotip of bees known as the
Nomads are parasitic in the nests of other bees.

The large group of AndrenidcB consists of short-tongued
bees which dig out galleries beneath the surface of the ground.
Some are solitary, as in the case of the true Andrenas, in which
a single burrow may have four or five cells made by one female;
or there may be large colonies, as in the genus Halictus, in which
many females use the same common main shaft; but each has
her own little gallery running off from this.

The Hymenoptera present so many features of extreme
interest, and they are of such importance in their r61e of parasites
as the main controllers of the undue increase of injtirious insects,
that the special study of any one of the groups would provide
a life work of the greatest fascination to anyone who would
devote time to it. I feel sure that all who have listened to Mr.
Selwyn to-night must V'C convinced that a study of any of these
insects would well repay them.

/^V

218 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

BOTANICAL NOTES.

RiBES RUBRUM, L.

Mr. M. L. Fernald in Rhodora vol. IX, pp. 1-5 separates the
species that have been referred to R. rubrtim. There are two
cultivated species of red currant, the one, R. ntbrum, has the
calyx somewhat cup-shaped, brown or mottled wnth red and
destitute of a disk, the other, R. vulgarc. Lam., has a flat,
vellowish green calyx and bears a prominent disk. The latter
is the common .species of cultivation. Mr. Fernald does not
know of the occurrence of R. rubmm in a wild state in America
and all our specimens are plainly referable to R. vulgare. Of
the indigenous wild currant Mr. Fernald recognizes two varieties,
R. triste, Pall., and R. triste var. alhinervium (Mx.) Fernald.
The latter has the leaves sparingly pubescent beneath when
young, soon glabrate, and is by far the most common red
currant in Canada, ranging from Nova Scotia to Alaska. R.
triste is permanently white tomentose beneath, and though its
range is stated by Mr. Fernald to be "Newfoundland to Alaska,"
it has been seldom collected in Canada, and when the habitat
is given it has always been where the rock of the vicinity is
calcareous.

Primula farinosa, L.

Mr. Fernald separates this widely distributed species into
P. farinosa and three varieties — Americana, macropoda and
incana. Typical specimens of all four are found among the
large series of Canadian specimens in our herbarium, but inter-
mediate forms also occvir, especially in the west. As shown by
our specimens, P. farinosa is confined to Labrador and New-
foundland, Americana to the vicinitv of the Great Lakes, and
incana to the Rocky Mountains and western Alberta, while
m-acropoda ranges from Labrador to the Mackenzie River. In
the west it is sometimes difficult to decide whether flowering
specimens should be called wcawa or mac ro pod a h\xt incana is the
characteristic plant of the foot-hills and macropoda of the
prairies. Americana as described by Mr. Fernald, however,,
might well be considered a species, its very short bracts and'
calyx separating it from macropoda and incana and the sulphur-
yellow powder of the under surface of the leaves from P. farinosa.
Our specimens of Arnericana are from Johnstone's Harbour,
Lake Huron and from Lake Superior, the latter specimens col-
lected by Prof. Macoun, July 16th, 1869. We have also very
characteristic specimens from Michigan.

J. M. M.

REPORTS OF SOIREES.

There is no part of the work of the Field NaturaHsts' Club
upon which more care is bestowed than on the preparation of
the programme of winter lectures, and it is doubtful whether
in the history of the Club there has been a better programme
than that offered for 1907-8. It is through its lectures and
informal talks that the Club comes most directly in touch with
the public as the audiences are made up in great part of those
who while not members of the Club are specially interested in
and attracted by the subjects upon which addresses are given.
The opening evening is always made as attractive as possible
and this year short talks were given on "Personal Experiences
in the Field during the past season" by five of the Club's oldest
members, in the Assembly Room of the Normal School, December
10th. Dr. J. F. White the Principal of the Normal School in
a short address of welcome complimented the Club on the
good work it was doing and assured its members of the hearty
co-operation of himself and his staff in this work. He was
followed by Dr. S. B. Sinclair whose "personal experience"
described a fire which had been neglected near where he had
spent the summer in the Parry Sound district and which after
it had spread until it seemed to be beyond control was system-
atically and heroically attacked by himself and seven neighbors
and after five days work was stamped out, although everything
was as dry as tinder and the wind blew almost continually.
He learned there that fire usually travels very slowly, if at all.
during the night and that sand extinguishes fire as effectively
as water and is usually much more easily obtainable. A full
report of Dr. Sinclair's address, which was illustrated by
several beautiful lantern slides, will be published in the March
number of The Canadian Forestry Journal.

Dr. Fletcher who can carry his audience with him to
whatever place he may be describing and make them see not
only the place but what he saw when there, took them to the
tops of some of the highest mountains in British Colvmibia
and told them of the elusive butterflies and other insects he
had seen and captured there. Veritable "Mountain Sprites",
only to see them in their wind-swept home& amply repaid the
enthusiast who went in search of them. His address in a con-
densed form will be pablished in the March number of The
Ottawa Naturalist.

220 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

Although Dr. Ami had spent a considerable part of the
past season in field work he also represented the Geological
Survey of Canada at the Centenary of the Geological Society
of London, and by special request told of the meeting in London
and some of his experiences there. What impressed him most
was the appreciation shown by European geologists for the
work of Canadians and the high estimation in which Canadian
geologists are held by their confreres in England. No effort
was spared to make the meeting a success socially as well as
scientifically, the only drawback being that there was more to
be seen and heard and done than there was time for.

A condensed report of Mr. F. T. Shutt's address on "Rain
and Snow" was published in the December number of The
Ottawa Naturalist and a synopsis of Mr. A. Halkett's
"Observations in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan"
will be found in the "Report of the Zoological Branch" published
last month.

As is usual at the opening meeting there was an exhibition
of specimens which included representatives of all branches of
Natural History.

Dr. Bryce always has something of value to tell his
audience and always tells it in an interesting manner, but it
is not often that a lecturer addresses a more attentive audience
than listened to him at the Carnegie Library, January 7th,
when he lectured under the auspices of the Club on "Some
Sanitary Considerations in the Construction, Heating and
Ventilation of Dwellings." As Dr. Bryce's lecture will be
published in The Ottawa Naturalist at an early date no
report of it need be given here. The Report of the Zoological
Branch which has already been published was read at this
meeting.

J. M. M.

MEETING OF THE BOTANICAL BRANCH.

The third meeting of the Botanical Branch was held at
the home of Mr. A. E. Attwood January 18th. The members
present were Messrs. Fletcher, Harrington, Cameron, Blackader,
Campbell, Carter, Whyte, W. T. Macoun and J. M. Macoun.
Mr. Attwood as a subject for discussion read the botanical part
of a draft programme for Nature Study work in the lower
grades of the Public Schools, now in course of preparation. He
explained that his object in reading this tentative programme

1908] Meeting of Botanical Branch. 221

was to secure from those present their opinions as to the best
methods to pursue. Nature Study work will begin as soon as
a child leaves the kindergarten and enters the Public School
proper, and it was important that at the very beginning instruc-
tion should be on lines that would be followed as the child ad-
vanced from grade to grade. A great variety of opinions ^
was expressed by those present, some being of the opinion that
all Nature Study teaching should have a practical side,, while
others considered its more important function to be the train-
ing and development of the child's natural powers of observation
without special attention being paid to the practical applica-
tion of what was taught. There was a difference of opinion,
also, as to whether Nature Study should not form part of the
Natural Science Course, one or two thinking that the two
should be kept quite distinct, the Nature Study work being
kept as non-technical as possible; but the general feeling was
that while all Nature Study work was not scientific, all Natural
Science studies were really part of Nature Study as it should
be taught in the schools. Lists of the best seeds of flowers,
trees and shrubs to be used for illustrating the mysteries of
germination; lists of shrubs and trees from which the buds
most suitable for Nature vStudy instruction could be procured
and lists of plants to be studied in the Spring and Autumn
were submitted and discussed.

J. M. M.

COUNCIL MEETING.

A meeting of the Council was held on January 6th in the
Normal School with the President, Mr. W. J. Wilson, in the
chair. Members present were: Messrs. A. E. Attwood, A. H.
Gallup, J. W. Baldwin, A. Gibson, E. E. Lemieux, and T. E.
Clarke; Miss Q. Jackson and Miss A. L. Matthews.

The following were elected ordinary members: Messrs.
Hiram Robinson, Morley E. Wilson, and J. P. Finn, B.A.

The President informed the Council that the room in the
Normal School which the Club had been privileged to use as
a library would no longer be available since it had been found
necessary to make use of it for school purposes. A committee
consisting of Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Dr. H. M. Ami and Mr. A. H.
Gallup was appointed to see if a suitable room could be secured
elsewhere.

REVIEWS.

Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, by
Stewardson Brown. Illustrated with 31 water-color drawings
and 91 other illustrations by Mrs. Charles Schaeffer, pp. 352.
Putnam's Sons, New York. $3.00.

Contrilnttions to a Catalogne of the Flora of the Canadian
Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Range, by Edith M. Farr.
Contr. from the Bot. Lab. of the Univ. of Penn. Vol. III. pp.
1-88. Bot. Dept., Univ. of Penn. $1.00.

Among those who visit the Canadian mountains the greater
number perhaps go chiefly to revel in the unrivalled scenery of
the Rockies and Selkirks or to climb the peaks that tempt
them on every hand. But there are few who can spend even one
day in the mountains without feeling the desire to know at least
the common names of some of the beautiful wild flowers that
fill the woods and meadows and cover the mountain slopes
with masses of brilliant color. Mrs. Henshaw's "Mountain
Wild Flowers of Canada"* wih long remain the "popular guide
to the names and descriptions of the flow^ers that bloom above
the clouds." Written by a good botanist and one who is an
ardent lover of flowers it appeals to the Nature lover in a way
that no "Flora" or "Catalogue" can do, and Mrs. Henshaw
seems always to have found the exact word to describe the
characteristic beauty of the plant she may be writing about,
a matter of greater difficulty than is realized' by one who has not
attempted it.

While Prof. Brown's book is very far from being a complete
"Flora" of the Rocky Mountains it is strictly "scientific" as
far as it goes, and the amateur botanist who so dearly loves
to "analyse "and "classify" the plants he collects wiU find that
he can with this book identify all the commoner species at
least, that he will find in the Rockies or Selkirks, for though the
title covers only the Rocky Mountains the matter includes the
Selkirks as well. The average tourist, however, will prefer Mrs.
Henshaw's simpler, if not very scientific, arrangement of the
alpine flowers in groups according to their color, as by this
means he can in a very short time learn the names of the plants
he has collected. Beginning with a general key to the families,
Prof. Brown gives briefly and clearly the characters of each
family and of the genera into which they are divided. The
number of species in each genus is as a rule so small that the
characters separating these are not given in the form of a key
but will be found in the descriptions of the species themselves.
These descriptions are with very few exceptions accurate and
not unnecessarily long. The habitat of each species is also given

* Reviewed in the Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XX, p. 114.

1908] Reviews. 223

and its distribution in a general way. Had one or two localities
been mentioned at which collectors could find each species,
the value of the "Flora" to the traveller making only a short
stay in the mountains would have been greatly enchanced, but
as "this defect is covered by Miss Farr's "Catalogue" which is
a natural, and indeed a necessary complement of the "Flora"
it will not be felt to the degree it would have been had the
"Catalogue" not been published. The names used by Dr. Brown
are those approved by the school of American botanists who
have not accepted the "Vienna Rules." No objection could
be taken to the use of this system of nomenclature were anv
synonymy given but one not familiar with some of these new
names will be unable to decide whether they are applied to
new segregates or are only new names substituted for the old
familiar ones, which will generally prove to be the case. This
defect is also remedied, however, by Miss Farr's "Catalogue."
In her preface she says candidly: "The nomenclature is in
accordance with the best judgment of the author," but "one
synonym is given under each species where from familiar
usage in the past such a course seems desirable." A strict
application of the "Vienna Rules" will result in the changing
of very few of Mrs. Henshaw's names and fewer still of Miss
Farr's.

Of Mrs. Schaeffer's illustrations nothing but praise can be
said or written. If a very few of the colored illustrations are
a little "off color" the fault lies in the difficulty of reprodvicing
in color the delicate shades so characteristic of many alpine
flowers, and Mrs.Schaeffer's illustrations are much the best the
writer knows of in any American work of this kind, and there
is not one of them that wovild not serve to identify immediatelv
the species it is intended to represent. The half-tones are also
excellent and the reproduction on the same plate of an inch
measure makes it easy to determine the relative height of the
plants reproduced. A comparison is naturally suggested between
Mrs. Henshaw's book and that of Dr. Brown and Mrs.Schaeffer,
but such a comparison cannot be made. Each is excellent in
its own way. Some will prefer one and some the other, but the
qualities that make both good, and each in some respects better
than the other, are so diverse that no one with the smallest
interest in or love for flowers can visit the Canadian mountains
and afford to be without either. The publication of two such
books is of vastly greater significance than mav appear to the
unthinking. They will serve to advertise our mountains and
attract visitors not only from the United States but from
Europe, and what the average Canadian may not know is that
though transportation companies, hotel-keepers and even the

224 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February

Government have for many years exploited the mountains of
the Western States no such books as either of these have been 'i
published on the flora of these mountains, a fact sufficient in
itself to show that they do not offer the attraction to the tourist
and Nature lover that our Canadian mountains do. These
books and the work of the Canadian Alpine Club will do more
to attract strangers to our mountains during the next five
years than anything else will. It is to the credit of the Canadian
Government and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company that
this is not only appreciated by them but that their appreciation
has been shown in a practical way by affording every possible
assistance to the authors of these books and to the officers of
the Alpine Club in the prosecution of their work.

Miss Farr's "Catalogue," as has already been said, is the
natural complement of both of the books referred to above.
But it is something more than a Catalogue. Like Macoun's
"Catalogue of Canadian Plants" which gives the general dis-
tribution of all the species of flowering plants which were known
to occur in Canada at the time of its publication and also the
particular localities at which rare species had been collected,
Miss Farr mentions a locality in either the Rockies or Selkirks,
or both, at which each species may be found, which makes it -M
possible for one who has only a part of one season to spend in "
the mountains to collect most of the species known to occur
there. The "Catalogue" is also a practically complete list of
the plants of those parts of the Rockies and Selkirks that it
covers. Based on her own collections in 1904 and 1905 Miss
Farr has added to- her own list all species reported by other
collectors. That a complete list of the plants of any region should
be published is of course out of the question. All that anyone
can do is to publish a list of the plants known to occur and this
Miss Farr has done. Botanists like Prof. Macoun and Dr.
Fletcher who have collected in the Rockies and Selkirks for
more than twenty years could add a good many names to even
Miss Farr's list, but these names have not been published, and
indeed some of the plants collected by them are listed for the
first time in Miss Farr's "Catalogue." To the professional
botanist the "Catalogue" will prove more valuable than either
the "Flora" or Mrs. Henshaw's book. The amateur botanist
and the casual visitor to the mountains will find it an absolute
necessity, for they will certainly find many species that neither
Mrs. Henshaw nor Dr. Brown has described, but which are
catalogued by Miss Farr.

^ J. M. M.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

VOL. XXI.

OTTAWA, MARCH, 1908

No. 12

MOUNTAIN SPRITES.
By Dr. James Fletcher, Ottawa.

(Delivered Dec. 10th at the opening meeting of the
Winter Course, 1907-8.)

As T came into the hall this evening I was asked whether
Mountain Sprites were birds, beasts or fishes, or at any rate
to which branch of natural history sprites belonged. A sprite
the dictionary tells us is a spirit, a shade, an apparition, and I
have never yet found in nature anything to which such a title
could be quite so appropriately applied as to the very elusive
soberly coloured or extremely active butterflies which one finds
on the summits of high mountains, where they flit up suddenly
from the broken rocks, appear for a second or two and then
close their wings and drop into a crevice or over a precipice
where pursuit is impossible. Another disconcerting device is
to drop suddenly to the ground and feign death, when followed
closely, where they lie over sideways among the broken rocks
with which such places are strewn, and thus become instantly
and most effectually invisible. On the other hand these
attractive creatures may come dashing at you out of space
as soon as a ray of sunshine warms up the snow fields or rugged
rocks, and then as suddenly disappear over a cliff or beyond a
pile of rough boulders where pursuit is most difficult.

It may not be amiss to remind you, here, that chasing butter-
flies in the rarefied atmosphere and among the loose rocks on
the bare summits, or on the boulder-strewn slopes of a mountain
over 8,000 feet high, is an entirely dift'erent proposition from
even a long trying chase over level meadows and through the
woods of the lowlands. The very fatigue of violent exercise
of all kinds at such heights is a factor which constantly forces
itself upon one. Added to this any recklessness, accidental
stumble or mis-step near the edge of a ravine may easily result
in a serious accident, involving perhaps a sudden and involuntary
descent of some thousands of feet.

226 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

There are many species of fragile butterflies and insects
of all kinds, which are found only on the bleak and wind-swept
summits of high mountains. These are naturally, on account
of their rarity in collections, a great attraction to entomologists
whenever opportunities occur of seeking for them in their
native haunts.

In response to the President's invitation to speak for a few
minutes this evening on "a collecting experience of the past
summer," I am going to tell you of a short expedition made
on the 4th of August last in company with my friend Dr. Henry
Skinner, of Philadelphia, the well known authority on many
branches of entomology and the Editor of Entomological News.
The chief objects of our search were some species of mountain
butterflies discovered by Mr. T. E. Bean whose excellent work
on the butterflies of the Canadian Rockies has made Laggan,
the place where he lived for some years, a classic ground for
entomologists. We decided to stop at this Mecca and endeavor
to secure among others, specimens of Argytinis alberta, Edw.,
and CEneis heanii, both discovered for the first time by Mr.
Bean in this locality. The chief object of our search, however,
was the beautiful and most interesting Argynnis astarte, Dbl.-
Hew., which has a very interesting history. This butterfly
had been described in 1848 from a specimen brought back to
England by a collector sent out by Lord Derby. Owing to the
small appreciation of the value of exact localities in those days
and even to-day with some of the entomologists in Europe
who deal with all-world collections, the inaccurate and in-
definite locality given on this specimen was "Jamaica," which
was one of the points of call of the collector in proceeding to
or from North America. In 1888 Mr. Bean who was then living
in the Rocky Mountains, re-discovered the species which had
been a mystery to all entomologists from the time the single
specimen was taken back to Europe. As Mr. H. J. Elwes, one
of the most astute of the English lepidopterists, wrote to me
just about that time, it seemed almost impossible that a species
with the general appearance of A. astarte could be a tropical
insect, and he felt sure that this insect would prove to be an
arctic or high alpine form, which would be found in the Rocky
Mountains if anyone would go and search for it. He even
•offered to subscribe ;^200 towards such an expedition. Just
about this time, by a curious co-incidence, Mr. Bean sent
•specimens of the butterfly, together with several other new
species, to Mr. W. H. Edwards of Coalburgh, W. Va., for identi-
fication, and Mr. Edwards had decided to name it A. Victoria
after our late beloved Queen, Victoria the Good. This fine

1908] Mountain Sprites 227

insect is not only extremely rare and difficult to obtain because
of the inaccessibility of its habitat, but is exceedingly active
and difficult to catcli even under the most favourable circum-
stances.

We arrived at Laggan Station on the Canadian Pacific Rail-
way on the morning of August 3rd. The station is almost at
the highest point reached by the railway (alt. 5037 feet above
sea-level) in passing over the main chain of the Rockies,
and is close to the dividing line between the provinces of
Alberta and British Columbia. It was a glorious morning
and we enjoyed thoroughly the drive of four miles or there-
abouts up through the woods to the Chalet Hotel on Lake
Louise. Our hopes rose to a high point as we saw the numerous
butterflies and other insects fiitting along the flowery banks
of the roadway. Having arrived at the Chalet, perhaps the
most picturesquely situated and luxuriously comfortable,
even of the Canadian Pacific Railway hotels, we at once made
preparations for our journev up to the happy hunting grounds
on the top of Mount St. Piran, a mountain towering up 8.500
feet to the south of Lake Louise. Alas, however, we were to
be disappointed. Lake Louise, which on our arrival, from its
beautiful colour well deserved its original name of -Emerald Lake,
in an hour's time was entirely changed in appearance, for heavy
black clouds rolled over from Mount Lefroy and Victoria Glacier,
and verv soon descended in such a torrent of rain as onlv can
fall in the mountains. Frequent showers followed throughout
the afternoon which made an ascent of the mountain quite
out of the question. Short excursions, however, along the
side of the Lake and along the carriage drive, enabled us to
secure some insects of interest. Among these were specimens
of a reddish "black fly" {Siinulium fulvuni, Coq.) which little
knowing their danger were stupidly persistent in circling around
our heads. On the flowers of the tall Spiked Willowherb and
the large golden flowers of an Arnica, we secured many bumble
bees and a few Plusias. While waiting in a boathouse between
showers several specimens of two species of mosquitoes were
enticed from their native wilds to our collecting boxes.

The next morning we were up bright and early, and although
the day was not very promising, we started up the mountain
in a light shower of rain, hoping that on the summit conditions
would impro^'e.

To those who have never enjoyed the exquisite pleasure
of threading their way up through the rich forests which clothe
the bases of our grand mountains in any of the great chains
of the Rockies, and then on through the diminishing groves of

228 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

trees, shrubs and bushes to the delightful flower-laden mountain
meadows above, the idea that every fresh zone of vegetation
is teeming with animate life characteristic of each altitude,
must come somewhat as a surprise. This, however, is known
actually to be the case by all who have been fortunate enough
to enjoy such a climb as my companion and I did last August.
From the base to the very summits capped with snow, which
at a distance seem to be so bare and forbidding, we find that
not onlv the plants but the animals, birds, and insects, keep
rapidly changing with each succeeding modification of the
conditions of life, due to the varying altitudes. The recognition
of the various denizens of the mountain forests, streams,
meadows, and rocky crags, as each group appears and then gives
place to others better able to stand the rigours of higher
altitudes, gives an indescribable charm and exhilarating zest
to an ascent of one of these mountains.

On leaving the hotel we piished on through the woods
with our eyes ever on the alert to notice the different trees,
shrubs and abundant flowering plants. A circuitous path up
the side of the mountain brought us to the Lakes in the Clouds,
Lake Agnes and Mirror Lake, two beautiful pieces of water
which lie on the flanks of St. Piran. Here we hoped to find
Argynnis alberta among the shrubs and low groves of conifers,
but we were too late in the season to get this local treasure.
Above the lakes the mass of the mountain slopes away gradually
to the summit over meadows which were ablaze with lovely
alpine flowers and where clumsy bumble bees hummed busily
from one bright blossom to another. Many of these beautiful
mountain blossoms were of so much interest that we cannot
pass them by, and indeed they were the chief interest of our
expedition, for with the exception of a few moths, one or two
butterflies, and some small insects of various orders, found here
and on the surface of the snowfields at the summit, our expedi-
tion was rather unproductive in specimens, although most
enjoyable from the opportunity of seeing new friends in all
forms of life, among the sublime surroundings of the mighty
mountains which form the backbone of our continent. The
scenery in that part of the main chain of the Rockies is beyond
description magnificent. From the summit of Mount St. Piran
we looked down upon the lakes below with the Chalet nestling,
half hidden among the trees, at one end of Lake Louise, and
further off in the valley of the Bow, a slender thread showed
where the railway made it possible for new lovers of nature to
come and enjoy this wonderland. Bevond this again, across
the Bow Valley, was the great Sawback Range. Nearer to us

1908] Mountain Sprites 229

were many mountains of equal height or soaring above that
on which we stood. As we watched the snowfields on Mount
Lefrov we noticed what appeared to be a little puff of snow
or cloud rolling down the precipitous side, and many seconds
later we appreciated, by the roar of sound that was brought
to us, that this had been an avalanche of perhaps thousands
of tons of ice and snow which had been dislodged by the action
of the summer heat.

On the whole our trip it must be acknowledged, as far as
insects were concerned, was half a failure, because we did not
succeed fully in the object of our quest. When we reached
the summit where the butterflies we most desired are to be
found, we were met by a strong freezing blast which came up
from the other side of the mountain with such force as to make
it at times almost impossible to stand. The sun was for most
of the time hidden by rolling clouds laden with snow, which
almost incessantly fell in flurries during the hour and a half
we were on the summit. For a few minutes the sun came out
and I saw a black object like a drifting leaf rise from a bed of
broken rock and drop suddenly upon another one. This I knew
to be CEneis beanii, one of the Mountain Sprites we were in
search of. It was within a few feet of me and gave a good
instance of the almost incredible difficulty of finding these
insects which nature has so well protected by their resemblance
to the rocks amongst which they live and by their secretive
habits. I saw the little creature fall almost at my feet within
a space of two feet square where not a blade of grass was grow-
ing, and yet it was onty by going down on my hands and knees
and picking off one by one every piece of loose stone that at
last i detected it by a movement of the wing as a small piece
of rock fell upon it. Tt feigned death perfectly and was easily
picked up and dropped into the killing bottle. No other
specimens were seen except one Argynnis astarte which Dr.
Skinner says came towards him as though it had started from
the south pole and when he raised his net to make a stroke,
made for the north pole as if it meant never to stop till it reached
there. The temperature was below freezing, snow was falling
and the wind blowing a perfect gale. The sun showed no sign
of being in a kindlier mood, so after a stay of an hour and a
half we made up our minds to revisit again the flowery fields
below. Here we were well repaid by the many objects of beauty
which we found on everv side. Around the Lakes in the
Clouds the rocks were covered with mossy Saxifrages and the
rich flowers of the Wide-leaved Willow-herb. Here also we found
beds of the White Dryas (Dryas ociopetala, L.) a low alpien

230 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

shrub with creamy white flowers, and close to the water, sturdy
bushes of Labrador Tea, the same as we get in our eastern
swamps, the small-leaved mountain variety microphylla of
Kalmia glauca and other bog plants. Among flower-laden
bushes of the White-flowered Rhododendron, the tall graceful
spikes and almost tropical foliage of the False Hellebore
{Veratrum viride), were conspicuous, together with bushes of
Lonicera involucrata showing both the small yellow twinned
blossoms and dark purple berries surrounded by their enlarged
claret coloured bracts. Here too Lyall's Larch and Abies
lasiocarpa, heavily loaded with their curious cones, drew the
attention of the passer by. The striking crimson flowering
spikes of the Greenland Lousewort and three other species
of the same genus, Pedicularis coniorta, racemosa, and hracteosa,
all grew close together on a springy slope, mixed with the
graceful white-flowered Grass of Parnassus, the large purple
daisy-like flowers of Erigeron salsuginosus , Lewis's Mimulus,
scented Valerians, golden Buttercups, Arnicas and Cinquefoils.
Higher up the slope were seen beds of Alpine Asters, Golden
Ragworts, some of the smaller Fleabanes and showy Pent-
stemons, all of which added their quota to this scene of beauty.
The feathery seed heads of the beautiful Western Anemone
{Anemone occidentalis), stood well up above the low grasses
and sedges. Higher up the mountain side we found in per-
fection the handsome white cup-like flowers of the same plant,
and higher still nearer the snow, the young buds lying like
white satin buttons close to the ground. With these were also
the pretty blue tinged flowers of Drummond's Anemone and
hosts of other alpine flowers too numerous even to mention.
A word, however, must be said of the beds of mountain heather
which are such a charm to all visitors to the mountains. These
are of three colours and although they are not true heathers, they
belong to the same natural order, the Heath family. The most
beautiful is the red-flowered heather, Bryanthus empefriformis,
then the white, Cassiope mertensiana, which grows on St. Piran
in wonderful beauty. An interesting but less showy plant is
Phyllodoce glandulifora which has clusters of greenish white
flowers. Right on the bleak summits of these mountains large
patches of the lovely little Moss Campion, Silene acaulis, are
to be found. This little plant consists of numerous stems all
bunched close together like a tuft of moss. The annual growth
consists merely of half a dozen leaves and one large flower at
the tip of each little stemlet, giving the whole tuft the appearance
of a green cushion thickly studded with rosy pink blossoms.

As we left the Lakes of the Clouds and went down the

1908] Mountain Sprites 231

slope to the Hotel, we noted a few more floral treasures nestling
among the feathery mosses which covered the ground every-
where among the tall trees. Here the deliciously scented Twin-
flowers and Single-flowered Pyrolas were abundant and the
Star-like flowers of Clintonia nnifora, prettily called by Mrs.
Henshaw "Queen Cups." looked bravely up from between
their shining leaves and were intermingled with delicate orchids
and many other treasures characteristic of these woods. We
reached the hotel towards sunset, not particularly laden
with treasures of the chase, but perfectly happy after one of
the most enjoyable days we had either of us ever spent with
Nature.

BOTANICAL NOTES.

Rhus Ithacensis, Greene, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci. VIII, 178.

R. glabra, Macoun, Cat. Can. Plants, I, 100.

R. glabra is a southern species which does not occur in
Canada. An immature specimen collected by Dr. Geo. Dawson
at the Lake of the Woods (Herb. No. 10069) Dr. Greene believes
to be an undoubted undescribed species, but the specimen is too
poor to describe.

Rhinanthus oblongifolius, Fernald, Rhodora, IX, 24.

Distinguished from R. Crista-galli by its wider crenate-
toothed leaves and the much broader yellow lateral teeth of
the upper lip of the corolla. Common on alpine meadows and
slopes on Table-topped Mountain, Gaspe Co., Que. (/. .4. Allen,
Fernald and Collins). Several specimens in our herbarium from
Labrador and the Hudson Bay region apparently belong here,
but thev have not retained their gi-een color which Mr. Fernald
says is a characteristic of R. oblongifolius.

Euthamia occidentalis, Nutt.

In thickets. Lake Okanagan, B.C., August 14th, 1891
(Jas. McEvoy). Our only Canadian specimens. Referred at
time of collecting to Solidago lanceolata.

J. M. M.

.lURARYl S9i

232 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

ON AN OCCURRENCE OF HYBOCYSTIS IN ONTARIO.

(Plate II, Figures 1-5)

By W. a. Parks, Ph.D., Associate Professor op Geology,

University of Toronto.

In the Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History
for 1880, Professor Wetherby records the discovery of seven
specimens of a remarkable organism which he describes as
Hyhocystites prohIcmaticus,veievv\ng the genus to the Cystoidea,
as the name implies. The same specimens were examined by
Herbert Carpenter who decided that their relationships were
with the Blastoids rather than with the Cystids.* Wachsmuth
and Springer in their revision of the Palaeocrinoidea, are of
the opinion that these forms are really Crinoids of low organiza-
tion. In view of the diverse opinions as to the proper place in
a classification of this remarkable genus, it will be of interest
to students of the Echinodermata to learn of its occurrence
in a new locality — ^the first since the original discovery in
Mercer County, Kentucky. The Trent Valley Canal cutting
in Eldon tp., Victoria County, near Kirkfield, Ont., has yielded
the University collector, Mr. Joseph Townsend, a fine series
of Crinoids, Cystids and Asteroids. In working over this
material one excellent specimen of H. prohlematictis and three
of a new species of the same genus were found. As the present
example of Wetherby's species is in a much better state of
preservation than any of the original forms it is hoped that
a few additional notes on the anatomy of this interesting
fossil will not be superfluous. Rather than to enter the dis-
cussion as to the affinity of the organism the writer prefers
to accept Wachsmuth and Springer's conclusion and to regard
it as a Crinoid. The almost exact resemblance to Hyhocrinus
in the arrangement of the calyx plates and in the character of
the anal orifice tend to strengthen the decision of these authors.
An emended description of Hyhocysiis prohlematicus follows: —

Basals. — ^Five, pentagonal, the two posterior plates symmet-
rical and larger than the other three. This forces the column
into an excentric position. (Fig. 5).

Radials. — The second ring of plates consists of four
radials and a posterior hexagonal anal (azygous plate). This
plate bears on its upper left side a small upper azygous or

* Quarterly Journal, Geo]. Soc, London, p. 307, pi. XL, 18S2.

Vol. XXI.

The Ottawa Xaturalist

Plate II.

Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 — Hybocystites problematicus.
Fig. 4 — Hybocystites eldonensis.

1908] Hybocystis in Ontario 233

second anal plate and on its right upper side a small fifth
radial. (Fig. 5).

Arms. — Short, stout, consisting of five subequal, quad-
rangular joints. The arms curve inward over the vault. Three
only occur, being borne on the anterior and the two posterior
radials. The internal face of each arm is deeply excavated
by an ambulacral furrow, which passes over the distal end,
is continued down the outer side and is prolonged over the
face of the radial. (Fig. 3).

Calycine ambulacra. — ^Two, passing from the vault over
the summit of the two antero-lateral radials and continuing
downwards and backwards so that the two almost meet at
the posterior side of the column. The calyx plates are raised
into a prominent ridge at the borders of the furrows and near
their extremities these ridges unite beneath the ambulacra,
so that these structures seem raised on tumid pads with crenu-
lated edges. (Fig. 2).

Venial disc. — ^As the radials are much inflected at their
superior aspect the ventral surface is restricted. Four diamond-
shaped, nodose orals occupy the interradial positions, with the
exception of the posterior; here, the large anal structure has
forced the oral plate inwards and upwards so that it appears
as a prominent ridge bordering the anus medially. The am-
bulacra from both arms and calyx are continued to the centre,
the ftirrows being arched over by rigid cover pieces so that
the oral aperture is entirely hidden. No apical plate is apparent
but it is possible that the proximal cover plates are so fused as
to function as such. (Fig. 1).

Ventral sac. — A large circular, shallow depression is situated
just within the anal plate. Around the border this hollow is
lined by numerous minute plates while the centre is ' raised
into a dome-like elevation, consisting of six (or possibly more)
triangular plates, after the manner of a Cystid. It is possible
that in life this depression was a real proboscis which has been
forced in by the processes of fossilization. In this event the
anus was certainly situated at its extremity. (Fig. 1).

Column. — ^Round, tapering distally, composed of very
thin equal joints

Discussion. — ^The above description differs in many points
from the assertions of Wetherbv, Carpenter and Wachsmuth
and Springer. The chief differences may be briefly stated
as follows: Arms. — Only two joints have previously been
observed; five, certainly occur and no more, for the distal joint
shows most distinctly the ambulacral cover plates passing
over to the outside. Carpenter figures the furrows as passing

1

234 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

over the summit of the second joint; this must be erroneous
if the species are identicaL Mouth. — ^The ambulacra meet
at or near the centre of the disc and do not enter the calyx
at the edge of the radials as stated by Wachsmuth and Springer.
A central oral aperture must exist but it is not observable,
being rigidly closed in by the tight fitting and interlocking
ambulacral cover-plates. Carpenter's figures of the oral aspect
are extremely variable and confusing; it is difficult to co-
relate his diagrams. Anus. — Despite Wachsmuth and Springer's
obiection, Wetherby's statement as to the existence of a
valvular pyramid is correct. That this pyramid is surrounded
by a series of small plates is here recorded for the first time.
This feature tends to increase the resemblance of the present
genus to H ybocrinus , for the same structure was observed by
W. R. Billings in the latter genus and is figured for Carabo-
crinus by Wachsmuth and Springer.*

Locality. — ^Mercer Covmty, Kentucky; Trent Valley Canal,
Eldon tp., Victoria County, Ont., two miles from Kirkfield,
J. Townsend, collector. No. 567 T. University of Toronto
Musetxm.

Hybocystis eldonensis, sp. nov.

(Plate II., Fig. 4)

This species is founded on one well preserved, specimen
although two others are at hand. The latter, however, are
somewhat larger and stouter, so that, in order to avoid any
specific confusion, the description is confined to the single
specimen. The present species is much smaller than H. prob-
lematicus, being only about seven millimetres in vertical extent.
It shows the same asymetric shape, the column being excentric
and the vault much elevated on the anal side. The calycine
plates are quite similar but the upper azygous plate is relatively
smaller; its presence, indeed, is more to be inferred than ob-
served. The ventral sac and anus are likewise similar, the
circlet of small plates and the dome-like valvular pyramid
being clearly shown. The ambulacral tracts on the tegmen
are well closed by rigid cover-pieces which are relatively larger
than in the genotype. The most pronounced difference is in
the fact that the two calycine ambulacra do not extend over
the basals but are confined to the radials, where they are
bolstered up on relatively larger tumid pads. The cover-
plates are large and distinct with the individual ossicles of the
two rows alternating. There is no trace of an ambulacral

* North American Crinoidea Camerata, p. 137.

1908] Hybocystis in Ontario 235

furrow on the arm-bearing radials, nor can such a depression
be made out on the external aspect of the arms themselves.
In the specimen one arm is lost, two joints of the second are
preserved and three of the third. It can not be stated, however,
that the arms were complete in three segments. Each arm-
joint is much longer than wide and in this differs from H.
prohlemaiicus where they are roughly quadrangular. Whether
or not the ambulacra were extended on the external face of
the arms can not be stated, but it is certain that no trace of
such an arrangement is exhibited by the specimen. All the
plates of the calyx are pitted but this appearance is probably
of accidental rather than of organic origin.

Locality. — ^Township of El don, Victoria County, Ont.. J
Townsend, collector. Type, No. 566 T. University of Toronto
Museum.

Remarks. — One cannot fail to be impressed with the
strong resemblance of Hybocystis problematicus and of H.
eldonensis to Hyhocrinits conicus. Bill, and H. tumidtis. Bill,
respectively. The resemblance of Hybocystis eldonensis to
Hybocriniis pristinus is also remarkable; it may be that the
new species is comparable with H. pristinus and the two stouter
undescribed specimens more closely related to H. tumidus.
The exact similarity in the plates of the calyx has already
been established; to this must now be added the close agree-
ment in the structure of the anal apparatus. It is significant
also that the recent discoveries should have been made in,
or near, the same locality from which Billings obtained his
tvpes of Hybocrinvis. Wetherby has suggested that a sexual
difference mav be all that divides the two genera; in view
of the facts above cited this explanation is worthy of especial
consideration. One strong objection urged by Wachsmuth
and Springer against Carpenter's decision that these fonns
should be placed txnder the Blastoidea, is that the calycine
ambulacra extend over the basal plates. In the case of the
new species this objection does not hold; further, the large
pads under the ambulacra show some slight evidence of being
separate calcifications. If this latter fact could be estabUshed
the radials would become typical "forked plates" of the
Blastoids and the pad itself develop into the "lancet plate."
While not inclining to this view, the writer thinks it just to
Carpenter's conclusions to draw attention to the above facts^._

Explanation of Plate. oN* - / "

Hybocystis problematicus. • "^ /^^' ^* ^^\^

Fig. 1. — ^Tegminal view with arms removed. / /* -^^#-^, <\ ^\

O

36 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

Fig. 2. — ^Left antero-lateral view, showing the calycine
furrow with the cover-plates in the upper portion.

Fig. 3. — ^Left postero-lateral view, showing the left furrow
and the extremity of the right furrow with the supporting pad
and the cover-pieces intact.

Fig. 5. — ^Dissection of calyx.
Hybocysfis eldonensis .

Fig. 4. — ^Right antero-lateral view.

BIRD NOTES FROM SOUTHWESTERN NOVA SCOTIA.

By H. F. Tufts.

The latter half of April, 1907, was spent by the writer in
ornithological collecting in the vicinity of Cape Sable, Nova
Scotia. This is the southwesternmost point of the province,
jutting well out into the sea, and in consequence is a port of
call, as it were, for most of the north-breeding sea fowl in their
spring and fall migrations.

A numerous and energetic population of fishermen here-
about— as much gunners as fishermen — ^Ivceps the birds in such
a constant state of persecution and harassment, that the collect-
ing of a good series of specimens without undue waste of time
is out of the question. There are more favored localities along
the shore of Nova Scotia, I have since been informed. However,
a record of some notes on observations, and some unusual
captures made, may be of interest to those who know not the
seashore and its bird life.

To begin with, the season was most unfavorable for this
work. Unusually rough and stormy weather prevailed, making
it impossible to get out to the outer islands and ledges among
which the birds were passing, while many species more or less
abundant all winter had already vacated these waters for more
northern haunts.

The first observations were made about the more sheltered
inner bays about Barrington, some six or eight miles in from
"the cape." Here the birds noted were, golden-eyes, in small
flocks; red-breasted mergansers, in scattered pairs; a good
many brant, which kept together mostly in a few large flocks,
and a few black ducks. All of these birds were kept continually
on the move by the fishermen and gunners, and were wary to
an extreme degree. Black-backed and herring gulls were the
only other sea birds noted.

Upon moving out to "the cape" and the unsheltered waters

1908] Bird Notes from S.W. Nova Scotia 237

to seaward a different and more varied lot of fowl came under
observation. The most abundant species were the eiders and
scoters. The former are known to the fishermen as "sea-ducks,"
the three species of the latter being collectively called "coots'
and differentiated by their most prominent characteristics.
Thus the American scoter is known as "butter-nose coot" from
the yellow and orange knob at the base of its upper mandible.
The surf scoter from the white spots about its head and nape is
called "patch-poll coot," while the velvet scoter is quite properly
called the "white-winged coot," from its conspicuous wing
patches. None of these birds were seen in a state of rest during
my stay about the locality, though hundreds were seen daily,
always in long wavering strings passing the outer points and
ledges uniformly moving to eastward. Taking advantage of
this regularity of the birds' movements, the fishermen gunners
would put out in their shooting skiffs and stringing out over
the water, perhaps ten or twenty boats in all, each a couple of
gunshots fromi the other and partly concealed by the swell and
waves of the sea, woiild intercept the flocks as they came along,
often causing great destruction in their ranks.

A few "old squaws" and black guillemots, an occasional
puffin, auk, loon, jaeger and a few others were also noted while
on these shooting trips, well out from land.

On April 23rd the first gannets were seen. A "flight" of
them commenced about 10 o'clock, a.m., and continued through-
out the day, the birds passing, singly or in scattered flocks,
westward!}^ along the shore some 100-200 yards off. These
gannets have a most characteristic mode of flight — it is remark-
ably straightforward, the wings beating with a uniform
regularity and certain deliberation that forces them into the
face of storm with apparent ease. Their beaks seem constantly
to point downward, the birds always on the lookout for their
finny prey beneath, upon which they drop like bullets as soon
as seen. For several days following, this "flight" of gannets
was noted between the same hours and in the same direction
and over the same waters. At the mouth of the Bay of Fundy
is a rocky island known as Gannet Rock, where formerly large
numbers of these birds bred and raised their young.

On the morning of April 24th during a heavy southeast
storm, which piled great breakers roaring upon the beach, I
noted the first "shore bird" arrival for the season. Above the
thunder of the surf, while walking along the beach, I heard a
soft, flute-like note — a plaintive "phe-blo," it sounded — and
upon looking about discovered its origin in a little, dusky-
collared, grev and white bird, scurrying about among the

238 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

kelp and seaweed — the piping plover. A week or two later quite
a number of these birds put in an appearance, and as T later
observed, stayed to rear their young. A few days later the
seniipalmated plover and least sandpipers came along from the
south , some of which also remained to breed.

The capture of two birds very rare to the province was
made during this trip. On April 23rd a little blue heron was
flushed and shot from a salt marsh behind the sand beaches.
On the 25th a least bittern was found on the beach, its feet
entangled in a mess of eel grass and sea-weed. He was quite
alive however. Heavy southerly gales and much fog had pre-
vailed for some time previous and no doubt these birds had thus
strayed and drifted from their more southern haunts.

I left this locality for the interior on May 6th, but returned
again on the 4th of June en route to Seal and Mtid islands, which
lie some 20 miles off the coast. Being detained here for two days
on account of storms. I again went over the ground of my
previous observations. Now of course the sea birds had gone,
but about the beaches and sand dunes were many black-breasted,
piping and semi-palmated plover, and spotted and least sand-
pipers. The black-breasts were merely lingering here before
moving to their more northern breeding grounds. All the
others, however, gave evidence to the fact that they were
nesting. Several nests with eggs of the spotted sand-piper were
discovered, and the downy-young some few hours old of the
least sand-piper were found on the border of a, salt marsh near
where they were no doubt hatched. I was not previously
aware that these latter bred so far south. Piping and semi-
palmated plover w^ere also nesting about the pebbly wastes
above the sand beach, as they plainly showed by their excited
circlings abovit my head, but diligent search failed to locate
either eggs or young.

On June 8th, the weather having cleared, sail was set for
Mud Island — 20 miles out to sea. Here were found many
Leach's petrels, terns, gulls, guillemots and a few eiders, while
of the small land birds the Bicknell's thrush and black-poll
warblers were the most interesting. Petrels were nesting all
over the island, their burrows and musky odor being much in
evidence. At the end of each burrow two birds were almost
invariably found, but no eggs as yet.

A pair of eiders had built a nest at the base of a large spruce
on the high bank overlooking the beach, and six eggs had been
laid, but when examined each egg showed a ragged puncture
in its side, through which the contents had been largely
removed — this without doubt the work of the crows, which here

1908J Bird Notes from S.W. Nova Scotia 239

abound.

The terns and guillemots were inhabiting a small, flat,
grass-covered, granite-bound island known as "Noddy" some
half mile away, to which a visit proved interesting. The
island which contains about three acres, was literally covered
with the terns, which arose in swarms as our boat drew near,
and hovered overhead, uttering shrill, piercing cries as they
darted down at us. Three varieties were here represented — the
Arctic, common and roseate, the former being much the most
numerous, while the latter were rare. No eggs were yet de-
posited, but I was told that in a few weeks time the fishermen
w^ould come here and gather the eggs by the bushel. It seems
too bad that these birds should be thus persecuted and finally
driven from their nesting ground as they have from the other
adjoining islands where once they swarmed. Crows and ravens
also aid in this destructive work — the birds have no friends,
despite their beautiful and graceful forms and interesting ways.

On Seal Island, next visited, the gulls, guillemots and
petrels were found as numerous as upon the occasion of my
visit of a year ago, and all were nesting, here much protected
by Mr. Crowell the lighthouse keeper. But the great attraction
of this island to me and the object of my expedition hither,
was the Bicknell's thrush, its nest and eggs. During the four
days spent on the island three nests were collected and others
in process of building were noted. These nests were placed in
the dense moss and lichen covered spruces, at varying distances
from the ground, sometimes close to the trunk, again well out
on the limbs. In composition they are similar, consisting of
moss, lichens, wool, twigs and dried grasses, quite bulky but
withal compact and neat. The full complement of eggs seems
to be three, light blue in color, finely speckled with brown.
Several nests of the black-poll warbler in varying stages of
completion were discovered, but none contained eggs at that
date. '

MEETING OF BOTANICAL BRANCH.

The fourth meeting of the Botanical Branch was held at
the residence of Mr. J. M. Macoun. Messrs. Whyte, W. T.
Macoun, Cameron, Fletcher, Attwood, Clarke and Jacombe
were present. The subject presented for discussion by Mr.
J. M. Macoun was "Botanical Nomenclature." After briefly
explaining the points of difference between the arrangement
of orders and genera by Bentham and Hooker and Engler and
Prantl, the former being that used in Gray's Manual and the

240 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March

latter, with some modifications, in Britton and Brown's Manual,
Mr. Macoun told of the work of the International Botanical
Congress at Paris in 1900 and at Vienna in 1905. The arrange-
ment of genera by Engler and Prantl will, with a few changes,
be the one used in future by practically all systematic botanists.
This will entail the rearrangement of nearly all Canadian
herbaria, as these now are, with very few exceptions, arranged
according to Macoun's Catalogue of Canadian Plants which
follows Bentham and Hooker. The rules of nomenclature
approved by the Vienna Congress and which haA'e already been
accepted by nearly all systematic botanists will entail no very
great changes in the names of plants as they are known to local
botanists who have used Gray's Manual. Between 3 and 5 per
cent, of the generic names, and something over 10 per cent, of
the specific names will need to be changed. If the Vienna rules
are strictly followed a much larger number of changes must be
made by those who have used Britton and Brown's Manual.

As regards genera the chief point of difference between what
is known as the Rochester Code, that followed by Britton and
Brown, and the Vienna Rules, is the list of genera to which the
Vienna Congress decided its own rules should not apply. It has
been decided that botanical nomenclature of both genera and
species is to begin with the publication of Linnaeus' "Species
Plantarum" in 1753, but in order to avoid the very large number
of changes in genera which would be necessary if this rule were
strictly followed, the Vienna Rules provide a list of names
which must be followed in all cases. This hst includes about
400 generic names which of course carry with them many
thousand species. An important group of American botanists
has refused to accept these exceptions and will continue to use
the oldest generic names not, of course, going further back than
1753. Most amateur botanists, at least, will welcome the list
of exceptions and not hesitate to follow it. By doing so they
need not substitute Panicularia for Glyceria, Juncoides for
Luzida, Vagnera for Smilacina, Hicoria for Carya, Capnoides
for Corydalis, Falcata for Amphicarpcea, Ilicoides for Nemo-
panthus, Pneurmaria for Mertensia, Leptamnium for Epiphcgus,
Hedypnois for Taraxacum, and so on. A few of the more im-
portant rules adopted by the Vienna Congress were given by
Mr. Macoun. As these rules have been pubUshed in several
botanical periodicals they need not be reprinted here. They
will be found in the March, 1907^ issue of Rhodora, in the librarv
of the Club. --^CN'^it/i/

.V^_ < V J. M. M.

INDEX

TO THE

OTTAWA NATURALIST, VOL. XXI, 1907-8

PAGE

Ami, H. M., Chub's Nests . . 164
Alopccuriis occidcntalis, S.&

T 238

.4 rccuthobiunt pttsillum,

(Peck.) _ 175

Asplcniiiin Riita-miiraria, L. . 183
Auklet, The Rhinoceros.-.. 178

Badger, Coyote and 37

Barbadoes, Geological and

Mineral Resources of . . . . 74
Bee, The Life History of the

Honey 205

The Honey, and Other

Bees.'. 213

Biological Station, The Ma-
rine and its Work,_ 105

Bird Migration ...35,83,90,185
Notes from Southwest-
ern Nova Scotia . . 235
Sanctuary, How to

Make Anywhere . . 32
Birds, Dates of Arrival at

Camrose, Alta . . Ill
List of. Seen on Sable
Island, N.S., in

1906 189

Late at Gait, Ont. ... 187
Notes on Some, of

Seal Island, N.S. 93
Winter in Montcalm

Co 181

Bittern, Peculiar Nesting

Site of 50

Botanical Branch, Meetings

of 55, 165, 220, 239

Notes 158,195,218,238

Boutelier, James, List of
Birds Seen on Sable Is-
land, N.S. in 1906 189

Brown, W. J., Injury to Nests

by Muskrats.. .' 71

Peculiar Nesting Site of

American Bittern 50

Bruce Peninsula, The Spring

Migration on 90

PAGE

Bryce, Peter H., Climate in

Relation to Health .... 41
Camsell, Charles, List of
Plants Collected by, on

Peel River 39

Camrose, Alta., Dates of Ar-
rival of Birds at Ill

Cardaminc Lyallii, S.Wats. . . 158
Carcx coiicinnoidcs, Macken-
zie 158

Carp, Note on the Europagan. 7 1

Cassia chamoscrista 182

Ccratorhina nionocerata, Cas-

sin_ 178

Chub's Nests. . ._ 164

Clcome intcgrifolia, T. & G.. . . 158
Climate in Relation to Health 41
Coleoptera, List of, Collected

in British Columbia. ... 156
List of, taken between Port-
age la Prairie, Man., and

Edmonton,_ Alta 98

C onto pus borealis 62

vircns 63

Council, Meetings of, 40, 53, 99,
167, 179,203,221

Report of. 7

Coyote and Badger 37

Criddle, Norman, How Seeds
of Plants are Spread in

Nature 27

Nesting of American Gos-
hawk in Lat. 49' 42' . . . 51
Skunks as Destroyers of

Poultry 162

Deer at Experimental Farm. 164

Dog, Note on the Occurrence
ofaSupernumer ary
Tooth of 25

Ecpantheria defiorata, Fab.. . . 153

Eifrig, G., Dates of Departure
in the Fall Migration of
the More Common Birds
of Ottawa 185

242

The Ottawa Naturalist

[March

Remarkably Early Arrival
of the First Migrants

this Season 35

The American Goshawk

near Ottawa.. '36

The Second Chapter in the
Story of the Migration of

Birds 83

Ells, R. W., Notes on the Geo-
logy and Mineral Re-
sources of Trinidad and

Barbados 74

Enipidonax fiavivcntris - 63

minimus - 64

trailii alnorum 64

Entomological Branch, Meet-
ings of.. .30, 65, 100, 116, 201
Entomological Society of On-
tario, Meeting of 166

Erigommi polyphyllmn, Small 158

Eriica sativa, Mill 113,161

Enlhainia occidcntalis, Nntt . . 239
Evans, John D., List of (^oleo-
ptera taken between
Portage la Prairie, Man.,
and Edmonton, Alta.. . . 9 8
List of Coleoptera collected
in British Columbia.. ... 156

Excursions 53,68, 103, 119

Experimental Farm, An Un-
usual Visitor to 164

Farley, F. L., Dates of Ar-
rivals of Birds at Cam-
rose, Alta. Ill

Farm Weeds of Canada .... 184
FauU, J. H., Arceuthobium

piisillum.. 175

Fletcher, James, Botanical

Notes 182

Leucobrephos Middcndorji . 67

Mountain Sprites 225

The Honey Bee and Other

Bees.. 213

Flycatcher, Alder 64

Crested. 62

Least 64

Olive-sided 62

Yellow-belhed 63

Flycatchers, New Brunswick 60
Fungi from the Kawartha

Lakes 58

Galinsoga parviflora , Cav 1 60

Geology of Trinidad and Bar-
bados 74

PAGE

Gibson, Arthur, The Great

Leopard Moth. 153

Goshawk, Nesting of in Lat.

49° 42' 51

The American, nearOttawa 96
Green, C. de B., How to make
a Bird Sanctuary Any-
where 32

Groh, H., Another Locality

for Eritca sativa 161

Grouse, Ruffed, Note on ... . 40
Guillet, Cephas. Fungi from

the Kawartha Lakes. . . 58
Kawartha Mushrooms. ... 176

Habenaria stricta, Rydb 196

Halkett, Andrew, Note on the

European Carp 71

Hawkins, A. H., Coyote and

Badger 37

Health, Climate in Relation

to 41

Herriot, W., Late Birds at

Gait 187

Honev Bee, The Life History

of 205

Honey Bees and Other Bees . . 213
Hybocystis, on the Occurrence

of, in Ontario.. 232

Kawartha Lakes, Fungi from 58

Mushrooms.. 176

Kingbird, The. 61

Kinglet, The Golden-crowned

in Ontario in Summer . . 51
Klotz. Otto, The Weather. . . 48
Klugh, A. B., The Golden-
crowned Kinglet in On-
tario in Summer. _ 51

The Spring Migration on

the Bruce Peninsula 90

Lambe, L. M., Note on the
Occurrence of a Super-
numerary Tooth of a

Dog 25

On a Tooth of Ovibos from

near Midway, B.C 15

Lecture Programme. 168

Leonxirus Sibiriciis, L 160

Leopard Moth, The Great. ... 153
Lcsqncrclla Douglasii, S. Wats 158
Leucobrephos M iddendorfi ,

Men 67

Life-forms, Experiments on

Origin of. 188

Liizula Piperi (Coville) 196

1908]

Index

243

PAGE

Macdonald College, The Evo-
lution of- 1*^

Macoun, James M., Botanical

Notes ....158,195,218,231

A Viviparous Snake 163

Macoun, W. T., An Interest-
ing Observation on the
Food-habits of the Yel-
low-bellied Sapsucker .. 183
Some of the Influences Af-
fecting Seed Production. 19 1
McElhinney, Mark G., Notes
on Experiments Relat-
ing to Origin of Life-
forms 188

Marine Biological Station and

its Work 105

Mari Shells from Cobalt 180

Members, List of 3

Mertensia Virginica, DC. . . 159
Microtiis macrnriis. Merriara.. 177
Migrants, Earlv Arrival of,

in 1907. . ." 35

Migration of Birds in Fall at

Ottawa- 185

In the Spring of 1907 83

Migration, The Spring, on the

Bruce Peninsula 90

Mineral Resources of Trini-
dad and Barbados 74

Moore, W. H., New Bruns-
wick Flycatchers 60

Moth, The Great Leopard.. . . 153

Mountain Sprites 225

Mouse, A new, for Canada. .. 92

]\Iuhlenbergia/o/to5a, Trin. . . 196

foliosa var. ambigiia, Scrib. 196

Mcxicana, Trin 195

Mexicana var. commutata,

Scrib. 196

racemosa, B.S.P 196

Schrchcri, Gmel 195

tcnuiccna, B.S.P 195

Mushrooms, Kacwartha.. .... 176

Muskrats, Injury to Nests by 71

M-yiiarchus crimins 62

New Brunswick Flycatchers . 60
A' icotiaiia longijiora, Cav ... 160

Ovibos, On a Tooth of IS

Parks, W. A., On the Occur-
rence of Hybocystis in

Ontario 232

Parnassia Montanensis, Fer-

nald & Rydbery 197

PAGE

Peel River, List of Plants

Collected on 38

Pcltoceras occidentale, Whit-
eaves 80

Peltoceras, Description of a

Canadian Species of. . . . 80

Petasites speciosa. Piper 160

Pewee, The Wood 63

Phoebe, The 62

Picea Albertina, S. Brown.. . . 195
Plants, Seeds of. How Spread

in Nature. 2 7

Potcntilla strigosa,'Puvsh ... 159

Pniniila farinosa, L 218

Programme of Lectures .... 168

Rain and Snow. 169

Report of Council 7

of Treasurer 14

Report of Soirees 210

Reviews 72, 167, 184, 204, 222

RJunanthus oblongifoliiis, Fer-

rald. 239

Rhodiola .Alaskaiia, Rose 159

intcgrifolia, Raf 159

rosea, L 158

Rhus Ithaccnsis, Greene 238

occidcntalis. Blank 197

Ribcs riibrnm, L 218

Sable Island, List of Birds

Seen on 189

Sagittariaciineata, 'Sheldon . 196
Sapsucker, Yellow - bellied,
Observation on Food

Habits of 1S3

Saunders, W. E., A. new

Mouse for Canada "2

Saunders, Wm., An Unusual
Visitor to the Experi-
mental Farm. 164

Sayornis pha-be 62

Seal Island, N.S., Notes on

Some Birds of 93

Seed Production, Some of the

Influences Affecting I'M

Seeds of Plants, How Spread

in Nature. 27

SelM^n, Percy H., The Life
Historv of the Honey

Bee...: 205

Senecio eremophilus. Rich. ... 160
Seton, E. T., Note on Ruffed

Grouse -^'^

Shells, Mad, from Cobalt ISO

244

The Ottawa Naturalist

[March

PAGE

Shutt, Frank T., Rain and

Snow 169

Skunks as Destroyers of

Poultry 162

Snake, A Viviparous 163

Snow and Rain. 169

Sonchus arvensis, L_ 160

Sprites, Mountain 225

Sporobolus filiformis, Scribn. . 196
Terrill, L. M., Notes on
Winter Birds in Mont-
calm Co 181

Thely podium I a c i ni at ttm,

Endl 158

Tillaeastrum aquaticum, Brit-
ton.. 159

Tooth of a Dog, Note on the
Occurrence of a Super-

nunierary - 25

Treasurer's Statement 14

Trinidad, Geological and Min-
eral Resources of. 74

Tufts, H. F., Bird Notes from
Southwestern Nova Sco-
tia 235

PAGE

Notes on Some Seal Island

N.S. Birds 93

Tyranniis tyrannus 61

Vaccinium, Notes on the

Genus 114

Vole, The Olympic 177

Walker, Bryant, Marl Shells

from Cobalt. 180

Weather, The 49-

Whiteaves, J. F., Description
of a Canadian Species of

Peltoceras 80'

Notes on two Additions to
the Zoological Collection
in the Museuin of the
Geological Survey of Can-
ada 177

Wilson, E., Notes on the

Genus Vaccinium 114

Winter Birds in Montcalm

Co 181

Zoological Branch, Report of 198-

^^%

THE

APRIL, 1907

VOL. XXI, Ho. X

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

List of Members -.-_----'■_ 3

The Report of the Council of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club

for the Year ending March 19th, 1907 - - - 7

Treasurer's Statement for the Year ending 19th March, 1907 - 14
On a Tooth of Ovibos, from Pleistocene Gravels near Midway,

B.C., by Lawrence M. Lambe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C. (with plate) 16

The Evolution of the Macdonald College - - - - - 19
Programme of Excursions ___----24

ISSUED APRIL 22, 1907. *> ^®-fc^-»/<A V

^.LIRRARY

OTTAWA. CANADA ; X^ # ^

The Rolla L. Grain Co, Limited

Wellington St.

inUred of ih* Ottawa Post Offic* as secottd class matter.

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

J-^-'^Vlo BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

„..K'*;-

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395

138 BankiSt.

W

9

LnMnHedl

^ BA.G5 JEf

OTTAW^A. CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers,
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A Speciality

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

IVrite for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52, 54. 56
BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

c*,^..^,.. 54 Sparks Street ^^ , , Dav 1793

Stores. ,o. «„_,.o.„_. Telephones: xight42SB

285 BankStreet

Choice Flowers and Plants

Exclusive Floral Creations

Sold only by
Orme & Son, Limited

HIRTD
IPC

n:

189 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENOR/VIOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
SO years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the demand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES PPOQ FINE HARDWARE

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO,

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Statiooers
Bookbladers, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH& Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO., Ltd.

BEST (^r\ A T LOWEST

QUALITY \^^\JJ7\1-^ PRICE

58 SPARKS ST. ji Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in
Phone ARTISTIC HARDWARE

1350 AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological

Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufactiirers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entoraolodical Publlration»
for sale juat out. Write for It. Insect List No. 6 still in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, N.Y.

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C. H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

\ OTTAWA

106 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phonb 1250

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

T^U ^ T- C **,«:« can be relieved by glasses. ^USGROVE'S DISPENSARY

indX bye jtroin ?y^'*^.^*^^-^r-f:°L^^*'^^^ 212 bank street

by graduate optician

THE

MAY, 1907

VOL. XXI, Ro. 2

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Note on the Occurrence of a Supernumerary Tooth in a Dog, by

Lawrence M. Lambe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C. - - - - 26
How the Seeds of Plants are Spread in Nature, by Norman Criddle 27
How to Make a Bird Sanctuary Anywhere, by C. de Blois Green - 32
Remarkable Early Arrival of the First Migrants of this Spring,

by Rev. G. Eifrig 35

Coyote and Badger ---------37

List of Plants Collected on the Peel River in 1906 by Mr. Charles

Camsell ----------38

Wilson's Phalarope - ---38

Entomological Branch - - - - - -- - 39

Meetings of the Council *"

Correspondence ---- **'

ISSUED MAY 7, 1907. /\$f^^^ /

OTTAWA, CANADA; ViV yC

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited \rjrN>^tS>^^

Wellington St. V^ A V

En»$rtd at tht Otkmm Pest Offict as second class maUer.

JAMES OGILVY,

BookselUr, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

JARVIS'

"THE
BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTA WAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

68 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

W

e

9

Lnmnttedl

SLRCPING
^ BAGS ^

CANADA

OTTA'WA.

Wholesale Manufacturers,
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A iSpecialitx

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

Write for narticulars

ROONEY & GOOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.'

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING 52, 54. 56

GOODS BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

m-rvrpc- 5^ Sparks Street
btores. 2g5 BankStreet

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 42SB

Exclusive Floral Creations

Sold only by

Orme & Son, Limited il'

TE

189 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its pi'oduct
is used in every civilized country and the demand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

James Hope & Sons SrZSr Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO., Ltd.

BBST f^ f^ A T LOWEST

QUALITY \^\Jx\.JL^ PRICE

58 SPARKS ST. jt Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in
Phone ARTISTIC HARDWARE

1350 AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Maniifacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

SuppIyiLlst No. 7 and List of Entomological PubllRationa
for sale just out. Write for It. Inssct List No. 6 atill in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.y.

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nattire Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

} OTTAWA

106 Sparks Street
24 Ridcau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

™ SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eve Strain E'.s-j.s-i^^.thSS musgrove-s dispensary

lUai l^yV/ kJUaiil by graduate optician 212 BANK STREET

0

H

i

U
>

M

T3
C

H

w

^ 0

k

0

2

I

JUNE, 1907

VOL. xxni, Ho. 3

THE yy| ^

OTTAWA .
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Climate in Relation to Health, by Peter H. Bryce, M.A., M.D. - 41

The Weather, by Otto Klotz 48

The Golden-crowned Kinglet in Ontario in Summer - - - 61
Nesting of the American Goshawk in Latitude 49.42, by Norman

Criddle 51

Meeting of Council --------- 53

Sub-Excursions - - - -x- - - - - - 53

O.F.N.C. Botanical Club 65

ISSUED JUNE 21, 1907.

OTTAWA. CANADA ; /'^?y<oiT5><0^

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limite^l^ ^ 0!XX-«

Wellington St. /

Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second class matter.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

o

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

J AlV V 1 O BOOKSTORE"

Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS,.

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

n

9

Lnminledl

SLE^KPING
^ BAGS jSf

OTTAW^A, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A. Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

IVrite for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accoimts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H, KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada
H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

AUTOMOBILES AND

SPORTING 5., 54, 56

GOODS BANK STREET

GASOLENE LAUNCHES

^1

0

rn

0
D

I

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and

other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & GO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto. Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

qtnrpQ- 54 Sparks Street
btores. 285 Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 42 SB

Exclusive Floral Creations

Sold only by
Orme & Son, Limited

HMTH

d:

r=^

189 Sparlis Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the de p.'.nd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q^

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons rES:;,prer Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE
and
KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
1350

American Entomological Oo.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

S<ipply List No. 7 and Liatof Entomoloeical Publications
forsalfiju3tout. Write for it. Insect List No. C still in force

GEOf^GE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.Y.

Publisher of Phone Books on

Views of Ottawa 902 Natttre Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGfFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

J OTTAWA

106 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

™ SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agem

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eye Strain |:

can be relieved by glasses,
yes tested free of charge
by graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

Zbc Ottawa ftel^-^flaturaUdte' (TluD, 1907^1908

patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

president :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

ViceopredlOents :

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xibrarfan :

J. W. Baldwin.

Secretary: treasurer:

T. E. Clarke, B.A. Arthur Gibson,

(470 O'Connor Street). (Central Experimental Farm).

Committee :

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss I. Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

HuOitorg :
R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

Standing Committees of Council :

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, K. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. J ckson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoui., A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. bowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.
Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

BOitor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Associate BDitors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palaeon-
tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada.— Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. -^-Department of Conchology.
Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St.— Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C, with "Otta>va Naturalist,"

$1.00 per annum

Vfl

•^%

THE

JULY, 1907

VOL. XXin, No. 4

.4/

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Fungi from the Kawartha Lakes, including several new Species,

by Cephas Guillet, Toronto 57

New Brunswick Flycatchers, by Wm. H. Moore, Scotch Lake.N.B. 60

Meetings of the Entomological Branch 65

Leucobrephos Middendorfi, Men - - - - - - 67

Sub-Excursions ----------68

Note on the European Carp, by Andrew Halkett - - - 71

ISSUED JULY 31, 1907.

OTTAWA, CANADA ;

The Rolla L. Crain Co. Limited

Wellington St.

EnUrtd at th* Ottawa Post Offic* as second class matter.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

o
o

O OQ
OQ O

Q
UJ

o

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher-
63 Sparks St.

J-"--'^* ■'•^ BOOKSTORE"
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St. OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

n

9

LnMnHed

si,e:e:pino

^ BAGS y&

OTTAWA, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A. Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing-, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

'Write for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of SI
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Cannda

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Otta-va

KETCHUM & CO. ^^go^ods ^

52, 54. 56

BANK STREET

0
0)

0

r

0

D

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLRMF. T.ATTNPHF.q

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing- and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts , Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO,

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto. Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,

Vertical Filing and fnrNlmrirHSory

_,„„:^ r\rc. t~\ • Cabinets made to

various Office Devices. order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

m-orpo- -''4 Sparks Street
otores. 285 ^^nk Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones

Dav 1793

Ni«ht 42SB

Exclusive Floral Creations

RR

c^-^ u

r=\

Sold only by
Orme & Son, Limited

IP

189 Sparlis Street
Ottawa, Ont.

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the demand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLI^

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

I4Q Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons LtZST Sparks St. Ottawa

CO

:^

u

CO

a

10

o

0

H

Q
&^

0)

J.G.BUTTERWORTH& Co-
all-rail SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

Ltd.

LOWEST
PRICE

THE C. C. RAY CO.

QUALITY V>/-Vj'xi. JL-*

58 SPARKS ST. jt Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS
CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

.Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
1350

/American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genmne Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pms

Supply List No. 7 and List of Eutoniolosrical Publications
for sale just out. Write for it. Insect List No. (i still in fon'e

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nattire Study

C. H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

106 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

}

OTTAWA

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREEJ

Phone 1250

I"! SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agem

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. ■ OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager

55 stuyvesantAv., BROOKLYN, N.Y. 72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

0

>

>
>

13

c

M

r

z

(J)

0

a

0

> p5

-' 2

That Eve Strain ^t^r^^^^"^^^ musgrove's dispensary

1 liai l>yV^ ^•'^^*l* by graduate optician 212 BANK STREET

^be ©ttawa jrielD««1ttaturaU6t9' dlub, 1907^1908

patron:
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

IPreelDcnt :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

Wicc»lprc5iDent0 :

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xtbtarian :

T. W. Baldwin.

Secretary: treasurer:

T. E. Clarke, B.A. Arthur Gibson,

(470 O'Connor Street). (Central Experimental Farm).

Committee

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

RuOitors:

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

Standing Committees ot Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

Geo/ogj^.-H. M. Ami, W.J. Wilson, D. B. bowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.
Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

BOitor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Hesociate EDitocs:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, -Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palaeon-
tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C., with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1.00 per annum

AUGUST, 1907

VOL. .XXIII, No. 6

THE ,.r

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Notes on the Geology and Mineral Resources of Trinidad and

Barbados, B. W. Islands, by R. W. Ells, LL.D., etc. - 73

Description of a Canadian Species of Peltoceras, by J. F.Whiteaves 80
The Second Chapter in the Story of the Migration of Birds of the

Past Spring, by G. Eifrig 83

ISSUED SEPTEMBER 20, 1907.

->^^ OTTAWA, CANADA;

'"^'i5^ Thb Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited
Wellington St.
Enttred at tht Ottawa Post, Office as second class matter.

\NE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

o

Ul 0)
O 00

OQ O

Q
UJ

(0

o

Ul

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

J-^-KVlo BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395

138 Bank St.

LflMflHed.

SLEEPING
.^ BAGS ^

OTTAW^A. CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A iSpecialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

'Write for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

• Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-,.
lowed.

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52, 54. 56

BANK STREET

0

r

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, fine hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

S7-S9 SPARKS vST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

c;tnrf>Q- S4 Sparks Street TplpnVinnp?- Day 1793

stores. Toc D„„i. c^ — <- leiepnones. ^^";CTy|t42SB

28S Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Exclusive Floral Creations

A

a

-C^-fC^

Sold only by
Orme& Son, Limited

P

r=^

189 Sparits Street
Ottawa, Oni

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its [product
is used in every civilized country and the dem; nd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLI)

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST i"^ i^ A T LOWEST

QUALITY \.i^V^xa.J_^ PRICE

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the ' interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in
Phone ARTISTIC HARDWARE

13S0 AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

} OTTAWA

106 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entomological PuWicationa
for sale just out. Write for It. Insect List No. C still in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manas:er

55 stuy»esantAv., BROOKLYN, K.Y. 72 Spafks Street, Ottawa

SHOES

D

>

c

M

0

0

That Eye Strain l

can be relieved by glasses,
yes tested freeof charge
by graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

^be ©ttawa JtelD^IRaturaltetg* Club, 1907-^1908

patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

©reslOcnt :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

IDfcca presidents:

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

librarian :

J. W. Baldwin.

Secretary: Gireasurer:

T. E. Clarke, B.A. Arthur Gibson,

(470 O'Connor Street). (Central Experimental Farm).

Committee :

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

HuOitors :

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

Standing (lommittees of Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss L Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.
ILcaders *
Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B.*Dowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
Arch(^ology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.
THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

BDitor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Hssociate Editors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada.^ — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Paloeon-

tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany& Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. oi Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N. C, with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1.00 pel* annum

THE

SEPTEMBER, 1907

VOL. -X3av, No. 6

— H — II ,

JOLU

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

'The Spring Migration on the Bruce Peninsula, by A. B. Kltigh,

Kingston, Ont. _--_--__ 89

A New Mouse for Canada, by W. E. Saunders - - - 92

Notes on some Seal Island (Yarmouth Co., N. S.) Birds, by

H. F. Tufts --.--..- 93

The American Goshawk near Ottawa, by G. Eifrig - - 96

List of Coleoptera taken by Prof. John Macoun - - - 98

Meeting of Council _-----__ 99

Report of the Zoological Branch, 1906 100

Sub-Excursion -_-_-____ 102

ISSUED OCTOBER 12, 19'07.

OTTAWA, CANADA;
The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited [vaj

Wellington St.

Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second class matter.

\NE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

JARVIS'

"THE
BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

9

LnMnHed

SLEEPING
.£^ HAGS JSf

OTTAW^A, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A. Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

'^Vrite for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage ^7 Sparks Street

Solicited Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52, 54, 56

BANK STREET

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HE^JRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Gail and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES — Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

^tnrp.;- ^4 Sparks Street
Stores. 285 Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 425B

Exclusive Floral Creations

E\^

Cn-^ TT

Sold only by

Orme & Son, Limited

mn

\n

189 Sparlis Street
Ottawa, Ont.

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the demrnd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

I4Q Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Comnaission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
1350

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entomological PuWioations
for sale just out. Write for it. Insect List No. 6 still in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.y-

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C. H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGIFFJN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

io6 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

}

OTTAWA

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 12S0

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTA^K'A

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eve Strain ^^i^^^^'^^'^^ musgrove's dispensary

liiai l^yC' ^iiWA" by graduate ccitician 212 BANK STREET

Secretary:

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

^be ©ttawa irtelC)i«'1Raturali6t0' Clul), 1907«*1908

Ipatron:

■ THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

IPresiOent :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

\t)ice»iPresi£>ent8:

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xibrarian :

J. W. Baldwin.

tlreasurer:

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

dommlttec :

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss I. Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

JluOitors:

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

StanMng Committees of CouncU:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss O. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Mac~oun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

XeaDere :

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. Dowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ormthology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
Archeology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.
THE OTTAWA NATURALIST
BDftor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).
associate JEDitors:
Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palceon-

tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. FLETCHEPf, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St.— Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada.— Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C., with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1.00 per annum

OCTOBER, 1907

VOL. XXIV, No. 7

THE

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

The Marine Biological Station and its W,ork _ - - - 105

Dates of Arrivals of Birds at Camrose, Alta., in 1906 and 1907, by

F. L. Farley - - 112

Eruca sativa, L. ---------- 113

Notes on the Genus Vaccinium, by E. Wilson, Armstrong, B.C. - 114

Report of the Entomological Branch, 1906 - - - - 116

With the Field Naturalists' Club, Rockliffe Woods, Sept. 28th,

1907 119

ISSUED OCTOBER 24, 1907.

OTTAWA, CANADA;

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited

Wellington St.

Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second clast matter.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

>5

0
D

CO

J/irvViv5 BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED
FLOOR AIVD house;

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395

138 Bank St.

9

Lnmnited

SLEEPING
^/ BA.OS jS^

OTTAWA, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing- Parties of any kind,
A .Specialty /

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

Write for t>articulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage ^7 Sparks Street

Solicited Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named
accounts may be opened with
and upwards, on which inte
lowed.

IS

al-

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM

^ SPORTING
^. GOODS

52, 54. 56
BANK STREET

0

r

Oi
D

CO

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-S9 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO,

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT. .
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

m-nrpc:- 54 Sparks Street
stores. 2gs gank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 42SB

Exclusive Floral Creations

O.

^

p^

Sold only by
Orme & Son, Limited

P

Q

189 Sparlis Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the demand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

140 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at siich
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE
and
KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
13S0

imerican Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American Entomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Kntomological Publinationa
for sale justout. Write for it. Insect List No. 6 still in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C. H. r HORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQSFF!N
MEN'S FURNISHINGS

"4ll?et^1re:r } ^^^AWA

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

™ SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUHEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eye Strain |"

can be relieved by glasses,
es tested free of charge
graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

Secretary:

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

the ©ttawa ifielO-IRaturaliste'Club, 1907*=1908

patron:
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

prcsiocnt :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

W(ce»pre0(Dents:

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xlbtarlan :

J. W. Baldwin.

treasurer :

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Committee :

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss I. Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

Hu&itore :
R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

Standing Gommlttees ot Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss L Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibsoti, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E,

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soiries: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. bowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup. H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
Archaeology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.
THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

BDitOt:
James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Tlesociate BDitotg:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada.' — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. oi; Palaeon-
tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department^f Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membepship Fee to O.F.N. C, with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1 .OO pen annutn

«

I

NOVEMBER, 1907

VOL. XXI, Ko. 8

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

The Great Leopard Moth. By Arthur Gibson _ - - - 153

List of Coleoptera collected by J. M. Macoun in British Columbia 156

Botanical Notes, by J. M. Macoun ------ 158

Another Locality for Eruca Sativa ------ 161

Skunks as Destroyers of Poultry. Two Personal Experiences. By

Norman Criddle -- - - - - - - 162

A Viviparous Snake -------- 163

An Unusual Visitor to the Experimental Farm - - - - 164

Chubbs' Nests ----- 164

Meeting of Botanical Branch ------- 165

Meeting of Entomological Society of Ontario - . . . 166

Council Meetings .--- 167

Review ----------- 167

The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Lecture Programme - - 168

ISSUED JANUARY 10, 1908.

OTTAWA, CANADA; /i^

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited
Wellington St.

Entered at the Oltaioa Post Office as second class matter. f L I B R A R Y

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

JARVIS'

"THE
BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St. OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

n

9

LnmnHed

SLEEPING
je>^ BA.GS je^

OTTAWA, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

Write for particulars

ROONEY 8z COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Oloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of SI
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS. LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICI.^NS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY& SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING

52. 54. 56

GOODS BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLEME LAUNCHES

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST.. OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

ct„,o„. 54 Sparks Street
stores. 285 Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 42SB

Exclusive Flora! Creations

Sold only by

Orme & Son, Limited JJL*

n

189 Spariis Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the demand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons ^:S::Sr Sparks St. Ottawa

03

0

CO

a

X

t— I

<

I

Q
.(f)

y

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

Phone
1350

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American . Etomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 .and List of Entomological Publications
for sale just out. Write for it. Iiiseot List No. (J still in force

GEORGE ERANCK, Manager
j 55 Stuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, N.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS
I OTTAWA

io6 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

™ SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

0
> H

That Eye Strain

can be relieved by glasses.
Eyes tested free of charge
by graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

JLbc ©ttawa irtelD'^lttatura lists' Club, 1907^1908

Secretary:

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street)

patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

prcslOent :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

\Dice»pre0l&ents ■.

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xibrartan :

J. W. Baldwin.

treasurer:

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

dommittee :

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

JluOltors:

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

StanDing Gommitteee of Council :

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss L Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

XeaDere :

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B, Dowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.
Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

JEOitor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).
Hesociate JEMtors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.

Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palaeon-
tology.

Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.

Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental FaTm.— -Botany & Nature Study.

Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.

Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.

Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.

Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N. C, with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1.00 pen annum

DECEMBER, 1907

? VOL. XXI, No. 9

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Rain and Snow. By Frank T. Shutt, M.A. - - - - 169

Arceuthobium pusillum (Peck) ____-- 175

Kawartha Mushrooms. By Cephas Guillet _ - - - 176

Waxwings at Gait -176

Notes on Two Recent Additions to the Zoological Collections in the
Museum of the Geological Survey of Canada. By J. F.

Whiteaves ---------- 177

Council Meeting - - 179

Marl Shells from Cobalt ------- - 180

Notes on Winter Birds in Montcalm County, Quebec. By L. McI.

Terrill ---------- 181

Botanical Note 182

An Ijiteresting Observation on the Food Habits of the Yellow-
bellied Sapsucker -------- 183

Booli Notes ----- 184

ISSUED fANUARY 23, 1908.

/

OTTAWA, CANADA; ^-^

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited '*'

Wellington St. /^'/j^ ' »''•'**' ^\ ^\

Entered at the Ottaira Post Office as second class matter.

\

^V ^--^^ /'Sy/

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

>5

0
D

(D

JARVIS'

"THE
BOOKSTORE''
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

9

LnmrnnHed

SLCKPING
y& BA.GS j&

OTTA^VA. CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A. •Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing-, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

M^rite for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage ^7 Sparks Street

Solicited Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottaw^a

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY&SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

0

r
m

0
0

CO

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52, 54. 56

BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSOM, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENTRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO,

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES— Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing- and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
aiid Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

Qf^,-oo- 54 sparks Street
stores. 2gs Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

mm

-C^-f<^

Sold only by
Orme & Son, Limited

Telephones:

Dav 1793
Night 42 SB

Exclusive Floral Creations

TO.

189 Sparlis Street
Ottawa, Oni

AN ENOR/nOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its f roduct
is used in every civilized country and the dem. nd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

149 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co,

W£ DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS
CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

Specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
1350

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American , Etomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 anil List of EntomtiloL'ioal Putilii'iitimis
tor SiilH Ji«tcut. Write for It. Insect List No. (1 still in forrn

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
55Stuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books otj
Nature Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

MlfcTe^'u^'tJetf } OTTAWA

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phons 1250

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agent

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Fve Strain ^^^Sis'sin,'^. mlsgrove's dispensary

lliai l^yV^ ^l'*"*** by graduate optician 212 BANK STREET

Zbc ©ttawa iriel&«*1Raturali0t0* Club, 1 907*' 1 908

Secretary-.

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Ipatron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

president :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

\Dlce»lPresiOents :

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xibrarian :

J. W. Baldwin.

Committee ;

treasurer:

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

RuOltors:

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

StanOing aommltteee of Gounctl:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss L Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.
ILeaDers :
Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B Bowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
Archceology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

]EOitor:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Hssociate JEDltors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Departinent of Geology.

Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palceon-

tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & N ature Study .
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department oi Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St.— Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C., with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1.00 per annum

JANUARY, 1908

VOL. XXI, No. 10

THE

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Dates of Departure in the Fall Migration of the More Common

Birds of Ottawa. By G. Eifrig 185

Late Birds at Gait 187

Notes on Experiments Relating to the Origin of Life-Forms. By

Mark G. McElhinney 188

List of Birds Seen on Sable Island, N.S. By James Bouteiler - 189

Some of the Influences Affecting Seed Production - - _ 191

Botanical Notes -- - - - - - - - 195

Report of the Zoological Branch, 1907 198

Meeting of the Entomological Branch 201

Council Meeting -------.-_ 203

Review ----_____._ 204

/ .

ISSUED FEBRUARY 12, 1908.

OTTAWA, CANADA;

■^^.

The Rolla L. Crain Co. Limited 'X'X /^

Wellington St. '^X "•*'**"^®^ / *w

MnUred at the^Ottawa Post Office as seeonti class viatler. ^^ V»^'>^ <I>J^^«V*^

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

I

o
o

UJ (0

oc d

ft)
::)%

oa o

Q
UJ

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

(0

o

CM
Ul

J't*--rvVl0 BOOKSTORE"

Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

LnMnitedl

OTTAIVA. CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

IVrite tor particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage 67 Sparks Street

Solicited Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52. 54. 56

BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSOIN, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

S7-S9 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA. ONT.
BRANCHES — Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

Dav 1793

Store s. 54 Spajks Street Telephones: ^fg^^' \YsB

285 Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Exclusive Floral Creations

^u

Sold only by

Orme & Son, Limited

q:

J^-^ T7

wmi

189 Spariis Street
Ottaw^ Ont.

AN ENORiVlOUS PLANT

The growth of the vSinger Plant, which is now more than
50 years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the de;n; nd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has been established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

140 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

W£ DEAL WITH OUR AOVERTI3ERS

James Hope & Sons ^'^S. Sr Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No im-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

Phone
13S0

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manufacturers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American , Etomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entomological Publioations
for sale just out. Write for It. Insect List No. 6 still in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nattu-e Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

} OTTAWA

io6 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phonb 12 so

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agem

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAVA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eye Strain

can be relieved by glasses.
Eyes tested freaof charge
by graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

^be ©ttawa jrielt)»»lRaturaU9tr Club, 1 907*' 1 908

Secretary:

T. E. Clarke, B.A.

(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

president :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

HJicespresiOents :

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

librarian :

J. W. Baldwin.

aommittee :

Hreaeurer :

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

Bu&itore :

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

Standing CommitteeB of Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss L Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soiries: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

Headers :

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. Bowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford. J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.
Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

Editor:

James M. M-Xcoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

Hssociate Editors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves,' Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palaeon-
tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography. '
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Ofhce Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N.C, with "Ottawa Naturalist, ''

$i.OO per annum

FEBRUARY, 1908

VOL. XXI, No. 11

TH E!

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

The Life History of the Honey Bee. By Percy H. Selwyn - 205

The Honey Bee and other Bees. By James Fletcher - - 213

Botanical Notes 218

Report of Soirees 219

Meeting of the Botanical Branch 220

CouncU Meeting 221

Reviews -----, 222

ISSUED MARCH 4, 1908. . y,

OTTAWA, CANADA;
The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limite:
Wellington St.

Bntered at the Ottawa Post Offlee as second class matter.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

«

J-".XxVlo BOOKSTORE"
Phone 732

•THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St.

OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE
PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 "^ 138 Bapk St.

9

LnMnHed,

si.£:i:ping

je^ BA.GS ^

OTTAViTA, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

MTrite for isarticulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

Your Patronage
Solicited

67 Sparks Street
Ottawa

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

R. H. KENNY & CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada
H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
III Sparks Street Ottawa

>5
0
D

0)

0

r

0

D

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING 5., 54, 5«

GOODS

BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'^e hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and
other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST.. OTTAWA, ONT.
BRANCHES — Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

o.^ 54 Sparks Street TMpnhonp.:- ^^^^ ^^^-^

btor s. OQC &o„i, c*,.^^* ieiepnones. >jight42SB

•: 285 Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Exclusive Floral Creations

HR

^

M

r<V

Sold only by

Orme & Son, Limited

189 Sparks Street
Otiaw,!, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
SO years old, has been something marvellous. Its i roduct
is used in every civilized country and the de:p; nd for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has bren established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

I Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

I4Q Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

CO

03

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10

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K
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J.G.BUTTERWORTH& Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST
QUALITY

LOWEST
PRICE

COAL

58 SPARKS ST. ^ Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS
CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in

ARTISTIC HARDWARE

Phone
1350

AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the genuine Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Manvifacttirers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American , Etomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entomological Publinationa
for sale just out. Write for it. Insect List No. 6 stUl in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
SSStuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, n.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
8o SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McQIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

^aJIfcTet^s'Sr } O^^AWA

J. G, STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

™ SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agem

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eye Strain 3S:^""- ^^'^mim^''''

lEbe ©ttawa jriel^*'1RaturaU6t0* Club, 1907«««1908

Secretari5 :

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

Patron:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

ff)resiOent :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B. ■ ,

\t)ice»iPresiDents :

A. E. Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xlbrarian :

J. W. Baldwin.

C^reasurct:

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Commfttec :

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss I. Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

HuOltors :

R. B. Whyte. F. T. Shutt.

StanDing Commtttees of Council:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

XeaDers ;

Geo/og)'; H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B, Dowling, W.'H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST

BDitOt:

James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).

HBSoclate BOitors:

Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada. — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palceon-

tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Otto Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

Membership Fee to O.F.N. C, with "Ottawa Naturalist,"

$1 >00 pep annum

THE

MARCH, 190

VOL. XXI, No. 12

OTTAWA
NATURALIST

Published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.

CONTENTS.

Mountain Sprites. By Dr. James Fletcher _ - - -

On an Occurrence of Hybocystis in Ontario. By W. A. Parks.Ph.D.
Bird Notes from Southwestern Nova Scotia. By H. F. Tufts
Meeting of the Botanical Branch - _ -

PAGE

226
232
236
239

ISSUED MARCH 7, 1908.

OTTAWA, CANADA ;

The Rolla L. Grain Co. Limited

Wellington St.

XnUred at tholOttawa Post Office as second class matter.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

JAMES OGILVY,

Bookseller, Stationer and Publisher
63 Sparks St.

JARVIS'

"THE
BOOKSTORE"
Phone 732

"THE BOOKSTORE" SELLS
GOOD BOOKS

A. G. PITTAWAY

PHOTOGRAPHER

58 Sparks St. OTTAWA

ASK FOR OUR CELEBRATED

FLOOR AND HOUSE

PAINTS

MADE IN OTTAWA

OTTAWA PAINT WORKS

Phone 395 138 Bank St.

Q

LniMntted,

SI^CCPINC
^ BA.GS ^

OTTAIVA, CANADA

Wholesale Manufacturers
Lumbermen's and Contractors' Supplies,
Outfitting Survey Parties,

Exploration and Outing Parties of any kind,
A. Specialty

We have complete lines of Tents, Tarpaulins, Flags, Clothing, Footwear,

Snowshoes, Axes, Pipes and Smallwares.

"Write for particulars

ROONEY & COOPER

TAILORS

(Ladies and Gentlemen)

67 Sparks Street

Ottawa

Your Patronage
Solicited

THE BANK OF OTTAWA

Head Office and Main Branch
Wellington Street, Ottawa

LOCAL BRANCH OFFICES

Cor. Bank and Gloucester Sts.

Cor. Bank and Gladstone Ave.

Cor. Bank and Fourth Ave.

Rideau Street

Somerset Street

Main Street, Hull, Que.

At each of the above named offices, savings
accounts may be opened with a deposit of $1
and upwards, on which interest will be al-
lowed.

A. ROSENTHAL & SONS, LTD.

JEWELLERS AND
OPTICIANS

Goldsmith's Hall

Ottawa

R. H. KENNY Sc CO.

HIGH CLASS
TAILORS

96 Bank Street Ottawa

INSURE IN

Mutual Life of Canada

H. MOONEY & SON

General Agents
1 Sparks Street Ottawa

KETCHUM & CO.

SPORTING
GOODS

52, 54, 56

BANK STREET

AUTOMOBILES AND GASOLENE LAUNCHES

BRYSON, GRAHAM & CO.

SELL EVERYTHING

GRAVES BROS, f'ne hardware

Large Assortment of Fishing and

other Sporting Goods.

Camp Supplies. Cor. Sparks and Metcalfe Sts., Ottawa.

Birks' Silverware is different. It
possesses more originality and grace
in design, more quality in material and
finish than the average run of silver-
ware, and is always substantial in
weight and never varies.

HENRY BIRKS AND SONS LIMITED

57-59 SPARKS ST. OTTAWA

When in want of High Grade Furniture
Call and See Our Stock

We are SOLE AGENTS for the Celebrated
CREX PRAIRIE GRASS FURNITURE

STEWART & CO.

34 Rideau Street
Just Below the Bridge

Library Bureau of Canada

HEAD OFFICE— 201 QUEEN ST.. OTTAWA. ONT.
BRANCHES — Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Inventors of the Card System,
Vertical Filing and
various Office Devices.

Special Insect Cases
and Natural History
Cabinets made to
order.

The Wright Floral Company, Limited

C4.„_ 54 Sparks Street
&tor s. 2gs Bank Street

Choice Flowers and Plants

Telephones: gf/^t'IfsB

Exclusive Floral Creations

^^Tr^ TT

Sold only b/
Orme&Son, Limited

B

h=^

189 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ont

AN ENORMOUS PLANT

The growth of the Singer Plant, which is now more than
SO years old, has been something marvellous. Its product
is used in every civilized country and the de nand for it
throughout Canada alone has become so great that a
factory covering 45 acres of ground has Ijeen established at
St. John's, P.Q.

FOR SALE AT SINGER STORES

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Store in Ottawa, Ontario —

140 Sparks Street

SOLD ONLY BY

Singer Sewing Machine Co.

WE DEAL WITH OUR ADVERTISERS

James Hope & Sons

Booksellers, Stationers
Bookbinders, Printers

Sparks St. Ottawa

J.G.BUTTERWORTH&Co.

ALL-RAIL SCRANTON COAL
HAS NO EQUAL

86 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

THE C. C. RAY CO. Ltd.

BEST f^ /^ A T LOWEST

QUALITY V^V^xVjL* price

58 SPARKS ST. j« Phone 461

THE TORONTO
GENERAL TRUSTS

CORPORATION

Administers the estates of deceased
persons who have left no will, at such
rate of Commission as the Court
allows, or as may be agreed upon
with the interested parties.

No bonds required, as in the case
of private administration. No un-
necessary expense. Family solicitor
retained.

JAMES DAVEY, Manager

Ottawa Branch:

Cor. SPARKS and ELGIN STS.

BLYTH & WATT

specialists in
Phone ARTISTIC HARDWARE

13S0 AND

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

Bank & Somerset Streets

American Entomological Go.

Dealers in

Insects and Entomological
Supplies

The only makers of the gentune Schmitt
Insect Boxes. Mamifactiirers of Cabinets and
Cases for Insect Collections, and of the

American , Etomological Company
Insect Pins

Supply List No. 7 and List of Entomolnsncal PuWlcations
for sale just out. Write for it. Insect List No. 6 stiU in force

GEORGE FRANCK, Manager
55Stuyvesant Av., BROOKLYN, h.Y

Publisher of
Views of Ottawa

Phone
902

Books on
Nature Study

C. H. THORBURN

Books & Stationery
80 SPARKS STREET, OTTAWA

R. McGIFFIN

MEN'S FURNISHINGS

I OTTAWA

106 Sparks Street
24 Rideau Street

J. G. STEWART

High Class Grocer

273,275 BANK STREET

Phone 1250

m SMITH PREMIER

The World's ^
Best Typewriter

E. R. McNeill, Agem

35 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA

HENRY J. SIMS & Co.

Fine Hatters

110-112 SPARKS ST. - OTTAWA.

MASSON'S

SHOES

72 Sparks Street, Ottawa

That Eye Strain

can be relieved by glasses.
Eyes tested freaof charge
by graduate optician

MUSGROVE'S DISPENSARY

212 BANK STREET

XLbe ©ttawa 3rielt)*«1RaturaIi0t0' Club, XOOl^'XOOS

A. E.

Scccetar^:

T. E. Clarke, B.A.
(470 O'Connor Street).

Mr. J. M. Macoun
Rev. G. Eifrig.
Mr. H. H. Pitts.
Mr. E. E. Lemieux.

patron:

THE RIGHX HONOURABLE EARL GREY,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

presiDcnt :

W. J. Wilson, Ph.B.

DtceslPresiDents:

Attwood, M.A. A. Halkett.

Xibratlan :

J. W. Baldwin.

tTreasurer .-

Arthur Gibson,
(Central Experimental Farm).

Committee :

Mr. A. H. Gallup.
Miss L Ritchie.
Miss A. L. Matthews.
Miss Q. Jackson.

HuDitors :

R. B. Whyte. F. T. §hutt.

Standing Committees of CouncU:

Publishing: A. Gibson, J. M. Macoun, H. H. Pitts, G. Eifrig, J. W. Baldwin,

Miss I. Ritchie.
Excursions: A. Halkett, A. Gibson, G. Eifrig, E. E. Lemieux, T. E.

Clarke, Miss A. L. Matthews, Miss Q. Jackson.
Soirees: A. E. Attwood, H. H. Pitts, J. M. Macoun, A. H. Gallup, E. E.
Lemieux, Miss A. L. Matthews.

XeaOers :

Geology: H. M. Ami, W. J. Wilson, D. B. Dowling, W. H. Collins, M. F.

Connor.
Botany: John Macoun, J. Fletcher, D. A. Campbell, A. E. Attwood, S. B.

Sinclair, T. E. Clarke.
Entomology: W. H. Harrington, J. Fletcher, A. Gibson, C. H. Young, J. W.

Baldwin.
Conchology: J. F. Whiteaves, F. R. Latchford, J. Fletcher, S. E. O'Brien.
Ornithology: G. Eifrig, W. T. Macoun, A. G. Kingston, A. H. Gallup, H. F.

Tufts.
Zoology: E. E. Prince, A. Halkett, W. S. Odell, E. E. Lemieux.
ArchcBology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne.

Meteorology: Otto Klotz, John Macoun, A. E. Attwood, D. A. Campbell.
THE OTTAWA NATURALIST
JEOltor:
James M. Macoun, (Geological Survey of Canada).
Tlssoctate BOitors:
Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological Survey of Canada.' — Department of Geology.
Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Palaeon-
tology.
Dr. a. E. Barlow, Geological Survey of Canada. — Dept. of Petrography.
Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Central Experimental Farm. — Botany & Nature Study.
Hon. F. R. Latchford. — Department of Conchology.

Mr. W. H. Harrington, Post Office Department. — Dept. of Entomology.
Rev. G. Eifrig, 210 Wilbrod St. — Dept. of Ornithology.
Prof. E. E. Prince, Com. of Fisheries for Canada. — Dept. of Zoology.
; Dr. Otto^Klotz — Dept. of Meteorology.

^ Membership Fee to O.F.N. C, with ^'Ottawa Naturalist,"
^ $1.00 pen annum

I

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