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CANADA

DEPARTMENT OF MINES

Hon. Charles Stewart, Minister; Charles Camsell, Deputy Minister

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA

W. H. Collins, Acting Director

BULLETIN No. 62

Annual Report for 1928

CONTENTS

^ _ Page

General Activities of the Museum: W. H. Collins 1

The Ancient Education of a Carrier Indian: D. Jenness 22

A Study of the Canadian Races of Rock Ptarmigan ( Lagopua ru-pastns): P. A. Taverner . . 28

OTTAWA
F. A. ACLAND

PRINTER TO THE KING’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

1129

CANADA

DEPARTMENT OF MINES

Hon. Charles Stewart, Minister; Charles Camsell. Deputy Minister

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA

W. H. Collins, Acting Director

BULLETIN No. 62

Annual Report for 1928

CONTENTS

Page

General Activities of the Museum: W. H, Collins. 1

The Ancient Education of a Carrier Indian: D. Jenness 22

A Study of the Canadian Races of Rock Ptarmigan ( Lagopus rupestris): P. A, Taverner . . 28

OTTAWA
F. A. ACLAND

PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

1629

GENERAL ACTIVITIES OF THE MUSEUM

By W. H. Collins , Acting Director

The National Museum of Canada is able to report satisfactory progress
during the year 1928 in the collecting of material for scientific study and
exhibition, in systematic scientific investigation, in the public display of
anthropological, zoological, botanical, geological, and mineralogical speci-
mens, and in educational activities.

Collections were made of much material of merit from the aboriginal
races of the country and efforts are being made to procure as much
material as may now be available in a form unaffected, or as little affected
as possible, by the culture of the Whites. Studies of Indian races were
conducted at first hand by scientists who lived among them for a part of
the year and made records of their lore, their customs, their religion, their
music, their handicrafts, and their whole culture. Excavations were also
made of ancient village sites to obtain greater knowledge of the distribution
and the culture of the races of prehistoric times.

Mammals and birds were collected at a number of points, particularly
in southern British Columbia and on the north shore of the St. Lawrence,
and observations were recorded regarding them in their local habitat.
One member of the staff accompanied the expedition of the Northwest
Territories and Yukon Branch of the Department of the Interior to the
Canadian Arctic islands and made zoological observations and collections.

Collections of plants were made at a number of points in Hudson bay,
much additional information was gained regarding the distribution of
plants, and the herbarium was enriched by many botanical specimens
from localities heretofore unrepresented.

Additions were made to the systematic mineralogical and geological
collections, and good collections of vertebrate and invertebrate fossil
material were made. These have been, or are being, made the subject of
careful study and the results will be published.

A supply of new exhibition cases has been procured and such progress
will be made towards their utilization as careful selection, labelling, and
proper display will permit. During the year 1929 there will be placed on
exhibition, therefore, a lot of very choice material from the anthropological
collections.

The National Museum of Canada is an outgrowth of the Geological
Survey and in certain activities no sharp line of division is yet drawn
between the two. The Museum is indebted to members of the staff of the
Geological Survey for most enthusiastic co-operation in the exhibition of
geological, palaeontological, and mineralogical material. Other govern-
ment departments have shown a much appreciated interest of the exhibition
work of the Museum and it is expected that the next annual report will
record very tangible results of this interest.

89917 — li

The educational activities of a museum are extremely important.
The results of the scientific investigations are issued in the form of bulletins.
Efforts are also being made towards reaching the popular audience. The
semi-scientific semi-popular lecture is one important medium and the
lecture hall of the National Museum is the scene of great activity during
the winter months. Further information regarding the lecture courses is
given below. Lantern slides for illustrating lectures are loaned, and for
these there is an increasing demand. The public has learned to look to
the National Museum as a source of photographs of special subjects and
there is a large demand for these for educational work and for book illustra-
tions. The Museum is accumulating a library of moving picture films,
and several were added during the year to illustrate the life and customs of
the Indians. The two books, Birds of Eastern Canada and Birds of
Western Canada, illustrate admirably the method of popular education
by means of well illustrated and interesting publications. There has been a
big demand for these books and they have been very influential in arousing
and fostering an interest in the bird life of the country and its preservation.

The Acting Director of the Museum here expresses his gratitude to
the Geological Survey, the Entomological Branch of the Department of
Agriculture, the Canadian National Parks, the Northwest Territories, and
the Forestry Branches of the Department of the Interior, The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, and to other government departments for assist-
ance and co-operation. He is not unmindful either of his debt of gratitude
to many individuals and organizations, both Canadian and foreign, for
exchanges and donations and for assistance on scientific investigations.

Detailed reports by the various heads of divisions of the Museum
follow.

MUSEUM LECTURES

A course of lectures in natural history and other scientific subjects is
presented each winter in the lecture hall of the Museum. The lecture
committee, consisting of H. I. Smith, M. E. Wilson, and C. L. Patch, on
whom falls the responsibility of securing lecturers and organizing the
course, reports a very successful year. The purpose of the lectures is to
extend the educational influence of the Museum among children, to widen
their knowledge, and arouse an interest in scientific subjects. They are
delivered to the children Saturday mornings and the attendance is so
large that the lectures have to be repeated, the first commencing at 10
o’clock and the second at 11 o’clock. Adults have the privilege of hearing
these lectures Wednesday evenings. Appropriate motion pictures are
also shown. For the loan of films the Museum wishes to express its grati-
tude to the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau; the Northwest
Territories Branch, the Forestry Branch, and the Canadian National
Parks Branch of the Department of the Interior; the Province of Ontario
Pictures; the United States Bureau of Mines; the Canadian Forestry
Association; and the Picture Service Corporation of New York. The small
library of films of the Museum was also used.

It is gratifying to report that other departments have manifested a
willingness to co-operate with the Museum in providing lecturers. More
than half of the lecturers of the season were drawn from the Department of
National Defence and from different branches of the Departments of

Agriculture and of the Interior, and their services were contributed volun-
tarily, This rendered it possible to present a series of lectures on a great
variety of subjects such as anthropology, zoology, ornithology, entomology,
forestry, agriculture, transportation, geography, geology, and history.

During the series for 1928-29 the total attendance of children at the
Saturday morning lectures was 7,950 with an average of 530, and the total
attendance of adults at the Wednesday evening lectures was 1,978 with an
average of 133. Following is a list of the lectures delivered:

The wonders of the microscopic world, or the accident of size, by Miss C. W. Fritz,
J. J. DeGryce, and M. E. Wilson.

Experiences with Ottawa birds, by R. E. DeLury and C. L. Patch.

Petroleum in North America, by G. S. Hume.

Glimpses of native life in far off New Guinea, by D. Jenness.

A visit to the west coast of Canada, by Miss M. B. Williams and H. I. Smith.

Airplanes and how they fly, by A. Ferrier.

How trees grow, by R. D. Craig.

Canada’s Arctic regions, by R. M. Anderson,

The importance of the tobacco industry to Canada, by R. J. Haslan.

Mosquitoes and houseflies, enemies of mankind, by C. R. Twinn.

The story of iron, by T. L. Tanton.

Some landmarks in Canadian history, by A. A. Pinard.

How the Department of Mines serves the public, by L. L. Bolton.

From cactus land to ice fields in British Columbia, by H. C. Gunning.

A trip to Australia, by J. M. Swaine and D. Jenness.

DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
D. Jenness, Chief of the Division, reports:

The Division of Anthropology maintained the same organization and
personnel as in the two previous years. The lack of a second ethnologist,
and of a physical anthropologist, made it necessary to employ two outside
field workers during the year, Mr. C. B. Osgood, of the University of
Chicago, and Dr. J. C. Boileau Grant, Professor of Anatomy in the Univer-
sity of Manitoba. Professor Grant will probably be available again in
future years, but it is very difficult to find a competent ethnologist who will
undertake field work in the remoter parts of Canada, such as northern
Ontario, northern Manitoba, and the basin of Mackenzie river. To carry
out any effective ethnological work in these regions it will be necessary to
fill the vacancy on the staff by the appointment of an assistant ethnologist,
preferably a young man who will devote most of his life to field work in
these areas.

Field Work

Five parties were engaged in field work during the summer of 1928.
H. I. Smith made systematic collections of archaeological and ethnological
specimens in the southern part of British Columbia, and took motion pic-
tures of the Kootenay, Salish, and Blackfoot tribes; C. M. Barbeau con-
tinued his studies of French-Canadian arts and handicrafts in Quebec;
W. J. Wintemberg, after examining some prehistoric Indian camping sites
on Richelieu river, reconnoitred the north shore of the gulf of St. Lawrence
from the strait of Belle Isle to Tadoussac; Dr. J. C. Boileau Grant, Pro-
fessor of Anatomy at the University of Manitoba, made an anthropo-
metric investigation of the Crce and Chipewyan Indians on lake Athabaska,

89917—2

and C. B. Osgood, of the University of Chicago, travelled down Mackenzie
river to Norman where he has undertaken to make a complete ethnological
study of the Hare Indians during the winter of 1928-29.

The field work of H. I. Smith added 323 ethnological and 53 archaeo-
logical specimens to the Museum’s collections, together with more than
4,500 feet of motion picture film. The Indian tribes are now so civilized
that it is very difficult to obtain specimens of their earlier tools, weapons,
and household furniture, no examples of which will be available a few
years hence. The division is, therefore, making a special effort to enlarge
its collections while this is still possible, and attempting at the same time to
secure photographic records of the fast vanishing native life. It now has
material for motion picture films of six different tribes, five in British
Columbia and one on the plains.

C. M. Barbeau spent the field season in Quebec city and its vicinity
studying, photographing, and copying historical records concerning the
carvings, paintings, and handicrafts of French Canada. In September he
attended, with D. Jenness, the meetings of the International Congress of
Americanists in New York, where he read a paper on “The Origin of Flora
and Other Designs Among the North American Indians” that outlined
some of the results obtained from his researches.

W. J. Wintemberg made two notable discoveries during the summer.
On the north shore of the strait of Belle Isle he found a camping site of the
extinct Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland, thus proving that they occupied
at one time the southeast corner of Labrador peninsula. He discovered
also a camping site of the Iroquois Indians near Kegashka, which is several
hundred miles east of the known range of Iroquois forays.

Dr. Grant was very successful in securing measurements and observa-
tions of a large number of Indians at lake Athabaska which provided him,
among other results, with valuable conclusions concerning the physiological
effects of Indian and white admixture. Some blood tests that he obtained
from the same Indians confirmed the theory that the pure blood natives
do not possess either of the agglutinogens that are generally present in
European and Asiatic peoples, a difference that may prove to have an
important bearing on the problem of the origin of our native races in
America.

A letter from C. B. Osgood, written just before Christmas and received
two months later, stated that he was wintering with a small band of Hare
Indians at the outlet of Great Bear lake. Influenza had been rife among
the natives and the fishing was poor, so that they were suffering consider-
able hardship. His work, nevertheless, was proceeding favourably.

Office Work

The division published two scientific reports during the past year:
“A Comparative Vocabulary of the Western Eskimo Dialects,” by D.
Jenness; and “The Uren Prehistoric Village Site, Oxford County, Ontario”
by W. J. Wintemberg. Two other reports have been submitted for publi-
cation: “Totem-Poles of the Gitksan,” by C. M. Barbeau; and “Anthro-
pometry of the Cree and Ojibway Indians in Northeastern Manitoba,” by
Professor J. C. Boileau Grant. A preliminary report on the Anthro-
pometry and Blood Groupings of the Cree and Chipewyan Indians of Lake

Athabaska, covering Professor Grant’s field work during the summer, has
come to hand. W. J. Wintemberg is completing a report on the Roebuck
Village Site in Southeastern Ontario; D. Jenness is preparing a textbook
on the Aborigines of Canada, and C. M. Barbeau a monograph on the
Songs of the Tsimshian.

C. M. Barbeau published jointly with Dr. Ernest MacMillan a volume
of French-Canadian folk-songs entitled “Twenty-one Folk-songs of
French Canada,” and D. Jenness had an article on the “Physiography and
Archaeology of Little Diomede Island, Bering Strait,” in the Geographical
Review for January, 1928.

The division supplied material for five outside exhibits during the
past year, each of which entailed considerable office work. It lent a series
of French-Canadian specimens for the Canadian Folk-Lore Festival held
at Quebec in May; in August it contributed a large number of specimens
from various parts of Canada for an exhibition in connexion with the
centenary celebration at Pembroke, Ontario; in the autumn it furnished
the Canadian National Railways with Pacific Coast Indian specimens for
two exhibits, one in Chicago and one in Toronto; and in November it lent a
series of old Iroquois specimens to the Buffalo Academy of Science to fill
out a special exhibit that was being arranged by that institution.

Dr. A. Hrdlicka, Curator of Physical Anthropology in the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, and Mr. Walter B. Cline, of Harvard University,
spent several days at the Museum in the course of the summer studying its
Eskimo and Salish crania. Professor R. R. Gates, of King’s College,
London, also visited the Museum to obtain information concerning the
Indian tribes of Mackenzie River basin.

Mr. Jenness superintended the passage through the press of his
“Comparative Vocabulary of the Western Eskimo Dialects,” and critically
edited the two manuscripts listed above that have been submitted for
publication. He supplied extensive notes on the various Indian tribes of
Canada to the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, which is pre-
paring a hand book on the aboriginal tribes of North America, revised at
the request of the same institution a lengthy article on the Eskimo that
has been prepared by a member of its staff, and indexed for the Editorial
Division eight anthropological reports published by the Museum in former
years. His own textbook, on the Aborigines of Canada, is now well
advanced. Much of his time, as usual, was occupied with official corres-
pondence and with the routine duties of his office, which includes the
general supervision of the exhibition and storage of specimens. He attended,
with Mr. Barbeau, the meetings of the International Congress of American-
ists in New York in September, and participated in the discussions and
conferences which took place during its session.

Mr. Harlan I. Smith, during the winter months, arranged for titling
motion picture films of the Kootenay, Coast Salish, and Tsimshian Indians,
and put in rough continuity the film of the Shuswap and Okanagan Indians.
Besides attending to the general archaeological routine, he continued to
secure and incorporate in the files a large body of information concerning
archaeological sites in various parts of Canada. A portion of his time was
also taken up by the superintendence of the Museum Lecture course and
in the reading of proofs for publication.

89917 — 2J

C. M. Barbeau’s time at the Museum was mostly devoted to the
completion of his “Totem-Poles of the Gitksan,” which was submitted for
publication early in the winter, and to the transcription of Tsimshian
songs from phonograph records. A set of over a hundred of these songs
with melodies, texts, translations, and explanations, is being prepared as
a Museum monograph to be completed early in the winter of 1930. The
preparation and supervision of the Folk-Song and Handicraft Festival at
Quebec required considerable time in the spring of 1929. Over a hundred
French-Canadian folk-songs, from the Museum collection, have been sent
to several musicians for harmonization and are being published in Canada,
England, and the United States.

W. J. Wintemberg completed his memoir on the Roebuck Village Site
and also prepared a paper on Representations of the Thunderbird in
Indian Art.

Museum Work

In the west anthropological hall the entire series of exhibits devoted
to the Nootka Indians of Vancouver island has been completely rearranged.
Many of the specimens shown in these exhibition cases are old and of
considerable value; in their present arrangement they should prove both
attractive and instructive to the visiting public. The east anthropological
hall is now equipped with fourteen large exhibition cases that only require
diaphragms to make them available for immediate use. One case has al-
ready been supplied with a temporary diaphragm in order to display the
fine collection of Stoney Indian specimens generously presented by Martin
Nordegg; and a second case contains an experimental exhibit of basketry
arranged on glass shelves. Much -work was done by Douglas Leechman
in cleaning and repairing specimens in storage, many of which are a heritage
from earlier years when the Museum did not possess a staff with knowledge
of and experience in their care and treatment.

Accessions to Museum

The anthropological collections of the Museum were augmented
during the year as follows:

Ethnological 406 specimens

Archaeological 380 “

Osteological 12 “

Total 798 “

The majority of these specimens -were collected by H. I. Smith and
W. J. Wintemberg in the course of field work, but the list includes a valu-
able collection of old Stoney Indian specimens.

The storage of specimens still presents great difficulties, in spite of
the fact that a new room, No. 16, has been provided in the basement.
The Frank Street building in which the Division of Anthropology occupies
the upper storey, is altogether unsuitable for storage purposes because the
warmth and the daylight to which the specimens are exposed are causing
their slow disintegration, so that many will be totally destroyed within
the next 25 or 50 years if they are allowed to remain in their present location.

Up-to-date museums construct special moth-proof and gas-proof storage
rooms which are maintained at an even, somewhat low, temperature
and illuminated only by artificial light.

Publications

The following articles were published by the staff of the division dur-
ing the past fiscal year:

Language, Mythology, and Songs of Bwaidoga. By D. Jenness. Memoirs of the Poly-
nesian Society, vol. 8.

Comparative Vocabulary of Western Eskimo Dialects. By D. Jenness. Reports of
Canadian Arctic Expedition, vol. 15, part A.

Little Diomede Island, Bering Strait. By D. Jenness. Geographical Review, vol. 19,
No. 1 (January, 1929).

The Land of the Midnight Sun. By D. Jenness. The Country Gentleman, December,
1928.

The Downfall of Temlaham. By C. M. Barbeau. The MacMillan Company of Canada,
Toronto, July, 1928.

Folk-songs of French Canada. By. C. M. Barbeau. The Toronto Conservatory of Music
Quarterly, summer, 1928 — “Quebec,” London, England, October, 1928.

The ( hurch of Saint-Pierre. Island of Orleans, Quebec. By Ramsay Traquair and Marius
Barbeau. The Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, February, 1929.

Folk-songs of French Canada. By C. M. Barbeau. La Patrie, St .-Jean -Baptiste number,
June, 1928.

Annotated program, Canadian Folk Song and Handicrafts Festival. By C. M. Barbeau.

Twenty-one Folk-songs of French Canada. By C. M, Barbeau. Harris and Company,
Oakville, Ontario.

The Technique of Certain Aboriginal Cords. By W. J. Wintemberg. Thirty-fifth Annual
Archieo logical Report, 1924-25, being part of Appendix to the Report of the Minister
of Education, Ontario, Toronto, 1928.

Artifacts from Ancient Graves and Mounds in Ontario. By W. J. Wintemberg. Trans.
Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd ser., vol. 22, sec. 2 (1928).

Early French-Canadian Pottery. By Douglas Leechman. Canadian Homes and Gardens,
September, 1928.

Collecting Harness Brasses. By Douglas Leechman. House and Garden, September, 1928.

West Coast Art. By Douglas Leechman. The Arts, New York, October, 1928.

Native Canadian Art of the West Coast. By Douglas Leechman. Studio, London,
November, 1928.

Lanterns and Candles of Old Quebec. By Douglas Leechman. Canadian Homes and
Gardens, December, 1928.

Lectures

Lectures were delivered by the staff during the fiscal year as follows:

By D. Jenness :

Glimpses of Native Life in Far Off New Guinea. Victoria Memorial Museum,
December 1 and 5, 1928.

The Indians of Canada. Kiwanis Boys’ Club, Ottawa. February 7, 1929.

The Romance of Archseology in America. Logan Club, Ottawa, February 27, 1929.

By C. M. Barbeau:

Southward Migrations of the Northwest Coast Tribes; The Modern Growth of the
Totem Pole on the Northwest Coast; The Origin of Floral Designs Among the
Canadian and Neighbouring Indians. The International Congress of American-
ists, New York city, September, 1928.

Folk-songs of French Canada. Women’s Canadian Club of St. Catharines, Ontario,
and Alma College, St. Thomas, Ontario, December, 1928.

The Folk-songs of French Canada As a Basis for Musical Art in Canada. Empire
Club, Toronto, March, 1929.

By Harlan L Smith:

Museum Work in Canada. Art, Historical, and Scientific Association, Hotel Georgia,
Vancouver, B.C.

A Visit to the West Coast of Canada. Victoria Memorial Museum, December 8 and
December 12, 1928.

Making Motion Picture Records of the Indians of Canada. Gastronomic Club,
Ottawa, January 30, 1929. Home and School Club, Percy Street school, Ottawa.
Home and School Club, Elgin Street school, Ottawa.

By W. J. Wintemberg :

Archaeological Work on the Labrador Coast. Rotary Club, Fredericton, September
11, 1928.

Accessions to Museum

(a) VFnoM Staff:

From Harlan I. Smith:

111 Blackfoot specimens from Gleichen, Alberta
258 West Coast specimens from British Columbia

From W. J. Wintemberg:

3 boxes of archaeological specimens from Canadian Labrador
1 box of archaeological specimens from New Brunswick

From R. M, Anderson:

1 specime a from Dundas Harbour

From L. J. Weeks:

1 wood drill chuck from Nettilling fiord

From J. B. Mawdsley:

1 pair of sealskin boots from Baffin island

From J. D. Soper:

1 kayak model from Baffin island

(b) Donations:

From National Museum of Denmark:

71 specimens from Central Eskimo

From Mr. Martin Nordegg:

25 Stoney specimens

From late J. A. Tait:

3 Thompson River specimens

From S. J. Wilson:

1 iron arrowhead from Devon island

From F. H. Lambart:

1 pair “lapp boots” from Alaska

From A. E. Robb:

1 ethnological specimen
3 archaeological specimens

From TV. C. Pound:

1 specimen from south coast of British Columbia

From R. James:

14 specimens from British Columbia

From H. B. Rowe:

5 archaeological specimens from British Columbia

From W. J. Bates:

1 tubular pottery pipe from Bracken

From C. Lusk:

1 grooved stone maul from Woolsey, Sask.

From Herman Leisk:

4 skulls and human bones from British Columbia

From A. S. Vaughan:

2 skulls near Quesnel, B.C.

From S . Boys:

1 skull from Wenatchee

From Mr. Osborn :

1 skull and humerus

From Prof . E. E. Prince:

Portion of crania of Seminole Indians

From Frits Johansen:

11 archaeological specimens from Ungava

From Inspector A. H. Joy:

9 specimens from Craig Harbour

From C. M. Garber:

8 specimens from Alaska

From R. J. Tait:

1 stone club
1 carved stone mortar

From G. D. Sprot:

3 photographs

From Mrs. J. H. St. -Clair:

1 blow gun and equipment from the Jibaro Indians of Ecuador

From Mrs. J. A. Wilson:

3 photographs 1 pipe 1

1 bracelet [ from South Africa
1 bead bag J

From W. S. Lecky:

7 fragments of pottery from Belmont

From W. J. Coleman:

1 steel spear point from Chalk River, Ont.

From J. Russell:

5 archaeological specimens, lake Athabaska

From Major D. H. Nelles:

15 archaeological specimens from Grimsby

From “ Chief George

1 stone anchor

From W. Bell Dawson:

8 specimens from West Coast

From Mrs. D. B. Dowling:

7 Indian specimens

From Canadian Handicrafts Guild , Montreal:

1 Iroquois cradle-board

From G. D. T. Pickering:

5 specimens from T6te de Boule Indians

Folk-Lore

Mr. Barbeau reports that the folk-lore data collected for the Museum
during the past year stand as follows. The voluminous data collected during
the summer investigations in Quebec, on the early French colonial handi-
crafts and school of architecture and sculpture, are mentioned elsewhere
in the annual report.

French

The Barbeau (Marius ) Collection:

Voluminous notes from early records on sculpture, architecture, handicrafts, etc.

375 folk-song texts
53 folk-tales and anecdotes
230 photographs

6 specimens donated to the Museum

The Lambert ( Adelard ) Collection:

56 song-texts with phonograph records
3 folk-tales

The Leechman (Douglas) Collection:

20 violin dance tunes of Quebec, recorded on the phonograph at the Museum

Other Collections:

Abb6 Georges C6t6, 39 photographs

Mile. M. L. Laurin, 8 photographs, also MS. notes on potters and the ancient
church of Lorette
Judge Pouliot, 3 photographs
Linsey Crossley, 4 photographs
R6gis Roy, 1 folk-tale
L.-P. Geoffrior, 1 song text
W. J. Wintemberg, 1 song-text
Mrs. J. Mount-Ducket t, 1 song-text
A. Y. Jackson, 1 homespun specimen

DIVISION OF BIOLOGY
K. M. Anderson, Chief of the Division, reports:

Field Work

R. M. Anderson in April, 1928, visited the Royal Ontario Museum of
Zoology, Toronto; the United States National Museum, Washington;
and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and made
extended notes on specimens of Canadian mammals as well as of methods
of arranging and exhibiting zoological and botanical specimens. While in
Washington, he attended the Tenth Annual Meeting of the American
Society of Mammalogists, April 10 to 14, and presented an illustrated
paper on “The Bowhead Whale in the Western Arctic.” He left Ottawa
again July 14 to join the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1928 as naturalist.
The expedition, under direction of Mr. George P. Mackenzie, Northwest
Territories and Yukon Branch, Department of the Interior, sailed from
North Sydney, N.S., July 19, on S.S. Beothic, passing through the strait
of Belle Isle, and proceeding directly to Godhavn, Disko island, Greenland,
arriving July 26. After a short visit, the Beothic crossed Baffin bay to

Bylot island and Ponds inlet, arriving July 30, moving north to Dundas
harbour, Devon island, July 31. After some delays on account of ice in
Smith sound, the vessel reached Buchanan bay, but was stopped a short
distance from Bache Peninsula port, and was ultimately compelled to
unload the supplies at the sub-station at Fram Havn. Moving southward
the ship crossed to Greenland again, landing some Eskimos at Nerq settle-
ment south of Etah on August 7, and also touched at Hakluyt island in
Smith sound the same day. August 8 to 11 were spent in taking aboard
supplies from Craig harbour, south side of Ellesmere island, to be dis-
tributed to other ports. The Beothic then crossed Jones sound to Sparbo,
Devon island, where a small herd of musk-oxen was located and motion
pictures taken. A second stop was made at Dundas harbour on August
13, and continuing up Lancaster sound to Beechey island, a cache was estab-
lished for the winter patrol of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ponds
inlet was again visited August 15 by going through Navy Board inlet. A
short stop was made at Clyde river, northeastern Baffin island, and a
longer stop at Pangnirtung, Cumberland sound. The next port was Lake
Harbour, on southern coast of Baffin island, which was reached on August
25. Crossing Hudson strait, the Beothic stopped at Port Burwell August
27-28, and running down the Labrador coast without incident of note,
arrived at North Sydney on September 2, after an absence of forty-five
days, and logging about 6,500 miles. Of the 255 hours available at fourteen
ports some were lost on account of bad weather and darkness during the
latter part of the trip, but fair collections were made, including 108 birds,
19 mammals, a small number of fishes and other forms of life, as well as
many photographs. The past year or two have been notable for a shortage
of all the smaller mammals in the eastern Arctic, particularly hares and
lemmings, and the white and blue foxes, which constitute almost the
whole fur trade of this region, have also been very scarce. The birds of
prey were also reported to be very scarce, and the observers on the Beothic
did not see a single snowy owl, gyrfalcon, or large hawk during the trip.
A female narwhal was killed in Buchanan bay and the complete skeleton
preserved for the Museum.

The expedition had the rare opportunity of seeing from the ship’s
deck a small herd of musk-oxen on the north coast of Devon island, and
still and motion pictures were taken by members of the landing party
after two bulls had been brought to bay by an Eskimo with one dog, illus-
trating the ease with which this now rare animal is hunted. A very import-
ant part of the work consisted in getting data concerning the range of the
different species of mammals, and much first-hand information was obtained
from traders at the different posts, many of whom had been stationed at
other remote posts not visited on this trip. The various members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachments, visited at seven different
posts, gave much information on the occurrence of big game, sea mammals,
and bird life in their districts, supplementing this with data on the life of
the intervening country which is covered by their lengthy patrols, and
several members of the force have made valuable collections for the National
Museum. The present range and relative abundance of the barren ground
caribou, Peary caribou, musk-ox, Atlantic walrus, narwhal, white whale,
ringed seal, harbour seal, harp seal, bearded seal, hooded seal, and other
species were checked and revised.

89917—3

Mr. C. G. Harrold was employed as assistant zoologist for the season
of 1928. He began work April 24 at Davidson, Saskatchewan, returning
to Winnipeg May 9. During this time he concentrated on making a greatly
needed collection of cranes for the National Museum of Canada. In this,
thanks to the able assistance and hearty co-operation of Mr. Reuben
Lloyd of Davidson, he was eminently successful and obtained a good
series of these shy and wary birds, with full measurements, weights, sterna,
and other details. He succeeded in establishing that the enormous flocks
of these birds still to be seen in spring in this province, are largely if not
entirely little brown cranes, Grus canadensis , lingering on their way to their
breeding grounds of the far north, and are not the slightly larger resident
sandhill cranes, Grus mexicana, of the cultivated sections. In fact none
of the latter was secured and their future as continuing features of prairie
life is still a matter of grave doubt. Another fact of interest brought out
by the collection of these birds is that the red coloration of adults of either
of these species is adventitious, caused by a deposit of iron stain, and is
not a specific character.

P. A. Taverner, accompanied by Mr. Harrold, who had come to Ottawa
towards the end of May, carried on ornithological investigations at Mata-
mek, some 8 miles east of the mouth of Moisie river, on the north shore of
the gulf of St. Lawrence. Here they were the guests of Mr. Copley Amory
for the best part of the summer, to whom is due many thanks for courtesies
and assistance in the work. Most of the time was spent in studying land
birds which have been rather neglected on this coast in the past. July 13
to 27 was spent at Havre St. Pierre (Eskimo point) with a side trip to Gull
bay near East cape, Anticosti island. July 27 to August 7 were spent at
Natashkwan and July 8 to 18 at Matamek.

The results of the season’s work were quite satisfactory, 326 birds
and 61 mammals. A good collection of land birds was made considerably
east of any locality on this coast so represented in our collections before, and
a number of species were traced well beyond their previously known dis-
tribution. The report of common cormorants breeding on the northeast
coast of Anticosti was verified and more nests located there than were
thought to exist in America today. Though this once common species is
enormously reduced in number from what it was originally, its situation
is not quite so precarious as feared. An enormous rookery of kittiwake
gulls was located at Gull bay and the presence of a small rookery of gannets
there verified. There are now four known breeding places for this species
in America — Bonaventure island, Gaspe; Bird rock, Magdalen islands;
cape St. Mary, Newfoundland; and Gull bay, Anticosti. A number of
very interesting plumage observations were made on the water birds and
considerable additions to our knowledge of their life histories were made.
Some of these are the basis of a number of short papers that will shortly
appear in the ornithological journals. Mr. Taverner also attended the
forty-sixth annual meeting of the American Ornithologists Union at
Charleston, S.C., November 19-22, 1928.

H. M. Laing, of Comox, B.C., was again engaged as assistant zoologist,
in continuation of the mammal work begun by him and C. H. Young along
the southern boundary of British Columbia in 1927. He collected from
May 11 to June 8 at Sterling creek (elevation 1,700 feet) on east slope of

Cascade mountains near Hedley, B,C. He moved next to Keremeos,
working on Ashnola creek (elevation 1,500 feet) from June 12 to June 30;
on Paul Terebasket creek (elevation 1,350 feet) from July 3 to July 10;
and Fairview-Keremeos summit (elevation 3,800 feet) from July 12 to
July 29. Camp was made on Testalinda creek, Okanagan river, below
Oliver, on Oliver Irrigation Project, and collections made in the dry belt
from August 1 to August 13. Work was carried on at 3,900 feet elevation,
Osoyoos-Bridesville summit from August 15 to August 31. The next
collecting ground was at Westbridge in Kettle River valley (elevation
2,075 feet) from September 14 to September 19, and back to Osoyoos lake
(elevation 913 feet) from September 19 to September 29. Camp was
moved up to Juniper mountain, south fork of Ashnola creek (elevation
4,500 feet) from October 2 to October 11, and investigations made on the
Similkameen mountain sheep. Mr. Laing’s results for the season were
very satisfactory, and he collected 481 mammals and 56 birds, as well as
accessories for several habitat groups of birds and small mammals.

C. H. Young was unable to continue the British Columbia work this year
on account of poor health, and spent some time in England on sick leave.

Joseph Rochon, osteological preparator, left Ottawa on July 16 and
proceeded to Lacoste, Labelle county, Quebec. He collected in vicinity of
Black lake until July 18, bringing back 110 mammals. During the rest of the
year his time was mostly spent on cleaning and mounting skulls and skeletons.

C. L. Patch, D. Blakely, and C. E. Johnson did some field work in
Ottawa district, principally collecting local material to fill out the collec-
tions and obtaining accessories for habitat group work.

M. O. Malte, chief botanist, made a journey to Labrador, Hudson
strait, and Hudson bay on board the Hudson's Bay Company S.S. (t Nas-
copie Sailing from Montreal, Quebec, the boat touched Cartwright,
Labrador, and then proceeded to Port Burwell and Wakeham bay, on the
south shore of Hudson strait. From the latter point the boat sailed to Lake
Harbour, Baffin island, and thence to cape Dorset. After touching Wolsten-
holme, on the extreme northeast corner of Hudson bay, the course was set
for Chesterfield inlet, on the northwest coast of the bay. From Chester-
field inlet the boat proceeded to Southampton, Southampton island, and
thence to Port Harrison and Smith island, on the east coast of Hudson
bay. After other stops at Wolstenholme, Lake Harbour, and Port Burwell,
the boat arrived at St. Johns, Newfoundland, September 10.

Sufficiently long stops, ranging from one to five days, were made at all
ports of call, thus allowing a liberal time for making botanical collections
in the immediate vicinity. Some 6,000 herbarium specimens of flowering
plants and ferns were secured. Much appreciated help in securing this
comparatively large number of specimens was given by Rev. H. A. Turner,
who most ably assisted in collecting at all points touched.

The scientific results of the journey were very gratifying. They
include the discovery of new species and varieties, the securing of ample
material indispensable for the interpretation of difficult and hitherto poorly
understood genera, such as willows and others, and the securing of a very
large number of new plant-geographical records, e.g., not less than fifty
from Southampton island alone.

89917 — 3 $

H. M. Raup, assisted by Mrs. Raup, made a botanical survey of the
southeastern section of Wood Buffalo park, Alberta, and in connexion
therewith, investigated the habits and range conditions of the buffalo
that inhabit the region. They left Fort Smith, N.W.T., June 14 and spent
one month in Pine Lake region, after which the party moved to Peace
point, on Peace river, where one week was spent. Two weeks were spent
at Hay camp on Slave river, and in the middle of August an investigation
was made of the region bounded on the east by the Slave River flats be-
tween Fitzgerald and LaButte, and on the west by the Salt Mountain
escarpment. The party returned to Edmonton September 1. About
6,600 herbarium specimens were collected during the season.

Publications

R. M. Anderson continued work as general editor of scientific reports
of Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18. The only part issued during the
year was vol. XV, part A: Comparative Vocabulary of the Western Eskimo
Dialects, by D. Jenness. Some progress was made in preparing indexes
for some of the completed volumes of the series. R. M. Anderson's paper
on “The Work of Bernhard Ilantzsch in Arctic Ornithology,” principally
in Baffin island and northeastern Labrador, was published in The Auk,
vol. XLV, No. 4, October, 1928, pages 450-466. A translation of Hant-
zsch's “Contribution to the Knowledge of the Avifauna of Northeastern
Labrador” (“Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Vogel welt des nordostlichsten
Labradors,” Journal fur Ornithologie, vol. 56, pages 177-202 and 307-392)
by R. M. Anderson and Mrs. Anderson was published serially in The
Canadian Field Naturalist, Ottawa, beginning with vol. 42, No. 1, January,
1928, and finishing with vol. 43, No. 3, March, 1929. The paper by Mr.
Anderson on “The Fluctuations in the Population of Wild Mammals and
the Relationship of this Fluctuation to Conservation,” read at Provincial-
Dominion Game Conference, Ottawa, January 26, 1928, was published in
The Canadian Field Naturalist, vol. 43, No. 8, November, 1928, pages 189-
191. Several notes and book reviews were contributed to the same publi-
cation. Mr. Anderson lectured on “Canada's Arctic Regions,” illustrated
by motion pictures taken on 1928 Arctic Expedition, in Museum Lecture
Series, January 12 and January 16, also to Young Men's meeting at
Y.M.C.A., January 30.

Other short notes have been published by members of the staff in
periodicals, but no formal articles have been listed.

M. O. Malte has continued intensive work on Arctic flora and other work
in the herbarium, much of it being of an important revisionary character.
During the year the plant collections were distributed as follows:

Division of Botany, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 10

Dr. F. S. Blake, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. . 9

Dr. M. Porsild, Godhavn, Greenland 233

Gray Herbarium, Cambridge, Mass 86

An important paper on “Commercial Bent Grasses of the Genus
Arctogrostis,” by M. O. Malte was published in the Annual Report of the
National Museum of Canada, and a separate reprint of 500 copies of the
same paper was issued by the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. The

same museum report contained an annotated article on “Birds of the
Belvedere Region, Northern Alberta,” by P. A. Taverner. J. D. Soper’s
report, “A Faunal Investigation of Southern Baffin Island,” Bulletin
No. 53, Biological Series No. 15, was published.

Museum Work

Some progress has been made in installing biological exhibits in the
Museum halls. A few habital groups of birds and small mammals have
been prepared, and some old single specimens remounted. Little new work
has been done in the exhibition of large specimens on account of lack of
space. Arrangements have been made with the Forestry Branch, Depart-
ment of the Interior, to make a beginning of exhibition of certain forest
trees of Canada, as well as some of the important forestry products.

The Curator of Insects, Mr. Arthur Gibson, Dominion Entomologist,
is also taking preliminary steps to install some new entomological exhibits.

As a result of field work, by members of the staff, considerable addi-
tions have been made to the study collections, and much material obtained
suitable for subsequent mounting.

The Canadian National Parks Branch, through the Commissioner of
Parks, Mr. J. B. Harkin, has kindly continued to send in many specimens
of large game predatory and fur-bearing mammals from the various
national parks, and the members of various detachments of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, through the Commissioner, Colonel Cortlandt
Starnes, have continued to send in valuable material from the Far North.

An important part of the work of the Museum, which is being carried
on almost continuously, is identifying and systematically arranging the
collections in botany and zoology which are coming in and making the data
obtained from field work and collections available for reference, and in the
preparation of reports on the fauna and flora of the country. The function
of a scientific museum as a storage repository of scientific material of public
interest and as a clearing house for scientific data is as important as its
exhibitions for popular interest and education.

Accessions

Accessions to the Zoological Collections:

Mammals received and catalogued 748

Birds received and catalogued 686

Amphibians and reptiles received and catalogued 114

Mammals:

By members of staff:

H. M. Laing, 455 mammals from southern British Columbia.

P. A. Taverner and C. G. Harrold, 62 small mammals from expedition to north
shore of gulf of St. Lawrence.

R. M. Anderson, 19 mammals, Greenland and eastern Arctic archipelago.

Jos. Rochon, 111 small mammals, from Lacoste, Quebec.

By gift:

Frank L, Farley, Camrose, Alberta, 3 least weasels, 1 long-tailed weasel, 1 flying
squirrel,

Canadian National Parks, 1 British Columbia red fox and 1 skull of mule deer
from Jasper park, Alberta, 5 skulls of black bear from Yoho park, B.C., 3
skulls black bear, 2 skulls coyote, 1 skull grizzly bear, 2 black bears with
skin and skull from Waterton Lakes park, Alberta, 4 beaver skins (im-
perfect).

C. O. Tatham, "Rod and Gun/’ Woodstock, Ont., 2 European hares in the flesh,

J. H, Fleming, Toronto, 1 cranium of grizzly bear, secured through Major Fred
Brewster, Jasper park, Alberta.

Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch, Department of the Interior, 1 s kin
and skeleton of adult wood buffalo cow — from Wood Buffalo park (collected
by district agent), 31 mammals from Mackenzie district (collected by A, E.
Porsild and R. T. Porsild), 1 Arctic hare and 1 ground squirrel (collected
by Major L, T. Burwash).

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 3 skins and 5 skulls of Arctic hare from Baffin
island.

E. E. Prince, Ottawa, skulls and horns, woodland caribou, mountain caribou,
moose, and bison, etc.

Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, Toronto, 1 skin and skull of little short-
tailed shrew (Cryplotis parva ) from series taken at Long point, Norfolk
county, Ontario, in 1927, the first record of the species in Canada.

J. D. Soper, 3 skins of Polar bear cubs, sent down by Eskimos through efforts of
J. D. Soper.

Seymour Hadwen, Head of Department of Veterinary Science, University of
Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 6 skins of varying hare and 2 ol jaekrabbit,
illustrating studies in seasonal colour changes.

Lawrence B, Potter, Eastend, Sask., skin fragments of Lagurus pallidua and
Citelius richardsonii, food of burrowing owl.

Major A. A. Pinard, Ottawa, 1 mounted head of white-tailed deer, with abnormal
antlers.

R. Arkell, Britannia, 1 Canada skunk, in the flesh.

C. Small, Atherley, Ontario, 8 live bats.

Birds :

By members of staff:

P. A. Taverner, Ottawa, 1 starling in the flesh.

D. MacDonald, Ottawa, 1 great horned owl, in the flesh.

C. G. Harrold, 44 birds from near Davidson, Saskatchewan.

H. M. Laing, 57 birds from southern British Columbia.

P. A. Taverner and C. G. Harrold, 327 birds, 5 eggs, from expedition to north
shore of gulf of St. Lawrence.

R. M. Anderson, 108 birds from Greenland and eastern Arctic archipelago.

C. L. Patch, 6 skins, 1 mounted bird.

C. E. Johnson, 1 white-throated sparrow.

By gift:

Arthur English, St. Johns, Newfoundland, 1 lapwing skin and stomach contents.
Jack Miner, 2 Cooper hawks, 2 long-eared owls, 1 Canada goose, 5 crows.

H. A. Wiggans, Ottawa, 1 barn owl, in the flesh.

E. Beaupre, Kingston, Ontario, 1 great horned owl in the flesh.

C. O. Tatham, "Rod and Gun,” Woodstock, Ontario, 1 lapwing, salted in the
flesh, from Ramea island, Newfoundland.

Geo. Whiteley, St. Johns, Newfoundland, 1 lapwing in the flesh.

Walter J. Boyles, Canaan Station, N.B., 1 great horned owl and one goshawk, in
the flesh.

William Rowan, Edmonton, Alberta, 1 sandhill crane, skin.

Oscar Pothier, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, 1 starling in the flesh.

Canadian National Parks, 2 yellow-legs, 1 turnstone, 1 ring-billed gull, from
Natashkwan, Quebec, seized and confiscated by federal officers.

Ottawa Humane Society, 1 great horned owl.

Dorothea Patch, 1 sawwhet owl, in the flesh.

L. B. Potter, Eastend, Saskatchewan, 1 goshawk, fresh skin.

C. G. Harrold, Winnipeg, 1 golden plover, skin.

Gower Rabbitts, Game and Inland Fisheries Board, St. Johns, Newfoundland,
1 head, wing, and foot of European coot.

R. E. DeLury, 1 junco, in the flesh.

Mrs. Joseph H. Sinclair, 18 skins of hummingbirds from Andes mountains,
Ecuador, through Mr. Frank W. Bedard.

Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch, Department of the Interior, 4 bird
s kin s: black guillemot, harlequin duck, duck hawk, and willow ptarmigan
(through Major L. T. Burwash); 4 skins from Baker Lake region: crane,
loon, plover, and jaeger (collected by L. T. Burwash); 59 birds, 4 eggs
(collected by A. E. Porsild and R. T. Porsild).

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 8 birds from Baffin and Devon islands, in-
cluding 1 greater snow goose with egg, from Devon island.

E. G. White, 1 female widgeon, 1 female shoveller from Lochaber, Quebec, in the

flesh; 1 blue goose, juvenile in the flesh, from Cap Tourmente, Quebec.

Alfred Mougeot ; Masson, Quebec, 1 marsh hawk, alive.

John Arkell, Britannia, Ontario, 2 Cooper hawks, 1 whip-poor-will.

M. B. near Moisie, north shore of gulf of St. Lawrence, 6 birds.

Miss Ida Taverner, Ottawa, 1 purple martin.

Ernest Ball, Smith Falls, Ontario, 1 purple martin.

Morris Lieff, Ottawa, 1 screech owl.

F. Grant, Ottawa, 1 Florida gallinule.

Robert Lockwood, Rockcliffe, Ontario, 1 nighthawk.

B. Crawford, Hull, Quebec, 1 oven-bird.

Ray Hewdtt, Ottawa, 1 nighthawk, juvenile.

G. Douglas, Quyon, Quebec, 1 great horned owl, alive.

John Tanton, Ottawa, 1 nest of American goldfinch.

By purchase:

C. G. Harrold, Winnipeg, 2 blue goose skins.

Allan Moses, Grand Manan, N.B., common cormorants in the flesh.

Amphibians and Reptiles:

By gift:

Fred Ball, Chelsea and Kingsmere, Quebec 29

Ernest Ball, Portland, Ontario 2

D. J. Blakely, Portland, Ontario, and Gatineau Point, Quebec. . . 37

E. R. Buckell, Nicola, British Columbia 1

Doreen Dodd, Telegraph Creek, British Columbia 3

A. M. Gammade, Kinburn, Ontario 1

C. E. Johnson, Blackburn, Ontario. 2

L. M. Klauber, San Diego co., California 1

H. M. Laing, Keremeos, Princeton, Rock Creek, and Comox,

British Columbia 5

Emerson Leftly, Ottawa, Ontario 1

Eddie Lennox, Meach Lake, Quebec 2

Hoyes Lloyd, Golden Lake, Ontario 1

Robert Lockwood, Ottawa, Ontario 1

L. Marcotte, Sherbrooke, Quebec 10

R. O. Merriman, Kingston, Ontario 1

W. H. Moore, Scotch Lake, New Brunswick I

C. L. Patch, Blackburn and Ottawa, Ontario 3

L. S. Russell, Ponoka, Alberta. 1

N. B. Sanson, Banff, Alberta 1

Harlan I. Smith, Penticton, British Columbia 1

P. A. Taverner, Natashkwan and Matamek river, Quebec 10

Total . . .

114

Plants:

By gift:

H. Groh, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 31

Norman Criddle, Entomological Branch, Department of Agricul-
ture, Ottawa 2

Dr. M. Porsild, Godhavn, Greenland 69

Dr. Selim B'rger, Stockholm, Sweden 125

Brother Louis-Marie, Oka, Que 100

Professor Marie-Victorin, Montreal, Quebec 224

The Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary . . 100

United States National Museum, Washington, D.C 94

Gray Herbarium, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 15

Grateful acknowledgment is made of the receipt of an interesting col-
lection of plants from Bylot island, made by Inspector C. E. Wilcox,
R.C.M.P., and of collections of seed from Baffin island, made by Staff
Sergeant J. E. F. Wight, R.C.M.P.

DIVISION OF MINERALOGY (Geological Survey)

Eugene Poitevin, Chief of the Division, reports:

The Division of Mineralogy is a division of the Geological Survey, but
it has important functions to perform in connexion with the National
Museum of Canada. These functions consist in collecting and exchanging
mineral specimens and placing them on exhibit, making contributions
to the scientific investigations of Canadian minerals, and promoting the
knowledge of mineralogy by means of publications, lectures, and the
distribution of mineral collections to educational institutions.

More than 3,000 mineral specimens were added to the systematic and
economic collections. A fine set of mahogany table cases having been
completed, twenty cases were filled with exhibits and plans were made for
further exhibits.

In addition to identifying a large number of specimens for the system-
atic collection, the mineralogists of the division contributed the following
studies to Canadian mineralogy.

Eugene Poitevin studied a large suite of specimens from the serpentine
belt of the Eastern Townships, Quebec, the principal ones being perovskite
from lake Nicolet, and prehnite, natrolite, scolecite, diopside, albite,
grossular garnet, etc., from Thetford asbestos mines. He also investi-
gated a new mineral from British Columbia.

H. V. Ellsworth nearly completed the writing of a report on the rare
earth minerals of Canada, and also published the following papers:

Thucholite, a remarkable primary carbon mineral from the vicinity of Parry Sound,
Ontario.

Cyrtolite intergrowth associated with the Parry Sound thucholite.

Thucholite and uraninite from the Wallingford mine, near Buckingham, Quebec.

Euxenite from Sabine township, Nipissing district, Ontario.

Zircon from North Burgess, by C. Palache and H. V. Ellsworth.

A simple and accurate constant volume pyknometer for specific gravity determinations.

R. J. C. Fabry, analyst, made a number of complicated analyses of
minerals such as topaz, beryl, and margarodite from the Silver Leaf mine.
He also undertook the study of perovskite and ilmenite from the serpen-
tines of lake Nicolet in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. He made

analyses of natrolite and prehnite from the granite dykes occurring in the
peridotite of Thetford Mines; and completed the analyses of a limestone
from Ainslie Lake, N.S., and of three rocks supplied by T. T. Quirke from
Parry Sound district, Ont. Mr. Fabry also did some research work for
Mr. Taverner, to determine whether the colour of certain bird feathers
was original or of the nature of a stain.

Educational Collections

The educational section of the Mineralogical Division was equally as
busy as the other sections and the magnitude of the work is illustrated by
the following table, which shows that 379 collections were shipped to
various institutions. Of these, each Standard collection contains 144 speci-
mens, Grade 2 contains 44 specimens, Grade 3 contains 40 specimens,
Grade 4, a special collection prepared for the Department of Mines, Quebec,
contains 40 specimens, Prospectors collection contains 16 specimens,
miscellaneous or special collections vary from a few to more than 100
specimens, and each mineral chips collection contains 46 bags of minerals.
Thus 11,835 specimens, having a total weight of 27,400 pounds, were
distributed.

Destination

Standard

collection

Collection

Pro-

spectors

collection

Mis-

cellaneous

Mineral

chips

Kegs

Grade

British Columbia . .

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick. . . .

Nova Scotia

Foreign

166

In addition to the large number of standardized sets tabulated above,
the division assembled special collections of mineral specimens for display
in Toronto, Regina, and Minneapolis.

Accessions

Donations

United States Geological Survey. Halite with polyhalite and some clay, polyhalite with
anhydrite and halite, halite with polyhalite also some green clay, anhydrite and
halite with one speck of magnesite on polished face, polyhalite with seams of mag-
nesite, small quantity of anhydrite, from Texas fields, New Mexico; sylvinite-halite
and sylvite, green clay, from American Potash Co., New Mexico.

President of the International Nickel Company. Three specimens of nickel-copper ore from
Frood mine.

Canadian International Corporation , Montreal, Quebec. Antimony from Lake George, N.B.

A. W. G. Wilson, Mines Branch, Ottawa. Series of zeolites from cape D’Or, N.S.

H. S. Spence, Mines Branch, Ottawa. Large series of specimens, the principal collections
being: 1 suite of lithium-bearing minerals from South Dakota, U.S.A.; andalusite
from Hill City, South Dakota; series of specimens from Silver Leaf mine, Manitoba;
series of feldspar specimens from Loughborough township, Frontenac county, Ont.;
series of amazonite and rare earths, Woodcox mine, Hybla, Ont,; series of specimens
carrying sphene,from lake Eau Claire, lot 14, con. VII, Calvin tp., Nipissing dist.,
Ont.; series of specimens from molybdenite mine, Wilberforce, Ont.; garnets from
McKay feldspar mine, McKay, Ont.; lepidomelane and other minerals from Faraday
township, Ont.; phlogopite and tremolite from the Orser mica mine, Bedford town-
ship, Frontenac county, Ont.; calcite from Bobs Lake mica mine, lot 30, con. VI,
Bedford tp., Frontenac eo., Ont.; lattice calcite from lot 13, con. V, North Burgess
tp., Lanark co., Ont.; turgite from Black island, lake Winnipeg, Manitoba; przi-
bramite from McNally mine, lot 21, con. V, North Burgess tp., Lanark co., Ont.

L. II. Cole, Mines Branch, Ottawa. One large specimen carrying an association of selenite,
calcite, and galena, two large crystals of selenite, two fine masses of cleavable selenite,
from Galetta lead mine, Galetta, Ont.

Collected by Officers of the Geological Survey

J. F. Wright. Eight specimens of copper-zinc ore from Sherritt-Gordon mine, northern
Manitoba.

E. R. Faribault. Two polished specimens of gold-bearing quartz from Nova Scotia.

T. L. Tanton. One specimen from a palladium-bearing nickel deposit near Shebandowan
lake, Thunder Bay district, Ontario.

Eugene Poitevin. Aplite showing large vug coated with prehnite crystals from King
asbestos mine, Thetford Mines, Quebec; huge crystals of natrolite from Johnston’s
asbestos mine, Thetford, Quebec; calcite crystals, pectolite, prehnite crystals, diop-
side, scolecile crystals, from the Jacobs asbestos mine, Thetford, Quebec.

Eugene Poitevin and A. T. McKinnon. Massive ilmenite, and ilrnenite crystals and
perovskite crystals occurring in a serpentine body on the shore of lake Nicolet, Wolfe
county, Quebec.

II. V. Ellsworth. Considerable quantity of various species of rare minerals from the peg-
matites of central Ontario, including cyrtolite, uraninite, thorite, zircon, ellsworthite,
titanite, allanite, transparent apatite of gem quality, and other undetermined minerals;
and also a complete suite of specimens of the granites and related rocks of the Broek-
ville-Mallorytown area.

DIVISION OF PALAEONTOLOGY (Geological Survey)

E. M. Kindle, Chief of the Division, reports:

Field Work and Collections

Collections for the Museum by members of the division include a
suite of Upper Devonian fossils from the Eifel district of Germany and of
Middle Devonian fossils from the Middle Devonian of Belgium and France
collected by E. M. Kindle.

Miss A. E. Wilson made a collection in the Cornwall area, Ontario,
from the horizons between the Aylmer limestone and the top of the Trenton.

Collections made in Alberta by C, M. Sternberg include a nearly
complete skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur, the skull of an undescribed
dinosaur, and part of the skeleton of a horned dinosaur. Mr. Sternberg also
collected the hind feet of two undescribed, small, carnivorous dinosaurs,
the posterior half of a crocodile skeleton, and a fine skull of another crocodile.
Several turtles and a fine mammal jaw ( Eodelphis ) were also secured.

Other collections, some of which were both extensive and of good qual-
ity, have value mainly from a stratigraphic view point and are chiefly
related to work reported on by the Geological Survey.

Museum Exhibits

The preparation of the horned dinosaur skeleton, from the Edmonton
formation, has been nearly finished; the missing skull will be modelled from
another specimen. Hind feet of two new carnivorous dinosaurs have been
prepared and two dinosaur skulls have been partly prepared. A fine skull
and jaws and part of the skeleton of a three-toed horse ( Mesohippus ) have
been received as an exchange.

Collections acquired by purchase for exhibit include a series of fossil
insects preserved in amber and an ammonite nearly 2 feet in diameter.

A fine series of specimens showing the work of boring molluscs in rock
construction has been added to the collections to be placed on exhibit when
more space becomes available.

Educational Collections

About 75 school collections of fossils have been assembled during the
year for the use of teachers and students in the secondary schools. A few
fossil collections of more elaborate character than the school collections
have also been distributed, and include one to the Museum of the city of
St. John, N.B.

Type Material

The types resulting from the description of new species of fossils
belonging to the Museum which have been added to the Museum collec-
tions during the year may be summarized as follows:

Vertebrates: published in

Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology, Bulletin 49 1 species

Proceedings, Royal Society of Canada for 1928 1

Canadian Field Naturalist, 1928 1 “

Invertebrates: published in

Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology, Bulletin 49 8 “

Proceedings, Royal Society of Canada for 1928 (old species illustrated for

the first time) 17 “

Plants: published in

Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology 4

Donations

A general collection of natural history material presented to the
Museum by Dr. Bell Dawson included some good specimens of trilobites
from Ottawa district. Dr. Dannenberg of Aachen, Germany, presented
a good collection of Middle Devonian fossils from Germany. Professor
Smith of Bristol, England, presented six specimens representing geno-
types of corals from England and Scotland. The Princeton University
Museum presented a cast of the large Cambrian trilobite Mesonacus
gilberti.

THE ANCIENT EDUCATION OF A CARRIER INDIAN

By D. Jenness

British Columbia west of the Rockies has been for countless centuries
a melting pot where tribes of varying origins, coming from north, east,
and south, have jostled against each other, mingled, and changed, evolving
as a result a peculiar culture that was similar in its broader outlines over
the whole area and slowly overflowed eastward into the interior of the
country. The present paper makes no attempt to trace the distance to
which this west coast culture has penetrated, or is penetrating, for the
process was still going on a few years ago. Instead, it selects a single
tribe, and stresses mainly one aspect in the life of that tribe, in order to
illustrate the manner in which the culture spread and its revolutionary
effect on the peoples who came into contact with it.

If we exclude the Arctic coastline, then Canada north of about the 56th
parallel, that is to say nearly a half of the total area of the country, was
inhabited almost exclusively by the so-called Athabaskan tribes who spoke
varying dialects of a common tongue. One of the southernmost of these
tribes is the Carrier, which many centuries ago crossed the Rockies (prob-
ably by way of Peace river) and settled in northern British Columbia
around the valleys of the Fraser, Nechako, and Skeena rivers. At the present
time the Carriers extend over an area roughly 250 miles from east to west
and 180 miles from north to south, on both sides of the Canadian National
railway between Prince George and Hazelton. Around Hazelton they have
mingled largely with the Gitksan, a typical west coast people of the Tsim-
shian group; and for many generations they have had both peaceful and
hostile relations with the Kitimat Indians of Douglas channel and the
Bella Coola Indians around the mouth of Bella Coola river. These three
tribes have so profoundly affected the Carriers, especially the westernmost
or Babines, that, apart from their language, and the relative importance
attached to hunting as contrasted with fishing, very little remains of their
original mode of life.

Early Culture of Carriers

It is reasonable to suppose that before this change in their culture
took place the Carriers were hardly to be distinguished from neighbouring
Athabaskan tribes; for even today the easternmost Carriers resemble
the Sekani tribes to the northward as much as they do their kinsmen
around Hazelton, Moricetown, and Babine lake who have been most
exposed to west coast influence. If we may assume, then, their original
resemblance to the Sekani and other neighbouring Athabaskan tribes,
the Carriers were formerly divided into a number of loosely organized
groups each with its special hunting territory, a territory that was not sub-
divided again among the different families, but remained the possession
of the entire group. Fixed dwellings were unknown; the groups simply
wandered from one hunting or fishing ground to another, setting up tents
of skin or rude shelters of brush and bark. Inheritance and descent were
in the paternal line, there were no caste distinctions, no regular chiefs.

and no special class of medicine men. Religious ideas were relatively
simple. All living creatures were believed to be more or less endowed with
supernatural power, which if rightly solicited they often placed at the
service of man. The desire of every Carrier hunter was to obtain' in secret
some tutelary bird or animal which he could call to his aid in time of
stress. High gods had no place in this early religion; and of the various
supernatural monsters that it was thought once peopled the earth the
majority had been killed by a mighty hero in days long since.

Early Educational System

The loose organization of society among the early Carriers, and the
simplicity of their religious doctrines, affected the education of the young.
The name that a child received at birth was not hereditary in the family,
but either some high-sounding title or a word derived from the “medicine”
of his father or of some man renowned for “medicine” power; and the
name was not changed later, through ascent in rank or dignity, but endured
through life, except when it was superseded by some nickname or, in rare
cases, by a name revealed when acquiring medicine power. Both boys
and girls grew up during their early years free and untrammelled. As
soon as they were old enough the boy followed his father and uncles to the
chase, the girl helped her mother and aunts in all the domestic duties of
camp life. Knowledge of religious matters and of the duties of social life
was acquired from observation and from occasional folk-tales told mainly
by old women at odd moments of the day or night.

A little more attention was bestowed on the children when they reached
their teens. The girl learnt from her female relatives all the restrictions
that would surround her for the remainder of her life, the periodical seclu-
sion, the foods that were henceforth forbidden to her, and the precautions
that she must observe in handling the weapons of the hunters. The boy
too was forbidden certain articles of food from the age of about twelve.
Some two years later he was sent out into the woods to seek his “medicine.”
Then for a few days he wandered alone in the forests, sleeping and dream-
ing on an animal's tracks, or beside some silent lake, or high up on the
slopes of a mountain. But from the moment he returned his probation
ended, whether he obtained a “medicine” or not; thenceforward he was
as free as in his childhood days, save that now he was classed among the
hunters of the community and required to contribute his share towards
its support.

Change in Social Organization to West Coast Pattern

Simple in the extreme then was the educational system of the Carriers
in those early days before they crossed the Rockies. But, with everything
else, it was revolutionized when some of the bands pushed westward
into Skeena River valley and encountered Indians from the west coast.
The social system was the first to be reorganized. The migratory life of
hunting was partly superseded by fixed habitations at favourable fishing
localities, and the loose structure of society gave place to a rigid clan
system of nobles, commoners, and even slaves. Every clan possessed a
“long” or semi-communal house presided over by a head man. Generally

speaking only the nobles of closely related families recognizing the same
crest or totem dwelt in the big communal houses; the commoners erected
smaller dwellings in the immediate vicinity. Descent and inheritance
now followed the maternal line instead of the paternal, although the
actual status of the women seems to have remained about the same.

Change in Religious Doctrines

Even if no other changes had occurred this great revolution in the
structure of society would have had far-reaching effects on the education
of the children. But it was accompanied by an equally great revolution
in religious doctrines and ideas. The western Carrier still devoted the
greater part of the year to hunting, and he still preserved his early faith
in the intelligence of animals, an intelligence he believed to be similar and
sometimes superior to that of man. But this simple faith he now con-
verted into a ritual; instead of soliciting the favour of the animals and
obtaining their aid by prayer and fasting, he sought to coerce them and
to gain their power by the use of spells, magic herbs, and rigid self-dis-
cipline, that is to say, by the ritual commonly known as xal. Simultaneous-
ly there arose, or became more prominent, a belief in a luminary deity, the
sky-god Sa who in more recent times has been reinterpreted as the God
of the Christians, Utakke , “He who dwells on high.’’ Violations of the
moral code, and violations of the numerous taboos and injunctions that
had sprung up in increased numbers, were direct offences against Sa,
who would be certain to punish the offender before many moons rolled by.
A third change in the religion of the western Carriers, and one which also
had great influence on the upbringing of the children, was the growth of a
belief in certain vague supernatural forces which could smite a man at a
moment’s notice and make him the medium of supernatural power. Not a
year passed, probably, in which some member of the community, man or
woman, was not stricken with a kind of hysteria, the “medicine” sickness,
that could be cured only by nightly drumming, singing, dancing, and
the exorcisms of other medicine men. Every child that watched these
performances knew that sooner or later, but probably in early life, he
might himself be stricken in the same way and called upon to become a
medicine man. All the more likely was this to happen if a parent or an
ancestor had been a great medicine man before him; though medicine
power was not a direct inheritance and many legends are told of poor and
despised orphans who rose to rank and influence through its acquisition.

Development of New Educational System

The western Carrier was now living in a new world. Both society and
religion had been changed and systematized, and the education of the
children was bound to undergo a similar revolution and development.
Not that there was any change in its fundamental purpose; the results it
sought to obtain were the same as under the old order of things. Every
boy was trained to be a successful hunter, so that he could provide for all
the needs of his household and community; and every girl to become a

useful wife and a fertile mother, so that the houses might be filled with
children and the village maintain its prosperity and strength. But the all-
pervading idea of system had taken hold of the people and education had
to fall into Une.

So it came about that among the western Carriers, those who were
most subjected to west coast influences, education was divided into two
parts or courses, which ran concurrently and in many ways overlapped.
One was a secular education, the other ethical and religious. It will be
convenient to discuss the two separately, beginning with the former.

Secular training, or geretne, as it was called, was instruction in the
various manual tasks that the children would have to perform when they
grew up. With a girl this meant the carrying of wood and water, the
curing and cooking of fish, meat, and berries, the tanning of skins, the
designing and sewing of clothing, the making of birch-bark baskets, sinew
thread, etc.; with a boy it involved such things as house-building, the
manufacture of tools and weapons, woodcraft, and the methods of hunting
and fishing. For, as in most communities, whether savage or civilized,
the man provided the necessities of the home, the woman organized them
and worked them up for use.

Secular education of this kind was imparted mainly by the parents
and grandparents while the child was very young; later the mother’s
brothers and sisters played an important role, inheritance and descent
now following the maternal line. Just as in those earlier times when the
Carriers hunted east of the Rocky mountains, the girls helped their kins-
women in the house and carried wood and water, while the boys followed
the men to the fishing and hunting, or played in the open spaces around the
villages; only now there was more conscious supervision of their move-
ments, and more direct instruction in their work and play. For example,
boys were not allowed to run downhill, only uphill, so that they might-
gain endurance for the chase. At Hagwelget, the most western of the
Carrier villages, several trails lead down a steep cliff to the foot of a canyon,
and the boys were trained to race one another from the bottom to the top
of this cliff.

The second course in the education of a western Carrier was religious
instruction. Here the method adopted was the folk-tale, gidete, narrated
by the head of the long house after the evening meal. Nearly every story
carried with it either the explanation of some phenomenon — like the
moaning of the trees beneath the wind or the flatness of the beaver’s tail-
or else a moral, such as the penalty involved in the violation of a certain
taboo; for religious instruction went hand in hand with instruction in
manners and morals. Breaches of etiquette or of the moral code might be
punished with an occasional thrashing, administered usually by the
mother’s brother. More often the offence was allowed to pass without
remark until the evening. Then, when the inmates of the house were
preparing to retire for the night, the old head man from his couch at the
back would begin a story to which everyone lent respectful attention.
Gradually developing its plot until it applied to the present occasion, he
would turn to the culprit and ask “Did you do such and such a thing
today?” The boy was bound to confess. Then the old man would resume

his story and stress the punishment meted out by Sa, the sky-god, or by
the animals, for this breach of the customary law. Men still surviving
state that the shame and humiliation inflicted by this method were harder
to endure, and more efficacious, than the most severe corporal punishment.

Rank, that new institution borrowed by the Carriers from their west
coast neighbours, was a very potent factor in the educational sphere. For
rank carried its obligations — noblesse oblige. A child of noble rank (and
we must remember that the nobility formed a much larger proportion of
the population than with us) was given an hereditary name at birth, and
a more important title at the age of ten or twelve. These names were
bestowed at potlatches in the presence of most of the people. They pub-
licly established the child's place in the community and marked out the line
of its future advancement. In return the boy (or girl) owed it to his kins-
folk to live up to his position. He should be respectful to his elders, and
especially to the widowed, the aged, and the infirm, whether of equal or
of lower rank; Orion’s belt in the sky stood as a perpetual warning of the
efficacy of an old woman’s curse. Misfortune should never be mocked
nor sorrow ridiculed. When a widower mourned his loneliness, weeping
inside his hut, the boy should softly draw near and ask in low tones whether
a little food would be acceptable, or a few sticks of wood to replenish the
fire. He should never ridicule the animals, or gloat over success in hunting;
the mountain sheep destroyed a whole community because a few youths
had cruelly tortured a little lamb. In his play he should never be uproarious,
but observe a certain dignity and moderation; Sa, the sky-god, carried a
whole village into the sky and dropped the lifeless bones to earth again
because the children had refused to heed the warnings of their parents
and raised a tumult around their homes. Regulations such as these,
promulgated by the old men at night through folk-tales, had to be observed
by every child, but especially by the nobler born, because their parents
had expended much property in potlatches to give them high standing.
Filial obligation demanded obedience. Not seldom had the degenerate
son of a noble father been eclipsed in fame and honour by some poor orphan
who drank in the words of his elders through the half-open door.

Special rules of etiquette were laid down for girls. For example, a
high-born girl should look straight ahead as she walked, turning her head
neither to right nor left; girls of lower rank should keep their eyes modestly
fixed on the ground in front of them. The stone labret worn by the noble
maiden was a perpetual reminder to her that she should speak slowly and
with deliberation. It reminded her, too, that her kinsfolk had expended
much wealth upon her, that she was an asset to the whole community,
that she must, therefore, guard her words carefully and never speak ill of
any one. A growing girl was fraught with mighty powers for good or evil
and this was borne in upon her during a period of two years’ seclusion.
The special clothing she wore at this period, and the numerous taboos
which hedged her round, all educated her to a knowledge of her social
status, and the lesson was driven more deeply home by stories handed
down from one generation to another.

Modern Decline

Geretne and gidete, therefore, direct instruction in the everyday tasks
and story-telling, were the two methods evolved or borrowed by the
western Carriers to train their children in the newly established mode of
life. By these two methods, century after century, they handed down the
torch of their civilization. It was on its educational system, indeed, how-
ever varied it might be in different places, that the strength and vitality of
west coast culture largely depended. As long as this aboriginal education
remained intact that culture flourished and spread. The western Carrier
tribes had fallen wholly under its influence; and it had taken firm root
among the eastern tribes. Even the Sekani to the north were adopting
a typical clan system, with crests and privileges, maternal descent, and a
division into nobles and commoners. But the times have changed again.
Rifles and steel traps have diminished the supply of game and lessened
the importance of hunting. Economically life has become more complex,
more difficult. Old traditions and old ideas have been discredited, and old
regulations and taboos that held sway for countless centuries have been
ruthlessly flung aside under the new regime brought in by the white man.
The young men no longer respect their elders; the girls stalk brazenly
about, aping the manners of their white sisters, but without the guidance
of a regulated home life and an unbroken code of conduct. The older men,
unable to remould their minds, spend their days in a pathetic attempt to
reconcile their traditional ideas and beliefs with the new ones so suddenly
thrust upon them from without; or else they cling desperately to the old
beliefs, justifying them with the new-born theory of a separate revelation
to their ancestors long ago. So the communities are declining. “The old
graveyards are small,” the Indians say, “but the new ones large and
overflowing.” And it is not the changed economic conditions that are
producing this decline, nor the new diseases introduced by the white man,
but the weakening of the old social bonds of the community, and the
breaking-down of the old educational system, without its replacement by
another as adequate.

A STUDY OF THE CANADIAN RACES OF ROCK PTARMIGAN

(Lag opus rupestris) 1

By P. A . Taverner

In studying the specimens collected by J. D. Soper for the National
Museum of Canada in Baffin island (Pangnirtung, lake Nettilling, and cape
Dorset) it became evident that two forms of rock ptarmigan were repre-
sented in our general collections. One, decidedly yellow or ochraceous, of
more northern range; the other greyish and less yellow, of more southern
distribution. Reference to literature indicates that little has been written
regarding the rock ptarmigan of the main continental mass or of the
islands to the north of it. Most authorities have been content convention-
ally to assume that the bird of the eastern Arctic islands and Greenland
was reinhardi and that of the mainland was rupestris, with welchi, under
full specific standing, restricted to Newfoundland. The material under
survey did not seem to satisfy this hypothesis. The most recent author to
study the species is H. S. Swarth 2 , but neither do all his conclusions agree
with the facts presented by the new material. It seemed advisable then to
make as thorough a study of the species as was possible.

Written description unaccompanied by identified specimens is a most
unsatisfactory guide to the determination of the various ptarmigan races,
and it was evident that little could be done with the material without
approximate topotypes of the accepted races. Attempts to borrow such
specimens revealed a most surprising dearth of them in collections. Through
the courtesy of other museums 3 considerable pertinent material was
obtained, though on assembling all the fragmentary nature of the data
is evident. The presence of a northern yellow race is generally substanti-
ated, but the picture is obscured by lack of definite outlines and dis-
turbed by the unexplained sporadic occurrence of typical specimens far
from what would seem to be their proper range.

The comparison of rock ptarmigan plumages is an exceedingly difficult
process. The white winter plumages are practically useless for subspecific
determination. The sexes in summer are dissimilar and, besides the
juvenile, each have two distinct plumages that, crowded into the short
northern season, are decidedly evanescent. It is unusual that either of
these plumages is presented in completeness. They blend one into the
other and the birds seem in continuous moult throughout spring, summer,
and autumn, and masses of early plumage persist through later ones. It

1 In view of the large amount of individual, sexual, seasonal, and adventitious variation in the
Bpecies, the consequent large series of specimens necessary for successful study of the races and
the paucity of extralimital material available, it does not seem worth while to attempt comparison
between New and Old World forms at this time. Therefore, the relationship between Lagopus
rupestris and Lagopus mutus has not been touched upon in this review. As a matter of convenience
and without prejudice to the contrary, it is assumed that the North American species is Lagopus
rupestris.

2 “Birds of Atlin District, British Columbia”; Univ. Cal. Pub. in Zool., vol. 30, No. 4 (1926).

* Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.; Museum of Vertebrate Zoology,

Berkeley, Cal.; U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.; American Museum of Natural
History, New York; Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wis.; Academy of
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa.; and the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa. To these institu-
tions and their curators we desire to express our thanks.

is possible to find more or less complete remains of four distinct plum-
ages in one and the same bird, without any one of them showing de-
cided predominance. Thus traces of last winter plumage may persist
while that of next winter is just appearing and the two summer ones
present an ill-defined mixture. The seasonal changes are not simultaneous
in all individuals and birds of the same sex, time, and place may show
widely different plumage development.

The plumage itself is soft and the wear very rapid. This is specially
true of the light edgings that are much less resistant to abrasion than the
dark parts. Even during the short period these summer plumages are
worn the light feather edges which lend the most characteristic subspecific
characters are often cut away until racial features are obscured, lost, or
even apparently reversed as between races. Another and not the least
important difficulty in studying these birds is the optical one of com-
paring unlike surfaces, feathers in mass on one specimen against individual
plumes in another, often with totally different backgrounds that entirely
alter the relative visual impressions. The colour patterns are complicated,
variable, and subject to great individual variation in both detail and
general effect. Size is also a variable quantity in the ptarmigan. Careful
measuring of large numbers of specimens may show average differences
between the races, but in the birds examined the distinction is so swamped
by individual variation as to make it an uncertain criterion for the identi-
fication of individuals. A factor that may mislead the investigator is
the common overgrowth of the bill and claws of all the ptarmigan. This
seems dependent upon the condition of the grounds upon which the birds
have recently fed. When the rocks and soil are covered with snow or the
birds are living on the soft tundra moss both claws and bill, deprived of
the contact with abrasive material, continue to grow and occasionally
assume almost monstrous proportions, returning again to their normal
size when grit is once more available.

The species is strongly migratory and movement may start com-
paratively early in the season, resulting in many birds of different origins
mixing together and losing their racial groupings before they do their
distinctive plumages. With all these sources of confusing variation it is
evident that large series of specimens are necessary for a final or detailed
study of the species — such a series as probably does not exist in our col-
lections today.

The present series consists of 105 summer-plumaged specimens from
Arctic America, the islands to the north, western Greenland, Newfoundland,
and a few more southern continental localities. On a purely colour basis
they divide into two distinct groups; one strongly yellowish, the other
decidedly and generally greyish. Of course, all individuals are not equally
marked in these characters and there are numerous intermediate speci-
mens whose reference to one group or the other is more or less uncertain.
It is doubtful if any two authorities would agree on the allocations of
some of these, or even that a single judge would make exactly the same
decision at different examinations. A point to be stressed is that these
uncertain birds do not occur only on intermediate ground between con-
sistently constant racial groups where hybrids can be expected, but may
occur sporadically anywhere even where pure racial strains would be

supposed to prevail. More disturbing still is the occurrence of typical
or even ultra-typical individuals far from their centres of apparent pre-
dominance and deep in the range of other forms. Some of these cases can
be explained by migration or other factors, others cannot be so easily
disposed of and remain to disturb otherwise satisfactory hypotheses.

Am. Mas.

64128

SPECIMENS EXAMINED

Spring Females

Yellowish Group

Disko is., Greenland July

28, 1893

M.C.Z.

100939

Bedford Pim is., Frank

16, 1900

Almost white

N.M.C.

20799

Nettilling 1., Baffin is

19, 1925

Largely white

20754

10, 1925

8076

Coronation gulf, N.W.T

. .June

19, 1911

5, 1914

Breeding

7915

Collinson pt., Alaska

7956

4, 1914

7922

9, 1914

7921

9, 1914

Breeding

10.

7919

. June

9, 1914

11.

U.S.N.M.

93158

Pt. Barrow, Alaska

. July

14, 1883

12.

M.V.Z.

32170

Jade ints., Alaska

. . May

28, 1899

Breeding

13.

9796

Pt. Snettisham, Alaska

. . Aug.

29, 1909

Juvenile

14.

M.C.Z.

205490

Anticosti is., Que

. . July

10, 1881

Breeding

15.

U.S.N.M.

436751

Fort Yukon (Alaska?)

, 1864

16.

M.V.Z.

42035

Near Hazelton, B.C

. . Aug.

5, 1921

17.

44719

Atlin, B.C

. . Aug.

1, 1924

Breeding

18.

N.M.C.

16282

Taylor is., Victoria is

. July

21,

Pale

19.

A.M.N.H.

64129

Spring Females

Greyish Group

Disko is., Greenland

. . July

28, 1893

20.

P.A.S.

30139

. .July

16, 1892

21.

26963

Svarte Huk, Greenland

..July

8, 1891

22.

A.M.N.H.

67820

White str., Baffin is

. .July

25, 1896

23.

N.M.C.

21147

Amadjuak bay, Baffin is

. .Aug.

7, 1926

24.

20793

Nettilling lake, Baffin is

16, 1925

25.

20772

13, 1925

26.

20800

19, 1925

27.

20771

13, 1925

28.

29.

Bent

U.S.N.M.

10804

94437

Baffin is

Ft. Chimo, Ungava

. Aug.

27, 1882

30.

C.M.

74236

McLelan str., Ungava

. . Aug.

10, 1920

31.

50204

Nastapoka r., Ungava

Ft. Chimo, Ungava. .

3, 1915

32.

U.S.N.M.

94441

. . Aug.

10, 1882

33.

94432

. Aug.

27, 1882

34.

35.

Milwaukee

N.M.C.

16304

Bona venture is., Que

Taylor is., Victoria is

Cap mt., Mackenzie

. .July

8, 1922
30, 1919

36.

18554

. . July

12, 1922

37.

M.V.Z.

44721

Atlin, B.C

. . Aug.

6, 1924

Spring females are strongly barred below and broadly featheredged
above in decided pattern which cannot be easily obscured by the rapid
wear that quickly confuses other plumages. This plumage presents the
racial characters more plainly and convincingly than any other and is the
main reliance for subspecific study of the species. Groups I and II show
the difference between yellow and grey races in unmistakable degree.
The distinction is obvious at a glance and does not need massed specimens,
careful illumination, or critical judgment for demonstration.

Group I is characterized by strong ochre barring below on breast and
flanks, and back feathers with broad rusty edgings.

Group II is generally greyish as compared with the above; the ochre
below is replaced by white or creamy white. The back is much darker,
owing to reduction of or lack of light edgings. These edgings are much
whiter than in group I, and seem to wear away much more rapidly — often
to disappearance; they seem to disintegrate even before the feather has
fully matured.

The following individuals demand particular remark. No. 1 is rather
dark and less yellowish, it might almost equally well go in group II. It
approaches Nos. 22, 23, 32, 33, and 37. No. 12 is identified asL. r. kelloggae
by H. S. Swarth and as such is listed in his review of the species (antea). It
is ultra-typical of the yellow group and practically identical with No. 14
from the extreme east.

No. 14 is an ultra-typical yellow bird with a large amount of last winter's
white remaining on abdomen. It is almost identical with No. 12 as above.
The occurrence of this typical, high northern bird in this southern locality
is inexplicable. That it was breeding and with downy young (No. 88)
accentuates the problem. It is notable that No. 34, geographically the
next adjacent specimen, also a probable left-over from migration, and
the most southern occurrence of the rock ptarmigan in America, is per-
fectly typical of the grey group, as would be expected.

In spite of Dr. Joseph Schmitt (Monographie de l'tle d'Anticosti,
Paris, 1904) to the contrary, it does not seem likely that the rock ptarmigan
was ever a regular or normal breeder on Anticosti. The willow ptarmigan,
which Schmitt does not mention at all, is common along the whole adjacent
mainland coast in winter, still occasionally breeds there (Lewis, Can.
Field Nat., XLII, page 192 (1928) ), is a far more likely breeder on Anticosti,
and is probably the basis of Schmitt’s statement. It is very improbable
that a distinctive island form could have been produced with such slight
isolation as this island offers, and the fact that the specimen which seems
to substantiate Schmitt's report shows high northern instead of southern
characters only emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual occurrence.
In present view of the case I can only regard this bird as a left-over winter
migrant from the north breeding far south of its normal range. No. 18 is
a strangely pale bird with the yellows largely creamy and like nothing else
in the collection. It may possibly be considered with Nos. 76, 77, and 78,
also erratics, as possibly representatives of an undescribed race in
migration dispersal.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED

III

Spring Males

Yellow Group

38.

N.M.C.

8785

Bernard harbour, N.W.T

• July

1915

39.

7933

Collinson pt., Alaska

June

18,

1914

40.

7955

July

1914

41.

7968

.July

1914

Largely white

Partly white

Spring Males

Grey Group
(None)

This plumage is barred much as is that of the spring female, but the
barring is much finer, almost to vermiculation, and the black elements in
the coloration predominate, making a much darker general effect. The
birds listed are much alike and carry considerable rusty ochre in their
plumage, but there are no spring males in the collection representing
the grey form. I assume these belong to the yellow group, from geo-
graphical considerations and because they look as would be expected of it.
It is notable that the male rock ptarmigan does not moult into spring
plumage until considerably later than the female. We have birds as late
as July 2 that are still in almost complete white winter plumage. During
the moult the males become retiring, secretive, and difficult to find, which
explains their comparative scarcity in collections.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED
V

Autumn Females
Yellow Group

42. N.M.C. 18770 Godhavn, Greenland July 30, 1923

43. M.C.Z. 48440 Disko is., Greenland Sept. 2,1899

44. N.M.C. 7112 Melville is., Frank Aug. 16,1909

45. “ 9874 Kay pt., Yukon Aug. 17,1914

46. “ 9946 Bathurst inlet, N.W.T Sept. 6,1915

Autumn Females

Greyish Group

47.

M.C.Z.

233363

Disko, Greenland

. Sept.

1, 1925

48.

N.M.C.

20217

Pangnirtung, Baffin is

. Sept.

27, 1924 Nearly white

49.

20206

10, 1924

50.

M.C.Z.

34812

Newfoundland

51.

10727

Codroy, Newfoundland

3, 1895

52.

53607

Newfoundland

. Sept.

16, 1910

The autumn female is generally characterized by much fine vermicu-
lation, making an intimate mixture of colours. The barring is only faintly
discernible and much of it is due to the remains of the previous plumage.
Few specimens show the plumage in perfection, as the winter plumage
commences to appear before all the spring feathers have been shed. Oc-
casional birds show an entirely different pattern. No. 50 illustrates this
in highest development, but it is more or less evident in Nos. 47, 49, and 51.
No. 50 is sharply but finely barred on breast and up foreneck and flanks
and the vermiculations on the back are coarse, sparse, and rather broken.
This plumage may be due either to age or individual dichromatism.

The distinction between the two groups of autumn females is not as
marked as between spring females, but it is still obvious. The one group
is distinctly more rusty, yellowish, and warm, the other grey and cold.
Remains of previous plumage connect these birds well with the preceding
groups I and II.

It will be noted that the Newfoundland birds, which in the A. 0. U.
Check-list (1910) are given distinct specific standing, are included with
those from Greenland and Baffin island. I can see no reason for separating
them from these birds. Indeed, allowing for the slight difference in plum-
age condition and the known individual variation in the species, No. 51 is
practically identical with 47. ( See also remarks under groups VII and VIII.)

SPECIMENS EXAMINED

VII

Autumn Males
Yellow Group

53.

P.A.S.

26966

Disko, Greenland

. . Aug.

54.

M.C.Z.

48364

Urnanak, Greenland

. . Aug.

, 1896

55.

48439

Disko, Cfreenland

2, 1899

56.

N.M.C.

7113

Melville is., Frank

. .Aug.

16, 1909

57.

9941

Coronation gulf, N.W.T

. .Aug.

19, 1915

58.

9940

. . Aug.

19, 1915

59.

9945

Bathurst inlet, N.W.T

6, 1915

60.

8819

Coekburn pt., N.W.T

. . Sept.

30, 1914

61.

9875

Kay pt., Yukon

. .Aug.

18, 1914

62.

10133

Cape Kellett, Banks is

VIII

Autumn Males

Grey Group

12, 1914

Almost white

63.

U.S.N.M.

20346

Sukkertoppen, Greenland. . . .

. .July

24, 1860

64.

N.M.C.

7114

Middle Hudson str

24, 1909

Almost white

65.

7111

24, 1909

66.

C.M.

74232

MeLelan str., Ungava

. - Aug.

9, 1920

67.

74233

. . Aug.

9, 1920

68.

N.M.C.

10131

Cape Kellett, Banks is

5, 1914

Almost white

69.

8775

Coekburn pt., N.W.T

. . Oct.

1, 1914

70.

21146

Amadjuak, Baffin is , .

Newfoundland

. .Aug.

7, 1926

71.

M.C.Z.

53606

16, 1910

72.

110726

Codroy, Newfoundland

. . Aug.

5, 1895

73.

60515

Mt. Blowdown, Newfoundland. Oct.

2, 1912

Autumn Males

Sandy Group

74. U.S.N.M.

75. P.A.S.

76. N.M.C.

77.

78. “

20347 Sukkertoppen, Greenland

26965 Disko, Greenland Aug. 7, 1891

9876 Kay pt., Yukon Aug. 19,1914

10132 Cape Kellett, Banks is Sept. 5, 1914

4501 International Boundary, Arctic

Circle Summer, 1911 (head)

Autumn males in most perfect condition show much finer vermicu-
lation, with considerable minute powderings of colour superimposed.
Some birds have a little fine barring hung like a necklace across the throat
and upper breast, and here again seems a tendency towards fine, regular
barring shown by No. 68 and slightly by 65 and 69. These specimens
are, however, well advanced in the white winter plumage, which may have
something to do with this particular appearance. It may be a character
of age or an individual variation.

Groups VII and VIII are fairly distinct, but IX is strikingly so. The
'‘Yellow group,” VII, has a distinct general yellowish rust appearance,
whereas VIII is clearly grey with considerable white frosty veiling on the
back of the most perfect specimens.

Group IX is a very pale sandy colour. No. 76 is finely barred, as
described above for 68, etc. They are absolutely unlike any other birds
in the collection. No. 78 is a fragment, consisting of head, wing, and foot,
but the head is unmistakably identical with 75. I take 74 to be reinhardi,
by both character and geography. No. 75 from Disko is not surprising,
but that identical birds should be found as far west as the Yukon-Alaska
boundary is a disturbing puzzle and one that I cannot attempt to solve.
It is possible that these western birds represent a distinct subspecies
superficially resembling reinhardi as Bubo v. lieterocnemis of the Labrador
does B. v. saturatus of the Pacific coast. In this connexion see No. 18,
group I, which might possibly be regarded as belonging to this unnamed
form. The material on hand though is suggestive only and the data too
slight to do more than raise this question without answering it.

The three Newfoundland birds are found inseparable from the others
of the grey group. Nos. 63, 66, 67, and 70 are in a strictly comparable state
of plumage and I see no material difference between them and these sup-
posed welchi. In fact Nos. 71 and 70 are as nearly exact duplicates of each
other as it is possible to find in this variable species. Nos. 64 and 65 were
taken on ship board in middle of Hudson strait during migration.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED

Juveniles

Yellow Group

79. M.V.Z. 9796 Port Snettisham, Alaska Aug. 29,1909 Full autumn

80. Bent 1867 Lance au Loup, Labrador Sept. 9,1917 “

81. U.S.N.M. 94433 Ft. Ckimo, Ungava ....Aug. 26,1882 “

82. N.M.C. 18851 Ponds inlet, Baffin is.. Aug. 27,1923 Half grown

83. “ 18858 “ Sept. 1, 1923

84. “ 16292 De Haven pt., Victoria is Aug. 25,1918 Near down

85. “ 16293 “ Aug. 25, 1918

86. “ 16294 “ Aug. 25, 1918

87. “ 16295 " Aug. 25,1918

88. M.C.Z. 205491 Anticosti is., Que July 10, 1881 Downy

Juveniles

Grey Group

89.

N.M.C.

20947

Nettilling I., Baffin is

Aug.

24, 1925

Nearly fledged

90.

20948

Aug.

27, 1925

91.

20949

Aug.

27, 1925

92.

20946

Aug.

21, 1925

93.

20945

Aug.

21, 1925

94.

21148

Amadjuak bay, Baffin is ... .

. . . Aug.

7, 1926

Half grown

95.

21149

Aug.

7, 1926

96.

21150

Aug.

7, 1926

97.

P.A.S.

26961

Disko, Greenland

July

8, 1891

98.

26962

. . .July

8, 1891

99.

N.M.C.

20934

Amadjuak, Baffin is

. . . Aug.

1, 1925

Quarter grown

100.

20935

Aug.

1, 1925

101.

20940

Aug.

20, 1925

102.

20922

Nettilling 1., Baffin is

July

26, 1925

Near down

103.

20923

July

26, 1925

104.

20921

July

26, 1925

105.

21115

Cape Dorset, Baffin is

. . .July

20, 1926

Downy

The juvenile on leaving the down goes into a plumage much like that
of the autumn female, but less sharply defined in pattern. Towards the
end of the season considerable fine vermiculation appears in the back, but
the breast remains distinctly barred. There is a moult of the wing quills
during the summer when the greyish or dusky ones of the newdy fledged
juvenile are replaced by the pure white ones of the coming winter. When
other evidences of immaturity are not plain the presence of a few remain-
ing grey wing quills may establish the undoubted juvenility of a specimen.

The distinction between these two groups is not very strongly marked,
but is discernible in most individuals and in mass it is convincing. It is
evident from the newly hatched downy right through to the late autumn
bird going into its first winter’s whiteness.

No. 79 is identified by H. S. Swarth as L. r. dixoni. It is the yellowest
and on the whole the darkest of this group, though the difference between
it and No. 83 is not great and is considerably less than is often caused by
individual variation in the species. No. 80 is a bird that seems far from
its natural range, but the date suggests that it might be an early migrant.

On the whole it seems evident that there are two principal races of
rock ptarmigan in North America, a yellow northern and a grey southern
one. On laying these specimens down on the accompanying map (Figure
1) in appropriate symbols the general trend is evident. There are generally
well-defined yellow northern and grey southern groups. The dividing
line between them seems to run from the general vicinity of the Alaska-
Yukon-British Columbia corner eastward and a little north, just below
Coronation gulf and across central Baffin island to Greenland near Disko
island.

The Newfoundland welchi is indistinguishable from the grey mainland
bird and western kelloggae is identical with the yellow one, a conclusion
also reached by Swarth (an tea). There are several occurrences which
disturb this fair arrangement. Both yellow and grey forms are represented
in our collection from northern British Columbia, the Yukon coast, west
Banks island, central Baffin island, Ungava bay, and Disko, Greenland.
Most of these may be dismissed as migrants, others as individual variants
or carrying misinterpreted characters. The case of the pale sand-coloured
birds is very puzzling. Schipler (Dansk Ornithologisk Ridsskrift, 19, 1925)
restricts reinhardi to the west coast of Greenland, latitude 64 degrees and
southward. He describes it as very light coloured, light grey on back. This
agrees fairly well with No. 74, taken at Sukkertoppen, Greenland, latitude
65° 30', if “light sandy” is substituted for the translation of “light grey.”
He distinguishes the birds from latitude 66° to 71° as distinct from rein-
hardi and assumes them to be rupestris. His description in the translation
available to me is not very clear, but I gather that they are “darker and
warmer” than reinhardi . This would fit either our northern or southern
continental forms, but considering we have birds unmistakably of the
northern yellow type from Disko, and that the general trend of the land
masses it inhabits is towards north Greenland, it seems safe to infer that
the bird of northwestern Greenland is the same as those of the adjacent
northernmost islands.

The sandy birds of group IX are undoubtedly reinhardi, but what to
call the sporadic specimens 76, 77, and 78 that seem identical with them
is a puzzling question. Such a discontinuous distribution as seems inferred
would be too extraordinary to be accepted on the few specimens at hand.
One alternative is that the northern race is dichromatic, with a light phase
dominant in southwestern Greenland and a dark one dominant elsewhere.
Until further data is forthcoming the question must remain open and sub-
ject to conjecture.

The southern grey form is undoubtedly rupestris (type locality Hudson
bay). For the northern yellow one kelloggae (type locality Prince William
sound, Alaska) seems to be the next available name, hence we have the
following principal races and distributions:

Lagopus rupestris rupestris (Gmelin), Southern rock ptarmigan. Generally greyish.
Northern British Columbia and southern Yukon, central Mackenzie and Kee-
watin, southern Baffin island and the Ungava peninsula to Newfoundland.

Lagopus rupestris reinhardi (Brehm.). Reinhardt’s ptarmigan. Generally pale sand
coloured. Southwestern Greenland north to near Disko island.

Lagopus rupestris keUoggae Grinnell. Northern rock ptarmigan. Generally yellowish.
The interior of Alaska and northern Yukon, the western Arctic coast to Coronation
gulf, the Arctic islands, except southern Baffin island; and west Greenland
north of Disko island.

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