Skip to main content

Full text of "The Canadian field-naturalist"

See other formats 


” 
‘ a . ; oe 
: ° . *** 
lh hve PR OI“ . 
-* a ee neers od 3 
Te iba Or aenee : : . 
Cea teed : $y 
a ‘ . * ” Nn . 
‘ . . : : 
ve - 3 
oe ~~ ° 
4 , 
- ; 
OT NT ee : ; : | 
ae! Poe. ae eae og oe : 
> o ge adyr é 
S > 0 . 
~ 3 
« , “ ’ 
; . 
. 
; a° . *- 
6 = : ; : 
ud . oo, Ma 
- 
. _ pr. 
. i : - 
MSS eae | : | 
Serene - . | 
Ts ~ = s 3 
: - —- : > 
en nes . por nae Fs ; = - 
Sa enig oe =r } 
os eet ed hs 
7 a ee oem : : 
“ » - 
er . ‘ 
ee ae * * : ; 
 - ws “ nny : "y : = ; 
a ee ‘ : 
ope pie apne ae ; 
ore - te ‘ - ~~ ‘ , 
a reme tyt : tes oo : 
ee ee & : 
= > ror = 
° a ast == : 
- - x . bn heath - , ‘ : 
aoe 4 edit : : : 
re - aw . 
: . > 
- rs ore ; 
a < re - ~ : ~ ne : 
P - +p a 
- . « = et ns : 2 
* b : . 
. ne ew _— e 
- rn pany bd : ‘ ; 
> as A ‘ —y ; = 
.—™ tet . . ; 
: ae “ outa “ re ” ‘ + ws = - : 
; = : : : S ¥" . 2 a - ~ ~ 
. -~ Meee - x re 2 ms a = 3 . 
7 “ . ~ +s ; ommenae : “ 
~—- — a ri 7 ; ee ; =F 
3 : : . } e ae : - . - - . - 
: ; - . . “1 alee ~ ~ 
aa 2 Semper o: : . 
- ° ~“ 7 . 
- “ r - \ ; ~ . 
- = - ane ory “f / : : 
’ “ ~ - Pree Beal \ : . 3 £ 
: . ns : a > , » 
; ; <= x 7 a all » . 
- . ; 
. ; . 
sy . 
- : ‘ 
| © 
‘ 
S- | : 
i _ = az 5 
. - = 5 
= . — 7 
= = a : 
i ’ f oq . : 
= i i ; 
ane 
~ : | 
1 
f : ; 
: - 
: ia - ‘ 
io vk . 


Oo OE eres ore - ‘ : ; 7 ‘ —e 


a OR OIE le et realness wraith 


havce-anestedvabateareanetemte : 
Pe dee en mutans ogee aT, 


+ 


Ca 


1919 VOL. XXXII 1920 


The Canadian 
Field - Naturalist 


Being Volume XXXV 
ofthe Transactions of 
the Ottawa _  Field- 
Naturalists Club 


Organized March, 1879 Incorporated March 1884 


iad = ” vi 
é a ‘ ee a 
78 pe ar Ae ae us va! 
*; , i: a r ea) Dy 
ae a - 
2 I ™ 
Os - — +2 
keri ve 
th op a a 
od/ pS a pie ete en 
é ba z 
wa O5 10 yt Capea 


OVA, Wie ae Le ae ate St ie ay 
\ a PSs) Z > Fee. al if ra} 7; ¢ " “et oto Rok: 


Ay ae he sala ee Bees Ais Fs 


Sead 


oe. | Digitizaed et the Internet Archive 
aha in 2010 with funding from 
scans University of Toronto 


a : a ‘ vig are Sis sa 


< F a5 . | ye 
Pa Pia py J “Sag 
m iy : i 
bi ; ele Spory at | 
oar 
he 
we 
i k 
¥ 
7% of 


a TF a 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXII. 


APRIL, 1919. No. 1. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


With the March, 1919, issue, THE OTTawa 
NaTuRALIsT, the official organ of the Ottawa Field- 
Naturalists’ Club, ceased to exist under that name. 
THe Ottawa Natura .isT had a long and honour- 
able career. Like all similar publications it had its 
trials, its ups and downs, financial troubles, etc., but 
it weathered all storms and appeared fairly regularly 
during its thirty-two years of existence. In its 
pages are to be found many articles of great scientific 
value and we would like to have space to remind 
our readers of at least some of the more important 
of the contributions which it presented. With the 
increase in its size, improvement of paper, specially 
prepared articles, etc., Vol. XXXII, certainly may 
be regarded as an excellent production and one 
which has brought forth many words of encourage- 
ment from its readers. 

This, the April issue of the organ of the club 
appears under a new name—T HE CANADIAN FIELD- 
NaTuRALIsT. Such a change was intimated in the 
April, 1918, issue of THE Ottawa NATURALIST, 
and at the recent annual meeting of the Club, held 


NOTES ON THE CASPIAN TERN 


on March 18, 1919, the same was duly approved. 
This change in name will not, of course, affect in 
any way the spirit of the publication. Such change 
only reflects its widened sphere of influence. We 
hope it will develop along improved lines and 
ultimately be accepted as the organ not only of The 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, but of similar 
organizations throughout Canada. There is an ex- 
cellent opportunity for the naturalists of Canada to 
assist in building up this publication and making it 
truly representative of Canadian scientific research. 
The popular side will, of course, not be overlooked. 
Special efforts will be made to make it useful to 
amateur naturalists, teachers and the public gen- 
erally. 


The subscription price for the present volume 
which will contain six issues, namely for the months 
of April, May, September, October, November 
and December will be $1.00. Thereafter the volumes 
will consist of nine issues each volume beginning 
with the January number; the subscription price of 
each volume will be increased proportionately. 


(STERNA CASPIA) AND THE 


PARASITIC JAEGER (STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS) IN MANITOBA. 


By Proressor Cuas. H. O’Donocuue, D.Sc., AND J. Netson Gowan tock, B.A., 
FELLow IN ZooLocy, ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, 
UNIverRsITY OF MANITOBA. 


Island faune, ever an interesting field in orni- 
thology, become particularly attractive in contin- 
ental areas where lake islands afford the only suit- 
able breeding grounds for certain water birds. 

The following observations refer to a small but 
interesting island in the northern part of Lake 
Winnipeg visited on July the 9th and 13th, 1918, 
whereon a colony of Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) 
was found. No record of this species breeding in 
Manitoba has hitherto been published. A specimen 
of Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) was 
also secured and constitutes the first inland record 
for this province. 


Through the courtesy of the Riverton Fish 
Company, of Riverton, Man., the authors were 
enabled to make the journey—a round trip of some 
500 miles—from Hnausa to Berens Island. The 
objects of the trip were first to study if possible, 
breeding colonies of White Pelicans (Pelecanus 
erythrorhynchos) and second, to gather some idea 
of the biological conditions on the northern portion 
of the lake. The original intention to make Rein- 
deer Island the base proved impracticable and a 
camp was established at Swampy Bay, Berens 
Island, where the Riverton Fish Company main- 
tained a large fishing station. We desire to express 


2 THE CaNapiAN Fie_p-NaTuRALIST 


our warm appreciation of the sympathetic assistance 
afforded by the men at the stations, particularly by 
Mr. Johnny Jonasson. Berens Island was chosen 
mainly because of the possibility that White Pelicans 
would be found breeding on Pelican Island which 
lies some four or five miles west of Berens Island. 

Pelican Island lies approximately in longitude 
9514 and latitude 52'4 and is a typical, rocky lake 
island, some ten to fifteen acres in extent. Between 
Pelican Island and the northern shore of the lake, 
there are no islands and so its north coast meets the 
full force of the waves raised by the winds sweeping 
across this 100 miles of open water. Lake Win- 
nipeg with its area of over 8,000 square miles, is 
very dangerous owing to its quick changes from calm 
to storm and fishermen familiar with the whole lake, 
declare this region between Pelican and Berens 
Islands to be the worst. The shores of Pelican 
Island are extremely rocky—there are no sand 
beaches—and a landing from a rowboat requires 
cautious management even in calm weather. The 
island is partly wooded with birch, ash, etc., but 
inland the ground is depressed in a basin-like central 
hollow, overgrown with marsh vegetation. A 
barren tongue of land juts out from the east side 
of the island forming a shingle spit. 

THE TERNERY. 

The first time the authors approached the island 
in a skiff, flocks of birds were observed resting on 
the eastern point, while with prism binoculars, 
Herring Gulls and Terns could be distinguished 
everywhere along the shingle spit and adjacent shore. 
Two young Herring Gulls, still in natal down, ran 
down the beach to the water as the boat reached 
land. One of these was captured. The uproar 
among the birds caused by the landing increased 
when the shingle spit was reached. Numerous de- 
serted Herring Gulls’ nests, substantially built of 
vegetable debris, lined the edge of the grass zone 
or were scattered over the bare pebbles and every- 
where were the remains of pellets disgorged by the 
gulls. No eggs were found until the zone of 
vegetation had ended, when, passing out onto the 
bare eastern spit, a densely populated ternery was 
discovered. Over this space were between 200 and 
300 occupied nests, frequently almost touching, each 
containing one or two eggs. After a brief survey 
of the ternery, a low hiding blind was erected and 
left for the birds to return to the colony. 

On returning later, the whole colony was seen 
to be still on the wing, shrieking and screaming above 
the breeding ground. The cause was soon revealed. 
In the midst of the colony was a fisherman method- 
ically gathering the eggs from the nests. The old 
fellow could scarcely understand English and after 
much difficulty, it was explained.that some of the 


[Vol. XXXII. 


nests were to remain undisturbed. The birds were 
now so thoroughly alarmed that an hour spent in 
the hiding-tent in the hope of photographing them 
proved vain and the remaining hour or so of light 
was expended in examining and photographing the 
nests and eggs. An adult Caspian Tern was col- 
lected together with some clutches of eggs. A fair 
portion of the colony had not been disturbed. It 
was hoped that the next visit would find the owners 
of these nests back at the task of incubation and so 
the hiding-tent was left in position, as carefully 


’ concealed as possible. 


On July 13, Pelican Island was re-visited. The 
birds were observed as before, resting on the rocks 
and along the shore. On approaching the breeding 
ground, the usual alarm of the parent birds was not 
in evidence and closer examination showed that 
every remaining egg had been destroyed—evidently 
by crows (vide infra) and on the whole spot not a 
single occupied nest remained. A specimen of 
Parasitic Jaeger and two still occupied Herring Gull 
nests were also discovered during this visit. 

Reference to the published records of Manitoban 
birds yielded only an isolated record of the Caspian 
Tern. It is not mentioned by Bell (3) nor by E. 
Thompson Seton (11 and 12) and is recorded only 
by Nutting (6) whose record is cited by Preble (7). 
Nutting collected a single Caspian Tern on Lake 
Winnipeg at the mouth of the Saskatchewan river 
in 1892. The A.O.U. Check List (1) says of the 
Caspian Tern: “Range nearly cosmopolitan” but 
gives few North American breeding records, viz: 
“Great Slave Lake, Klamath Lake, Oregon, on 
islands of northern Lake Michigan, on coast of 
Southern Labrador, and also on coasts of Texas, 
Louisiana, Mississippi and (formerly) Virginia’. 
The discovery of such a colony in Lake Winnipeg 
is, therefore, of unusual interest. 

Although there are no published records of the 
species breeding in Manitoba, we have reason to 
believe that it was previously recognized by Mr. 
Eric Dunlop, since killed in action in France, a 
naturalist who in 1914 and 1915 collected in 
northern Lake Winnipeg for the Carlisle Museum, 
Carlisle, England. Dunlop is said to have found 
the Caspian Tern breeding on the west coast of 
Reindeer Island, but, unfortunately, his records are 
not available. While in the north, the authors met 
with Dunlop’s chief guide, Capt. Goodman, who 
through his work with Dunlop had _ become 
acquainted with many of the birds. Capt. Good- 
man stated that in 1914 the Caspian Terns were 
found breeding only on the west shore of Reindeer 
Island and had not been noted anywhere else 
although numerous islands, including Pelican Island, 
were then visited. 


April, 1919] THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


1. Pelican Island. The shingle spit upon which the ternery was situated is visible in the 
foreground of the island. 

2. Young Herring Gull. The rocky character of shore adjacent to the ternery is here 
shown. July 8, 1918. 

3. Caspian Tern’s nest showing remarkable variation in eggs of single clutch. Also 
exceptional in its employment of drift to form a ‘“‘nest’”’. 

4. Typical nest of Caspian Tern. Note entire absence of vegetable nesting materials. 


4 THe CanapiAN’ FieLp-NATURALIST 


The Caspian Terns’ nesting ground was a com- 
pact area situated on a slope of the shingle spit and 
measured only some 20 yards by 30 yards. The 
ternery sloped from some 10 to 12 feet above lake 
level at the highest point down to some four feet 
above lake level at the lowest point. In this space 
were well over 200 nests. Somewhat over 400 eggs 
were noted and exact measurements taken of 46 of 
them. A small, peculiar pond to the west of, and 
some 10 yards from the boundary of the ternery, 
contained a few water plants and alge and was 
well populated with large frogs (Rana pipiens). 
This pond showed every evidence of being much 
visited by the birds. Between 600 and 800 adult 
Caspian Terns must have been observed on the first 
visit, the birds resting on the stones along the shore, 
fishing off-shore or flying together with Herring 
Gulls and Common and Forster Terns above the 
island. The stomach of the individual shot con- 
tained remains of small fish. The identity of the 
species was first suspected from the size and shape 
of the eggs, later determined by close range observa- 
tion from the hiding-tent and finally confirmed by 
the finding of dead specimens and the shooting of an 
adult female. 


The nest frequently consisted of mere depressions 
in the shingle, absolutely no vegetable or other 
materials being utilized. In some other instances, 
grass bents, dead rushes, bits of drift, etc., were 
gathered together forming a rude, basin-shaped 
structure. Thus the type of nest appears to re- 
semble most closely that of Lesser Tern (Sterna 
minuta) (9) and not that of the Common Tern 
(Sterna hirundo) (10) which most frequently builds 
guite a noticeable nest of gathered materials. The 
deserted and much better constructed nests of 
Herring Gulls were occasionally used by the Cas- 
pian Terns, apparently no additions or alteration 
In no case did the 
Frequently, 
there was only one egg, usually fresh, in a nest. It 
is of interest that Van Winkle (5) records three as 
the usual number of eggs per nest on the Gravel 
Gull Islands, Lake Michigan, whereas we found 
that in some cases where there were two eggs in the 
nest, they were both in such an advanced stage that 
there would have been ample time for the third egg 
to have been laid had three been the normal number 


of the clutch. 


being made by the new tenants. 
number of eggs in a nest exceed two. 


The eggs exhibited a considerable range of varia- 
tion in color, size and type of marking, but destruc- 
tion by the fishermen and the crows prevented the 
taking of a series of measurements similar to those 


made by Rowan, Parker and Bell (10) as was 


originally intended. The measurement of a char- 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


acteristic series of 46 eggs was fortunately secured, 
from which the following data were obtained: 

Average length, 63.59 m.m.; average breadth, 
43.84 m.m.; greatest length, 72.00 m.m.; shortest 
length, 56.00 m.m.; greatest breadth, 46 m.m.; least 
breadth, 41.00 m.m. 

The two eggs of a clutch sometimes differed con- 
siderably, though a sufficient number were not ex- 
amined to allow of satisfactory statistical treatment. 
Thus: in clutch No. 33 the two eggs were 70 x 46 
and 67 x 45 m.m.; in clutch No. 23 the two eggs 
were 66 x 45 and 63 x 43 mm. 

Like differences were found also in color, for in 
one nest one egg was of a pale blue background 
with a few very faint spots, while the second was 
heavily spotted and blotched with black upon a 
brown background. The eggs that were opened 
and examined exhibited every stage of development 
from practically no incubation, the primitive streak 
stage, through to large embryos. The majority, how- 
ever, were fresh. None seemed less than a week 
from hatching. 

THE PARASITIC JAEGER. 

The Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) 
of which a specimen was found on July 23 on the 
north end of Pelican Island, is also a bird of some 
interest as it is the first record for this area. The 
Canadian Catalogue of Birds (Macoun, 5) gives 
the following record for Hudson Bay: “a specimen 
of the melanistic form (ef Stercorarius parasiticus) 
taken at Fort Churchill, Hudson Bay, 1845 (Dr. 
Gillespie, Jr.)” Preble (7), however, records the 
species as occurring on the coast of Hudson Bay, 
below Cape Eskimo in 1900. Both of these, how- 
ever, are on the sea-coast and at least 500 miles 
north of Pelican Island. The two other members 
of this strange genus, the Pomarine Jaeger (Stercor- 
arius pomarinus) and the Long-tailed Jaeger (S. 
longicaudus) have been recorded for Manitoba, the 
former on Hudson Bay (Preble, 7) and the latter 
once from Aweme, Man., May, 1903, by Mr. 
Norman Criddle (Macoun, 1909) and also once 
from Clandeboye, Man., October, 1902, by Atkin- 
son (2). 

The specimen of Parasitic Jaeger which the 
authors discovered was lying dead on the rocky 
ground above the drift line in the midst of a de- 
serted Herring Gull colony. The individual was an 
example of the white phase. From the situation and 
appearance of the bird it is possible that it had been 
killed by Herring Gulls while poaching on the 
colony, a fate several times recorded for this species. 

OTHER BIRDS. 

The following observations were made concern- 
ing other species of birds noted on Pelican Island: 

HERRING GULL (Larus argentatus). This species 


April, 1919] 


had practically completed breeding. Over 300 de- 
serted nests and but four occupicd nests were dis- 
covered—three with well-grown young and one with 
eggs. 

RING-BILLED GULLS (Larus delawarensis) were 
noted in company with the last species. 

FORESTER’S TERNS (Sterna forsteri) and COMMON 
TERNS (Sterna hirundo) were numerous, almost 
equalling the Caspian Terns in numbers. The gulls 
and terns all consorted together freely. 

BLACK TERNS (Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis ) 
were entirely absent although they are quite numer- 
ous in the south end of Lake Winnipeg. 

WHITE PELICAN (Pelecanus_ erythrorhynchos) 
were not noted, although excreta and two humeri 
were found. However, the species was regularly 
observed fishing in Swampy Bay, five miles from 
Pelican Island, so it probably is a frequent visitor 
here also. 

scauP DUCKS (Marila marila or M. affinis) were 
observed, five or six individuals together, resting on 
the water not far offshore from the ternery. 

MALLARD (Anas boschas) were cbserved and 
one adult female collected. 

WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS (Oidemia deglandi) are 
frequently caught and drowned in the fishermen’s 
nets. They probably visit Pelican Island frequently. 

Two or three LEAST SANDPIPERS (Pisob‘a minu- 
tilla) were observed on the beach. 

LESSER YELLOW-LEGS (TJ otanus flavipes) were 
seen feeding along the water-edge. 

A PECTORAL SANDPIPER (Pisobia maculata) was 
shot out of a flock of five feeding near the ternery. 

Several SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (Aclitis maculata) 
were found feeding along the shore. 

NicHT Hawks (Chordeiles virginianus) were 
noted at Swampy Bay and very probably inhabit 
Pelican Island. Nene was observed probab!y 
because both visits were made during daylight 
hours. 

crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) were common 
on the island. When the ternery was first visited, the 
crows gathered near at hand to watch the pro- 
ceedings. When the second visit was paid, the 
crows were disturbed from the area of the ternery 
itself, where they were engaged in eating the 
Caspian Terns’ eggs. The crows appear to feed 
largely upon the dead fish cast up by the water 
and they were constantly observed patrolling the 
shores in search of such food. Nests were found 
in considerable numbers. 

SAVANAH SPARROWS (Passerculus sand wichensts 
savanna) were in song and apparently breeding near 
the ternery. 

CEDAR WAXWINGS (Bombycilla cedrorum) were 
common in the trees on Pelican Island. They were 


THE CANADIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 5 


still in flocks and had not yet, apparently, begun 
nesting. 

RED-EYED VIREOS (Vireosylva olivacea) were 
noted here as they were on every island and bit 
of the wooded shore the authors visited during the 
whole trip. 


YELLOW WARBLERS (Dendroica aestiva aestiva) 
were common and breeding. 

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS (Dendroica black- 
burniae) were noted and were in full song. 

The discovery of the Caspian Tern Colony on 
Pelican Island is especially interesting in the light 
of our knowledge of the distribution of this bird. 
The A. O. U. Check list (1) gives the winter range 
of this species as “South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts”. 
To and from this region, logically, the Pelican 
Island terns must each year journey; yet there is not 
a single record of a Caspian Tern being collected in 
Central or Southern Manitoba. The route of migra- 
tion that would seem most reasonable is that down 
the Red-River-Mississippi Valley chain, yet this ab- 
sence of records proves fairly conclusively that the 
Caspian Terns do not regularly or in numbers, tra- 
verse this path. The alternative suggestion is a 
migration route by way of Hudson Bay, thence to 
the Atlantic coast and thence southward. The 
Pelican Island and Reindeer Island colonies might 
thus possibly be explained as an invasion of this 
species from Hudson Bay, these islands—the out- 
liers of the numerous islands including Berens Island 
—being the first of the group upon which the species 
has established itself. The birds in going to their 
winter range, still probably use the old route of 
invasion and travel circuitously out by way of 
Hudson’s Bay and the Atlantic coast. Analagous 
to this might be cited the case of the Bobolink 
( Dolichonyx oryzivorus) which, according to Ccoke 
(4) has invaded Utah by extending its range far 
westward, then southward yet in returning to its 
winter home in southern Brazil, the Utah bobolinks 
do not go directly, but move along their old invasion 
route, i.e., they first journey northward, then east- 
ward, then they turn south to their distant winter 
range. It is conceivable that in the case of the 
bobolink, a frequenter of damp meadows, its choice 
cf route is partly, perhaps largely, determined by 
following such suitable localities and therefore it 
does not cross the arid regions to the south and 
southeast of the points reached in its new advance. 
Indeed it is only since the extension of irrigation 
in certain parts of Utah that it has made its appear- 
ance there. Whereas the Caspian Tern, having 
once got into the lake region has practically an 
unbroken inland water system over which it could 


return to the south. 
The Pelican Island colony is declared by the 


6 THe CaANaDIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


fishermen, who recognize the Caspian Tern to be a 
new bird on the lake, to date within the last few 
years. Indeed the earliest definite information re- 
garding it was their report that three years previous 
to our visit, a wolf crossed to Pelican Island from 
Swampy Bay and destroyed all eggs and young 
birds in the colony. The species was net found by 
Dunlop when he visited the island in 1914 and it is 
hardly possible that he could have missed it had it 
been there. Capt. Goodman stated that, on Rein- 
deer Island, Dunlop found the Caspian Terns breed- 
ing as late as mid-August. 


REFERENCES. 

1. American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910, Check 
List of North American Birds, Third Edition, New 
York. 

2. Atkinson, George. E., 1904. Rare Bird Re- 
cords of Manitoba. ‘Transaction 65, The Historical 
and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg. 

2. Bell, Robert, 1879. Report on Expeditions on 
the Churchill and Nelson rivers, ete. Report Prog. 


[Vol. XXXIIL 


Can. Geol. Society, 1878-79. Ottawa. 
to 70c. 

4. Cooke, Wells W., 1913. Bird Migration. U. 
S. Dept. Agricul. Bulletin No. 185. Washington. 

5. Macoun, John, and Macoun, James M., 1909. 
Catalogue of Canadian Birds. Department of Mines, 
Ottawa. 

6. Nutting, C. C., 1893. Rep. on Zoological Ex- 
plorations on the Lower Saskatchewan river. Bul. 
from the Laboratories of the State University of 
Iowa, Vol. II, No. 3. Article IV, pp. 2385-293: 
January, 1893. 

7. Preble, E. A., 1902. A Biological Investiga- 
tion of the Hudson Bay Region, N.A. Fauna. No. 
22, Wash. Birds, pp. 75-181. 

8. Rowan, William, 1915. The Blakeney Point 
Ternery, Blakeney Point Publication No. 13. 

9. Rowan, William, no date. The Little Tern, 
Blakeney Point Publication No. 17. 

10. Rowan, William, Parker, K. M., and Bell, 
Julia, 1914. On Homotyposis and allied characters 
in the egg of the Common Tern. Biometrika, Vol. 
x Nor ae 

11. Seton, E. T., 1909.. The Birds of Manitoba. 
A Handbook to Winnipeg. Pub. by the local com- 
mittee Brit. Ass. Adv. Sci., Winnipeg. 


Birds, pp. 67¢ 


12. Thompson, E. E. (—E. T. Seton), 1891. The 
Birds of Manitoba. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 


xiii, pp. 457-643, Wash. 


DOUGLAS FIR SUGAR 


By J. Davipson, F.L.S., F.B.S.E., INstrucTor IN Botany, 
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


Much interest has recently been aroused over what 
appears to be phenomenal deposits of sugar on the 
leaves of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) in cer- 
tain areas of British Columbia. Although Douglas 
fir sugar has been known to the Indians of the dry- 
belt for many years, its occurrence seems to have 
been overlooked by the numerous surveyors and 
others who have travelled in the province; at least, 
in-so-far as the writer is aware, no record has been 
made of its occurrence previous to 1915, when an 
illustration appeared in the British Columbia Botan- 
ical Office Report for the year 1914, showing a 
branch of Douglas fir laden with white masses of 
sugar. This photograph was prepared from speci- 
mens received from Mr. Jas. Teit, of Spence’s 
Bridge, B.C., who, in connection with his ethnol- 
ogical work on the plants used as food by the 
British Columbia Indians, wished to have an ex- 
planation of the deposits; Mr. Teit also forwarded 
samples of Douglas fir sugar to Dr. E. Sapir of the 
Geological Survey of Canada, who had the samples 
analyzed. 


During the summer of 1917, when the European 
conflict caused an increase in the cost of living and 
the introduction of measures to economize sugar, in- 
terest in this phenomenon was renewed and in- 
tensified by the appearance of a glowing account 
supplied to one of the Vancouver newspapers by 
some irresponsible contributor. As a result, a num- 
ber of people became quite enthusiastic regarding 


this “new” discovery and hastened to ascertain its 
commercial possibilities. 

In view of the fact that many people in Canada 
are interested in the phenomenon, and at the request 
of Mr. Teit, the writer consented to give a summary 
of what is known regarding Douglas fir sugar and 
the factors influencing its exudation as deposits on 
the leaves. All] the information relating to the dis- 
tribution and habitats of sugar-bearing Douglas firs 
was supplied by Mr. Teit who, being resident in 
the heart of the dry-belt and having an intimate 
knowledge of the Indians of the interior, was best 
able to secure the necessary data. 


It appears that Douglas fir sugar cannot be relied 
on as an annual crop. Some years it is abundant, 
other years little or none is found. It is therefore 
regarded by Indians as an extra, rather than a 
necessary part of their food supplies, but when avail- 
able in quantity it is collected and may be kept for 
future use. 


NOT THE WORK OF INSECTS. 

Previous to having seen the specimens, the writer 
suspected that the sugar had been produced as an 
exudation on the leaves through punctures made by 
insects possibly aphides; such as is said to occur on 
Tamarix mannifera which, when attacked by a 
Coccus, yields a kind of mucilaginous sugar—the 
manna of Mt. Sinai; but information to the effect 
that only healthy trees produced the sugar and 
that such trees were practically free from insects, 


April, 1919] 


with the exception of such as were feeding on the 
sugar, led one to suspect that the sugar might be 
related to the manna of commerce, obtained from 
several species of ash (Fraxinus) as an exudate 
which assumes the form of flakes or fragments. 
When specimens were received, however, in the 
summer of 1914, it was seen that none of the pre- 
viously recorded sugars corresponded with the pe- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NaATURALIST 


a | 


and pending the results of the analysis which was 
then being carried out by Dr. F. T. Shutt, Dominion 
Chemist, at Ottawa. 

APPEARANCE OF THE SUGAR. 

The sugar appears as white masses varying in 
size from 14 of an inch to 14 or 2 inches in diam- 
cter. The smaller masses are formed like white drops 
at the tips of single leaves, occasionally two or three 


Douglas fir 
(From B. C. 


Branch of 
Bot. 


culiar masses formed by Douglas fir. A careful 
search for information as to its chemical analysis 
revealed nothing to show that even its occurrence 
was known. On account of its interest and novelty 
at the time, the photograph in the Botanical Office 
Report was supplied to record its occurrence and 
illustrate the phenomenon, pending an investigation 
into the circumstances under which it was formed, 


laden with 
Office 


masses of 


white 


Rep., 1914). 


leaf-tips are inbedded in larger drops, while the 
largest masses are usually scattered irregularly over 
the leaves and branchlets. 

The sugar tastes decidedly sweet, passing tempor- 
arily into a pasty consistency during dissolution in 
one’s mouth; it is completely soluble. When col- 
lected it is quite hard and dry, with no tendency to 
be sticky. A slight rain is sufficient to dissolve the 


8 THE Canapian’ Fie-tp-NATURALIST 


sugar off the trees, and patches of recrystalized sugar 
may then be found at the base of trees or on the 
ground. Frequently, however, in this situation it 
does not recrystalize but may be found in a fluid 
or semi-fluid condition which is attractive to flies 
and other insects. Sometimes, as above mentioned, 
insects feed on the sugar while still on the trees, and 
it is reported that bears go after it, causing the 
breakage of many branches. 
EXUDATIONS BY OTHER PLANTS. 

As is well known, many plants have structures 
known as waterpores,, situated usually at the tip 
or apex of the leaves, and, in the case of lobed 
leaves, often at the tips of the lobes or teeth along 
the margin. Occasionally when the root-pressure is 
very active, so much water is forced up into the 
plant that the leaves become gorged with water 
which escapes through these water-pores—compar- 
able to a kind of safety valve. Most people are 
familiar with the drops of water at the tips of 
grass leaves in the morning after a hot dry summer 
day and a cool, clear night, giving origin to the 
Scotch saying, “I]ka blade o’ grass keeps its ain drap 
o’ dew”. 

In some localities, where the soil is calcareous, 
minute white incrustations of lime are found around 
the water-pores; these incrustations may be found on 
grasses, and are of common occurrence on certain 
species of Saxifrages which show them on every 
tooth along the margin of the leaves, such incrusta- 
tions are small, and are only formed under certain 
ecological conditions, in which temperature of the 
soil and atmosphere, and water content cf the soil 
are important factors. 

FACTORS INFLUENCING EXUDATION OF SUGAR. 

A review of the distributicn, and various factors 
influencing the production of sugar by Douglas fir, 
wi!l prove of especial interest to physiological and 
ecological botanists, to whom the phenomenon will 
serve as a splendid illustration of the influence of 
environment cn a plant which under ordinary con- 
ditions in British Columbia does not exude sugar. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The region in which sugar-bearing Douglas firs 
are most abundant, lies between the 50th and 5lst 
paralle!s and between 121°-122° long.. This in- 
cludes the driest and hottest part of the dry-belt of 
British Columbia. 


common in the Thompscn valley wes: cf the mouth 


Within this area they are rather 


of the Nicola river, also near the junction of the 
Thompson and Fraser rivers at Lytton; they have 
found a little Lilloet in the 
valley, but according to present information are not 


been above Fraser 
known to occur north of Clinton in this region. 
About 10 miles north of the apex of the angle 


formed by the junction of the Thompson and 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


Fraser rivers, hes Betani valley, at an altitude of 
between 3,500 and 4,000 feet, some years sugar is 
comparatively abundant on trees in this region; the 
geology and flora is very different from that of 
the adjacent Thompson or Fraser valleys; here one 
may find sugar-bearing Douglas firs growing on the 
southern and south-western slopes having the great- 
est sun exposure. ‘The soil produces a thick cover- 
ing of grass and other vegetation, indicating a plenti- 
ful supply of available soil moisture; differing in 
this respect from the dry gravelly southern and 
south-western slopes of the main valleys of the 
Fraser and Thompson. 

Suitable habitats are found at intervals over a 
considerable area of the dry-belt regions, in ad- 
dition to samples received from the north and south 
sides of the Thompson river near Spence’s Bridge, 
Douglas fir sugar has been reported from around 
Kamleops and Savona, also from the Nicola and 
Similkameen valleys, and is said to be found in the 
southern part of Okanagan valley. In-so-far as the 
chief of the Kootenay Indians is aware, it is not 
known in the Kootenay country although it is re- 
perted by an Indian as being found in eastern part 
of Washington state, United States. 

HABITATS. 

The habitats in which sugar-bearing firs are 
found, are usually on gentle slopes facing east or 
north in that region of the dry-belt where the Doug- 
las fir is encroaching on the dry-belt flora. The 
trees are in comparatively open areas with abund- 
ant exposure to the sun. 

SOIL MOISTURE. 

As a rule, sugar is not found on trees situated 
on fully exposed southern or western slopes, nor on 
areas where Douglas fir forms a dense forest. 
Southern and western slopes, exposed to the full heat 
of the sun, dry cut much sooner than ground gently 
sloping to the east or north; the greater abundance 
of soil mcisture in the latter is a point to be kept 
in mind. 

ABUNDANT SUNSHINE. 

In the region above mentioned the descending zone 
of the Douglas fir and the ascending zone of yellow 
pine overlap, so that the trees are well exposed to 
the sun, not being so crowded as to limit the foliage 
to a narrow crown, as happens in dense forests. An 
abundance of leaves exposed to the sun will result 
in an abundant formation of carbohydrates during 
the day; under ordinary ccnditions these carbohy- 
drates would be removed from the leaves and trans- 
poricd to growing tissucs or storage tissues during 
the night. This normally takes place in most plants, 
including Douglas fir in its natural habitat in the 
coast area where it forms dense forests of gigantic 
trees. 


April, 1919] 


TEMPERATURE OF SOIL AND AIR. 

In the dry-belt area it is evident that Douglas fir 
trees are exposed to the sun for a greater number 
of hours per day, the soil and atmosphere is warmer, 
the forests are more open, with freer circulation of 
air, than Douglas fir forests in the coast area. 

MAXIMUM ROOT-PRESSURE. 

It appears then that in years when Douglas firs 
are fully exposed to a long succession of hot, cloud- 
less days in midsummer, and provided with the re- 
quisite soil conditions (i.e., temperature and available 
water) the trees gradually accumulate an excess of 
carbohydrates during the many hours daily ex- 
posure to sun, the increasing temperature of the soil 
enables the cells of the roots to maintain or increase 
their activity during the night, which in dry-belt 
regions in midsummer is very short, and during 
which root-pressure is at its maximum. 


DRY ATMOSPHERE. 

When night comes on, the chlorophyll-containing 
guard-cells have ceased photosynthesis, the guard- 
cells become isotonic (i.e., of equal concentration) 
with the surrounding cells, and the stomata close; so 
that even during warm nights little evaporation can 
take place from leaves so well protected with cutin. 
As a result of the increased root-pressure and ces- 
sation of transpiration the leaves become gorged 
with water in which the sugar—formed by the re- 
conversion of starch into sugar—is dissolved and 
exuded as drops at the tips of the leaves. The warm 
dry atmosphere at that time of the year causes the 
rapid evaporation of the water, leaving the sugar in 
the form of drops of various sizes as a deposit at the 
tip. Occasionally two or three such drops come 
in contact with each other and fuse to form one 
large drop, frequently they become so large that 
they fall from the leaf tips onto the leaves or 
branches below; a succession of these large drops 
cause the formation of the larger irregular deposits 
referred to above. 

There is no doubt about the exudation of the 
sugar from the leaf-tips; deposits may be found in 
all stages, from mere traces up to large drops, in 
some cases just dried as they were about to fall. 

With a knowledge of the ecological conditions 
under which Douglas fir exudes sugar, one can 
understand why it may be rare or absent in some 
years; one or two dull, cool, or wet days would 
suffice to alter one or more of the factors which 
play a necessary part in promoting its exudation. 
A dull day would enable the tree to utilize much 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 9 


of the excess sugar or store it as starch or other 
reserve food. A cool day would diminish the activ- 
ity of the sugar forming cells in the leaves, and by 
lowering the temperature of the soil would lessen 
the activity of the roots, thus diminishing the root- 
pressure and exudation of water, while a wet day 
and subsequent evaporation from the soil would 
more effectually lower both the soil and atmospheric 
temperatures. Other factors would be affected, but 
the above summarizes the main points. 

ANALYSIS OF THE SUGAR. 

The results of Dr. Shutt’s analysis of two sam- 
ples—one supplied in 1914, the other in 1917—in- 
dicate a high degree of constancy of composition of 
Douglas fir sugar. 

The preliminary analysis made in 1914 gave the 
following results: 

Total sugars after hydrolysis 

Reddeine etears: 2 '- 0) ee 2 te 

The analysis of the 1917 sample furnished the 
following data: 


Total sugars after hydrolysis ______ 91.91 
Redtiemng: stigars = +55" 2 5 24.86 
Foreign matter, etc., insoluble in water .64 
Wiojatitnre «3 et et a etd ae ke 7.00 


Subsequent to the analysis, a contribution® from 
the Carbohydrate Laboratory of the Bureau of 
Chemistry, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wash- 
ington, D.C. a laboratory especially equipped for 
the examination of saccharine substances, reports a 
complete analysis of the same product. 

A summary of their findings is as follows: 

“The sample of Douglas Fir manna yielded 
abcut 50% of pure crystalline melezitose, and there 
is evidence that the manna contains sucrose and 
some reducing sugar probably a mixture of glucose 
with a smaller quantity of fructose. The percentage 
compesition of the sample of dry manna that we 
examined was approximately: 


Wrelezitose te se eee et oe 75-83% 
Sucrose net eee ae Se 2.9% 
Reducnigongarn 22 $2 5 11.5%” 


Melezitose is an extremely rare trisaccharide of 


the formula C H,,0., which on hydrolysis yields 


glucose and turanose, the latter is very difficultly 
hydrelysed to glucese and fructose but in the con- 
ventional methods of sugar analysis, the only pro- 
duct of hydrolysis having direct reducing action is 
glucose. 


*The Occurrence of Melezitose in a 
from the Douglas Fir, by C. S. 
Sherwood (Journal of the 
Society, Vol. XL, No. 9, 1918). 


Manna 
Hudson and S. F. 
American Chemical 


10 


MUSEUMS AS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 


By M. Y. WILLIAMs. 


Ask the average Canadian to name our educa- 
tional institutions and it is scarcely likely that 
“Museums” would be included in the list. Ask 
a dweller in New York City the same question, 
and if he omitted “Museums” he would show that 
he failed to appreciate the advantages at his very 
doors. 

Modern pedagogy recognizes the importance of 
studying objects rather than the description of ob- 
jects; the modern museums display, in instructive 
and attractive manner, things gathered from the 
great and wonderful world around us. We have 
primary and secondary schools, and higher up are 
the colleges and universities, but museums include 
among their attending students the toddling infant, 
and the grey-haired patriarch. 

Let us consider some few cof the things which 
great museums have to teach us. One of the newest 
as well as one of the greatest of the museums on this 
continent, is the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, situated in New York City. Its exhibits are 
multitudinous and truly impressive. Who can view 
understandingly the wonderful mounted specimens 
of the reptilean monsters of the dim geologic past, 
without having a broader, more profound, more 
accurate view of the brief moment of time in which 
we live? Who can stand before those creations of 
art, the background bird groups, without having a 
better understanding and appreciation of the beauties 
of our bird life in its natural setting? Such work is 
as truly the work of the artist, as are paintings and 
statues! The wonderful array of minerals and the 
priceless collections of gems and precious stones il- 
lustrate the best that the rocks have to reveal. As 
wanderers from outer space, there are to be seen 
Among them 
are included Peary’s wonderful specimens from 


some of the largest meteorites known. 


Greenland, one of which is as large as an ex- 
plorer’s tent. 

And what of the National Museum at Washing- 
ton? Few will fail to recall the wonderful groups 
of American aboriginies, transfixed as it were near 
their habitations in the midst of their daily tasks, 
with their implernents, and food supplies nearby; 
nor can the fine groups of African game animals be 
forgotten, including rhinoceros, buffaloes and lions, 
collected by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. 

From the Field Museum of Natural History, 
Chicago, the visitor carries away a better under- 
standing and clearer picture of African antelope, 
hyenas, zebras and leopards in their natural habitat 
than pages of descriptive writing could have given. 


The Milwaukee Public Museum takes the visitor 
back to the days of early colonial life in America, 
and depicts a street scene, say in Massachusetts, with 
small frame houses, homemade furniture, dove cotes, 
and people dressed in simple homespun. Fine 
groups of mammals and birds and many other ex- 
hibits are there, but the colonial village is unique. 

The New York State Museum at Albany illus- 
trates in wonderfully realistic form, the early fish- 
like creatures of the geologic past, and one of the 
earliest trees known from fossil remains. The 
Iroquois indian groups, prepared from _ indian 
models, under the direction of a Mohawk Indian, 
perpetuate the memories of Indian life as it was 
when Champlain was founding Canada. 

And there are other great museums at Pittsburg, 
Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, all 
teaching their lessons to the visitor. Wolumes could 
be written descriptive of them, each writer depicting 
those exhibits which appeal to him most. 


It must not, however, be supposed that the public 
exhibits make up the entire museum, nor that all 
specimens are placed on exhibit. Great as is the 
popular educative value of exhibits, many specimens 
must also be preserved for comparison and study by 
specialists and research students. Zoological speci- 
mens generally fade when placed on exhibit, and 
groups of mammals, birds and insects have to be 
replaced by new material from time to time. So 
it happens that for every specimen on exhibit hun- 
dreds or in many cases thousands of valuable speci- 
mens may be carefully stored away, where they are 
available for study, or to replace other exhibits. 

Besides the exhibitions and the special researches 
carried on by modern museums, lecture halls are pro- 
vided, where members of the staff lecture to students 
from schools and colleges and to the public in 
general. 

So far reference has been made to the museums of 
the United States only; let us now turn to the 
museums of Canada. Among these are the pro- 
vincial Museum of British Columbia, at Victoria, 
the Banff Park Museum, the Redpath Museum of 
Natural History at McGill University, Montreal, 
the Museum of the Natural History Society of New 
Brunswick at St. John, the Royal Ontario Museum 
at Toronto, and the Geological Survey Museum 
housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum at Ottawa. 


The British Columbia Museum is particularly 
mentioned by visitors because it contains a complete 
collection of the game animals of the province. The 
Banff Museum appeals to tourists because of its 


April, 1919] 


game exhibits. The Redpath Museum contains a 
variety of collections, dating back over many years, 
and is a storehouse of valuable study material for 
McGill University. The Museum of the Natural 
History Society of New Brunswick, at St. John, 
emphasizes the direct instruction side of museum 
work, and, although possessed of limited resources, 
with the co-operation of the railways, places timely 
exhibits before the people by means of museum cars. 

The Royal Ontario Museum at Toronto has, 
within the last six or seven years, assumed the lead- 
ing position in Canada on account of its exhibits. It 
contains a number of very interesting features, among 
which are its collections of oriental arms and armor, 
its antique furniture and musical instruments and its 
well arranged collections of minerals and inverte- 
brate fossils. 

Our national institution, the Geological Survey 
Museum housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum 
at Ottawa, contains the exhibits long housed on 
Sussex street, including all the collections made by 
the Geological Survey since its founding by Sir 
William Logan in 1842. The collections of indian 
clothing, weapons, works of art, and utensils are 
very complete and fine, and could not be replaced. 
The herbarium represents collections from all parts 
of the country. The zoological collections contain 
specimens of most of the species of the vertebrate 
fauna of Canada ard in some lines it is very com- 
plete. About 13,000 bird skins are catalogued and 
carefully stored for study, and the game and fur- 
bearing mammals are represented by many specimens. 

It is in paleontology, however, that the Geological 
Survey Museum ranks especially high. All the 
type specimens described by the noted Canadian 
paleontologists, Elkanah Billings and J. F. 
Whiteaves (that is the specimens which were fist 
studied and upon which the species were founded) 
are contained in the invertebrate collection, along 
with the types of more recent workers, and thou- 
sands of valuable specimens gathered from all parts 
of Canada during 75 years of exploration. In 
vertebrate paleontology, many fine specimens re- 
present the huge creatures of past geologic ages, and 
the Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Red Deer Valley 
of Alberta form a collection second only to that of 
the American Museum of Natural History, New 
York. These were obtained during the past six 
years by the veteran collector, Charles H. Sternberg 
and his sons, and were being described by the late 
Lawrence M. Lambe. 

There are also the ores and minerals of Canada, 
of which we may be justly proud. Specimens have 
been collected from all parts of the country and a 
very good display of these is now being placed on 
exhibit in the economic museum of the Geological 
Survey, at 227 Sparks street. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 11 


It is not to be supposed, however, that because of 
the collections already made, that nothing is left to 
be done. A museum must be a growing concern 
like all other institutions that possess life and a 
future. Dr. W. T. Hornaday has said that the 
British Museum surpasses all other museums because 
a devoted nation has for generations collected tro- 
phies and specimens for it from all corners of the 
earth. It remains for Canadians to give their 
Museum such support that it may be made and kept, 
an object of sustained national pride. 


Specialists have been appointed to take charge of 
the various divisions cf natural history and a fair 
start had been made in arranging public exhibits 
when the Parliament Buildings were burned. The 
Museum building was needed for Parliament and 
all museum material had to be hurriedly packed and 
stored. Thus, so far as the public is concerned 
there has been no National Museum for the past 
three years. The preparation of exhibits has con- 
tinued but has been much curtailed by lack of 
space. Plans are ready however for placing many 
fine exhibits in the halls as soon as the building is 
once more made available for museum purposes. 


Let us picture to ourselves what the museum may 
some day be like. The Ethnological hall is intact 
and with its wealth of aboriginal material may be 
reopened on short notice. The hall of fossil verte- 
brates may be quickly rearranged, so as to display 
its huge reptilian monsters, early mammals, birds, 
and fishes—altogether a suggestive chapter of the 
geologic past. The wonderful collection of fossil 
shell fish and other inhabitants of the early seas 
when arranged according to formations and biologic 
groups will be one of the best assemblages of its kind 
in America. The contemplated bird group, repre- 
senting the avifauna of southwestern Ontario (the 
extreme southern tip cf Canada), should fascinate 
all bird lovers. Musk ox, moose, polar bear, beaver 
and other groups of our big game and fur bearing 
mammals are planned and some are partly executed. 
These with scenic backgrounds and natural acces- 
sories, should be a source of education and delight to 
all lovers cf nature, and to sportsmen especially. For 
the miner and mineralogist there will be systematic 
collections of minerals and rocks, models of mining 
camps, and maps and plans of mines. For the 
botanist there is the herbarium, for the entomologist 
the insect collections and so on. 


In short, with the specialists who are in charge 
and with the nucleus of a great collection already 
on hand, effective, popular support expressed through 
Parliament is all that is needed to make our museum 
in the near future something to be proud of, an 
educational institution, teaching effectively all 
branches of the natural history of Canada. 


THE BIRDS 


OF SHOAL LAKE, MANITOBA. 


By P. A. TAVERNER. 


(Continued from page 164 of THE Ottawa NaturauisT, Vol. XXXII.) 


103. *BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, Coccyzus eryhro- 
phthalmus. 

Job reports seeing this species on the western side 
of the lake on June 27 to 30, 1912. We saw none 
in 1917 though we heard rumors of cuckoos having 
nested in the vicinity. In 1918 the Black-bill 
appeared on June 14, after which Young noted a 
few birds almost daily to August 1. 

104. BELTED KINGFISHER, Ceryle alcyon. 

Strangely enough, on the borders of such a fine 
lake we saw no kingfishers in 1917, though Young 
reports one on May 2, 1918. The Ward brothers 
say that in previous years there were always a few 
about, and Seton reports a specimen taken by 
Miller Christy on May 15, 1887. Thé only ex- 
planation of their present absence seems to be the 
lack of fish caused by the extreme akalinity of the 
lake at its present level. 

105. *HaAIRY WOODPECKER, Drvyobates viilosus. 

Rather rare. Only two seen during the spring 
visit and one in September of 1917. Young noted 
the species, in 1918, in limited numbers, from June 
3 to Sept. 26, taking juveniles but recently from 
nest, so it doubtless breeds in the vicinity. Five of 
cur specimens are clearly reterable to D. v. 
leucomelas though one, Sept. 22, 1917, falls slightly 
short of leucomelas measurements. 

106. *powNy woopPECKER, Dryobates pubescens. 

Several seen during the spring of 1917, but none 
in the autumn. Observed by Young in 1918 in 
small numbers from May 3 to Sept. 12. 


107. *YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, Syphrapicus 


varius. 

Next to the Flicker the commonest woodpecker. 
Several nests were found and the species was still 
present during the fall visit in 1917 and to the end 
of September, 1918. 


108. RED-HEADED woopPECKER, Malanepres 
erythrocephalus. 

Though we have no substantiating evidence, the 
Ward brothers declare that they have seen one or 
two individuals. There should be but little mis- 
take with such a showy and strongly marked species. 
109. *Fiicker, Colaptes auratus. 

Very common and breeding. Still present in 1918 
to date of leaving Oct. 2. Young says that through 
September they were very busy feeding on ant hills. 
110. *nicHTHAWK, Chordeiles yirginianus. 

Very common in 1917. First arrival May 18. 
One seen on Sept. 17, but none thereafter that year. 


The specimens taken seem to be virginianus. One is 
nearly light encugh to be regarded as hesperis but as 
it can be matched by individuals from New Bruns- 
wick and central Ontario, I hesitate to so identify 
it. : 
111. *RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, Archi- 
lochus colubris. 

Quite common throughout the spring visit of 1918 
and noted by Young occasionally in 1918 from 
June | to end of August. 


112. *wuHip-poor-WILL, Antrostomus vociferous. 

Heard in 1917 nearly every night during the 
spring visit and once in the autumn, on Sept. 17. 
Young only observed it once on June 6 in 1918, 
but his difficulty in hearing would prevent his noting 
it very often. 


113. *kiNGBIRD, Tyrannus tyrannus. 

First seen in 1918 on May 18; very common by 
the 29th. On Sept. 18 a fleck of six were seen. 
Common in 1918 from May 17 to Sept. 10. 

114. *PHoEBE, Savornis phoebe. 
One taken by Young, on Aug. 30, 1918, is our 


only record. 


115. *cRESTED FLYCATCHER, Mviarchus crinitus. 

In 1917 only one was seen, June |. In 1918, 
Young noted it twice in early June, three times in 
July, and once in September. The Ward brothers 
say that in 1916 Frank McGiffon took a set of eggs 
locally. 


116. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, Nutallornis 


borealis. 
In 1917 one reported on June 5 and one taken on 
the 14th. In 1918 Young noted several on June 4 
to 9, and again a single bird on Aug. 17. 


117. *woop PEWEE, Myiochanes virens. 

Our only record for this species consists of two 
specimens taken by Young on June 18 and July 2, 
1918. The former is a female and had an egg 
ready to lay, thus verifying the species as a breeder 
in the locality. is 


118. *yYELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, Empidonax 
flaviventris. 

One taken on Maple Island above the Narrows 
on May 30, 1917. As sight records unsupported by 
the ear are unsatisfactory in regard to the smaller 
flycatchers, citing the specimens taken by Young 
in 1918 is probably the better way of reporting his 
experience. He took specimens of this species on 


June 4 and Aug. 15. 


April, 1919] 


119. *rraILL’s FLYCATCHER, Empidonax trailli. 
First seen on May 9, becoming almost common by 

the 14th. In 1918 Young took one on June 8. 

All specimens are referable to the Alder Flycatcher, 

E. t. alnorum. 

120. *LEAST FLYCATCHER, Empidonax minimus. 


In 1917 first seen on May 23. By the 30th they 


were common in all the bluffs. Young’s experience 
in 1918 seems about similar. He took specimens 


from May 30 to July 31. 


121. *HORNED LARK, Otocoris alpestris. 

In 1917 very common during the spring visit, but 
only a few present in the autumn. In 1918, Young 
found them consistently common throughout his stay 
from late April to early October. On April 24 he 
found a large flock (100) in company with Lap- 
land Longspurs. He obtained one specimen from 
it, a well-marked O. a. alpestris. All other birds 
taken are O. a. praticola. It is worth while noting, 
as a caution against taking assumed breeding dates 
as evidence of nesting, that only six days after 
the taking of the above evident migrant alpestris 
nearly fully fledged young of praticola were col- 
lected. Thus local birds had young out of the nest 
before more northern nesters had left for their 
breeding grounds. 


122 macpiE, Pica pica. 

The Ward brothers say. that the Magpie occas- 
ionally occurs about Shoal Lake. They recall one 
seen in July and two in June, 1904, May 21, 1918, 
William Ward reported seeing one near camp, and 
a few days later Frank Ward had exceptional op- 
portunities of watching another at Gimli on the 
shores of Lake Winnipeg, some forty miles east of 
us. 

123. BLUE jay, Cyanocilla cristata. 

In 1917 fairly common in spring but not noted 
during the autumn visit. In 1918 Young noted the 
species until Sept. 28. 


124. canapa jay, Perisoreus canadensis. 

Said by the Ward brothers to be a winter visitor, 
coming sometimes as early as September, but less 
numerous of late years. 


125. RAVEN, Corvus corax. 

Said by the Ward brothers to be fairly common 
during hard winters. 
126. *aMERICAN crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos. 

Very abundant. Residents do not complain much 
of its destructiveness to crops but it is certainly a 
great nest robber and its effects upon the ducks must 
be marked and serious. Amongst Young’s speci- 
mens are two that he concluded from their actions 
to be mated, but, while the male is large even for 
C. b. brachyrhynchos, the female falls well within 
the measurements for C. b. hespris. Considering 
other Canadian prairie specimens with these, I do 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 13 


not consider the two races satisfactorily differentiated. 
127. *BosBoLinK, Dolichonyx oryzivorus. 

In 1917 a few were seen on wet meadows in the 
spring, none in the autumn. In 1918 Young noted 
them from June 8 to Aug. 22. The residents say 
that occasionally they do some damage to grain. 


128. *cowsirD, Molothurus ater. 

Very abundant. Noted by Young in 1918 to 
Sept. 7. 
129. *yYELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, Xanthoce- 


phalus xanthocephalus. 

The least common of the resident blackbirds. Oc- 
casional small flocks were found foraging here and 
there on the uplands, cultivated fields and dry 
marshes. In 1918 still scarcer than during the pre- 
ceding season. It seems that this bird requires more 
extensive marshes than the Red-wing. In 1917 we 
found resident colonies in a few places while the 
Red-wings occupied every reedy slough. Young 
reports no breeding birds in 1918. His latest re- 
cord for the species is Aug. 26. The juveniles in 
first winter plumage are quite similar to the adults 
but the white primary coverts are reduced to traces 
and the crown and hind neck concolorous with the 
back. In ene specimen, a stripped plumage, similar to 
that of the juvenile Red-wing is just disappearing on 
the breast where it is being replaced with yellow 
of rather a deeper orange than that of the adult. 
130. *RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, A gelanius 

phoeniceus. 

Very abundant, breeding in every suitable locality. 

The A. O.U. Check List recognizes the Red- 
winged Blackbird of central North America as the 
Thick-billed Red-wing, A. p. fortis. This race Mr. 
H. C. Oberholser (Auk XXIV, 1907, pp. 332- 
336) further divides into northern and southern 
forms, calling the Canadian race A. p. arctolegus, 
extending its range east to Isle Royal, Lake Super- 
ior, and restricting fortis to the United States, south 
from Nebraska. As the A.O.U. Committee has 
not as yet recognized arclolegus, from the standpoint 
of the Check List, it can be regarded as a synonym 
of fortis. The diagnosis for fortis calls for a larger 
bird than phoenicus, the eastern race, with a com- 
paratively shorter, thicker bill. Arctolegus is char- 
acterized by its describer as a large phoeniceus with 
slight color differences in the female. 

To obtain easily compared factors of shape and 
size, I have divided the length of the bill by the 
depth for an index of shape and multiplied them 
together for an index of size. The former gives 
the length in units of depth, and the latter a pro- 
duct that whilst more or less arbitrary in itself, 
when derived from specimens of the same species, 
should be strictly comparable with each other and 
representative of relative size, irrespective of the 
disturbing element of shape. 


14 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Comparing Shoal Lake birds with other material, 
I have made use of the following adult male mater- 
ial: 9 from Mass., southetn Ont. and southern 
Mich.; 7 from Shoal Lake and two from Douglas, 
Man.; and 7 from Sask., Alta., and Mack. The 
measurements of these birds together with those sim- 
ilarly derived from Mr. Oberholser’s paper above 
cited, tabulate as follows: 

Index Index Wing Wing 


shape. size. average. Min. & Max. 
9. Eastern Canada_ 1.9 245.1 121.7 (116.0-128.0) 
124 


i. Manitoba —--- 1.96 264.4 (120.5-128.0) 
7. Sask., Alta. 

Mack- Sue 1.8 229.2 W272 (li 5=13275) 
10. phoeniceus 

GEL CLOs) =e 1.8 269.2 118.8 (114.0-122.0) 
12. arctolegus 

GHG) = 1.83 (121.5-130.0) 


U1. fortis (H.G.0.) 22 188 254.04 (125.0-134.0) 

In color, I find Shoal Lake females showing a 
slightly greater amount of white below, mest dis- 
tinctly on the throat and upper breast, but the dis- 
tinction is too slight and inconsistent for certain or 
individual recognition. 

It will be seen that the difference in shape of the 
bills of these various strains is very slight, and in 
no case marked enough to warrant the title ‘““Thick- 
billed”, in fact Oberholser’s arctolegus and fortis 
have more slender bills than phoeniceus, and the 
Shoal Lake specimens considerably exceed all others 
in this direction having minimum and maximum in- 
dices of 1.72 and 2.22. 

It is also evident that whilst there is a slight in- 
crease in size of both bill and wing of this species 
westward over the prairie provinces, the difference 
is not so marked in the new material as in Ober- 
holser’s measurements: also that individual variation 
is almost as great as the racial distinction and is one 
of averages, leaving the bulk of individual specimens 
subspecifically unrecognizable by character. Such 
distinctions do not in the view of the writer form 
criteria sufficient for separation and 
Irrespective of such judgment on 
the races concerned it is evident that these Shoal 
Lake birds are just about intermediate between east- 
ern and west plains birds though personally I do not 
care to separate them from phoeniceus. 

131. “WESTERN MEADOW LARK, Sternella neglecta. 

Very common during all visits. The song of the 
Western Meadow Lark is justly noted. It is one 
of the most wonderful prairie sounds and its con- 
stant repetition and infinite variety is characteristic 
of the west. 
doned for a little disappointment on first hearing it. 
If they expect to hear a glorified eastern Meadow 
Lark song they certainly will be disappointed. While 
it is a beautiful production it is not the song they 
have been accustomed to associate with the coming 
of spring. It has many charms of its own, but they 
are not familiar; in fact hardly a note suggests the 


systematic 
nomenclature. 


However, eastern ears may be par- 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


well remembered voice of the old eastern friend and 
until its source is traced, even an experienced orn- 
ithologist is apt to wonder as to the identity of the 
singer. It will, I think, take several seasons’ exper- 
ience with this species to build up a new set of 
associations and take it to the heart in place of the 
well beloved eastern harbinger of spring. 

132. *BALTIMORE ORIOLE, /cterus galbula. 

In 1917, arrived on May 23, common on June 
2; not seen in the autumn. In 1918, arrived on 
May 16, the bulk disappeared on July 23, and the 
last one was seen on Aug. 6. 

133. *RUSTY BLACKBIRD, Euphagus carolinus. 

Not recognized in spring, but one was noted on 
Sept. 21, 1917; not recorded by Young in 1918. 
134. *BREWER’S BLACKBIRD, Euphagus cyanoce- 

phalus. 

Very amundant and nesting in nearly every open 
bluff. They follow the ploughman about his work 
gleaning from the newly turned furrow, and as- 
sociate commonly with the sheep perching upon 
their backs and scrutinizing the fleece, probably for 
ticks. On Sept. 25, 1917, three were taken from 
a flock. Of these one female, seemingly an adult 
by its completely granulated skull, had the iris red- 
dish-brown just flecked with straw. All other 


specimens taken had the usual straw-colored iris. 


135. *BRONZE GRACKLE, Quisculus quiscula. 

In 1917 there was a thriving colony of Bronzed 
Grackles nesting in the willows just behind the 
Ward house until persevering work with a shot gun 
removed them, after which many more attractive 
birds of less questionable character were able to 
appropriate the premises. The Wards accuse them 
of doing considerable damage by killing young 
chicks. While I cannot substantiate this charge I 
have little doubt as to its truth. None were seen in 
the autumn cf 1917, but Young noted the species 
as late as Sept. 27, in 1918. 

136. *EVENING GROSBEAK, Hesperiphona vesper- 
lina. 

In 1917 we saw two to four individuals, May 
20, 24 and 25, and secured several specimens. I 
noted that the bills of these were as green as those 
of summer birds from British Columbia and quite 
different from the yellow mandibles of eastern mid- 
The difference is probably sea- 
sonal rather than subspecific. Unfortunately these 


are amongst the birds that were lost. Tn 1918, 
Young noted three and two Sept. 25 and 30. 


137. *PURPLE FINCH, Carpodacus purpureus. 

None noted during either spring. Two or three 
were seen on several days in a small growth of 
hawthorn in September. In 1918, Young noted 
small numbers from July 11 to Aug. 26, and a 
single individual on Sept. 25. 


winter specimens. 


April, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


138. *GoLDFINCH, Astragalinus tristis. 

None seen in spring until May 27, 1917, after 
which they became common and were still num- 
erous in September. Young noted them in 1917 
from April 29 to his departure on Oct. 2. 


139. *PINE SISKIN, Spinus pinus. 

In 1918 Young noted 5 on June 5, 2 on the 21st, 
and one Sept. 24, taking specimens on the first two 
occasions. 


149. *sNow BUNTING, Plectrophenax nivalis. 

In 1918, Young found large flocks on his arrival 
on April 24, and saw them almost daily until May 
24. After this, 5 were noted on the 22nd and one 
on the 28th. Specimens taken on April 21 and 
May 2 are in high breeding plumage. 


141. *LaPLAND LoNGcsPuR, Calcarius lapponicus. 

A few seen between May 22 and 25. Very 
abundant in the autumn, occurring in large flocks 
in the long grass of the old marshes and on the lake 
shore. In 1918, Young found large flocks on April 
24, but the bulk of the species left after the 30th. 
One straggler was taken on June 4. In the autumn 
the flocks of the previous year were absent and he 
noted but one individual on Sept. 23. 


142. *CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR, Calcarius 


ornatus. 

A single bird secured on June 6, 1917, and a 
flock of seven noted on the 9th. It was not seen 
by Young in 1918. Seton has a specimen taken by 
Miller Christy in May, 1887, but the Ward brothers 
are not familiar with it, and it is doubtless rather 
rare in the locality or very local in distribution. 


143. *vESPER SPARROW, Poocaetes gramineus. 
Strangely absent both springs in the vicinity of the 
lake though from the train one was seen a few miles 
south of Erinview. In the autumn of both years 
they were seen about the Ward house in limited 
numbers between Aug. 23 and Sept. 28. These 
birds are rather large for the eastern race, and 
though in rather indeterminate juvenile plumage can 
probably be referred to the western race P. g. 
confinis. 


144. *SsAVANNA SPARROW, Passerculus 
wichensis. 

Very common indeed during all visits. The local 
breeding birds show the bright yellow eye-brow 
common to the birds of the prairie provinces, and 
certainly do not agree with the described characters 
of P. s. alaudinus and at present seem without a 
name. The autumn birds are slightly darker than 
savanna and are both with and without the yellow 
loral spot. I suspect that both a resident and a 
migrant form are represented, but I do not care to 
refer them to any sub-species generally accepted at 
present. 


sand- 


FieLp- NATURALIST 15 


145. BairD’s sPARROW, Ammodramus bairdii. 
Though reported by Chapman as very common 
at Shoal Lake and by Seton as common and breed- 
ing, the species was carefully searched for both 
seasons without success. Undoubtedly it has de- 
parted from the country with the lowering of the 
lake level and the disappearance of the broad 
marshes. 
146. *LECONTE’s sparrow, Passerberbulus lecontei. 
Scattered individuals were met with both seasons 
in widely separated localities both in spring and in 
autumn. 
147. *NELSON’s sPARROW, Passerberbulus nelsoni. 
The western form, the Prairie Sharp-tailed 
Sparrow, P. n. nelsoni was met with in scattered 
individuals in various parts of the surrounding coun- 
try as late as September 25. The juvenile 
plumage is quite different from that of the 
adult and might well be taken for a different 
species. All strong ochre, slightly paler below and 
only broken by restricted fuscous centres of second- 
aries and wing coverts which become fainter and 
almost concealed across the back, a double crown 
stripe and a faint bar back from the eye. The outer 
web cf the first primary is edged with clear cream 
and the tail is ochraceous-fuscous with dark shaft. 
One specimen shews adult plumage appearing in 
the juvenile dress indicating that full plumage is 
assumed the first winter. 
148. *HarRIS’s SPARROW, Zonotrichia querula. 
Very common on our first arrival in 1917. Most 
of them left about May 28, though a couple of 
individuals remained to the end of our stay. Frank 
Ward reported seeing one carrying nesting material 
from his chip-yard towards the nearby bluff and 
suspected that they were nesting in the locality. 
The same authority tells us that some years ago 
he found a nest of this species on the ground in 
the shelter of an old log. On the return visit the 
same autumn they were common again in their old 
spring haunts and I was informed that indiv:duals 
had been noted regularly through the summer. With 
this possibility of finding breeding birds, Young 
watched carefully for them during the summer of 
1918, but between May 28 and Sept. 14 none 
were noted. They returned on Sept. 14 and were 
still present when he left on Oct. 2. The most 
peculiar thing about these autumn birds was the 
unusual abundance of adults in comparison to juven- 
iles. Of perhaps fifty birds seen but three or four 
were juvenile either by plumage or cranial chaz- 
acters. This is unusual enough amongst autumn 
birds to justify special mention, as usually juveniles 
greatly outnumber adults. 
149. *WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, Zonotrichia 
leucophrys. 
In 1917, single individuals seen on May 15 but 


16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


common throughout the autumn stay. In 1918, 
present in limited numbers from May 6 to May 23 
and rather more numerous Sept. 17 to 30. Of those 
in adult plumage, two males (May 13, 1918 and 
Sept. 20, 1917) have the white loral line continuous 
to bill and can therefore be ascribed to Z. |. gambeli. 
The other has it faintly interrupted across the lores 
and must therefore be regarded as intermediate be- 


tween Z. 1. leucophrys and gambeli. 


150. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, Zonotrichia 
albicollis. 

Common both spring and autumn. In 1918, 
absent from May 27 to Sept. 8, except four in- 
dividuals seen on July 24. Great numbers seen 
Sept. 19-27, but still present when Young de- 
parted on Oct. 2. 


151. *1rREE spARROW, Spizella monticola. 

Not noted in 1917. In 1918 observed fron: April 
26 to May 4, and again on Oct. | and 2. One 
specimen, female, April 30, I refer to S. m. 
monticola. 


152. *CHIPPING SPARROW, Spizella passerina. 
Very common in the spring of 1917. To the 
end of May flocks of a hundred or more were met. 
In the autumn the species was not certainly identi- 
fied though the first day of arrival I thought | 
recognized them amongst the hordes of clay-colored 
sparrows. In 1918, Young noted a few on May 
4 and 8. From the 16th to 27th it was present 
in flocks of from 50 to 100. The species departed 
on June 8 and no more were seen except 3 on July 


23. 


153. *CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, Spizella pallida. 

Very common in spring and autumn. In 1917, 
they seemed to leave on Sept. 21, but in 1918, 
Young noted them to the date of leaving on Oct. 2. 
154. *SLATE-COLORED JUNCO, Junco hyemalis. 

In 1917, but one specimen seen in the spring but 
fairly common in the autumn. In 1918, Young 
noted it from April 24 to May 15 and from Sept. 
6 to Oct. 2. 


155. *sonc sparrow, Melospiza melodia. 

Common in spring and autumn of both years. In 
1918, present on arrival, April 24, and when leav- 
ing, Oct. 2. Specimens taken between May 13 and 
July 31, probably breeding birds are the slightly 
lighter form, with more distinct markings, than 
eastern M. m.- melodia and I refer them to M. m. 
juddi. 

156. *LINCOLN’s sPARROW, Melospiza lincolni. 

In 1917, single individuals seen and taken on 
May 19 and June |. In the autumn seen nearly 
daily in limited numbers. Noted in limited numbers 
by Young in 1918 from May 11 to 25 and more 
commonly from Aug 3 to Oct. |. 


[Vol. XXXII. 


157. *swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana. 

Seen in small numbers in the spring of 1917 and 
more commonly in the autumn. In 1918, Young 
noted it from May 4 to 30 and again Aug. 21 to 
Oct. 2. Strangely enough but one bird was seen 
in the summer, June 10, which seems to indicate 
that the species does not breed in the locality. 

158. *Fox sparrow, Passerella iliaca. 

One specimen taken Sept. 22 is all that was seen 
in 1917. In 1918, Young noted single individuals 
on Sept. 16, 24 and 30, and a flock of 30 on the 
25th. 

159. *TowHEeEE, Pipilo erythropthalmus. 

In 1917, fairly common in the spring and still 
present Sept. 19 and 21. In 1918, Young saw a 
few individuals with general regularity from May 
24 to July 29. A single bird, Aug. 13, and another 
Sept. 19. 

160. *ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, Zamelodia 
ludoviciana. 

Fairly common during the spring visit in 1917. 


In 1918 cbserved irregularly from May 16 to 
Aug. 5. 
161. *PURPLE MARTIN, Progne subis. 


A few seen daily in 1917, probably the same 
A few occupied a box near an adjoining 
summer cottage and another colony was found nest- 
ing according to aboriginal habit in a hollow tree 
a few miles from camp. In 1918, noted by Young 
from May 17 to Sept. 20. 
162. *cLIFF SWALLOW, Petrochelidon lunifrons. 

In 1917 a few seen daily with the flocks of Barn 


Swallows about camp and occasional birds else- 


ones. 


where. Seton noted twenty-five nests on a barn in 
1891. In 1918, noted from May 24 to Sept. 17. 
163. *BARN swaLLow, Hirundo erythrogaster. 


Small colonies occupy most of the farm building 
groups in the neighborhood. In the autumn of 1917 
this was the only swallow seen. In the chilly morn- 
ings a small flock of them would be found warming 
themselves on the sunny roof of the house where the 
frost was melting. As soon as the day warmed 
they disappeared over the meadows and rarely re- 
turned until the next morning. The last seen were 


on Sept. 21. In 1918, they remained common until 
Sept. 20. 
164. *TREE SWALLow, /ridoprocne bicolor. 


In 1917, only a few seen each day in spring and 
none in the autumn. In 1918, they remained com- 
mon until Aug. 21, but a few were seen thereafter 
until Sept. 17. 

165. *BANK SWALLow, LRiparia riparia. 

A few observed daily in the spring of 1917. The 
Ward brothers say that one stage of the lake left 
numerous steep banks five to six feet high and that 
swallows nested in these in great numbers. Now 


April, 1919] 


these banks are far removed from the water, cut 
down by cattle and sheep, and are deserted by the 
birds. We saw no nesting places in the vicinity. 
Young noted it in 1918 only in autumn, arriving 
on Aug. 17, and seen in small numbers irregularly 
until Sept. 12. 

166. *cEDAR WAXWING, Bombycilla cedrorum. 

In 1917, a flock of a hundred or so seen on May 
11 and smaller lots daily thereafter through the 
spring visit but not noted in the autumn. In 1918, 
the species was first seen on June 4th and irregularly 
observed until Sept. 26. 

167. *LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, Lanius ludovicianus. 

In the spring of 1917 we found two breeding 
pairs and a single individual. I can find little 
foundation for Ridgeway’s color distinction, ‘“de- 
cidedly paler” of the White-rumped Shrike, L. 1. 
exubitorides. Prairie birds are very slightly paler 
than L. m. migrans from eastern Ontario. The dif- 
ference can only be observed by the closest com- 
parison. In the four specimens taken at Shoal Lake 
the rumps are intermediate between that of eastern 
birds and excubitorides from Alberta. I, therefore, 
regard them as intermediates between these rather 
poorly defined races. 

168. *RED-EYED VIREO, Vireosylva olivacea. 

In 1917, not seen until May 30 after which oc- 
casional birds were noted. Not seen that autumn. 
In 1918, Young noted the species continuously, in 
fair numbers from May I7 to Sept. 16. 


169. *PHILADELPHIA VIREO, Vireosylva philadelphia. 
Not noted by us in 1917, but Seton has a speci- 

men in his collection taken at Shoal Lake by 

Miller Christy on May 20, 1887; Young collected 

specimens on the following dates in 1918, May 21 

and 24, June | and Sept. 24. 

170. *wARBLING VIREO, Vireosylva gilva. 

In 1917, quite common after May 28. In 1918, 
Young found it constantly present in fair numbers 
from May 20 to Sept. 26. A\ll specimens are V. g. 
gilva. 

171. *soLitary vireo, Lanivireo solitrius. 

Not noted by us in 1917, but seen by Young in 
1918 from May 10 to 20 and Sept. 2 to 16. 
172. *BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER, Minotilta 

varia. 

In 1917, occasional individuals seen after May 
30 in spring and one on Sept. 19. In 1918, Young 
noted it with fair regularity, but scarcer in July, 
from May 8 to Sept. 26. It probably breeds. 
173. *NASHVILLE WARBLER, Vermivora_ rubri- 

capilla. 

Not noted in 1917 but reported by Young in 
1918 to be very common in May and September. 
Noted May 18 to June 20 and Sept. 2 to 26 with 


occasional individuals through July. 


THE CANADIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 17 


174. *ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, Vermivora 
celata. 

In 1917, seen the first two days of our spring 
visit and on Sept. 19. In 1918, Young noted it 
only from May 17 to 24. In specimens obtained 
the yellow is slightly lighter than in comparable 
eastern species, but as this is probably due to the 
cleaner and better condition and make up of the 
skins, I regard them as V. c. celata, the geographical 
probability. 

175. TENNESSEE WARBLER, V ermivora peregrina. 

Not noted in 1917, but reported by Young in 
1918 to be very common in May and September. 
Noted May 18 to June 24 and Sept. 2 to 26 
with occasional individuals through July. 

176. *caPE MAY WARBLER, Dendrioca tigrina. 

Two taken at Maple Island on May 30, 1917, 
and noted by Young on May 21 to 24, 1918. 


177. *YELLOW WARBLER, Dendroica aestiva. 

In 1917, a few present on our arrival on May 17 
but common after June 1. In 1918, common from 
May 8 to Sept. 16. Compared with the writer’s 
experience with this species in southern Ontario this 
is a very late stay for the species as in the Lake 
Erie neighborhood Yellow Warblers are rarely seen 
after Sept. 1. 

178. *MYRTLE WARBLER, Dendroica coronata. 

In 1917, the commonest Warbler on both visits. 
In spring it disappeared about June 1, after which 
but occasional individuals were seen. 

179. *MAGNOLIA WARBLER, Dendroica magnolia. 

In 1917, rather scarce in spring. In 1918, on 
the contrary, Young found it quite common from 
May 16 to the 27th and in the late autumn from 


Sept. 2 to 28. 
180. *CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, Dendroica 
pensylvanica. 


Individuals seen June 4 and 5 and on Sept. 17. 
Not seen by Young in 1918. 

181. *BayY-BREASTED WARBLER, Dendroica 
castanea. 

In 1917, only seen on June 2 and 6. 
only noted on Sept. 6 to 12. 

182. *BLACK-POLLED WARBLER, Dendroica striata. 

In 1917, first seen on May 30. Quite common 
on June 2, and but occasional individuals thereafter. 
One seen on Sept. 17. 

183. *BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, Dendroica fusca. 

One taken by Young en May 16, 1918, is our 
only record. 

184. *BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, 
Dendroica virens. 

Individuals seen by Young on May 24 and 
Sept. 4, a specimen being taken on the latter date. 
He also reports the remains of another impaled by 
shrikes without giving date. 


In 1918, 


18 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


185. *PALM WARBLER, Dendroica palmarum. 

In 1917, present in limited numbers on our ar- 
rival but none seen after May 25. Several seen 
between Sept. 19 and 22. In 1918, noted by Young 
from May 8 to 30 and Sept. 6 to Oct. 2, the 
date of departure. 

186. *ovENBIRD, Seiurus aurocapillus. 

In 1917, a few single individuals were heard 
and seen in the deeper woods from May 29 on. Be- 
fore leaving they become slightly more common. In 
1918, noted by Young from May 21 to June 3, 
one individual in July, and then again from Sept. 
2 to 14. This is a retiring species and oftener 
recognized by ear than sight. Its absence through 
June, July and August is probably more apparent 
than real. 

187. *NORTHERN WATER THRUSH, Seiurus nove- 
boracensis. 

In 1917, two water thrushes were seen, perhaps 
an original pair, May 18 and June 2, in the dry 
willow grown creek bed by the Ward house. On 
Sept. 19 another was noted in the same locality. In 
1918, the species was noted with daily regularity 
from May 10 to 25 and Sept. 4 to 26, with a 
single individual on Aug. 22. The specimens are 
in a very mixed lot of plumages, and one a male, 
Sept. 12, is nearly as white below as a Louisiana 
Water Thrush, S. motacilla; two other specimens 
are nearer the eastern one S. n. noveboracensis than 
S. n. notabilis. Three others while yellower below 
and blacker above and characteristic notabilis are 
quite comparable with some New Brunswick birds. 
I find that Grinnell’s Water Thrush rests upon very 
inconstant characters. 

188. CONNECTICUT WARBLER, Oporornis agilis. 

On June 4, 1917, one bird was seen under ex- 
cellent conditions for determination, when shot it 
fell far away in heavy brush and could not be found. 
One juvenile was taken by Young on Sept. 16. 
189. *MOURNING WARBLER, Oporornis philadelphia. 

Several times in the spring of 1917 I thought I 
heard this bird in a slashing in the oak patch in the 
big bluff behind the camp. It kept so close to a 
limited locality that I have no doubt that it was 
nesting nearby. It was absolutely identified June 
14 when secured. In 1918, the species was noted 
by Young from May 30 to June 8 and one was 
taken Sept. 7. Specimens of this species in fall 
plumage are rather scarce in collections as it usually 
drifts through very inconspicuously early in the 
autumn. 

190. *MARYLAND YELLOWTHROAT, Geothlypis 
trichas. 

Quite common after June 2. In the autumn in- 
dividuals were seen Sept. 21 and 22. The species 
obtained are referable to G. 1. occidentalis, the 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


Western Yellow Throat. The backs are faintly 
lighter than eastern and intermediate between them 
and individuals from Indian Head and Edmonton, 
but the white foreheads are decidedly more extensive 
than in eastern species. 

191. *wILson’s WARBLER, Wilsonia pusilla. 

Only seen in 1918 on May 18. In 1918, Young 
observed the species on May 16, 18 and 24. 

192. *CANADIAN WARBLER, Wilsonia canadensis. 

One taken on June 6, 1917, and noted by Young 
on May 24 and June 4. 

193. *REDSTART, Setophaga ruticilla. 

Not seen in 1917 until May 29, but common 
thereafter. In 1918, Young observed it from May 
18 to June 8 and from Aug. 26 to Sept. 27. He 
did not note it through the summer. 

194. *AMERICAN PIPIT, Anthus rubescens. 

In 1918 fairly common during the early days of 
our spring visit along the lake shore, but none seen 
after May 30. Abundant in the fall occurring in 
large flocks, scattered bunches and individuals on all 
bare ground. In 1918, noted by Young on May 
13 and 27 and Sept. 14 to date of departure Oct. 2. 
195. *sPpRAGUE’s PIPIT, Anthus spraguet. 

Between June 5 and 9, 1917, I was much puzzled 
by an oft repeated and haunting bird song that could 
be barely heard and which I was unable to locate 
or recognize. It was a fine silvery gradually de- 
scending lRee-ree-ree-a-ree-a-ree-a-aree-aree of 
about eight notes, and an octave in range. It had a 
peculiar ringing jingle like the Veery but more sus- 
tained and regular. After innumerable futile at- 
tempts at discovering the singer at last I found it 
high over head flying about in circles for minutes 
at a time. It beat its wings vigorously against the 
slight breeze, making altitude rather than headway, 
and then the song came down. Arfter the first two 
or three syllables reached the ground the wings fixed 
and the bird would sail in a downward spiral 
through the remainder of the song. This was re- 
peated time and time again. It took considerable 
patience to watch the little vocalist until it came 
down to earth by an almost straight dive. Though 
nearly out of sight in the air the speed with which 
it dropped and the distance away at which it alighted 
indicated that it was originally up no more than a 
hundred yards or so while singing. Thereafter we 
could hear this song nearly the whole of every fine 
day, but this was the only bird of the species that 
we met. In 1918, Young reports the species oc- 
casionally throughout the summer from June 21 to 
Sept. 7. 

196. *catBirD, Dumatella carolinensis. 
Common, found in nearly every bluff. In 1918, 


Young noted it almost daily from May 20 to Sept. 
iP 


April, 1919] 


197. *BROWN THRASHER, 7 oxostoma rufum. 
Fairy common. At least two pairs lived within 
hearing of cur camp in 1917 and we met with half 
a dozen more on our spring rambles. In 1918, 
Young noted it constantly from May 16 to Aug. 24 
with a couple of late individuals on Sept. 12 and 17. 


198. *HoUSE wREN, Troglodytes aedon. 

Very abundant and heard singing everywhere. 
They do not seem as inclined to build about the farm 
buildings as the species does in the east. There were 
innumerable possible nesting places about the farm- 
steed that few eastern wrens could resist yet none 
of them were occupied. A few individuals were 
still present during the autumn visit. In 1918, 
Young noted it continuously and regularly from 
May 10 to Sept. 30. Specimens are distinctly T. a. 
parkmani. 

199. *wINTER WREN, Nannus hiemalis hiemalis. 

Not seen in 1917, but in 1918 Young observed 
single individuals from May 20 to 23,. and on 
Sept. 16. 


200. *SHORT-BILLED MARSH 
stellaris. 

Not uncommon in certain localities. While usually 
inhabitating damp marshes some were found in dry 
grass or even in brushy edges in typical House Wren 
ground. None were certainly recognized in the fall 
of 1917 though Young lists it occasionally from 
June | to Sept. 25. 


201. *LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN, J elmatodytes 
palustris. 

Hardly commoner than the Short-bill and not so 
widely distributed. This species requires wetter and 
more extensive swamps than that species and the 
drying up of the marshes would more severely limit 
its habitat. AA Marsh Wren glimpsed on the shore 
of a small pond on Sept. 19, 1917, was supposed 
to be of this species. Owing to their more restricted 
habitat the Long-billed Marsh Wren was, in 1918, 
even scarcer than the previous year. Young only 
records occasional individuals May 7 and June 10. 
Specimens show the light back, and brown rather 
than black head of T. p. iliacus. 


202. *BROWN CREEPER, Certhia familiaris. 

Young took two specimens of the Brown Creeper 
on Sept. 23 and 26, 1918. 

203. 

One individual seen by Young on Sept. 24, 1918. 
204. *BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, Penthestes 

atricapillus. 

Only seen in 1917 on May 20 and Sept. 26. Of 
the former one female was taken with an egg in 
oviduct ready for deposition. Scattered individuals 
noted by Young throughout the summer of 1918. 
Specimens taken have constantly longer tails than 


WREN, Cistothorus 


*RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, Silta canadensis. 


THE CANADIAN FieELp-NaTuRALIST 19 


any but extreme eastern specimens and hence are 
referred to P. a. septentrionalis. 
205. *RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, Regulus calendula. 
In 1917, single individuals seen May 20 and June 
1. In September a few were seen neariy every day. 
In 1918, noted by Young daily from May 7 to 24 
and Sept. 9 to 30. 
206. *wiILson’s THRUSH, Hylocichla fuscescens. 
Common. Its golden chain song could be heard 
every evening from our camp. In 1918, Young re- 
corded it nearly every day from May 9 to Sept. 
28. A\ll specimens show the slightly olive back of 
the Willow Thrush, H. f. salicicola. 
207. *aLice’s THRUSH, Hylocichla aliciae. 
Thrushes of this genus were fairly common during 
migrations, but the bush was generally so dense 
and the birds so shy that collection gave the only 
certain separation between Alice’s and Olive-backed 
Thrushes. I was fairly certain that we had speci- 
mens of both in the spring collection of 1917, but 
they all were lost in transit. One specimen taken 
by Young on Sept. 19 belongs to this species. 
208. *oLIVE-BACKED THRUSH, Hylocichla ustulata. 
In 1918, Young noted thrushes under this head- 
ing from May 15 to June | and Sept. 6 to 20. All 
his specimens except one mentioned under previous 
heading are of this species which is probably the 
more common. We have specimens of the following 
dates: juvenile and adult males Sept. 18, 1917, Sept. 
6 and 9, 1918; and juvenile females Sept. 9, 1918. 
These four are slighlty but consistently more oliva- 
ceous (or grayer) above and rather more heavily 
spotted on breast than comparable eastern H. u. 
swainsoni differing from them almost as much as the 
Willow Thrush, H. f. salicicola differs from the 
Veery, H. f. fuscescens. I find these same 
distinctive characters in an autumn specimen 
from as far west as Jasper Park but not in spring 
and summer birds from intermediate points. These 
specimens agree closely with the description and 
range of H. u. almae Oberholser, and if every per- 
ceptible difference is regarded worthy of a separate 
name this form probably has claim to reinstatement 
in the Check List. 
209. *HERMIT THRUSH, A ylocichla guttata. 
Quite common during the spring of 1917. The 
last specifically recognized was on June 2. In the 
autumn one was taken on Sept. 19. In 1918, Young 
noted the Hermit Thrush from May 13 to 24 and 
Sept. 3 to 30. These are of course eastern Hermit 
Thrush, H. g. pallasii. 
210. *AMERICAN ROBIN, Planesticus migratorius. 
Common on all visits, in 1918, at date of de- 
parture, Oct. 2. 
211. *sLuesirp, Siala sialis. 
Though not known by the Ward brothers as a 


20 THE CANADIAN 


bird of the locality, we took a pair in 1917 on May 
28, and later some six individuals were seen at var- 
ious times in the neighborhood. In 1918, Young 
saw 2 and 7 birds on June 24 and 25. On Oct. 2 
as he was leaving there was a migrational wave of 
the species and he lists 50 for that day. This 
suggests that far from Shoal Lake being the most 
northern extremity of the species range here there 
is a habitat beyond that is occupied by them in 
considerable numbers. The species is apparently 
spreading into this country. 
ADDENDA. 

Since the publication of the earlier parts of this 
paper the following published data on the birds of 
the locality have been called to my attention in 


BRIEF REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ 


Fietp-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXII. 


Recent Bird Records for Manitoba by E. T. Seton, 


Auk, XXV, 1908, pp. 450-454. 


20. (antea) BLACK DUCK, Anas rubripes. 
Mr. Seton here reports another Shoal Lake 
specimen of this species in his collection taken by 


Geo. H. Meacham in 1901 who reports “two or 
more were shot at Shoal Lake in 1899”. 


28. (antea) Woop DUCK, Aix sponsa. 

Seton says: “G. H. Meacham reports it rare at 
Shoal Lake, but one or two are seen there each 
year. 


212 LEAST BITTERN, /xobrychus exilis. 
Seton says: “Frank M. Chapman saw one at 


Shoal Lake, June, 1901”. 


CLUB FG@tr 


THE YEAR» ENDING: MARCH 18; 1919: 


The fortieth year of the existence of The 
Ottawa Fie!d-Naturalists’ Club has been the most 
successful in the recent history of the society. The 
club activities are directed toward popularizing and 
diffusing knowledge of the natural sciences, and have 
been carried on in three chief ways: a course of 
lectures, two series of field excursions, and the 
publication of THE Ottawa NaTuRALIST. 

The club membership now numbers 540. Twenty- 
ene members serving overseas have been carried 
gratis. 

The lecture programme consisted of seven sched- 
uled lectures and a special lecture on wild geese by 
Mr. “Jack”? Miner, of Kingsville, Ontario. The 
lectures are planned to create a more intelligent 
interest in Canadian natural history, and to give a 
better understanding of the value of scientific work. 

The field well patronized, 
especially the spring series at which the attendance 
averaged 38. Weather conditions reduced the at- 
tendance at the fall series. The spring series con- 
sisted of five outings and the autumn series of three 
outings. Scientific men attended the excursions to 
direct interest and answer questions. 

THe Ortawa NaTurRAList, the official organ of 
the Club has been enlarged in dimensions and im- 
proved in material qualities and by the introduction 
of a cover design, more illustrations and more articles 
of Dominion-wide interest. 


excursions were 


At the request of several natural history societies 
of the Dominion, a plan of affiliation has been ar- 
ranged, the magazine of The Ottawa Field-Natur- 
alists’ Club to be the medium of publication. 

The officers and committees for the year 1919 
are as follows: 

President, M. Y. Williams; Vice-Presidents, L. 
D. Burling, P. A. Taverner; Secretary, Clyde L. 
Patch; Treasurer, F. W. Waugh; Editor, Arthur 
Gibson. 


Additional members of Council: Hoyes Lloyd; 
W. T. Macoun, G. A. Millar, R. M. Anderson, 
J. M. Macoun, Miss M. E. Cowan, Miss Crampe, 
C. B. Hutchings, C. M. Sternberg, H. I. Smith, H. 
McGillivray, H. B. Sifton. 

STANDING CoMMITTEES OF COUNCIL. 

Publications—Clyde L. Patch, A. Gibson, P. A. 
Taverner, L. D. Burling, H. B. Sifton. 

Excursions—F. W. Waugh, H. B. Sifton, C. M. 
Sternberg, G. A. Millar, Miss M. E. Cowan, C. L. 
Patch, H. McGillivray, C. B. Hutchings, Miss 
Crampe. 

Lectures—J. M. Macoun, P. A.Taverner, L. D. 
Burling, W. T. Macoun, G. A. Millar, R. M. 
Anderson. 


Trust Funds—W. Eo Macau C. Gordon 
Hewitt, H. M. Ami. 
Auditors—J. Ballantyne, E. C. Wight. 


LEADERS AT EXCURSIONS. 

Archaeology—Harlan I. Smith, F. W. Waugh, 
W. J. Wintemberg, Dr. C. M. Barbeau, Dr. E. 
Sapir. 

Botany—G. A. Millar, W. T. Macoun, J. M. 
Macoun, Mrs. A. F. Brown, Dr. M. O. Malte, 
J. R. Dymond, E. C. Wight, H. B. Sifton, Miss 
M. E. Cowan. 

Entomology—C. B. Hutchings, Arthur Gibson, 
Dr. C. G. Hewitt, J. M. Swaine, F. W. L. Sladen, 
Miss Crampe. : 

Geology—Dr. E. M. Kindle, Dr. W. Y. 
Williams, H. McGillivray, L. D. Burling, E. 
Poitevin, Dr. M. E. Wilson. 

Ornithology—P. A. Taverner, C. L. Patch, Dr. 
M. Y. Williams, A. G. Kingston, Hoyes Lloyd. 

Zoology—Dr. R. M. Anderson, A. Halkett, E. 
FE. Lemieux, E. A. LeSueur, C. H. Young, C. E. 
Johnson. 

Photography—W. S. Hutton. 


21 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


AMERICAN SociETY oF Mammatocists.—The 
organization meeting of the American Society of 
Mammalogists was held in the New National 
Museum, Washington, D.C., April 3 and 4, 1919, 
with a charter membership of over two hundred 
and fifty, of whom sixty were in attendance at the 
meeting. The following officers were elected: 


President, C. Hart Merriam (Washington) ; 
First Vice-President, E. W. Nelson (Washington) ; 
Second Vice-President, Wilfrid H. Osgood (Chi- 
cago); Recording Secretary, H. H. Lane (Okla- 
homa); Corresponding Secretary, Hartley T. H. 
Jackson (Washington); Treasurer, Walter P. 
Taylor (Washington). The Councilors are: Glover 
M. Allen (Cambridge); R. M. Anderson (Ottawa, 
Canada); J. Grinnell (Berkeley); M. W. Lyon 
(Washington); W. D. Matthew (New York); 
John C. Merriam (Berkeley) ; Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., 
(Washington); T. S. Palmer (Washington); 
Edward A. Preble (Washington); Witmer Stone 
(Philadelphia); and N. Hollister (Washington), 
Editor. 


Committees were appointed on: Life Histories 
of Mammals, Charles C. Adams, Chairman; Study 
of Game Mammals, Charles Sheldon, Chairman; 
Anatomy and Phylogeny, W. K. Gregory, Chair- 
man; and Bibliography, T. S. Palmer, Chairman. 

The policy of the Society will be to devote its 
attention to the study of mammals in a broad way, 
including life histories, habits, evolution, palaeonto- 
logy, relations to plants and animals, anatomy and 
other phases. The Society arranged to start the pub- 
lication this year of a “Journal of Mammalogy,” in 
which popular as well as technical matter will be 
presented. This journal will fill a long felt want 
in the natural history world, for with all the pub- 
lications dealing with bird life on this hemisphere, 
there has been none making a specialty of the no 
less interesting and important mammalian life. 


In choosing the name of the Society, the word 
American is used in the broad sense of including 
all the Americas, North as well as South. Canada 
was represented at the organization meeting by two 
men, and several Canadians appear among the 
charter members. The Society starts out demo- 
cratically, with but one class of members, the gen- 
eral concensus of opinion being that the establish- 
ment of fellows and different classes of members 
would not be conducive to the good feeling and 
harmony desirable in a society of scientific aims. 
The Society invites the co-operation and support 
of all persons in the study and conservation of the 
mammalian life of America. 


REMARKS CONCERNING SAND LaAuNcEs.— [here 
has recently been received for identification by the 
Fisheries Branch of the Department of the Naval 
Service a number of small specimens of Sand 
Launce (Ammodyles personatus) obtained from 
Barclay and Clayoquot Sounds, British Columbia. 

The genus Ammodytes is represented on our 
coasts by three reported species in all, and all of 
which inhabit sandy shores. 

The geographical ranges of the 
follows: 

A. personatus: Shores of the Pacific from Cali- 
fornia to Alaska, embracing British Columbia and 
the Aleutian Islands and westward to Japan. (This 
is the species of which the Department received 
specimens. ) 

A. americanus: Maritime Provinces, Gaspe 
Basin, Labrador and Newfoundland, southward to 
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 

A. dubius: Labrador and Greenland, southward 
to Cape Cod. (As its name implies this is a 
doubtful species, and was first recorded by Rein- 
hardt in 1838.) 

Altogether there are about eight different species 
of sand launces, of which, besides our own, may 
be mentioned A. lanceolatus and A. tobianus, both 
of which occur on the British coasts. 

ANpDREW HALKETT. 


three are as 


THE MOUNTAIN BLUE BIRD, AND ITS IRREGULAR 
APPEARANCE.—E-very observer of birds has noticed 
the abundance or scarcity of certain varieties in 
different years, and the reason of this periodical 
variation in appearance is often hard to account for. 
There are several birds that come under this class 
in Alberta, and perhaps the most prominent of these 
is the Blue Bird, (ours is the Mountain variety 
Sialia currucoides.) 

The winter of 1917-18 was quite severe up 
till about the middle of March, when it turned very 
mild and spring like. On the 2Ist of the month 
I was very much surprised to see three Blue Birds 
flying along the telephone wires on one of the prin- 
cipal streets of Camrose. This was fully two 
weeks earlier that I had ever recorded them before 
in my twenty-eight years residence in Alberta. 

A few days later the weather turned suddenly 
cold, and the month ended with below zero tem- 
peratures. The cold extended into Montana, be- 
tween 200 and 300 miles south of this latitude. 
There is reason to believe that these three birds 
were not the only ones to come north around the 
21st of the month, and it is likely that a large mi- 
gration took place at that time. The cold weather 


22 THE CANADIAN 


came on so unexpectedly that there can be little 
doubt but what all the Blue Birds that ventured so 
far north at that time must have perished. 

The consequence was that there was practically 
an entire absence of these birds in this district the 
following summer. 


F. L. Far.ey, 
Camrose, Alberta. 


ON THE EARLY LIFE-HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN 
LOBSTER (Homarus americanus).—Were this tiny 
creature, just after it has emerged from the 
egg, to be enlarged to say ten inches in length 
and a regular ten-inch long lobster put along 
side of it, two forms, quite unlike in general 
appearance would be seen. The reason for this 
difference in general form is because whilst 
the mature lobster crawls about upon the bed of 
the sea, the little juvenal does nothing of the kind, 
but swims, or rather floats upon its back, through 
the water or near the surface of the water. It 
would be interesting to follow out in detail how this 
most valuable of all crustaceans becomes more and 
more modified as it passes from moult to moult, but 
it must suffice for the present to point out that by 
the time the lobster has acquired the crawling mode 
of locomotion it has not then reached an inch in 
length. Obviously the free swimming mode of 
movement is primitive, and there are crustaceans, for 


FieLp-NaTURALIST [ Vol. XXXII. 


instance the phyllopods, which swim upon their 
backs throughout their life-histories, but in the case 
of the decapods, which stand higher in the scale 
of crustacean life, and to which shrimps, crabs, and 
the lobster belong, this phenomenon is usually only 
temporary, and in the case of the lobster is purely 
so. Now when the mother lobster, guided by her 
instincts, approaches the more shallow parts of the 
sea in order that her eggs may hatch off her swim- 
merets, and once the eggs are all hatched off, her 
maternal duties are over, for that is all the maternity 
she has. The young nauplii are now left to their 
own resources. It was a wise-provision of nature 
that led the mother lobster to the shallows, for the 
little helpless creatures are there defended against 
many dangers which would have been encountered 
further out at sea. Furthermore, they undoubtedly 
meet there with a plenteous supply of surface food. 
Nor is this all. In the sheltered harbors and bays 
the little lobsters have an opportunity to undergo 
their metamorphosis until as little crawling creatures 
they seek refuge among the sea-weeds and under 
the rocks; from which time on they become better 
and better equipped, through increase in size, a 
shell hardened with carbonate of lime, and a pair 
of powerful claws, to protect themselves at consider- 
able depths in more exposed parts of the bed of 
the sea. 
ANDREW HALKETT. 


BOOK NOTICES 


InjuRIous INsEcTS AND USEFUL Birps. By 
Prof. F. L. Washburn. J. B. Lippincott Company, 
Philadelphia and Lendon; 414 illustrations in text 
and four coloured plates. Price $2.00. 

This volume prepared particularly for high 
schools and agricultural colleges is largely the re- 
sult of 21 years of work in economic entomology on 
the part of the author. It will of course also be 
a useful work of reference for gardeners and farm- 
Chapters one to six deal with the 
losses to agriculture due to insects and rodents; farm 


ers generally. 


practices to lessen these; external structure of in- 
sects; collecting and preserving insects; insecticides, 
fumigation. Chapters seven to 


eighteen discuss insect affecting various crops, such 


spraying and 


as apple, pear, small fruits, grain, roots, etc. 
Chapter XIX on “Our Insect Friends”; XX, “The 
Relation of Birds to Agriculture” and XXI, “Some 


AND REVIEWS. 


Four-Footed Pests of the Farm,’ complete the 
volume.—A. G. 

OuTLINEs oF Economic Zootocy. By Albert M. 
Reese, Ph.D., Professor of Zoology in West Vir- 
ginia University. Philadelphia, P. Blakeston’s Son 
& Co. 316 pages. 194 illustrations. 

This volume which has been based upon a brief 
course in economic zoology given by the author 
for several years in the above university, will be 
found of special value to students, not only those 
who are taking courses in general zoology, but also 
those who are interested in agriculture. The book 
is divided into fourteen chapters, as follows: 1, 
Protozoa; II, Porifera; III, Coelenterata; IV, 
Echinodermata; V, Platyhelmenthes; VI, Nema- 
thelmenthes; VII, Annulata; VIII, Mollusca; [X, 
Arthropoda; X to XIV, Chordata. The importance 
of the study of economic zoology is becoming more 
apparent every day.—A.G. 


| 
| 


THE CANADIAN  FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIIL 


MAY, 1919. 


CANADIAN ABORIGINAL CANOES. 


By F. W. Waucu, GeotocicaL Survey, OTTAWA. 


Canoeing, it may be remarked by way of in- 
troduction, is one of a number of things which have 
been borrowed, either for use or amusement, from 
the American Indian. The name, strangely enough, 
has been introduced from a region at some distance 
from that with which we are accustomed to con- 
nect canoe culture in its typical form, being derived 
from the word “canoa,” in use among the Arawak 
of the West Indies. This was adopted in a similar 
form by the Spaniards, and as “canot”’ by the early 
Frenchin Canada. The fact that there was already 
a name in current use, then, is no doubt the reason 
none of the names applied by the Indians of the 
Eastern Woodland area of America was adopted. 

An Ojibwa term, fairly well-known from its em- 
ployment by Longfellow in “The Song of Hia- 
watha”, is “cheemaun”. A name applied to a very 
large craft is “nabikwan”. A Mohawk appella- 
tion is “gahonwe'ia”; rendered by the Onondaga, 
a related tribe, as “gaho’nwa”. It is interesting to 
note, in the last-mentioned dialects, the close resem- 
blance to the term for a bark bowl or trough. 

Quaint early English forms, now obsolete, are 
“canow and “cannoe”. 

There is little doubt that, in the earlier days of 
French exploration and settlement along the St. 
Lawrence and of English settlement in New Eng- 
land, the birch-bark canoe of Indian make was very 
soon adopted as the most convenient method of 
travel. We can readily infer, also, from early 
writers and other such sources, the extremely im- 
portant part played by the canoe in the develop- 
ment of a very large portion of the North Am- 
erican continent. 

It would obviously be most interesting to trace the 
canoe and other such devices to their origins, but 
there are indications that the problem in hand is 
one of the diffusion or spread of a cultural trait 
already elaborated, or partly elaborated, it may be 
in some other region. This is in part suggested 
by both the extent and the continuity of the area 
in which canoes are used. We can see that migra- 
tions of population, or the influence of one tribe 


upon a neighboring one (accultural influence) would 
soon disseminate the canoe idea, possibly in a simple 
form, very widely, and that, under the influence of 
the varied materials at hand and diversified require- 
ments, specialization in various directions would 
later arise. 

Materials naturally played an important part.. In 
areas where trees were not at hand, or were less 
convenient, such materials as rushes were sometimes 
built into a boat-shaped raft (see the balsa of Cali- 
fornia); or a skin-covered craft was employed, as 
in the Eskimo area, among the neighboring Kutchin 
of the Yukon, the Tahltan and other Athabascans 
of the Mackenzie region, and in some parts of the 
Plains) see the “bull-boat,” a tub-shaped craft of 
skin and withes, used by various Siouan tribes, in- 
cluding the Mandan and the Hidatsa; also by the 
Arikara, a Caddoan tribe). The Omaha (Siouan) 
used hide-covered boats or canoes of ordinary type, 
but with a rude framework, indicating the slight de- 
velopment among them of ideas regarding naviga- 
tion. In the last-mentioned craft, an oar or large 
paddle was used for steering, the paddlers sitting 
near the bow. 

One of the most interesting developments in 
North American navigation was the canoe of 
birch-bark, which apparently reached its perfection 
in the Algonkian area, a region extending from 
around the Great Lakes, and some distance west- 
ward, to the maritime provinces and the New Eng- 
land states, though the birch canoe area exhibits cul- 
tural extensions in various directions, but particularly 
northward and westward to the Mackenzie river 
basin. There is little doubt that this distribution was 
largely determined by the range of the canoe birch 
(Betula papyrifera), which extends practically from 
the Atlantic coast to the Rockies, as well as to some 
distance south of the international boundary. The 
disappearance of the birch southward is indicated by 
the fact that very inferior canoes of elm, buttonwood 
and basswood bark were constructed by the Iro- 
quois of Central New York state and southward, 
who evidently found the materials last mentioned 


24 Tue Canapian” FieLp-NaTurRALIsT 


more plentiful. The Iroquois canoe is everywhere 
stated to have been heavy and loggy, inconvenient 
for portaging and short-lived generally. In fact, so 
poor a craft it was in comparison with that of the 
Algonkians, that the Iroquois are said to have traded 
eagerly for the lighter and more substantial con- 
trivance.* 

Bark and skin-covered canoes, however, are not 
the only craft which have been used by Canadian 
Indians, since at least two other devices—usually 
constructed in a very primitive style—are found side 
by side with considerable advancement in naviga- 
tion. The dugout, for instance, which is usually 
little more than a hollowed-out log, is employed 
by a great many tribes along with canoes of a 
much superior kind. Another very primitive-ap- 
pearing contrivance, the raft, is distributed quite 
widely, though employed to a greater extent in some 
areas than in others. 

It may be unnecessary, or even impossible, for us 
to decide which of the foregoing came into use first, 
but we should certainly be quite near the mark in 
placing the raft first in degree of simplicity, with 
the simpler class of dugout next. 


THE BIRCH-BARK CANOE. 

Practically everywhere within the region of Al- 
gonkian influence proper the birch-bark canoe was 
essentially the same, such differences as occur con- 
cerning mostly the shape of bow and stern, which 
has evidently been derived almost exclusively from 
a single pattern, with local variations in the amount 
of curvature or recurvature and the method of deck- 
ing over at the ends, where such a device was em- 
ployed. The Malecite (western New Brunswick) 
and Ojibwa forms are very good examples of the 
extremes in outline in the Algonkian region. The 
Malecite canoe also exhibits the decking-over sheet 
at the ends, with side-flaps, in a well-developed form. 
As we proceed westward, this sheet decreases in size 
in the Algonquin canoe of northern Quebec and 
Ontario and becomes vestigial in a smaller form 
used by certain of the neighboring Ojibwa. The 
same purpose, that of preventing the inflow of water, 
is accomplished by the recurving ends of the Ojibwa 
type with which we are most familiar. 

Regarding the Algonkian tribes of central Labra- 
dor, Turner remarks that ‘“‘a tribe of great dis- 
similarity between the Naskopies and the Little 


iDr. E. Sapir, in ‘“‘Time Perspective in Abor- 
iginal American Culture,’’ Memoir 90, of the 
Geological Survey (Canada), p. 20, remarks: ‘‘Sim- 
jlarly, the clumsy elm-bark canoe of the Iroquois 
seems less adapted to its cultural environment than 
the various types of birch-bark canoe of their 
Algonkian neighbors. We may risk the guess that 
the Iroquois bark canoe is an imperfect copy in elm- 


bark, a characteristically Iroquois material, of the 
superior Algonkian types, and connect this further 
with the general consideration that the Iroquois 
were rather more inclined to be cross-country 
walkers than the neighboring Algonkian tribes, who 


were more adept river and sea folk.”’ 


[Vol. XX XIII. 


birch-bark canoe of the latter is much more turned 
up at each end, producing a craft well adapted to 
the swift currents of rivers.” He also states that 
“the occupants are skilful boatmen,” that “‘sails are 
sometimes erected in a single canoe,’ and that “at 
times two canoes are lashed together and a sail 


99D 


spread from a single mast.””” 


An offshoot of the Algonkian canoe was the 
“rabiscaw” of the Hudson Bay Company, an extra 
large birch-bark craft designed to meet the demands 
of the fur-trade. A prominent feature was the high, 
upturned bow and stern decorated with gaudy 
designs. 

At the western extremity of the bark canoe are 
we find at least two somewhat divergent forms which 
suggest an attenuation of eastern accultural influence, 
combined, possibly, with modifications from other 
sources. [he Dog-ribs, an Athabascan tribe of the 
Mackenzie basin, like the Ojibwa, construct a birch- 
bark canoe having separate keel-pieces for the bow 
and stern. The small and narrow ribs and the 
slender, widely-separated siding or flooring strips 
extending from end to end, however, show some 
resemblance to kayak construction. A special fea- 
ture (also showing a resemblance to the kayak)®* is 
the fairly extensive sheet of decking at either end. 
Conspicuous side-flaps, of the type found in the 
Algonquin decking, are lacking. The seams are 
sewn with spruce root and gummed. 

Among the Kootenay and the various Salish tribes 
of southern British Columbia is found a canoe of 
pine or spruce bark, rather rude in general work- 
manship and showing but little external resemblance 
to eastern forms. The most striking feature is the 
peculiar pointed-extension of the lower part of bow 
and stern, which is said to be specially adapted to 
rapid rivers. From a structural point of view no 
radical difference from eastern types is to be noted. 
The bark of the yellow cedar (Thuja excelsa) is 
also mentioned as a British Columbia canoe-making 
material. 


A Slave canoe from the neighborhood of Hay 
river (flowing into Great Slave Lake) exhibits an 
upward extension at the bow and stern which adds 
much to its picturesqueness. In other respects it 
conforms closely to eastern models. 


A description of Ojibwa canoe-making will no 
doubt give a fair idea of the methods employed 
throughout most of the bark canoe area.‘ The 
process is most interesting and requires considerable 


skill. 


2Turner, Lucien M., ‘‘Ethnology of the Ungava 
District,’’ 11th Annual Rept. of the Bureau of Eth., 
Washington, D.C., p. 182. 

8Mention of this resemblance is made by Pet- 
itot, in 


“Autour du Grand Lac des Esclaves,” p. 268. 

4¥rom data obtained by the writer among the 
Saulteaux, or Ojibwa of the Lake Nipigon region. 
Permission to use this and other original notes 
was accorded by the Geological Survey, Ottawa. 


Canada. 


May, 1919] . Pate I. 


2. 


Ay 


(nn TPA Ee Ee 


NRA TN 


Synenneee® Ln 


Breda UI 
Li it ce 


ATAUTARCC MAC 


26 THe CanapiAN- FieLtp-NATURALIST 


Thin strips of cedar (Thuja occidentalis) for the 
ribs, and the sheeting used between the ribs and bark 
to prevent injury to the latter, are obtained, split 
into approximate sizes and placed in water to render 
them more flexible. Another important requisite 1s 
the birch-bark, which peels off most easily late in 
June or early in July. This is rolled up and laid 
away in the shade. Towards evening, or at any 
time, if the day is cloudy, stakes (nine or more to a 
side) are driven into the ground at intervals to 
approximate the length and width of the canoe. 
These are made to flare outward slightly. The 
bottom pieces of bark are now placed in position, 
overlapping a few inches in the middle where they 
are to be joined. A single length of bark is pre- 
ferred for the bottom. This, however, is not always 
obtainable, so that two pieces, or even three, may be 
used. Stones are laid on the bark to hold it down, 
and a bottom frame, approximating the width of the 
canoe at ‘the bottom and pointed at both ends, is 
applied. The work so far is done by the men. 
The next operation, that of shaping the bottom by 
making slashes or gores on each side and sewing 
these with spruce root, is done by the women. The 
gores are made towards the ends, where the canoe 
begins to narrow. The upper edges of the bark 
are also trimmed evenly. The spruce root for 
sewing has been split by the women to a suitable 
size and rendered flexible by steeping in fish broth. 
The men next lay the upper lengths of bark along- 
side, measure them by trial, then place them in 
position. The bottom pieces are now scored along 
the bottom with an axe where they are to be 
creased for the taper to bow and stern, after which 
both upper and lower barks are pinched together 
by stakes driven closely and tied at the top. An 
inner frame (or “inside gunwale’’) giving shape to 
the upper edge of the canoe, and having exactly 
the right taper and curve, has been prepared be- 
forehand and is now placed between the upper barks 
and sewn closely and firmly to them. Pieces of 
cedar, bent to the approved shape of bow and stern, 
are placed between the barks at the ends of the 
canoe, the bark trimmed to conform to these in out- 
line, then sewn to them with spruce root. The 
sewing, as before, is performed by the women, to 
whom this part of the work is always assigned. 
Stitches of uneven length are often employed, par- 
ticularly around the ends, to prevent the bark from 
splitting.” The gores and laps have in each case 
been well cemented or stuck together with clear 
gum boiled a little to thicken it. 


5Other devices for preventing the edges from 
splitting along seams, are: The sewing of an extra 
strip of bark around the outer edge of the canoe 
beneath the gunwale; also the inclusion under the 
stitches of a strand of spruce root (often used along 
ljongitudinal seams where barks are joined). Both 
of these schemes are employed by the Dog-ribs, 
Slaves and Chipewyans. 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


The bottom frame, which is merely temporary, is 
now removed, the ribs taken from the water, bent to 
shape around the knee, cut to length and driven 
into place with a mallet. Other thin strips of cedar, 
three or four inches wide, are driven between the 
ribs and bark as the work proceeds. The purpose 
of these is to form a protective flooring and siding. 
The canoe, particularly at this stage, is kept well 
moistened both inside and out. The placing of the 
ribs and sheeting proceeds, generally speaking, from 
each end to the centre. Cross-pieces, to keep the 
top spread, are hammered in at every second rib. The 
ribs are a couple of inches wide and about the 
some width apart. When the insertion of ribs and 
sheeting is completed, the canoe may require a gen- 
eral correction in shape, which is given by tying it 
between stakes and exposing it for a while to the 
sun. 

The next process, also a woman’s job, is to get 
ready, or rather, to have ready, the spruce gum and 
to gum the seams. All laps have their outer edges 
running backwards or towards the stern, so as not 
to obstruct the motion of the canoe. The spruce 
gum is obtained from trees which have been gashed 
the year before, is boiled a while to thicken it and 
mixed with powdered charcoal—some say, to make 
it look nice. The bottom seam is coated with clear 
gum and pegged, not sewn. 

A little grease is said to be added to the gum 
by most tribes to render it more elastic. The ad- 
dition of the powdered charcoal is not universal. 

Among the Micmac of Nova Scotia and Cape 
Breton the women and girls are said to have pre- 
pared the gum by chewing it. 

The last step in Saulteaux canoe-making is to 
attach a top gunwale strip. This is nailed on at 
present, but may have formerly been fastened on by 
tying or binding with spruce root. 

The Malecite, according to information supplied 
by Mr. William McInnes, Director of the Geological 
Survey, Ottawa, construct temporary or emergency 
canoes of spruce bark which are used for bringing 
out furs from the hunting camps in the spring. The 
ribs and frame are roughly constructed of withes 
or saplings, flattened slightly and rather widely 
spaced, the bow and stern being chinked with clay. 

Mr. McInnes also furnishes an interesting de- 
scription of the manner in which the Malecite protect 
the bottoms of birch-bark canoes in shallow streams: 
Lengths of spruce bark, with the smooth inner sur- 
face placed outward, are wrapped around the bot- 
toms of the canoes from end to end and held in 
position by tying their edges to the thwarts with 
cedar inner bark. Another material, which is pre- 
ferred to the spruce bark on account of its lightness, 
consists of strips of cedar about two inches wide and 
three-quarters of an inch thick. The strips run 


Piate II. 


May, 1919] 


ceececas: SSREGOORESAUDEDIDSGSERDODEDDDE|DIOL ODN DODD ERIN DSS 


TRANG emu 


MILNE: Het 


Cl i 


Ty] Ne 


SNH SSS. STW mT) 
MOMMA i OT in 


NRO ins lg 


Twit ‘ita CUR ST CLAW TO re TT CH POA a 7 0 


cc re, 
ay 
q iS 
Ui 


Ck ST 
Y/{(—| 


. Zima 
a Niner es 


it Saar 


anni 


part — _ — Sea stsaarsenien == on om 


nN 


Z, 


Nii Se oe 


Sin 


—a we 


De 


CANADIAN CANOES. 


1, Ojibwa canoe (Northern Onti ey 2, Chipewyan; 3, Slave 2 Kootenay, Shuswap and other 
yuthern B.C., tribes; 5, Haid 
Nos. 3 to 6 on plate 1, and 1 to 3 on plate 2, are arranged aati ecutively to show how one form 
may have developed from the prece mine. 


28 


THe CanapiAN- FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 


lengthwise from end to end of the canoe, just high 
enough along the sides to afford protection from 
rocks, and are lashed together and to the thwarts by 
continuous strands of cedar bark which are threaded 
through perforations in their upper edges. 

Micmac canoes in the Victoria Museum have the 
ends stuffed for a short distance with moss or shav- 
ings, the purpose being to keep the bark from col- 
lapsing or wrinkling where ribs are lacking. The 


stuffing is held in place by thin partitions of cedar, 
cut to shape and held in position at the bottom by 
Slave 


the end of one of the inside sheeting strips. 
and Chipewyan canoes also exhibit stuffing. 


i: as 3. ty a 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


and navigation developed, with the exception that 
the Eskimo to some extent use large sea-going kayaks 
for hunting the whale and seal; and also that the 
Micmacs, like other coastal tribes, sometimes con- 
struct large bark canoes for a similar purpose. The 
sides of the Micmac canoe are up-curved and turned 
in towards the centre to exclude heavy seas. 

The Eskimo kayak, for present purposes, may be 
regarded as a highly specialized canoe, differing 
from the Algonkian in the important, though not 
essential, respect of having the framework so con- 
structed that it is held together independently of the 
cover; and in the superficial one that the covering 


6 7. 8. q. 10. 


SOME TYPICAL PADDLES. 


1 and 4, West Coast paddles, exact locality unknown; 2 and 3, Tlingit (northern B.C.); 5, prob- 
ably Haida (Queen Charlotte Islands): 6, Kootenay (southern B.C.); 7, Ojibwa; 9, Copper Eskimo; 
8 and 10, Central Eskimo. (The last three are neighboring groups). 


In spite of its many excellent qualities and his- 
toric associations, the birch-bark canoe is evidently 
on the wane at present as a medium of travel. The 
factory-made canoe, though modelled after the In- 
dian article, has, in fact, so far eclipsed it that it is 
seldom seen except among remote and backward 
bands of Indians whe 
economy or conservatism. 

ESKIMO CANOES. 

In only one region, the great insular area of the 

North Pacific Coast, was a true seafaring culture 


employ it mainly from 


is of skin instead of bark, to which we may add that 
of being decked over so as to accommodate, in most 
cases, but one person. 

The upper rim or frame of two pieces is made first, 
with mortises for the insertion of ribs and thwarts and 
holes for lashings. The thwarts are placed in pos- 
ition and the upper part or deck practically com- 
pleted, one of the last steps being the attachment of 
a middle strip lengthwise along the top, except 
where it is intersected by the opening or.man-hole. 
The whole affair is then turned top or face down- 


May, 1919] 


wards. The ribs are now shaped and fitted and 
their ends inserted in the upper side-pieces and 
secured with wooden pins. The ribs are usually 
from two to six inches apart. The other longitudinal 
strips are then attached to the sides, with a similar 
piece along the middle of the bottom, which, like 
the other canoes described, is destitute of a keel. 

The sealskin covering is sewn together and ap- 
plied to the framework wet, so that it stretches tightly 
as it dries. 
Algonkian canoe, is done by several women working 
together in order to complete the job at one sitting. 
A double waterproof stitching renders the seams 
water-tight. 


The sewing, as in the case of the © 


THE CANADIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 29 


of Yukon Territory and Alaska possesses features 
which give it an intermediate position between the 
umiak and the canoe of the region to the south and 


east. A canoe-like feature is the wedge-shaped bow 
and stern. A pointed or leaf-shaped paddle is 
used. 


The umiak is said to have been entirely aban- 
doned on the east coast of Labrador.’ In parts of 
the latter region and in Alaska it is used largely by 
the men for whale and walrus hunting as well as 
for general purposes. Lengthy journeys or migra- 
tions are often undertaken in it and its capacity 
is said to be remarkable. 

The bow and stern of the Labrador umiak are 


Ni \\ 
\\\ 


DISTRIBUTION MAP, the dotted portion showing the 


Eskimo kayak and 

According to E. W. Hawkes, from whose memoir 
on the Labrador Eskimo the foregoing description is 
taken, “Great speed is maintained by the Eskimo in 
their frail kayaks. It is said that a single Eskimo 
in a kayak will propel it as fast as two white men 
will a canoe. The Eskimo ventures out in a sea 
that an Indian would not dare attempt. il 

The umiak, an open craft, also used by the 
Eskimo, presents a somewhat different appearance 
from the kayak due partly to its not being decked 
over and partly to its being rather deeper and 
clumsier in form. In other respects it does not 
differ materially, a fact which would suggest it as 
the form from which the kayak was derived. 

An open skin-covered boat used by the Kutchin 


6Hawkes, E. W., ‘“‘The Labrador 


Eskimo,” 
Memoir 91, Geol. Survey, Ottawa, p. 72. 


umiak 
covered by oblique lines, 


region, and the part 

the birch-bark canoe region. 

wider than those of the Alaskan, which gives it a 
clumsier appearance. It is usually about twenty- 
five feet long and is steered with a rudder, quite 
likely an Asiatic borrowing, as are also the oars, 
rowlocks and sails. In Alaska the umiak is pro- 
pelled by the more aboriginal paddle, the steering 
being done with an extra long and heavy one. 


SAILS. 

Sails were nowhere used as an integral feature 
of navigation except along the North Pacific Coast, 
where there is also a suspicion of Russian or other 
Asiatic influence. 

The light and rather easily upset birch-bark 
canoe was evidently unsuited for propulsion by such 
a contrivance, except in very light breezes, or when 


7Ibid., p. 68. 


30 THe Canapian’ FieLp-NATURALIST 


well loaded. That there was some appreciation of 
the assistance afforded by sails is likely, even though 
it failed to crystallize into a definite form. Catlin, 
for instance, states that among the Sioux a man 
would sometimes stand in a canoe facing the pad- 
dlers and hold a blanket spread out as a. sail. 
The upper corners were held by the hands, while 
the lower part was tied to the body or to a thwart.® 

Denys, a French explorer, speaking of the Micmac 
in 1651, remarks: “They also went with a sail, 
which was formerly of bark, but oftener of a well- 
dressed skin of a young moose. Had they a favor- 
able wind they went as swiftly as the throw of a 
stone. One canoe carried as many as eight or ten 
persons.’”® 

Skinner informs us, with regard to the Eastern 
Cree, that the “Canoes average twelve or fifteen 
feet in length, but those used by the Labrador 


as 


SAULTEAUX CANOE-MAKING: 


voyageurs are often twice that size and sometimes 
more. They are capable of bearing enormous 
weights, and many will hold twenty or more men. 
The paddles used are short and rather clumsy. They 
have no swelling at the end of the handle to facil- 
itate the grip. In paddling, the Eastern Cree take 
shorter and more jerky strokes than their Ojibway 
neighbors of the south, When a fair wind is 
blowing, a blanket or even a bush is set up in the 
bow for a sail.’””"” 

According to Boas, the Tsetsaut, a small group 


sCatlin, Geo., ‘Letters and Notes on the Man- 
ners, Customs and Conditions of the North Amer- 
ican Indians,’’ London, 1842, p. 214, and plate 294. 

g9Denys, Nicholas, ‘‘Description and Natural 
History of. the Coasts of North America,’’ The 
Champlain Society, Toronto, 1908, p. 422. 

10Skinner, Alanson, ‘‘Notes on the Eastern Cree 
and Northern Saulteaux,’’ Anthropological Papers 
of the American Mus. of Nat. Hist., vol. IX, part 1, 


p. 43. 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


of Athabascans living on Portland Inlet, B.C., used 
sails of Marmot-skin. 

These items, from various regions, suggest that 
the idea of sailing may have existed in an incipient 
form here and there, though none of them is per-— 
haps perfectly free from a suspicion of European 
influence. 

Brinton, the well-known anthropologist, states quite 
positively that no sails were used by the Déné, or 
various Athabascan tribes which occupy an immense 
region extending throughout northwestern Canada. 
In this he is supported by Morice, a missionary who 
spent many years with the Déné.!* 

PADDLES. 

Paddles differ little in pattern throughout the 
greater part of the area in which we have followed 
canoe navigation, until we reach the extreme west, 
or the Eskimo country at the north. 


Placing upper barks in position and trimming. 


Those used by the Ojibwa are extremely simple 
and are usually made of clear cedar. The paddler 
sits rather low, the toes turned inward and bent 
backward beneath the body. On a long journey a 
small pad of leaves or clothing is placed beneath the 
legs conveniently for sitting on. 

A double-bladed paddle is used throughout most 
of the Canadian Eskimo region, although in Alaska 
the single paddle is found. Among the Aleuts of 
southwestern Alaska the paddle is pointed, like that 
of the Pacific Coast. 

The Labrador double paddle is about ten or 
twelve feet long and made of hardwood or spruce 
tipped with bone. Leather rings on the handles 
keep the water from dripping on the paddler. 

The British Columbia paddle and that used by 


11Morice, A. G., 


“The Great Déné Race,’ Anth- 
ropos, vol. 5, p. 441. 


4 


May, 1919] 


certain adjoining tribes, such as the Aleuts and the 
western or northwestern Déné, is invariably sharply- 
pointed or lance-shaped and has almost invariably a 
T-shaped grip. 

British Columbian influence in this respect seems 
observable eastward as far as the Slaves and the 
Chipewyans, who have the paddle obtusely-pointed. 

WINTER TRANSPORTATION. 

A conveyance of the type represented by the 
canoe, which is suitable mostly for summer, natur- 
‘ally supposes a corresponding winter contrivance, 
especially for the northern part of our range. That 
this was, or is, actually the case is suggested by the 
close correspondence of the dog and sledge or 
toboggan area with that of the canoe (Eskimo Atha- 
bascan and Algonkian). The exceptions to this are 
found principally on the West Coast, where con- 
ditions are favorable to water transportation through- 


THE CANADIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 31 


Dugouts seem to have been used to a limited 
extent by the Ojibwa and by the Menominee, a 
tribe living in northern Michigan and Wisconsin, 
and fairly closely related to the Sauk, Fox and 
Kickapoo. This usage may also have been induced 
by a scarcity of the ordinary material, which is 
birch-bark. 

The eastern dugout region seems fairly continuous 
southward from among the tribes mentioned, and 
would probably be contained very largely by the 
southern half of the Eastern Woodlands area, to 
which we might no doubt add the eastern half of 
the south-eastern area. . 

The canoe in common use on the lower Mis- 
sissippi is a dugout, called “pirogue” by the French. 
The bow of this canoe is broad and sloping. The 
average measurement is forty feet by three in width, 
with a thickness of about three inches. A canoe 


Saulteaux Indian inserting ribs. 


out most of the year; on the Plains, where the 
travois replaced the sledge or toboggan, and canoeing 
was of relatively slight importance; and in the 
southern part of the Eastern Woodlands, where the 
snowfall is comparatively light. 


THE DUGOUT. 


The dugout, in most cases a rather crude canoe 
made by charring and hollowing-out a log ,also has 
quite a wide distribution and is found, as already 
noted, in many regions where a more advanced type 
of canoe is also used. 

Among the Iroquois, who were noted as in- 
different canoe-makers, it was quite extensively em- 
ployed, and is still used for the navigation of small 
streams for trapping and other such purposes. The 
scarcity of better materials may have been a factor 
in its popularity. The favorite Iroquois material is 
pine. 


of this size will carry twelve persons. The material 
is usually some light or buoyant wood. A craft 
called by the same name is still to be found in the 
old “Acadian” region of eastern Canada. The 
material used is white pine. A black walnut dug- 
out is used on the Arkansas. Besides a dugout, the 
Chitimacha of the lower Mississippi manufacture an 
elm-bark canoe. 

Bushnell, in speaking of the Choctaw of Bayou 
Lacomb, Louisiana, states that “dugouts were em- 
ployed on the creeks and bayous, but evidently only 
to a small extent.” The Creoles at present make 
dugouts eight or twelve feet in length from logs of 
black gum.!2 

Those in use among the Creeks (a Muskhogean 
tribe related to the Choctaw) were made of cypress 


12Bushnell, D. I., jr., ‘““‘The Choctaw of Bayou 
Lacomb, Louisiana,’’ Bulletin 48, Bureau of Amer 
Ethnology, p. 18. 


32 


and are said to have had their ends slightly elevated 
and pointed. 

Among the northern Ojibwa, Cree and Algon- 
kian tribes generally, the dugout is conspicuous by 
its absence. The same remark holds good for the 
Plains tribes and for the Eskimo. 

The Iroquois method of making a dugout is 
probably typical for the whole eastern region in 
which it is used. 

A tree of suitable material and size was first cut 
down—in former times by burning, the fire being 
localized by applying some damp material above the 
point where the tree was to be burned through. The 
log was cut to length in the same way. The next 
step was to build a number of small fires at intervals 
on top of the log, then hack away the charred part 
with adzes. The fires were rebuilt and the work 
continued in-this way until a suitable hollow was 
obtained. The ends were shaped in a similar way. 
The same method of hollowing-out dugouts and large 
wooden bowls is practised by the present-day 
Iroquois. 

Among the Déné, the adoption of the dugout is 
considered by Morice to be of fairly recent origin, 
dugouts of balsam poplar having, in his opinion, re- 
placed the original spruce-bark canoe. These dug- 
outs are sometimes thirty feet 'in length by not more 
than three in the middle and are said to possess no 
elegance or design of beauty. 

Along the Pacific Coast the dugout is the char- 
acteristic craft and is here elaborated into an article 
possessing graceful lines and considerable beauty of 
workmanship. Its development, both in the matter 
of size and finish, was no doubt due at least partly 
to the size and workability of the coniferous trees 
of the coast region, as well as to the decreased 
demand for portability. A factor which must have 
greatly improved the product of the last century or 
two is the introduction of modern tools. Huge sea- 
faring dugouts were, and are still occasionally, made 
by the Haida and neighboring tribes of the northern 
Pacific Coast. 

An interesting feature of construction is the re- 
tention of the simple or primitive method of alternate 
charring and hacking in hollowing-out the interior. 
The final adzing imparts a fine scale-like appearance. 
When the adzing has been completed the canoes 
are given additional beam by filling with water, 
which is heated with stones, after which the sides 
are forced apart by means of thwarts. 

British Columbian dugouts in general bear a 
degree of interresemblance in outline and structure 
that suggests a common cultural or intercultural 
origin. AX groove inside the stern provides a rest 
for the whaling and sealing harpoon. 

The eastern dugouts, already described, though 
possessing some broad features of resemblance to 


THe CaNnapiAN_ -FIELD-NATURALIST 


v 


[Vel XXOU 


those of the West Coast, are sufficiently different 
in general character to suggest a development under 


di fer; tes 
iffering conditions. a 


The raft is at least the crudest of the navigatory 
devices mentioned and possesses a distribution which 
is practically universal, though used in many regions 
merely as an occasional or emergency craft. Its 
form is usually extremely simple and seldom exhibits 
anything which can be dignified by the name of 
design or style, though occasionally there are ex- 
ceptions to this. The balsa, found among certain 
California Indians and in isolated localities south- 
ward to Chili, is really a raft composed of bunches 
of tule or rushes tied together, although its pointed 
ends give it some resemblance to a canoe. 

Regarding the northern Déné, we have the state- 
ment of Morice to the effect that they occasionally 
make use of rafts. ‘““They are made of three dry 
logs bound together, with their larger ends aft, 
while a slightly tapering shape is given their op- 
posite extremities. The logs are fastened together 
fore and aft by means of ropes, which, when of truly 
aboriginal make, are of twisted stnps or willow 
bark, starting from one end of a crossbar placed 
over them and going round each of the logs and the 
bar alternately. Among the Loucheux, these prim- 
itive embarkations are used in combination with regu- 
lar canoes.”!* 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

Decking, so prominent in Eskimo canoes, has been 
ebserved to be less extensive in the Dog-rib bark 
canoe, and still slighter in the Chipewyan, Algon- 
quin and Malecite. It is interesting, however, to 
find it outside the Eskimo region. The side flaps of 
the Algonquin and Malecite and some Ojibwa deck- 
ing sheets have been already referred to. 

Sewing, like covering materials, exhibits changes 
based on geographical location, these consisting 
mainly of a transition from sinew (used by the 
Eskimo) to spruce root (used by nearly all Cana- 
dian tribes excepting the Eskimo and Kutchin); or, 
in a few cases, to the bast or inner bark of the bass- 
wood and elm (used by the Iroquois). 

The seams in all bark canoes are gummed. 

The wide, flat rib is characteristic of the Eastern 
Woodlands and extends westward to the Slave coun- 
try. This is accompanied by an inside sheeting 
which covers the bark completely. Contrasted with 
the wide, flat rib, though not differing from it in 
principle, is the narrow and widely-spaced rib of 
the Eskimo, Kutchin and Dog-rib crafts. ~ 

A feature which seems to be closely associated 
with the birch-bark canoe in general is the separate 
strip or piece used to give shape to the bow and 
stern respectively. ‘These are also possessed by the 


13Morice, A. G., 


“The Great Déné Race,’ Anth- 
ropos, vol. 5, p. 443. 


May, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


Kutchin skin canoe. In the Eskimo canoes they 
are continuous with the central strip along the 
bottom. 

The differences in outline, which constitute the 
most striking superficial variations among the canoes 
described, are dependent principally upon the shape 
of the end strips or “fashion-pieces” just referred to. 
A reference to Plates | and 2 will show that a series 
may be found starting with a very simply curved 
bow and stern piece (Kutchin and Dog-rib) and 
proceeding to one having an almost perpendicular 
upper portion (Algonquin and Malecite), and from 
the latter form to one which is considerably re- 
curved (Slave, Chipewyan, Ojibwa, Montagnais, 
Micmac). 


FieLp- NATURALIST 33 


The gunwale is another interesting item. Among 
the Slaves and the neighboring Dog-ribs there are 
two gunwale strips, an inside and an outside, bound 
at intervals with the sewing or binding material. A 
similar feature links together the Algonquin and the 
Malecite. An inside gunwale to which the upper 
edge of the covering is sewn continuously, is found 
among the Chipewyan, Ojibwa, Montagnais and 
Micmac. An upper or top gunwale characterizes 
all the Algonkian canoes. The Algonquin and 
Malecite have consequently all three gunwales; in- 
side, outside, and top. The maximum of protection 
or reinforcement is evidently gained by this employ- 
ment of three protective strips along the upper edge, 
although at some addition of weight. 


THE FLORA 


OF KAPUSKASING AND VICINITY. 


By Capt. T. W..KIRKCONNELL. 


Pastures new are always seen through an alluring 
mist of anticipation, and when, some two years ago, 
it was my military misfortune but botanical privilege 
to be detailed for duty on the staff of Kapuskasing 
Internment Camp in further New Ontario, I waited 
with. intense interest for my first opportunities for 
exploration. During my exile, unkind weather and 
strenuous duties have permitted far fewer local ex- 
cursions than I had hoped for, yet I have been able 
to gain a fair approximate knowledge of the sub- 
arctic conditions that obtain here and of the vegeta- 
tion which they have evolved. 

Kapuskasing, in the so-called “Clay Belt,” is situ- 
ated on a river of the same name which joins the 
Mattagami, about one hundred miles from James 
Bay. The region exemplifies in its flora the inevit- 
able selection power of rainfall, temperature, and 
soil. Lying within the path of the broad cyclonic 
disturbances that traverse North America from the 
southwest, it has an abundant rainfall and is conse- 
quently completely forested, except in the extreme 
north where under duress of temperature trees give 
place to scrubs. It also borders on the great north- 
western reservoir of high pressure and so tastes the 
first bitter cold of anticyclonic gales. The menace 
of winter is felt throughout the greater part of the 
year, and during 1918 frost was registered in every 
month without exception. The great penetration of 
the winter frosts cannot fail to have a discouraging 
effect on plant life. During August, 1918, a drain 
was being dug through the camp at Kapuskasing and 
ice was encountered at a depth of four feet. Snow 
also persists in the bush until late in the summer. 
Asa result, only species that are exceedingly toler- 


ant of cold have survived the selection of ages, and 
even existing life is dwarfed and stunted. Finally, 
the soil almost everywhere is a heavy clay resting 
on gneiss and covered with from one to four feet 
of rich vegetable mould. Thousands of square miles 
have absolute homogeneity of conditions and the 
flora shows like lack of variety. 

The change from Southern Ontario is marked and 
complete. As one travels northward from North 
Bay, the transition in the character of the forestation 
cannot fail to attract attention. In the long climb 
into the rock country deciduous trees are left be- 
hind more and more; white pine is supreme in 
parts of the Timagami area, but before Cobalt is 
reached the last white pine has disappeared; and 
in descending into the Great Clay Bog of the North 
one sees mile after weary mile of stunted spruce 
(Picea mariana), broken at intervals by ridges of 
poplar (Populus balsamifera), aspen (Populus tre- 
muloides), and birch (Betula alba). First 
pressions of the endless leagues of spruce are pecu- 
liar. One might almost, by a stretch of the imagina- 
tion, conceive of the scene being laid in Paleozoic 
times amid the forest of progressive Equisetales and 
Lepidodendreae which clothed the lower James Bay 
slope when the world was some zons younger. Closer 
inspection finds other trees eking out a minority exist- 
ence. Cedar grows along river-bottoms, as do 
Alder and Willows. Balsam and Jackpine (Pinus 
Banksiana) are occasionally found, and the Moun- 
tain Ash (Pyrus americana) flourishes as a large 
shrub on higher ground. Any tamarack that I have 


found has been dead, apparently the victim of the 
Larch Sawfly. 


im- 


34 


My first botanical survey of the bush country im- 
pressed me more with the abundance of the species 
that were missing than with that of those present. 
After the swamps and bogs of Southern Ontario the 
new field seemed miserable and poverty-stricken. 
One of my earliest quests was for orchids. In Old 
Ontario I was on speaking terms with some thirty- 
two of these little aristocrats and the possibility of 
making some new acquaintance among them always 
added the keenest zest to a day’s botanizing. Kap- 
uskasing has treated me but poorly in this regard 
for here I have met only four species, all familiar. 
I found some Habenaria hyperborea growing sturd- 
ily in the lush grass beside the railway track, a com- 
mon enough acquaintance before, but welcome now 
for the family’s sake. Later search located 


THe CanapiAN’ Fietp-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


than two or three blossoms at a time, but here I 
could count thirty within a radius of three paces and 
over a hundred in sight. I felt myself a second 
Odysseus in Ogygia, with the réles of infatuation re- 
versed, and it finally needed the Hermes of a raven- 
ing appetite to tear me away from the spot. 

Nor are orchids the only rare visitors; for even 
plebeians are very sparsely distributed here. The 
spring woods show few of the familiar faces of the 
south—no Hepaticas, White or Purple Tmilliums, 
Bellworts, Leeks, or Dog Tooth Violets. I have 
found a few unhealthy specimens of Sanguinaria 
canadensis, Viola cucullata, and Anemone parvi- 
flora, but there is little else reminiscent of an Old 
Ontario spring. Trillium cernuum, a smaller plant 
than its brother 7. grandiflorum, and characterized 


Weiswinin Falls, 


Microstylis monophyllos and Corallorrhiza trifida 
on a damp, wooded hillside. They, too, were not 
prizes to bear home in triumph for the admiration of 
friends—poor, shy slips of green, they are the de- 
spised Cinderellas of their kind, with just a touch 
of inherited grace in their soberness. But one 
pleasant surprise was in store for me. I was tramp- 
ing one mild June day through an open spruce woods 
that crowns the steep bank just below Weiswinin 
falls on the Kapuskasing. There was little under- 
growth but a wonderful carpet of moss, a most 
beautiful display of Hypnum Crista-castrensis spread 
out like elfin ferns. Then suddenly I burst into an 
enchanted glade and saw the ground dotted with 
gems of purple and white and gold. It was the 
most wonderful bed of Calypso borealis that I have 


ever seen. I had never before come across more 


by a recurved peduncle whereby the blossom hides 
its face among the leaves whorled below, is met with 
occasionally. Copltis trifolia is plentiful in June. 
The slashed clearings and “bralé” have a some- 
what different flora from the woods. The first- 
comer to push through the mould was a stranger to 
me, and one whom I have never identified to my 
complete satisfaction in Gray. In the main it seems 
to answer to the description of Anaphalis margar- 
ilacea, var. occidentalis, being an erect dicecious com- 
posite, with linear-lanceolate, subtomentose leaves 
and small whitish florets. It is, however, more 
fleshy and herbaceous than the Pearly Everlasting, 
flourishes in mucky loam, and never attains more than 
3 dem. in height. Corydalis aurea and C. semper- 
virens are ubiquitous in burnt-over areas, their 
supremacy being undisputed until the later arrival of 


May, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


Epilobium angustifolium and Cirsium muticum. An 
abundant companion of these is Mertensia panicu- 
lata, a sturdy vagabond with purplish-blue flowers, 
handsome when young but becoming disreputable 
with age. Caltha palustris and Veronica americana 
succeed one another along swampy rills. The Crow- 
foots are represented by Ranunculus abortivus, plain 
but hardy, R. pennsylvanicus, and our childhood 
friend, R. acris. There is not much further change 
until autumn, when Asters and Goldenrods brighten 
the fields for a season. 

Bog societies present little that is new. Sphagnum 
Moss, Labrador Tea, Laurel (Kalmia polifolia), 
Linnaea borealis with its delicate twin blossoms, 
Galium boreale, Pyrola chlorantha, Pyrola asarifolia, 
Moneses uniflora, and quaint Mitella nuda are per- 
haps representative. I have yet to find the Pitcher- 
plant, Sundew, Valerian, and Gaultheria. Where 
spruce bog thins out into poplar knolls you find 
Actaea rubra, Apocynum androsaemifolium, Aralia 
nudicaulis, Prunella vulgaris, and sometimes a patch 
of Pedicularis canadensis. 

Ecologically, one might almost speak of “portage 
societies’ for I have found the open ground about 
portages a rich hunting-ground for species lacking 
elsewhere. There, outcropping gneiss is thinly up- 
holstered with sod and abundant moisture tempers 
frosts and fosters vegetation. At the foot of rocky 
cliffs just below Kabahose falls, a forty-foot cataract 
some twelve miles south of the camp, I discovered 
last June an Eldorado of Primula mistassinica, a 
charming little flower, easily rivalling Campanula 
rotundifolia in grace; and when scattered along the 
brim of a magnificent foam-flecked pool of black 
water, it was doubly beautiful. Another “find” in 
the same spot was Clematis verticillarus. Beside 
Weiswinin falls, too, I gathered in a goodly harvest 
during the summer months. Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyr- 
inchium angustifolium), two less common Cinque- 
foils, Potentilla fruticosa and P. tridentata, and two 
unfamiliar Fleabanes, Erigeron hyssopifolius and E. 
racemosus grew there in abundance, along with 
Agquilegia canadensis and Lilium philadelphicum. 

Weeds, the profanum vulgus of civilized fields, 
have immigrated but little so far, and the few ruf- 
fians to be found in this new country can be blamed 
on balast and poor seed. My rogue’s gallery com- 
prises the Catchfly (Silene noctiflora), Chickweed 
(Stellaria media), Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum 
Leucanthemum), Vetch (Vicia Cracca), Hound’s 
Tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), and Shepherd’s 
Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), but none grow yet 
in sufficient quantities to harrass the farmer. 


FieLp- NATURALIST 35 


Cryptogamic life I must dismiss briefly. Ferns 
are less plentiful than further south, but there is an 
abundance of Bracken, Bladder Fern, Maidenhair 
Fern, and Oak Fern. The Equisetaseae are well 
represented, and there is a great plenitude of Lyco- 
pods, especially Lycopodium clavatum, L. dendroi- 
deum, and L. complanatum. Many glades on high- 
er ground can boast of a charming Lilliputian forest 
of these dwindling descendants of the Coal Mea- 


sures. Mosses abound in the woods and are ex- 
uberant under portage conditions, Bryum and 
Hypnum forms predominating as usual. New 


“bralé” is often a moist mass of Liverworts. Among 
fungi my most welcome finds were Coprinus mica- 
ceus and Morchella deliciosa, and these I did my 
best to exterminate. 

A man of grass will be pardoned for venturing 
a few closing remarks on the zoology of the district. 
The only fish in the Kapuskasing river are pike, 
pickerel, black bass, and suckers, all of small size. 
Precipitous falls between here and James Bay ap- 
parently discourage ichthyic development. Insect 
life is plentiful (my fellow officers wax profane over 
armed hosts of Anopheles) but lacks the variety of 
the lower latitudes. In seeking Coleoptera I have 
found the Buprestidae and Cerambycidae well re- 
presented, while my Pay Sergeant, Alex. Miller, of 
Toronto, whose hobby runs to butterflies, captured 
some thirty-six different Rhopalocera during the 
summer of 1918, chiefly of the genera Argynnis, 
Brenthis, Grapta, Vanessa, Lycaena, and Pieris. 

My. register of birds totals about forty to date. 
The Whiskey Jack (Perisoreus canadensis), the 
Arctic Redpoll (Acanthis linaria), and the Snow- 
flake (Plectrophenax nivalis) winter with us, the 
latter two whirling about in flocks of hundreds. 
Spring brings Horned Larks and Juncoes, and later 
on Robins, Song Sparrows, Phoebes, and the Veery 
Thrush. I have seen very, very few warblers. 
Ducks, Rails, Bitterns, and Sandpipers haunt the 
swampier stretches of the river, and a pair of 
Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) have returned here 
summer after summer to fatten on the garbage from 
the internment camp. Our most distinguished vis- 
itor has been a Snowy Owl (Nyctea) who lit a few 
feet from my office door one cloudy noon last 
November. He was a magnificent specimen, white 
without a sullying fleck, and must have measured 
four feet from tip to tip of his great wings. We 
were permitted to step almost up to him before 
he took to flight and floated noiselessly away. Had 


murder been desired, a child could have shot 
him. 


36 THE CaNADIAN’ FiELD-NATURALIST 


BIRD PROTECTION 


Canadian conservationists are to be congratulated 
upon the success so far achieved in bird protection 
in the Dominion. Probably the most important 
step ever taken in any country in this direction is 
the ratification of the International Migratory Bird 
Convention with the United States whereby the two 
great North American powers are bound to co- 
operate in the protection of migratory game and 
other birds. This is now the law of the land and 
founded upon international treaty. 

In addition to a number of bird reservations 
created in the west we have lately achieved the 
following in the east: Point Pelee, Ontario, on Lake 
Erie, established as a wild life sanctuary; its unique 
bird life will be permanently retained in coming 
Canadian generations and a place reserved for them 
where they may see and hear the Mocking Bird, 
Cardinal, Carolina Wren and other southern birds 
of song and story within our own borders. 

Lately, a bill has passed the Quebec Parliament 
preserving Percé Rock, the bird ledges of Bona- 
venture Island, and Bird Rock, all in the Gulf 
Coast, as permanent bird havens, and the threatened 
destruction of some of our national wonders is 
prevented. 

The next serious protection problem is the con- 
dition of bird life on the north shore of the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, the “Canadian Labrador.” To- 
day we have every reason for serious effort in this 
direction,—economic, that a necessary food supply 
shall not be lost to the inhabitants of this bleak and 
desolate coast; sentimental, that no form of innocent 
life perish from the face of the earth; and moral, 
that we live up to the conditions and responsibilities 
imposed upon us and agreed to by us in the solemn 
treaty we have entered into. The following corre- 
spondence from those who speak from first hand 
observation on the Labrador coast, will indicate how 
critical this question is and how necessary it is that 
all join together in assisting and supporting Dom- 
inion officials in this direction. 

Boston, Mass., DEDEMBER 11, 1918. 
To the Editor of THE Orrawa NATURALIST: 


The following note received by me from Dr. 
Robert T. Morris, of New York, which he has al- 
lowed me to use in any way that will do good, is 
deserving of the widest publicity. 

The chapter he refers to in my book was pub- 
lished in advance in 1916 in the seventh annual 
report of the Commission of Conservation of Can- 
ada, and describes in detail the terrible destruction 
of bird life on the coast of the Labrador Peninsula. 
The subject is so important, if the bird life of this 
region is to be saved, that I have taken the lib- 


[Vol. XXXII. 


IN CANADA. 


erty of quoting from this chapter some suggestions 
which I believe to be of vital importance. 

“What then is to be done? Is there no hope for 
the birds and for the people to whom the birds are 
such a valuable asset? I think there is. I believe 
that the whole problem can be solved most rationally 
and satisfactorily for all concerned by the immediate 
establishment of bird reservations. These should be 
islands or groups of islands or suitable portions of 
the main coast that can be watched by guardians. 
Here the birds should be undisturbed and allowed 
to rest, feed and breed in peace. The people should 
be made to understand that these reservations are 
not established to cut down their hunting, and 
thereby invite poaching and violation of the laws, 
but for the purpose of preserving and increasing the 
birds so that there shall be better shooting for every- 
body on the coast. 

“A campaign of education is necessary, there- 
fore, and I believe that the bird reservation will do 
more good in making the people understand, not only 
the need of bird conservation, but its advantages. The 
game wardens will be looked upon, not as enemies 
to be avoided and cheated, but as friends who are 
working for the people’s good. If the matter is well 
managed, the people will regard their reservation 
with pride, and public opinion will keep the birds 
there inviolate. The wasted regions near fishing 
villages now devoid of all sea-bird life on the one 
hand and the crowded bird reservations on the 
other will be powerful object lessons in this process 
of education. I would suggest the placing of a 
brief notice on each reservation, printed in English, 
as well as in French, Montagnais or Eskimo, where 
these languages are used, worded somewhat as 
follows: 

“BIRD RESERVATION 

“The purpose of this reservation is to preserve the 
birds from destruction and to increase their num- 
bers, so that there will be better shooting on the 
coast. The people are asked not to disturb the 
birds or their eggs on this reservation and to avoid 
the use of guns in its neighborhood.” 

CHarLes W. TowNsenp. 


616 Madison Ave., 
New York City, NoveMBer 15, 1918. 


To Dr. CHARLES WENDELL TOWNSEND, 
98 Pinckney St., 


Boston, Massachusetts. 


Your treatment of the subject of conservation in 
Labrador in the book, “In Audubon’s Labrador’, 
which I have read with great interest, meets with my 
approval or more than that. On my trips to the 
Gulf Coast of Labrador and on the eastern coast 


May, 1919] 


as far north as Hamilton Inlet, I observed that the 
habit 


of raiding all the islands and adjacent mainlands on 


Newfoundland cod fishermen were in the 


Sunday and making way with the eggs and the 
young of all the sea-birds. Some of the islands were 
wholly deserted so far as bird life was concerned 
and your Captain Joncas told me that in addition 
to the Newfoundland fishermen a number of men 
were engaged in the business of egging and that 
the eggs were preserved in brine and sold to the 
He said that the egg hunt 
was continued until such a late date in the season 
that the young birds which finally hatched were not 
strong enough to withstand the autumn storms and 


crews of various vessels. 


he had seen thousands of young birds thrown up on 
the beaches. When I have been on the coast the 
Newfoundland fishermen destroyed young birds for 


THE CANADIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 37 


sport, leaving them where they fell on the ground 
if they were of species not good to eat. 

The waste of food fish also is very great along 
the Labrador coast. Small cod and hake which 
are not desired by the fishermen are often smothered 
in the traps or killed when the traps are emptied 
and I have seen them floating for miles on the sur- 
face when the trappers were at work. The cod 
trappers catch a great many adult salmon by 
setting their nets in the channels when the salmon 
first make their way towards the rivers. This is 
illegal, but is winked at by the officials. A remark- 
able waste of salmon occurs in September when the 
herring nets are used near the coast. This is the 
time of year when the smelts are descending from 
the rivers and putting out to sea. They are captured 
in quantities in the herring nets. 

Ropert T. Morris. 


BIRD MIGRATION. 


By H. Mous ey, Hat.ey, Que. 


It is rightly said no doubt that “old traditions 
die hard,” and therefore it is not so very surprising 
perhaps to find in Mr. C. B. Hutching’s short note 
on the above subject in the November number of 
THe Ottawa Naturauist, page 97, that a writer 
in the St. Louis Republic, whilst considering the idea 
of birds flying in the rarified atmosphere three miles 
above the earth’s surface, and being guided by the 
topography of the country at night, when flights are 
mostly made, as being somewhat erroneous, pro- 
pounds a solution equally erroneous to my mind, 
when he suggests that they guide their course by 
means of the stars. 

Speaking personally I have long ago given up 
cherishing “The fairy tales of science, and the long 
result of Time;” which to put it in a nutshell, 
amounts to considering birds as self-conscious an- 
imals like ourselves, instead of sub-conscious ones, 
governed by some impulse imperfectly known at 
present. 

To imagine that birds are capable of shaping their 
course by means of such landmarks as mountains, 
rivers or even stars, seems to me to be somewhat 
far fetched, especially when we consider that a large 
proportion of them migrate at night, and sometimes 
on the very darkest nights too, when all of these 
landmarks, including the stars, would be invisible. 
No, there must be some other explanation to account 
for this unerring intuition (or call it what you like) 
in the animal world, and that explanation lies in 
the fact, I think, that in pure nature there is no such 
thing as self-consciousness, or the power of reason- 


ing, although some of the higher animals, such as 
dogs, horses, etc., from long and intimate association 
with man, no doubt at times display traces of it, in 
the same way that some human beings are still ab- 
normally susceptible to subconscious impressions, a 
relic of conditions existing before the evolution of 
self-conscious mind. 

All wild birds and animals however I believe are 
subconscious, and therein lies the secret of their 
making no mistakes, for they do not reason as human 
beings do, but know just what ought to be done, 
and when and how to do it, in the same way as the 
larva knows exactly when it is full fed and must 
pupate, as well as where and when and how that 
process is to be accomplished, and the birds the 
time of migration, the nesting period, the rearing of 
their young, and the time to return to their winter 
quarters, without the aid of any landmarks whatso- 
ever in either case. To understand this more fully 
one must be prepared to accept the fact that telepathy 
(now recognized by science, but which up to the 
present we have been unable to turn to practical 
account by mechanical means as in the case of the 
Marconi wireless system) pervades and is general 
throughout the entire animal kingdom. It is a 
potential faculty (working on an astral plane un- 
known to us at present) which inter-connects sub- 
conscious mind, and permits silent intercourse to be- 
come established. But just as in the case of electric- 
ity and wireless telegraphy, electric force must pass 
in the one case along a wire connector, in the other 
through a psycho physical medium (ether) before it 


38 THe Canapian’ Fievp-NaTuRALIST 


can be energized, so in the case of telepathy and 
teleesthesia which if not identical with electricity 
operate much in the same way, a circuitous con- 
nection must be established before results can be 
obtained. These results in the case of teloesthesia 
are no doubt enhanced by the cover of darkness 
(just as they are said to be in the case of the 
Marconi system) this accounting no doubt for so 
many birds migrating at night. In telepathy (mind 
blending) and telcesthesia (perception at a distance, 
or power of vision passing the limits of time and 
space) however the forces operate through a medium 
not apparent at present to our sense, and therefore 
we cannot determine the necessary conditions, or 
realize their full significance, but this may possibly 
be an open book some day, when sufficient time can 
be given to the study of life functioning on a plane 
other than our own. 

My studies in the field of late have more and 
more convinced me that in telepathy and telcesthesia 
we have the means of answering some of those 
awkward questions which are for ever perplexing the 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


followers and believers in the old idea that birds 
are self-conscious beings, and perform their wonder- 
As a matter 
of fact these facts are not so very wonderful as 
natural, because they belong to the infallibility of a 
subconscious, and not to the reasonings and hence 
mistakes of a self-conscious mind. 


ful feats by a process of reasoning. 


In conclusion I see in the late war one of the 
most definite proofs against the belief that birds 
are self-conscious for had they been so they would 
surely have forsaken the battlefields of France and 
Flanders, which has not been the case. ‘The resi- 
dents have remained just as usual, and the migrants 
Thus in face of 
danger of which they know nothing the birds have 
kept on the same course and frequented the same 
places, which for countless ages have been their 
custom, and despite the noise of battle have nested 
as heretofore, surely a proof that they do not act 
on their own responsibility, but are dependent on the 
ruling of their subconscious minds. 


have come and gone likewise. 


THE WHITE PELICAN, PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS, IN ALBERTA 


By F. L. Fartey, Camrose, ALTA. 


Sometime in the summer of 1908, I heard of an 
island in a lake about 18 miles north of Camrose, 
where a large number of White Pelicans nested. 
After more enquiries I learned that the island was in 
the furthermost North Miquelon lake, one of several 
beautiful small bodies of water lying to the south 
of the Beaver Hills. At the time there were prac- 
tically no trails leading into that new country, and 
with one exception no land had been taken up 
around the lakes; it was therefore in its natural 
state. JI was not able to visit the island until the 
shooting season opened, when a friend and I drove 
to the lower lake, and with a row boat worked our 
way through this and the middle lake, and made a 
short passage into what we named Pelican lake, 
This body of water is about two miles long by one 
mile in width and the timber grows to within a 
few feet of the high water line. The island is quite 
descernible about one mile out in the. lake. The 
two outstanding features were the several large 
nests up in the trees, which turned out to belong to 
the Great Blue Heron, and the large wave of white 
which seemed to cover the eastern shore of the 
island. As we came near this apparent white wave 
turned out to be Pelicans, some of which were on 
the beach and others close by in the water. 


Before we approached to within 500 yards, those 
that were not in the water joined the others, and 


swam around the south side of the island, and upon 
our speeding up, they arose, a few at a time, and 
before we reached the shore the whole flock was 
high in the air, moving in wonderful formations al- 
most immediately overhead. A small flock seemed 
to be particularly interested in us and came down 
to within close range, so close that the black mark- 
ings showed quite clearly. Others were probably 
half a mile high, and about half the flock were at 
such an altitudesthat they did not look larger than 
small gulls. When a flock of these birds are 
wheeling and circling in a close set company of 
from ten to fifty, their appearance in the air is one 
of almost unbelievable change. When they are 
sailing in such a way as to present their horizontal 
aspect to the distant observer, they are nearly lost to 
view, but when they are banking for a turn, there 
comes to view a wonderful brilliance of white wings 
and bodies, flashing in the sunshine, beautiful beyond 
the powers of one’s mind to imagine, and at a 
distance of a mile or two the transcendent ease and 
grace of their flight is intensified, because all hint 
of effort and of wing motion is lost to the observer. 

We remained on the island for about an hour, 
and before we left the lake the birds had alighted 


on a long stony bar a short distance to the west 
of the island. Our estimate of the number of Pel- 
icans, after failing to count them several times, was 


May, 1919] 


about 500. The island is less than two acres in 
extent. The east end slopes to the water and is 
quite narrow, and from there to the western ex- 
tremity the ground gradually rises until it is about 
fifteen feet above the water. There were at that 
time about one dozen Balm of Gilead trees, a few 
willows, and one spruce tree, mostly on the higher 
part of the island, some of which were dead. The 
Balm of Gilead trees were about one foot in 
diameter and thirty to forty feet high. The only 
grass that grew on the island was close to the 
waters edge. A very strong growth of nettles cov- 
ered practically all the higher part of the island. 
Running through the centre of the island from the 
south there was a small depression on which nothing 
was growing, and it was here that the Pelicans 
nested. Scattered all over this sandy loam were 
hundreds of eggs which had never hatched, now 
entirely dried up inside. These were about the size 
of goose eggs, but the surface was quite rough and 


chalky. 
On May 29 in the following year, 1909, I visited 


the island again and found about the same number 
of Pelicans. Most of them on my approach were 
out on the stony bar, but there were about fifty up 
the little draw where the eggs were on our first 
visit. Before I landed these quietly walked to the 
water and swam away to join the others. The 
stench that seemed to be everywhere after leaving 
the water, was beyond description, and I thought 
it would be impossible to remain long enough to 
make the investigations I hoped to. However, I 
soon got used to it; perhaps I forgot it when all the 
varied sights came before me. Climbing up the 
bank I soon came to the nests, some with eggs inside, 
but often with as many outside. The nests were 
nothing more than depressions in the loam, with a 
slight banking up on the outside. There was no 
lining whatever, and it was evident that different 
birds used the same nests, from the various sizes of 
the eggs. The number of eggs varied from one 
to five, and at this date they were very little in- 
cubated. About one-third of the eggs were scat- 
tered here and there over this part of the island, 
some quite a distance from any nest, and I concluded 
that these must have been thrown out by the birds 
when they left the nests hurriedly, as no doubt they 
are very clumsy in their movements on land. ‘This, 
then, would explain the great number of eggs that 
were not hatched the previous year. 


During my inspection of this breeding ground there 
were many other sights on all sides to interest one. 
Up in the larger trees there were Great Blue Herons, 
some on their nests, and others keeping guard. On 
the small trees were about a dozen Double Crested 


THE CanapiAN FiELp-NATURALIST 39 


Cormorants, some of which were setting on their 
nests of three and four beautiful bluish eggs. These 
nests were small and flat, built of sticks and put 
together very loosely. In a hollow stump I found 
a Golden-Eye setting on a nest full of eggs. A 
little further on, a Mallard flew up from her nest 
of well incubated eggs. House Wrens, Yellow 
Warblers, Yellowthroats, and Tree Swallows were 
nesting on the island, and on the shore Spotted 
Sandpipers and Yellow Legs were feeding. 


The following July another visit was made, and 
as the island was approached the Pelicans came to 
meet us. Up on the island we could see what 
looked like a small flock of sheep huddled together. 
These proved to be the young Pelicans, the entire 
increase for the year of this colony, nineteen only. 
It seemed a tragedy to think of this small number 
from perhaps six hundred eggs. There were the 
usual number of unhatched eggs lying around, at 
least several hundred. As I moved toward the 
young ones they waddled off slowly, but gave no 
note of alarm. Some of the old birds flew down 
over the island, and very rarely gave a small cry, 
this was the only note I ever heard from them. The 
stench at this time was even worse than in May, 
likely due to the number of dead fish lying around, 
which were partly decomposed. About a month 
later when motoring through the lake we came onto 
the little flock of young, still nineteen in number. 

The following two or three years this colony 
used the island for their summer home, but the 
land around the lake was gradually being taken up, 
and no doubt farm boys wanted to see the big 
birds, and this with the ever increasing number of 
motor boats on the lakes, must have disturbed the 
Pelicans so much that they deserted it entirely. The 
Government made the lake a preserve and appointed 
one of the settlers a guardian, who posted notices 
forbidding anyone landing on the island, but it was 
too late, and people are wondering where the 
former owners of the island have gone. A half- 
breed told me that many years ago the Pelicans 
nested on all the islands in these lakes, and that 
they were as plentiful as geese in the fall. He said 
the Cree name for them was Cha-Chac-Kw. 


Last fall, Dr. R. M. Anderson, of the Canadian 


Geological Survey, and I spent some time on Pelican 
island, and there were no signs whatever of Pelicans 
being there during recent years. A\ll the trees had 
fallen and the entire surface of the island was 
covered with nettles. 1 never saw a Pelican migrat- 
ing, and as Camrose is directly south of where this 
colony lived, I am of the opinion that they must 
come and go by night, or they would have been 
noticed passing over. 


40 THe CanapiAN- FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Mr. Levi Penney of Woodlawn, Ontario, re- 
ported an unusual abundance of fall ducks in 
Constant bay on the Ottawa river, and attributes the 
phenomenon to the epidemic, during the shooting 
season, of influenza, which in various ways prevented 
the exodus of city gunners. 

Crype L. Patcn, Ottawa. 


Last fall while rabbit hunting near Ottawa, Mr. 
Phil. Brady observed, resting about ten feet from 
the ground in a cedar tree, a Screech Owl which 
held in its claws an adult Ruffed Grouse. The death 
of the grouse, the throat of which was torn, cannot 
with certainty be credited to the owl which may 
have secured it after it had been killed by another 
agent; nevertheless the remarkable fact remains 
that the owl had sufficient strength to carry the 
grouse to an elevation of ten feet. 

CiypeE L. PatcH, Ottawa. 


AN HERMAPHRODITE LosBsTER.—In the month of 
November, 1917, whilst engaged in making special 
observations on the lobster at Bay View, Pictou 
county, N.S., I found in a fisherman’s trap, just 
after it had been drawn out of the sea, a lobster 
which was absolutely male on the left side and 
absolutely female on the right side. The specimen 
was sent intact to Dr. A. P. Knight, Queen’s Uni- 
versity, Kingston, Ont., with whom I was associated. 
This find was surely a remarkable one. 

ANDREW HackETT. 


Reading Mr. Harlan I. Smith’s note in a recent 
issue of THE Ottawa Natura.isT, I am reminded 
of a mishap which befell another bird some years 
ago. While passing one of the fine spruces on the 
grounds of the Ontario Agricultural College, 
Guelph, my attention was arrested by a fluttering 
of wings among the branches, which I found to 
come from a robin dangling by the tail from a tuft 
of twigs. Excited by my closer approach the bird 
managed to free itself, leaving behind a half-dozen 
tail feathers, which proved to be firmly glued to 
their anchorage by means of ordinary tar! Pre- 
sumably it had come here and perched, perhaps 
over night, within tail’s-length of the unfriendly 
mesh of branchlets, after having first frequented 
some newly-tarred surface in which the tips of the 
feathers had become daubed. 

HERBERT GroH, PreEsTON, ONT. 


THe Canapa Jay.—There are few campers in 
the northern woods of Ontario who have not met 
with the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis), one 


of the most delightful of birds in spite of its bad 
qualities—Wis-Ka-Tyjan or thief the Indians call it; 
it has well earned its reputation. The lumbermen 
have corrupted the name into Whiskey Jack and if 
any of their number misses some whiskey he is ad- 
vised to go to this bird for information. Not only 
will this bird steal everything in the way of food 
about a camp, but we are sorry to say it will also 
eat the eggs of other birds as well as their young. 
If it were not for these bad qualities the most ap- 
propriate name for it would be “The Grey Nun” 
for with its beautiful grey color—white forehead, 
white throat and black at back of head and neck, 
also its delightfully soft eyes and gentle manner, it 
is typical of the nun. Although not seen in large 
flocks, half-a-dozen or more may often be met, and 
when they discover a camp in the woods there is 
great jubilation, we might say laughter, for their note 
at this time is much like laughter. 

It might be supposed that a few such birds, some- 
what less than eleven inches in length, could not 
make much impression on a hanging deer, and the 
camper would be surprised to find that one of his 
best haunches had disappeared in a few hours, this 
taken piecemeal and most of it hidden for future 
use. Last September when watching these birds it 
was noticcd that they did not carry all their supplies 
to one place, but to several places and they were 
often tucked away between a hanging piece of bark 
and the trunk of the tree. 

The Whiskey Jack is probably the easiest of any 
of our birds to tame. When camping not long ago, 
and while preparing a duck for cooking, in which 
one of these birds was much interested, it was in- 
duced to come and peck at the duck. Having 
once tasted this delicious morsel it forgot all fear, 
and drawing the duck gradually nearer the writer 
played hide and seek with it round his body and 
over his thighes the Whiskey Jack following. From 
that date this bird became our pet and would freely 
eat out of our hands. 
tent and wake us up by walking over us if break- 
fast was delayed too long. oe ee 


It would also come into our 


AN Epipemic oF Roup IN THE Crow RoostTs oF 
THE Lower THAMES River, KENT Co., ONT.— 
Residents of the lower Thames valley, west of 
Chatham, Ont., report that large numbers of crows 
regularly winter in western Kent county and roost 
in the orchards and groves along the river. Mr. 
John Johnston says in a letter to the writer that 
“the date when the crows first wintered here was 
about 1895. It was a mild winter and a very late 
fall, and not a great deal of snow. They started 


May, 1919] 


to gather in flocks about October. The number | 
should judge, would be well up in the thousands 
and it has materially increased ever since. They 
fed principally on corn and dead animals and also 
on garbage in the towns. Every time we had a 
co'd spell hundreds of them died. I am told that 
the place where they have been in the habit of 
rcosting (McGavin’s) the ground is now (Feb. 
10h, 1918) covered with dead crows.” 


Mr. William Holmes residing about 4 miles below 
Chatham, relates that there was a great flight of 
crows in 1904, large numbers remaining all winter 
feeding on the corn left standing in the fields, or 
in the fields in stooks. Thousands died. As Mr. 
Holmes protected the crows on his property, his 
orchard of 400 trees was “literally packed, and the 
ground underneath (was also) packed, and the pigs 
(were) busy every day for weeks eating the frozen 
and blind, as there seemed to be a disease of the 
eyes, a white film growth over the eyeball. Though 
they seemed healthy and strong (they) would walk 
around as blind as a bat.” They remained with him 
until late in the spring. 


There is no doubt but that the affection from 
which the crows were suffering was the same as that 


THe CaNapiAN FieLtp-NATURALIST 4| 


described by Eldon Howard Eaton®* as occurring 
in the Canandaigua Crow Reost of New York 
State in December, 1901. This disease he determ- 
ined to be “roup,” and his description of “the 
eyes” being “usually blinded by a membrane form- 
ing over the exterior of the cornea” agrees accur- 
ately with Mr. Holmes’ description given above. 
Eaton states that the disease did not appear either 
“on the Rochester roost or in that near Niagara 
Falls” “the disease disappeared with the 
coming warm weather.” The last evidence of it 
noted by Eaton was on April 6. He states “‘it is 
probable that one thousand crows died of this 
disease during the last winter in Ontario county.” 

Both Mr. Johnston and Mr. Homes believe that 
the crows assisted in the spread of the San Jose 
scale, which Mr. Johnston states was first intro- 
duced into the orchards along the Lake Erie shore 
on nursery stock from the United States. Mr. 
Holmes informed me that the scale made its first 
appearance in his orchards the summer following 
the great flight of crows, and in spite of all his 
endeavors to check it, in three years’ time it had 


“won out.” The whole orchard along the river was 

killed. 

Glas MNS M. Y. WILuiaMs. 
*Auk, Vol. XX, 1903, pp. 57-59. 


BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 


Ciass Book oF Economic ENTomoLocy, with 
special reference to the economic insects of the 
Northern United States and Canada. Philadelphia: 
P. Blakeston’s Son & Co., 436 pp., 257 illustrations ; 
price $2.50. 


We were much pleased to see this new volume 
on insects, prepared by one of our own members— 
one who is held in high regard by entomologists 
generally not only throughout Canada, but the 
United States as well. The volume is a class 
book of Economic Entomology, with special refer- 
ence to the economic insects of the Northern United 
States and Canada. It is a companion volume to 
Reese’s book on Economic Zoology. It is divided 
into four parts: Part I, discusses the structure, 
growth and economics of insects; Part II, the 
identification of insects injurious to farm, garden 
and orchard crops, etc.; Part III, the classification 
and description of common insects; Part IV, the 
control of injurious insects. 


Briefly, this new book on Economic Entomology 
is one which undoubtedly will be well received. It 
will certainly find a useful place among economic 
students. The descriptions are concise and to the 
point, the illustrations well chosen and the printing 


excellent.—A.G. 


THE Works oF J. Henri Fasre. Translated by 
Teixeira De Mattos. N.Y., Dod, Mead & Co. 
The writings of the great French naturalist, J. 
Henri Fabre are only now becoming widely known 
though the writer was a contemporary of Darwin. 
To those who do not understand French, these 
works are now available in their entirety by the 
English translation. 

To the entomologist of the old school who studies 
nature for the wonders of her works rather than for 
the shekels which are now offered to a professional 
student, these volumes will prove a delight, which 
we believe, has never before been equalled in the 
realms of science. Nor should they be neglected by 
the professional who will discover in their contents, 
details in observation in methods of study and in 
habits that must prove of great value even to the 
most proficient. 

It is, perhaps, enough in this short notice to say 
that these works are teeming with facts presented in 
a manner that only a Frenchman seems capable of, 
and this lucidity seems to have been fully maintained 
by the translator. 

These works are, to all intents and purposes, with- 
out technical language and deal with a great range 
of subjects as will be noted from the following 


titles already published: “The Life of the Spider”, 


42 THe CanapiAN’ FieELD-NATURALIST 


“The Life of the Fly”, “The Mason Bees”, “Bram- 
ble Bees and Others”, “The Hunting Wasps”, “The 
Life of the Caterpillar”, “The Life of the Grass- 
hopper”, “The Sacred Beetle and Others”. 

To review such a remarkable series of works in 
so short a space is impossible nor has it been at- 
tempted. It is enough to say that under each title 
are provided the life habits of many different insects 
told with a charm that turns the tedium of ordinary 
technical science into the wonders of a fairy tale, 
and yet in the transformation does not at all over- 
step the realms of truth. 

These writings should prove a source of delight 
alike to the young and grown-ups, and for the 
parents who wish to instill a knowledge of nature 
into their children, free from the too common im- 
aginary teachings of to-day, we know of no books 
that should prove more suitable or more readable, 


than those of J. Henri Fabre.—N. C. 


Key To THE Rocky Mountain F Lora, by P. 
A. Rydberg, Ph.D., Curator, New York Botanical 
Garden: Published by the author; price $1.60 post 
paid. 

When Dr. Rydberg published his “Flora of the 
Rocky Mountains and Adjacent Plains,” which was 


[Vol. XXXII 


reviewed in “The Ottawa Naturalist” a year ago, 
field botanists immediately felt the need of some- 
thing less bulky than a large volume of more than 
1,100 pages. Dr. Rydberg has now filled this want 
in a manner that will please and satisfy both field 
and herbarium botanists. The recently published 
Key is a reprint in a somewhat different form of all 
the keys published in the Flora, and these keys 
with an excellent glossary and index make a handy 
little volume of 306 pages of 5x8 inches and less 
than half an inch thick which can be carried in 
any ordinary pocket. The Key may in this +» 
be used independently of the Flora and fresh 
growing specimens be studied before they are col- 
lected. Another use to which the Key can be 
put is in the listing and checking of local floras, an 
initial letter or some arbitrary sign being used to in- 
dicate particular localities, countries or provinces. 
As the Key covers not only the flora of the Rocky 
Mountains, but also that of the provinces of Al- 
bert and Saskatchewan and the Kootenay Districts 
of British Columbia, it should be in the hands not 
only of all western botanists but of all school- 
teachers, ranchers, farmers and others who are in- 
terested in knowing the names of the flowers which 
crow near their homes.—J. M. 


(The April issue was mailed on July 3, 1919.) 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


—- + 


VOL. XXXIII. 


SEPTEMBER, 


1919. No. 3. 


NOTES ON CANADIAN WEASELS. 


By J. Dewey Soper. 


THe Least WEAsEL, Mustela rixosa (Bangs). 
This diminutive carnivore is doubtless the least 
known of the North American weasels. About 
fifteen records all told, mostly from Canada, in- 
dicate both our limited knowledge and the scant 
possession of scientific material relative to the species. 
Since 1857 when Baird first described the species, 
data concerning its life history has accumulated 
slowly and even yet is of very limited extent. 

The range of rixosa, according to Seton! extends 
in a broad band, roughly, eight or nine hundred miles 
in width diagonally across the continent from Mon- 
treal and the south-western extremity of Lake 
Superior to Alaska. As a boreal species it is re- 
stricted to the Arctic, Hudsonian, and Canadian 
life zones. In north-western Alaska a race of this 
species P. eskimo (Stone) is recognized, also what 
may prove to be a race is Rhoads’? allegheniensis 
from Pennsylvania. Thus, theoretically, southern 
Ontario comes within the range of the Least Weasel, 
but I know of no records from the region. 

The Least Weasel is not only the smallest of the 
weasels, but is the smallest known beast of prey in 
the world. 

In summer, the upper parts including the tail are 
of an even light brown color, the under parts being 
pure white. The winter coat is entirely white. The 
tail is very short and lacks at all seasons the black 
tip. 

As a carnivorus animal its diminutive proportions 
may be better appreciated when compared with a 
mouse for instance. The Least Weasel habitually 
preys on mice, but exceeds them but little in size. 
A glance at the following measurements of rixosa 
will reveal slight difference in this respect from the 
genus Microtus, the meadow mice, etc. 

Total length about 61% inches (166 mm.); tail 
vertebrae, 144 inches (32 mm.); hind foot, 13-16 
inches (21 mm.) 

Measurements of a large meadow mouse (M. 


pennsylvanicus) taken Feb. 17, 1918, coll. No. 243, 


1Seton, EK. T., Life Hist. of Northern Animals. 
Vols IT, p. 861, 1909. 

2Rhoads, S. N., Mamm. of Penn. and N.J., pp. 
173-176, 19038. 


male: Length, 168 mm.; tail, 50 mm.; foot 21 mm. 

It will be noticed that the latter is the largest, 
but this one was of more than ordinary size. 

The only place I ever came into contact with 
the Least Weasel is Edmonton, Alta., and even there 
where weasels are’ common only one was taken 
within a certain period of time, during which about 
one hundred and fifty of the other species were 
captured. This fact indicates its rarity in that 
region. 

I found it about Nov. 13 in one of my traps, along 
the White-mud river, a few miles south-west of the 
city. It was pure white, proving it takes on its 
winter pelage as soon as the other species. 

The locality in which it was collected was that 
ordinarily frequented by M. cicognanii and M. 
longicauda—meadow-like river-tracts sparsely over- 
grown with poplar. The first sight of its body made 
me think of an Albina meadow mouse. Even such 
small mammals sometimes spring the larger traps as 
all trappers know. To those who are unfamiliar 
with the many disappointments of the trap line, it 
may be said that after repeated failures at certain 
“sets” when bait disappears and traps are myster- 
iously sprung, a crushed shrew or deer-mouse in the 
jaws will at last dispel the mystery. 


THE Lonc-TAILED WEASEL, Mustela longicauda 
(Bonaparte). 

This species, the largest of our Canadian weasels, 
should not be confused with others of the family. 
Great strength for its size is suggested in the mus- 
cular contour of its make-up. The legs are com- 
paratively short and stout, the body compact and 
very muscular, and the head massively formed in 
alliance with its other physical proportions. 

In size it approaches that of a small mink and in 
summer coat with hasty glance might be mistaken 
for one. In winter, as Seton remarks, it could 
easily be mistaken for a big white squirrel, that is, 
upon the ground. It has a closest resemblance to 
M. noveboracensis but as the range of the two 
species do not coincide and as extra limital occur- 
rences are rare, little or no confusion should be ex- 
perienced in the field. 


44 THE CANADIAN. FieLtp-NaTuURALIST 


Except for one extra limital record by Miller® 
for North Bay, the species has only been found in 
Canada broadly coincident with the prairie con- 
ditions of the western provinces of Manitoba, Sas- 
katchewan, and Alberta; in the south-western por- 
tion of the former and north to 55° in the two 
latter. In the United States its range is south to 
Kansas. While it is generally recognized as a 
prairie dweller, the poplar forests skirting the prairies 
harbor great numbers, as do also to some extent the 
darker coniferous areas. Probably the latter fact 
is not generally accepted. I have personally, how- 
ever, frequently collected the species about the city 
of Edmonton. 
ditions peculiar to the north-west, such as the oc- 


The immediate region comprises con- 


casional grass or prairie lands, the poplar woods of 
the upper country, and the deep river basins and 
ravines which are comparatively heavily timbered. 
Over all such areas around Edmonton the long-tail 
ranges indifferently. 

In summer the species over the upper parts is pale 
yellowish-brown, the under parts rich ochraceous 
or buff yellow. The winter fur is pure white. The 
tail is one-third the length of the animal and the 
black tip one-quarter of the length of the whole tail. 

Measurements as given by Seton*: Length about 
18 inches (457 mm.); tail 6 inches (152 mm.); 
hind foot 2 inches (51 mm.) Female about one- 
seventh smaller. 

With the short-tailed species, M. cicognanii, the 
Edmonton region is favorably endowed. In win- 
ter their delicate paired tracks may be seen nearly 
everywhere. M. longicauda occurs in a ratio of 
about one to ten of M. cicognanii._ Under the dis- 
cussion of the latter I have placed my estimate on 
the general and specific numbers of all the weasels 
found around Edmonton. 

Along the Saskatchewan river numerous deep 
wooded ravines open out upon the valley. Within 
these, probably induced by a greater abundance of 
game in winter, a goodly number of weasels, or 
ermine as they are called, make their daily rounds. 
The spaces under the spruces and the open runs 
of the little frozen streams are usually at very fre- 
quent intervals indented with the innocent-looking 
trails. Hither and thither they lead, under wind- 
falls and logs, through tangled growths, into crevices 
or other surface openings, etc. A blood-flecked 
hollow reveals the tragic end of a little deer-mouse; 
probably at a grassy margin a meadow vole. Ina 
sheltered hollow a huddled hare has provided a 
sumptuous feast for days. And so all through the 
bitter weeks until nature fans the land with vernal 

38Miller, Jr., G. S., 
No. 1, 1896. 


‘Seton, E. T., 
p. 865, 1909. 


Mammals of Ontario, Vol. 28, 


Life Hist., N. Animals, Vol. II, 


[Vol. XXXIII 


breezes, the great white page is written again and 
again with signs of frolic or grim tragedy that 
spells life or death. 

Bordering the White-mud river which flows into 
the Saskatchewan about two miles south-west of 
Edmonton I found the favorite hunting grounds of 
longicauda in the meadow-like areas on both sides. 
On these miniature alluvial plains in the concavity 
of the bends now grown to grass and scattered 
poplars, the weasels bounteously fared on the num- 
berless population of shrew, mice and rabbits. Such 
places always suggest good weasel grounds. 
New York WEaseEL, Mustela 

(Emmonds). 

In comparison with other weasels this species has 
a relatively restricted range within which also occurs 
Mustela cicognanit. 


noveboracensis 


In some sections it yields in 
numbers to the latter, but in other areas entirely 
replaces it. 

The range of this species is approximately within 
the area bordered by an imaginary line drawn from 
the southern New England States, south to the 
Carolinas, west to the Mississippi, north to Georgian 
Bay, and east to Montreal. Within such area it is 
confined to the Canadian, Transition and Upper 
Austral zones. 

The summer color of M. noveboracensis is dark 
brown above and white below, sometimes tinged 
with sulphur-yellow. In Ontario the winter coat is 
pure white, excepting sometimes a slight xanthic 
tinge on the belly, buttocks and tail. The latter is 
one-third of its total length and the terminal half 
is black (at all seasons). By this character it may 
readily be distinguished from M. longicauda, but as 
the range of the two species do not coincide, it will 
not be needed as a field mark. 

The following measurements of this species are 
given by Rhoads®: Total length, male 405 mm. (16 
ins.), female, 325 (1234 ins.); tail vertebrae, male, 
140 (54 ins.), female, 108 (41% ins.); hind foot, 
male, 47 (134 ins.), female, 34 (1% ins.) 

In the counties of Wellington and Waterloo, of 
the province of Ontario, I have found this species 
to be much less common than M. cicognanii. Brooks 
as recorded by Miller’ saw weasels at Milton much 
larger than the latter. The species, I think, would 
scarcely be other than M. noveboracensis. Mr. W. 
E. Saunders, of London, Ont., has informed me that 
the New York Weasel is the form occurring there, 
and that it is common throughout the western part 
of the Ontario peninsula. 

By a peculiar coincidence the first weasel I ever 
trapped in Ontario was this species. 


5Rhoads, S. N., 
Jersey, p. 172, 1903. 
6Miller, Jr., G. S.. Mammals of Ontario, Vol. 28, 
No. 1, p. 44, 1896. 


This was near 


Mammals of Penn. and N. 


September, 1919] 


Rockwood. Since, I have taken numbers of the 
Lesser Weasel, but only, I think, two or three of 
the large kind. The capture of the one mentioned 
was purely accidental and happened in November. 
The seasonal change to white is not always affected 
by this time. 
time when snow was on the ground still had a few 
belated brown hairs over the back. Contrary to 
this, individuals of spotless white are occasionally 


Some specimens taken near Christmas 


taken when no snow exists. The moult from brown 
to white or the reverse does not seem to depend on 


any particular seasonal change or condition. 


I recall a story told me years ago by a farmer 
which portrays nicely the intrepid nature of this 


THE CanapiAN — Fie_p-NaTURALIST 45 


An interesting note by John F. Carleton, East 
Sandwich, Mass., entitled “Bold Mother Weasel 
Rescues Young” (January, 1919, Field and 
Stream) illustrates again the venturesome spirit. He 
says: “Some years since 1 was at work with my 
man on the edge of a dry swamp, on high land, one- 
eighth of a mile from Bay Shore, when I found a 
weasel’s nest with four half-grown young in a 
brush heap. I regret that I cannot recall the com- 
position of the nest. I sat down ‘side-saddle,’ took 
up the four young and placed them in the outside 
left breast-pocket of my coat, my man standing 
near. Soon the mother appeared hunting for her 
young. I placed one on my knee; the mother soon 
scented it, jumped on my knee, grabbed the little 


TAILS OF WEASELS 


a—Putorius rixosus. 
b—Putorius cicoqnanii. 


animal. While working in the fields he heard high 
overhead the strident calls of a hawk. Their un- 
usual quality attracted his attention as well as the 
peculiarity of the actions them. 
Watching, he noticed the bird pass through some 
unusual gyrations, steady itself a moment and then 
come pitching to the earth, tumbling and turning. 
The man ran rapidly to the spot where the hawk 
fell and was just in time to see a brown weasel leap 


accompanying 


from the feathers and disappear in a near-by fence. 
From some concealed position it had doubtless 
leaped upon the feeding hawk and being lighter was 
instantly borne high into the air. In bull-dog fashion 
once having a grip it continued to work deeper and 
deeper until a fatal spot was reached. 


(WINTER FUR)—ONE-HALF 
e—Putorius noveboracensis. 
d—Putorius longicauda. 


NATURAL SIZE. 


one, and was off like a flash. I remained quiet and 
she soon returned to my knee, worked slowly along 
my leg and up my coat till she reached the pocket, 
pullcd out another little one, and dashed away with 
it. As I was not willing to give up the others, 
I did not experiment further. I took them home, 
but the folks objected so to the odor that I was 
obliged to kill them. I have several times seen 
weasels very bold, but nothing to equal this ex- 
perience.” 

Mr. E. T. Seton’ cites an instance of an old 
weasel (noveboracensis) accompanied by five young 
ones about half-grown on June 28 near his home 
in Connecticut. These were evidently older than 
the other ones, which were still in the nest. On 


7Seton, E. T., Life Hist. of Northern Animals, 
Vol. II, p. 848, 1909. 


46 THe CanapiaAn_ FieLtp-NaTURALIST 


June 1, 1910, north-east of Guelph, Ont., I saw a 

weasel carrying a young one in its mouth as it fol- 

lowed along the bottom of a fence leading from 

a strip of woods. This individual may have been 

M. cicognanii. 

SHoRT-TAILED WEASEL, Mustela cicognanit 
(Bonaparte). 

The Short-tailed or Bonaparte’s Weasel is the 
most abundant species in Canada. Its numbers 
like other mammals of course are very variable as 
regards locality. Under favorable conditions M. 
cicognanii usually claims first notice throughout its 
range; the latter, including that of its closely allied 
races, covers almost the entire Dominion from coast 
to coast. Its range in the United States is governed 
by the boreal conditions existing in the Canadian 
and Upper Transition zones. 

The summer color above is much like M. lon- 
gicauda, a warm brown; under parts white, but 
sometimes tinged with sulphur-yellow. In winter the 
fur is pure white with a slight xanthic diffusion on 
tail, rump and hind legs. This stain is thought to 
exude to some extent from the odorous glands situ- 
ated at the base of the tail. The latter is one-third 
its total length, and the black tip one-third the length 
of the tail. 

Measurements of M. cicognanii: Total length 
about 111% inches (292 mm.); tail vertebrae, 334 
inches (95 mm.); hind foot, 1% inches (38 mm.) 

The female is considerably smaller, probably as 
much as one-fifth. 

With the exception of the narrow belt of the 
Upper Austral zone above Lake Erie, this species 
ranges over the entire province of Ontario. It is 
common in the counties of Wellington and Water- 
In a recent letter, Mr. Saunders informs me 
that he had no record of this species frem London 


loo. 


or the western part of the peninsula, but has skins 
from Durham and Ottawa, and a record by Hobson 
from Woodstock. 

Winter is the 
in evidence. 


this weasel is most 
The dainty paired tracks may be 
seen in the snow about fences, log heaps, wind-falls, 
etc., representing vividly the wanderings of the night. 
In this the weasel is absolutely tireless, and withall, 
a very eager hunter. The white fur renders it al- 
most invisible; except for the black tip on the tail 
it might bound by unseen. 

The ermine trail may easily be distinguished from 
that of all other animals by its size in conjunction 
with the symmetry of its paired tracks. The mink 
trail is similar, but very much larger. The hind 
feet register almost, if not exactly in the front-foot 
impressions, with the right front and hind feet lag- 
ging slightly behind. The sequence of tracks with 
a beunding animal is not as regular botween in- 


time when 


[Vol. XXXIII 


dividual impressions as that of a running or walk- 
ing animal, due to the variation in the length of 
jumps from time to time. The ermine being a 
bounding animal leaves a wide range of space 
lengths between imprints. The distance normally 
is about 19 inches, representing a regular rate of 
travel. The “jumps,” however, depend entirely 
upon the mood, purpose or demands of the traveller. 
Sometimes they are no further apart than 6 or 8 
inches; obviously the ermine is slowing down for 
more acute observation, scents prey or some similar 
reason. In traversing open spaces they resort to 
long, graceful leaps upwards of six feet in length. 
On January 5, 1919, I measured a record for M. 
cicognanii, a remarkable jump of 8 feet, 2 inches. 
The larger species should naturally be able to ex- 
ceed this, but whether they do no not I am unable 
to say. 

For pure audacity, I have seen enough of this 
species to prompt his classification as a ring-leader. 
Weasel reputation is, however, I think, very largely 
exaggerated. In rural sections the animal is seldom 
discussed apart from the hen-roost, for it seems 
firmly impressed upon the population that every 
weasel, big and little, here or there, now or any- 
time, is by right, might and heritage a blood soaked 
villain of endless carnage. But then some reason- 
ing would dispel that view. Unfortunately for the 
whole lot the evil of one jeopardizes all. Individual 
temperament in animals is probably quite as diversi- 
fied as in human beings, wherewith due allowance 
should be made for individual exception. Weasels 
do stand on the aggressive, but only a few interfere 
with the farmer. 

I remember a little incident that happened on a 
summer night a number of years ago. About ten 
o'clock an old mother hen covering a brood of 
chicks, near the house, began to cackle anxiously, 
becoming gradually more positive until in about five 
minutes she opened up with a whirlwind of vocifer- 
ous hysterics, sufficient to arouse the soundest sleeper. 
I dressed hurriedly and with light invaded the 
troubled region, expecting to find a skunk (Mephitis) 
on a stroll with views and tastes similar to certain 
southern dwellers, but it was only a solitary little 
M. cicognaniti. Three chicks had been killed and 
the remainder was under very active consideration. 

At Edmonton they were very common during 
1912-14. In two or three weeks each of two 
winters I trapped about sixty ermine over an area 
of not more than nine square miles. A great deal 
of this area escaped the trap in running the lines 
making it safe to discount one-third, leaving six 
square miles. I believe when I ceased operation 
that nearly as many remained free as were taken. 
Halving sixty for the one year and doubling for 


September, 1919] 


the supposed original population we have ten 
ermine per square mile. I do not consider this 
figure in the least excessive for the wooded, northern 
portion of Alberta. That portion of the province, 
say from Edmonton to Fort Smith, would thus yield 
about 1,478,750 weasels. About one in every ten 
of this number would undoubtedly be longicauda; 
that is, one of the latter and nine cicognanii to the 
square mile. 

North of Jasper Park on the Hay river during 
the fall of 1913 a friend and I in eight weeks’ 
trapping for this animal, took about eighty skins. 
Whether these were all M. cicognanii or not I 
cannot now say. I queried this point under 
longicauda. As the territory trapped, up the valley 
of the Hay river, Fish creek, and other tributary 
streams, did not exceed thirty linear miles, one- 
quarter of a mile in width, we have only a total 
of eight square miles. Again this is ten weasels to 
the square mile, coinciding with the Edmonton 
figure, with this difference, however, that the number 
of the trapped animals is not doubled to indicate 
the probable total population. This is because over 
the restricted area of the valleys and the prolonged 
period of trapping I believe most of the weasels 
were taken. At Edmonton this was not the case. 
In the former instance, a certain influx of animals 
from adjacent areas may have occurred as the com- 
petitive influence was removed from the valleys, 
thus lowering the figure somewhat per square mile, 
but I do not think a weasel travels widely in a 
wooded country like western Alberta. 

Many interesting experiences happen to a man in 
the woods. One day I travelled up a long dark 
timbered ravine that cut into the White-mud river 
south-east of Edmonton. At the base of a big 
spruce I had a “set” for ermine, which on in- 
spection showed the bait stolen with some of it in 
the sprung trap. In a few minutes’ hunting, an- 
other hare was secured with which to replace it. 
The meat being warm was no doubt exuding a 
tantalizing odor to furtive nostrils, for as I knelt 
at the trap, a faint rustle, like leaves in a light 
breeze attracted my attention. There was no wind, 
so I concluded that it was a shrew, but looking 
quickly, following a repetition of the sound, I saw 
a beautiful snow-white ermine silhouetted among 
the dark roots of a spruce not three feet distant. It 


THE Cananian’ FiIELD-NATURALIST 47 


eyed me for a while, head held high and nose a- 
quiver; then it disappeared. But the next moment 
back it came, followed by a rapid series of dis- 
I then laid the 
rabbit near the roots and the intrepid little rascal 
ran out, bit into the meat and retreated. After doing 
this for a while he would pertly mount the rabbit’s 


appearances and reappearances. 


carcase with his front feet, draw one foot up under 
his breast as if it were cold and gaze me straight 
in the face. Ambition was now chasing away all 
discretion. His next move was to bite into the 
rabbit’s ear and attempt its removal to the hole. 
The brave attempts following this consuming desire 
were indeed very commendable. 

A year later near a mountain pass in Alberta a 
similar experience befell me, while I was setting a 
lynx snare. This time the ermine after watching 
me with beady eyes for a time, actually followed 
(though with caution) a piece of meat that I 
slowly pulled along the ground. It was not be- 
cause of food scarcity that prompted this, for hares 
existed in plenty throughout the that 
autumn. 

Another time on Fish lake, in the same general 
region, I broke through the ice one early afternoon 
and to prevent frostbite was compelled to camp 
and dry out my clothes. Comfort was about re- 
stored as I sat dreamily gazing into the leaping 
camp-fire when something flashed just to one side 
of my line of sight and was gone. Looking, expect- 
ing to see a whisky-jack, as usual, I saw nothing, 
the silent wilderness apparently, excepting myself, 
without an atom of life. About to dismiss the 
matter as a trick of the sight, I saw an ermine 
bounding along among the trees, hesitating moment- 
arily, but ever circling nearer, until on the very edge 
of the camp almost, he stood partly erect, daintily 
folding one foot along his breast and surveyed the 
scene for several seconds. He circled the camp 
a number of times, darting here and there venturing 
now close, then retreating, bolting under roots, into 
holes, and over open spaces until | suppose his 
curiosity was fully satished. Then I saw him no 
more. There is a strange fascination in thus sitting 
silently in a great solitude, fleetingly viewing a bit 
of its wild life, open, free, unsuspecting, though 
usually occult and mysterious. 


region 


48 THE CanapIAN’ FreE_p-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXII 


AN UNRECOGNIZED SUBSPECIES OF MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. 


By Harry C. OBERHOLSER. 


There is in the west central United States and 
adjacent portion of Canada an unrecognized sub- 
species of Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Mr. Ridg- 
way, years ago, called attention! to the difference in 
size and color between specimens of this species from 
the eastern United States and those from the region 
of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, but 
made no subspecific separation on account of the 
more or less intermediate character of the birds 
from the Mississippi valley. A recanvass of the 
matter, however, shows that the bird from the 
Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains is sub- 
specifically distinct and therefore deserves recog- 
nition in nomenclature. It has an available name, 
however, as we shall explain, and should stand as 
MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS ERYTHROPHTH- 

ALMUS, subsp. reslit. 

Melanerpes  erythrophthalmus Silloway, Bull. 
Fergus County Free High School, No. 1, 1903, 
p. 36. 

Chars. subsp.—Similar to Melanerpes erythroce- 
phalus erythrocephalus, but decidedly larger; ab- 
domen more strongly tinged with yellow, and more 
often with red. 

Measurements—Male:? wing, 142-149.5 (aver- 
age, 145.6) mm..; tail, 72.5-81 (77.1) ; exposed cul- 
men, 26.5-28; tarsus, 22.5-24.5 (23.5); middle toe 
without claw, 17.5-19 (18.2). 

Female:* wing, 140-144 (average, 142.6) mm.; 
tail, 74-84.5 (78.1); exposed culmen, 27-30 (27.8) ; 
tarsus, 20.5-24 (22.2); middle toe without claw, 
18-19 (18.4). 

Type locality Lewistown, 
Montana. 

Geographic distribution—-West central United 
States and adjacent portion of Canada. Breeds north 
to southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, and 
southeastern British Columbia; west to southeastern 
British Columbia, central Montana, central Wyom- 
ing, and central Colorado; south to northern New 
Mexico, northwestern Texas, and southern Okla- 
homa; and east to central Oklahoma, 
Nebraska and eastern North Dakota. 
northern Utah and southeastern Arizona. 

iRemarks.—Size is the best and most reliable char- 
acter for distinguishing this subspecies.. The follow- 
ing measurements of Melanerpes erythrocephalus 


Fergus County, 


central 
Casual in 


erythrocephalus from the central eastern United 
1Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt. VI, 1914, p. 43. 
2Ten specimens, from Colorado, Wyoming, and 
South Dakota, measured by Mr. J. H. Riley. 
28ix specimens, from Colorado, Wyoming, and 
Oklahoma, measured by Mr. J. H. Riley. 


States will facilitate comparison with those of 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus erythrophthalmus given 
above: 

Male:* wing, 134.5-145 (average, 138.1) mm.; 
tail, 70.75.5 (73.2) ; exposed culmen, 25-29 (26.4); 
tarsus, 22-23.5 (22.6); middle toe without claw, 
17-18 (17.4). 

Female:* wing 133.5-138.5 (average, 135.6) 
mm.; tail, 72.5-77 (74.5); exposed culmen, 25-26 
(25.4); tarsus, 21-22 (21.7); middle toe without 
claw, 17-18 (17.4). 

The color differences between these two races of 
the red-headed woodpecker, while of value in sub- 
specific characterization, are not constant enough 
to be of much use in the identification of individual 
specimens. The depth of the yellow tinge on the 
abdomen, while appreciable in a series, is in indiv- 
idual specimens often the same in both forms, while a 
more or less evident tinge of red on the abdomen is 
present is only 20 of 31 adult specimens of Mela- 
nerpes erythrocephalus erythrophthalmus; while of 
40 examples of Melanerpes erythrocephalus erythro- 
cephalus from the eastern United States, 9 show 
more or less evidence of red. In fact, one example 
from Fort Meade, Florida (No. 78253, U.S. Nat. 
Mus.), taken in June, 1879, has as much red on the 
abdomen as any western bird that we have examined. 

Mr. Ridgway suggested’ that if a Great Plains 
race of this species were to be separated, the Mis- 
sissippi Valley bird should be treated likewise be- 
cause of its similarity in color to the birds from the 
Great Plains and its corresponding difference from 
those of the eastern United States. As we have 
shown above, the differences in color between the 
eastern and the farthest western birds is scarcely 
constant enough to serve for their recognition in 
absence of any other character; furthermore, of 31 
adults from the Mississippi Valley, only 17 have 
any red tinge on the abdomen, though practically 
all have a more or less strong buffy suffusion. This, 
in view of the fact that about one-fourth of the 
eastern birds have at least an indication of red on 
the abdomen, shows clearly that there is here no 
color difference by any means constant enough for 
the subspecific separation of the Mississipppi Valley 
birds from those of the eastern United States, or 
from those of the Great Plains. As will be seen, 
however, they are, in this average color character 
of red on the abdomen, somewhat nearer Melanerpes 


4Ten specimens, measured by Mr. J. H. Riley. 
5Five specimens, measured by Mr. J. H. Riley. 
6Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt. VI, 1914, p. 43. 


September, 1919] 


erythrocephalus erythrophthalmus; but since they 
are practically the same in size’ as typical Mela- 
nerpes erythrocephalus erythrocephalus, they are to 
be referred to that form. 

Birds from Mount Scott, in south central Okla- 
homa, belong undoubtedly to the western race, as do 
also birds from central New Mexico, and breeding 
birds from the Panhandle of northwestern Texas. 

Red-headed woodpeckers from Minnesota are 
rather large and frequently have red on the abdomen, 
but appear to be, as a whole, nearer the eastern form. 
All the specimens from Texas examined, except those 
from the northwestern portion, belong to the typical 
eastern bird. 

By the segregation of the present subspecies the 
range of Melanerpes erythrocephalus erythrocephalus 
becomes restricted to the following area: 

Eastern United States and southeastern Canada: 
nerth to New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and 
southern Ontario; west to Minnesota, Iowa, Mis- 
sourl, Arkansas, and central Texas; south to south- 
eastern Texas, southern Louisiana, and southern 
Florida; and east to the Atlantic coast of the United 
States and New Brunswick. Nova 
Scotia. 

The technical name to be used for the western 
red-headed wocdpecker involves an interesting com- 
plication. In an annotated list of the birds of 
Fergus County, Montana, Prof. P. M. Silloway 


enters this species as follows:* 


“406. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, Mel- 
anerpes erythrophthalmus. 

This handsome woodpecker occurs sparingly in 
the wooded coulees near Lewistown, which is cer- 
tainly near the western limit of its distribution. On 
several occasions I have seen it along Big Casino, 
where it breeds. On June 9, 1903, I noted the pres- 
ence of the red-headed woodpecker at Cottonwood. 
Dr. J. A. Allen states that the red-headed wood- 
pecker was abundant everywhere from the Mis- 
souri to the Yellowstone, far outnumbering all the 
other Picidae together. It is migratory in_ this 
portion of its range, making its appearance about 
the middle of May, and beginning to nest early 
in June. 

Distinguishing features: Head, neck, and upper 
part of body crimson; middle of back across, bluish- 
black; other parts white; length 9-10 inches.” 

The name Melanerpes erythrophthalmus is appar- 
ently a lapsus calami for Melanerpes erythrocepha- 
lus, and there is no other evidence that the author in- 
tended to describe a new species or subspecies. The 
name Melanerpes erythrophthalmus does not occur 


Casual in 


‘Ur. Kidgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt. 
Vig L4. pido. 

SBull. Fergus County Free High Sehool, No. 1, 
1903, p. 36. 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 49 


in the index, but the species is duly entered there® 
as Melanerpes erythrocephalus. If no description 
had been given, the name Melanerpes erythroph- 
thalmus could have been regarded as a nomen 
nudum; but it is validated by the addition of the per- 
fectly recognizable description, for it certainly can 
not be called a typographical error; therefore, ac- 
cording to the rules of nomenclature, it must be ap- 
plied to the form of red-headed woodpecker occur- 
ring in its locality, now that this is found to be 
different from typical Melanerpes erythrocephalus. 
Its type locality is, of course, Fergus County, 
Mentana; furthermore, since Lewistown is the first 
definite place mentioned we may legitimately select 
this as the restricted type locality. The original 
description of Melanerpes erythrocephalus'” was 
based on the bird of South Carolina, so that this 
name is, of course, properly applicable to the 
eastern race. 

The specimens of this newly recognized race 
examined are principally in the United States Na- 
tional Museum, including the collection of the 
Biological Survey, but additional examples seen are 
in the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, the Am- 
erican Museum of Natural History, and the Field 
Museum of Natural History. The writer is further 
indebted to Mr. Charles B. Cory for data in regard 
to specimens in the collections under his charge. 
The 46 specimens of Melanerpes erythrocephalus 
erythrophthalmus examined are from the localities 
given in the subjoined list. 

Colorado.—Denver (June 5, 1874); Bear Creek 
(June 7, 1873); Pueblo “(July 23, 25, and 28, 
1874); Fort Lyon (May 16 and 19, 1883); North 
Fork of South Platte River (July 12, __); Kettle 
Creek (August 6, __); Huntsville, August 7, ew; f 

Kansas.—Hart’s Hill, east of Fort Riley (June 
13, 1856). 

Montana.—Custer’s Creek (August 1, 1873); 
near old Fort Sarpy (August 9, 1873); Big Bend 
of Musselshell River (August 24, 1873); Sun 
River (September 5, 1867); 5 miles southeast of 
Ekalaka (May 31, 1916); Crow Agency (August 
5 and 6, 1916); Little Missouri River, 8 miles 
north of Capitol (June 3, 1916); Pilgrim Creek, 
8 miles northeast of Broadus (June 12, 1916); 
Darnall’s Ranch, Dawson County, 30 miles south 
of Glasgow (June 28, 1910; July 1, 1910); Zort- 
man (July 28,1910). 

Nebraska.—Valentine (September 8, 1891). 

New Mexico.—Bear Canyon, Raton Range (Sep- 
tember 10, 1903). 

North Dakota—Valley City (June 25, 1912); 
: #Loid., i. 75. 

10[Picus] Erythrocephalus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., 

ed. 10, I, 1758, p. 118 (southern South Carolina 


based on Catesby, Nat. Hist. Car., Florida, Bahame 
Is:, Fy 17438, p. (20, pl. XX) 


50 THe CanapiAN FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 


Medora (June 16, 1913); Cannonball (August 16, 
1915). 

Oklahoma.—Kiowa Agency, 17 miles southeast 
of Fort Cobb (April 1, 1868); Mount Scott P.O. 
(March 26 and 27, 1904). 

South Dakota.—Custer County (July 7, 1894); 


[Vol. XXXII 


Corral Draw, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (May 
16, 1894). 

Texas.—Vernon (April 30, 1894). 

W yvoming—Deer Creek (May 21, 1877); Fort 
Laramie (May, 1864; May, 31, 1878); Black 
Hills (August 3, 1856); Saratoga (June 4, 1911); 
Greybull (June 8, 1910). 


NOTES ON SOME OF THE FISHES OF ALBERTA AND ADJACENT WATERS. 


By F. C. WuiteHouse, Rep Deer, ALTA. 


Owing to the fact that ichthyology has never 
apparently appealed to amateur naturalists to any 
great extent, the general knowledge respecting our 
fishes is infinitely less than that concerning our birds, 
mammals, flora and at least two orders of insects. 
This surely should not be in a country like Canada, 
blessed with fresh water fishes to the extent that 
they constitute a very important factor in the 
economic wealth; not to mention the sport and out- 
door recreation they provide to a very large number 
ot enthusiastic fishermen. In spite of their en- 
thusiasm, however, I find that most sportsmen are 
lamen‘ably ignorant concerning their catches, and 
in speaking of trout for instance, either generalize 
in calling everything “‘speckled-trout,” or go to the 
other extreme and specify “Brook trout” or “Rain- 
bow trout,” neither of which species occurs in this 
section of Canada—unless of course the imported 
“Brook trout”’ of the Mountains Park be included. 

While disclaiming any specialized learning in the 
science of ichthyology, I contribute the following 
notes for the purpose of correcting errors in the re- 
corded range in the case of three well known fishes, 
and I hope clearing up a few mistaken ideas in the 
minds of some who may know even less than myself 
upon the subject. 

The list is arranged according to the “Check List 


of the Fishes of the Dominion of Canada and New- 


foundland,” which laudable work will be hereinafter 
alluded to as the “Government Check List.” 


ACIPENSERIDAE. 
41. Acipenser transmontanus Richardson. White 
Sturgeon. 
Sturgeon are but rarely captured in Alberta. 


Three or four years ago, however, a very fine 
specimen was taken in the C.P.R. dam (Bow 
river) at Bassano, and since the Bow and Belly 
rivers join to become the South Saskatchewan river, 
and fransmontanus is recorded from the latter water- 
way, the Bassano fish must presumably be referred 
to that species. On the other hand A. rubicundus 
(Lake sturgeon) is also recorded from “Lake of 


the Woods and Prairie Provinces” so it is clearly 


unsafe to jump to conclusions. 
HyYopDonTIDAE. 


Richardson. Western 


52. Hvyodon 
Goldeye. 

While the Government Check List gives “Pro- 
vinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan’”’ as the range 
of this fish, it is certainly common in Alberta in the 
Red Deer river. It was also one of the fishes re- 
corded by Mr. Fletcher’s survey party, 1916, “Peace 
river.” I do not doubt but that it is common in 
both branches of the Saskatchewan river. 

Goldeyes usually average rather less than one 
pound, but they are frequently taken up to 18 
ounces. I was informed of a specimen fish taken 
at the junction of the Blindman river and Red Deer 
river two years ago, the weight given being two 
pounds. ‘This fish rises nicely to artificial flies, and 
on a light red puts up an excellent fight. It is an 
insect feeder, “whirl a gig” beetles forming an im- 
portant item of its diet. Under normal water con- 
ditions Goldeyes feed all over the river, but in 
times of flood seek the less muddy water in the 
mouths of tributary rivers and creeks, when they can 
be taken in numbers with various baits such as 
worms, grasshoppers, meat, etc. 

In Manitoba there is a small industry in kippering 
Goldeyes, and both from an economic and sport- 


ing point of view an increase rather than diminution 
of these fishes is desirable. 


SALMONIDAE. 


chrysopsis 


67. Coregonus williamsoni Girard. Rocky Moun- 
tain Whitefish. 

This fish occurs throughout Alberta and British 
Columbia ‘in rivers and lakes, but I have no first 
hand knowledge concerning it. In the interest- 
ing and useful little booklet, “Classified Guide to 
Fish and Their Habitat in Rocky Mountains Park” 
by Mr. S. C. Vick, published by the Dominion 
Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, 1913, the 
author states that C. williamsoni “is found in almost 
all the park lakes and streams,” and both in the text, 


September, 1919] 


and below the illustration, gives the species the alter- 
native common names of Rocky Mountain White- 
fish or Grayling—which, of course, places it simul- 
taneously in two different genera. In the Raven and 
Clearwater rivers, west of Red Deer, so-called 
“Grayling” occur, and have been taken by fisher- 
men for years past. Whether these are really Rocky 
Mountain Whitefish I cannot state, but I am con- 
fident that many of the “Grayling” catches are so 
only. in the minds of their captors. 


73. Coregonus labradoricus Richardson. Labra- 
dor Whitefish. 

Whitefish occur in Lake Wabuma, west of Ed- 
monton, and in fact in many of the lakes of north- 
ern Alberta. If the facts are as stated in the foot- 
note (Jordan and Everman) in the Government 
Check List, however, the whitefish of commerce 
in the prairie provinces is labradoricus, and not 
clupeiformis the common whitefish of the Great 


Lakes. 


89. Oncorhynchus kennerlyi Suckley. Kennerly’s 
Salmon: Little Redfish. 

I have no personal knowledge concerning this 
species. Through the kindness of Mr. J. W. Cockle, 
of Kalso, B.C., I am able to give the following 
data: 

“This diminutive salmon is found in all the 
waters of the interior of British Columbia. It runs 
up the creeks to spawn in the fall and is taken with 
nets and by spearing and salted down for winter use 
by many of the settlers. The fish is sometimes 
taken in Kootenay lake when trowling for salmon 
and forms the main diet of both salmon and char 
which inhabit these waters. It runs up from the 
Columbia river into Christina lake and spawns there 
on the shallow shores at the south end of the lake; 
large numbers are taken there every season.” 


93. Salmo clarkii Richardson. Cut-throat Trout. 

This fish is most aptly named since there is a red 
streak on the throat on either side. It occurs in the 
clear rivers of Alberta and in the mountains in 
streams and lakes. The Cut-throat trout rises very 
well to artificial flies, and is a game fighter. In 
bedies of water of high altitude such as Consola- 
tion lake near Lake Louisa, etc., and mountain 
creeks, clarkii does not frequently exceed one pound 
in weight, but at lower altitudes runs from three to 
four pounds. 

The author of the “Classified Guide,” already 
referred to, suggests that mature fish cannot negotiate 
the small mountain creeks and that inbreeding re- 
sults. The lakes are not inaccessible to small fish, 
however, and as new blood is thus introduced I do 
not think inbreeding is the explanation. The tem- 
perature of the high altitude lakes is intensely cold— 


THE CanapiAN- FieLp-NATURALIST 51 


- 


42 or thereabouts—and I personally incline to the 

opinion that the rigors of the habitat is responsible 

for dwarfing—a theory supported to some extent 

by insect life under alpine conditions. 

95. Salmo rivularis kamloops Jordan. Kamloops 
Trout. 

My experience of this fish is confined to the 
Kootenay lake at Kaslo, B.C., where it is taken on 
rod and line with a large spoon. Local fishermen 
use about 600 feet of thin line, and run the spoon 
say 300 feet from the boat. The fish in its fight 
breaks water like an Atlantic salmon. I quote, in 
addition, from a recent letter from Mr. J. W. 
Cockle, of Kaslo: 

“A native of Kootenay and Okanagan lakes; 
when mature, large fish of both genders are slivery 
with a very faint tinting of pink over the gill coverts; 
attains a weight of over 20 pounds, but the usual 
size of mature fish is about 12 to 16 pounds. Noth- 
ing is known of its spawning habits, but it is usually 
taken about the end of May ard during June at 
which time it is in prime silvery condition.” 


( ) Salmo rivularis kamloops? (By Mr. Cockle 
and the present author). 

The fish I now refer to is the species commonly 
(and of course erroneously) called the “rainbow 
trout” by fishermen. I have taken the fish at 
Kaslo on a spoon up to 12 pounds, and at, or rather 
below, Boddington Falls, B.C., up to 314 pounds 
on artificial fly. It is a very game fighter, and a 
beautiful fish in appearance—the sides being streaked 
with an iridescent sheen. Mr. Cockle, of Kaslo, 
B.C., has had this species under observation for years 
and has consequently had ample opportunity to form 
a mature opinion as to its distinctness from the 
species next above. 
spondence: 

“A large salmon indigenous to Kootenay lake, 
which spawns on the upper waters of the Lardo 
and Duncan rivers just as they emerge from Trout 
and Houser lakes. It spawns during May and 
up to the second week in June, at which time the 
males are nearly black: specimens spawned at the 
Hatchery at Gerrard last season weighed 40 pounds, 
but the average spawning fish are about 16 to 20 
pounds. When in prime condition during Novem- 
ber they are a bright silver color, heavier spotted 
with black markings than the preceding, and have a 
bright pink band extending from the gill coverts 
along the sides. The back is a deep olive green in 
contradistinction to S. kamloops which is blue-black 
on the back. There also exist some very small var- 
ieties of this species which are to be fourd in moun- 
tain lakes; these attain a weight of about six ounces, 
but the identical with the above in habit and in also 
turning black when spawning. The late Dr. Starr 


I quote from recent corre- 


52 THE CanapiAN Fievtp-NaATURALIST 


Jordan and other authorities could find no difference 
in the structure of these two varieties (i.e., S. am- 
loops and S. kamloops .2) but from the fact 
that the first is in prime condition at the same time 
that the other is spawning and has turned black, 
the writer has not a doubt of their distinctness, but 
until it is proved by breeding, the fact that they are 
two species will have to remain unproven.” 


98. Cristivomer namaycush Walbaum. Great Lake 
Trout. 

Namavcush, generally conceded to be our most 
valuable commercial fresh water fish, inhabits the 
lakes of n rthern Alberta, and also, supposedly, 
Minnewanka lake, near Banff. While closely allied 
to the genus Salvelinus (Charrs) the teeth in the 
palate, or more correctly the vomeral ridge, easily 
serve to separate from that genus. To the best of 
my knowledge this fish will not rise to a fly at any 
stage in its life—a “spoon” or bait being the lures 
used by sportsmen. The commercial method is 
netting. 

In the Classified Guide, already referred to, an 
illustration is given of a Minnewanka “namaycush’’ ? 
but the bedy of the fish illustrated does not taper 
narrowly to the tail; the tail is not forked, and ex- 
cepting for the large mouth, the figure depicts the 
genus Salmo rather than Cristivomer or Salvelinus. 
Of course the illustration may have been made from 
a faulty painting or cast, but a comparison of it with 
the excellent illustrations in the Government Check 
List, Fig. 46, 47, Plate VII, will explain why I 
state the Minnewanka lake fish is supposedly (>) 
namaycush. 

100. Salvelinus  fontinalis 
Trout: Brook Trout. 

Disregarding the importations from Lake Nipigon 
to the waters of the Mountains Park, this species 
does not occur in western Canada. 


Mitchell. Speckled 


In spite of this 
fact, however, and as stated in the introduction to 
this paper, more bags of fish are designated “brook 
trout’ ’or “speckled trout” by their proud captors 
than are named (or more probably misnamed) any- 
thing else. Fontinalis is unusually unhappy in the 
matter of its common names. If it is “speckled,” 
so are all the other members of the family! If it 
inhabits “brooks,” it thrives equally well, or even 
better, in lakes and rivers! It is not a trout but a 
charr. Notwithstanding everything, including the 
fact that the Canadian charrs otherwise will not rise 
to artificial flies, and are poor fighters, fontinalis 
is probably the sportiest and most popular fish in the 
world, and in the Nipigon river on the north shore 
of Lake Superior specimen fish run up to 10 pounds. 
Mr. Vick, in the Classified Guide, states that the im- 
ported fish in the Mountains Park have adapted 


[Vol. XXXIII 


themselves and that they are doing well. It is to be 
hoped that they are not doing so at the expense 
of the Cut-throat trout. 
101. Salvelinus parkii Suckley. 
Trout: Bull Trout. 
( )Salvelinus 2 Silver Trout: Bull Trout. 
In the Classified Guide to the fish in the Rocky 
Mountains Park, the author, Mr. Vick, separates 
parkii, the Dolly Varden trout, from the Silver 
trout which he designates “‘of the same species,” but 
fails to supply us with a scientific name. If there 
are two Bull trout—and I incline to such view 
myself—Mr. Vick’s dilemma is my own! Per- 
sonally, I separate these charr chiefly by the sheen 
on the scales: the Dolly Varden is golden in ap- 
pearance, whilst the Silver Charr is silvery. They 
both have pink spcts, large mouths, and bodies that 
taper very much toward the tail. They will take 
any bait from a live or artificial minnow to a mouse 


Dolly Varden: 


or garter snake: are voracious feeders, but poer 
fighters. I have caught them from six inches long 
in the headwaters of mountain creeks, to six or seven 
pounders in the Red Deer river, and Kootenay lake, 
but they run up to 12 and even 14 pounds. They 
put in an appearance at the mouths of creeks tribu- 
tary to the Red Deer river just as the ice is going 
cut, and owing to the fact that they are native 
to waters unsuitable for the more delicate Salmos, 
are a valuable and interesting fish. I quote Mr. 
Cockle, of Kalso, B.C. 

“Besides the large variety of this fish which is 
indiginous to the waters of Kootenay lake and reach 
the weight of 10 to 15 pounds and which go up the 
creeks during high water during June to spawn at 
the headwaters of the creeks, and which return 
again when the first snow water comes into the 
creeks, there is also a small variety which is 
practically identical, but which seems to stay up the 
creeks and mountain lakes at all times. These attain 
a weight of one-half to two pounds, and spawn 
during October, but whether they are the fry of 
the larger fish which spawns during the summer or 
are distinct can only be solved by the hatchery.” 

I have on several occasions been told of 
a fish that occurs in the lake at Sicamous Junction, 
B.C., and locally known as the “Silver Trout.” 
From my understanding of the matter the Sicamous 
fish must not be confused with the Silver (charr) 
trout, above discussed. 

109. Thymallus tricolor montanus Milner. 
tana Grayling. 

The absolute identity of the south Alberta Gray- 
ling does not appear to be established, but the 
Government Check List refers it to the above 
species. I have personally never seen an Alberta 
Grayling, but the curator of the Calgary Museum 


Mon- 


September, 1919] 


(Basement, Supreme Court Building) two or three 
years ago showed me plaster casts of what he re- 
garded as Alberta Grayling in contradistinction to 
casts of Rocky Mountain Whitefish, Coregonus 
williamsoni. I am not questioning, therefore, that 
a fish of the genus Thymallus occurs in the pro- 
vince, on the other hand I feel sure (as already 
stated under C. williamsoni) that no small percent- 
age of the catches of “Grayling” taken by fisher- 
men are Rocky Mountain Whitefish. If 7. tri- 
color montanus possesses the characteristic long 
dorsal fin of the Grayling group—long in the sense 
that the fin occupies approximately one-third of the 
fish’s back—it should be easily distinguished from 
any species in the Whitefish group. 


Suckers, MULLETS, ETC. 


We next come to the large group of fishes com- 
monly known as “Suckers,” including Mullets, Red 
Horse, etc., quite uninteresting to sportsmen, and 
unesteemed for the table, yet far from unworthy of 
study from an economic standpoint. Like many 
creatures of nature the “Sucker” group of fishes are 
not wholly bad, nor good! On the one hand they 
are evil, in as much as they are spawn-eaters of 
fish more worthy than themselves, and on the other 
their own myriad young provide food for the said 
fish of greater value. I have made no study of the 
local fishes of this group and therefore simply list 
several species which, according to the Government 
Check List, occur in the province: 


CaATOSTOMIDAE. 

136. Pantosteus jordani Evermann. Mountain 
Sucker. 

137. Catostomus griseus Girard. Gray Sucker. 

138. Catostomus casostomus Foster. Northern 
Sucker. 

140. Catostomus commersoniti Lacépéde. Common 
White Sucker. 

147. Moxostoma lesueuri Richardson. Northern 


Red Horse. 
Minnows, DAcE, ETC. 


The next group is closely allied to the last, and 
comprises a number of genera of small fishes, in- 
cluding minnows, dace, chub, etc. By fishermen 
they are esteemed as bait, and as food for larger and 
more valuable fishes they have their uses. Some of 
them at any rate are spawn-eaters—so like the 
Suckers they are both good and evil. I list a few 
that are recorded in the Government Check List as 
occurring in the prairie provinces: 

CyYPRINIDAE. 


168. Notropis jordani Eigenmann and Eigen- 
mann. Jordan’s Shiner. 
177. Notropis hudsonius selene Jordan. The 


Spawn Eater. 


THe CanapdiAN' FieLtp-NATURALIST 53 


181. Notropis scopifer Eigenmann and Eigenmann. 
Prairie Minnow. 


186. Rhinichthys cataractae dulcis Girard. Long- 
nosed Dace. 

195. Couesius dissimilis Girard. 

197. FPlatygobio gracilis Richardson. Saskatch- 


ewan Dace. (Government Check List, Flat- 
headed Chub). 

A specimen that I forwarded in alcohol to Prof. 
Bensley, of the University of Toronto, was re- 
ferred by him to this species. The fish is common 
in the Red Deer river in the vicinity of Red Deer. 
It inhabits the mouths of creeks and eddies along 
the shore, and can be taken with bait, worms, etc. 
It appears to be an insect feeder as I have had 
them rise to artificial fly. The little fish is round 
bodied; wid- across the head between the eyes, 
and hes an extremely long nose, with protruding 
upper lip or snout. 


LucIDAE. 
Common Pike 


210. Lucius lucius Linnaeus. 
(Western “Jack-Fish.’’) 
The pike is probably as well known as any fish 
that swims, for it is widely distributed not only in 
North America but also in Europe, Asia, etc. It 
occurs all over the Province of Alberta in lakes 
and rivers, such as the Red Deer river, Saskatch- 
ewan river, Peace river, and away north to the 
delta of the Peace and Athabasca. While the pike 
is not regarded very highly by fishermen in North 
America, since, generally speaking, it is a poor 
fighter, although individual fish will occasionally be 
hooked that will put up quite a struggle, such fact 
depends very largely, in my opinion, upon the con- 
dition of the fish, and of the water. Ass a table fish 
it is decidedly in the second rank; at the same 
time it is of no small economic importance due to 
its wide distribution. In many districts in western 
Canada the pike is virtually the only fish that can 
be obtained to supply cheap food and change of 
diet for the inhabitants and to the Indians it has un- 
doubtedly always been of very considerable value. 
The name “Jack-fish,” so frequently given to this 
fish in western Canada, is an interesting mis-nomer. 
In the language of old country fishermen, a “jack” 
is a small pike, say up to five or six pounds. The 
name signifies size, just as the term “parr” and 
“grilse” signify certain immature stages in the life 
of the Atlantic salmon. I suppose old country set- 
tlers, years ago, called the small pike “jack” until 
in the end it was mistakenly adopted as a proper 
name, and the Pike became a “‘Jack-fish” quite ir- 
respective of its size. 
I am not at all sure that there are not two species 
of pike in western Canada, but whether the doubt- 


54 THE CaNapdIAN  FIELD-NATURALIST 


ful form I have in mind is Lucius reticulatus, the 
Greer Pike of Eastern North America or some var- 
iety of that species I cannot say. My suspicions 
of two species is based on the shape of the head. 
The head of the Common Pike, Lucius lucius should, 
according to my views, show a protuberance or 
bulge over the eyes, while the cther species or form 
has a head curving gradually from the tip of the 
snout to the dorsum. The latter fish is the poorer 
fighter. 
GaDIDAE. 


286. Lota maculosa Le Sueur. 
Burbot. 

The Fresh-water Ling or Burbot belongs to the 
Cod group of fishes, including the Cods, Sea Ling 
and Haddock, and it is the only member of its 
family inhabiting fresh water. The belly is much 
distended by the abnormally large liver—a charac- 
teristic of the cods. 

This very interesting, though somewhat objection- 
able-looking fish, is common in sluggish rivers and 
lakes in Alberta: Sylvan lake, Red Deer river, 
Peace river, etc. It attains considerable size, some- 
times I am told up to 40 pounds. The flesh is 
white, it is comparatively free from bones, and it 
is a clean feeder, living, so far as I] can discover 
on small fish. In spite of these facts, however, very 
few ling ever find their way to the table, for most 
fishermen, who catch them by chance, seem fright- 
ened of them. The liver and roe were esteemed 
as delicacies by the voyageurs, a statement I make 
on the authority of the Ontario Game and Fish 
Committee’s Report of 1892. 

Under normal water conditions this fish is ex- 
tremely sluggish, and will lie on the bottom im- 
mobile for hours. As eels are affected by thunder- 
storms to unusual activity in search of food, so the 
fresh water ling in times of flood and muddy water, 
becomes a thing of action. The mouths of creeks 
are full of them seeking their prey—minnows and 
small fry. They hunt close to the bank and right 
on the surface, the locality always chosen by terror- 
stricken minnows seeking sanctuary up the creek. 
The gulps of the ling, sucking their prey into their 
spacious maws, is an unnatural and somewhat un- 
canny sound. My idea of the feeding habits are 
The fish, a strong but slow swimmer, 


Fresh-water Ling: 


as follows: 
is incapable of catching its prey by the chase. In 
clear water, therefore, it lies like a log, entices 
the small fry by means of the artificial “worm” pro- 
vided by nature as an attachment to its chin, and 
without movement of body sucks in the intruder. 
In time of flood the muddy water provides con- 
cealment and “angling” is put aside in favor of the 
chase as explained above. 


[Vol. XXXIil 


PERCIDAE. 


Stizostedion vitreum Mitchell. Pike-perch 
(Old English), Pickerel (Canadian); Doré 
(French Canadian); Wall-eyed Pike 
(United States.) 

While the Government Check List gives Sas- 
katchewan as the western limit, probably most fish- 
ermen in Alberta know that this fish is common in 
some rivers in the province, and also in some of the 
lakes. The largest specimen ‘fish taken by me 
(mouth Waskasoo creek, Red Deer river) weighed 
814 pounds, but some years ago at the mouth of 
the Blindman river, at Blackfalds, Mr. D. Gregson 
took a pair each of which weighed 12 pounds. In 
1918, a Red Deer man caught a twelve-pounder at 
the mouth of the Medicine river, the weight of 
which I verified. The fish is not a great fighter, 
but fishermen esteem it because of its excellence for 
the table. The pickerel, when of mature age, is 
a shy fish and cunning. It has white eyes, like a 
wall-eyed horse, but excellent sight nevertheless. 
It will take a live or artificial minnow, a spoon, and 
a number of different natural baits, such as worms, 
frogs, mice, etc. 

316. Stizostedion canadense C. H. Smith. The 
Sauger. 

The name Sauger probably sounds strange, and 
I fancy that even to many fishermen the very ex- 
istence of the fish is unknown. According to the 
text books it is similar to the pickerel, but seldom 
exceeds fifteen inches in length and has a rounder 


51D: 


bedy. It has a black blotch at the base of 
the pectoral fins, and lacks the black blotch 
at the hinder part of the dorsal fin of the 
pickerel. The western range of this fish has 


not been clearly defined, and it will be inter- 
esting to determine definitely whether or not 
some of the small sized “‘pickerel” of the Red Deer 
river are not properly the Sauger. To date I have 
not been able to satisfy myself upon the point, as 
the pesition of black blotches is a very unsatis- 
factory characteristic upon which to separate two 
fish. Mr. Gregson, who has lived for many years 
at the mouth of the Blindman river, Blackfalds, 
claims that he can always tell what he calls a 
“Red Deer river pickerel’” from the smaller fish 
taken between the mouth and the dam. In the 
former the black “perch bars” are more clearly 
defined. On the other hand these may .simply be 
more mature fish, and I must leave the matter un- 


dec ded. 
317. Perca flavescens Mitchell. 


American Perch. 
The Government Check List mentions Saskatch- 
ewan as the western limit of the perch in Canada. 


Yellow Perch: 


September, 1919] THE CANADIAN 
As a matter of fact, however, Pine lake, south-east 
of Red Deer, is full of perch, averaging in weight 
about three to the pound. The fish also occurs 
in the reed-beds at Sylvan lake, the average weight 
being from half to three-quarters of a pound. The 
perch is a very fair table fish, and steps should be 
taken to prevent the wholesale slaughter that some- 
times occur at Pine lake. 


The foregoing notes include a number of species 
of our most interesting and valuable fresh water 
fish, and in concluding this paper I ask the question: 
Do we as a people sufficiently appreciate our her- 
itage in fishes, and realize with the rivers and lakes 
of Canada at our disposal, the opportunities they 


Ww 
WwW 


FieELD-NATURALIST 


offer (a) as food, (b) as a poor man’s sport. Per- 
sonally I do not think so upon the broad lines that 
I have in mind, and I feel, with a view to the 
generations to follow, that we should bestir our- 
selves. It seems to me the necessary procedure to 
be followed groups itself under three heads: 

1. Continually restocking rivers and lakes with 
the best fishes native to such rivers and lakes—thus 
insuring an increase and not a diminution in the 
supply. 

2. Introducing into river and lakes the best fishes 
adaptable (but not native) to such rivers and lakes. 

3. Prohibiting by legislation the polution of 
rivers and lakes by untreated sewage. 


NESTING OF THE CASPIAN TERN IN THE GEORGIAN BAY. 


By W. E. Saunpers, Lonpon, ONT. 


The Caspian is the largest of the three Terns 
which the observer has a reasonable right to expect 
to see on our waters. Until within a few years it 
was supposed that the only nesting ground of these 
birds in the Great Lakes was on some islands in 
Lake Michigan, and I was, therefore, quite sur- 
prised in June, 1909, when I found an adult 
specimen in the collection of Mr. Chris. Firth, at 
Durham. It was still more surprising to be told 
that this bird came from near Parry Sound where 
it nested on an island in that portion of the 
Georgian Bay. 

This information had come from Adam Brown 
who is the lighthouse keeper at Red Rock light, 
five miles from the Limestone Islands on which the 
Caspian Tern has eventually been found to nest. 

The summer following my discovery of _ this 
specimen at Durham, I had a letter from Prof. Guy 
Bailey, Geneseo, N.Y., inquiring where he could go 
for some interesting Canadian bird work, and | 
promptly detailed him for the hunt after the Caspian 
Tern which he carried out with entire success. He 
went to Parry Sound, made inquiry, and eventually 
landed on Limestone Islands, where he took photo- 
graphs of the eggs and young. 

I was not able to visit the locality until 1918, 
when on June 4, Rev. C. J. Young, Brighton, 
Ont., Mr. Edwin Beaupre, of Kingston, Ont., and 
I reached Parry Sound in the afternoon and went 
out with Mr. Dan Bottrill to Snug Island light- 
house, some distance past the entrance to Parry 
Sound bay. The next day being calm we traversed 
the intervening ten miles to the Limestone Islands. 
Caspian Terns were in evidence now and again on 
this journey and indeed, are tolerably familiar birds 


around Parry Sound harbor. When we came near 


the island we began to see them in considerable 
numbers and mingled with them were Herring and 
Ring-billed Gulls. The island on which the Cas- 
pians nest is only slightly elevated above the lake 
level with the exception of two places where mounds 
rise to the height of about ten feet above the lake. 
The chief mound, on and around which most of 
the nests are found, is perhaps thirty yards across at 
the base. The sides have a moderate slope and are 
covered with grasses, but the top of the mound is 
nearly bare of vegetation and the rock is breaking 
into small scaly fragments. The other mound is 
similar, but smaller, and the rest of the island, the 
northern one, is only slightly elevated above the 
level of the lake and more or less thickly covered 
with grasses. 

Bare rock showed in a great many places in 
large irregularly formed rectangles and in the cracks 
between these rock faces grew the grasses which 
outlined them. 

The two islands are connected at low water, but 
we had to wade from one to the other and it took 
us up to our knees and the footing was none too 
good at that. 

On the southern island we imagined the nests of 
Kingbirds, Yellow warblers, Song sparrows, Tree 
swallow, Spotted Sandpiper and probably Black 
Duck or American Merganser as these birds were 
represented there, but there were no Terns’ nests 
on it nor any gull’s except those of the Herring, of 
which there were thirty or forty nests placed mainly 
between the timber logs which had drifted up from 
the low shores of the island and had been left high 
and dry by heavy winds. 

Our interest centered, of course, on the Caspian 
Tern, and as usual in cases of communal nestings of 


56 ; THe CanapiAn_ FieLtp-NaATURALIST 


water birds, we found the different species keeping 
pretty well to themselves. The Caspian Tern sel- 
ected for itself the highest portions of the island, 
namely, the tops of the two knolls. Here they rested 
when they came in from flight, and the fact that 
they always seemed to prefer to rest on the highest 
point probably accounts for the small number of 
nests on that part of the knoll. There were only 
five nests on top of the large knoll. On the sides 
were more nests of the Caspian Tern, but as the 
lower level was approached the nests of the Ring- 
billed Gull began to be found, and when the level 
at the bottom of the slope was reached, no more 
Caspians were to be seen. In addition to the five 
nests of the Caspian found on top of the large 
knoll, there were ninety-three nests on the sides of 
it. On the smaller knoll we found fifty-seven nesis, 
making one hundred and fifty-five with eggs in all. 
It is to be presumed, therefore, that this colony con- 
sists of about 350 or 400 breeding birds, as many 
of the sets were incomplete and some of them had 
probably not yet begun to lay. 

The habit of Terns in general is to make a very 
sketchy nest, often nothing more than a mere hollow, 
and the nests of the Caspian on top of the knoll 
followed this general rule, but as one observed the 
nests on the sides of the knoll, he found that as he 
went down the side, the nests became more and 
more substantial, until the bottom nests were almost 
as elaborate as those of the Ring-billed Gulls nest- 
ing alongside, and our surmise was that the higher 
levels were the preferred nesting ground for all 
species, and that the ring-bills started to lay their 
eggs on these higher levels but were ousted from 
them by the Caspians who adopted the more sub- 
stantial nests of the gulls. The Caspians which 
were later in beginning to lay would then steal 
the nests of the next highest Ring-bills. This theory 
would account for the increasing thickness of the 
walls and lining of the Caspian nests as the lower 
levels were approached and the fact that the Cas- 
pians and the Ring-bills were nesting within three 
or four feet of each other in some places, also sup- 
ports the theory. A\t one point at thé south-east side 
of the larger knoll there was a clump of small bushes, 
in and around which were five nests. Three of these 
were Caspians and two were Ring-bills, one of 
these being in the centre of the patch. 

It was very interesting to have these birds so 
close together and to compare their voices. The 
notes of the Caspian are, of course, unique and no 
one who has ever heard them would think of con- 
founding them with any other kind of water bird 
to be found in Ontario. One does not need an ear 
for music to accomplish the distinction. Any one 
who can tell the bray of a donkey from the rooster’s 


[Vol. XXXII 


crow, should be able to distinguish the Caspian Tern 
by its notes, but the Herring Gull and the Ring-bill 
have long been a puzzle to me and I did not get 
any serious help from this visit, except that the Ring- 
bill did not give us any example of the cackle so 
often used by the Herring Gull, but the musical 
tones of the gulls we found indistinguishable, both 
of them using many different pitches and phrasings. 

Considering that there was so little opportunity 
for concealment, the Ring-billed Gulls concealed 
their nests very well, placing them among the 
grasses which grew in the cracks between the rocks. 

When the cracks were of sufficient dimensions, 
say five or ten inches, the concealment thereby af- 
forded was substantial, and the Ring-billed Gulls 
placed their nests-in these strips of grassy growth at 
from four or five feet to fifteen feet apart. 

We found the Herring Gulls to be less compan- 
ionable than the others as their nests were much 
farther apart, seldom being as close as fifteen feet 
from one another. They seemed also to have laid 
their eggs a little earlier as we found three or four 
of their nests with newly hatched young, while none 
of the Ring-bills or Caspian Terns had hatched a 
single egg. Three was the maximum set for each 
and two were apparently being incubated in a good 
many Cases. 

Against the 155 nests of the Caspian Tern we 
found only 64 nests of the Herring Gull, and 77 
nests of the Ring-billed Gull, and Mr. Bottril and 
Mr. Brown think that the Caspians in the colony 
are increasing slowly. 

Sometimes nesting grounds of this character are 
apt to be much molested by human beings, but in the 
present instance such is not the case. 

During the nesting season, the Georgian Bay in- 
dulges in a good deal of windy weather. The ap- 
proach to these islands is so bad that landing can 
only be managed on a day so calm that it would 
be exceptional. To make matters still better for the 
Gulls and Terns they nest in a season in which the 
fishermen are very busy, and there is no other class 
of inhabitants nearby. 

One of our friends had heard that there were 
a few Caspian Terns nesting on an island some ten 
or twenty miles south where the Common Tern has 
a colony, but we were not able to investigate. this 
rumor. 

The migration route of this species was for a long 
time an unsolved puzzle. They appearéd in small 
numbers at various points in the lower lakes and 
that was about all we knew of them, but from the 
observations of Mr. E. M. S. Dale of the Me- 
Ilwraith Ornithological Club, and of our president, 
Mr. J. F. Calvert, it seems that after the breeding 
season has finished, these birds make a very leisurely 


September, 1919] 


journey southward, following roughly the route of 
the Trent Valley canal, and from there they doubt- 
less make longer flights to the south. 

That their journeys are not confined to the im- 
mediate vicinity of water was proved by our presi- 


AN 


IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN 


THE CanapiAN— Fie_p-NATURALIST 57 


dent one day when he was gardening with his ears 
open, and heard from one of his friends of the 
Kawartha district, a salute from the upper air, mak- 
ing the only record we have of the occurrence of 
this Tern in Middlesex county. 


OUR TWO GOLDENEYES. 


(Clangula clangula americana and Clangula islandica.) 


By P. A. TAVERNER. 


Except in adult male plumage, the resemblance 
between the American Goldeneye and Barrow’s 
Goldeneye is so close as to cause considerable con- 
fusion in identification. Adult males, the American 
with its round facial spot against the green-black 
head and Barrow’s with a crescentic spot of purple 
black are distinctive and need never be confused. 


> 
nN 
~~ 
XN 
NX 4 
S 4 
< WA 
rs 
= 
SS 
+ ee 
mak = 
SF SED 3 
as 
S, — 
ey _ 
7 wer SZ 


BARROW’S GOLDENEYE. 


shorter, narrower and more stumpy bill than the 
American Goldeneye. The difference, however, is 
one that it is difficult to carry in mind and can only 
be certainly perceived when specimens are directly 
compared. 

The male of the year is almost as difficult as the 
female to diagnose until traces of the adult head 
coloration begin to show, when the problem is im- 
mediately simplified. One distinction between 
these plumages has been pointed out by Major 


ee 


<— 
ee EE 
to . 
2 
Ke 


= Se 
n 
> 
ee a) = 
~ 
“es 
aD, os) : 
a 
rs 
a 


at ‘hs 


7 


AMERICAN GOLDENEYE. 


The females are so nearly alike as to be separable 
with difficulty. Various plumage analysis of the 
two species have been worked out but the one really 
satisfactory distinction seems to be in the size and 
shape of the bill which shows the only constant 
character for all plumages. Even in this feature the 
occurrence of poorly developed juveniles is a dis- 
turbing factor. Barrow’s Goldeneye has a decidedly 


Allan Brooks and it seems reliable. A firm strok- 
ing with the finger from the base of the culmen 
over the crown reveals in Barrow’s Goldeneye 
that the skull rises at the base of the bill more 
abruptly than in the American Goldeneye. The 
dissection of a number of specimens of both species, 
lately, however, has revealed another distinction 
that I cannot find hitherto recorded. The wind- 


58 THE CaNnapIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


pipes of the males of the two species just before 
they enter the body at the merry-thought, are 
strikingly different. That of Barrow’s Goldeneye 
is gradually enlarged and gradually reduced in 
diameter at this point. That of the American 
Goldeneye on the other hand is much more rapidly 
enlarged and then very suddenly reduced, forming 
a conspicuous bulbous enlargement between the 
arms of the clavacles. The illustrations herewith 
show this difference quite well. The sketches were 


Te CURA ACRE i 


WINDPIPE OF BARROW’S GOLDENEYE. 
Male, adult: Perce, Gaspe Co., Que., Feb., 1916. 


made from dried specimens moderately stretched to 
show the details and are considerably longer than 
is normal in life. It will be noticed, also, that 
whilst the bony rings forming the pipe of the 
Barrow’s Goldeneye are even and comparatively 
regular in shape, those of the American Golden- 
eye are much more irregular and confused in de- 
sign.* I have purposely taken the trachea of a 
juvenile or yearling American Goldeneye in its 
first winter for comparison with the adult Barrow’s 


[Vol. XX XIII 


Goldeneye, for between these two developments 
the least difference would be expected. Half- 
fledged American Goldeneyes which I have exam- 
ined show little or none of this specialization, but 
it is notable that complete development is reached 
by or before mid-winter. This specific difference 
does not extend to the females at any age. 


GOLDENEYE. 
Vancouver Island, B.C., 
1, 1916; No. 8916. 


WINDPIPE OF AMERICAN 
Male, jv: Barkley Sound, 


Jan. 


Besides offering a reliable specific test for young 
males this specialization of the windpipe is interest- 
ing as suggesting that Barrow’s Goldeneye is the 
more ancient type of the two as it is obvious that 
the American Goldeneye’s windpipe is a special- 
ization of Barrow’s Goldeneye and not vice-versa. 


THE MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION. 


By Harrison F. Lewis, QUEBEC, QUE. 


The Migratory Birds Convention is such a great 
advance in systematic protection of North American 
migratory birds, and it has already proved to be so 
beneficial, that one hesitates to offer any criticism 
of it. A short experience with the workings of the 
convention and its enabling Act, has, however, re- 
vealed not only its strong points, but also two or 
three matters, of greater or lesser importance, where 
improvement seems to be needed. 

The birds protected by the Treaty are classified 
therein as “migratory game birds,” “migratory in- 
sectivorous birds,” and “migratory non-game birds.” 
Further details of the species included in the terms 
of the Treaty are given under each of the above 
headings, but under no heading can one find any 
of the large, important, and beneficial family of the 
Fringillide, except grosbeaks, which are mentioned 
as such among the “migratory insectivorous birds.” 


*Since writing the above I find that the differ- 
ence between the windpipes of the two species is 
noted and figured by J. Bernard Gilpin; Proc. and 
Trans. N. S. Inst. Nat. Sei., IV, 1875-1878, 398-399. 


PAST 


The writer, having reported to the Dominion Parks 
Branch of the Department of the Interior, which 
is charged with the work of carrying out in Canada 
the provisions of the Treaty, that Snow Buntings 
were being sold in considerable numbers by the 
grocers of Quebec, was courteously informed that, 
after investigation, “it would seem that the Snow 
Bunting is not protected under the Migratory Birds 
Convention Act.” Presumably most, if not all, of 
our other Sparrows and Finches would be classified 
with the Snow Bunting, as they, too, are mainly 
graminivorous. 

Surely this is a grave oversight, and one which 
should be remedied as soon as possible, by an 
amending Treaty, or such other action as may be 
necessary. Sparrows and Finches are highly 
migratory, while the usefulness to man of their 
food habits is well known. The following remarks 
in this regard are quoted from E. H. Forbush’s 
“Useful Birds and their Protection.” 

“Dr. Judd, in his important paper, “The Relation 
of Sparrows to Agriculture,’ states that the value of 


September, 1919] 


these birds to the agriculturist is greater ‘than that 
of any other group whose economic status has thus 
far been investigated’ The great bulk of 
the food of Sparrows consists of seed, fruit, and 
insects. The native Sparrows destroy very little 
grain, great quantities of weed seeds and insects, 
and hardly any cultivated fruit; they are, therefore, 
almost entirely harmless. They frequent grass 
fields, cultivated fields, and gardens, and in some 
cases orchards; thus their good work is done where 
it is of great benefit to the farmer.” 

In addition to these facts, it may be noted that 
many of the Sparrows and Finches are excellent 
songsters, and a number of them are among our 
beautiful and brightly-colored native birds. The 
popular prejudice against “Sparrows” which has 
resulted from the harm wrought by the imported 
‘English Sparrow, or House Sparrow, should not 
be allowed to prevent proper protection to our use- 
ful, attractive native Sparrows. Such occurrences 
as the above-related sale of Snow Buntings for food 
show that these birds need protection, and it does 
not appear why it should be withheld from them 
while it is very properly granted to such economic- 
ally neutral birds as guillemots and petrels. 

Another feature of the convention which seems 
to be capable of improvement is the nomenclature, 
which one would expect to find unusually accurate 
and cerrect in such a Treaty. The “migratory 
game birds” are correctly designated by the scien- 
tific names of the families included, followed by 
the general English names commonly applied to the 
members of each family, as, for example, “Anatide 
or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks, geese 
and swans.” ‘Migratory insectivorous birds’ is, 
however, stated to mean the following: “Bebolinks, 
catbirds, chickadees, cuckoos, flickers, flycatchers, 
grosbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, martins, mead- 
owlarks, nighthawks or bul] bats, nuthatches, orioles, 
robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tanagers, titmice, 
thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whippoorwills, 
woodpeckers and wrens, and all other perching 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 59 


birds which feed entirely or chiefly on insects.” 
“Migratory non-game birds” is defined by a sim- 
ilar list of popular English names. The undesirable 
inexactness and repetition in such a list are too 
evident to require comment, while its only system 
appears to be the alphabetical one. The actual 
working of the Treaty is hindered by such inex- 
actness, for if, in a given region, the popular name 
of a bird, which it is intended to pretect, is not 
one of those included in the above list, the people 
of that region will have difficulty in understanding 
that the Treaty applies to that bird, and the local 
judicial authorities may even rule that it is not 
protected there. “Wild geese’ are protected in 
Quebec by the provincial law, but Canada Geese 
are commonly known in that province as “Out- 
ardes,” and the provincial authorities have decided 
that they are not protected in Quebec by the law 
protecting “wild geese,” and that they will not be 
protected by that law until the term “Outardes’’ is 
added to the names of the birds so protected. It 
seems evident that too great care cannot be ex- 
ercised in naming the birds to be granted protection 
by the Migratory Birds Convention, or any other 
similar document. 

There are many things in favor of naming such 
protected birds species by species, giving in each 
case the scientific name, followed by all the known 
popular names used in the area of protection. Such 
a system of naming would give accuracy and easy 
popular recognition, which are both highly desir- 
able. It might result in quite a long list, but is 
there any cbjection to that? Failing such a system, 
should not all the birds protected by the Migra- 
tory Birds Convention be accurately and systemat- 
ically named by families, at least, as are the “migra- 
tory game birds?” It is to be hoped that the efforts 
of all these in Canada and the United States to 
whom birds are of value will be joined together to 
secure the amendments necessary to enable the 
convention to perform to the best advantage all the 
work which it ought to perform. 


60 THE CanapiAN Fie.p-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII 


A RATTLESNAKE, MELANO GARTER SNAKES AND OTHER REPTIL© 
FROM POINT PELEE, ONTARIO.* 


By CriypeE L. Patcu, Orrawa, ONT. 


Point Pelee, Essex County, Ont.—the most 
southern point in Canada—is about six miles wide 
at the base and, pointing southward, extends nine 
miles out into Lake Erie, ending in a sand bar. 
A shore line map of the point somewhat resembles 
an outline drawing of a funnel. 

The human population is comprised of about a 
dozen families, fifty per cent of whom devote their 
time to agricultural pursuits, while the other half 
gain a livelihood by commercial fishing. This 
locality might prove of archeological interest, as 
Indian skeletons and pottery are from time to 
time uncovered by the plow or the sand-shifting 
winds. 

Point Pelee’s point and west shore are wooded, 
while the east shore is for miles a low-sloping 
sandy beach a hundred or more feet in width, 
crowned by a fringe of willows which separates it 
from several square miles of marsh. The east 
beach is an ideal resting ground for the Piping 
Plover, and a most inviting point of stop-over for 
migrating waders. The marsh, with its several 
open ponds, is a feeding ground for migrant water- 
fowl and on or near it many resident species nest— 
Black Duck, Teal, Florida Gallinule, Least 
Bittern, Black Tern, Long-billed Marsh Wren, etc. 
The waters of the marsh are inhabited by various 
species of fishes of which the Dogfish (Amia) is 
probably the most plentiful. An interesting sight 
is a swarm of black, young Dogfish in a spherical 
mass formation two feet in diameter, and beneath 
the parent lurking like a bull-dog on guard. 

Owing to the geographical situation of Point 
Pelee, many plant and animal forms found no- 
where else, or only sparingly, in other parts of 
Canada here thrive in profusion. A floral list 
would include such southern tree forms as the 
Chestnut, Tulip, Walnut, Paw paw, and the Mul- 
berry, which grows to a height of twenty-five feet 
and bears delicious thimbleberry-like fruit. Among 
the lower growing forms can be listed the Spice- 
bush, the Wafer Ash and the Prickley Pear 
Cactus, which grows in beds sometimes ten feet 
in diameter and bears beautiful lemon-yellow 
flowers each of which lasts only for a day. 

The fauna of Point Pelee equals the flora in 
interest, for here the Cardinal nests, and the Yel- 
low-breasted Chat and the Mocking Bird are found, 


*Published by 
Survey of Canada. 


permission of the Geological 


and the Turkey Buzzard, scavenger of the south 
lands is not infrequently seen soaring aloft. 

Among the Red Cedars which cover about fifty 
per cent of the wooded land, the Damon Butterfly 
is sought by entomologists, and in the open places 
the Ajax Butterfly has been taken. 

Baird’s Mouse is common under the drift-wood 
on the beaches and until recently the Cotton-tail 
Rabbit was conspicuous on the evening landscape. 

With life so rich and varied one might expect 
to find the class Reptilia well represented, and so 
it is. 

In 1913, the writer spent the three summer 
months on Point Pelee as a member of a Biological 
field party from the Victoria Memorial Museum. 
During this period fifty-nine reptiles representing 
eight species were collected. The following list 
includes in addition three species not collected at 
this time: : 

1. BLUE-TAILED SKINK, Plestiodon fasciatus. 

Common under the drift-wood on the beaches, 
where it deposits its eggs in the rotting wood. 
Among the nine specimens taken the old adult 
color phase (olive-brown body with coppery-red 
head) is represented by only one individual. The 
largest specimen measures six and_ seven-eighths 
inches in length. 

2. Hoc-NosED SNAKE, Heterodon contortrix. 

Common on the sandy-soiled, sparsely timbered 
areas. Among the six specimens taken, color phases 
varying from yellow with dark brown markings to 
almost black are represented. The largest in- 
dividual measures thirty-two inches. 

3. Buack RACER SNAKE, Coluber c. constrictor. 

This species is represented in the Museum 
herpetological collection by a skin taken on Point 
Pelee, in 1906, by Mr. P. A. Taverner. Judging 
by the skin, the specimen from which it was taken 
was about six feet in length. 

4. Fox snake, Elaphe vulpina. 

Common on the beaches, where the eggs are de- 
posited under the dead wood. Apparently several 
individuals sometimes place their eggs in the same 
site, as on one occasion three specimens. and half a 
bushel of eggs were found under a section of log. 
On emission the eggs are coated with an adhesive 
fluid which causes them to adhere and form masses. 
The largest individual taken measures four feet 
nine inches. 

5. GARTER SNAKE, Thamnophis s. sirtalis. 
Of the serpents on Point Pelee this is the most 


September, 19] 9] 


abundant species. It there shows a tendency to 
produce melanistic individuals. Three adult melano 
specimens were collected and a female which was 
transported to the museum gave birth to two black 
individuals in a litter of thirty-eight. With the 
exception of white lower jaws and throats the adult 
melanoes are coal black and might pass for Pilot 
Snakes (Elaphe o. obsoleta) or for Black Racer 
Snakes (Coluber c. constrictor) were it not for the 
divided: anal plate of the former and the smooth 
scales of the latter species neither of which features 
are characteristic of J. sirtalis. The young in- 
dividuals are black over all. The largest melano 
and normal specimens measure thirty and thirty-nine 
inches respectively. 

6. RATTLESNAKE, Crotalus horridus. 

The only example of this species in the Museum 
collection was taken near the end of Point Pelee 
on Sept. 29, 1918, by Capt. G. Wilkinson of the 
life saving station. In spite of the fact that for 
the past fourteen years the “Point,” owing to its 
Carolinian fauna and to its being on one of the 
chief bird migration routes, has been the favorite 
observation and collecting ground of several of the 
Dominion’s keenest naturalists, this is the only 
Rattler recorded in recent years. 

The capture of a young individual might indicate 
that there were other members of the species there 


THe Canapian Fietp-NaTuraList 61 


present, but as this specimen is an adult measuring 
fifty-six inches in length and six and one-fourth 
inches in girth, the probabilities are that the Rattlers 
at Point Pelee, like those of many other localities 
in southern Ontario, have been exterminated. 
7. MusuH TurtT Le, Kinosternon odoratum. 

Two individuals of this species were discovered 
by members of our party who stepped on them 
while wading in the marsh. The carapace of the 
larger specimen measures four and one-half inches 
in straight length. 

8. SNAPPING TURTLE, Chelydra serpentina. 

Several examples of this species were observed 
but owing to the small size of our containers no 
specimens were preserved. 

9. SpPoTTED TURTLE, Clemmys guttata. 

The carapace of the largest of the six specimens 
collected measures four and three-fourths inches jn 
straight length. 

10. BLanpine’s TuRTLE, Emys blandingii. 

Two small individuals of this species were col- 
lected. 

11. PatnTeD TURTLE, Chrysemys m. marginata. 

This species and C. guttata are about equally re- 
presented in the marshes. 

As the foregoing is probably not a complete list 
of the Reptilia of Point Pelee, additional records 
would be of interest. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Canapa—How an ALconguin Country RE- 
CEIVED AN Iroquois NaAmME—-In_ the edition 
of Champlain’s Voyages, 1604-1618, reproduced by 
the American Historical Society, the editor in a 
foot-note writes of Hochelaga: “This place was 
probably inhabited by Iroquois.” A similar as- 
sumption is made by a writer in the last Ontario 
Archeologicai Repart. In neither case is there 
evidence of any kind cited to support this conten- 
tion and the idea seems to be merely deduced from 
the fact that when Cartier visited Hochelaga in 
1535, he found there a flourishing settlement, while 
when Prevert, one of Champlain’s lieutenants, 
reached the same locality in 1603, no trace of village 
or settlement remained. 

Recently, however, I came across some evidence 
which seems to give this contention a more solid 
footing. 

I have in my possession a copy of Zeisberger’s 
Indian Dictionary. It is a presentation copy given 
to the date Mr. Lindsay Russell, by Prof. E. N. 
Horsford, of Harvard, at whose expense and under 
whose supervision the work was printed in Boston 
in 1887. The information contained in this book 


is taken from the manuscript of David Zeisberger, 
a Moravian missionary who worked amongst the 
Indians for sixty-eight years from 1740 to 1808. 
The manuscript is now in Harvard College. 

This work is printed in four parallel columns, 
English, German, Onondaga and Delaware, the lat- 
ter two representing the Iroquois and Algonquin 
linguistic stocks respectively. 

On page 103 I find English and Onondaga as 
follows, viz: 

English 

To inhabit 
Inhabitants in Canada 
and on page 185 

English Onondaga 
At the fork of two streams Tiochuhogu 

Now as Hochelaga was situated at the con- 
fluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, 
and as “In Canada” doubtless meant to the 
Iroquois of that day “In the country north of the 
St. Lawrence,” to one knowing the different forms 
which an Indian word may take, owing to the 
language never having been a written one, it 
seems a fair inference that Hochelaga and Tioch- 


Onondaga 
Tienageri 
Tiochtiage hotinageri 


62 THE CANADIAN 
tiage were in intent the same word, and probably 
derived from Tiochuhogu. 

The word Tiochtiage may have been to some 
extent local in its use, but it was evidently current 
with the Eastern Iroquois amongst whom Zeisberger 
labored, and they it was who occupied Hochelaga 
if any of the Iroquois did. 

If we accept the foregoing as evidence that the 
people of Hochelaga were Iroquois, we can readily 
understand how Cartier obtained the name Can- 
ada there—it being an Iroquois word meaning “a 
settlement or village’—and so gave an Iroquois 
name to a country almost all of whose natives were 
Algonquin. 

Furthermore, this does away with the assumption 
that the Iroquois were at any time to any extent 
settled along the lower St. Lawrence river or the 
Gulf, a state of affairs that is highly improbable 
owing to the lack of their place names in that 
region. : 

Champlain evidently took the name Canada from 
the tradition and history of Cartier’s voyage, for 
on his map dated 1613, while he names the coun- 
try as a whole “New France,” he marks its most 
easterly section “Canadas,” and in his journal he 
names the inhabitants of that section the Canadian 
Indians, although they, being probably Abenakis 
and so of Algonquin stock, would not know what 


the name meant. ARMON BuRWASH. 


An Ontario Birp SaNcTuARY.—It is regret- 
table that the penetration of our wild lands by the 
settler and their development for agricultural pur- 
poses should involve the destruction of the haunts 
and breeding places of the creatures that contn- 
bute most to the beauty and charm of the 
countryside, and are the most assiduous protectors 
of the crops which are the primary cause of their 
‘disturbance. And yet it is one of the facts which 
bird lovers have to face. What can we do to 
counteract this unavoidable result of the extension 
of our country’s most important industry? How 
can we help to check this retreat; how can we 
help to retain in our settled lands some of those 
sights that greet us under conditions so feelingly 
described by Duncan Campbell Scott: 
“When you steal upon a land that man has not 
sullied by his intrusion, 

When the aboriginal shy dwellers in the broad 
solitudes 

Are asleep in their innumerable dens and night 
haunts 

Amid the dry ferns, with tender nests 

Pressed into shape by the breasts of the mother 
birds?” 

An answer to these questions is given by Miss 


Edith L. Marsh in a welcome little book, “Birds 


of Peasemarsh.’”* 


*Birds of Peasemarsh. Marsh. Musson 


Kook Co., Toronto. 


By EB. L. 


FirELD- NATURALIST [Vol. XXXII] 

Of the several means by which we may check 
the disappearance of so many of our native birds 
in settled districts the creation of bird sanctuaries 
constitutes one of the most effectual. 
tuaries have been established by governments and 
organizations, but in Canada the maintenance of 
private bird sanctuaries has not as yet made very 
great progress. For this reason Miss Marsh’s de- 
scription of her work and the many species of 
birds that are taking advantage of her efforts on 
their behalf ferms a most valuable contribution to 
our Canadian literature for the promotion of wild 


Such sanc- 


- life conservation. 


It is written in a most readable and popular style 
and the educational value of the book makes it 
especially welcome. It should be in the hands of 
all who wish to keep the birds around them, and 
who does not? 


Where the Indian river flows into the Georgian 
Bay beneath the beautiful Blue Mountain there is 
a tract of land which from the earliest days has 
been a favorite haunt of many species of land and 
water birds. Fortunately, it is in the hands of 
those who are striving to retain as many as pos- 
sible of the former feathered creatures of its up- 
land, woods and marsh. 


In order to secure as much protection as pos- 
sible under the provincial laws the Ontario Govern- 
ment has been prevailed upon to create Peasemarsh 
Farm a bird sanctuary under the Ontario Game 
Act. In Ontario, therefore, we have two such 
private sanctuaries: the Miner sanctuary in Essex 
county and the Peasemarsh sanctuary in Grey 
county. 


But the mere creation by law of a sanctuary 
does not ensure the attainment of its objects. The 
protection of birds involves not only the provision 
of natural and artificial haunts, feeding and nesting 
places, but also the suppression of predatory 
enemies, whether they be the possessor of a .22 
rifle or the four-footed or winged enemy. ‘These 
needs and the methods of meeting them are de- 


scribed. 
We hope that Miss Marsh’s book will be widely 


read and her example followed not only in: Ontario 
but in all other provinces. Nothing would con- 
tribute more to the conservation of our native bird 
life than the establishment of similar sanctuaries 
throughout Canada. The Dominion and Pro- 
vincial Governments are making excellent progress 
in the establishment of wild life reserves, but in- 
calculable good would result from the creation by 
private individuals of sanctuaries similar to Pease- 
marsh. Bird lovers owe much to Miss Marsh for 
her praiseworthy effort, which has our best wishes 
for success. 

C. Gorpon Hewitt. 


THE CANADIAN  FIELD-NATURALIST 


OCTOBER, 1919. No. 4. 


AID TO ZOOLOGY.* 


By W. J. WINTEMBERG. 


WOT ON LIT. 
ARCH/EOLOGY AS AN 
INTRODUCTION. 
The important bearing of paleontology on 


zoology has long been recognized by zoologists, but 
it is not so generally known that archeology also 
To the arch- 
eologist, however, the saving of the bones and 
shells of animals found in the course of his ey 
plorations of the graves, mounds, shell-heaps and 


can give valuzole aid to zoology. 


village sites of prehistoric man, is important prin- 
cipally because it is by means of them that he 
learns something of the kinds of animals used for 
food, and what animal bones were used as material 
for artifacts, by prehistoric people. For a long 
time some archeologists did not seem to see any 
further use for such findings, but all now realize 
how important it is for them to collect all bones 
of animals, not only for their own purposes, but for 
the zoologist’s also. So much of the earlier arch- 
ezological exploration, too, was conducted in a 
prefunctory manner with a view more to secure 
rarities than anything else. To the mere relic 
seeker, especially, animal bones are useless rub- 
bish, and it is surprising that even those from whom 
better work could have been expected seldom col- 
lected these bones unless they showed evidence of 
workmanship. 

In nearly every prehistoric site explored by the 
archeologist animal bones and shells are more or 
less numerous, but they are found less frequently 
in graves and mounds. The Roebuck prehistoric 
village site, near Prescott, Ontario, explored by the 
writer for the Geological Survey, Canada, in 1912 
and 1915, yielded a large number of shells of fresh- 
water clams and animal bones, of which about six 
barrels were collected. From the Baum _ village 
site, in Ross county, Ohio, twenty barrels full of 
bones were sent to the museum of the Ohio Arch- 
eclogical and Historical Society in Columbus. One 
can get an idea from this of the large accumula- 
tions of shells and bones sometimes found. 


*Besides those whose help is acknowledged in 
the text, grateful acknowledgments are here ten- 
dered to all others who kindly supplied me with 
information. 


The bones of nearly all the larger animals used 
as food are found. The presence of the smaller 
birds and such animals as mice, shrews, moles, and 
bats, which were probably not used as food at all, 
is most often not due to human agency, especially 
when the entire skeletons are present. Mere ab- 
sence of the bones of a certain animal from shell or 
refuse heaps, however, does not necessarily mean 
that its flesh was excluded from the aboriginal 
menu. Its bones may have been, so small as to 
disappear, or they may have been gnawed to pieces 
by the aboriginal dog. Some taboo prohibiting the 
eating of the flesh of certain species may account 
for the absence of the bones of other animals. 


Some of the bones may owe their preservation 
to the fact that they were buried in refuse heaps 
composed mainly of wood ashes. Another factor 
which probably accounts for the excellent preserva- 
tion of some is that most of them had been boiled 
with the meat on them, thus possibly eliminating 
nearly all the animal matter which might cause 
decay. A few owe their preservation. to partial 
carbonization. The shells of fresh-water clams 
found in the refuse in some places are invariably 
fresh looking with the epidermis intact and the in- 
side surface still retaining its pearly lustre. 


One has to contend with several difficulties in 
determining the species of animals to which many 
of these bones belonged. Many of them have 
been reduced to indeterminate fragments, possibly 
in order to extract the marrow and also to make 
them of a size small enough to go into cooking 
pots. Others have been fashioned into various im- 
plements and ornaments; although as in the case 
of awls, enough of the original shape of the bone 
sometimes remains to enable one to identify the 
species of animal to which it belonged. 

As to the probable age of the sites where these 
bones are found, it will perhaps be unnecessary to 
say that where no relics of the white man occur, 
they may be all the way from three hundred to five 
hundred and perhaps more years old. Algonkian 
sites in Ontario, and probably in central New York 


64 THE CaNapDIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


also, may antedate the Iroquoian occupation by 
hundreds of years, but these do not yield many 
animal remains. $ 

By identifying the animal bones collected by 
the archeologist the zoologist can determine the 
former presence of (1) animals now extinct, of 
which we have no historical record; (2) animals 
which are known to have become extinct or to have 
been exterminated since the arrival of Europeans 
on this continent; (3) animals not now living in the 
vicinity of the prehistoric site, but found in other 
and more distant parts of the country; and (4) 
animals still living in the area covered by the 
archeological explorations. It is also possible for 
him to greatly extend the range of some species 
thus filling in gaps in distribution. 


As practically all the bones owe their presence 
in archeological sites to the fact tiiat they are 
those of food animals it would probably be possible 
to get an approximate idea of the relative abundance 
The 
bones of those most relished for food would natur- 
ally preponderate and there would be a preponder- 
ance of the herbivores as compared with carnivores. 


of any of these animals in a certain region. 


Given a sufficient number of specimens it is 
possible for the zoologist to learn whether there is 
any difference in the size of the bones or shells of 
recent and prehistoric animals of the same species. 
For example, there is a difference in size between 
recent oyster shells and those from  shell-heaps. 
Oyster shells found by Mr. Harlan I Smith in a 
shell-heap on Merigomish harbor, Nova Scotia, are 
much larger than those of oysters now living in the 
vicinity. Those from the heaps of Damariscotta, 
Maine, likewise are much larger than recent shells, 
being from eight to ten and some even fourteen 
inches long. Then, too, Dr. Edward S. Morse has 
found that shells of Mya from prehistoric shell- 
heaps of the coast of Maine and Massachusetts 
were higher in comparison with their length than 
recent specimens collected in the immediate vicin- 
ity of the same heaps. He also cbserved a change 
in the shell of the common beach cockle (Lunatia). 
The ancient shell-heap form from Marblehead, 
Mass., “has a much more elevated spire than the 
recent form living on the shore today, and this 
variation curiously enough was in accordance with 
what he had observed in a species of Natica in the 
Japanese shell-heaps.””! 

There is a possibility, too, that the zoologist might 
discover among archeological finds some bones ex- 
hibiting unknown pathological conditions of interest 


iChanges in 
position of the 
Am. Assoc. Ady. 
(Salem, 1882), p. 


Mya and Lunatia 
New [England 
Science, 


345, 


since the 
Shell-heaps, 
S0th meeting, 


De- 
Proce, 
Cineinnati 


[Vol. XXXII 


to the student of animal pathology. It is of in- 
terest to note here that the shells of Unio com- 
planatus Solander, one of our common fresh-water 
clams, found in the refuse of the Roebuck village 
site, seemed to be affected by the same species of 
parasitic fresh-water sponge (probably Vioa), caus- 
ing exfoliation of the sides and umbonic region, as 
are those of the present day. 


ZOOLOGICAL INTEREST OF SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL 


DISCOVERIES. 


The mention of a few examples will suffice to 
show that some other discoveries made by arch- 
eclogists are of considerable zoological interest. 
One of the most recent was made by the late Dr. 
H. Haeberlin, of Columbia University, New York, 
in a cave in Porto Rico.2, The bones were those 
of a large extinct species of rodent belonging to a 
new genus and species, allied to Plagiodontia. 
To this rodent Dr. J. A. Allen has given the name 
Isolobodon portoricensis.* 

In shell-heaps in Maine were discovered many 
bones of an extinct species of large and heavily 
built mink (Lutreola macrodon Prentiss), which 
“may have lived to historic times.” Fifty-three 
finds of this mink were made in one shell-heap 
alone, one-fifth of all the animal bones found. 

Dr. Henry C. Mercer in his explorations of the 
Durham cave in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
found two vertebrae and a fragment of the lower 
jaw of an extinct species of peccary (Mylohyus 
pennsylvanicus). The modern peccaries are not 
known to have ranged any farther north than the 
Red river.” 

As examples of discoveries which have extended 
the range of certain species, I might mention the 
following: In a mound in Lee county, Virginia, 
were found the bones of the caribou, which, on 
the authority of Dr. J. A. Allen, “is farther south 
than bones of the caribou have hitherto been 
found.’*® In a shell-heap in Maine, Dr. Wyman 
found the bones of the elk or wapiti. This animal 


2Some Archaeological Work in Porto Rico, Am- 
erican Anthropologist, N.S., 1917, Vol. 19, pp. 225-226. 

3An Extinet Octodont from the Island of Porto 
Rico, West Indies, Annals of the New York 
Academy of Sciences, Vol. XXVII, pp. 17-22. 

4Loomis, F. B.,.and Young, D. B., On the Shell- 
heaps of Maine, The American Journal of Science 


(New Haven, Conn.), 1912, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 27-28. 
See also F. B. Loomis, New Mink from the Shell- 
heaps of Maine, ibid., 1911, Vol. XXXII, pp. 227-229; 
Db. W. Prentiss, Description of an Extinet Mink 
from the Shell-heaps of the Maine Coast, Proceed- 
ings of the U. S. National Museum (Washington, 
1903), Vol. XXVI, pp. 887-888, and an article by 
M. Hardy on The Extinet Mink from the Shell- 
heaps, Forest and Stream, 1903, Vol. LXI, p. 125, 
Hardy thinks the animal became extinet about 1860. 

5An exploration of Durham cave in 1893, Pub- 
lications of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. 
ViEwp. Lib: 


6Carr, 
Mound in 
Peabody 


Lucien, Report of the Exploration of a 
Lee county, Virginia, ete., Report of the 
Museum, Vol. II, 1876-78, p. 80. 


October, 1919] 


then (1868) was not known to exist east of the 
Alleghany mountains.’ 

The discovery of bison bones in a cave on the 
upper Tularosa river, New Mexico, has extended 
the southwestern range of this mammal over one 
hundred miles.® 

One of the most recent discoveries is that of 
some deer bones in Nova Scotia. Mr. Smith found 
a distal phalanx and some teeth in shell-heaps on 
Merigomish harbor, and I found several astragali, 
distal? and proximal phalanges, the distal end of 
a humerus and teeth in a shell-heap on Mahone 
bay, about seventy-five miles west of Halifax. 
Nicholas Denys'° (circa 1653) does not mention 
the deer, and the first printed record of its appear- 
ance in Nova Scotia was in 1888. Even in New 
Brunswick it was not seen until 1818, only be- 
coming plentiful by 1847.'! 

Although they were plentiful in the days of early 
settlement, caribou seem to have been scarce around 
Mahone bay in prehistoric times, only a small piece 
of antler, doubtfully referred to this species, being 
found in the shell-heap there. Only a few in- 
dividuals, also, are represented among the animal 
remains from Merigomish harbor. 

Some archeological discoveries may help to 
settle uncertain or disputed points in zoology. For 
instance, I found in the prehistoric shell-heap on 
Mahone bay, the shells of the land snail Helix 
hortensis Miiller,'2 and Dr. G. F. Matthew found 
some in a shell-heap at Bocabec, New Brunswick.?* 
They have also been found on an island in Pen- 
obscot bay, Maine,' and on Martha’s Vine- 
yard.!° This snail is considered to be “unques- 
tionably identical with the European species,” and 
it was for a long time generally accepted by 
conchologists that it had been introduced from 
Europe. Morse, however, considered it “strange 


TWyman, Dr: Jeffries, An Account of Some 
Kjoekkenmoeddings, or Shell-heaps, in Maine and 
Massachusetts, The American Naturalist, 1868, 
WOle aly OD. Oba: 

8Lyon, Marcus W., jr., Mammal Remains from 
Two Prehistoric Village Sites in New Mexico, Pro- 
ceedings of the U. S. National Museum, 1907, Vol. 
XXXI, pp. 647-648. 

9Identification confirmed by Dr. Gerrit S. Miller, 
of the U.S. National Museum. 

10Description and Natural History of the Coasts 
of North America (Acadia), translated and edited 
by W. F. Ganong. Published by the Champlain 
Society (Toronto, 1908). 

11Chamberlain, Montagu, -Mammals of New 
Brunswick, Bulletin Natural History Society of 
New Brunswick (St. John, 1884), No. III, p. 39. 

12Identification confirmed by C. W. Johnson, 
Curator, Boston Society of Natural History. 

18Discoveries at a Village of the Stone Age at 
Bocabec, N.B., Bulletin Nat. Hist. Soc., New Duns- 
wick, No. III, p. 24. 

14Johnson, C. W., Helix hortensis from a Maine 
SS enes The Nautilus, 1914-1915, Vol. XXVIII, 
Dp. 133i. 


15Johnson, C. W., The Distribution of Helix 
hortensis Muller, in North America, ibid., 1906, 
WGI, PRES, ps. 76s 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST . 65 


that, while in the old country it is found near the 
habitations of men, in this country it occurs only 
upon the most uninhabitable islands.”'® The shells 
found in the Mahone bay shell-heap, while they 
still retain traces of the rarely occurring rufous 
revolving bands, bear the same appearance of age 
as the other shells composing the heap. There is 
a possibility that these snails worked their way down 
into the shell-heap recently, perhaps by way of the 
burrows of small mammals, but if this were really 
so we would expect them to be almost as fresh 
looking as recent shells. Besides, if these snails 
crawled into the heap recently, why did we not 
find other species also? Dr. Matthew found 
the shells of no less than six native species of snails 
at various levels in the heap at Bocabec, and Morse 
reported nine from a heap on an island on the 
coast of Maine.'* It seems to me, therefore, just 
as probable that the snail shells from the Mahone 
bay shell-heap were deposited with the rest of the 
shells when the heap was formed as that they were 
intrusive. his and other testimony would tend to 
prove that the species was indigenous or else had 
found its way to America through other channels 
than commercial intercourse long before the arrival 
of Europeans on this continent.!* Possibly they 
came by way of the much discussed land-connec- 
tion between the old and the new world.?® 

The occurrence in a shell-heap on an island in 
Casco bay, Maine, “of the little snail Zua lubri- 
coides” Stimpson (now known as_ Cochlicopa 
lubrica Miller), is also, according to Morse, “‘in- 
consistent with the view that it is an introduced 
species.””?° 

It is still doubtful whether Litorina litorez 
(Linn.), or “Periwinkle,” is an indigenous species 
or one introduced from Europe. No shells have 
yet been found in any of the prehistoric shell-heaps 
of the Atlantic coast, but if some were found deep 
in one of these heaps it would certainly be indis- 
putable evidence that this species was here long 
before the advent of the white man. The possibil- 
ity of finding this shell again suggests the necessity 
for careful and thorough methods of archeological 


16The Land Snails of New England, The Am- 
erican Naturalist, 1868, Vol. I, p. 187. 

17Wyman, op. cit., p. 566. Also Proceedings 
of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1866-1868, 
Vol. XI, pp. 301-302. The presence in the lower por- 
tion of this particular heap of so many species of 
snails which, as Morse notes, can only exist in 
hardwood growths, whereas the island at the time 
of the exploration of the shell-heap was covered 
with large spruce trees, would argue a consider- 
able antiquity for the shell-heap. 

_ 18See Johnson, op. cit., pp. 73-80. See also Dr. 
Ww. H. Dall’s Land and Fresh-water Mollusks 
(Harriman Alaska Expedition, New York, 1905), 
Vol. XIII, p. 20, for its occurrence in the glacial 
Pleistocene of Maine. 

19See Scharff, R. F., Distribution 
of Life in America (New York, 1912), p. 


and Origin 
f 14. 
20Wyman, op. cit., p. 566. 


66 THE CANADIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 


exploration. It might be of interest to note, in this 
connection, that shells of Litorina irrorata Say, 
which species now ranges no farther north than the 
coast of Florida, were found in the refuse of a pre- 
historic rockshelter near New Haven, Connecticut.*? 
Its place in Connecticut waters is now taken by 
Litorina litorea. 

While we are on the subject, I might mention a 
few other archeological discoveries of interest to 
the conchologist. The Mahone bay shell-heap, 
besides shells of Mya arenaria Linn., Pecten Magel- 
lanicus (Gamelin), Venus mercenaria Linn., Spisula 
solidissima (Dillwyn), Spisula polynyma (>) 
(Stimpson), Mvtilus edulis Linn., Ensis directus 
(Conrad), Lunatia heros (Say), Purpura lapillus 
(Linn.), and Buccinum undatum Linn., also yield- 
ed two small shells of the oyster (Ostrea virginica 
Gmelin.) So far as I can learn very few oysters 
now occur in the bay. No oyster shells were 
found in the prehistoric shell-heap near French 
Village at the head of St. Margaret’s bay.?? Only 
a single fragment was discovered in a shell-heap on 
Cole harbor, east of Halifax.2? Dr. Matthew did 
not find any oyster shells in the heap at Bocabec,** 
nor were they reported by Professor Baird from 
the heaps at Oak bay, St. Croix river.2° Oysters 
seem very scarce on the Atlantic coast of Nova 
Scotia, and according to Whiteaves only a few are 
found at Jeddore Head, and in Country and Lips- 
combe harbors, east of Halifax. The same author- 
ity does not mention their occurrence anywhere on 
the Bay of Fundy.7® 

Our shell-heap evidence therefore is interesting 
as suggesting that the oyster also was scarce on the 
whole outer or Atlantic coast of the Maritime Pro- 
vinces in prehistoric times. Mr. Smith found many 
oyster shells in the heaps on Merigomish harbor, 
which accords well with the present more common 
occurrence of the species in Northumberland straits. 

On the coast of Maine there is a scarcity of 
oysters at the present day, but the prehistoric shell- 
heaps are almost entirely composed of oyster shells, 
some of the heaps, especially those on the Damaris- 
cotta river, reaching a depth of from six to twenty- 
five feet and covering many acres of ground. 


2iMacCurdy, G. G.: The Passing of a Connec- 
ticut Rockshelter, The American Journal of Science, 
1914, Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 517-518. 

22Jones, J. M., in Smithsonian Report, 1863, 
p. 371, and G[ossip], W., On the Occurrence of the 
Kjockkenmoedding on the Shores of Nova Scotia, 
Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian 
Institute of Natural Science for 1863-1866 (Halifax, 
1867), Vol. I. 

23G[ossip], op. cit., 

240Op. cit. 

25Baird, Spencer F., Notes on Certain Aborig- 
inal Shell Mounds of the Coast of New Brunswick 
and of New England, Proceedings of the U.S. Nat- 
jonal Museum, 1881, Vol. IV, p. 293. 

26Catalogue of the Marine 
Eastern Canada (Geological Survey, 
tawa, 1901, p. 115. 


p. 98. 


Vertebrata of 
Canada), Ot- 


[Vol. XXXIII 


THE PREHISTORIC FAUNA OF THE ST. 
AND OTTAWA VALLEYS. 


LAWRENCE 


One can get a fairly good knowledge of the 
fauna of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa valleys in 
prehistoric times from a study of the animal bones 
recovered from the Roebuck village site. This is 
the largest collection of animal bones from a single 
site in any museum in Canada. The bones com- 
prise those of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, and 
there also are shells of several species of land 
snails and fresh-water shell-fish. My information 
is as yet not complete enough to reconstruct the 
entire fauna, so I will attempt to show how the. 
mammalian fauna alone could be reconstructed by 
means of archeological and other evidences. 

The first column in the table below indicates the 
animals which are known to inhabit the country 
surrounding the Roebuck village site. The second 
column shows those whose former presence is 
vouched for by old residents.2* In the third column 
is indicated the species formerly and still living 
elsewhere in the Ottawa valley within from fifty 
to seventy-five miles of the site. The last column 
gives the species represented by bones found at the 
Roebuck village site. 


a 
o 
= 
cs 

fo} - 
2 5 

Names of Mammals 2 2 ES Pes 
4 |e: Op ina 
oie gala 3 5a 
c . 2 . A= ad 
of |gal/BE lz bo 
23 |5al2e |es 
he Ima |fo tas 

CoTTON-TAIL RABBIT, | 

Sylvilagus floridanus (Allen) X | | 

VARYING HARE, | 

Lepus americanus Erxleben?* | Deh ee 


CANADA PORCUPINE, 

Erethizon dorsatum (Linn.) x |) Deel ee 

JUMPING MOUSE, 

Zapus hudsonius (Zimmer- 
man) chee ee xX xX 

RED-BACKED MOUSE, 

Evotomys gapperi (Vigors) 


lx] 


271 am indebted to Mr. George A. Drummond, 
of Roebuck, Ont., and Mr. F. P. Smith, of Brock- 
ville, for lists of mammals found in the vicinity of 
the site. 

28It is interesting to note that neither Mr. 
Drummond nor Mr. Smith mentions the White or 
Southern Varying Hare. It has been known for 
some time that the common Cotton-tail rabbit is 
continually pushing its way farther to the north, 
gradually displacing the hare. The hare goes with 
the destruction of the coniferous forests and the 
Cotton-tail comes in with the second-growth. 
(See The Geographical Distribution of the Eastern 
Races of the Cotton-tail, ete., by Outram Bangs, 
in Proc. Boston Society of Natural History, 1894, 
Vol. XXVI, p. 413). 


October, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


Roebuck 


in 


Names of Mammals 


known 


site. 


‘former 
lsewhere 


ml 
. 
ul 


Present known 
Fauna. 


Prehistoric 


Ottawa valley. 
village 


sauna. 


Kk 


MEADOW MOUSE, 
Microtus _ pennsylvanicus 


x 


Muskrat, 
Ondatra zibethica (Linn.)__ 
WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE, 
Peromyscus leucopus 
(Rafinesque) 
CANADIAN BEAVER, 
Castor canadensis Kuhl.____ 
WooDcHUCK, 
Marmota monax (Linn.)_-__  X 
CHIPMUNK, 
Tamias striatus (Linn.)---~ 
BLACK OR GRAY SQUIRREL, 
Sciurvs carolinensis Gmelin_ 
RED SQUIRREL, 
Sciurus hudsonicus. . 
(rxeben)-__.-._+>. z 
FLYING SQUIRREL, 
Glaucomys volans (Linn.)_- 
SHORT-TAILED SHREW, 
Blarina brevicauda (Say)..- 
BREWER’S MOLE, 
Parascalops breweri 
(Bachman) 
STAR-NOSED MOLE, 
Condylura cristata (Linn.)_ 
BROWN BAT, 
Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois) 
Say’s BAT, 
Myotis subulatus (Say)_-_- 
SILVER-HAIRED BAT, 
Lasionycteris noctivagans 
(LeConte) 
VIRGINIA DEER, 


Odocoileus americanus 
(Erxleben) 

Wapiti, 

Cervus canadensis 


(Exzleben)®°. =... -- 


x 


eee Ce eS 


Oe eee eS 


aay ee 


X xX 


29The incisor teeth of this species, identified by 
Dr. R. M. Anderson, of the Biological Division, 
Geological Survey, Canada, were recovered from 
the faeces of some animal, probably the aboriginal 
dog. 

80Represented by a few molar teeth, a polished 
perforated canine, and possibly by some phalanges. 
Antlers were plowed up about one mile west of the 
site some years ago. 


ON 
| 


FieLp- NATURALIST 


known 
Roebuck 


in 


valley. 


Names of Mammals 


known 


site. 


Prehistoric 


Present 
auna 

former 

Fauna. 

Elsewhere 

Ottawa 

vil ize 


Moose, 

Alces americanus Jardine®'_ 

WooDLAND CARIBOU, 

Rangifer caribou (Gmelin)*” X 

Raccoon, 

Procyon lotor (Linn.)__~_~ 

SLACK BEAR, 

Ursus americanus Pallas____ 

OTTER, 

Lutra canadensis (Schreber) 

COMMON SKUNK. 

Mephitis mephitis 
(Sehreber )292 22.5 7 

WOLVERINE, 

Gulo luscus (Linn.)?*_____- 

PINE MARTEN, 

Martes americana (Turton) 

FISHER, 

Martes pennanti (Erxleben) 

MINK, 

Mustela vison Schreber____ 

New YORK WEASEL, 

Mustela noveboracensis 
(Emmons) 

SMALL BROWN WEASEL, 

Mustela cicognanti 
Bonaparte 

RED Fox, 

Vulpes fulva (Desmarest)__ 

Gray WOLF, 

Canis lycaon Schreber_____ 

WILD cart, 

Lynx ruffus (Gueldenstaedt) 

CANADA LYNX, 

Lynx canadensis Kerr____- 


* 


~ 


X 
X X 


31Represented by a few molar teeth and possibly 
an astragalus and several phalanges. The wide 
antlers are said fo have been plowed up in the 
neighborhood of the site. Moose were killed by 
Gallinée and his party in Lake St. Francis, about 
sixty miles east of the site, in 1669. 

32Mr. Drummond was informed by an old hunter 
that when a boy his father would bring in deer 
with the horns standing “straight up from’ the 
top of the head.”’ The description at once suggests 
caribou. A caribou killed at L’Orignal about 1859 
is the nearest record of its occurrence in the Ottawa 
valley. 

88Although the skunk was eaten by some In- 
dians and bones have been found on sites else- 
where, no bones were found at the Roebuck site. 

84The wolverine may have ranged as far south 
as the St. Lawrence valley, but no bones were 
found at the Roebuck site. Dr. W. Brodie found 
some bones in refuse heaps in York county, Ont., 


which he thought were possibly those of this 
animal. (See Annual Archaeological Report of the 
Provincial Museum, Toronto, for 1901, p. 51). 


68 THE CaNapdIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 


Out of the thirty-eight species of mammals which 
possibly once constituted the mammalian fauna of 
the country in the neighborhood of the Roebuck 
site, we now know definitely that eighteen species 
were represented in prehistoric times. Six out of 
seven of the species and one doubtful species would 
be known only from archeological or historical 
evidences. 


It will at once be apparent how important our 
archeological evidence would be if we had no 
historical evidence of the existence of these mam- 
mals, and especially after the lapse of another fifty 
or a hundred years, when many, if not most of the 
species, still found in the neighborhood, will have 
disappeared. 


PREHISTORIC RANGE OF THE WILD TURKEY. 


I will now endeavor to show by means of certain 
examples how archaeological evidence can be util- 
ized to show the prehistoric distribution of certain 
species of animals. I have selected the wild turkey 
because it seems to have been one of the most im- 
portant food birds wherever it was abundant. In 
two Ohio sites, explored by Mr. W. C. Mills,®° 
for example, turkey bones constituted as much as 
eighty per cent of all the bird bones found. Al- 
most everywhere, too, where the bird existed, the 
bones have been made into various implements and 
ornaments, the tarsometatarsus being the favorite 
bone for awls or bodkins. I have admitted such 
artifacts as evidence of its presence, although there 
is a slight danger here that when such artifacts are 
few in number they may have been brought from 
elsewhere. 


Of the original turkey, the Meleagris gallopavo 
of Linneus, there are now four recognized var- 
ieties, as follows:— 

Meleagris gallopavo silvestris Viellot. Wild Turkey. 

Range—Eastern United States from Nebraska, 
Kansas, Western Oklahoma, and eastern Texas, 
east to central Pennslyvania; formerly north to 


South Dakota, southern Ontario and_ southern 

Maine. 

Meleagris gallopavo merriami Nelson. Merriam’s 
Turkey. 


Range.—Transition and Upper Sonoran zones 
in the mountains of southern Colorado, New Mexico, 
Arizona, western Texas, northern Sonora, and 


Chihuahua. 


Meleagris gallopavo osceola Scott. Florida Turkey. ° 


Range.—Southern Florida. 


Gartner Mound and Vil- 
lage Site,’ (Reprint from the Ohio Archaeological 
and Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 2); (Col- 
umbus, 1904), p. 32; and ‘‘Explorations of the Baum 
Village Site (Reprint, ibid., Vol. XV, No. 1), 1906, 
p- $1. 


“Explorations of the 


[Vol. XXXIII 


Meleagris gallopavo intermedia Sennett. Rio Grande 
Turkey. 

Range.—Middle northern Texas south to north- 
eastern Coahuila, Uuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.*® 
Third ed., Revised (New York, 1910), pp. 145-146. 

As may be seen from the map these varieties are 
found distributed over a_ considerable 
North America. 

In Canada its habitat was limited to the south- 
western part of Ontario, and it was fairly abundant 
in the days of pioneer settlement. Mr. C. W. 
Nash, Biologist of the Provincial Museum, Tor- 
onto, in a letter to the writer states that so far as 
he has been able to discover the range of the Wild 
Turkey “was confined to that part of the province 
south of a line drawn from the corner of Lambton 
county to Hamilton. It may have occasionally 
wandered a little north of that in some places, but 
not far. East of the county of Wentworth I have 
never heard of it.” According to Macoun’s Cata- 
logue of Canadian Birds, the late Dr. Bredie said, 
“that many years ago (between 1840 and 1850), 
a well-known and reliable hunter saw a flock on 
the west side of Yonge street, in the township of 
Whitchurch, near Toronto, Ontario.”** Arch- 
eological evidence, seemingly confirmatory of the 
prehistoric presence of the bird in this very town- 
ship, has been discovered by Dr. Brodie,** so it is 
altogether probable that the turkeys seen by Dr. 
Brodie’s hunter informant were not stragglers but 
permanent residents of that part of York county. 

It would be interesting to know just where and 
when the wild turkey first entered Canada, but, of 
course, this would necessarily be pure guess work. 
We know from archeological evidence, however, 
that the bird was in Ontario and probably fairly 
abundant three, four, or perhaps even five centuries 
ago. Perhaps then, as when the bird was first 
seen by whites, adverse climatic conditions pre- 
vented the migration of the bird farther north and 
east. This is singular when we consider that the 
domesticated turkey, although mostly housed dur- 
ing part of our severe northern winters, seems to— 
thrive far north of the limits reached by its wild 
congener. 


area in 


In Wisconsin the wild turkey is known to have 
ranged as far north as Green bay, but in all this 
region its bones do not appear to have been found. 
Perhaps the bird had spread there only a short 
time before the arrival of the whites. Carver (circa 
1766-1768) saw “great plenty” of them near Lake 


386A, O. U. Checklist of North American Birds, 

37Macoun, John and James M., Catalogue of 
Canadian Birds (Department of Mines, Geological 
Survey Branch, Ottawa, 1909), p. 234. 

88Brodie, Dr. William, Animal Remains Found 


on Indian Village Sites, Annual Archaeological Re- 
port, 1901 (Ontario), p. 48 


69 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


October, 1919] 


ue 


ays 


fy oat fe 


4 NSN! 


‘ 
SPIMSNNYG \ 
AABN \ 


Wody 


a 
oF 


PeulUdajyop 


su 


(wnvevay ae 


WOwOIO 
Pa rae \ 


/ WNITOWYD Y 


yn wlONI | aig WAN 
‘ \ +} 


‘QOUNPTAY [ROLSOLOORYoAe OL QR[L[BaAL 


SB osuva oy} pue Aoyan) ptm oy) jo oFurs 


oO 


VE 


svdlQAvNYL~., 
. oe a 


i ae ‘? ey acy - 
ines 0 \ 
are ai 


f; i 
: 2 WAR enHIN Di 


‘ 


PYONoS 


Mey a RE, 
rae OF ss 
ft: 


ls 


iy HAG 


p 


ia Beall: air lire a se Boe iia 
5 ; wAby \o VYSvyesy> 


Ni 


! 
Vlorvg H4y¥0n) / 


' 
I 
1 


uMOUY 


\ 


oud 


/ Hop Kiipe707 
P2UaPIAT [2/60j03Y UV 
Ayiny ply fo abues umouy 


70 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Pepin, in Minnesota,*” and if they were seen as early 
as this they may have been common enough even a 
century earlier. The bird was once fairly plentiful 
in South Dakota. The Mandans knew the turkey, 
but no archeological remains of the bird have so 
far been found on prehistoric Mandan sites. 

Now, turning again to the map, it will be ob- 
served that the farthest western archeological oc- 
currence of what was probably M. g. silvestris is 
in southwestern Missouri,*” the farthest southern in 
middle Florida and the farthest northern, in cen- 
tral Ontario. The occurrences in New Mexico and 
Anrzona are most probably those of semi-domes- 
ticated M. g. merriami; at least the dessicated bodies 
with well preserved feathers, found in some ruins 
there, have been identified as Merriam’s turkey. 
Our knowledge of the prehistoric range of the wild 
turkey, however, although slightly extended in one 
direction, is probably very incomplete. This is 
due to several reasons, one being that some regions 
may not have been inhabited by the turkey, the 
faunal areas occupied by Merriam’s turkey and the 
Rio Grande turkey, for instance, being separated by 
a broad belt of desert country where the bird could 
not possibly exist. Then, again, other regions, in- 
habited by the turkey, were perhaps unsuitable for 
human inhabitants, and, in some areas, where there 
were human inhabitants, the bones of the birds for 
some reason may not have found their way to refuse 
heaps and mounds, or other archeological remains. 
Another cause, and I think this is probably the 
principal one, is that in some regions archeological 
work, if done at all, has not been done thoroughly ; 
in short, it was not considered worth while to col- 
lect animal bones. In many instances also the 
identity of the bones, which may have been col- 
lected, has never been determined, and the com- 
plete results of the exploration are therefore not 
known. 

What interesting results could be obtained had 
we the necessary data! Notwithstanding the in- 
completeness of our map, it may yet be interesting 
to ornithologists as showing where the turkey did 
exist in prehistoric times. 

The very incompleteness of the map will, never- 
theless, serve to emphasize how important it is for 
all future archeological work to be done in a 
thorough, systematic manner. 


PREHISTORIC RANGE OF THE GREAT AUK. 
Archeological finds of bones of the Great Auk 


Travels through the Interior Parts of North 


America, ete; Third edition, (London, 1781), p. 56. 

40C. N. Gould in his ‘Prehistoric Mounds in 
Cowley county,’ (Kansas), speaks of finding the 
bones of a gallinaceous bird, which may have been 
those of the turkey. (Transactions of the Kansas 


Academy of Science, 1895-1896 (Topeka, 1898), Vol. 
XV, p. 80). 


[Vol. XXXII 


(Plautus impennis (Linn.)), whose range on the 
European side of the Atlantic was from Iceland to 
the Bay of Biscay and on the American side from 
Greenland to Virginia, have helped to extend our 
knowledge of the former range of this bird consider- 
ably. This was interestingly shown in a map by 
Lucas in 1889.4! Further evidence has been dis- 
covered since this map appeared and I take the 
liberty of presenting one here on a larger scale 
giving the location of these recent additions to our 
knowledge. The known summer and winter ranges 
are as indicated on the Lucas map, but to in- 
dicate the archeological evidence 1 am using a 
symbol which stands out more distinctly than that 
used by him. 

In Europe the Great Auk was rarely met along 
the coasts of Norway and Sweden, but as is 
evidenced by the finding of its bones in shell-heaps, 
it frequented the fjords of Denmark in prehistoric 
times. Its remains have also been found in shell- 
heaps in the Orkneys, in Caithness, and on Oron- 
say island (Argyleshire), Scotland; in old sea 
caves in Durham, England, and in Donegal, An- 
trim, Waterford and Clare, Ireland.*2 

In America the remains of this bird have been 
found in shell-heaps along the North Atlantic coast. 
No evidence has been found of its presence in 
Nova Scotia, unless some bones found in the shell- 
heap at the head of St. Margaret’s bay, and de- 
scribed as “evidently belonging to a bird much 
larger than the Great Northern Diver (Colymbus 
glacialis)** were those of the Auk. Baird found 
Great Auk bones in the shell-heaps of New Bruns- 
wick.‘ In Maine the bones occurred in sufficient 
numbers to justify the belief that the bird was 
formerly very common. It was represented among 
the animal remains found by Wyman in the shell- 
heaps at Mount Desert and Crouchs cove,*? and 
the shell-heaps explored by Baird, especially those 
on some islands in Casco bay.*® More recently, 
Loomis and Young found its bones the most abun- 
dant of the bird remains in one of the shell-heaps 
on Flagg island, Maine.** In Massachusetts its 
remains occurred in considerable numbers at Eagle 
Hill, in Ipswich.tS- Wyman found its bones in a 


41Lucas, Frederick A.: Animals Recently Ex- 
tinct or Threatened with Extermination ,ete., Report 
of the U.S. National Museum, 1889, p. 639. 
42Sharpe, R. B., A Hand-book of the Birds of 
Great Britain (London, 1897), Vol IV, pp. 112-113; 
Saunders, H., An Illustrated Manual of British 
Birds (London, 1899), p. 698; and Hartert, E., Jour- 
dain, F. C. R., Ticehurst, N. F., and Witherby, H. 


F., A Hand-list of British Birds, ete. (London, 
1912), p. 206. 

1sJones, J. M., in Smithsonian Report for 1863, 
1p trsyf fal 

44Op. cit., p. 297. 

45Wyman, op. cit., p. 574. 


4660p. cit., p. 296. 
tTOD, Clty. Dy au» 


48Baird, op. cit., p. 297. 


October, 1919] 


shell-heap on Cape Cod,‘ and, according to Put- 
nam, bones were also taken from the shell-heaps 
of Marblehead and Plumb island.” 

Shell-heaps on Block island, off the coast of 
Rhode Island, likewise yielded evidence of its 
presence.”! 

The most interesting 


discovery yet recorded, 


however, is that of two left humeri of this bird in 
a shell-heap at Ormond, Florida, in 1902, by W. 
S. Blatchley and C. H. Hitchcock, which indicates 
that this bird must have gone farther south than has 
been generally supposed, but it is very doubtful 
whether it was a permanent resident of Florida.” 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 7 


ground that the bones are probably those of birds 
taken during their migration southward.°’ Miss 
Hardy, en the other hand, maintains that the bones 
are those of summer residents and not migrants,”* 
thinks she “can show the best of 
reasons for believing that nineteen-twentiethe of all 
the clams and oysters represented by one shell-heap 
were taken and shelled during the summer months.” 
Dr. Eaton, however, speaking of the Block Island 
shell-heaps, says, “there is no reason for supposing 
that they were deposited during the summer only, 
cr even principally. On the contrary, the remains 
of many birds which visit our coast in the autumn 


because she 


Summer Habitat of Great Auk ——. Winter Range-----. Arc heeological Evidence 


The discovery of the bones of the Great Auk 
in shell-heaps has given rise to the question whether 
or not the bird was a summer resident of the New 
England coast. This has been discussed by 
Lucas, Miss Hardy and others. Lucas takes the 


49Second Annual Report of the Peabody 
Museum (Boston, 1869), p. 17. 

50The American Naturalist (Salem, Mass., 1870), 
Vol. III, p. 540; Note. 

5ixkaton, George F.: The 
Block Island, as Indicated by its Ancient Shell- 
Heqgps, The American Journal of Science (New 
Haven, Conn., 1898), Vol. VI, pp. 143 and 147-148. 

52Hay, Dr. O. P.: On the Finding of the Bones 
of the Great Auk (Plautus impennis) in Florida, The 
Auk, 1902, Vol. XIX, pp. 255-258. 


Prehistoric Fauna of 


and early spring rather indicate a permanent resi- 
dence of the Indians there. Furthermore, the fact 
that all the auk bones found belonged to mature 
skeletons is opposed to the theory that these birds 
bred on the island.”**° Forbush, considering the 
archeological and historical evidence, seems in the 
main to agree with Miss Hardy’s conclusion and 
thinks “we have the best of evidence that the Great 
Auk was found in summer at the head of Buzzard 


53Great Auk Notes, 
"oo 
54Hardy, Fanny P., Testimony of Some Early 
Voyagers on the Great Auk, ibid., p. 384. 

550Op. cit., p. 148. 


The Auk, 1888, Vol. V, 


p. 


72 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Bay and the junction of the Cape Cod peninsula 
with the mainland.’’** 
CONCLUSION. 

In these days when much stress is quite naturally 
laid on the economic value of scientific work, it is 
pleasing to know that archeology, aside from what 
many may consider its purely academic interest, is 
also, as | think I have succeeded in demonstrating 
above, of indirect value from an economic stand- 


56Forbush, E. W., A History of the Game Birds, 
Wild Fowl! and Shore Birds of Massachusetts and 
Adjacent States. (Issued by the State Board of 
Agriculture, 1912), p. 406. 


[Vol. XXXII 


point. There is, of course, a reciprocal dependence 
of one science on another—archeology depending 
on zoology for the determination of animal remains 
and zoolegy on archeology for useful osteological 
material. 

One of the main points to be remembered is that 
archeology in order to be truly scientific and most 
useful to other sciences, should be conducted in a 
thorough manner by trained, or at least competent, 
investigators and not by mere collectors of curios 
or other irresponsible parties, who destroy more use- 
ful material than they succeed in preserving. 


TYPES OF CANADIAN CARICES. 


By THEo. Hoim, CLINTON, Mary anp, U.S.A. 


For nearly thirty years the writer has enjoyed 
the great privilege of receiving botanical collections 
from the Canadian Government at Ottawa. These 
collections, mainly brought together by Professor 
John Macoun, and his son, Mr. James M. Macoun, 
represent an immense number of Phanerogams from 
the Pacific to the Atlantic slope and extending far 
north to the Arctic regions. Although extremely 
rich in species of all the natural families known 
from Canada, these collections, nevertheless, made 
it evident that one genus appeared to have inter- 
ested these gentlemen more particularly than most 
of the others. It so happened that the genus Carex 
has been, and is yet, the favorite one of the 
Macouns. Naturally the collectors laid special 
stress on the numerous species of this genus, and 
it is due to the great experience and skill of these 
gentlemen that their collections of Carex have been 
more rich in species than similar collections brought 
together by botanists in general. 

As a matter of fact to collect Carices is a most 
difficult task, at least when the aim is to have the 
species represented at different stages, typically and 
less typically developed, and to show the enor- 
mous variation exhibited by many of the species. The 
object of the Macouns was not merely to collect 
specimens, but individuals in large series of de- 
velopmental stages. Many new and rare species 
were discovered, Carex petricosa Dew., and C. 
Franklinii Boott, never collected since Drummond, 
were brought home last year by James M. Macoun 
in magnificent specimens. Last but not least, the 
geographical range has been extended year after 
year and it has been shown that the genus pos- 
sesses many species in Canada of extremely wide 
distribution, not a few being circumpolar, and many 
ascending from the lowlands to the alpine regions 


of the Rocky Mountains. And a point of special 
importance is that great care was taken to con- 
sider the variation of the species, which is com- 
mon to many of these, when inhabiting different 
localities at different altitudes, and associated with 
certain species. In this way a broader view has 
been gained, and the systematist has been guided 
to appreciate the power of the species to adapt 
itself to the environment, instead of increasing the 
already untold number of species supposed to be 
specifically new, but actually being mere forms or 
varieties. | Many instances illustrating this fact 
might be mentioned, but we shall confine ourselves 
to a few. Carex spectabilis Dew., was- never 
known before except as the typical plant, de- 
scribed by Dewey, but James M. Macoun gathered 
the species in Jasper Park, Alberta, at a number 
of stations, and proved the species to be one of 
special interest with respect to variation, influenced 
by the environment. Such very inconspicuous 
species as C. scirpoidea Wormskj., C. nigricans 
C. A. Mey., C. pratensis Drej., C. gynocrates 
Wormskj., C. lejocarpa C. A. Mey., and a host of 
others are now known and understood better than 
ever before through the painstaking studies in the 
held by John and James M. Macoun. Even the 
remote districts in Yukon, explored by John Macoun, 
have proved rich in Carices, of species closely allied 
to each other of the same alliance as a number of 
North European species, the rigida, aquatilis and 
acutina alliance, in Europe so excellently outlined 
and described by Elias Fries, Laestad, Blytt and 
others. 

To the writer of these pages these collections 
have been of the same value and interest as to the 
Macouns, inasmuch as he for many years, has given 
special attention to the same genus in Europe and 


October, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


the United States. However, our knowledge of the 
American element of the genus we owe almost ex- 
clusively to the Macouns, through their familiarity 
with the genus and correct determinations. The 
liberal gifts of well selected material in connection 
with, so to speak, a most indefatigable correspond- 
ence has enabled us to draw a concise comparison 
of the Old World and American representations of 
Carex. 

Mest prevalent in the north, even beyond the 
Arctic Circle, and at high elevations in the moun- 
tainous districts, the genus has proved of special 
interest to the student of plant geography and of 
the migration of species during the glacial epoch, 
to be traced now through the circumpolar element, 
mingled with types of southern origin. And the 
vast distribution of the genus has resulted in the 
production of types utterly unlike each other, when 
comparing the supposed ancestral with those of 
more recent origin. ‘The outlining of the genus 
in natural greges we owe to Elias Fries, Tucker- 
man and Salomon Drejer, who laid the foundation 
of demonstrating the natural affinities, instead of 
following the usual tendency to arrange the species 
in accordance with superficial characters in a mere 
analytical way. And, while all other Carico- 
graphers considered the “Jndicae” distinct from 
“Vigneae’ and “Carices. genuinae” Drejer in his 
excellent work “Symbolae Caricologicae” com- 
bined these, the “Jndicae’’ with the two others; 
thus the “Jndicae’”’ may be looked upon as repre- 
senting evolute types of greges of both Vigneae and 
Carices genuinae. Furthermore Drejer demonstrat- 
ed the probable affinities of the species within the 
greges, considering the monostachyous as “formae 
hebetatae”’ passing into the “centrales” the typical 
of the grex, and culminating in some more evolute 
with some deviating. types, the so-called “descis- 
centes.” By this logical arrangement the mono- 
stachyous species became transferred to various 
greges, instead of as formerly constituting one most 
unnatural section with no other feature in common 
than possessing a single spicate inflorescence, the 
pistillate, or a spike, the staminate. 


Now with respect to Canadian types of the genus, 
it is interesting to see that of the 39 greges enumer- 
ated by the writer’ only five are absent from Can- 
ada; these greges are as follows: Psyllophorac 
(Europe and Azores), Chionanthae (Europe), 
Leucocephalae (Virginia), Echinochlaenae (Aus- 
tralia), and finally Podogynae (Japan). 

As regards the greges present the Microrhynchae, 
Aeorastachyae, Echinostachyae and Physocarpae 


1Greges Caricum (Studies in the Cyperaceae) 
American Journal of Science, Vol. XVI, 1903, p. 445. 


FieELD- NATURALIST 73 


are the best represented, being rich in species and 
of very wide distribution. 


But of special interest are a number of types 
represented among the various greges, types of a 
very characteristic structure. These we will de- 
scribe briefly in the same order as the respective 
greges (I.c. p. 453). A tristigmatic Vignea, C. 
nardina Fr., by Boott named C. Hepburnii has been 
collected on mountain summits of Alberta and 
British Columbia. Some of the formae hebetatae 
of the Astrostachyae; C. gynocrates Wormskj. and 
C. exilis Dew., have been known as varying from 
monoecious to dioecious; of these the former con- 
fined to Greenland and this continent is undoubt- 
edly most commonly monoecious in the north, judg- 
ing from the specimens we have examined which 
were collected in Northern Labrador. British Col- 
umbia, Alaska and Greenland; in the last place we 
found this species probably at its most northern limit 
Skarvefjaeld on the island of Disco, about 69 N. 
lat. where it occurred only as monoecious. A still 
more evolute stage is represented by C. exilis, which 
in Canada occurs as monoecious or dioecious, mono 
—or plio—stachyous. A gynaecandrous? spike is 
frequently met with in this species, besides that the 
female plant may possess several lateral spikes, 
from one to six, at the base of the terminal. Among 
the centrales of this grex we find C. stellulata 
Good., C. interior Bail., C. sterilis Willd., widely 
distributed and clearly demonstrating a natural al- 
liance of true species, although of very close re- 
lationship. The very peculiar and rare C. sychno- 
cephala Carey of the grex Sychnocephalae is also 
a native of Canada, and only one Old World 
species is known of this grex, C. cyperoides L.; 
they both are very much alike, showing exactly the 
same habit. Among the Xerochlaenae, C. macroce- 
phala Willd., with its dense and remarkably large 
inflorescence occurs on the coast and islands of 
Alaska, and this Carex is tristigmatic, although 
a typical member of Vignea. Very peculiar is the 
Canadian representative of C. teretiuscula Good * 
with its large and frequently ramified inflorescence. 
Among the Athrostachyae, C. festiva is represented 
by a multitude of forms, and is widely distributed 
in the mountains; a very interesting alliance is 
composed of C. pratensis Drej., C. pestasata Dew., 


2The term gynaecandrous is applied to spikes 
with both sexes represented, the pistillate flowers 
being situated above the staminate; the opposite 
position occurs in androgynous spikes, where the 
staminate flowers are situated at the apex of the 
spike, the pistillate at the base. Formerly the term 
andrygynous was used to signify both cases. 

8It is very unjust to accept the name C. diandra 
Schrank in place of Goodenough’s C. teretiuscula, 
since Schrank’s material upon which he established 
the species was mixed, containing also C. paradoxa 
Willd, and C. paniculata L. 


74 THE CanapdIAN- FiELD-NATURALIST 


C. adusta Boott, and C. liddonii Boott, besides C. 
aenea Fernald, all of which have been collected 
in Canada, and at a number of remote stations. 
Even the monotypical grex Microcephalae with C. 
capitata L. occurs in Yukon and Alaska, extend- 
ing eastward to Alberta, Hudson Bay and Green- 
land. 

Among the Carices genuinae the Melananthae is 
one of the most interesting greges; the formae hebe- 
tatae with their sessile spikes, and the terminal being 
gynecandrous resemble certain Vigneae (C. alpina 
Sw.), and a corresponding distribution of the sexes 
occurs in several species of the centrales; C. atrata 
L. and its allies. In Canada C. alpina Sw.* is 
known from the higher mountains; C. atrata L., the 
typical plant, has been collected at several stations 
by James M. Macoun, notably in the mountains of 
Alberta, Jasper Park, but a near ally of this, C. 
ovata Rudge (C. atratiformis Britton) is much 
more frequent especially on the Atlantic coast, 
nevertheless it is absent from Greenland, where it 
is replaced by the typical C. atrata. The very 
evolute type C. Mertensii Presc., in which the 
numerous spikes are gynaecandrous, is known from 
the western districts, British Columbia and Alaska. 
A very singular type of this grex is C. Parryana 
Dew.; it may occur as dioecious, with a single spike; 
which, however, seems constantly to be pistillate; 
or the culm is terminated by a gynaecandrous sel- 
dom purely staminate or pistillate spike, while 
there may also be one to four lateral spikes which 
are purely pistillate. Carex Parryana was de- 
scribed from specimens collected by Dr. Richard- 
son at Hudson Bay, but has since been reported 
as abundant in the northern part of the prairie 
region, extending from Portage la Prairie to near 
the Athabasca river. From the mountains of Al- 
berta, Jasper Park, James M. Macoun brought 
home a splendid series of C. spectabilis Dew., 
illustrating the various forms under which it ap- 
pears, when inhabiting different altitudes, and sta- 
tions with environment of varied nature. These 
interesting forms together with the typical plant 
have, so far, only been observed in Washington, 
Mt. Paddo, where they were discovered by Mr. 
Wilhelm Suksdorf. A species of somewhat re- 
markable habit is C. microchaeta nob., which John 


t1The name C., 


alpina Sw. has been replaced by 
C. Halleri Gunn., in Gray’s New Manual of Botany, 
because Schinz and Theilung have adopted this 
name (Bull. d’herb. Boissier, Vol. 7, 1907). How- 
ever Gunner did only ‘‘pro tempore’’ propose this 
species, and without his name as author. After his 
death his herbarium was examined, and as stated 
by several Swedish authors, Gunner’s material con- 
tained not only C. alpina, but also C. Norvegica, 
thus the name Halleri became invalidated. No other 
authors have, so far, called the species C. Halleri, 
and surely the old masters knew they had some 
good reason for ignoring this name. 


[Vol. XXXII 


Macoun collected in Yukon; in this species the 
culm is phyllopodic, otherwise the plant resembles 
somewhat C. Tolmiei Boott, and C. spectabilis 
Dew., but is, however, of a much more robust 
habit. 

Passing to the Microrhynchae, Canada is very 
rich in species of this grex, and several of these 
are of abundant occurrence; Carex stricta Lam., 
vulgaris Fr., acutina Bail., variabilis Bail., and 
lenticularis Michx., are perhaps the best known. 
Typical C. vulgaris Fr., is known from Alaska, 
British Columbia and from the eastern provinces, 
but the variety lipocarpa, nob., is much more fre- 
quent, and readily to be distinguished by the narrow 
leaves and the early deciduous perigynia; this var- 
iety abounds on Vancouver Island, in British Col- 
umbia and Yukon at various elevations. The var- 
iety stolonifera Hoppe has been collected in 
Labrador. Another and quite striking variety is 
limnophila nob., which resembles C. rufina Drej., 
the culm being low, curved and the spikes con- 
tiguous with the terminal occasionally gynaecan- 
drous. It has been found on St. Paul Island, 
Bering Sea, and on a nunatak in Columbia glacier, 
Prince William’s Sound; still another variety 
hydrophila nob., from Yukon is a very slender 
plant, with long stolons clothed with shining, pur- 
plish brown scale-like leaves, the spikes are ped- 
uncled, cylindric, dense-flowered and erect; finally 
the variety strictaeformis Bail. occurs in Nova 
Scotia; it is of caespitose habit, quite tall and 
slender with the sessile spikes remote and sub- 
tended by short bracts. In other words C. vulgaris 
shows in Canada the same ability to vary as is the 
case with the European plant, but, in several re- 
spects it varies in a different way. For instance the 
long stipitate, strongly nerved perigynium is not 
represented in the European plant, nor is the peri- 
gynium early deciduous as is the case with our 
common variety lipocarpa. 

C. aquatilis Wahlenb., has been reported from a 
number of stations in Canada, and it is sometimes 
accompanied by some closely allied species, in 
Yukon by C. sphacelata nob., and C. chionophila 
nob.; in the Arctic regions it is replaced by C. 
stans Drej. While Carex rigida Good. is com- 
mon in the Arctic regions, it has also been reported 
from some of the higher mountains in British Col- 
umbia, and the variety Bigelovii (Torr.) Tuckm., 
is known from the Hudson Bay region. Two allies 
of C. rigida: C. consimilis nob., and C. eyclocarpa 
nob., are natives of Yukon; in the former the 
orbicular perigynium is sharply denticulate along the 
upper part of the margins, but the habit reminds 
one of C. hyperborea Drej.; in C. cyclocarpa the 
perigynium is turgid of a dark brownish green color 


October, 1919] 


with purplish spots above, and the caespitose habit 
reminds one of C. caespitosa L., but it lacks the 
aphyllopedic structure of this species. 

Allied to C. acutina Bail. is C. limnocharis nob. 
from Yukon ,a species with long, slender, pistillate 
spikes of reddish brown color, in habit much like 
the European C. prolixa Fr. Furthermore there 
are two very characteristic species bearing a strong 
resemblance to the European C. acuta L., C. Sitch- 
ensis Presc., known from Alaska, and C. dives 
nob., from the Chilliwack Valley and Vanvouver 
Island, British Columbia. And, if we compare the 
European representations of these alliances, the 
aquatilis, rigida and acuta, we meet with analogous 
types corresponding with those of this continent. 

The large grex Aecorastachyae is also well ex- 
emplified in Canada, and several of the species are 
also well known from the northern parts of Europe, 
viz, Carex subspathacea Wormskj., C. salina 
Wahlenb., C. cryptocarpa C. A. Mey., C. mari- 
tima L., C. Magellanica Lam.’ C. limosa L., 
C. rariflora Sm., and C. stygia Fr. Of these C. 
subspathacea, rariflora and stygia extend to the 
Arctic regions. 

But especially characteristic of this continent are 
C. macrochaeta C. A. Mey., C. nesophila nob., C. 
aperta Bostt, C. crinita Lam., and C. magnifica 
Dew. A somewhat peculiar habit is exhibited by 
C. nesophila; the culm is phyllopcdic and the spikes 
resemble those of C. salina, while the structure of 
perigynium corresponds with that of C. macro- 
chaeta. ‘This interesting species was detected by 
James M. Macoun on St. Paul Island, Bering Sea, 
and since then it has also been collected on Popoff 
Island by Mr. Trevor Kincaid. 

Although exceedingly frequent on the Alaskan 
coast and the islands, C.’ macrochaeta shows but 


5With respect to C. Magellanica Lam., this 
species has been excluded from the North American 
flora, and in the recently published, Gray’s New 
Manual of Botany it has been replaced by C. 
paupercula Michx on the strength of the diagnosis 
of Lamarck calling for a species with androgynous 
spikes, as pointed out by M. L. Fernald (Rhodora, 
Vol. 8, 1906, p. 73). And Mr. Fernald having ex- 
amined 633 inflorescences and finding that in 600 of 
these the terminal spike was purely staminate, 
and only more or less androgynous in the remaining 
38, this author reaches the remarkable conclusion 
that the North American species is distinct from 
Lamarck’s, which was collected on the shores of the 
Straits of Magellan. The fact is, however, that 
Lamarck (Eneyclop. 3, p. 385, n. 25) deseribed his 


species “‘spicis androgynis,’’ meaning that all the 
spikes, the terminal as well as the lateral, had 
staminate flowers at the base thus beneath the 


pistillate flowers. In C. Magellanica the spikes are, 
thus, gynaecandrous, i.e., pistillate at the top, 
staminate at the base and exactly this disposition 
of the sexes occurs in the North American and 
European representations of C. Magellanica. The 
main point, that the lateral spikes are constantly 
Synaecandrous has escaped the attention of Mr. 
Fernald, although Boott, Schkuhr and nearly all 
other caricographers have described and figured the 
species correctly. The fact, that the terminal spike 
is frequently purely staminate is of no importance. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 75 


slight variation. The terminal spike is usually 
wholly staminate, but we found, however, a few 
specimens from Unalaska in which this was either 
androgynous or gynaecandrous or even entirely 
pistillate. In the variety emarginata nob., the 
scales are prominently emarginate with a seta four 
times as long as the body of the scale. 

In another variety macrochlaena, nob., the plant 
is very robust with four short and heavy pistillate 
spikes, the perigynium is very large and longer than 
the simply mucronate scale; it was collected on 
St. Paul Island, Bering Sea, by James M. 
Macocun. These varieties agree, however with the 
typical plant with respect to the culms being con- 
stantly aphyllopodic. 

Among the Cenchrocarpae we meet with the 
interesting little species C. bicolor A\ll., reported 
from Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia, be- 
sides from Labrador; it occurs also in Greenland, 
and on the Alps in South Europe. Much more 
frequent is C. aurea Nutt, and among the descis- 
centes we meet with C. granularis Muhl., C. 
pallescens L. and the very local C. Torreyi, Tuckm. 

From a morphological viewpoint the Lejoch- 
laenae constitute one of the most interesting greges 
with their monopodial and aphyllopodic 
culms. They are mostly sylvan types of light 
green color, and the more or less drooping spikes 
give them a very graceful aspect. Nearly all the 
American members are represented in Canada, and 
while C. Henderson Bail. is a western type the 
others are mainly eastern. We meet here with 
the laxiflora alliance, as well as with 


shoots 


some 


desciscentes: CC. grisea Wahlenb., C. oligocarpa 
Schk., C. conoidea Schk., and C. glaucodea 
Tuckm. 


The Dactylostachyae are much less common, and 
altogether poorly represented on this continent; 
Canada, however, is the home of the beautiful little 
species C. concinna R. Br., C. pedunculata Muehl. 
and C. Richardsonii, R. Br. 

Some few species of the small grex Microcarpae 
are represented in Canada, viz: C. gracillima 
Schw., and C. formosa Dew. Characteristic of the 
Athrochlaenae is the scales being deciduous of the 
perigynia being prominently stipitate and ‘reflexed 
at maturity It is a very small grex containing only 
two species, C. pyrenaica’ Wahlenb., and C. 
nigricans C, A. Mey. Both are found in Canada 
and the geographical name of the former certainly 
proves very unfortunate, inasmuch as the species 
occurs also in New Zealand. A grex closely allied 
to the Athrochlaenae is that of the Stenocarpae 
so far as concerns the structure of the perigynium, 
being attenuated at both ends, relatively narrow, 
and the generally dark colored spikes. It is a grex 


76 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


of very peculiar geographic distribution since two 
of the formae hebetatae: C. lejocarpa C. A. Mey., 
and C. circinaia C. A. Mey., are known only from 
Alaska and Oregon, besides some few stations on 
the coast of Bntish Columbia. The formae cen- 
trales on the other hand, are mostly natives of the 
European Alps and the Himalayas, some very few 
occurring in Canada, viz: C. petricosa Dew., and 
C. Franklinii Boott., furthermore C. Lemmonii 
Boott (C. ablaia Bail.) occurs at several stations 
in Canada, Washington, Montana and California. 
Among the formae desciscentes is the circumpolar 
C. misandra R. Br., which occurs in the Rocky 
Mountains of Colorado extending 
through the Canadian provinces. 

Nearly all the American members of the 
Sphaeridiophorae have been cellected in Canada, 
and among the hebetatae C. scirpoidea Michx., 
with the variety stenochlaena nob., is quite extens- 
ively distributed. The Greenland C. deflexa 
Hornem., occurs in Canada, but is generally con- 
founded with C. Rossii Boott.; however, these two 
species are easily distinguished, since the culms of 
C. Rossii are aphyllopodic, those of C. deflexa, on 
the other hand, phyllopodic. 

The rather large and coarse species of the 
Trichocarpae are in Canada represented by C. 
riparia Curt., var lacustris Willd., C. trichocarpa 
Muhl., with the var. aristata (R. Br.) Bail., C. 
jiliform:s. L., C. lanuginosa Mlichx., and the very 
characteristic C. Houghtonii Torr. These species 
are, however, of a very ordinary structure, but 
readily distinguished by the perigynium being of a 
brownish or dark green color, more or less turgid, 
pubescent and attenuated into a bidentate beak with 
the sharp teeth spreading. 


northward 


Of greater interest is the grex Hymenochlaenae. 
Here we meet with some formae hebetatae: C. 
Steudelii Kunth, C. Willdenowii Schk., and C. 
Backii Boott, of which the flowerbearing culms 
are ramified in exactly the same manner as in the 
Indicae, the Vigneastra of Tuckerman.® The more 
evolute types resemble, on the other hand, Carices 
genuinae in general, but they are mostly light green, 
with the spikes long-peduncled and drooping. The 
best known are, for instance, C. arctata Boott, C. 


debilis Michx., C. longirostris Torr., C. flexilis 
Rudge, C. capillaris L., C. assiniboinensis W. 
Boott, and the singular, very conspicuous, C. 


amplifolia Boott. The presence of these species in 
Canada thus illustrate the fact of the morphological 
structure of the flower bearing stem being identical 
with that of certain members of the highly developed 

‘Holm, Theo., Studies in the Cyperaceae, XIII 


Carex Willdenowii and its allies (Am. Jour. of Sc., 
Vol. X, July, 1900, p. 33). 


[Vol. XXXIII 


Indicae, as pointed out above, in C. Willdenowii 
for instance. In passing to the Spirostachyae, only 
a few are known from this continent, and some few 
of these from Canada, viz: C. Oederi. Retz., C. 
flava L., C. squarrosa L., and the very rare Ce 
fulva Good., the last of which being less rare in 
Europe. 


As representing the most evolute of the greges 
we have the Echinostachyae, Physocarpae and 
Rhynchophorae. In these the perigynium is thin, 
membranaceous and inflated. In the Echinos- 
tachyae the pistillate spikes are peduncled, drooping 
and squarrose at maturity, the beak of the pen- 
gynium is quite distinct bidentate. 


Two small monostachyous species: C. microg- 
lochin Wahlenb., and C. pauciflora Lightf., repre- 
sent formae hebetatae, and both occur in Canada. 
Among the formae cenirales we meet with the very 
slender C. subulata Michx., and the much more 
conspicuous C. pseudocyperus L., C. Schweinitzti 
Dew., C. hystricina Muehl, and C. rotrorsa 
Schweinnitz, all well known in Canada, with the 
exception of C. Schweinitzii, which is very rare. 


Characteristic of the Physcocarpae is the peri- 
gynium having a very short, mostly emarginate 
beak, and the pistillate spikes not being squarrose, 
moreover the scale of the pistillate flower is lanceo- 
late, acuminate, but lacks the mucro or arista of 
the two other greges. It is an interesting grex, and 
widely distributed in Canada, but several of the 
species are, sometimes, difficult to identify, especially 
those with the dark colored perigynia, for instance: 
C. pulla Good., C. physocarpa Presl., C. compacta 
R. Br., and C. rotundata Wahlenb. They are 
very graceful species with the shining, dark brown 
spikes frequently peduncled and drooping. Of a 
more robust habit and with the spikes of a lighter 
color are C. utriculata Boott., occurring in num- 
berless forms throughout Canada, furthermore C. 
vesicaria L., C. oligosperma Michx., and a few 
others. 

Finally the grex Rhynchophorae characterized 
by the large, erect or ascending perigynia, much in- 
flated, strongly nerved and terminated by a prom- 
inent, bidentate beak. The species are tall, and 
of the same habit as those of the two former greges 
and like these they are inhabitants of borders of 
ponds, creeks and wet swamps. The grex begins 
with some formae hebetatae, C. Michauxiana 
Beecklr., and C. folliculata L., passing from these 
into C. intumescens Rudge, and C. Grayii Carey, 
of a similar but much more robust habit, while the 
more ordinary forms, such as C. lupulina Muehl., 
C. lurida Wahlenb., C. Tuckermannii Boott, and 


C. monile Tuckm., may be considered as the most 


October, 1919] 


evolute of this grex. In Canada the grex is thus 
well represented, and only a very few American 
species are absent. 

Considered altogether the genus Carex in Canada 
is rich in types, some being confined to this con- 
tinent, others being known also from Eurasia. The 
arctic element Canada shares mostly with Europe, 
and-as stated above several species are circumpolar, 
and it deserves attention that many of these Cana- 
dian Carices represent alliances analogous to those 
of the old world, exmplified by types of a corre- 
sponding habit and general aspect. 

So far as concerns the greges we have seen that 
Canada is the home of certain ancestral types, 
formae hebetatae, which are absent from Europe, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NaTURALIST 77 


in other words several of the greges are more amply 
represented here by possessing these types in con- 
nection with the centrales, and passing gradually 
into some more or less deviating: desciscentes. 

The presence in Canada of such characteristic 
species as those of the Lejochlaenae, mostly sylvan 
types of rare morphological structure, and of south- 
ern origin, indicates the enormously wide distri- 
bution of the genus on this continent, and its ability 
to adapt itself to the environment, far north and 
far south. And the alpine flora with its arctic 
species intermingled with endemic or more southern 
types is a tangible proof of the foundation of the 
theory relating to the history of the arctic flora 
during the glacial epoch. 


HUNTING THE BARREN GROUND GRIZZLY ON THE 
SHORES OF THE ARCTIC. 


By H. F. J. Lampart, Ottawa. 


One specimen of the Alaska Boundary Grizzly, 
Ursus internationalis Merriam,* a new bear of 
the Barren Grizzly group, was secured in July, 
1912, when engaged on the survey of the 
141st meridian. This was the year in which the 
meridian was completed through to the shores. of 
the Arctic Ocean. Not more than two other speci- 
mens were seen by the Canadian and American 
parties during the summer although signs of the 
bear were constantly met with. 

This one specimen was secured by mere chance. 
One of our camps was situated in a: sheltered valley 
which later was found to be a favorite haunt as 
evidenced by the quantity of hair found in the gum 
of the small spruce against which he was accus- 
tomed to rub. This sheltered ravine was at the 
head of a small stream in which there was a luxur- 
iant shrub growth, consisting of “buck brush” with 
some small scattered spruce, and was hemmed in 
by rolling high barren ridges. The elevation of 
the floor of the valley was about 2,000 feet above 
sea level and was situated just a little on the 


*Alaska, Boundary Grizzly. 
allis Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. 
pp. 177-178. August 13, 1914. 

Type locality—Alaska—Yukon Boundary, about 
50 miles south of Arctic coast (lat. 69° 00’ 30°’). 

Type Specimen—No. 1763 ad., Ottawa Museum. 
Killed July 3, 1912, by Frederick Lambart, of Cana- 
dian Boundary Survey. 

Range—Region bordering Arctic 
international boundary, and doubtless 
mountains, between the coast and the Yukon 
cupine; limits unknown. 

Characters—Size medium or rather large; af- 
finities doubtful. Color a peculiar pale yellowish 
brown. Head strongly arched; muzzle and frontal 
region broad. Large lower premolar strictly conical, 
without heel, as in the brown bears. 

Cranial characters—Skull of medium size, mas- 
sive, strongly arched and dished, highest over 


Ursus internation- 
Washington, xxvii, 


coast along 
adjacent 
Por- 


Canadian side of the boundary and inland from 
the Arctic Ocean 45 miles. 


The immediate district may be described as be- 
ing under the lea of the British mountains, which 
parallel the coast at a distance of about 25 miles 
and reach an altitude of 6000 feet at the boundary; 
the mountains are deeply furrowed, the ridges being 
bare and open with little vegetation. 


The burrows of the Arctic Ground Squirrel, 
Citellus parryi (Richardson), are sadly rooted out 
threughcut the district casting suspicion on our 


friend the bear. 


The floor of the river valleys are, generally speak- 
ing, heavily brushed as also the sheltered sides of 
the valley, and small patches of the small Arctic 
spruce in these localities are frequent. 


I have definitely proved to my own satisfaction 
that the Brown and Grizzly bears prey upon the 
sheep (Ovis dalli) at the southern end of the boun- 
dary where they are found in large numbers, but 
here at the northern end where the sheep are very 
anterior part of braincase; frontal shield broad, 


very short pointed posteriorly sulcate medially and 
swollen over orbits; postorbitals bluntly rounded, 


strongly decurved, not widely projecting: fronto- 
nasal region strongly dished: rostrum large and 
broad; sagittal crest long but feebly developed; 
zygomata subtriangular, not widely outstanding, 


and not much expanded vertically: palate and post- 


palatal shelf rather broad; notch moderate. Teeth 
rather small for ‘size of skull; heel of last upper 
molar small and obliquely truncate on outer side; 


large lower premolar strictly of brown-bear type— 


a single cone without heel, sulcus, or posterior 
cusplets; first lower molar broad and somewhat 
sinuous; middle lower molar narrow and_ short 


posteriorly. 


Skull measurements.—Adult male (type): Basal 
length, 309; occipito-nasal length, 293, palatal 


length, 169, zygomatic breadth, 203.5, interorbital 


breadth, 82. 


78 THE CANADIAN 
scarce, no signs cf their having been attacked or 
preyed upon were seen. 

Around the camp at the time there were a number 
of cayuses from the pack trains apparently entirely 
ignored, although one report came in of a case 
where one whole train was stampeded. 

The specimen referred to above was shot early 
in the morning in the brush of the southern slopes 
of the valley very near the camp, mistaken by one 


[Vol. XXXIII 


FieLD- NATURALIST 


at the time and the skull cleaned. The pelt was 
naturally not in prime condition but, however, now 
forms a valuable specimen in the bear collection of 
the Victoria Memorial Museum at Ottawa. 

The color of the hair is a very light brown, 
darker on the back and shoulders. The head is 
very wide and the nose long. 

The large brown bear frequenting the margins 
of the glaciers on the southern end of the bound- 


ALASKA BOUNDARY 


member of the party for one of the cream colored 
cayuses. He was quietly strolling along uncon- 
scious of the presence of any danger and killed 
instantly with a .303 military cartridge at close 
range. The bullet having mushroomed to nearly 
an inch in diameter was found lodged in the outer 
skin, which had acted like a rubber sheet absorbing 
the remaining spent energy of the bullet. 

I am glad to say the skin was carefully preserved 


GRIZZLY, Ursus internationalis ,Merriam. 


ary, as well as the little black variety, was en- 
countered. 

Some interesting experiences could be sketched 
cf these latter, their unbounded curiosity often 
getting the better of their natural instincts to danger, 
with the result that they have been known to walk 
into camp during the day as well as at night and 
ransack everything if the camp was found to have 
no occupant at the time. 


October, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


FirELD- NATURALIST 79 


BIRD STUDY FROM A DUCK-BLIND. 


By J. A. Munro, OKANAGAN Lanoinc, B.C. 


A day’s tramp in the hills usually has for an 
objective, a lake or slough, or a mountain-top to 
reach before turning homeward and after a few 
hours’ travel, this becomes the dominant idea. One 
cannot sit down to watch a bird for any length 
of time, as the lake or slough of one’s destination 
urges haste. One obeys the impulse and _ passes 
on, losing, it may be, a chance of learning some 
secret of avian psychology. 

But when hidden behind a screen of brush or 
rushes on some pleasant lake shore, the mental at- 
titude is that of expectancy and curiosity only. To 
become an inconspicuous part of the blind, that 
screens us from the sharp eyes of passing water- 
fowl, is now the object. One’s predatory in- 
stincts counsel immobility and silence, so there is 
no impulse to move and one has the maximum of 
opportunity for observation. While following the 
flight of a bird until it is lost to view or watching 
with close attention, the numerous waterfowl that 
swim past the blind or feed within the range of 
binoculars, the gun is frequently forgotten. The 
band of scaups that swim past the blind, leaning 
against the breezes at an angle that reveals their 
white underparts and then fly straight out over the 
lake, until, a row of vanishing dots, they melt into 
the horizon, have appealed to other than the sports- 
man’s eye. The impulse is to watch rather than 
shoot; the carefully built blind and the decoys 
swinging at their anchors to leeward have served the 
bird lover rather than the sportsman. 

October in the Okanagan is a month of golden 
cloudless days and starlit nights. To-day, the 7th 
(1918) the lake is unruffled by the slightest breeze 
and on the glassy surface, there is a perfect un- 
blurred replica of the surrounding hills. There is 
no frost, but the early morning air is keen and 
one’s fingers grow numb grasping the canoe-paddle. 
This intimation of the cold days to come is for- 
gotten when the first shafts of sunlight cut through 
the belt of firs on the mountain-top. As the sun 
rises higher, bathing the western hills in a flood 
of golden light, that creeps lower and lower until 
every tree stands out in relief, and as the mist-- 
wraiths over the water are drawn up and dissi- 
pated, one can see little evidence of autumn, save 
the bold splashes of yellow along the shore-line 
where the cottonwoods are turning. 

The blind is built on the edge of a narrow sandy 
beach, close to the mouth of a small creek that 
pursues its indolent course through a wide valley 
of farm land and brush to the north. One hun- 


dred yards from the water, where the beach merges 
into the meadow, there is a thicket of deciduous 
trees, poplar, birch, alder and willow. From this 
shelter come the voices of a few late migrants; the 
faintly heard “chirp” from the last of the Audu- 
bon’s Warblers and the stronger, more metallic calls 
from a band of Gamble Sparrows. 

The lake is dotted with grebes, Western, Holboell, 
Horned and Pied-bills. The Horned Grebes are 
quite fearless; seven swim in among the decoys and 
alternately dive for focd or preen their already im- 
maculate plumage. Alarmed by a gun-shot, they 
fly, splashing along the surface for thirty or forty 
yards, when they alight again and huddle in a 
compact flock, as if for protection. In a few min- 
utes they paddle back to rest among the decoys. 
Their plumage seems to be in need of constant at- 
tention; when not feeding, they are usually oiling 
and combing their feathers, sometimes lying on the 
side, one foot above the surface and bill buried in 
the glistening breast. 

The other small species, the Pied-bill, which is 
much less common here, does not visit the decoys. 
They are more easily alarmed than the Horned 
Grebe, and at a sudden movement sink below the 
surface until only head and neck are visible, then 
with a rapid look to either side disappear, leaving 
scarcely a ripple. 

The two larger species are much more wary 
and keep some distance out from the shore. The 
Western Grebe with its long slender neck and 
hair-like plumage, suggest reptilian ancestry more 
than do the other species. Paddling towards one 
is an interesting experience. Before being alarmed 
they float high on the water, conspicuously black 
and white; as the canoe draws near, they turn and 
swim straight away, showing only the black upper 
parts which blend with the dark water. The head 
is carried stiffly erect on the long straight neck and 
there are frequent quick glances backward. A 
few yards nearer and they dive with a quick clean 
flip. Many of these birds are suffering from a 
wasting disease, probably due to the presence of 
intestinal parasites in large numbers. The actions 
of the sick birds identify them at once. They 
swim slowly close to the shore as a rule and dive 
only when actively pursued, to arise exhausted with- 
in a few yards. 

In the presence of their handsomer cousins the 
less conspicuous Holboell receive only a cursory 
inspection. Those that pass the blind to-day are 
all juveniles, with dark greyish back, spotted breast 


80 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


and lacking the characteristic red neck of the adults. 

The lake at noon is like a polished steel disc and 
a faint heat haze shimmers on the surface. Through 
this medium the grebe are seen as distorted shapes, 
suspended a foot above the water, or so it appears. 
Presently a faint breeze comes; the surface breaks 
into millions of scintillating points of light; the 
decoys bob up and down and make short journeys 
to the length of their anchor lines. ‘The steamer ties 
up at the dock two miles away and the small flock 
of Herring Gulls that attend its daily voyage take 
this opportunity for a prowl along the shore, on 
the lookout for dead kokanees or squaw-fish. This 
is their daily habit. When the mid-day voyage is 
over they rest on the water opposite the dock until 
the steamer leaves in the morning then rise slowly 
one by one and follow with their leisurely tireless 
flight, keen eyes ever on the alert for the scraps 
that are thrown overboard from the cook’s galley. 

For several hours, a flock of twelve Green- 
winged Teal have been feeding in the shallow 
water, behind the thin line of rushes twenty yards 
out from the shore. They are very nervous, rising 
every few minutes and swinging out over the lake 
several times before pitching in again. With what 
marvellous speed can they check their headlong 
flight and drop twisting and turning down to the 
water! After one of their periodic flights they 
settle in the shallow water and from there waddle 
on to the beach and feed along the windrows of 
Fotamogeton that drifted in during yesterday’s 
storm. This mass of water weeds is full of the 
small crustaceans and insects so eagerly sought for 
by surface-feeding ducks and the Teal glean the 
abundant harvest until a passing wagon puts them 
to flight. 

A brown Marsh Hawk, a bird of the year, flies 
along the beach with business-like flight, alternately 
flapping, or sailing on set wings. He is overtaken 
and routed by several hostile crows and departs in 
a panic, twisting and dodging across the beach until 
he reaches the sheltering brush where he leases his 
pursuers. Crows are arriving in small bands and 
settle on the beach close to the water’s edge, some 
two hundred yards from the blind. These are only 
the forerunners of a great noisy stream, that pass 
in a long straggling line, some high in the air, others 
clese to the ground. Soon the beach is black with 
This is the great pre-migra- 
tery caucus; only a few of these will winter in this 


a cawing multitude. 


Four birds arriving by them- 
selves are attracted to a muddy stretch of beach 
near the blind: they swerve from the main flight 
and alight in the cozy mud near the water’s edge 
where some dead kokanees have washed in. As 


part of the valley. 


they feast on these a passing merlin sees them and 


[Vol. XXXIII 


unnoticed, stoops like an arrow. He misses or 
perhaps decides that the quarry is too formidable 
so swings in a wide circle and settles on the top 
of a dead poplar in the brush, while the crows fly 
off with squawks of alarm and join their fellows 
farther down the shore. 

Apparently crows do not expect enemies to ap- 
pear from the water as one can approach in a canoe 
within a few yards while the appearance of a man 
on foot is the signal for their hasty departure. 

The lake is still again and woolly cumulus 
clouds gather in the south, several sweet-voiced 
Mountain Bluebirds alight on the beach, their backs 
vividly blue against the dim-colored sand. For 
several minutes they quietly hunt for spiders among 
the debris of the beach and then continue on their 
way, calling as they fly. 

The Osprey that yearly raises a brood in the 
vicinity and whose fishing grounds lie off this beach 
is lingering at this favored spot although the two 
young of her brood departed a week ago. Her 
clear whistle is heard at a distance, but the bird is 
not seen. In the shallow water fifty yards from the 
blind stand a number of upright fir logs, once used 
as mooring-posts by a long-since defunct saw-mill. 
One of these has been used for several summers by 
the Osprey as a resting place and a convenient perch 
on which to tear up the fish that were for her own 
consumption. 

From far out in the lake comes the single note 
of a Loon, mellowed and subdued by the distance. 
An American Merganser swims past, neck curved 
and head below the surface watching for the little 
kokanees that are running up the creek to spawn. 

A straggling flock of soft-voiced Pallid Shore 
Larks come drifting down the beach, like a cloud 
of autumn leaves blown by the wind. They flutter 
in a circle around the blind, alight for a moment 
and run to the water’s edge, but without bathing 
or drinking they are away again like a flash, for 
no apparent reason. On all sides they pass, with 
slow undulating flight, so close, that the breath of 
air from their wings is felt on the cheeks. Again 
and again they return, always rising again before 
the binoculars can be levelled in the hope of pick- 
ing out a Longspur among them. A short half- 
mile to the west, rising abruptly for a thousand feet 
above the lake is the bare hillside where they feed; 
they come to the beach only for gravel and water. 
It is curious how all the alpine or northern breeding 
birds that travel in large flocks, Rosy Finches, 
Shore Larks, Snow Buntings and Pipits, have this 
restless habit of circling and wheeling before alight- 
ing, and of flying off suddenly again in nervous 
haste. 

A month later there is a decided change in the 


October, 1919] 


aspect of the surrounding hills. Much of the color 
has gone; the narrow wooded coulees, that were 
like tongues of flame against the brown grassy 
slopes, are now subdued in color and merge with 
their surroundings. The leaves have fallen, only 
the delicate tracery of naked branches is seen. 
Along the shore line, the cottonwoods are still a 
blaze of orange, but many of their leaves have fallen 
too and cover the ground with a rustling golden 
carpet. The higher mountains, Terrace, Goat and 
Silver Star, are crowned with glittering snow-caps 
and the close ranks cf fir for some distance below 
the bald summits are frosted with the silver of the 
first snow. As yet, there is no frost in the valley, 
so sitting motionless in the blind entails no dis- 
comfort and bird-life is still plentiful enough to 
absorb all one’s attention. In the brush to the 
north, a Western Meadowlark is whistling, his 
clear flute-like notes as vivid as if it were April 
instead of November. A flock of brown backed 
Juncos are flitting through the trees cr alighting on 
the sand and in the alders a sweet-voiced crowd of 


Pallid Goldfinches have gathered. 


From far down the beach comes the unmistak- 
able sonorous call of a Sandhill Crane, decidedly 
a belated migrant. He flies slowly along the shore 
with splendid slow wingbeats, head carried well 
forward, the neck slightly curved and legs held 
stiffly behind. He is attended by two softly-flying 
Short-eared Owls, that follow a few yards to the 
rear. As the crane nears the blind, he becomes sus- 
picious and bears off to the north, the owls still 
following. He reaches the beach again in a wide 
circle and once more flys towards the blind, hesi- 
tates again and after rising higher in the air flys 
off, first to the north and then to the west where 
he is lost to view against the neutral-colored back- 
ground of the hills. The owls do not follow but 
fly back towards the grassy meadows from whence 
they came and as they pass the blind, the sunlight 
burnishes their tawny wings until they shine like 


gold. 


Along the eastern shore line, about two hundred 
yards out from the beach, a great flock of Redheads 
have congregated over a bed of Potamogeton and 
their feeding call, a cat-like meow comes softly 
across the water. Into this large raft, small flocks 
are continually flying, one sees a succession of 
splashes on the still water as the birds hurl them- 
selves in and are carried by the momentum of their 
flight for several yards along the surface. Many 
cf the new arrivals are Scaups and these feed 
among the flock of Redheads, but the Canvas Backs 
as a rule feed only with others of their kind. A 
big flight of these occurred during the past few 


THe Canapian Fietp-NATURALIST RB! 


days. It is rarely one sees more than a dozen at 
one time, but during this migration flocks of twenty 
or thirty were common and probably two or three 


As they readily 
fly toward the half-dozen canvass-back decoys, it 


hundred were present at one time. 


is plain they are new-comers. 


Close to the fringe of rushes on the shallow water 
near shore, a band of fifteen Ring-neck Ducks 
alight and immediately begin to feed. They are 
new arrivals and hungry; frequently all are below 
the surface together. More than half of them are 
drakes and as they rise to the surface, the white 
barred bill and the white triangle on the chin serve 
as diagnostic field-marks. The strings of weed 
brought to the surface trailing from their bills are 
hurriedly gulped and they dive for another mouth- 
ful. After feeding for forty minutes, their appetites 
are satisfied, so they rest on the surface for ten 
minutes longer, dressing their feathers and then 
paddle in regular alignment to the deep water and 
safety. 


A single female Scaup swims towards the de- 
ceys, calling at regular intervals with a singular un- 
duck-like voice, kukcoo, kukcoo. The first syl- 
lable too short and explosive, the second exactly the 
coo of a pigeon. 


Small bands of Buffle Head fly past, seldom more 
than two or three feet above the water. They 
swerve down to the Redhead flock but usually carry 
on a little beyond them, to the shallow water. The 
strikingly black and white adult drakes are in the 
minority. The young drake can be told from the 
ducks by their greater size, otherwise they are 
identical. When diving for food they are amaz- 
ingly quick in their actions, coming to the surface 
with mere buoyancy than other diving ducks. They 
are equally quick in the air, rising with a spring 
and without the preliminary 
sociates with diving ducks. 


Four Killdeer are heard down the beach and 
presently they fly past the blind conspicuous and 
noisy, to alight again a few yards away where they 
seem to disappear into the sand, so well do the 
neutral colored backs harmonize with the beach. 


The half-dozen Herring Gulls that make a daily 
pilgrimage in the wake of the steamer have been 
joined by an equal number of the smaller California 
Gulls. These are fully adult birds with immaculate 
breasts that are visible from a long distance as the 
birds rest on the water. Red-shafted Flickers, 
Magpies, a Northern Shrike and a Kingfisher visit 
the beach during the day and in the evening out- 
lined against a pastel tinted sky appears a triangle of 
Canada Geese, southward bound—a fitting climax 
to a perfect day. 


splashing one as- 


82 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXII 


BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS 


THe Game Birps oF Ca.iForNiA. Contribu- 
tions from the University of California, Museum of 
Vertebrate Zoology. By Jos. Grinnell, Harold 
Child Bryant and Tracy Irwin Storer. Univ. of 
Cal. Press, Berkeley, 1918, large 8 vo. pp. i-x plus 
1-642, 16 colored plates and 94 text figures. Price, 
cloth, $6.00 net. 

This is one of the most notable bird books and 
one of the handsomest examples of popular book- 
making that has been published under the auspices 
of a public institution in some time. It is a credit 
to the University and Museum in whose name it 
appears, as well as to the printer who executed it 
and the artists and authors who illustrated and 
wrote it. It contains a greater mass of game bird 
lifé histories both original and compiled probably 
than any other work generally accessible. The 
colored illustrations consist of some of the best work 
from the brushes of Louis Agassiz Fuertes and our 
talented countryman, Major Allan Brooks. The 
many line drawings scattered throughout the text 
to illustrate critical points are exceptionally accur- 
ate, clean and clear. The introduction states that 
the work was undertaken to meet the varied re- 
quirements of the sportsman, the legislator and the 
naturalist and was made possible through the fin- 
ancial munificence of a patron who refuses to make 
his (or her) name known. California is to be con- 
gratulated on having such public-spirited citizens. 

In an opening chapter dealing with the Decrease 
of Game and Its Causes it is definitely proved that 
game has decreased and an analysis is made of the 
contributing factors. Tables of game that have 
passed through the hands of dealers have been ob- 
tained directly from their own books and are pre- 
sented in evidence. These numbers are ample evi- 
dence of the drain on wild life that market hunt- 
ing entails. Other agencies of decrease are logic- 
ally and calmly discussed giving due weight to 
their effects pro and con with convincing restraint. 

The next chapter, on the Natural Enemies of 
Game Birds, discusses the effects of vermin and 
other enemies and incidentally corrects a number 
of common preconceptions of their relative values. 

The Gun Club of California is a chapter all 
conservationists should read. Arguments are given 
cn both sides to show that the subject is not a 
simple one to be answered offhand. Parallel col- 
umns giving detrimental and favorable effects are 
contrasted and the result summed up in the final 
paragraph, saying: 

“It would appear that the institution of well re- 


gulated gun clubs, occurring as it has, at a critical 
stage in the adjustment of natural to artificial con- 
ditions, is to be looked upon as a propitious rather 
than an adverse factor in the conservation of our 
duck supply. Whether or not, as further changes 
result from the increased human population, this 
valuation of the preserve will persist, remains to be 
seen” 

The History of the Attempts to Introduce Non- 
native Game Birds in California, is an illuminating 
chapter, and deserves study by all who contemplate 
such introductions elsewhere. 

The Propagation of Game Birds is an equally 
important chapter and includes a valuable biblio- 
graphy on the subject. 

The last chapter of the introductory part gives 
the history and present status of legislation relating to 
game birds in California. 

The Key to the Game Birds of California seems 
an admirable instrument. and concise 
and notable for the absence of obscure or technical 


It is clear 


terms and is such that any one of ordinary intel- 
ligence should be able to get results with it. 

The main part of the book is, of course, oc- 
cupied with the detailed treatment of the various 
The descriptions 
of plumages are unusually complete and clear, para- - 
graphs on Marks for Field Identification, Voice, 
Nest, Eggs, General Distribution and Distribution 
in California of each one are given, and all are 
admirably arranged, paragraphed and picked out 
by distinctive type for ready reference. 

The discussions of the species include much or- 
iginal material, but also the most complete series 
dealing with the 
life histories and other pertinent matter of the var- 
ious species that can anywhere be found under cne 
cover. 

The method of such a tripartite authorship where- 
in each does that for which he is specially fitted is 
the ideal one in dealing with a broad subject where- 
in no one man can be an equal authority in all 
directions and the course is here amply justified 
by the results 

This book should appeal especially to bird stu- 
dents, sportsmen and conservationists of western 
Canada as whilst it deals most particularly with 
California, the bulk of it is equally applicable to 
British Columbia and it forms the work that most 
nearly fulfills far western needs that has so far been 


published. 


species in their systematic order. 


of excerpts from other authors 


P. A. Taverner. 


ERRATA 


Page 51, Vol. XXXIII, Sept., 1919, delete word “late” in bottom line of right column. 
Page 57, Vol. XXXIII, Sept., 1919, 11th line, left column, for “crescentic spot of purple,” 


é d “ae ° ” 
read “crescentic spot on purple. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIII. 


No. 5. 


NOVEMBER, 1919. 


CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE. 


By THE Hon. Mr. Justice LatcHForp. 


There are few more fascinating objects of study 
in natural history than the members of the family 
of small bivalve mussels known as the Sphaeriidae. 
They abound in the vicinity of Ottawa, and indeed 
throughcut the whole Nearctic region. The drain- 
age area of the Great Lakes, and of their outlet, our 
own St. Lawrence, may be regarded as the metro- 
polis of the family in North America. Yet, as 
Dr. Vincent Sterki recently pointed out,! the fauna 
of the Great Lakes themselves is only fregmentarily 
known; but, so far as known, presents many 
peculiar forms and possibly species. Still less are 
we acquainted with the fauna of the vast areas 
northward, extending from Newfoundland through 
Labrador and across Canada to the Rocky Moun- 
tains. In Prince Edward Island, Mr. C. Ives, of 
Miscouche, has collected a few species. In the 
vicinity of Ottawa, in Ontario and Quebec, con- 
siderable work was done many years ago by the 
members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 
especially by Gilbert Heron, Dr. Fletcher, the Rev. 
Geo. W. Taylor, and the writer. Officers of the 
Geological and Natural History Survey, notably 
Mr. W. McInnes, gathered some material in the 
waters flowing into Hudson Bay. Little, however, 
is known of the family as it exists over the far- 
flung plains of the Canadian West. In Southern 
British Columbia, Lord found and described two 
new species,” and farther north, and on Vancouver 
Island, Prof. John Macoun and Mr. Taylor collected 
in a few localities. 

Heron died before reaching the prime of 
his promising manhood. Fletcher, Taylor and 
Whiteaves passed away all too soon—not, how- 
ever, without having accomplished and_ recorded 
achievements in various departments of natural 
science that will long keep their memory green. Of 
those who were active in the early days of the club 
in collecting and studying the mollusca of Canada 
only two remain, Prof. John Macoun and the writer. 
One is spending the decline of his fruitful life in 
distant Vancouver Island. The other for ten 


1Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. X, 
i 


pe 431. 
2Proe. Zoo. Soe. of London, 1863, p. 69. 


1916, 


months of the year is far removed from his native 
valley and concerned about matters but little re- 
lated to natural history. Owing to lack of a leader, 
Conchology has for some years been dropped from 
the list of the club’s activities. With such wide 
and productive areas open for original investigation, 
the want of interest shown is greatly to be regretted. 
It is not so much to publish a record of work as a 
member of the club as to arouse fresh interest in 
others, and to facilitate the collection and study of 
our most numerous and least known shells that the 
following observations are submitted. My hope 
is that some of our younger members may be in- 
duced to devote a part of their leisure to what I 
am sure they will find a delightful diversion, both 
out of doors and over their cabinets. 


The Sphaeriidae are small in size, only a few 
species exceeding half-an-inch in length. As they 
ordinarily lie buried—though only slightly—in the 
sand or other material at the bottom of streams, 
ponds and lakes, they are seldom seen—never, in- 
deed, unless where, in very dry seasons, the water 
has receded or evaporated, when the shells may 
sometimes be observed on the exposed surface. But 
so generally are they distributed that it might almost 
be said they are to be found—they. should certainly 
be looked for—wherever there is water that is not 
within the category known to golfers as “casual.” 
Yet mere depressions that contain water for but 
short periods in any year often yield these and 
several other fluviatile shells. 


To collect in quantity, except under conditions 
which seldom exist, a dredge of some kind is re- 
quired. The beginner will find that a common 
bowl-shaped wire strainer will best serve his pur- 
pose. The size I find most useful has twelve meshes 
to the inch, and is six inches in diameter. I remove 
the handle and rim, which are too flexible and soon 
break, and substitute narrow, stiff, hoop-iron; but 
good results may be obtained withowt making such 
a change. The handle must be extended for all 
but very shallow water by whipping it firmly to a 
walking cane or light pole. On sifting in water 
the material raised by the dredge the shells will be 


84 THe CanapiAN- FieLD-NATURALIST 


found. Each lot should be kept separate and num- 
bered. A brief record under the same number on 
a field card or in a note book should be made. If 
the shells are stained they may be cleaned by 
placing them in a bottle containing sharp sand and 
soapy water. On no account should an acid be 
used. By rotating the contents the shells will be 
cleaned on the outside. Mere drying out then 
suffices, when the shells are minute; but when large, 
the animals must be removed after boiling, or ren- 
dered innocuous by immersion overnight in a five 
to one dilution of formalin—by far the more rapid 
process, as the tying or wrapping of each shell is 
When thoroughly dried, after 
treatment with formalin, the largest shells will not 
gape, or cause offence by their odor, and may be 
placed in the collector’s cabinet. 

As he examines his specimens he will observe that 
they fall naturally into three groups or genera. By 
far the greater number ordinarily found are minute 
shells, triangular in outline, very unequilateral, and, 
with rather sharp terminal beaks. They resemble 


small peas, and belong to a genus fittingly called 
Pisidium. 


not then necessary. 


Bigs, 2 
Sphaerium sulcatum * 1Y2.° 

Other shells will be noticed which are larger, 
less inflated, though never exceeding half an inch 
in length; and usually more delicate and fragile. 
They bear little caps on the beaks, separated from 
the aftergrowth by a distinct furrow, and form the 
genus known as Musculium. 

Still larger shells, often adorned with distinct 
color bands, denoting periods of arrested develop- 
ment, and others of no greater size than some 
Musculia, but of heavier texture, and as a rule more 
deeply striated, bear Sphacrium as their generic 
name. The term was devised by Scopoli, an Italian 
naturalist and chemist in 1777. It has priority to 
Cyclas (Brugaiere, 1789); and Sphaeriidae, ac- 
cording to the laws of modern zoological nomen- 
clature has replaced Cycladidae as the proper desig- 
nation of the family to which the little mussels 
belong. 


2For this and the other figures in the text I 
am under the greatest obligation to my friend Dr. 
Bryant Walker of Detroit, Mich. 


[Vol. XXXII 


1. SPHAERIUM suLCAIUM Lamarck, the largest 
of the genus in the species most commonly observed 
in the vicinity of Ottawa. It was described in 1818 
by the famous French naturalist in his “Animaux 
sans Vertebres,” from specimens obtained in Lake 
Champlain. In the same year Thomas Say de- 
scribed the shell in the American edition of Nichol- 
son’s Encyclepedia as Cyclas similis, and Say’s 
name may have priority. However, the Lamarck- 
ian name is more generally adopted, and is that used 
in the Club’s lists. 

S. sulcatum is the largest of the genus. It is 
oval in outline; distinctly, rather than deeply, striate ; 
and, when adult, is usually banded with concentric 
dark lines, marking periods of arrested development 
such as occur every winter. The body color is of 
varying shades of grey or brown. Young shells 
are almost white. 

But one other species, restricted in Canada, so far 
as known, to a single locality near Ottawa, ap- 
proaches this in size. All bivalves found else- 
where that are about three-quarters of an inch in 
length, and have not the corrugated beaks which 
indicate membership in the family of our large 
mussels, or Unionidae, may safely be named Sphae- 
rium sulcatum. 

This species is found in many places within the 
city limits. It is common in the Rideau river, especi- 
ally on the muddy bottom of the reach above the 
islands at Billings’ Bridge. In the canal, after the 
water has been let out, it may be easily collected on 
the shoal near the right bank west of the Bronson 
avenue bridge, and anywhere above Hartwell’s 
locks. Very large and perfect shells were obtain- 
able at one time in the bay at the east end of the 
small lake below the outlet of Meach lake; but 
owing to accumulations of sawdust and bark the 
locality is now barren of this shell, though it stil 
produces sparingly the most remarkable specimens 
I have ever seen anywhere of Anodonta cataracta 
Say (=fluviatilis Dillw.) and, in addition, Lymnaea 
megasoma, and the shell called Physa lordi in our 
lists. 

In the Laurentides, north of Meach lake, S. 
sulcatum abounds, as in Gauvreau lake and its out- 
let, near Ste. Cecile de Masham, and in the brook 
flowing past the orchid swamp still farther north, 
so well known to members of the botanical branch 
of the Club, and now, alas! to many others. What 
a day that was, nearly thirty years ago, when, after 
visiting the brook and its outlet, Fletcher, Harring- 
ton and the writer were the first naturalists to dis- 
cover the sequestered glades where the shy wood 
nymphs, then literally in thousands, swayed to one 
another in virgin grace and loveliness! Whoever 
studies shells should have a mind receptive to the 


November, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


delightful impressions that may be derived from 
flewers and birds, and the many strange four and 
six-footed creatures that he will encounter on his 
rambles in places seldom frequented by man. 

A very fine form of S. sulcatum occurs on the 
Scott Graham farm in Nepean, now called Bri- 
tannia Highlands. In dry seasons the narrow bot- 
tom of the stream lying about halfway between 
Carling Avenue and the Grand Trunk railway is 
exposed for some distance west of the boundary of 
the Shouldis farm. The shell may then be easily 
found in considerable numbers. At other times 
collecting is slow and difficult, even though the 
collector is equipped with a gocd dredge, and— 
what are indispensable in such _ localities—rubber 
boots. This stream is again productive near its 
outlet into the Ottawa below the Deschénes rapids. 


a.a.—Anterior adductor muscle. 
a.p.—Ant. retractor-pedis muscle. 
ar.—Auricle. 

b.—Byssal gland rudiment. 
bs.—Branchial siphon. 
ég.—Cerebral ganglion. 
es.—Cloacal siphon. 


f.—Foot. 
ig.—Inner gill. 
].—Liver. 


Fair specimens are obtainable in shallow water 
at Graham Bay station, at the intersection of the 
Richmond road and the Grand Trunk railway. A 
few miles farther to the southwest the shell is com- 
mon in the creek north of Stittville; but nowhere 
have I found it in such numbers as in the stream 
about a hundred yards west of Ste. Justine station, 
in the county of Vaudreuil. In either place the 
shell may be readily collected in large numbers by 
means of a dredge with a quarter-inch mesh, such 
as is afforded by a kitchen utensil in common use. 

As S. sulcatum is a true species, with an objective 
existence not depending on the opinion or whim of 
any systematist, it does not vary greatly in its 
characteristic features throughout the vast area 
over which it is desseminated, though it is 
occasionally modified in appearance by different 


psg.—Parieto-splanchnice 


Firecp- NATURALIST 85 


conditions of environment. In fact nothing is so 
wonderful in nature as the adherence to type of 
every organized being properly regarded as a 
species. More interest is, however, manifested in 
departures from the normal than in persistence of 
type, just as variant races of men, like the giant 
Patagonians and pygmy Papuans, commonly at- 
tract more attention than races of ordinary stature. 
Variations from the usual form of S. sulcatum are 
few and limited. One is found in Bond lake, near 
Toronto. Another, which is well marked and con- 
stant, occurs in Masham, north of Ottawa, and, 
notably, in Lake Gorman, near Brudenell, in the 
county of Renfrew, at an elevation of about eleven 
hundred feet above sea level. 

Dr. Sterki thinks it entitled to rank as a variety 
and calls it palmatum.t He describes it as smaller 


m—Mantle. 

ob.—Organ of Bojanns. 
oe.—Oesophagus. 

ot.—Otoceyst. 

pa.—Posterior adductor muscle. 
pg.—Pedal ganglion. 
prp.—Post retractor-pedis muscle. 


ganglion. 
ro.—Reproductive organs. 
t.—Male follicle. 


than the common or typical sulcatum, more in- 
equipartite, the beaks being markedly anterior; less 
inflated, especially flattened over the lower part of 
the valves, more truncate anteriorly and posteriorly, 
inferior margin less curved; beaks narrower and 
little elevated; surface striae slighter; shell and 
hinge slighter. 

In Lake Gorman the shell is quite abundant 
buried about an inch in the sand of the bay near 
the boathouse on the Rockingham road. 

The animal of the variety palmatum has not been 
described. It is probably not distinguishable from 
the normal form represented in the following illus- 
tration, which may be regarded as typical of the 
anatomy of all the genus: 


t{Preliminary Catalogue of N. A. Sphaeriidea, 


An, Carg. Mus., Vol. X (1916), p. 432. 


86 THe CaNapIAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


The foot is capable of great extension as may be 
observed if living shells are placed in a glass bowl 
or aquarium. Cilia in the bronchial siphon, and 
along the inner and outer gills and mantle, induce 
currents which bring diatoms and other minute 
organisms contained in the water into contact with 
the libial palpi, whence they pass into the stomach 
to be in part elaborated for the preservation and 
growth of the individual and the propagation of its 
kind, and in part rejected through the excurrent or 
cloacal siphon. 

Unlike the Unionidae in which each individual 
is dioecius, that is, either a male or a female, as is 
the case also with our native oyster (O. virginica, 
Gmelin), though not, strange to say, with its Europ- 
ean relative (O. edulis, Linn.), S. sulcatum, like all 
other species of the Sphaeriidae, is monoecious, or 
produces both sperm and ova within the same shell. 
However, it is not harmaphreditic in the way that 
many, if not all, pond and other snails are herma- 
phroditic. In their case, while each animal is per- 
fectly bisexual, the conjunction of two individuals 
is requisite for fertilization. In the Sphaeriidae, 
on the other hand, the process of fertilization is 
similar to that which takes place within the closed 
keel of the pea blossom and other legumes. Cross 


[Vol. XXXII 


fertilization is impossible naturally, and could not 
be induced artificially were another Mendel to arise. 
The reproductive organs are located behind the 
stomach, and consist of racemose glands, the an- 
terior of which produces sperm, and the posterior 
ova. A common genital duct leads in the cloacal 
chambers of the inner gills, where the young reac\ 
before birth, in the case of this species, a length 
of seven or eight millimeters, or nearly half that of 
the father-mother.® If living shells are left for a 
day or two in water that is warmer or colder than 
that of their usual habitat, they will, ordinarily, be 
found to have produced a large number of nepionic 
young. These should be separately boxed and 
labelled with the name of the parent and will be 
found very useful when the collector is trying to 
identify shells which are no larger when aged than 
some Sphaeria are at birth. 


(To be continued) 


5The reproduction and growth of S. suleatum 
are treated at length by Ralph J. Gilmour in The 
Nautilus, Vol. 31 (1917), pp. 16-28. 


Note.—It is my intention to place in the Museum 
of the Geological and Natural History Survey at Ot- 
tawa specimens: of the forms and varieties of S. 
suleatum, and of the species mentioned in the con- 
tinuation of this paper, of which I _ possess 
duplicates. 


FIELD STUDY OF LIFE-HISTORIES OF CANADIAN MAMMALS.! 


By RupotpH Martin ANDERSON, BiotocicaL Division, GEoLocIcCAL SURVEY, OTTAWA. 


A recent and timely publication of the United 
States Department of Agriculture? calls attention 
to the gaps in our knowledge of the habits of many 
of the commoner species of mammals. The study 
of birds has been developed so extensively in a 
popular way in recent years through the Audubon 
Society movement, local bird clubs, and nature 
studies in the public schools, as well as technically 
by the scientific ornithologists, that the objects and 
methods of bird study have become fairly well 
known throughout the country, and the economic 
importance and aesthetic and sentimental value of 
bird life are becoming 
knowledge. 

The study of mammals, though not less im- 
portant in many ways, has not been developed so 
broadly or systematically. The study of the com- 
parative anatomy and physiology of the major 
mammalian groups, through their closer relation 


matters of common 


iPublished by permission of the Geological 
Survey, Ottawa, Canada. 

2Suggestions for Field Studies of Mammalian 
Life-Histories. By Walter P. Taylor, Assistant 
Biologist. September, 1919. U.S. Department of 
Agriculture. Department Circular 59. Contribu- 
tion from the Bureau of Biological Survey, E. W. 
Nelson, Chief; pp. 1-8. 


to the human subject, has received close attention, 
but the relations of species to one another and to 
their environment, and their life-histories, are un- 
doubted!y less well known than the like relations 
of birds. It is true that the horse, cow, sheep, 
pig, and a few other mammals have been domest- 
icated, but few attempts have been made to dom- 
esticate other species except in a sporadic way. 
A rather extensive but scattered literature has been 
developed concerning the deer, elk, moose, bison, 
antelope, and other large game animals, which 
are of interest to the sportsman. Unfortunately, 
this in many cases consists principally of the lore of 
hunting field and metheds of capture, and what 
may be termcd their more intimate history has been 
neglected until many of the species have been ex- 
terminated over most of their former ranges, and it 
is forever too late to obtain complete data in regard 
to these animals’ relations to their primitive con- 
dition. Where efforts have been made, often too 
late, to conserve a remnant of these animals, to 
replenish the game of the sportsman, add to the 
food supply, or for other practical or sentimental 
reasons, it is found that there is a lamentable lack 


November, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


of knowledge even of an elementary kind regard- 
ing their habits. 

Intimate knowledge of the furbearers was left 
largely to the trapper, whose interest usually did not 
extend beyond the means of outwitting the animal 
during the trapping season, putting its pelt on the 
stretcher or drying-board, and increasing his own 
personal fur-return for the time being. A\s the fur- 
bearers have become reduced in numbers, and the 
prices of fur have increased, the importance of the 
fur industry to the country is becoming recognized; 
measures of conservation are being proposed, and 
fur-farms are being started, the practical success 
of which depends largely upon the application of a 
knowledge of life-histories or habits of the animals 
which are to be reared. 

Many species of animals which have no direct 
economic value as food or for their fur, or skins, 
are nevertheless often of enormous indirect import- 
ance, and must be recognized as beneficial, or means 
taken to combat them as detrimental to the interests 
of man. Rats, mice, ground squirrels, etc., have 
been recognized as carriers of trichinae and the 
germs cf bubonic plague, anthrax, and other dis- 
eases. Ground squirrels, prairie dogs, pouched 
gophers, and other rodents have caused such ex- 
tensive damage to grain-fields, running into millions 
of dollars annually in some parts of the country, as 
to make necessary concerted action by the govern- 
ment and by associations of individual farmers. 
Rabbits, hares, voles (field-mice), and the like 
frequently cause great damage to fruit trees and 
young forest trees. Coyotes, wolves, and moun- 
tain lions take a large toll of the sheep, cattle, and 
horse-raising industries, and thousands of dollars 
had been expended in indiscriminate bounties with- 
cut commensurate results until systematic study of 
these carnivorous pests pointed a way for their prac- 
tical elimination in many districts. 

The ravages of “The house rat, the most destruc- 
tive animal in the world,” are given by Lantz 
(Yearbook of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, 1917), from studies made by the 
Biological Survey in 1908, as amounting to actual 
losses in produce ard other property in one year in 
the two cities of Washington and Baltimore, of 
$400,000 and $700,000 respectively, the sums be- 
ing nearly in ratio to the population. In the same 
report he quotes a recent statement cf the Women’s 
Municipal League of Boston to the effect that losses 
from the rats in that city amounted to $1,350,000 
annually. Losses in Pittsburg, Pa., have been 
estimated at over $1,000,000 a year, and no doubt 
the present values of produce would greatly in- 
crease these estimates. 

While the study of the living animal is of as 


FieLp- NATURALIST 87 


great interest and attractiveness to the naturalist as 
any other branch of natural history and has conse- 
quently an aesthetic and sentimental value, it can 
be shown to have a very practical value also. As 
Professor Herbert Osborn says: “Not a single farm 
product but is affected directly or indirectly by some 
animal activity.” 

Dr. Taylor, in his recent paper, states that the 
leading museums have been acquiring exhibits and 
studying material representatives of different groups 
of birds and mammals, until at present the American 
collections are in many respects unsurpassed by those 
of any other country in the world, and that the rela- 
tive completeness of research collections. permits in- 
creased attention to be paid to the study of life- 
histories. 

It is, of course, well recognized that species closely 
resembling each other often have quite different 
habits, and to avoid misapprehension and confusion 
of records we must have a certain. amount of 
systematic taxonomic study before detailed investiga- 
tions can be made along other lines. Valuable 
observations may be made without drawing the lines 
of differentiation too finely, but in general, we must 
learn the names of cur animals before we can write 
about them. In other words, we must have pegs 
on which to hang our observations, if they are to be 
of value. 

Unfortunately, we must admit that there is not 
in Canada today any collection of mammals ap- 
proaching in completeness, even in Canadian species, 
several collections in the United States, among which 
may be mentioned the Biolegical Survey and the 
United States National Museum of Washington, 
the American Museum of Natural History of New 
York, the Museum of Comparative Zoology of 
Cambridge, and possibly two or three others. Many 
American zoologists have worked in Canada for 
the enrichment of American museums, and Cana- 
dian naturalists have done intensive work in many 
districts, but many regions of Canada have even yet 
been little worked in the field of mammalogy. 

The development of a national collection of the 
mammals of Canada, as well as of other forms of 
animal life, should be of interest to all Canadians. 
Such a collection is useful as a place of reference 
for students from all parts of the country, and a 
permanent repository for specimens of many species 
which may ultimately become extinct. In addition 
to the national collection, represented by the Vic- 
toria Memorial Museum, under the Geological 
Survey, of the Department of Mines, each province 
should have a representative collection of the mam- 
mals and other vertebrates found within its borders. 
The private collector has a field of his own for 
investigation and experiment which should be en- 


88 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


couraged, for he often has opportunities, resources, 
and freedom to carry on important investigations 
along side paths of knowledge which the govern- 
ment investigator or professional naturalist is not 
able to follow at his own inclination. The univer- 
sities, colleges, and other schools, scientific surveys 
and commissions, local museums and associations for 
the protection of fish and game, all have an oppor- 
tunity to do good work for the country in this field. 

The value of detailed knowledge in fields which 
have previously appeared seemingly trivial, has been 


As an 


example of this, the pest of rats became exceedingly 


illustrated many times during the late war. 


serious at the Bush Terminal of the port of New 
York, the principal shipping point of the immense 
amount of stores required for the American or 
other expediticnary forces of the Allies. The use 
of ‘poison was impracticable around such great 
quantities of fecd stuffs, but by detailing field biol- 
egists to the Sanitary Corps and directing their field 
experience to the problem of exterminating rats, 
within a few months more than 50,000 rodent allies 
of the enemy were accounted for, and it is esti- 
mated that several million dollars worth of com- 
missary and quartermaster stores were saved at a 
critical time. 

The secretive and nocturnal habits of some species 
of small mammals are responsible for so little being 
known of them. They are correspondingly more 
dificult to photograph than the birds. For this 
reason field photographs of mammals—their nests, 
runways, tracks, and general habitat, are particularly 
desirable. Although the mammals as a rule are 
more shy than the birds, and are less often seen; 
the larger animals on account cf constant pursuit by 
man for generations as objects of sport and of food, 
and the smaller ones from fear of swooping birds 
of prey, the presence of the mammal in a certain 
region may be detected where the flying bird leaves 
no trace. The pads cf little paws on dusty roads 
or the muddy brinks of pools or streams, or the 
delicate tracery of tracks on the newly fallen snow, 
leave a record, which though evanescent, may be 
read and interpreted by the initiated, and lends in- 
terest to walks in the great out-doors. 

In a field like this no one can cover every detail, 
and the notes of many persons are needed for work- 
ing out complete life-histories of any species, even 
the commonest. A young observer may find out 
something that was not known before and, in classic 
phrase, “add something to the sum total of human 
knowledge.” As a suggestion to aspiring natur- 
alists who are at a loss to know what to do or 
how to begin, we can not do better than quote from 
Dr. Taylor’s paper cited above: 


[Vol. XXXIII 


DATA THAT ARE IMPORTANT. 
MEANS OF DETECTING PRESENCE OF PARTICULAR 
SPECIES. : 

“Tracks, distances between footfalls; differences 
in tracks with different speeds or movements of 
animal. 

Feces—abundance, shape, 
position, place of deposit. 

Claw marks on trees, logs, or ground. 

Tooth marks on wood or bone. 

Wallows, dust baths, beds, forms, nests, shelters, 
runways, holes, trails, cropped or harvested vegeta- 
tion. 


size, color, com- 


HABITAT RELATIONS. 

Relaticn of soil, rocks, water, air, climate io 
habits and distribution. 

Effects of unusual climatic conditions, as storms, 
floods, and forest fires; degree and rapidity of re- 
covery from disaster. 

Relation of animal populations to climatic cycles. 


INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF SPECIES. 

Friends. 

Enemies—times of activity; enemies in youth, 
middle age, old age. 

Prey—modes of capture. 

Parasitic habits of species with reference to each 
other. 

Parasites, internal and external. 

Bacteria and disease germs (carriage and trans- 
mission of disease to stock or to mankind; species 
as victims; decimation of animal populations; per- 
iodicity of contagious diseases in animals; degree 
and rapidity of recovery). 

Adaptations of animals to each other or to 
plants. 

Competition between species, 
tween those closely related. 

TIMES OF ACTIVITY. 

Hours of beginning and 
activity. 

Unusual activity, as of diurnal species at night 
or of the nocturnal by day. 

MIGRATION. 

Local or general movements before and after 
breeding. 

Dates of appearance and disappearance (espec- - 
ially of bats). 

Extent and direction of movements, local and 


particularly be- 


cessation of daily 


general. 
Causes of migration—food supply, climatic, 
physiological. 


Unusual migratory movements, as the spasmodic 
irruptions of lemmings, with causes therefor. 
HIBERNATION AND ESTIVATION. 
Date of entering upon and emerging from hiber- 
nation. 


November, 1919] 


Causes of hibernation and estivation—the relation 
of climate, soil, physiology, and food supply. 

Condition of animal before, during, and after 
hibernation. 

Details as to completeness or incompleteness of 
torpidity. 

Place of hibernation or estivation. 

Habits associated with hibernation and estivation. 

MOVEMENT. 

Modes of running, jumping, climbing, digging, 
swimming, flying. 

Gait; speed; endurance. 

Other activities. 
VOICE AND OTHER MEANS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION 

Calls in general; courting; alarm; challenge; 
warning calls. 

Descriptions of barking, baying, screaming, howl- 
ing, squeaking, squealing, singing, rearing, bugling. 

Warning attitudes; flash signals. 

Emission of glandular secretions. 

Odor posts. 

Touch. 

Other means of intercommunication. 

Organization of communities—leaders, sentries, 
rank and file. 
HABITS ASSOCIATED WITH FEEDING AND DRINKING. 

List of foods eaten. 

Focd at different seasons. 

Physical characteristics and habits associated with 
food getting. 

Conveyance and storage of food; hay making. 

Dependence on water; times and manner of 
drinking; other associated habits. 


INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

General disposition and temperament; intelligence; 
attitudes; strength; vitality; tenacity of life; cour- 
age; esthetic sense; eating of young by parents; 
cannibalism in general; degree of sociability; play- 
fulness; length of life. 

Sanitation, cleanly or filthy habits. 

Reactions to sound, light, odor, taste, touch. 

Relation of physical characteristics to sense re- 
actions. 


RELATION OF CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS TO 
EXISTENCE AND SURVIVAL. 


Movements. 

Attitudes. 

Instincts. 

Intelligence. 

Coloration—cencealing, disruptive, directive, 
warning, mimicking. 

BREEDING HABITS. 
Courting antics. 
Relations of the sexes in general; polygamy 


(manner of acquisition of harem by male, mode of 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 89 


protection of harem, bachelor males); polyandry; 
promiscuity; monogamy. 
Dates of heat and copulation; associated habits. 
Length of period of gestation. 
Date of birth cf young. 
Number of young. 


Family life; relation of father to family; care 
of young—feeding; mode of carrying; how long 
cared for by parents; precocious or backward; 
length of time in nest; behavior. 


Behavior of adults in postbreeding season; in 
winter. 


Hybridizatien between related species. 


NESTS, SHELTERS, AND OTHER PLACES OF RESORT. 


Natural resorts at different seasons. 

Shelter chambers in general. 

Lairs; dens; forms; beds. 

Nests—plan, elevation, accurate measuremenis; 
storage chambers; breeding chambers; chambers 
for deposit of excrement or for other purposes. 

Nests for different purposes; unoccupied nests. 

Approaches to nests—trails, burrows, tunnels, or 
runways; protection of nests through the closing of 
burrows during the daytime cr in other ways. 

Habits associated with nest approach. 

Extent of home range. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Are any mammals strictly crepuscular? 

Pericdic phenomena of any kind of mammals, 
aside from migration and hibernation. 

Habits as affected by the seasons of the year. 

Effect of long days, very dark days, full moon, 
dark of the moon, on activity. 

Use of glands cf various sorts, as hip glands of 
meadew mice, metatarsal glands of deer, musk 
glands, anal glands. 

Weights and dimensions cf bats; precise hour of 
appearance in the evening and disappearance in 
the morning; numbers and habits as observed in 
caves; relative numbers of the sexes; metheds of 
hanging; condition of females with reference to 
pregnancy. 

PRESENT AND FORMER STATUS. 

Present and former numbers of valuable species, 
as fur-bearing and game animals, and of pests or 
those otherwise important; causes of increase or 
decrease. 

Estimates and counts of numbers of animals per 
unit of area. 

Fluctuations in numbers from year to year, and 
causes. 

Plagues, due to unusual increase or destructive- 
ness of species; origin, course, and virulence; nat- 
tural checks and methods of control. 


90 THE CANADIAN 


WILD LIFE AND THE COMMUNITY. 

Local names; local ideas concerning wild life. 

Sentiment regarding game laws and legislation. 

Trapping and hunting metheds in local use; 
prices received for pelts or animals sold. 

Relation of mammals to the public health; to 
agriculture. 

Possible undeveloped resources in mammals, as 
of flesh for food, fur or hides for clothing, or other 
useful animal products for various purposes. 

Possibilities of utilization, through domestication 
or semidomestication, of beneficial species.” 

No one individual can hope to acquire full in- 
formation on all the items listed, but any naturalist 
who knows a species at all can put down something, 
and apparently trivial things often turn out to be 


[Vol. XXXIII 


FreELD- NATURALIST 


really important when considered in their relation 
to other factors. “These relative lines of inquiry 
include problems in scientific agriculture, geogra- 
phical distribution, phenology, migration, ecology, 
physiology, medical zoology, behavior, game »ro- 
tection and the conservation of natural resources, 
morphology, heredity, organic evolution, and econ- 
omic zoology.” 

The Division of Biology (Mammalogy), The 
Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada, is interested 
in building up a collection, and in gathering of life- . 
histories and other data in regard to the mammals 
of Canada, and correspondence is solicited from 
any person or institution working along these lines, 
and advice or suggestions will be gladly given as 
opportunity is offered. 


BIRDS IN RELATION TO SUNFLOWER GROWING IN MANITOBA. 


By NorMAN CRIDDLE, TREESBANK, MANITOBA. 


There are several indigenous species of sunflower 
in Manitoba some of them such as Helianthus 
maximiliani being weeds of importance while others 
merely add to the attractiveness of the landscape, 
without being otherwise of interest to mankind. All, 
however, have their values in the economy of nature 
and for ages past have proved a valuable source of 
food supply for certain native birds, as well as for 
several rodents While animals thus take heavy toll 
of the sunflower seeds, they also assist materially in 
the spread of the species and it seems at least pos- 
sible that these unusually large seeds have been 
evolved for just such an end. In other words, the 
plants offer an especially attractive food, in return 
for which the animals carry a certain indefinite per- 
centage of the seeds far beyond the range that they 
would otherwise fall—an unconscious form of re- 
ciprocity very commonly met with in the realms of 
nature. 


Under the ordinary course of events, the con- 
ditions depicted above might have continued almost 
indefinitely, but, as frequently happens, man has 
intervened. Sunflowers have become of economic 
importance from the human standpoint, the larger 
ones for their seeds and the smaller kinds for fodder 
purposes; this apart from the fact that many are 
grown in gardens as ornamental plants We have, 
therefore, to view the relations of birds to sun- 
flowers in another light presumably, again placing 
the economic importance before the aesthetic. This 
I have endeavored to do in the following sketch. 
My observations are drawn largely from notes made 
in a garden and refer especially to a bushy type of 
sunflower originated by my brother Stuart. It 


seems well to mention also, that the garden is sur- 
rounded by shrubs and young spruce trees, planted 
to shelter the more tender plants therein. 


At Treesbank, Man., sunflowers are usually 
above ground by the middle of May and it is at 
this time that the first injury is done to them by birds 
which eat the cotyledons. In doing this the birds 
often follow the rows to the end and practically 
destroy every plant. The House Sparrow having 
a bad name, at once got the blame for this injury 
and we accordingly set a watch who was prepared 
to shoot the none too popular bird. But suspicion 
may be misdirected as it proved to be in this case. 
There was the thief at work, pulling and eating the 
plants, and it proved to be no other than the White- 
throated Sparrow, one of the most popular of all 
the feathered tribe No wonder the gun was low- 
ered or that the watcher, who happened to be my 
brother Evelyn, should return to the house dis- 
gusted at his discovery. Later we found that the 
White-throat made a practice of sunflower eating 
and that it continued from the time of its arrival in 
early May until about the first of June when the 
nesting period commenced. Occasionally other 
sparrows, such as the White-crowned or Harris’ 
Sparrow would pull up a few plants, but they were 
only casual depredators whereas the White-throat 
went in search of the plants daily. ‘Naturally such 
injury would not take place in the open country 
though it is possible that Longspurs or other birds 
might prove equally troublesome under field con- 
ditions. 

The injury to the newly sprouted sunflowers is 
over early in June and from that time no further 


November, 1919] 


damage takes place until the plants commence to 
form seeds. This second attack commences about 
the middle of August and continues until the plants 
are harvested in early October. Four birds stand 
out prominently in the work of destruction at this 
time, namely the American Goldfinch (A. tristis), 
the Pine Siskin (S. pinus), the Crossbill, or as it is 
known in these parts, the Red Crossbill (L. cur- 
virostra minor), and the White-winged Crossbill 
(L. leucoptera). The first mentioned is by far the 
most persistent of all of these and it is probable that 
fully 80 per cent of this bird’s food consists of, sun- 
flower seeds when they are available. The ripen- 
ing of the seeds also coincide with the Goldfinch’s 
breeding season and in consequence the young are 
largely reared on the same food supply. Larer as 
the nestlings learn to fly all find their way to the 
sunflower patch and from then on make their head- 
quarters in the vicinity. To see one of tnese beau- 
tiful little birds resting upon a sunflower at once sets 
one speculating as to the probable origin of colors 
that harmonize so remarkably with the plant the 
birds feed upon. Who could possibly select a 
more perfect background for concealment and yet 
endow a bird with such brilliant colors at the same 
time? The females and young are also wonder- 
fully hidden when resting upon their favorite food 
plant and it ,therefore, seems strange that the name 
sunflower bird has not been applied to this species. 

While sunflower seeds unquestionably form the 
chief food of Goldfinches during the autumn months, 
the birds also consume a variety of other seeds such 
as Gaillardia, thistle, dandelion, and many others of 
composite plants. All such seeds are usually gath- 
ered while the bird rests upon the plant and the 
seeds dropped are seldom sought after on the 
ground. 3 

Pine Siskins though not so persistent sunflower- 
seed eaters as their relatives the Goldfinches, are, 
nevertheless, quite destructive in the course of a 
season and when in large flocks might do serious 
harm. With us, however, a family or two are all 
that visit the neighborhood in autumn and _ they 
would not, therefore, be a serious menace to a large 
field, though troublesome enough in a garden where 
but a few thousand plants are grown. Both Pine 
Siskins and American Goldfinches leave us in Octo- 
ber; the latter have all gone by about the 20th, 
while the former remain a week or more longer. 
Indeed, there are records of Siskins being seen in 
winter time though I have no personal records of 
winter birds. They return in May and breed in 
the woods close at hand. 

The two Crossbills have such similar habits that 
they may well be treated as one in this article. They 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 91 


are, apparently, both residents throughout the year 
and breed in the spruce woods close by. 


Crossbills are not regular visitors to the sun- 
flowers but being great wanderers probably arrive 
accidentally while in search of spruce cones. See- 
ing the plants, however, they soon descend upon 
them and are quickly engaged in tearing the heads 
to pieces. They usually come in flocks of half a 
dozen or so, these being doubtless single families, 
as a majority are in juvenile plumage. Indeed, 
observation shows that the young birds are far more 
persistent in their depredations than the adults, and 
it may be that like various other birds, these have a 
habit when first seeking food for themselves which 
they later abandon for the more general one of 
gathering the seeds of the coniferous trees. This, 
however, is only partly true as I have observed per- 
fectly colored males as busy in the work of de- 
struction as were the young alongside. 


Crossbills though not as persistent sunflower- 
feeders as the Goldfinches are in other respects even 
more injurious owing to their lack of discrimination 
in selecting suitable heads. They may thus tear to 
pieces half a dozen heads before discovering one 
with seeds sufficiently mature for food purposes. 
Under these conditions the damage done in a day 
is often severe. In the case of the garden referred 
to, the depredations become so extensive that I 
eventually went out with a gun, but to my joy found 
il unnecessary, as the handsome marauders had de- 
parted. 

Of the other eaters of sunflower seeds little need 
be said as their influence on the ultimate production 
is insignificant. Blue Jays prefer the larger seeds 
and in autumn store them for future use. House 
Sparrows and other sparrows gather them from the 
ground as do also Mourning Doves and the various 
species of blackbirds. Cbickadees are almost daily 
visitors to the sunflower patch in late autumn and 
during the winter. No one, however, begrudges 
them their tiny share and that they do feed upon the 
seeds is more of interest as a means of attracting — 
them than otherwise. 

This then is a brief sketch of the birds that might 
affect the industry of growing sunflowers, or their 
seeds, for agricultural purposes; none of them, how- 
ever, are particularly abundant though there is no 
gainsaying the fact that even in their present num- 
bers they might cause considerable loss on a large 
field. If the sunflower industry ever develops, as 
it promises to do, then it may be necessary to go 
further into .the matter and perhaps a gun will be 
required. In our garden, where we were experi- 
menting and crossing, losses, of course, had to be 
guarded against. For the seedlings we used various 
devices for hiding the plants and placed numerous 


92 THE CanapdiAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


obstructions along the rows to prevent a continuous 
thoroughfare. As the seeds began to ripen we cov- 
ered the heads with cheese-cloth. By these mea- 
sures of precaution we managed to obtain sufficient 
seed for our purpose, which was about a tenth of 
the total grown, the rest going to the birds. To be 


[Vol. XXXII 


permitted to watch these little robbers day after day, 
busily engaged in pulling out the seeds was to me, 
at least, sufficient compensation, and for those who 


love birds and gardens, I know of few better attach- 
ments than a hedge of sunflowers. 


NOTES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE. CHIPMUNK. 


By A. Brooker KiucnH, M.A., BiotocicaL DEpPT., QUEEN’s UNIVERsITY, 
KINGSTON, CANADA. 


While in camp at Lake Missanog, Frontenac 
county, Ontario, from August 19 to Sepiember 19, 
1919, a chipmunk (Tamias striatus lysteri), had its 
abode in the vicinity of our tent. This individual 
had an unusually short tail and deep coloration, 
and consequently could be readily distinguished 
from other chipmunks in the neighborhood. 

Home RANGE. The home range of this chipmunk 
was 100 yards by 75 yards, and she was never ob- 
served out of this area. 


Foop. She was feeding on three things which I 
have not previcusly seen this species eating—the 
fruits of the bunch-berry or dwarf cornel (Cornus 
canadensis), the fruits of the wild lily-of-the-valley 
(Maianthemum canadense), and the seeds of the 
star-flower (Trientalis americana). As far as I 
could ascertain she was not storing any of these 
articles of food. 


I tricd her with varicus food substances and found 
that neither meat nor sweet substances, both of which 
are relished by the red squirrel, were accepted, but 
only seeds, fruits and tubers. 


By far her favorite item among the foods offered 
her was corn—either raw or boiled. While she 
sometimes ate a kernel or two she carried most of 
it away in her pouches. In loading up her pouches 
she placed the kernels alternately first in one pouch 
and then in the other, and when the pouches were 
nearly full she shoved the last few kernels in with 
one of her forepaws. A full load, as tested several 
times, consisted of thirty-cne large kernels of corn— 
equal to two heaped-up tablespoonfuls. When full 
each pouch was as brocd as the head, when viewed 
from above. 


Notes. Three different notes were used by this 


chipmunk—the sharp “chip” which appeared to in- | 


dicate a state of unrest, the “‘chip-chir-r-r” of alarm, 
and the resonant “chonk-chonk-chonk.” ‘The latter 
note is an intercommunication call and is rarely re- 
peated for any length of time unless a response 1s 
evoked. This call is frequently begun quite softly 
and slowly, but when answered in kind both tone 


and tempo are increased. In uttering this note the 


dhedis aes slightly distended before each “chonk” 
is emitted. 


PsycHoLocy. The shortness of the pericd of 
observation made any detailed study of the psy- 
chology cf this individual an impossibility, but I 
was able to secure accurate data on one phase of 
this subject—the rapidity of the formation of as- 
sociations. After I had placed kernels of corn for 
her a few times I began to throw kernels to her. 
At the first trial the sudden motion of my arm in 
throwing naturally frightened -her, as any sudden 
motion will do with any wild animal. At the 
second trial she started only slightly and came and 
picked up the kernels, and at the third trial she 
showed no alarm at the motion, but ran immediately 
towards me and picked up each kernel as it fell. 
I next threw her half-a-dozen kernels, each one 
nearer to me than the last, and then held out the 
cob near the ground, when she came up and bit the 
corn from the cob. After this she associated the 
holding out of anything with the procuring of food 
and came at once. The third test made was to 
ascertain her ability to jassociate sounds with the 
securing of food. I held cut a cob of corn and 
made a squeaking noise with my lips, and after five 
trials ,two on one day and three on the subsequent 
day, she came running up on hearing this sound, 
even though I held nothing extended towards her. 
The rapidity with which she made these associa- 
tions exceeded my anticipations very considerably. 

That associations remained for some length of 
time was shown by an incident which was not 
planned as an experiment. My Indian friend, 
Sowatis Lachance, had given me a cob of the 
peculiar hybrid corn which he grows, in which the 
kernels are of various and _ brilliant’ colors—red, 
pink, purple, brown, dark grey, yellow and white. 
This I had placed on the top shelf of a set of shelves 
in the tent. Early the next morning the chipmunk 
came into the tent, climbed up to the shelf, and 
stripped the cob. For five days subsequently she 
continued to investigate that top shelf, visiting it 


November, 1919] 


regularly every morning and usually several times 
during the day, though no more corn was placed 
there, nor anything else edible. 

After the chipmunk had learned to come and 
take corn from the cob held in my hand she would 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 93 


come after it no matter where I held the cob, 
running up my leg and sitting on my knee while 
loading up her pouches, and would sit up on a cob 
and strip off the kernels even when I lifted the cob 
up in the air. 


THE ORNITHOLOGICAL COLLECTOR AND THE LAW. 


By Hoyes Ltoyp. 


As the provisions cf the Migratory Birds Ccnvycn- 
tion Act ard Regulations which cencern the scien- 
tific collectcr are perhzps not fully understecd by 
all collectors in Canada, a short explanation of the 
status of the collector, with respect to this law, 
seems desirable at the present time. 

The federal bird protection law, which is known 
as the Migratory Birds Convention Act, allows 
birds protected by the Act to be taken, shipped, 
transported, or possessed for scientific purposes, but 
only by persons holding a permit from the Minisier 
of the Interior. 

This permit is required by all museums or in- 
dividuals wishing to collect birds, nests, or eggs, 
protected by the Act. 

The director of a recognized museum should make 
application for each of his collectors. Individual 
collectors must furnish written testimonials « from 
two well-known ornithologists before their applica- 
tion can be considered. Applications sheuld be 
addressed to the Commissioner, Dominion Parks 
Branch, Department of the Interior, Ottawa. 

All applicants should state the province in which 
they wish to collect. They may be required to 
make returns stating the result of their work. Every 
encouragement is offered the collector, who is hon- 
estly working to extend our knowledge of Canadian 
birds, but useless waste of bird life will not be 
allowed. 

A package in which specimens of birds, pro- 
tected by this Act, is to be shipped must be marked 
on the outside with the number of the permit, the 
name and address of the shipper and a statement 
of the contents. It is centrary to the law to ship 
any of the protected birds, eggs or nests and the 
use of the mails is forbidden, unless the packages 
are so marked. 

So that every Canadian naturalist will under- 
stand the principles governing the issue of these 
permits, this article is concluded by repeating these 
principles in full. They are printed with and form 
a part of every scientific permit. 


PERMIT PRINCIPLES. 


Permits to take migratery birds, their nests and 
eggs, under the Migratory Birds Convention Act 


and Regulations are granted for the sole purpose 
of scientific study and not for the collection of 
objects of curiosity or personal or hcusehold adorn- 
ment. Therefore only such perscns as take a ser- 
ious interest in ornithology, and are competent to 
exercise the privilege for the advancement of know- 
ledge ,are eligible to receive such permits. 


It is expected that the holders of permits will us- 
them with reasonable discretion, taking only such 
specimens as their scientific needs require and avoid- 
ing unnecessary waste of life. The habitual taking 
cf numbers of individuals for the purpose of ob- 
taining a few specially desirable ones is deprecated 
and it is urged that the collector take no more 
specimens than he has reascnable prospects of caring 
for and will conscienticusly endeavor to properly 
prepare each and all when taken. 


It is also recommended that the holders of per- 
mits will, so far as is consistent with their object, 
be considerate of the local feeling in the neighbor- 
hced where they collect and will demonstrate both 
by actions and speech that the scientific collector is 
sympathetic towards the principles of wild life con- 
servation and not the rival of legitimate sportsmen. 

It is required as an evidence of gocd faith that 
holders of permits label their specimens with the 
customary scientific data and properly care fer them 
not only at the time of cellection but thereafter, 
giving them all reasonable protection against insect 
pests and other agencies of destruction, and will not 
permit them to be destroyed through carelessness or 
indifference. 

As permits are granted for the purpose of general 
scientific advancement and not for individual benefit, 
specimens taken under them are to be regarded as 
being in the nature of public trusts, and should be 
accessible to all duly qualified students under only 
such reasonable restrictions as are necessary for 
their protection or as is consistent with the owner's 
work. 

Finally it is urged that provision be made so 
that specimens taken will ultimately find their way 
into permanent or public collections where they will 
be available for study by future generations and not 
be wasted and lost through neglect. 


94 THe CaNapIAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


While all these conditions are not strictly man- 


datory, and their spirit will be liberally interpreted, 
they will be considered in the granting or renewal 
of each permit, and evidence of gross violation of 


them may be deemed sufficient ground for the re- 


[Vol. XXXIII 


fusal of an application or for the revocation of any 
permit already granted. 

It is hoped and expected that the justice of these 
principles will be realized and that collectors wil 
co-operate in advancing science to the utmost with- 
out unnecessary waste of valuable bird life. 


RIBES DIVARICATUM X_ RIBES- LOBBII. 


By J. K. Henry, Vancouver, B.C. 


A few years ago Mr. George H. Knight, nursery- 
man, Mount Tolmie, Victoria, B.C., found a pecul- 
iar gooseberry growing among WRibes divaricatum 
Dougl. and R. Lobbii Gray, at Mill Hill, Vancouver 
Island. He removed it to his nursery and propa- 
gated it. It fruited freely, as R. Lobbii usually does, 
producing claret-colored berries of excellent flavor. 
Finally blundering workmen grubbed it up. The 
plant is now known to exist only in the nursery 
of Mr. George Fraser, Ucluelet, to whom Mr. 
Knight, remembering his friend’s interest in hybrids, 
had. sent cuttings. 

In April, 1919, Mr. Fraser sent me flowering 
specimens of the plant, which show pretty clearly 
that it is, as Mr. Fraser surmised, a natural hybrid 
between R. divaricatum and R. Lobbii. The com- 
bination of two such important characteristics as 
the hairy style of R. divaricatum and the glandular 
ovary of R. Lobbii is alone almost conclusive evid- 
ence of its parentage. 

In general appearance the plant looks like a 
small-flowered specimen of R. Lobbii. It has the 
pubescent shoots, the triple spines, and, in its spring 
form, the glandular leaves and the glandular-pube- 
scent petioles of that species. The pubescence of 
the mature petioles is, however, hardly at aii glan- 
dular. The evidence of its hybrid nature is found 
not only in the combination of these characteristics 
of R. Lobii with the small flowers of R. divaricatum, 
but especially in the flowers and the inflorescence. 
The relationship of these plants may be further in- 
dicated by the following analysis: 

R. DIVARICATUM. 

Flowers (ovary and calyx) 7-10 mm. long; in 
number 1-4, usually 2; peduncles smooth; pedicels 
smooth, longer than the bracts; ovary smooth; style 


hirsute; calyx-tube greenish, smooth; sepals dark 
purple, smooth; petals fan-shaped; anthers green. 


R. LOBBII. 


Flowers (ovary and calyx), 14-20 mm. long; in 
number 1-4, usually | or 2; peduncles glandular- 
pubescent; pedicels glandular-pubescent, shorter 
than the bracts; ovary glandular; style smooth; 
calyx-tube dark red, pubescent; sepals dark red, 
pubescent; petals wedge-shaped; anthers purple. 


R. DIVARICATUM X R. LOBBII. 

Flowers (ovary and calyx) 8-10 mm. long; in 
number usually 3, (D); peduncles smooth or nearly 
so, (D); pedicels smooth or nearly so, longer than 
the bracts, (D); ovary grandular, (L); style hir- 
sute, (D); calyx-tube greenish, nearly smooth, (D) ; 
sepals dark red, pubescent, (L); petals wedge- 
shaped, (L); anthers green, (D). 


(D and L indicate that the characteristics are 
those of R. divaricatum and R. Lobbii respectively.) 


While this evidence is fairly conclusive, one can- 
not affirm with certainty that the plant is a hybrid 
until the character of its progeny is known. At 
Ucluelet the plant does not set fruit. At Victoria 
it fruited abundantly, the claret-colored berries be- 
ing somewhat intermediate in hue between the dark 
red of R. Lobbii and the deep purple of R. divari- 
catum. Further, one hesitates to be dogmatic, since 
not only are [Ribes hybrids produced with difficulty 
by the horticulturist, but natural hybrids of this 
genus are unknown in North America. This note 
is published pending further investigations in order 
that collectors on Vancouver Island and in the 
States of the Northern Pacific coast may be on the 
look-out for the plant. 


November, 1919] 


THE CANADIAN. FiELD-NATURALIST 95 


A NEW CLIFF SWALLOW FROM CANADA. 


By Harry C. OBeRHOLSER. 


The form of Petrochelidon albifrons' inhabiting 
most of western Canada proves to be subspecifically 
distinct from the typical race. It may be described 
as follows: 


PETROCHELIDON ALBIFRONS HYPOPOLIA, subsp. nov. 

Chars. subsp—Similar to Petrochelidon  albi- 
frons albifrons from eastern United States and Col- 
orado, but larger; frontal band paler, more whitish; 
breast more grayish (less ochraceous). 

Description—Type, adult male, No. 195055, U. 
S. Nat. Mus., Biological Survey collection; Fort 
Norman, Mackenzie, June 11, 1904; E. A. Preble, 
original number, 1830. Forehead creamy white; 
crown metallic blue black; hind neck brownish 
gray; back and scapulars, like crown, but streaked 
with brownish gray and whitish; rump cinnamon; 
upper tail-coverts light fuscous, the tips of the feath- 
ers whitish; tail fuscous; wings fuscous black, with 
a slight metallic bluish or greenish sheen, the inner 
edges of the primaries and secondaries paler and 
on terminal portion narrowly edged with brownish 
white, the outer webs of the inner secondaries and 
of the tertials margined with the same, and the 
greater wing-coverts slightly tipped with paler 
brown; lores and narial bristles, brownish black; 
sides of the head below the eyes, together with the 
upper throat, between chestnut and bay; chin and 
centre of the lower throat, black; sides of neck 
light brownish gray; breast, sides, and flanks, light 
brownish gray, the centre of the breast washed with 
pale cinnamon; remainder of the lower parts dull 
white, the crissum washed with chestnut; lining of 
wing light brownish gray; edge of wing barred with 
dull light cinnamon and brownish gray. 

Measurements.—Male:2 wing, 110-115 (average, 
112.1) mm.; tail, 49-52 (50.7); exposed culmen, 
6-8 (7.2); tarsus, I1-13 (12.3); middle toe 
without claw, 10.5-12 (11.3). 

Female: wing, 108-111.5 (average, 110.2) mm.; 
tail, 49.5-51.5 (50.7); exposed culmen, 6-8-7.2 
(7.0); tarsus, 13; middle toe without claw, 12- 
Hz-9* (12.3): 


Geographic distribution —Breeds in northwestern 
North America, north to Mackenzie and central 
Alaska; west to central British Columbia; south to 
Montana; and east to Alberta and Mackenzie. 
Migrates through Wyoming and California. Win- 
ters probably in South America. 


ifor the change of name from Petrochelidon 


Auk, XXIX, No. 2, 
2Five specimens, from Alaska, Mackenzie, and 
Montana. 


This is the largest of the races of Petrochelidon 
albifrons, and differs from Petrochelidon albifrons 
tachina still more than from the typical Petrocheli- 
don albifrons albifrons. The difference in measure- 
ments between Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons 
and our new, Canadian race may be seen by com- 
parison of the figures above given for the latter with 
the following dimensions of Petrochelidon albifrons 
albifrons taken from Colorado, Wyoming, and east- 


ern United States birds. 


Male:* wing, 105-112 (average, 107.6) mm.; 
tail, 47-51 (49.9); exposed culmen, 7-8 (7.2); 
tarsus, 12-13 (12.6); middle toe without claw, 11- 
12 (11.8). 

Female:* wing, 102-109 (average, 107.2) mm.; 
tail, 47-51 (48.9); exposed culmen, 7-8 (7.4); 
tarsus, 11.5-13 (12.5); middle toe without claw, 
M1=13 CI1-9). 


Breeding birds from Dickey in southern Idaho, 
the Snake River in eastern Washington, and from 
Ashcroft in central southern British Columbia, are 
apparently referable to Petrochelidon  albifrons 
albifrons. Specimens from Greybull and Saratoga, 
Wyoming, are in size about half-way between 
Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons and Petrochelidon 
albifrons hypopolia, but in color they are decidedly 
nearer the former, and are here included under that 
race. A single specimen from Pembina, North 
Dakota, indicates that the bird from at least the 
northeastern part of North Dakota is the eastern 
form. ‘The present new race migrates through the 
western United States, as spring examples from 
Wyoming and southern California indicate. 

All the specimens of Petrochelidon albifrons 
hypopolia examined are included in the following 
list : 

Alaska. Nulato (May 24, 1867); St. Paul 
Island (about June 10, 1918). 

Arizona. Tucson (April 18, 1918). 

Mackenzie. Fort Resolution (June 23, —); 


Fort Good Hope (June 20, 1904); Fort Norman 
(June II, 12, and 14, 1904). 


California. Laguna Station, San Diego County 
(May 4, 1894).. 
Montana. Milk River at 49° north latitude (July 


25, 1874); Johnson Lake (June 3, 1910); Fort 


Benton. 


Wyoming. Ten Sleep (May 31, 1910). 


3Seven specimens. 
1Eleven specimens. 


96 THe Canapian’ Fievp-NaTuRALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII 


THE CLIMATIC INTERPRETATION OF TWO EARLY ORDOVICIAN 
MUD-CRACK HORIZONS.* 


By E. M. KINDLE. 


* A mud-crack horizon which has not been pre- 
viously reported occurs in the Grenville section 
on the Ottawa river. This horizon which is ex- 
posed on the north bank of the river immediately 
above the Canadian Northern railroad bridge is in 
the upper part of the Beekmantown formation. Its 
relationship to the associated beds is indicated in the 
section below which was studied by the writer in 


company with Dr. M. E. Wilson. 
Section above C.N.R. bridge at Hawkesbury. 


a. Sandstone with coarse sand and fine gravel 
in upper part and fine sand in lower. Num- 
erous vertical worm tube impressions (Base 


Bree hazy) gee eer A ee eee ae 
b. Thin bedded limey shale (tep of Beekman- 
PESO B TY Ui eae eee a Se Aiea eeltel See aS ee Z 
c. Dark grey fine grained limestone with 
botryoidal: fractrest<- 35232 Sen ee 8’ 
d. Coarse textured grey limestone full of small 
fasts ute ee 2 RS 8 ees 16” 
e. Thin bedded shaly limestone_____------- ay 


f. Heavy bedded grey limestone and covered 10’ 
Thin bedded grey argillaceous and mag- 
nesian limestone with mud-crack throughout 
the upper 4’ Resembles sandstone when 
weathered 


Between a and b of this section there is probably 
a disconformity. All of the Ottawa valley sections 
show a rather abrupt change in lithology at this 


horizon. The change in fauna is equally marked. 


The very sharp and clearly defined character of 
the fossil mud-crack in bed g of this section is its 
The mud-crack polygons 
exhibit a rather unusual and significant feature in 
their upturned margins. Many examples of this 
mud-crack show the unwarped margins of the poly- 


most noteworthy feature. 


gons rising above the centre as much as 14 inch. 
Associated with these is a surface structure suggest- 
ing raindrop impressions. 


*Published with the permission of the Director 


of the Canadian Geological Survey. 

iKindle, E. M. Some factors affecting the de- 
velopment of mud-cracks Journ. Geol., vol. 25, 
1917, pp. 140-142. 

Separation of salt and saline water and mud. 
Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. 29, pp. 479-483, 1918. 


It has been shown experimentally! that this type 
of mud-crack results from the dessication®ef fresh 
water mud and that flat or slightly downwarped 
polygons develop from saline mud. Since mud- 
crack with upwarped margins is produced cnly in 
fresh or brackish water muds we must conclude that 
this mud-crack horizon represents intertidal mud- 
flats which were covered at high tide by relatively 
fresh waters comparable perhaps with those of the 
upper Baltic sea. The reappearance of a marine 
fauna in the section a few feet above the mud- 
crack horizon appears to indicate the return of 
normal marine conditions. The relatively fresh 
or slightly brackish water conditions under which 
these mud-cracks were formed point toward their 
development in lagoons near a shore which contri- 
buted an abundance of river water to partially land- 
locked arms of the sea. Such a land must have had 
a moist climate or at least not an arid one. 

Another mud-crack horizon occurs about 100 
feet higher in the Ontario Ordovician section at 
Kingston in the Pamelia limestone. Cushing? has 
reported this horizon in New York and the writer 
has described its peculiar features at Kingston.* 
Attention is directed to it here because it suggests 
climatic conditions near the close of Pamelia sedi- 
mentation just the opposite of those indicated by the 
Grenville mud-crack. The flat polygons of the 
Pamelia mud-crack horizon show features which 
have been interpreted? as the product of a highly 
saline condition of the calcareous mud in which they 
were developed. Sea water would be likely to de- 
velop the high degree of salinity represented by the 
Kingston mud-crack only in an arid climate. 

It seems therefore that a relatively arid climate 
prevailed during late Pamelia time in the lands 
adjacent to the Ontario sea. This arid climate suc- 
ceeded a cycle of moist climate in late Chazy time 
if the inference which has been drawn from the 
character of the mud-crack is correct. 


2Bull. N.Y. State Mus. Nat. Hist. No. 145, p. 76. 
1917, pp. 135-144, 

3The Ordovician Limestones of the Kingston 
Area. Rept. of the Ontario Bureau of Mines, vol. 
25, pt. 3, p. 8, 1916. ; 

4Kindle, EX. M. Some factors affecting the de- 
velopment of mud-cracks. Journ. Geol., vol. 25, 
1917, pp. 140-142. 


November, 1919] 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 97 


BOTRYCHIUM OBLIQUUM MUHL., AND VAR. DISSECTUM (SPRENG.) 
NEW TO THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 


By H. Moustey, Hat.ey, Que. 


It has been said in one of the handbooks on ferns 
that if you begin your search for them in March 
you will hardly be rewarded by finding any but the 
evergreen species, and even these are not likely to 
be especially conspicuous at this season. If this is 
so, what excuse I am going to make for searching 
for them in December I hardly know except that my 
enthusiasm for all natural history pursuits knows no 
bounds ,and refuses to be curbed by conventional 
ideas. I search almost as eagerly for rare War- 
blers’ nests late in the fall as I do in the summer, 
and having just taken up the study of ferns I was 
anxious to see whether it was not possible even in 
the depths of winter to locate and name quite a 
number by means of their dead and dried fruiting 
fronds. Now I do not wish to pose as a kind of 
super-human person, for had not nature in the 
present instance come to my aid in the shape of a 
very rapid thaw during the second week in Decem- 
ber, I am afraid this paper would never have ap- 
peared in print, nor would I have obtained very 
many evidences of the existence of even dead fruit- 
ing fronds ,as most of these in the natural order of 
things would have been buried under a heavy coat- 
ing of snow, which in these parts is generally in 
evidence (more or less) for seven months out of the 
twelve. 

However, this winter (1918-19) has been par- 
ticularly kind and from December 15 to 23 (owing 
to the afore-mentioned thaw) the fields were prac- 
tically clear of snow, and the woods had compara- 
tively little in‘them as compared with other years. 
This state of things made it possible, therefore, to 
indulge in winter fern hunting, and for a week | 
spent a good deal of my time in visiting spots where 
I had previously noticed some of the large Osmun- 
das, Onocleas and others, whose fruiting fronds are 
so very different from the sterile ones, and which as 
a rule can generally be found even in winter, when 
there is hardly a vestige of the latter left. During 
the above week I found the following species and 
varieties, viz: Maiden hair (Adiantum pedatum), 
Bracken (Pteris aquilina), 
Silvery Speenwort (Asplenium  acrostichoides), 
Christmas Fern (Polystrichum acrostichoides), 
Marsh Fern (Aspidium thelypteris), Crested Shield 
Fern (Aspidium cristatum), Clinton’s Wood Fern 
(Aspidium cristatum var. Clintonianum), Boott’s 
Shield Fern (Aspidium Boottii), Spinulose Wood 
Fern (Aspidium spinulosum var. intermedium), 
Hay-scented Fern (Dicksonia punctilobula), Sensi- 
tive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis,) Ostrich Fern (Ono- 
clea struthiopteris), Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis), 


Common Brake or 


Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana), and last 
but by no means least the Ternate Grape Fern 
(Botrychium obliquum), and the var. dissectum, 
both of which form the title of this paper. 


Little did I think when I set out on the morning 
of December 21, that I was going to add an ad- 
ditional species and variety to the list of Quebec 
ferns, yet such was the case, as Mr. J. M. Macoun 
tells me that there are no records at Ottawa of the 
two ever having been found in the province before, 
nor are there any examples in the Herbarium of 
the Geological Survey from this section of Canada. 

Of B. obliquum, however, there are examples 
from two localities in Nova Scotia, and from several 
around Niagara Falls, whilst of the var. dissectum 
some are from New Brunswick, and some from 
localities also around Niagara Falls. In Gray’s 
Manual, 7th edition, p. 49, there are several illus- 
trations of the varieties of B. obliquum, including 
one of the var. dissectum, and seeing that the species 
is polymorphous there are no doubt many others 
yet to. be found, so that it is altogether quite an in- 
teresting plant and one well worth looking for. 
As a matter of fact neither of my examples are 
quite typical, and do not agree exactly either with 
those from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Niagara 


Falls. 


I only found one example of each in a very shel- 
tered spot under a cedar tree on the outskirts 
of a large wood about two miles to the south of 
Hatley village ,this wood forming part of the farm 
originally known as the Poole farm, but now be- 
longing to Mr. Will Hunter. The specimens were 
quite fresh and green when found, and after having 
becn duly pressed and preserved they were subse- 
quently presented to the Herbarium at Ottawa. Of 
the var. dissectum, Gray in his Manual says: “Often 
found with the typical form in New England,” and 
so I found it here, the two not being more than 
twelve inches apart from one another, which fact 
I imagine is all in favor of dissectum being pro- 
nounced a variety of B. obliquum and not a separate 
species as some are still inclined to consider it I~ 
believe. 


In conclusion I may say that besides the species 
already enumerated I had previously found the fol- 
lowing additional ones, viz: Long Beech Fern 
(Phegopteris polypodioides), and Oak Fern ¢Phe- 
gopteris dryopteris), these two bringing my list up 
to a total of eighteen, which may be considered very 
satisfactory, I think, for the amount of time so far 
spent on the subject. 


98 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII 


e 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


REMARKS ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE 
ScaLtop (Pecten tenuicostatus).—After hatching, 
the young scallops attach themselves to rocks, scallop 
shells, or other objects to which they remain as fix- 
tures for a year or two. I can tell this from num- 
erous young specimens obtained which possess an 
aperture through which a portion of the creature 
protrudes for attachment, and from a few speci- 
mens I came across which possess an elastic byssus 
for attachment, which protrudes from the so-called 
foot, and also from the margins of growth, the 
striations, and other points of structure which under- 
go a modification. 

In the earlier stages the byssal attachment appears 
to agree with that of Anomia throughout the life- 
history of that genus; that is, there is an aperture 
near the apex of the under valve through which a 
portion of the mollusk itself protrudes, so that it is 
directly attached to the object. But its agreement 
with Anomia in this respect is only temporary, for 
in time the scallop develops a byssus which is of 
elastic constituency, such as the mussel (Mvftilus) 
possesses throughout its life-history. In the instance 
of the scallop again this provision is only temporary, 
for in time as it continues to grow the byssus dis- 
appears, and the scallop is free and can then move 
about by the flapping of its valves. 

Sometimes I was able to determine a stage of 
development from a single example. For instance, 
the fact that at one time in its life-history the scallop 
develops an elastic byssus secreted from the foot for 
attachment to an external object. This I know 
from only one specimen which had such a byssus. 
Two other specimens of the same character were 
obtained, but the byssus of one of them had been 
broken off in the raking, and it was found lying 
loose, and the other, a much smaller one, was also 
detached from the object. 

Considering that the byssus always occurs on 
the same side of the scallop, and that the aperture 
of the more immature form extends to the margin of 
the valve, it is evident that the elastic elongation 
simply evolves from the original attachment, and 
that the aperture of the under valve as it becomes 
obliterated, leaves the scallop, except that it is now 
moored to an external object, otherwise free. 

Judging from an illustration from Parker and 
Haswell, these zoologists seem to regard the pectens 
as hermaphrodite, as they show one part of the gonad 
in the same individual as male and the other as 
female. But this is not so, at least in the case of 
the scallop. The sexes are distinct, and out of 209 
scallops specially examined by me in my observa- 
tional work, 100 were males, 108 females, and in 


one the sex was indeterminable. The gonad of this 
last mentioned was completely empty, not that I 
consider the scallop hed spawned, for it was im- 
poverished generally, and apparently in a sickly 
condition. I might have been able, had I known 
it at the time, to determine the sex by the digestive 
organs, but this was a later discovery. This fact, 
however, helps to emphasize what I say as to the 
sexes being distinct. The gonad of the male is 
cream-celored and the stomach and its appendages 
gray, whereas the gonad of the female is a sort 
of brick-red color and the stomach and its append- 
ages brown. 

ANDREW HALKETT. 


A Rosin’s Mistake.—A pair of robins have 
for some years been in the habit of building their 
nest among the creepers which grow on the side of 
my house, having for neighbors a pair of crow 
blackbirds. This year the two nests were placed 
on either side of a bay window, only a couple of 
yards apart. 
about the same time, and this circumstance evidently 
The parent crow blackbirds 
showed no lack of interest in their young family. 
On the contrary, for the first day or two after the 
latter left the nest the old birds resented the appear- 
ance of anyone on the lawn where the young were, 
complaining loudly and making savage darts at the 
intruder, as though intending to do him grevious 
bodily harm. Nevertheless, in spite of all this 
parental solicitude, one of the young crow black- 
birds was adopted by one of the parent robins. 
How it originally came about I do not know; but a 
few days later, when all of the other members of 
both familes had disappeared, I was attracted by 
the novel sight of the robin working industriously 
early and late to satisfy the voracious appetite of 
his adopted progeny, who followed him about con- 
tinually demanding more. This proceeding con- 
tinued for about three weeks and as the pair re- 
mained al] that time in my garden, I was able to 
keep close watch on them and to note the gradual 
growth of the young blackbird, until when I last 
saw them he was fully plumed and almost indis- 
tinguishable from an adult. There was, therefore, 
no doubt whatever as to the correctness of the 
identification. It was not, as some might be in- 
clined to suggest, a cow bird, but unquestionably 
a crow blackbird. Once, on the second or third 
day of my cbservations a pair of adult crow black- 
birds—possibly the real parents—arrived on the 
scene and for a time evinced considerable excite- 
ment over their “lost heir,” but as the latter took 


Both young families left the nest at 


led to complications. 


November, 1919] 


no notice of them whatever, but stuck to the robin 
and as he, poor bird, was much too busy hunting 
worms to notice anything else, the blackbirds pres- 
ently calmed down and flew away, no doubt con- 
cluding that it must be a case of mistaken identity. 

Has any reader of THE FieELp-NATURALIST ever 
heard of such a curious mix-up as this? It is, I 
suppose, just possible that the explanation may be 
that a crow blackbird’s egg was laid in the robin’s 
nest. The nest was so situated close to the glass of 
a window that one could look into it quite easily 
from one of the rooms of my house. Nevertheless 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 99 


I did not examine it until the eggs were hatched, 
and then only very cursorally. It is, therefore, 
possible, though I think unlikely, that the young 
crow blackbird was in the nest and escaped my 
notice. Naturally I was not expecting that any 
question would arise as to the identity of the young 
robins. Still I think the more likely explanation to 
be that by some curious chance the robin accident- 
ally adopted one of his neighbor’s children soon 
after the two families had simultaneously left their 
respective nests. W. L. Scort. 
Tredinnock, Ottawa. 


BOOK 


NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 


THe Birps oF MippLtE AND NortH AMERICA. 
By Robt. Ridgway, Part VIII, Continuation of 
Bulletin 50, U.S. National Museum, Washington, 
Government Printing Office, 1919. 

The monumental task of monographing all the 
birds of North and Middle America was begun 
by this veteran ornithologist, now probably the Dean 
of the science in America, many years ago. The 
first volume covering the Finches and Sparrows ap- 
peared in October, 1901. Since then the follow- 
ing parts have appeared. The contents covering 
Canadian species only is given here. 

Part II, 1902, The Tanagers, Troupials (black- 
bird and orioles) and Wood Warblers. 

Part III, 1904, Pipits, Swallows, Waxwings, 
Vireos, Shrikes, Crows and Jays; Titmice, Nut- 
hatches, Creepers, Wrens, and Dippers. 

Part IV, 1907, Thrushes, Mockingbirds, Star- 
lings, Larks and Tyrant Flycatchers. 

Part V, 1911, Hummingbirds and Swifts. 

Part VI, 1914, Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Goat- 
suckers, and the Barn and Eared Owls. 

Part VII, 1916, Cuckoos and Pigeons. 

This present volume now appearing includes 
Oyster-catchers, Turnstones, Surf Birds, Plovers, 
Snipes, Phalaropes, Avccets, Skimmers, Terns, 
Gulls, Skuas and Auks. 

The next Part, namely LX, now in course of 
preparation, will contain Cranes, Rails, Gallinules 
and Coots; Turkeys, American Partridge, Grouse, 
Falcons, Hawks and Eagles and American Vultures. 

It is contemplated that Part X will complete the 
work. 

The magnitude of this work can be partially 
appreciated by the fact that each volume runs from 
550 to 875 closely printed pages, many of them 
consisting of masses of abbreviated bibliographical 
references and synonomy requiring immense research 
and exact transcription and proofreading. Dr. El- 
liott Coues said that bibliography required the work 
of an “inspired idiot.” On these grounds alone the 


Birds of Middle and North America would be 
notable, but as each species and subspecies is ac- 
companied by the fullest detailed description and 
each has been subjected to the strictest scrutiny as 
to taxonomic standing and relationship by one of 
the keenest observers in America it is evident that 
this will stand as a monument to the author for many 
years. It will be noted that the classification does 
not follow that of the A.O.U. Check list and is not 
familiar to the majority of American ornithologists. 
In this it probably shows a considerable step in 
advance. The latter is acknowledged to be faulty, 
but it has not been thought expedient to change it 
until a system can be presented that wlli meet a 
more general approval than any hitherto advanced 
receives. The work is not popular, but confines 
itself to strictly scientific aspects of taxonomy, nom- 
enclature, identification and distribution. |The 
purely popular nature student has little interest in 
it except as a reservoir of ascertained facts to guide, 
control and direct his esthetic impressions and 
investigations. 

P. A. TAVERNER. 


Hamitton M. Lainc. Whilst it is not the cus- 
tom to treat newspapers as serious scientific publica- 
tions it seems that some attention should be called 
to the series of excellent articles on popular orn- 
ithology appearing more or less regularly in the 
Toronto Globe. These are from the pen of Ham- 
ilton M. Laing, who is taking the place of the late 
lamented Sam Weods who conducted this nature 
column with but scanty recognition for a long 
period. Mr. Laing is a Canadian, of considerable 
experience in Manitoba, now resident in Portland, 
Oregon. During the latter days of the war he was 
in the aviation corps and assisted in training many 
of our fliers who later made a good account of 
themselves at the front. 

The subject of these papers cover such a range 
of subjects as “The Shore Birds in Autumn,” 


100 THE CANADIAN 


“Hawks Everyene Should Know,” “The Weod 
Warblers,” etc. The subjects are treated in a 
popular, entertaining manner, in a style that more 
than occasionally warrants the term “fine writing”, 
sympathetically but with an absence of gush and 
with a geod substratum of personal knowledge and 
We can stand many more of such 
pepuler science writers in Canada as well as else- 
where. P. A. TAVERNER. 


common sense. 


In the Auk for Apmil, 1919, appears the fol- 
lowing titles of especial interest to Canadians: 

WINTER ROBINS IN Nova Scotts, by Harrison 
F. Lewis, pp. 205-217. This recerds the unusual 
appearance of robins in widely separated localities 
of Nova Scotia, in late December, January, Febru- 
ary and early March. The interesting point 
brought cut is that the number of robins increased 
during the season of greatest cold, culminating in 
early February in weather below zero and dis- 
appearing when the temperature moderated. It is 
suggested that these winter visitors are not unsea- 
sonably early migrants from the south, but a col- 
lection of winter lingerers from the north or in- 
terior gathered together by the unusual inclement 
weather. : 

PROBLEMS SUGGESTED BY NESTS OF WABBLERS 
OF THE GENUS Dendroica, by John Tredwell 
Nichols, pp. 225-228, raises some interesting ques- 
tions as to the nest-building instinct and the facility 
or otherwise with which birds substitute new mater- 
ials of civilization for their ancestral supplies. 

ON THE POPULAR NAMES OF BIRDS, by Ernest 
Thompson Seton, pp. 229-235, is a plea for more 
characteristic common names for birds, advocat- 
ing terms cf spontaneous and natural origin over 
those of more clumsy manufacture. 

THE REALITY OF SPECIES, by Leverett Mills 
Loomis, pp. 235-237. This is a short paper dis- 
cussing the subspecies question. The conclusion 
of the author (quite in harmony with the ideas of 
this reviewer) is that whilst the species with its 
component races is a reality, the lesser subspecific 
subdivision is but a concept. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS IN THE’ BLACK- 
THROATED LOONS, by A. C. Bent, pp. 238-242. 
This is a brief discussion of the occurrence of these 
allied species in America. The writer lumps four 
forms Gavia arctica, the Black-throated Loon, G. 
pacifica, the Pacific Loon, G.  viridigularis, the 
lately described Green-throated Loon, and G. 
suschkini, the Asiatic form, in one species as geo- 
graphical races of G. arctica. Pacifica appears to 
be the common North American form with viridi- 
gularis of erratic occurrence on the Pacific coast. 
He questions the specific, even the subspecific dis- 


[Vol. XXXII] 


FigELD- NATURALIST 


this form as he can limit it to no 
geographical range. It does not appear that true 
G. a. arctica, in spite of repeated records to the 
ccntrary, has even been satisfactorily recorded from 
America. 

REASONS FOR DISCARDING A PROPOSED RACE OF 
THE GLAUCUS GULL (Larus hyperboreus) by John- 
athan Dwight, pp. 242-248. In this paper Dr. 
Dwight brings his keen analytical pen to bear on 
H. C. Oberholser’s proposal (Auk, 1918, p. 472) 
to recognize the rejected northwestern American 
form Larus barrovianus as a_ subspecies of the 
Glaucus. Gull. By a series of graphic diagrams 
he shows that the size distinctions upon which the 
form is bascd are too variable for recognition, fur- 


tincticn of 


ther driving his argument home by superimposed 
cutlines of the average bills of the two supposed 
races in which the distinction of size is shown to 
be absurdely small. In conclusion, he says: 

“In our gropings after the truth it is wasteful of 
too much time to spend so much of it stumbling over 
names of groups so pcorly defined that they convey 
cnly a vague meaning to a few specialists and none 
at all to evcrybedy else. Decking the subspecies in 
all the glittering panoply of diagnosis, dimensions and 
distribution makes it an impressive spectacle, but this 
does not necessarily make of it a good subspecies.” 

These are sentiments of which the reviewer heart- 
ily approves. 

THE BIRDS OF RED DEER RIVER, by P. A. Taver- 
ner, pp. 248-265. This is the last half of a paper 
begun in a previous number. Including an addenda 
it brings the number of specics annotated to 194. 

FoURTH ANNUAL LIST OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN 
THE A. 0. U. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
by Harry C. Oberholser, pp. 266-273. In this are 
gathered together all the various preposals of the 
past year that may affect American Ornithological 
nomenclature. It deals with about seventy-two 
Without doubt some of these will be ac- 
cepted according to the canons of our Code of 
Nomenclature, but it is a matter of some cengratu- 
lation to us that this lengthy list is one of mere 
propesal and not accepted fact. These late lists 
of proposals show that the genus splitter is in full 
action. It is to be hoped that the committee on 
nomenclature will bear in mind that the genera is 
but a conception adopted for convenience and that 
it defeats its own end when each genus approaches 
the monospecific and in place of simplifying our 
system but adds to its complexity. 

Under General Notes, Harry C. Oberholser, pp. 
282-283, in Status of the Generic Name Archibuteo 
decides that Archibuleo is a nomen nudum and 
therefore untenable and that the next name applic- 
able for the genus of the Rough-legged Hawks is 


hames. 


November, 1919] 


Triorchis Kaup. This would change the accepted 
name of both our Roughlegs. 

In the Division of Correspondence, P. A. Taver- 
ner writes urging that caution be used in identifying 
birds subspecifically by either geography or slight 
characters alone zdvocating, except where the case 
is clear or indisputable, that the specific binomial 
be used leaving subspecific status open until such 
times as more evidence is available. This is re- 
plied to by Witmer Stone, the editor, with a quali- 
fied assent, but advancing a negative argu- 
ment that the present reviewer (the author of the 
original letter) regards as dodging the question. 

Information of peculiar interest to us is the report 
upon the J. H. Fleming, Toronto, Ontario, col- 
lection of birds, on page 321, which is also copied 
by the /bis for July. It reads: 

“This is one of the largest private collections 
and covers the birds of the entire world—a most 
commendable feature. We learn that it comprises 
about 25,000 specimens representing 5,377 species 
and 1,925 genera, as recognized in Sharpe’s Hand 
List.’ When we note that there are, according to 
this authority, some 17,000 species of birds and 
2,647 genera, we realize that Mr. Fleming has 
about one-third of the known species and _ three- 
fourths of the genera represented, the latter being 
evidence of the painstaking care that he has ex- 
ercised in bringing together this notable series of 
specimens.” 

This is one of the really notable private collec- 
tions in English-speaking America; in some direc- 
tions, as in the thoroughness with which it covers 
its broad field, equalling or even outranking those 
of the larger American museums. 

The gathering of this monumental series has been 
results of a life time and if the future Canadian 
student of ornithology in its broader aspects, finds 
the working tools for his investigations within this 
Dominion it will be entirely due to Mr. Fleming’s 
efforts. 

This is by far the largest collection of birds in 
Canada, outranking even in mere point of numbers 
its nearest rival, that of the Museum of the Geolog- 
ical Survey at Ottawa, representing the Dominion 
Government’s national collections, which though 
practically confined to the Canadian field, numbers 
barely 14,000 specimens. Whilst these figures may 
seem large to the unitiated they are really small in 
comparison with the more notable collections abroad. 
There are a number of private collections in the 
United States ranging in the neighborhood of 
60,000. The collection of the United States Na- 
tional Museum, a comparable institution to ours, 
has, exclusive of large collections of the Biological 
Survey which are practically amalgamated with it, 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 101 


reached 200,000, whilst the British Museum 
bird collections passed the half-million milestone ten 
years ago. 
given here to indicate that while Canada may be 
congratulated on having made a healthy start in 
this branch of scientific investigation, she has still 
a long way to go before she can compete on a par 
with other countries which have had a longer start 
in the field of zoological research. 


P. A .TAVERNER. 


These comparative figures are merely 


Witp ANIMALS oF GLACIER NATIONAL Park. 
The Mammals, with notes on Physiography and 
Life Zones, by Vernon Bailey, Chief Field Natur- 
alist, Bureau of Biological Survey, Department of 
Agriculture. The Birds, by Florence Merriam 
Bailey, author of Handbook of Birds of the West- 
ern United States. Dept. of the Interior, Franklin 
K. Lane, Secretary. National Park Service, 
Stephen T. Mather, Director. Washington: Gov- 
ernment Printing Office, 1918. (Pp. 1-210, with 
21 halftone plates of mammals and 16 of birds, 18 
text figures of mammals, and 78 of birds. Copies 
may be procured from the Superintendent of Docu- 
ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
D.C., at 50 cents per copy). 

Glacier National Park lies in northwestern Mon- 
tana, along the main range of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the “Continental Divide,” from the Canadian 
boundary, where it adjoins one of our own Cana- 
dian national parks, the Waterton Lakes Park, on 
the north, to the line: of the Great Northern Rail- 
way on the south. Glacier Park, though one of 
the more recently established United States parks, 
is rapidly becoming famous as a region of great 
scenic beauty, celebrated by painters and photo- 
graphic artists. The present volume is a praise- 
worthy effort of the United States park manage- 
ment, during the recent turning of the movement of 
vacation tourists to “See America First,” resulting 
in many new visitors to the national parks, to set 
forth some of the less known natural advantages of 
these great national playgrounds to a large and 
constantly growing class of people. The scenic 
mountain-peaks, icy glaciers, and mirroring lakes 
scarcely need to be pointed out, but other fascinating 
possibilities are not so obvious. Interest in wild 
life is growing everywhere, and nothing adds to the 
interest of our parks more than glimpses of ani- 
mated life. A few squirrels or sprightly chip- 
munks obviously add a touch of life even to a 
city park, and a sight of the picturesque and rapidly 
disappearing large game animals of the Rockies in 


their native habitat is worth going far to see. Soon 


the parks may be the only place where we shall 
have this privilege. 


102 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Glacier Park has a wonderful natural variety 
of plants and animals, containing within its bound- 
aries areas ranging from the lower Transition Zone 
of its open plains borders, through the dense forests 
of lodgepole pine, spruce and fir in the Canadian 
Zone at the base of the mountains, the narrow belt 
of dwarfted timber at or near timberline in the 
Hudsonian Zone, and the Arctic-Alpine Zone of 
the higher mountain-tops. Mr. Bailey has sketched 
briefly the botanical wealth of these varied climatic 
and life zones, but the book deals mainly with 
mammals and birds, and no one is better qualified 
to treat them than Mr. Bailey with his lifetime of 
experience in field work in the West, accompanied 
on many trips by the accomplished “bird woman” 
who is his wife. While the book is of aid to every 
beginning naturalist or enquiring tourist who may 
visit the region, it will prove useful as a Baedeker 
for the most expert, telling him where the species 
he is most interested in may be found at the proper 
time. A good assortment of interesting life-his- 
tory notes on each species is given, with sug- 
gestions of many things which may be of value for 
succeeding visitors to the park to watch for and add 
to our knowledge. Most of the mammals are il- 
lustrated by photographs from life. The bird sec- 
tion is well illustrated by new life photographs from 
various sources, and well-selected reproductions of 
photographs, sketches, and paintings which have 
been used in other publications. A systematic key 
is given for the classification of the commoner sum- 
mer birds of the park which will be useful in other 


[Vol. XXXIII 


places in the northern Rockies. 

In addition to the pleasure and profit which this 
book gives to a person already interested in natural 
history, and its value as a strictly biological report, 
its chief value will probably lie in introducing the 
fascinating possibilities of wild life study to the 
average citizen, the casual tourist and park visitor, 
whose numbers are increasing from year to year. 
When this interest is developed, and the parks need 
only be entered and intelligent attention called to 
their advantages for the interest to be kindled, a 
new force is added to the protection of wild life, 
rational conservation, and public recreation, the 
influence of which can not be overestimated. 

The Canadian National Parks offer similar if 
not greater possibilities. Waterton Lakes Park (just 
north of Glacier Park), Rocky Mountains Park at 
Banff, Jasper Park in Alberta, Point Pelee Park 
in Ontario (the most southerly point in Canada, 
on the great migratory bird route along the shore 
of Lake Erie) and the Percé and Bonaventure re- 
servation for the protection of the great seabird 
rookeries at the tip of the Gaspé peninsula of 
Quebec, have their own peculiar attractions to the 
nature lover, and are bound to be still more at- 
tractive when their wild life attractions are more 
generally known to the public. For such areas, the 
little books which teach the eye to know what it 
sees, as well as to notice what is often hidden to 
the unseeing eye, have an increasing function in 
popular education. 


R. M. ANnpErson. 


(The October Number was mailed on November 18, 1919.) 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIII. 


DECEMBER, 


he ie 8 No. 6. 


CHAMPLAIN’S ASTROLABE. 


By CHARLES MAcCNAMARA, ARNPRIOR, ONTARIO. 


The astrolabe was an instrument for measuring 
the altitude and relative positions of heavenly bodies. 
It was probably invented by those eminent astron- 
omers of antiquity, the Chaldeans; at any rate it 
was well known to the Greeks and Orientals long 
before Christ. Essentially it consisted cf a gredu- 
ated circle, across the diameter of which was a 
moveable bar, pivoted at the centre. In use the 
instrument was hung plumb, and the body whose 
altitude it was desired to ascertain, was sighted 
along the bar, the angle above the horizon being 
read on a scale at the edge of the circle. The name 
of the instrument, derived from the Greek, may be 
translated as “‘star-taker.” 

The astrolabe gradually developed into two dif- 
ferent types: a large stationary spherical apparatus 
that was the chief instrument in observatories even 
into the 17th century, and a small circular model 
that could be conveniently carried by travellers. 
This portable type was often richly ornamented, and 
engraved with ‘elaborate graduations and scales, but 
about 1480 a simple form was designed for the use 
of mariners, and it was apparently this model that 
Columbus used on his voyages of discovery. It 
proved, however, an awkward instrument on a pitch- 
ing vessel, and shipmen generally seem to have pre- 
ferred another. device known as the cross-staff. 
Nevertheless, the astrolabe continued in use until 
well into the 18th century, when it was displaced 
by the quadrant. 

In 1867 an astrolabe was found near Cobden, 
Ontario, on the old portage route which cuts off 
the great elbow that the Ottawa river makes to the 
north between its expanses known as Allumette 
lake and Lac des Chats; and as first noticed by the 
late A. J. Russell of Ottawa, in a pamphlet pub- 
lished in 1879, evidence points strongly to the instru- 
ment having been lost by Champlain on his journey 
up the Ottawa in 1613, more than 250 years before. 

Champlain was induced to undertake this ex- 
pedition by the lying story of one Nicholas de 
Vignau, whom he had entrusted with some minor 
explorations in Canada, and who had spent a win- 
ter with the natives there. On de Vignau’s return 


to France in 1612, he told Champlain a wonderful 
tale of how he had reached the Nerth Sea by way 
of the River of the Algonauins—ctherwise. the 
Ottawa. One could travel, de Vieneu said, from 
the Falls of St. Louis (Lachine) to this sea and 
back again in 17 days; and he amplified his story 
by asserting that he had seen the wreck of an English 
ship on the shore, and that the Indians there could 
show the scalps of the crew of 80 men that they 
had killed, sparing only one English boy whom 
they were keeping for Champlain. 

Deceived by this fabrication—to which de Vignau 
actually made affidavit before two notaries at La 
Rochelle—Champlain, on Monday, the 27th May, 
1613, to the sound of a parting salute from his 
ships, set out with five companions from Isle Ste. 
Héléne (cpposite the present city of Montreal) 
to seek the mythical sea. The party travelled in 
two canoes, and at starting consisted of Champlain, 
de Vignau and three other Frenchmen with one 
Indian; but later on one of the Frenchmen was 
sent back and a second Indian took his place. 

A saying of the late Mr. Lindsay Russell, one 
time Surveyor General of Canada, was that “a mul- 
tiplicity of apparatus is the hall-mark of the 
amateur.” Champlain was an old experienced tra- 
veller, to whom voyages of discovery had become 
so much a matter of course that his journals never 
make any particular mention of his equipment, and 
we may be sure that he carried no “multiplicity of 
apparatus.” But he certainly must have been pro- 
vided with an astrolabe, for at three different places 
along his route he took observations for latitude. 
The first was near the foot of Lake St. Louis on 
the St. Lawrence, the position of which he gives as 
45° 18’. Considering the crudeness of his instru- 
ment, his observation was remarkably accurate, for 
the correct latitude is about 45° 25’, 

In these days of swift and luxurious travel, it is 
interesting to note that it took the explorer eight 
days to cover the distance between Montreal and 
Ottawa; and that on the way he was nearly 
drowned in the Long Sault rapids. Thus, he 
reached the Chaudiére Falls on the 4th of 


104 THE CanapdiAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


June, and after determining the latitude of the 
portage on the Hull side as 45° 38’ (actually 
45° 26’) he proceeded up Lake Deschénes the same 
day. The barren Eardley hills on the one side 
and the sandy shores of Constant Bay on the other 
gave him a poor opinion of the surrounding country, 
and he puts it down as “very unpromising.” The 
party passed the night “‘on a very pleasant island”— 
doubtless Mohr island—and on the 5th June they 
portaged at the Chats falls and paddled up Lac des 
Chats. Champlain speaks of the Madawaska river 
as a tributary at this point, but says nothing of the 
Mississippi or the Bonnechére. His remark that 
“the lands about the before-mentioned lake are 
sandy” shows that he must have gone up by the 
Quebec shore, and was struck by the long arid 
stretches of Kilroy’s bay and Norway bay. In Lac 
des Chats they camped as usual on an island, evid- 
ently for safety, as the Algonquins were always des- 
perately afraid of a surprise attack by the Iroquois. 
On this island Champlain recounts that he “saw 
a number of fine red cypress [cedars] the first I had 
seen in this country, out of which I made a cross, 
which I planted at one end of the island on an 
elevated and conspicuous spot, with the arms of 
France, as I had done in other places where we 
had stopped. I called this island Sainte Croix.” 
Red cedar has been extinct for many years on Lac 
des Chats, and there is no island in the lake with 
any marked elevation on it, so it is impossible to 
identify Holy Cross island with any certainty; but 
probably it is one of the Braeside islands, or per- 
haps the island opposite Norway bay. 

Next day, Thursday, 6th June, they ascended 
the Chenaux rapids to within about a mile of the 
present village of Portage du Fort, and landed on 
the Ontario side at a point known in gafter years 
as Gould’s Landing. Champlain took the latitude 
of this place and says he found :it 46° 40’. In 
reality the place is about 45° 34’; and in some way 
he had made a mistake of a degree in his calcula- 
tion. “Here,” Champlain says, “our savages left 
the sacks containing their provisions and their less 
necessary articles in order to be lighter for going 
over-land and avoiding several falls which it was 
necessary to pass.” And here de Vignau, who 
must have been contemplating the approaching ex- 
posure of his falsehood with ever increasing anxiety, 
tried to persuade Champlain that the best route was 
up the Ottawa, his hope, evident in the sequel, being 
that the long succession of rapids above Portage du 
Fort would bring disaster on the expedition, or at 
least discourage Champlain and cause him to 
turn back. But “our savages said to him, you are 


tired of living, and to me that I ought not to believe 
him, and that he did not tell the truth.” Convinced 


[Vol. XXXII. 


that the Indians knew the best way, Champlain 
took their advice, and the party climbed to the higher 
land above the river, and travelled southward a 
couple of miles to the first of a chain of long narrow 
lakes that lie across the base of the large peninsula 
formed by the great swing of the Ottawa river to- 
wards the north. Until railways extended into this 
part of Ontario in the seventies of the last century, 
the route here followed by Champlain was still the 
principal road to the upper Ottawa. Steamboats 
plied on Lac des Chats from the head of the Chats 
rapids to Gould’s Landing, and thence travellers 
were conveyed by stage to Muskrat lake where 
they embarked on a_ steamboat that carried them 
to within a few miles of Pembroke. 

This was the longest and hardest portage the ex- 
pedition had struck yet. Champlain himself carried 
three arquebuses and three paddles, his cloak and 
“some small articles,” among which it is safe to say 
was the famous astrolabe. The others, he says 
“were somewhat more heavily loaded, but more 
treubled by the mosquitoes than by their loads.” 
They passed through the string of four small lakes, 
the first three of which are known as Coldingham, 
Town and Catherine, the fourth being apparently 
nameless, and stopped for the night on the shore of 
the more important Olmsted lake. 

“Nous nous reposasmes sur le bord d’yn estang 
qui estoit assez agreable, & fismes du feu pour chasser 
les mousquites, qui nous molestoient fort, ]’importu- 
nite desquels est si estrange, qu'il est impossible d’en 
pouuoir faire la descriptio.” Thus Champlain: If 
he returned to-day, he would see many and as- 
tounding changes in the country he discovered; but 
ameng all that was new and wonderful, he would 
again find in the month of June the same old mos- 
quitoes, the importunity of which is as extraordinary 
as ever. 

In the morning (Friday, June 7th), they paddled 
down Olmsted lake, and on foot crossed the three 
miles or so of country that separates it from Muskrat 
lake, as the connecting streams are not navigable 
even by a bark canoe. A small lake about a mile 
long, now called by the popular name of Green 
lake, lay in their way, and although Champlain does 
not mention it, it is very likely that the Indians 
were glad to take advantage of even such a short 
piece of water as this in their long portage. It was 
on the right bank of the small stream flowing out 
of Green lake, and some 200 yards from the foot 
of the lake, that the astrolabe was found. Some- 
where between Olmsted lake and Muskrat lake, 
Champlain and his men encountered what foresters 
know as a windfall. The thick growth of pines 
had been blown down by a tornado, and it was 
with great difficulty that the party made their way 


December, 1919] 


“now over now under these trees.” The ways in 
which the astrolabe may have been lost are of 
course numberless, but there is at least a strong 
probability that this windfall occurred around Green 
lake, and that in climbing through the confusion of 
trees, the instrument was dropped unnoticed in the 
tangle. 

Near Muskrat lake they found a settlement of 
Indians who received them kindly, and fitted out 


Champlain’s Astrolabe; actual size is 5% in. in diameter. 
supplied by Mr. Samuel V. 


two canoes to convey them on their way. From the 
foot of the lake they portaged once more, this time 
to the Ottawa, where they were met by the Chief 
Tessouat, and with him crossed to Allumette island. 
Protected by the long portages and numerous rapids, 
the Algonquins, feeling comparatively safe from the 
dread Iroquois, had established here a considerable 
village of wigwams and were cultivating the some- 


THE CANADIAN FieLp-NATURALIST 


105 


what sterile soil. Neither the site of this village 
nor the extensive cemetery nearby, described at 
length by Champlain, has ever been discovered. A 
rich find awaits some lucky archeologist on Allu- 
mette island. 

For our present purpose it is important to notice 
what Champlain says about the latitude of this place. 
The text of the 1632 edition of his journal reads: 


“Elle est par les 47 degrez.” In “Voyages of 


A’ : 
>» 

~ i 

OF Pa 
} :: 
7. oe 


From photograph kindly 
Hoffman. 


Samuel de Champlain,” edited by W. L: Grant 
(New York, 1907), the translator, missing the point 
of this expression, renders it simply as: “It is in 
latitude 47°.” The real meaning of the phrase is 
perhaps best expressed in colloquial form: “It is 
somewhere around 47 degrees.” Champlain says 
nothing of the loss of his astrolabe, but it is clear 
that he made no observation here—presumably be- 


106 


cause he was without the means—and merely esti- 
mated the position by dead reckoning from his last 
observation at Gould’s Landing. 

And now the fatal hour for de Vignau had come. 
His story of the North Sea seems to have been sug- 
gested by some vague report he had heard of Eng- 
lish explorations in Hudson’s Bay. But he knew 
nothing about Hudson’s Bay, and in order to give 
his imaginary sea a lecal habitation and a name, he 
connected it with Lake Nipissing, which he had no 
doubt heard spoken of by his Indian hosts as a 
large body cf water not many days’ journey dis- 


tant. Thus Champlain was led to ask Tessouat 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


PVol: XOX 


raised loud cries, and Tessouat said: “You are a 
downright liar, you know well that you slept at my 
side every night with my children; if you were 
among the people mentioned it was while sleeping.” 

For a while the impostor brazened it out, but at 
last gave in and made full confession. “After 
meditating by himself he fell on his knees, and asked 
my pardon, declaring that all he had said both in 
France and in this country in respect to the sea in 
question was false, that he had never seen it, and 
that he had never gone farther than the village of 
Tessouat.” His anxiety to return to Canada, he 
said, had caused him to concoct the story—Cana- 


Green lake, near Cobden, Ont.; outlet flows through rushes at lower right-hand corner. 


for canoes and men to visit the “Nebicerine” (Nip- 
issings). 

At first agreeing very reluctantly—for they were 
not on good terms with the Nipissings—at a later 
council the Indians decided that the road was too 


hard and dangerous, and refused to go. To over- 
come these objections, Champlain pointed to de 
Vignau as a young man who had travelled to the 
Nipissings without encountering such great difficul- 
ties or finding the people so unfriendly. Aston- 
ished, Tessouat asked: “Nicholas, is it true that you 
say you were among the Nebicerine?” It was long 
before de Vignau answered; then he said hesitat- 
ingly: “Yes, I was there.” At this the Indians 


dians will forgive him a little for the implied com- 
pliment to their country—and he trusted to the 
hardships and hindrances of the road to turn Cham- 
plain back before the lie was discovered. 

The Indians were greatly pleased that de Vig- 
nau’s avowals had vindicated them, but they tried 
to wreak vengeance on the wretched liar. “Give 
him to us, and we promise you that he ‘shall not lie 
any more,” they cried, and all set after him shout- 
ing—‘their children shouting still more.” But 
Champlain, to clear himself of the failure of the 
expedition, desired to have the impostor repeat his 
confession before the Frenchmen at the ships, and 
so he saved de Vignau from the wrath of the 
savages. 


December, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


Regretting the waste of time and the hardships 
endured to no purpose, but patient under his dis- 
appointment, Champlain started on his return jour- 
ney on the 10th June, accompanied by forty canoes, 
which number was later increased to eighty by ac- 
cession of parties along the way, all eager to trade 
their furs at the Falls of St. Louis for the wonderful 
wares of the white man. Champlain did not re- 
cross the Muskrat lake portage, but ran the rapids 
down the main stream. At the Chaudiére the In- 
dians threw an offering of tobacco into the falls with 
appropriate ceremony, “by which means they are 
ensured protection against their enemies, that other- 


FieELD- NATURALIST 107 


to do with him, and Champlain says: “As for our 
liar, none of the savages wanted him, notwithstand- 
ing my request to them to take him, and we left 
him to the mercy of God.” And so de Vignau 
disappears from history. 

Anyway his troubles were all over whea our story 
begins again after an interval of 254 years. From 
1613 we jump to 1867, in which year John Lee, 
a farmer living in the Township of Ross, near 
Cobden, Ontario, took a job of clearing land for 
Captain Overman, of the Jason Gould, the Ottawa 
Forwarding Company’s steamboat on Muskrat lake. 
Captain Overman had located lot 12 in the second 


Stream from Green lake flows through alders on the right. 
figure is standing. 


wise misfortune would befall them.” But in his 
heart, man has seldom any real faith in a propitia- 
tory sacrifice—the gods are not so easy to turn 
aside—and in spite of this solemn rite, several times 
the Indians were thrown into a panic at night by 
false alarms of an Iroquois attack. 

Arrived at the ships on the 17th June, Champlain 
called his chief men together, and had de Vignau 
“make declaration of his maliciousness” before 
them. The wretch pleaded hard for forgiveness, 
“and in view of certain considerations” Champlain 
pardoned him. The subsequent fate of the impostor 
is not on record. The French would have nothing 


Astrolabe was found near where 


concession of Ross, about two miles from the town 
of Cobden; and it was here that the astrolabe we 
must attribute to Champlain, was found in August, 
1867, by John Lee’s son, Edward George, at that 
time a boy of 14 years, and now a well known 
resident of the third line of Fitzroy, a few miles 
from Arnprior. How he discovered the astrolabe 
cannot be better told than in Mr. Lee’s own words, 
as he related it to me in August last: 

“One day we were working just below Green 
lake in a bush of mixed hardwood and pine. I 
don’t remember the number of the lot now, but it 
was afterwards occupied by John Sammon, father 


108 


of Mr. Sammon, of the Copeland House, Pem- 
broke. 


dinner, and when | got back with it he sat down 


When noon came, pa sent me home for his 


to eat it, while I went on drawing the logs with our 
team of oxen, Buck and Brin, to the heaps where 
they were being burned. We burned timber those 
times that would make a man’s fortune now-a-days. 
There was an old fallen red pine that lay down- 
hill with its top in the little creek that comes out of 
Green lake. Pa had chopped the trunk of this 


tree into three logs, and I drew two of them away 
with the oxen, but the third log, just below the 
branches was not chopped clean off, and I hitched 
the oxen to it and pulled it around sideways so as 
to break it off. I had to dig away the moss and 
marl that the old tree lay in so as to get the chain 
arcund the log, and when the log swung around it 
rolled back the moss like a blanket, and there on 
the grcund I saw a round yellow thing, nine or 
ten inches across, with figures on it, and an arm 
across it, pointed at one end and blunt at he other. 
Alongside of it was a lump of rust that might have 
been chains or something like that, but I did not 
pick it up. I showed the compass to pa, and he 
put it on a stump a little way up the hill. Just 
then Captain Roverman (sic) came along to see 
how the work was going, and old Captain Cowley 
was with him. Pa showed them the compass and 
they took it away, and pa said they promised to 
give me $10.00 for it, but I never got a farthing nor 
saw hide or hair of the compass since. Poor pa let 
them have it, but if I had got it up to the house, 
ma would not have give it to them that easy. The 
compass was lying about two or three rods from the 
edge of the creek. I never saw water enough in 
creek to float a canoe.” 


Considering that it was more than fifty years 
since Mr. Lee had found the astrolabe and that he 
had never seen it or any reproduction of it since, 
his description of the instrument, while not quite 
correct, is remarkably close to the reality, and 
does great credit to his memory, as well as giving 
his story the undoubted stamp of truth. It will be 
noticed that as a plain man making no pretence to 
book learning, Mr. Lee never ventures on the 
name “astrolabe,” but always speaks of the in- 
strument as a “compass.” Sometimes in conversa- 
tion, with a real feeling for style, to avoid iteration, 
he refers to it as “the item.” 

Captain Overman eventually gave the astrolabe 
to Mr. R. W. Cassels, of Toronto, president of the 
Ottawa Forwarding Company, but this priceless relic 
of the founder of Canada was so lightly appreciated 
by Canadians that it was permitted to leave the 
country, and in 1901 an American connoisseur, Mr. 


THE ‘CANADIAN FieELp-NaATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


Samuel V. Hoffman, of New York, added it to 
his large collection of astrolabes. It is still in Mr. 
Hoffman’s possession, and to him I am much in- 


debted for the photograph of it illustrating this 
article. 


In comparison with the exquisitely finished in- 
struments of precision carried by the modern ex- 
plorer, Champlain’s astrolabe is a very rough pro- 
duction. A careful description of it is given by 
Russell in his pamphlet already referred to. The 
instrument, which has the date 1603 engraved on it 
near the bottom, is of brass, and is of 5% inches 
diameter. The metal is 1% inch thick at the 
top and increases to ¥% inch at the bottom, the 
extra weight below being intended to give steed'ness 
in use. A ring at the bottom, to which, Russell 
surmises, a weight was to be hung for additional 
stability on shipboard, was accidently broken off 
before the astrolabe came into Mr. Hoffman’s hands. 
The suspension ring at the top has a double hinge 
to ensure the instrument hanging plumb. (The fine 
statute of Champlain in Major’s Hill Park, Ottawa, 
shows the great explorer holding his astrolabe up- 
right in his hand, but this is an artistic license; in 
making an observation, the instrument was held sus- 
pended from the top.) The circle is divided into 
single degrees, and it was possible, as Champlain’s 
observatiens prove, to determine latitude by aid of 


the instrument to within 15 minutes of a degree or 
even less. 


Last October under Mr. Lee’s guidance, I visited 
the place where the astrolabe was picked up. Lee 
had not been there for many years, yet he had no 
difficulty in finding the place, and the surround- 
ings agreed accurately with the description he had 
given me two months before. Naturally, tremen- 
dous changes have taken place in the 300 years 
since Champlain and his men, heavily laden, “et 
plus greuez de mousquites que de leur charge,” 
forced their way through the primeval woods. The 
sombre pine forest that then rolled unbroken over 
the ridges and valleys has long disappeared, and 
the somewhat hilly land is now laid out in well 
cultivated farms with clumps of hardwood bush 
here and there. Hardwoods grow to the water’s 
edge around Green lake, except at its foot, where 
there are some old farm buildings, and a large 
sloping field, along the bottom of which the small 
stream that issues from the lake flows through alders 
and poplars. It was on the right bank of this 
“creek” a few yards from the water, and about 
200 yards below the lake, that Lee found the astro- 
labe in the moss. There is no prominent object in 
the landscape to mark the exact spot, and where 
the instrument lay is now cultivated ground. But 


December, 1919] 


to fix the position as nearly as may be, it should 
be noted that the slope of the field becomes a little 
steeper just here and forms a slight shoulder, and 
the stream begins a small deviation towards the 
south. The stream is not nearly large enough to 
navigate a canoe, and there is nothing to show that 
it was ever any larger. But its valley leads in an 
approximately direct line to Muskrat lake, and there 
is no doubt that Champlain and his party portaged 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


109 


along it both for the guidance of the flowing water 
and because it was their shortest road. 

In the preparation of this article I have to than': 
Mr. A. F. Hunter, secretary of the Ontario His- 
torical Society, for bibliographical references and 
other assistance; and I am also under obligation 
to Mr. L. P. Sylvain, of the Library of Parlia- 
ment, Ottawa, for ready permission to consult the 
Government’s rare Canadiana. 


BIRDS OF NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN AND NORTHERN MANITOBA 
COLLECTED IN 1914 BY CAPT. ANGUS BUCHANAN. 


By J. H. FLemine. 


Almost the first knowledge we have of the orn- 
ithelogy of the Saskatchewan region is contained 
in a series of papers published in the /bis of 1861- 
62-63, by Capt. Blaikston, who spent the winter of 
1857-58 at Fort Carlton, on the Saskatchewan 
river, and in 1858 collected at various points in 
what is now the Province of Saskatchewan. In 
these papers Capt. Blakiston incorporated much in- 
formation from Vol. II of the Fauna Boreali- 
Americana of Richardson and Swainson, and other 
published sources. Since then our knowledge of the 
birds of southern Saskatchewan has been con- 
stantly enlarged, but strangely enough the ornithol- 
ogy of the great region drained by the Churchill 
river and lying to the north of what was till 1912 
the northern boundary of the province, has had little 
or no attention paid to it. Notes on its birds were 
made by James M. Macoun, who in 1888 travelled 
from Lesser Slave lake east by way of the Atha- 
basca and Churchill rivers to Lake Winnipeg; these 
notes were eventually published by John Macoun 
in his “Catalogue of Canadian Birds.” Less than 
a dozen birds are in the U.S. National Museum 
collected at Du Brochet lake in 1890, and Pelican 
Narrows in the Churchill river in 1891; probably 
collected by Henry MacKay, and Joseph Hourston 
for Roderick MacFarlane; these are the only skins 
I have seen from this region taken before 1914. 
During the years 1892-93-94, J. Burr Tyrrell in 
the course of his explorations of the Barren Grounds 
more than once traversed the Churchill river, and 
his official reports! contain the best description we 
have of this region; in these reports there are short 
references to birds. When Edward A. Preble 
wrote his great report on the Natural History of the 
Athabasca-Mackenzie region he included all that 


1Annual Report, Geological Survey of Canada 
VIII (new series) Part D, pp. 5D to 120D, Ottawa, 
1896. Ibid., [X,- 1896, Part F (1897). 

2A Biological Investigation of the Athabasca- 
Mackenzie Region. North American Fauna No. 27. 
Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, 1908. 


was known of the birds of the Churchill river up 
to 1908. 

When the boundaries of Saskatchewan were, in 
1912, extended north to include a part of the old 
Northwest Territory, so little was known by the 
Provincial Government of the natural history of the 
northern part of the country that Angus Buchanan 
determined to investigate the country lying between 
the Saskatchewan river and the. Barren Grounds. 
He left Prince Albert on May 6, 1914, and des- 
cended the Beaver river to Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, and 
the Churchill river, thence continuing upstream on 
Reindeer river, and Reindeer lake, entering the 
Cochrane river on July 18, and Lake Du Brochet 
on August |. His base camp was made north of this 
lake, and here he proposed to winter, but hearing 
of the outbreak of the war in late October, he de- 
decided to return, reaching Regina on January 15, 
1915, after an absence of eight and a half months, 
during which he travelled nearly two thousand 
miles by canoe and dog-sleigh. The birds col- 
lected during this expedition were divided, part were 
deposited in the Provincial Museum at Regina, and 
the rest handed over to me; they form a very im- 
portant addition to our knowledge of the birds of 
the region drained by the Churchill river, and are 
in fact the first collection made in northern Sas- 
katchewan. 

After making a short report® of his trip, to the 
Provincial Museum at Regina, Mr. Buchanan re- 
turned to his home in Scotland, enlisted in the 
Legion of Frontiersmen (25th Royal Fusiliers) as 
a private, was sent to East Africa, and served 
throughout that campaign, rising to the rank of 
captain, and received the Military Cross, and on 
being invalided home requested me to prepare a list 
of the birds collected in 1914. I had already ex- 
amined the birds in the Museum at Regina in 1915 


38Report of the Chief Game Guardian, 1914, pp. 
33-34, 37-39, Regina, 1915 : 


110 


and I am indebted to Mr. H. H. Mitchell, of the 
Provincial Museum, Regina, for the loan of any 
that were needed for comparison. The data on the 
birds themselves is exceedingly full, and Capt. 
Buchanan has furnished me with a list of the 
specimens together with notes on the colors of 
the soft parts, food, etc., from this I have quoted 
when necessary, but except in three instances have 
not used the sight records, which will be given fully 
in a forthcoming book by Capt. Buchanan. 
Colymbus holboelli, Holboell’s Grebe. 

Set of five eggs taken on Churchill river, June 6; 
bird seen at close range. 
Gavia immer, Loon, Great Northern Diver. 

An adult taken on Reindeer lake, July 8. 
Larus brachyrhynchus, Short-billed Gull. 

An adult female taken on Reindeer lake, July 9; 


one more seen on same date; this is very far east 
for this gull. “Iris, clear blackish-grey; edge of 
eyelid surrounding eye, deep orange chrome; cor- 
ners of mouth, pure ‘orange chrome; feet, pale whit- 
ish-yellow.” Dr. Oberholser regards this gull as 
a subspecies of Larus canus.* 

Larus delawarensis, Ring-billed Gull. 

A male taken on Ile-a-la-Crosse lake, May 23; 
adult except for the black primaries and terminal 
black band of the tail, probably a non-breeding 
bird. “Bill, medium dark greenish-yellow, with 
strong black nng around bill a short distance from 
tip; eyelids, and corners of mouth, deep orange- 
chrome; feet, pale greenish-yellow.” Seventeen 
others seen with this bird. 

Larus philadelphia, Bonaparte’s Gull. 

Four specimens, one adult male (thought by the 
collector to be a non-breeding bird), taken on the 
Cochrane river, July 20. “Iris dark; bill black; 
legs and feet, orange-chrome.” One adult female, 
taken on Cochrane river, July 25, “Iris dark; eye- 
ring, dark crimson; bill, black; corners of mouth, 
reddish-flesh color; legs whitish orange-chrome; 
feet, more rich chrome.” Two juvenile birds taken 
on Lake Du Brochet, Cochrane river, August 1, 
one of these, a female, is marked “Iris, dark; bill, 
medium dull blackish-grey; both mandibles dark 
from nostril out; legs, feet, and webs, whitish skin 
This species is be- 
lieved to breed in trees, and it is unfortunate in 
view of the young birds taken, that the nesting site 
was not found. 

Xema sabini, Sabine’s Gull. 

Three seen and a pair of adults taken on Sandy 
lake, Churchill river, June 9; the female is marked 
“Tris, black; pure red eye-ring; bill, black to one- 
eighth beyond nostril, remainder of tip medium dull 
lemon yellow; feet, black.” 


color with pale brown joints.” 


4sAuk, XXXVI, 1919, pp. 83-84. 


THE CANADIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


Sterna hirundo, Common Tern. 

A juvenile female with primaries not fully grown, 
taken on Cochrane river, August 14. Seen in com- 
pany with parents and another young bird. 
Mergus americanus, Merganser. 

A male in very worn immature plumage, taken 
on the Churchill river, June 1. “Iris, dark; bill, 
medium deep crimson, crown of upper mandible, 
black; feet, bright orange-chrome.” 

Mergus serrator, Red-breasted Merganser. 

An adult female taken on Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 
May 23. “Iris, clear deep umber brown; bill, all 
red except along crown of upper mandible which is 
dark horn-brown; legs and feet, rich reddish or- 
ange-chrome.” 


A downy young female, length 14.75 in., taken 
on the Cochrane river, August 15. “Ins, pale clear 
brownish sage-green; bill, blackish-brown over 
crown of upper mandible for entire length, except 
tip, sides of upper mandible and entire lower man- 
dible pale dull buffish yellow; legs and feet, dull 
brownish-grey; webs, dull umber-brown. Bird in 
company with mother and about a dozen young.” 

Set of twelve eggs taken on rocky island in Rein- 
deer lake, July 12. “‘Nest, found on ground con- 
cealed beneath ledge of rock; eggs almost hard on 
rock and rim of nest composed of small leaves and 
twigs profusely mixed with blackish-grey down.” 
Nettion carolinense, Green-winged Teal. 

A pair taken on the Beaver river, May 18. 
Oidemia perspicillata, Surf Scoter. 

Three specimens, one adult male, taken at Lake 
Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 31; two adult females taken 
on the Reindeer river, June 30. “Flock of about 
twelve scoters together, all in pairs.” 

Phalaropus fulicarius, Red Phalarope. 
A male taken on Sandy Fly lake, Churchill river, 


June II. 
Steganopus tricolor, Wilson’s Phalarope. 
Two specimens, an adult female taken on 


Crooked lake, May 13. “Bird alone, resting as if 
tired out, perhaps migrating.” The other an adult 
male taken on the Beaver river, May 19. “Male 
and female together on floating weeds, on edge of 
small lake off Beaver river; birds in company with 
pair of Dowitchers and Lesser Yellow-legs.” 
Gallinago delicata, Wilson’s Snipe. 

Nest taken near Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 31. 
“Four eggs, slightly incubated, nest of damp grasses 
on ground among low snow-berry bushes. Flushed 
bird off nest three or four times to-day and yester- 
day.” 

Macrorhamphus griseus griseus, Dowitcher. 

Five specimens, a pair taken on Crooked lake, 
May 13, have been compared with a series of this 
form and of M. g. scalopaceus. Another pair 


December, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


taken on the Beaver river, May 19, and a male on 
Lake Ile-a-la~Crosse, May 23. 
Pisobia fuscicollis, White-rumped Sandpiper. 

A female taken on Sandy lake, Churchill river, 
June 10, and a male taken on Sand Fly lake, 
Churchill river, June 11. 

Pisobia bairdi, Baird’s Sandpiper. 

Four specimens, a female taken near Fort Du 
Brochet, Reindeer lake, July 17; and a male and 
two females taken on the Cochrane river, July 23. 
Pisobia minutilla, Least Sandpiper. 

Four specimens, a female, Reindeer lake, July 
13. “Bird alone breeding on island, apparently 
had nest.”” A female taken July 29, and a pair 
taken on the Cochrane river, July 30. 

Pelidna alpina sakhalina, Red-backed Sandpiper. 

A female, Churchill river, June 8. “Shot on 
small stony island, in company with seven Semi- 
palmated Sandpipers.” 

Ereunetes pusillus, Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

Two pairs taken on the Churchill river, June 
2, from a flock. 

Calidris leucophaea, Sanderling. 

Three specimens taken from a flock of four, 
Cochrane river, July 21; “probably non-breeding 
birds.” 

Helodromus solitarius solitarius, Solitary Sandpiper. 

“A female with large egg in oviduct;” Beaver 
river, May 18. 

Actitis macularia, Spotted Sandpiper. 

Two adults ,a male, Crooked river, May 15, and 
a female, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 23. Two 
sets of four eggs each, taken on the Churchill river, 
June 10 and 13, also a downy young taken on the 
Cochrane river, July 29. 

Charadrius dominicus dominicus, American Golden 


Plover. 


An adult female taken when in company with 
Kildeer Plover, on the Churchill river, June 2. 
“Eye, bill, and feet black.” 


Oxeyechus vociferus, Kildeer. 


Seen in company with the Golden Plover, but no 
specimens taken. 
Aegialitis semipalmata, Semipalmated Plover. 
Four specimens, a male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 
May 23; a pair, Cochrane river, July 23, and a 
female taken July 29, also on the Cochrane river. 
Arenaria interpres morinella, Ruddy Turnstone. 
Four specimens, a female found alone on Lake 
Ile-a-la-Crosse, on May 22; a male also found 
alone on the same lake on the 23rd; and two females 
taken from large flock on June 9, on the Churchill 
river. 
Canachiles canadensis 
Spruce Partridge. 
Eight specimens, six adults and two downy young. 


canadensis, | Hudsonian 


FieELD- NATURALIST 111 


A pair with nest and eggs taken at Lake Ile-a-la- 
Crosse, May 25; male not preserved. “Eggs, six 
in number, fresh; nest on ground close in at foot 
of alder bush; site, dry open poplar knoll, surround- 
ed by dense spruce and tamarack swamp; nest of 
dry leaves, same as carpet of surrounding ground, 
a few feathers lining nest.” A male, same locality, 
May 29. A female in moult, and a downy young, 
Reindeer lake, July 10, the female has pin feathers 
on the sides of the head, and new tail feathers are 
appearing. A downy young, Cochrane river, July 
20, was with other young and female parent when 
taken. A male taken August 3, a female, August 
4, and a male, August 7, all adults, Lake Du 
Brochet. The young could fly, though the first 
was only five inches in length. 

Lagopus lagopus lagopus, Willow Ptarmigan. 

One specimen, Fort Du Brochet, Reindeer lake, 
November 4. “Same day first Barren Land Car- 
ibou of the season were shot.” 

Accipiter velox, Sharp-shinned Hawk. 

An adult male, Otter lake, Churchill river, June 
20. 

Astur atricapillus atricapillus, American Goshawk. 

A female, and set of three eggs, Beaver river, 


May 16. 


Buteo platypterus, Broad-winged Hawk. 

Three specimens, a melanotic male, Crooked 
river, May 14, is chocolate brown except for the 
tail bars, which are normal; a male taken in same 
locality on the 15th, and a female taken on Beaver 
river, May 16. 

Haliaectus leucocephalus alascanus, Northern Bald 
Eagle. 

An adult male, taken on the Churchill river, June 
12; three downy young taken on Reindeer lake, two 
on the 7th and one on the 10th of July. These 
latter are marked, “Iris, dark umber brown; bill, 
dark horn color; cere, slightly more light brown, 
corner of mouth, pale whitish-yellow; legs and feet, 
whitish-yellow.”” 

Falco columbarius columbarius, Pigeon Hawk. 

Seven specimens, an adult female (two other 
birds seen), Reindeer lake, July 13; a female in 
company with four or five almost fully fledged 
young, three of which were taken, Lake Du Brochet, 
August 3; the young have wings and tail not fully 
grown and traces of down on the head; the old 
bird is in very worn plumage with one fresh blue 
tail feather, but showing no other signs of the blue 
plumage. Two fully fledged young birds (two 
others seen), Lake Du Brochet, August 7. 
Pandion haliaétus carolinensis, American Osprey. 

Three specimens, a female, Crooked lake, May 
13; a male, taken with nest, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 
May 25. “Nest containing single egg on very top 


112 THE CANADIAN 


of broken-off dead jack pine; nest mainly built of 
twigs, inside thickly lined with damp mud, grass 
and moss; fish scales on edge of nest; the male bird 
was bringing both talons full of damp moss to nest 
when shot.” A female taken with nest and two 
eggs, Churchill river, June 6. 

Surnia ulula caparoch, American Hawk Owl. 

A male taken on Lake Du Brochet, August |. 
Picoides arcticus, Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. 

An adult male, Cochrane river, July 13; yellow 
crest, much worn, exposing the white bases of the 
feathers. 

Picoides americanus fasciatus, Alaskan Three-toed 
Woodpecker. 

An adult female, Fort Du Brochet, October 22. 

Sphyrapicus varius varius, Y ellow-bellied 
Sapsucker. 

Two males, Big river, May 7 and 11. 
Colaptes auritus borealis, Boreal Flicker. 

One female, Cochrane river, July 21; the male 
seen. There is another adult female in the United 
States National Museum taken at Lake Du Brochet, 
September 26, 1890. This form is included in the 
range of luteus in the A.O.U. Check List. 
Sayornis phoebe, Phoebe. 

A male, Reindeer river, June 30. 

Nuttallornis borealis, Olive-sided Flycatcher. 

Two males, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 27 and 
28. 

Empidonax trailli alnorum, Alder Flycatcher 

Three specimens, a male, Churchill river, June 
6; two from the Cochrane river, July 27 and 28, 
the latter a female. 
marsh. 
Empidonax minimus, Least Flycatcher. 

A female, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 29, and a 
male, Reindeer river, June 28. 

Perisoreus canadensis canadensis, Canada Jay. 

One immature bird, Reindeer lake, July 11, is 
somewhat difficult to place; it compares well with 
one of about the same age from 40 miles south- 
west of Calgary, Alberta, August 4, 1895; and is 
not so dark above as a younger bird from near 
Latchford, Ontario, June 10, 1906. Preble refers 
to a breeding bird from Pelican Narrows, Church- 
ill river, in the United States National Museum,” 
and in fact Reindeer lake is well within the known 
range of canadensis. 

Corvus corax principalis, Northern Raven. 

Five specimens; three from Churchill river; a 
young bird taken from the nest, June 2; an adult 
female, June 18, and a young bird fledged and in 
company with parent and two other young; two 
adult males taken December 15, one on Lake Du 
Brochet, the other on Reindeer lake. 


1908, p. 


All taken in willows at edge of 


5North American Fauna No. 27, 402, 


FieELD- NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIII. 


Corvus brachyrhynchos subsp? American Crow. 

An immature female taken on the Reindeer river, 
June 29; this bird compares well with a breeding 
female from Craven, Saskatchewan, much better 
than it does with Ontario birds, and may better be 
placed with the Western Crow, C. b. hesperis, but 
owing to lack of material of comparable age I 
hesitate to do so. 

Euphagus carolinus, Rusty Blackbird. 

Three specimens from Lake Du _ Brochet, 
August 7, an adult male, “Iris, clear yellowish- 
white,” an immature (female?) “Iris, medium clear 
umber brown;” and an immature male, “Ins, pale 
sage green.” 

Carpodacus purpureus purpureus, Purple Finch. 

Two adult males, Big river, May 9; a female 
seen with these. 

Acanthis linaria linaria, Redpoll. 

Three specimens, an adult male with rosy breast, 
Cochrane river, July 21, “Bird in company with 
one young; bill, dark brownish.” Two males, an 
adult and young, Lake Du Brochet, August 10; 
“bill, flat black” in the young. 

Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis, Snow Bunting. 

One specimen, Reindeer lake, October 23. “Large 
flocks of these birds for the past fortnight.” 
Passerculus sandwichensis subsp? Savannah 

Sparrow. 

Three specimens, one from Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 
May 27; an adult male from Fort Du Brochet, 
July 17; and a juvenile female, Cochrane river, 
July 28. These are very dark birds, much more 
so than alaudinus should be, and very different from 
the light race that breeds in southern Saskatchewan 
which is, no doubt, nevadensis. 

Passerberbulus lecontei, Leconte’s Sparrow. 

Two specimens, one of a pair, Churchill river, 
June 2; a male, Haultaine river, June 6. “Birds 
breeding here.” 

Zonotrichia querula, Harris’s Sparrow. 

Seven specimens, an adult female, and a juvenile 
male, Cochrane river, July 26; an adult male, Coch- 
rane river, July 30. “Male and female with fledged 
young.” A female and young bird, Cochrane river, 
July 31; a female, Cochrane river, August 3. 
“Bird in company with others, probably her fully 
fledged young.” An adult female, Lake Du Bro- 
chet, August 6. Adult’s “bill, dull senna brown,” 
juvenile’s, “bill blackish-brown, yellow along edges 
of mandibles and at corners of mouth.” So little 
is known of the early plumages of this sparrow that 
a description of the young of July 31, may not be 
out of place: length 3.75 in., pileum with feathers 
brownish-black, indistinctly edged with grayish-buff, 
producting a dark crown with a few grayish-buff 
spots ;throat and chin grayish-buff, throat with a 


December, 1919] 


few blackish-brown spots; chest brownish-buff 
streaked with brownish-black; flanks buff with 
brown streaks, rest of under parts buffy-white; above 
brown streaked with black, upper tail 
brownish-buff ta,il darker than in adult; 
coverts tipped with buff. 

Zonatrichia leucophrys gambelii, Gambel’s Sparrow. 

Three specimens, an adult male and a juvenile 
male, Reindeer lake, July 16; and a young male, 
Cochrane river, July 26. 

Spizella monticola monticola, Tree Sparrow. 

A male, Reindeer lake, July 11. ‘Two pairs 
breeding on an island, first seen on trip.” A female, 
Fort Du Brochet, July 17. “Bird had young al- 
most fully fledged.” 

Spizella passerina passerina, Chipping Sparrow. 

A male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 27. 
Melospiza melodia melodia, Song Sparrow. 

A pair, Reindeer river, June 28. 

Melospiza lincolni lincolni, Lincoln’s Sparrow. 

A male, Reindeer river, June 29. 

Melospiza georgiana, Swamp Sparrow. 

A male, Churchill river, June 6. “Small colony 
of these birds breeding at this place.” 
Passerella iliaca iliaca, Fox Sparrow. 

Four specimens, all males, one Reindeer lake, 
July 11; three, Cochrane river, July 18 and 24, 
and August 3. The July 24 bird was carrying 
food to fledged young. 

Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons, Cliff Swallow. 

Two females, Churchill river, June 9; a pair, 
Cochrane river, August 6, fully fledged young in 
company with these last. 

Tridoprocne bicolor, Tree Swallow. 

Two specimens, a female, Crooked river, May 
15; a young male, Lake Du Brochet, August 6. 
Two sets of eggs taken on the Churchill river, 
June I1; nests in old woodpecker holes in dead 
poplars. 

Riparia riparia, Bank Swallow. 

A male, Sandy lake, Churchill river, June 9. 
Bombycilla garrula, Bohemian Waxwing. 

Two specimens from Cochrane river, a juvenile 
male taken July 28. “Iris, dark, not reddish-brown, 
like adult.” An adult female, July 30. 
Bombycilla cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing. 

A male, Key lake, June 25. 

Lanius borealis, Northern Shrike. 

A male, Cochrane river, October 19. 
Vireosylva olivacea, Red-eyed Vireo. 

A male, Dead lake, Churchill river, June 17. 
Lanivireo solitarius solitarius, Blue-headed Vireo. 

A male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 28. 
Mniotilta varia, Black and White Warbler. 

A male, Beaver river, May 17. 

Vermivora peregrina, Tennessee Warbler. 

Three males, two from Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 

May 27, and June 2 ,one from Dead lake, Churchill 


river, June 17. 


coverts 
wing 


THE CANADIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 113 


Dendroica aestiva aestiva, Yellow Warbler. 

Two males, one Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 27, 
the other Reindeer lake, July 4; this latter is only 
a little more worn than the May bird. 


Dendroica coronata, Myrtle Warbler. 

Three specimens, two adult males, from Big 
river, May 7 and 8; a juvenile, Cochrane river, 
July 27. Hoover's Warbler, D. c. hooveri has 
recently been revived by Dr. Oberholser and the 
range of this western race of the Myrtle Warbler 
is given as reaching east to central Mackenzie, but 
the adult taken May 8, which I have been able to 
compare with a series of both the supposed races; is 
nearer to coronata. 


Dendroica striata, Black-poll Warbler. 
A male, Beaver river, May 18. 


Dendroica palmarum palmarum, Palm Warbler. 
A male, Beaver river, May 18. 


Seiurus noveboracensis noveboracensis, Water- 
Thrush. 

Three specimens, a female, Beaver river, May 
20; a male, Knee lake, Churchill river, June 6; 
and a female, Reindeer river, June 28. These are 
close to Grinnell’s Water-Thrush, S. n. notablis, in 
color. 


Wilsonia pusilla pusilla, Wilson’s Warbler. 
A male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 26. 


Sitta canadensis, Red-breasted Nuthatch. 
A male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 235. 


Penthestes hudsonicus hudsonicus, Hudsonian 
Chickadee. 

Three specimens, a pair taken at Big river, May 
8; and a young bird, Cochrane river, July 24. This 
last is interesting though full-grown (length 5 in.), 
the pileum instead of being soft grayish-brown is 
blackish-brown, forming a distinct cap, while the 
hind neck and back are brownish-gray. 


Regulus calendula calendula, Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet. 

Three specimens, a male, Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, 
May 28; a female taken with nest containing young, 
Churchill river, July 3; and a male taken, Reindeer 
lake, July 9. The nest taken July 3 is described 
as follows: “Nest in young spruce tree about ten 
feet high, nest against limb and about eight feet 
up. Nest contained seven young, about fourteen 


days old.” 
Hylocichla aliciae aliciae, Gray-cheeked Thrush. 
Two males, Big river, May 11; Churchill river, 
June 18. This latter is in very worn plumage. 
“Bird in company with mate.” 
Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni, Olive-backed 
Thrush. 
Two males, Ile-a-la~-Crosse, May 25; and Black 
Bear island, Churchill river, June 14. 
Hylocichla guttata pallasi, Hermit Thrush. 
A male, Beaver river, May 18. 


114 


RANDOM BOTANICAL NOTES. 


Ill. 


IsLE-AUX-COUDRES, QUE. 


By Bro. M. Victorin, LONGUEUIL COLLEGE, QUE. 


For the purpose of furthering phytogeographical 
researches bearing upon the semi-halophytic section 
of the St. Lawrence river, and with the special aim 
of collecting specimens of Carex for monographical 
work, we alighted by noontide on June 22, 1917, 
on the Baie St. Paul wharf; our plant-press and 
other botanical outfit, though not imposing too much 
on the sturdy shoulders of the natives, nevertheless 
excited their curiosity to the utmost. 


ically and botanically. We have given elsewhere? 
the impressions gathered from that quaint romantic 
spot which has preserved to an almost incredible 
degree, the language, customs and traditions of the 
17th century and which, moreover, retains the most 
remarkable originality of not being spoiled by tour- 
ists. The following lines intend only to record 
briefly the botanical data collected. 
Isle-aux-Coudres is of about fifteen miles’ cir- 


= 
. NS 
Be, puNTA? 
: TAN 
BS Ae LAW RENT 
Move llage 
Cartier 


Like most of the members of the botanical fratern- 
ity, we have never succeeded in making clear to 
the average guide, driver or paddler, the point of 
view of the botanist. Notwithstanding this failure 
and through the good offices of Francois Bouchard, 
we crossed the channel and landed on Isle-aux- 
Coudres towards four o’clock. At the west end 
of the island, there is no other sort of wharf than 
Francois Bouchard’s back, but this is as sure as a 
cantilever bridge. One who takes a strong hold 
about the fellow’s neck crosses the wide expanse of 
mud and Fucus stretching at low tide between the 
water and the shore proper without injury to his 
boots. 

A full week was spent visiting the island histor- 


Ponte - Balerne 


cumference and lies in the course of the St. Law- 
rence river about fifty miles below Quebec city. 
Though the inspection of a map would make one 
think that it belongs to the north shore, from which 
it is separated only by a relatively narrow channel, 
yet, like most—probably all—of the St. Lawrence 
islands it is on the southeastern side of Logan’s fault, 
and is really a detached part of the south shore, 
showing the same inclined strata of shale and lime- 
stone as the near-by Cambrian Sillery of L’Islet. 
The whole island is an upland of from 50 to 100 
feet elevation surrounded by a narrow alluvial 


Isle- 
No. 


ifr. Marie-Victorin, 
aux-Coudres. Le Parler 
1, pp. 164-171. 1917. 


Croquis laurentiens: 
Francais, Vol. XVI, 


December, 1919] THE CANADIAN 


prairie. The centre is slightly depressed and oc- 
cupied by an extensive bog which suggests that the 
place was, in geologically recent times, somewhat 
atoll-shaped. The river waters are decidedly fresh, 
less so at the lower end. The wave action—very 
powerful, save on the northern side sheltered by the 
high Laurentian cliffs of the mainland—has pro- 
duced a noticeable bar of sand and gravel behind 
which has developed a continuous lagoon generally 
transformed into a marsh by the invasion of halo- 
phytes. 


The leading plant in this particular habitat is the 
polymorphic Carex acuta L. (=C. goodenoughii 
J. Gay); the abundant rhizomes form a felted en- 
tanglement about as troublesome to farmers as the 
familiar couch grass. It is locally called “‘teigne,” 
a very expressive word with the French Canadians, 
indicating something not easy to get rid of. Various 
sedges and flowering plants help C. acuta in filling 
the lagoons: Carex recta Boott, Carex canescens L., 
var. disjuncta Fernald, C. Tuckermani Dewey, C. 
crinita Lam., C. maritima Miell., Caltha palustris 
L., Spathyema foetida (L.), Raf., which occurs also 
in dry ground, Menyanthes trifoliata L., Taraxacum 
officinale Weber, var. palustre (Sm.) Blytt., Carda- 
mine pennsylvanica Muhl., Pedicularis palustris L., 
Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill., Galium palustre 
L., Triglochim maritima L. Myosotis laxa Lehm., 
and true Viola cucullata Ait., a name regarding 
which there has been some confusion in recent years. 

No botanist would neglect a favorable opportun- 
ity to visit a northern bog. So, we started one fine 
morning with a party of barefooted youngsters roused 
to a high pitch of enthusiasm by trout prospects in 
the “Rouisseau Rouge.” “Rouisseau Rouge,” which 
derives its name from the dark color of the acid 
waters, is a brook discharging the bog waters into 
the St. Lawrence. 


The Isle-aux-Coudres bog does not seem to differ 
materially from those of Rimouski and Temiscouata. 
As far as we have been able to see there is no free 
water in it. At this early season the water table 
was so high that we were able to inspect only the 
outer zone. With the usual Kalmia augustifolia 
L. Kalmia polifolia L. and Ledum groenlandicum 
Oeder, we were glad to see for the first time the 
fine flowers of Rubus Chamaemorus L. The amber- 
colored fruits are known everywhere in this district 
as “blackbiéres” an obvious corruption of the Eng- 
lish word “blackberry.” All those who have seen 
the ripe fruit of this plant will, no doubt, wonder 
at such a linguistic feat. 

The genus Carex is always worthy of investiga- 
tion in northern bogs. Here were found C. tris- 
perma Dewey, a small form of C. pauciflora Lightf., 
and a new variety of C. paupercula Michx., which 


FieELD- NATURALIST 115 


Mr. M. L. Fernald of the Gray Herbarium has re- 
cently described? as follows: 

“Carex paupercula Michx., var. brevisquama n. 
var., squamis 3-4 mm. longis perigynium subaequan- 
tibus. Scales 3-4 mm. long, about equalling the 
perigynium. Quebec: Isle-aux-Coudres, Charle- 
voix Co., June, 1917, Bro. M. Victorin, No. 4021 
(type in Gray Herbarium). 

Remarkable for its very short scales which give 
the plants a distinctive aspect, the long-acuminate 
scales of typical C. paupercula being 5-8 mm., in 
length and much exceeding the perigynium. M. L. 
Fernald, Gray Herbarium.” 

The departure from the typical form is indeed 
striking and in the light of more abundant material 
might prove specific. The plant grew in a dense 
mass forming a small tussock. 

Mr. M. L. Fernald had already made a detailed 
study of C. paupercula and its allies,* indicating 
clearly that the plant described by Michaux‘ is in 
reality a northern extreme of the C. irrigua of J. E. 
Smith.®° Consequently, Michaux’s name has prior- 
ity. Furthermore, Michaux’s plant, collected at 
Lake Mistassini has been shown to be of restricted 
boreal distribution, the species being represented 
southward by three distinct variations which may 
be summarized as follows: 

CAREX PAUPERCULA AND ALLIES. 

Pistillate spikes short-oblong, 4-10 mm. in length. 

Pistillate scales 2-3 times as long as the 
perigynium. 
1. C. paupercula. 
Pistillate scales about equalling the perigynium. 
2. C. paupercula var. brevisquama. 
Pistillate spikes cylindric, 10-18 mm. in length. 
Pistillate dark, culms 
glabrous. 


scales castaneous ; 
3. C. paupercula var. irrigua. 
Pistillate scales green with brown border; 
culms scabrous. 
4. C. paupercula var. pallens. 

Carex paupercula Michx.—Northern Quebec; 
Lake Mistassini and the Shikshocks Mountains of 
Gaspé. 

Carex paupercula Michx., var brevisquama Fer- 
nald—Quebec; known only from the type locality, 
Isle-aux-Coudres. 

Carex paupercula Michx., var. irrigua (Wah. 
lemb.) Fernald—Boreal and alpine Eurcpe, sub- 
arctic regions and cold bogs of America: Quebec, 
Ontario, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 
Utah. 

Carex paupercula Michx., var. pallens Fernald— 
Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu- 
2Rhodora XX: 152, 1918. 
8Rhodora VIIT: 73, 1806 


4Flora Boreali-Americana II: 
‘Hoppe, Caric. Germ.: 72, 1826. 


172, 1803. 


116 THE CANADIAN. FIELD-NATURALIST 


setts, Connecticut. New York, Michigan, Vermont, 
Minnesecta. British Columbia, Ontario. 

To finish with the sedges, we will mention C. 
stipata Muhl., C. brunnescens (Pers.) Poir., and 
Carex angustior Mackenzie found here and there 
on the island, giving a total of thirteen species met 
with—a rather small number. 


In June very few grasses are suitable for collect- 
ing and only Poa pratensis L. and Poa alsodes Gray 
were gathered. 


Among early-flowering genera, the often assoc- 
iated Viola and Antennaria hold an important place 
The collection of true Viola cucullata Ait. in damp 
ground has already been mentioned. In the woods 
outside the bog zone, Viola renifolia Gray, var. 
Brainerdii (Greene) Fernald, is abundant. On 
shaded ledges near the water, Viola septentrionalis 
Greene was growing profusely with the snow-white 
Antennaria canadensis Greene. No other Anten- 
naria—not even the ubiquitous A. neodioica—was 
detected on the island. 

Nobody who has read the history of this country 
can leave Isle-au-Coudres without paying a visit to 
Cap a La Branche where in the times of Wolfe, 
Nicette Dufour and Francois Savard captured the 
grandson of Admiral Durrell. Cap a La Branche 
is naturally but a low cliff covered with bushes and 
with a few white cedars which are supposed to have 
been Dufour and Savard’s hiding-place—a snug 
one indeed. A brooklet runs down and supplies 
sufficient moisture to induce a gorgeous growth of 
Saxifraga virginiensis Michx. and Draba arabisans 
Michx. 

At the Pointe-de-L’Islet, on exposed ledges fac- 
ing the sea, the short grass was strewn with the in- 
numerable white flowers of Cerastium arvense L., 
and the strict rose-tinted inflorescences of Arabis 
brachycarpa (JT. and G.) Britton. 

Close observers have already remarked that the 
older settlements in Quebec exhibit unusual floristic 
features which should be attributed to historical fac- 
tors. The first settlers, the missionaries, the “Mé- 
decins du Roi,” the nuns, were far from being 
minus habens and the gardens inside the palisade 
usually contained the best drug plants in favor at 
When cultivation happened to cease on 
that particular spot, the plants had very often gained 
a strong foothold and were able to persist for cen- 
turies. 


the time. 


A striking example of this is the abundance 
and persistance to date of Serapias helleborine L., 
on Mount Royal, Montreal Island, the only in- 
stance of an introduced orchidaceous plant that I] 
know of. 

On Isle-aux-Coudres we have observed an ex- 
traordinary abundance of Boraginaceae: Echium 
vulgare L., Cynoglossum officinale L., Echinosper- 


[Vol. XXXIII. 


mum Lappula Lehmm., Myosotis laxa Lehm., Lith- 
ospermum arvense L. and others. The peculiarity 
can be noted about Quebec city and Mr. M. L. 
Fernald finds the same to be true of the old Gaspé 
settlements. 

Hyoscyamus niger L. which we found rooted in 
the beach gravels on the southern side is evidently 
another introduction traceable to the drug-garden of 
early days. Singularly enough our field experience 
with this plant in Quebec has shown it to occur 
mainly on island beaches of historical fame: Il2 des 
Soeurs (Chateauguay), Ile Sainte-Héléne (Mont- 
real), Isle-aux-Coudres. Moreover, it has been 
noted that this weed introduced into New England 
by early settlers and recorded there as far back as 
1672, has almost completely disappeared. It is a 
remarkable fact, adds Mr. M. L. Fernald,® that 
in Quebec, all along the St. Lawrence river, it is 
maintaining its own and its weed-character. 

Tragopogon pratensis L. is common about build- 
ings at Isle-aux-Coudres. It seems to be an intro- 
duction of the same class. The only other locality 
I know of in Quebec is about the base of Beloeil 
Mountain where it thrives in the old orchards. 

Owing to the lack of sodium chloride in the sur- 
rounding waters the halophytes are few. Fucus 
vesiculosus L., however, is very abundant on the 
slanting rocks of the tidal shores, and is almost 
wholly relied upon as a fertilizer for potato fields. 
A scanty colony of Cakile edentula (Bigel) Hook., 
and a few bluish rosettes of Mertensia maritima 
(L.) S. F. Gray, were found among purpoise offal 
at the Pointe-de 1’Islet. 

We have as yet said nothing of the trees and 
shrubs; these have intentionally been kept for the 
end. The first thing a botanist is likely to look for 
when setting foot on Isle-aux-Coudres is the Hazel- 
nut (Corylus rostrata Ait.) from which the place 
(l’ysle és Coudres of Cartier) has derived its name. 
And yet, we have searched in vain for it all around. 
My friend, Jean-Bautiste Desgagné—a most im- 
portant man, simultaneously farmer, postmaster, cap- 
tain and sexton—informs me that he faintly re- 
members having seen one small bush in his youth 

but he is not sure! There is some dif- 
ficulty to reconcile this fact with Jacques Cartier’s 
assertion which runs thus: . et entre au- 
tres il y a plusieurs couldres franches fort chargées 
de noisilles aussi grosses et d'une meilleure saveur 
que les nétres, mais un peu plus dures. Et par cela 
nommasmes ysle-es-couldres.””* 

Abbé Casgrain, presumably solely on Cartier’s 
authority reasserts the same: “Comme au temps 


6Fernald, M. L., Notes from the Phaenogamic 


Herbarium, I. Rhodora XII: 191, 1910. 
7Cf. Brief récit et succincte narration, etce., of 
Cartier, 1545. Manuseript in the British Museum. 


December, 1919] 


jadis, cette plage est encore pleine de beaux et 
grands arbres de plusieurs sortes, et il n’y a qu’a 
étendre la main pour cueuillir sur les couldres 
franches, les grappes de noissilles.”* 


Cartier’s landing place, the so-called ‘“Ruisseau 
a la lessive” is yet in its natural state, and it is very 
hard to believe that ecological conditions have 
changed enough in four centuries to expel the hazel- 
nut from the island. Were it not for the express 
mentioning of the fruits, our opinion would be that 
Cartier was simply mistaken as to the identity of 
the shrub, and that his hazelnut was nothing else 
than the Common Northern Alder [Alnus incana 
(L.) Moench] which is very abundant in the damp 
places about “Ruisseau a la lessive.” The Euro- 
pean Hazelnut is taller than ours and in this re- 
spect much like our Alder. 


The sloping gravels that lead from the tableland 
to the beach are occupied by an association of trees 
and shrubs very likely—as hinted above—in their 
natural state. At the time of our visiting the white 
corymbs of a thorn (Crataegus flabellata (Bosc.) K. 
Koch.) were to be seen all over together with the 
ripe catkins of Salix rostrata Richardson var. luxur- 
ians Fernald. Others were Nemopaathes mucro- 
nata (L.) Trel., Amelanchier sanguinea (Pursh) 
DC., var. gaspensis Wiegand, and the northern var- 
iety of the Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera L., 
var. Michauxii Henry). This interesting tree ex- 
hibited its peculiar. short cordate leaves. 

Pointe-a-la-Baleine, the lower end of the island, 


8Casgrain, Abbé R. H., 
Condres. 


Excursion a l’Ile-aux- 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 117 


is occupied by a flat and low gravel barren where 
only isolated patches of Juniperus siberica Burgsd., 
and stunted white spruce have been able to main- 
tain their own. Not a blade of grass, not a weed, 
not a dandelion. The dwarfed trees assume the 
peculiar short conical shape and the densely felted 
habit observed on Anticosti. 
branches have developed and lie flat on the ground, 
and in a few instances, the tree, after ending in a 


Sometimes the lower 


point spreads anew giving to the whole the appear- 
ance of two superposed trees. This restricted 
growth and accompanying modifications is no doubt 
due to the continuous stress of the prevailing wind, 
the well-knownd nord-est of the lower St. Lawrence 
region. 

One of the most puzzling things we collected 
during our short. stay at Isle-aux-Coudres was a 
striking seminal variation of the Sugar Maple (Acer 
saccharum L.) It is known as distinct by the 
natives and Mr. Desgagné calls it “Erable blanche.” 
There is a grove of these trees at the Pointe-aux- 
Sapins, past “Ruisseau Rouge” and not far from 
the church. While taking a walk over there after 
supper in search of sunset effects, we noticed the 
peculiar appearance of the thin leaves, glaucous un- 
derneath some of which are perfectly three-lobed, 
and the remarkable fruit with wings curving in- 
wards. The tree is clearly the var. glaucum of 
Sargent in its essential characteristics. We do not 
think it is necessary, however, in the absence of 
material from somewhere else, to impose upon the 
plant a new name, as it may be but a freak of a 
teratological instance. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


BREEDING OF Mourninc Dove Near Ottawa, 
Ontario.—On the afternoon of July 3, 1919, it 
was reported to me that a Passenger Pigeon was 
nesting in the orchard of Mr. R. T. Richardson, of 
Woodroffe Farm, near Britannia. I went out in 
the evening and Mr. Richardson showed me the 
nest, on a horizontal branch of an apple tree, on 
the northeast side, about six feet from the ground. 
The bird remained quietly on the nest and allowed 
us to examine her from all sides, first from a dis- 
tance with field glasses, and later from a distance 
of only three or four feet. The bird had_ the 
typical light buffy grayish head and neck, with paler 
throat, and a small dark spot on each side of the 
head; wings with some dark spots—an undoubted 
specimen of the common Mourning Dove, Zenaidura 
macroura carolinensis. (Linneus). The lack of 
slaty blue on head and upper throat and the small 
size easily proved that the bird was not the Pas- 


senger Pigeon. The Mourning Dove is rare this 
far north in the east, although it ranges well to the 


Mr. Richard- 
son said that the dove had been sitting on eggs for 


northward in the prairie provinces. 


about two weeks ,and when she finally fluttered off 
to the ground and away over the grass, we saw two 
blackish pin-feathered squabs on the scanty plat- 
form of a nest. The Passenger Pigeon is now be- 
lieved to be extinct, but all of the many supposed 
occurrences of this species which have been in- 
vestigated carefully have proved to be Mourning 
Doves. The two species have a general resem- 
blance to each other, in shape, color, and propor- 
tions, and may be confusing when seen alone. The 
observer who will remember that the Mourning 
Dove averages only about 12.5 inches in total length 
while the Passenger Pigeon averages 17.0 inches as 
well as being fully twice the bulk of the former 


118 


species, as well as the distinctive color differences 
mentioned above, need make no mistake. 

Mr. Richardson stated that he had caught as 
many as eighteen pigeons in a net at one time in 
the early days near Ottawa, and that the pigeons 
would soon clean up a field of peas, alighting along 
the rows and rapidly moving along, making short 
flights over each others’ heads as soon as the spot 
was cleared of peas. 


R. M. ANDERSON. 


BacCHMAN’s SPARROW AN ADDITION TO THE 
CANADIAN FAUNA.—One does not often have an 
opportunity of making an addition to the list of 
birds found in Canada, but when such an accom- 
plishment is sought, the best place for the focus of 
effort is Point Pelee, where there is the maximum 
of chance to get southern stragglers. In the Bird 
Book, at Camp Coues, the headquarters of orni- 
thological enthusiasm at the Point, there is a list of 
the species not yet recorded there, but regarded as 
among the immediate probabilities. In that list 
along with Pine Grosbeak, Red-bellied Wood- 
pecker, Carolina Chickadee, and others, stood the 
name of Bachman’s Sparrow, but on April 16, 1917, 
that name was erased. On that day, as the writer 
in company with Prof. J. W. Crow, was examining 
a lot of shrubbery at the north end of Mr. Langell’s 
large orchard, our ears were met with a peculiar 
trilling song divided into two periods, the first at a 
lower pitch and much more rapidly delivered, than 
the second. The difference in pitch was one-fifth, 
and the speed of the first phrase was almost exactly 
twice that of the second. Neither of us recognized 
the song, and we were delighted on shooting it to 
find that we had the first Bachman’s Sparrow to be 
recorded for Canada. The bird was a male and 
measured as follows: length 154 mm., wing 65, 
tail 63, tarsus 18. Records for northern Ohio are 
scanty, but there is a recent one for a locality op- 
posite Point Pelee, recorded, I believe, in the 
Wilson Bulletin. The specimen is number 4140 in 


my collection. 


W. E. SAuNDERs. 


Tue Status oF Bewick’s WREN IN ONTARIO. 
The record of occurrence of this species in On- 
tario is brief and the number of observers concerned 
still briefer. It has been regarded as strictly casual, 
and the following statement of our knowledge of it 


THE CaANapDIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIIL 


is made with the hope of changing the present 
estimate. 

The first specimen was taken by the writer on 
Dec. 12, 1908, about 25 miles west of London. The 
day was fairly mild, with a little snow on the 
ground, and the wren was found in the roots of a 
fallen tree, busily hunting for food. Recognizing it 
as an unusually dark wren, it was collected with 
the hope of gaining some knowledge about the fam- 
ily. When it proved to be a Bewick’s a new species 
for Canada, interest was increased, but further 
search was unproductive until on April 24, 1909, 
one was heard singing, and was collected, from a 
tree immediately beside the “shack” at Point Pelee. 
The addition of another specimen on the 26th, from 
a different part of the Point, was the first real hint 
received that the bird was anything but a casual. 
Then our knowledge stood still for years. Stories 
came to our ears of large dark wrens, seen near 
the edge of the marsh in the winter and there was 
always the surmise that one of these might be taken, 
and prove to be a Berwick’s, thereby supporting the 
idea that it was a regular inhabitant of the province. 
That hope has not been realized, and the identity 
of those so-called marsh wrens, wintering at the 
Point, is still a mystery. But on April 1, 1917, 
another Bewick’s Wren was seen and heard to 
sing within 25 yards of the house. The next day, 
Sunday, he was still around, and on Monday came 
the great event in the world of wrens, when we 
saw and heard no less than five birds, and felt that 
we would not be too destructive in taking one of 
them, which we did. : 

Our experience at the Point is that every so 
often (a phrase that succinctly expresses the exact- 
ness of our knowledge in the matter) there comes 
a day when some species has its day of migration. 
We have seen the days of Bluebirds, Blue Jays, 
male Marsh Hawks, Black Poll Warblers, etc., 
and, here, at last, seemed to be the day of Be- 
wick’s Wren. Five in one day of a species of 
which all the previous years had disclosed but three, 
was truly a great number, and tells in terms not to 
be denied, that Bewick’s is a regular resident of 
Ontario, whose exact domicile in summer is yet to 
be disclosed, Time alone will tell if this theory is 
correct, and it may easily prove that the instance 
is one of varying abundance, so often exhibited 
in the case of species studied at or near their 
northern limit. 


W. E. Saunpers. 


December, 1919] 


PAGE 
Acanthis linaria linaria____ 112 
Aceipter. velox —..------- 111 
Acipenser transmontanus__ 50 
Actitis maculata _____- eehl 
Aegialitis semipalmata____ 111 
Agelanius phoeniceus _--_ 13 
Ammodramus bairdii __- ~~ 15 
Ammodytes americanus _-- 21 
ss Cl) 21 
< personatus ___ 21 
Minas boschas .-.2—-__<-- 5 
eT 20 
REMSDONSA 42-2 2 20 
Anderson, R.M., articles 
prams ie. 86, 101, 117 
Animals, Wild, of Glacier 
Metemark 2 10 
Antrostomus vociferous___. 12 
Anthus rubescens _______~ 18 
Bemspraguer 22-4... 18 


A.O.U. check list, 4th an. 
list, proposed changes 100 
Archaeology as an aid to 


Manley vo. Sak. 63 
Archibuteo, Status of____ 106 
Archilochus colubris ____- 12 
Arenaria interpres morin- 

| TONS ee 111 
Astragalinus tristis ______ 191 
Astur aatricapillus atrica- 

(LTE 2 ea Fil 111 
Aur, atlicles n_--_-_--_._ :00 


Auk, Prehistoric Range of 
Great 

Birds of California, Game_ 82 

Birds in Relation to Sun- 


flower Growing in 

Wianitoba) 2.22. =_.+_ 90 
Birds, Migratory, Conven- 

SS ee 58 
Bird Migration _________ 37 


Birds, Popular Names of_ 100 
Birds of Northern Saskat- 
chewan and N. Mani- 
toba, collected in 1914 
by Capt. Buchanan__ 109 
Bid Protection in Canada_ 36 
Birds of Red Deer River__ 100 
Bird Sanctuary, an On- 
LV (a deed a EN ee ER 62 
Bird Study from a Duck 
Blind 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX TO VOLUME XXxXiIII. 


PAGE 
Blackbird, Brewer's ___--- 14 
a Red-winged ____ 13 
4 Rasty: 5-5} 14, 112 
“i Yellow-headed__ 13 
Bluebird, Mountain _~_- ~~~ 21 
wl AN, Slee an ts 19 
Mabolinki set ee ae =13 
Bombycilla cedrorum 5, 17, 113 
: gorrula: —--~ = 113 
Book Notices and Reviews 
ZL, Aly 62 99 
Botanical Notes—lIsle-aux- 
Condresite 82 es 114 
Botrychium obliquum dis- 
SCCLUMI Une = oe ee 97 
Bittern iseasts 2222) 20 
Bunting, Snow _____-- 1s ll 
Oe o> eer bn es 2 54 
Burwash, Armon, article 
ENS Steg en ae sa 61 
Buteo platypterus ______~- HL) 
Calcarius lapponicus ____~- 15 
a Gnialiis os 228 5 2 15 
Calidus leucophaea _____~- 111 
Canachites canadensis cana- 
densisn, seo fo wa hee 111 


Canada—How an Algon- 
guin Country Receiv- 
ed an Iroquois Name_ 61 


Canoes, Canadian Abor- 
Tennially St 2 tof Sree a3 
Carex paupercula _______ 115 
Carices, Types of Cana- 
diate ss 5a te 72 
Carpodacus purpureus__14, 112 
Catostomus commersonti__._ 53 
s casostomus ___ 53 
o SSCs ee 53 
Gai bireees es he = 2S 18 
Certhia familiaris ________ 19 
Cervletaleton 22. <=. 12 


Champlain’s Astrolabe____ 103 
Charadrius dominicus dom- 
LCT file oe ne 111 
Chelydra serpentina _____- 61 
Chickadee, Hudsonian ___ 113 
Black-capped__ 19 
Chipmunk, Behavior of___ 92 
Chordeiles virginianus__.5, 12 
Chrysemys m. marginata__ 61 
Clangula c. americana____ 57 


- islandica =__--_- 57 


119 
Pace 
Cistothorus stellaris __ ~~ 19 
Ciemmys guttala _______- 61 
Coccyzus erythrophthalmus 12 
Colaptes auratus ____-_~~~ 12 
= a. borealis _____ 112 
Coluber c. constrictor. ____ 60 
Colymbus holoelli __-_-_- 110 
Coregonus labradoricus___ 51 
> williamsi ______ 50 
Corns Cora. == 13 
c. principalis ____ 112 

“  brachyrhynchos 
cP emg Fs 
Couesius dissimilis ______~ 53 
Cawbirtie (on ee 2 ea 28 13 
Creeper, Brown _____--_- 19 
Cristivormer namaycush___ 52 
Criddle, N., articles by_41, 90 
@ryosspul, keds = ee 9] 
‘: White-winged__ 91 
Crotalus horridus ________ 61 
Crow, American___5, 13, 112 
Cuckoo, Black-billed ____ 12 
Cyanocitta cristata ______ 13 
Dace, Long-nosed _______ 53 
“Saskatchewan ______ 53 


Davidson, J., article by__ 6 
Dendroica a. aestica_5, 17, 113 


- blackburniae __ 5 

a Casianed: 2225. 17 

a coronata____17, 113 

i fused =.=. 17 

i. magnolia _____ 17 

a palmarum___18, 113 

2 pennsylvania ___ 17 

. striata _____ 17, 113 

ca forina 11." 17 

7 virens:. <= 3. 17 

Dolichonyx oryzivorus___5, 13 

Douglas Fir Sugar________ 6 

Dorérs 3s eee 54 
Dove, ‘Mourning, near 

Catia) itt 117 

Dowiicher: 2.2 2)2 = ei 110 

Drvobates pubescens _____ 12 

9 villosus” om + 12 

Duck, Blaci2 3 3 eer 20 

Lene Sa eae 5 

or? AM att Xe ates 20 

Dumatella carolinensis ____ 18 

Eagle, Northern Bald ____ 11] 

Pater? Spawrid 2 i. 3 53 


120 


Pace 

Elaphe vulpina _--------- 60 
Empidorax flaviventris____ 12 
; minimus___13, 112 

i rallise es 13 

7 alnorum__ 112 
Emys_blandingit____---~- 61 
Ereunetes pusillus ____-~- Hi 
Emphagus carolinus____14, 112 
; cyanocephalus__ 14 
Fabre, J. H., Works of__ 41 
Falco c. columbarius_____ 111 
Farley, F. L., article by__ 38 
Byich “Goldws2 2 > = [See 91 
ee inlet) Pe 14, 112 
Fishes of Alberta________ 50 
Rucker 2 =. 22 as [a We 4 


ESAS ee 5 10] 
Fleming, J. H., article by__ 109 
Flycatcher, ilder sare 112 

Crested e 2 --* 12 
< Ieeasty ==) 2 WA WW 
Olive-sided__12, 112 

4 irallig ave, 12 

- Yellow-bellied__ 12 
Gallinago delicata _______ 110 
Canam #2. a. eS 110 
Geothlypis trichas _____. 18 
Gibson, A., notes by_ 2D. 4| 
Goldeneye, American ____ 57 

= Bavew s 22923. 57 

Western ______ 50 
Goshawk, American _____ 111 
Gowanlock, J. N., article by | 
Grackle, Bronze ________ 14 
Grebe, Holboell’s ________ 110 
Grizzly, Barren Ground__ 77 
Grosbeak, Evening _____-__ 14 

i Rose- baeasied = GS 
Groh, H., note by _ 40 
Gull. Bonaparte’s _____ mei, (4 

Panerg ts oun.) Bue 4 

Ring-billed ______ ee NPY 

Short-billed _______ _ 110 

Boma 6 ee ETO 

“Glaucus, reasons for 
discarding proposed 

ee... eee 100 
Haliaectus |. alascanus- 111 
Halkett, A., notes by 

21, 22, 40, 98 
Hawk, Broad-winged______ 1] 
“Night - ab, AZ 


THe CaNapdian' FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


Pace 

Hawk; Pigeons 111 
“«  Sharp-shinned ____ I11 
Helodromus s. solitarius___ 11] 
Hewitt, C. G., article by__ 62 


Henry, J. K., article by____ 94 


Hesperiphona vespertina____ 14 
Heterodon contoririx ____~ 60 
Hirundo erythrogaster ____ 16 
Holm, Theo., article by-__ 72 
Homarus americanus ____ 22 


Hummingbird, Ruby-throated 12 
Hydrochelidon n. surina- 


MeNnsis? 2 = 28s eee 5 
Iridoprocne bicolor____~ lies? 113 
ie fuscescens _____ 19 

“ cuitata, >= 19 

re pallasi__ 113 

- nsiiata == 19 

- “  swainsonii 113 
Hyodon chrysopsis — ~~ ~~~ 50 
Icteras tgalbula’ == 14 
Ixobrychus. exilis = 2 -20 
Jaeger, ‘Parasitic. “22 4-=2 | 
ays wolue Le ee eee 13 
a  keanadas. 22 = 13, 40, 112 
Junco hyemalis _____--_~_- 16 
Junco, Slate-colored _____ 16 
Kapuskasing, Flora of____ 33 
Koldeér<ts8 2102 ose = eae 111 
Kindle, E. M., article by__ 96 
Kangbind | 3-3 see 12 
Kingfisher, Belted _______ 12 
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned_19, 113 
Kinosternon odoratum_____ 6l 


Kirkconnell, T. W., article 
Dy, Fee Le 33 


Klugh, A. B., article by___ 92 
Lagopus, I. lagopus_______ 111 
Lambart, H. F. J., article 
by, fo 3S Oi ee i) 
Lanius. borealis: 4 2 113 
“4. ladovicianus 5.2322 1 
Lanivereo solitarius ____17, 113 
Karklormed: =. 5 ewe 13 
Western Meadow__ 14 
Larus argentatus _______- 4 
“— brachyrhynchos____ 110 
“ delawarensis____- 5, 110 
©~ -obiladelphia, 22355 110 
Laing, H. M., articles by. 99 
Latchford, Hon: Mr. Jus- 
tice, article by -_---- 83 


[Vol. XXXII. 


Pace 
Lewis, H. F., article by___ 58 
Ling, Fresh water -_----- 54 
Lobster, notes on______ 22, 40 
Lochhead’s Class Book of 
Economic Entomology 41 
Longspur, Lapland __-~_- 15 
% Chestnut-colored 15 
Lota maculosa 54 
Loon ..2._ 2 oe 110 
Loons, Geographical varia- 
tions in the Black- 
throated _.22 See 100 
Lloyd, Hoyes, article by__ 93 
Lucius lacus 2 oe 53 
Macnamara, C., article by_ 103 
Macoun, J. M., note by___ 42 
Macrorhamphus griseus 
griseus |). _ te eee 110 
Magpie 22... 4 a! he 
Mallard 2... sae 5 
Mammalogists, American 
Society of 2.3 ae 21 
Mammals, Field Studies of 
Life-histories of ______ 86 
Matin, Purple = o3aaa me 16 
Moartlatafinss =.= 5 
°° narnila< 2) =a 5 
Mergus americanus _____~ 110 
serraloy, -22-5 252 110 
Melanepres erythrocephalus 12 
“-e. erythrophthalmus 48 
Meleagris gallopavo _____ 68 
Melospiza georgiana _____ 16 
lincoln = ee 16 
z melodia 16 
Merganser =202-.222 5 110 
“ Red-breasted __ 110 
Minotilta varia _____~ 17, 1s 
Minnow, Prairie _______-_ 53 
Molothurus ater ~______~ 13 
Monostoma lesueuri ____~ 53 
Mousley, H., articles by_37, 97 
Mud-Crack Horizons, Cli- 
matic interpretation of 
new early Ordovician 96 
Munro, J. A., article by__ 79 
Museums as_ Educational 
Institutions 22048 10 
Mustela cicognanii ~____~ 12 
“  longicaudd pee 43 
“novaboracensis _._ 45 
“" sixosa 22a 43 
Myjiochanes virens ______~ 12 


Decembex 1919] 


Myitochanes virens 
Nannus hiemalis hiemalis__ 19 


Nettion carolinense _----- 110 
Nuthallornis borealis.__12, 112 
Nuthatch, Red-breasted_19, 1 13 
Notes and Observations 
AO, 61, 98, 117 
Notropis jordani __-------- 53 
5 hudsoniuz __---- 53 
Pe Beppiter 2222.93 
Oberholser, H. C., articles 
a ee 48, 95 
O’Donoghue, C. H., article 
Lt 23a | 
Ottawa Fieid-INaiurauisis’ 
Club, Rep. year end- 
ing March, 1918___-- 20 
Oidemia deglandi __------ 5 
is perspicillata _-._ 110 
Oncorhynchus kennerlyi--- 51 
Oporornis agilis _-------- 18 
Oriole, Baltimore ___----- 14 
Ornithological collec.cv and 
Micniawis 2 2 93 
Osprey, American ------ 11] 
Otocoris alpestris ___----- 13 
Syensid 2. -.- --. SS (3) 
Owl, American Hawx_--- 112 
Oxevyechus vociferus ~_--~ 11] 
Pandion haliaetus carolin- 
gency Mi ae ee 111 
Pantosteus jordani ___-__- 5) 
Partridge, Hudsonian 
i ie 111 
Passerella iliaca ~___~- 16, 13 
Passerberbulus lecontei_15, 112 
= nelsoni __-~-~ 15 
Passerculus sand wichensis 
Spal ee 
Ci a 112 


Patch, C. L., articles by_40, 60 
Payne, F. F., article by-__ 40 


Fecten tenuicostatus ______ 98 


Pelidna alpina sakhalina__ 111 

Pelican, White —-_-_-_-- 5, 36 

Penthestes atricapillus____~ 19 
hudsonicus hud- 
Ct eee aa a 113 


Pelecanus erythrorynchus__ 38 


Ferca flavescens ___-___~-— 54 
Perch, Pike? 2 2.---=- 54 
Americar 25.5 2. 22 54 
Pe” HEHOWiietet ae ore oe 54 


THe CaANapIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


PAGE 
Perisoreus canadensis 
13, 40, 112 
Peirochelidon albifrons 
hypopolia__ 95 
UG lunifrons_16, 113 
Pewee, wWiod 2_..----- 12 
Phalaropus fulicarius___~- 110 
Phalarcpe, Red _---- —-- 110 
i Wilson’s _ 110 
Picoides arcticus _--~-~--- 112 
“americanus fasc.aius 112 
Pioebeste so = az 
Picaepictesk.e 2205 oe 13 
Picketel = 2a-e 2 2 54 
Pike, Common __-_- 53 
Wall-eyed __ 54 
Pipit, American ---- - 18 
Meseiones =i... 18 
Pipilo erythrophthalmus___ 16 
Pisobia fuscicollis____-_- 111 
SF |, i A oe 
“© minutilla __. Bs ae Le 
Patniciidta 22 co oO 
Flatygobio gracilis __--__ 53 
Planesticus migratoriu. ___ 19 
Plestiodon fasciatus ____~_- 60 
Plectophenax nivalis__-i5, 112 
Plover, American Golden__ 111 
““  Semipalmated ____ I11 
Poocaetes gramineus __-~-~ 15 
Pracne subisy-2_ 2222 2) = 16 
Ptarmigan, Willow —---~- 111 
Pseudotsuga taxifoia __~~- 6 
Quisculus quiscula ___~- _ I 
Raven <4 = ee eee 13 
“Northern 2eset peer ee 
Redpolh te. tee eee 112 
Redfeh, Linle 225. 5. 3_* 5] 
Redstartres 2.2 Ue ete 18 
Reese’s Outlines of oe - 
omic Zoology ___---- 22 
Regulus calendula ____- [Shs 
Ribes divaricatum __~~--- 94 
cpiggss) Be | ee ere 94 
Ridgway’s Biids of Ivi. dilie 
WAC) Part VIEW. | 99 
Riparia riparia__-~~~- 16, 113 
Rhinichthys cataractae 
ry Res) alge Bea piles et Se 53 
Robin, American _ __----~- 19 
Robins, Winter in N.S.___ 100 
Robin’s Mistake ~___---- 98 


Roup, Epidemic of in Crow 
Roosts 


121 
PAGE 
Rydberg’s Key to the 
Rocky Mountain Flora 42 
Salmo ‘clarkit: +=2s==----- 51 
MIB oe 5) 
** bamloope- =o5-2~3.°e 
Salmon; Kennerly’s’=2-- .=_ 51 
Salvelinus fontinalis _--—. - 52 
as parkii -.-..- 52 
Ge ads Linpiitces on 22 ee ae 
Sanderling --------- _ 1 
Sandpiper, Baird's’... +k 
Beast oko s4 5. Ai 
os Red-backed __ II] 
ra Pectoral __--- 5 
5 Spotted __-_- 5. bi 
- Semipalmated — 111 
a Solitary. Ya 2—— 111 
rs White-rumped_ 111 
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied 
EAs be 
ShUt 3 eeoaee =e pee 2S 54 
Saunders, W. E., arucies 
Ae ae oe 55, 118 
Sayornis phoebe__----- 12, 112 
Scallop, Metamorphosis of 98 
Scoter, White-winged__-__- 5 
AP Seep Be ote 110 
Scott, W. L., note by----. 98 
Sereirus aurocapillus —~ ~~~ 18 
7 novaboracensis_iv, 113 
Setophaga rusticilla ~--~- 18 


Shoal Lake, Man., Birds of 12 
Shirke, Loggerhead __~--- 17 


*- Nomherm 2-234 113 
Sialia currucoides __----- 21 
wo sas 2-2 = eee 19 
Siskin: pie; 0 8 15, 90 
Sitta canadensis —---~- 19, 113 
Skink, Blue-tailed __----- 60 
Snake, Hog-nosed __----- 60 
Black Racer _-_---- 60 

Foe. .. Anya 60 

6s. Gates «ke eee 60 
“aie a aha oree 61 
Snipe, Wilson’s __------- 110 
Soper, J. D., ariicle by__-_ 43 
Sparrow, Bards. oe 2 | 
Bachman’s __-~_- 118 

= Clay-colored ___ 16 

* Chipping __-_lo, 113 

ie Pot 24-35 < 2 16, 113 

: Gambel’s ___-_-- 113 

2 biaria soe bee P- 


122 


Sparrow, Leconte’s____15, 112 


Nelsan’s .2= if) 
Savanna___5, 15, 112 
Swamp ____-- 16, 113 
Song 22 42— 16.113 
‘Tree; ose. 16, 113 
Nespers fs. 2025 15 


White-crowned__ 15 


3 White-throated ___ 16 
Species, Reality of______~ 100 
Sphaerium sulcatum ____- 84 
Sphaeriidae, Canadian ____ 83 
Shiner; Jordan’s. <2. =. -_< 53 
Sphyrapicus varius varius__ 112 
Spinis pinus 26 A_= -— 15:9 
Spizella m. monticola____ 16 

monticola _____- 113 

passerina _____~ 16 

passerina passerina 113 

pullida — = 16 

Steganopus tricolor ______ 110 

Sterna ‘caspia 2 s | 

mae OTSLCT lah 2 > oe oe 5 

Fp IBA OS. 22a 5,10 

Sternella neglecta ________ 14 

Stercorarius parasit.cus ___ | 

Stizostedion vitreum ______ 54 

og canadense ___ 54 

Sturgeon, White ______ 50), 53 

Sucker, Common _______-_ 53 

es ee ae 53 

7 i vlown aia” 7 2 53 

Northern _______- 53 

Surnia ulula caparoch_____ 112 

Swallow, parm o-2 16 

; 6 ae Loan 

< lives. 22 eee 16, 113 
New Cliff, from 

anda ee 95 

Syphrapicus varius __-___ 12 

Tamias striatus lysteri____ 92 


Taverner, P. A., articles by 
12, 57, 82, 99, 100 


Teal, Green-winged ______ 110 
Telmatodytes palustris._.. 19 
Tern, Caspian, Notes on__ 1 
lS ee See 5 

‘ in Georgian Bay 55 

| sw<connnon 2. >= = iO 
Mormser @? 2 Sos 5 
Thamnophis s. sirtalis _.__ 60 
Thrasher, Brown —____ ee 


Thrush, Alice’s 


THE CaNapIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


Pace 

Thrush, Gray-cheeked ____ 113 

iRlenini Lo 19, 113 

Northern water_-_ 18 

Olive-backed__19, 113 

Whiter 2 eee pies 

ye Walconiste eo 19 
Thymallus tricolor mon- 

IGHUS Woe Ne ee 52 

T otanus flavipes ________- 5 

“Towhee .322 i a ee 16 

Townsend, Chas. W., 

Lettersfrem 222 = 36 

T oxostoma rufum ________ 19 

Trout, Brooks. oon ee 54 

Ball’.>.2 Se See 52 

"< Cut-throati-s= 22 a= 5] 

«Dolly Varden’ 222 noe 

(‘Greats lzakes se === 52 

*~ “Kamloops 23222 _=" 5] 

The > OS LVEI? ko een 52 

2. Speckled 22s Ses 52 

Turnstone, Ruddy _______ 111 

‘Turkey, Wild) 22 =e 68 

Turtle, Blanding’s =_---__ 61 

SCAM nisin ke tee 61 

Snapping, 22552" 61 

a Spotted’ = =.e eeu 6l 

Painted eee 61 

Tyrannus tyrannus _____- 12 

Ursus internationalis _____ 77 

V ermivora celata _______~ 17 

2 peregrina__17, 113 

; rubricapilla _ 17 

Vireo, Blue-headed ______ 113 

*.- (Philadelphiac==2222 17 

“6 ~ Red-eyed..- 25, 17, 13 

S. =Solitatysta=2 4 2 17 

\ \Warbling)=2 23523 17 

Vireosylva (NAS ig POS LSS 17 

olivacca_5, 17, 113 

“4 philadelphia _-_ 17 
Victorin, Bro. M., article 

RD Oe EE PER 7 114 
Warbler Black and white 

7,113 

Bay-breasted ___ 17 


Black-poll _.17, 113 
Blackburnian__5, 17 
Black-throated 


greens. =e 222 17 

Canadian »...--- 18 

Cane May. 22. 17 
Warbler, Chestnut-sided __ 17 
- Connecticut _.__ 18 


[Vol. XXXII. 


Pace 

Warbler, Mangolia ______ 17 
Mournmg, 23224 18 

= Myrtle === [7eeaits 

s Nashville ~____- 17 


; Orange-crowned_ 17 
ed Palm 2 222ee= 18, 113 
x Tennessee____17, 113 
os Yellow 253s 
as Wilson’s ____18, 113 
Warblers of genus Den- 
droica, Problems sug- 
gested by nests of___ 100 
Washburn’s Injurious In- 
sects and Useful Birds 22 
Waugh, F. W., article by 23 


Waxwing, Bohemian _____ Ss 
e Cedar 5, 17; 113 
Wreasel,, Leash 43 
_ Long-tailed ____ 43 

4 New York ____- 43 

4 Short-tailed ____ 46 
Whip-peor-will ________ the 
Whitefish, Labrador _____ 51 


4 Rocky Mountain 50 
Whitehouse, F. C., article 


by 3g ee 50 
Williams, M. Y., articles 

by, .2)-— ee 10, 40 

Wilsonia canadensis ____~ 18 

St pusilla). 2 18, 113 
Wintemberg, W. J., article 

by Veo ee 63 

Woodpecker, Alaskan 

three-toed ____ 112 

Arctic three-toed 112 

Downy 2 12 

% Hairy =e 12 

Red-headed__12, 49 

Wren, House 2 eee 19 

*“- Long-billed 23a 19 

**  Short-billed 222 = 19 

Winter:..--32 eae 19 


“ Bewick’s in Ontario. 118 


Xema sapinl 22222 ee 110 
Xanthocephalus xanthoce- 
phalus _.-3. 32a 1S 
Yellow-throat, Maryland__ 18 
Zamelodia ludoviciana 16 
Zenaidura macroura 
carolinensis ~- 2.225 he 
Zonotricha albicollis____ __ 16 
* leucophrys ~_ ~~ 15 


“ce “ec 


gambeli 113 
puercula ____15, 112 


ae 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


JANUARY, 1920. No. |. 


FALL MIGRANTS. 


By L. MclI. Territy, St. LAMBERT, Que. 


(Read before the Province of Quebec Society for the Protection of Birds.) 


An airman recently expressed the belief that the 
increasing interest in air navigation would eventually 
tend to induce a seasonal movement on the part 
of the human race. Even now many wealthy peo- 
ple spend the winter in Florida and California. In 
the days of the stage-coach, less than a century ago, 
this was unthought of. At that time a journey to 
the nearest town, even to one’s nearest neighbor, was 
often an event. Only with the harnessing of steam 
and electricity was the Californian or Floridan trip 
possible to the northerner. Who can say what 
the mastery of the air will produce within another 
century. : 

Such thoughts should stimulate us in the study of 
bird movements—the migrations of these pastmasters 
in aeronautics. However, anyone who has become 
well launched in this study needs no such stimulant. 
Each recurring season he is refreshed by the return 
of familiar birds and thrilled with a glimpse of 
others that journey on to a more northern home. 
In the fall the southward journey completes the two 
movements known as bird migration—or rather | 
should reverse the order—the spring movement is 
the return home. Should it happen that certain 
birds, moving south in the fall, were to remain there, 
they would be emigrants from our point of view and 
immigrants from the southerner’s viewpoint. Migra- 
tion entails a return journey. 

In this latitude the spring migration may be said 
to commence in February and finish in June; while 
the fall migration commences in July and extends 
into the winter, making an almost continuous move- 
ment of one sort or another, throughout the year, 
with the exception of three or four weeks during 
June and July, which marks the height of the nest- 
ing season in the north. Thus the fall migration 
covers late summer, autumn, and early winter, and 
the term is one of convenience as it marks the height 
of the movement. 

To the novice, who has watched the return of 
birds in the spring for the first time, there is a vast 
difference in watching their fall departure. If you 
consider merely the facility in naming birds as they 


pass and repass, the spring time is the most favor- 
able for observation. In the first place, after our 
long winter we are eagerly awaiting the birds that 
we associate with warmer weather, and so most 
northerners are to some extent familiar with the ap- 
pearance of our common birds in spring, although 
it is often the song that is welcomed—if it were 
not for the song many birds might escape notice. 
When recording the return of our summer resident 
birds one has these advantages. The bird is in full 
plumage (with rare exceptions) limited at most 
to two phases (male and female); it is generally in 
song, and one is more keenly on the lookout for it. 
Familiarity with the bird throughout the summer 
begets carelessness about its departure and the last 
birds are apt to slip away unnoticed. On the other 
hand those that merely pass through this district to 
nest farther north are often in a hurry—they may 
linger in the states to the south, but when this lati- 
tude is reached they appear to have an important ap- 
pointment elsewhere and we miss seeing many of 
them. 

In the fall these northerners are more leisurely; 
the call to move south is seldom so insistent and we 
have more opportunity to watch them. Again, they 
keep more in the open—one sees birds of the deep 
woods right at his door-step. Many times before 
starting on an all-day walk I have taken a prelim- 
inary survey in my garden, and have seen there the 
rarest birds of the day. 

The feature that makes fall study at once a 
delight and a torment is the many different plumages 
often found in one species. Thus we may see 
juvenile birds changing into first fall plumage, those 
of an earlier brood that have already assumed fall 
dress, and adult birds in various stages of moult, all 
in the same flock. 
watching a mixed flock of birds that contains species 
with close resemblances and all in constant motion, 
confusion may reign. 

In regard to classifying birds the disadvantages 
in studying fall migration are chiefly, comparative 
absence of song and greater variation of plumage; 


If, as is often the case, you are 


2 THE Canapian- Fretp-NATURALIST 


while the advantages are a greater tendency on the 
part of many forest birds to come into the open, and 
to linger in orchards and gardens, even in the heart 
of the city. 

This fact gives us at least one distinct and much 
needed advantage. During the height of the spring 
migration (April and May) there is a plentiful 
supply of water in the shape of surface pools and 
running streams, and the weather is cool. During 
the corresponding period of the fall migration 
(August and September) the country is much dner; 
few surface pools are found and the average tem- 
perature is higher. 

I well remember one late summer’s day, several 
years ago, passing through a small wood and hearing 
the call of some chickadees. As the chickadees 
were moving in my direction I awaited them to see 
what their travelling companions might be. Nature 
lovers generally are well aware of the chickadee’s 
sociable nature during migration. Very soon | 
heard faint tsips and tseeps, and saw the vanguard 
of a flock of warblers and other birds. Instead 
of flitting past in the tree tops, they dropped to the 
ground about twenty-five feet away in a small glade 
where I joined them and found the ground about a 
small water hole literally covered with birds, all 
pressing forward for a drink and a bath. Others 
kept continually. dropping to the ground and I soon 
counted a dozen species with scarcely any trouble, 
a contract that might have taken hours of observa- 
tion under ordinary circumstances. 

I found that this was the only supply of water in 
the vicinity and I was so impressed with the ad- 
vantage of being enabled to view the birds from all 
angles at close range that I went home, resolved to 
build a bath in my garden. I merely dug out a 
shallow basin beneath a spruce tree a few feet from 
the dining-room window, and lined it with concrete. 
Since then I have been enabled to watch birds and 
dine at the same time. I must admit that it is 
sometimes a source of uneasiness to members of my 
family, alhough latterly some of them have become 
so interested in watching, for instance, a robin hold- 
ing the bath against all comers, that they, too, have 
forgotten the more immediate purpose of the dining- 
room, 

The study of migration is very exacting—pleasur- 
ably so. If one is keen to identify all of the pass- 
ing birds he is liable to be dubbed a crank. 
constantly making observations from a car window, 
often to the disgust of my travelling companion, who 
may be in the midst of an anecdote. One cannot 
always choose ornithologically inclined company, 
and further one is loath to lose the psychological 
moment for an observation that may never occur 
again. Then there is the desire to give pleasure to 


I am 


[Vol. XXXIV, 


another or rather to share the pleasure of your dis- 
covery with another. Some weeks ago (Oct. 6) 
while half-asleep about midnight, I became suddenly 
alert at the repeated calls of a screech owl, coming 
in through my open window. I was so overjoyed 
that I immediately awakened my brother, On the 
night of Oct. 14, about the same time, I could scarce 
believe myself awake when I heard sch’ wet, sch’ wet, 
from the garden. Actually a saw-whet owl saw- 
whetting right under my window. On this occasion 
experienced warned me to restrain my enthusiasm 
and I listened alone. With regard to the screech 
owl, it seems to me that it is becoming more common 
in this district; that there is an apparent movement 
from south to north. Previously I had seen it oc- 
casionally, but this season I found i's nest once and 
heard its notes on three occasions; once at St. Lam- 
bert, once at Lacolle, and again near Chambly. | 
have also heard other reports of its presence in other 
localities near Montreal. I cannot imagine why 
it was called screech owl—perhaps the original 
namer had conjured some terrible apparition after 
a bad fright and named it after his emotions. To 
me it sounds a soft, tremulous whe-e-you-ou-ou, 
repeated at short intervals. 

When making the bath in the garden I thought, 
perhaps selfishly, that if my neighbor’s gardens had 
no greater attractions than my own, in the matter of 
food and protection, my garden would still have to 
its credit a bird bath and drinking pool, which would 
attract some of my neighbor’s birds. This it has 
done, and further, it has been the means of pro- 
longing their stay. However, I did not carry my 
selfishness to an extreme and have since induced 
some of my neighbors to instal bird baths. As 
previously stated, the great advantage of the bath 
is that it brings the birds to the ground and enables 
you to see distinctly the markings cf the upper 
plumage—an impossible feat when birds are in 
the top foliage of trees. This is especially true of 
waiblers. Often in the fall when the yellowing 
leaves are drifting it is even difficult to say which 
are leaves and which are warblers. Moreover, I 
can safely say that it would be possible for me to 
follow the fall migration of most of our small perch- 
ing birds without leaving the vicinity of the bird 
bath. I call it a bath instead of drinking pool, 
because as a bath I count it a greater attraction, 
as most birds can obtain sufficient water for drink- 
ing purposes from the beads of dew found in early 
morning on leaves and grass blades. As it would 
take too much space to discuss the fall migration in 
all of its phases I am going to speak more par- 
ticularly of these garden visitors that can be ob- 
served by anyone who has a yard with vegetation, 
at a maximum cost of fifty cents and an hour’s 


January, 1920] 


labor. Of course you will have the trouble of 
keeping the bath filled with water, but with a gar- 
den hose it is a simple matter. 

It has been my custcem for several seasons to 
spend a few moments daily watching this bath. 
Even five minutes will give surprising results. In 
comparison with field notes, I find that the col- 
lective results give a fairly accurate idea of the 
birds prevailing at any time, except during very wet 
or cold weather. 

After the middle of July, when vegetation is be- 
ginning to lose its bloom, and the cicadas are com- 
mencing to sing, I look in my garden for the first 
signs of migration. There are already arrivals to be 
seen along the beaches, such as certain shorebirds 
that start south early in July, but I am going to 
confine myself to birds that may be found in gardens. 


At this time you will find the usual concourse of 


summer resident garden birds at the bath—such as 
song and chipping sparrows, catbirds, robins, red- 
eyed vireos, wood peewees, yellow warblers, al- 
ways the domestic sparrow, and possibly the Balti- 
more oriole, if it has not already effected its usual 
mysterious disappearance. 
investigation. 


Here is a chance for 
We know there is a period when the 
oriole stops singing in the garden, but does it really 
leave> There seems to be no direct evidence on 
this point. In the lot adjoining our garden there 
are some huge elm trees, that might harbor dozens 
of orioles in the dense foliage of the upper branches. 
I have caught glimpses of them there, also of wood 
pewees, catbirds, robins, and vireos, at times when 
their absence from the garden proper was very ap- 
parent. Go to the woods at this time and you will 
find a corresponding scarcity of birds. Occasion- 
ally you will get a glimpse of vireo, flycatcher, or 
warbler, feeding young in the upper foliage, but 
where are the many birds one saw earlier in the 
season? Are they, too, sitting motionless in the tops 
of the trees? Comparatively few of them have com- 
menced to migrate. A little later when they com- 
mence to appear in force in our gardens we know 
the reason for the deserted woods. Perhaps the 
fact that there is little to attract us to the woods in 
late July and August is responsible for our lack of 
knowledge in regard to the habits of moulting birds. 
True, there are fewer mosquitoes, but I find the im- 
mense numbers of spiders that spin their webs every- 
where, even a greater nuisance. 

When I note the inactivity of birds during the 
moulting period, I am reminded of the custom of 
human beings at Easter. After wearing out their 
old clothes during the winter there is a blaze of 
color and activity on Easter morning. However, 
we cannot draw parallels between the habits of 
birds and human beings. There is probably a more 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 3 


vital reason for the retiring habits of birds during 
the moulting season. For one thing their loosening 
feathers and ragged plumage may induce a distaste 
for flight. They may feel handicapped in the 
struggle with their enemies and so remain in seclus- 
ion until new feathers have replaced the old. What- 
ever the reason for the oriole’s disappearance we 
know that for about two weeks during the latter part 
of July they do not sing in our gardens. I usually 
hear them again at the end of July or beginning of 
August. 

We have, in St. Lambert, a flock of bronzed 
grackles that nest in the neighborhood and often visit 
the garden. I have come to the conclusion that the 
grackle does considerable damage in gardens, al- 
though I have never had the heart to disturb them. 
For instance, my corn suffered. A year ago I 
planted it in shallow drills and the blackbirds 
promptly ate it. This year I planted it so deeply 
that it rotted in the wet soil. Later, they turned 
their attention to the peas and ripped open some of 
the pods. However, I am repaid to some extent by 
their increasing tameness. ‘They are not greatly ad- 
dicted to bathing—they merely splash noisily through 
the water in their course over the lawn. Once my 
sister called attention to a new bird in the bath. It 
was merely another grackle, a high plumage male, 
with an exceptional sheen of bronze and bluish-green 
on its head and back, in great contrast to some 
sober colored females nearby. 

One of the first signs of a bird movement is the 
appearance of an occasional downy woodpecker in 
the garden. I have never seen this bird enter the 
bath, but have seen individuals clinging to a spruce 
tree near it and evidently thoroughly enjoying a 
shower from the garden hose. When in a hurry to 
discover what birds are in the garden I sometimes 
arrange the hose so that a fine spray falls over the 
bath and spruce tree. This quickly attracts most 
birds and it is much enjoyed by otherwise diffident 
bathers. I have frequently watched that model of 
industry, the downy woodpecker, as it examined 
the spruce tree for larvae, suddenly stop as it 
reached the arc of the spray, fluff out its feathers 
and settle down for a bath. 

The birds that I usually see next are the redstarts 
in various plumages—family parties that have nested 
in the vicinity (they never nest in the garden). The 
redstart, like most of the warblers, is a great bather. 
It usually appears between August 5 and 16, and is 
closely followed by black and white and chestnut- 
sided warblers. Most of these early comers are 
still in family parties. The black and white warbler 
is especially fond of a good bath. I have seen one, 
with a mixed lot of warblers, settle down in the 
shallow water and remain for several minutes after 


4 THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


the others had sought a perch to sun and preen 
themselves. 

Last year (1918) the myrtle warbler was the first 
migrant warbler seen in the garden, arriving on 
July 31. In 1919 they were first noted on August 
10, which is nearer the average time. I can usually 
find a few in the garden on any day after their 
arrival until late in October. Occasionally a few 
remain after the first of November. This bird is 
the first migrant to come from a distance (referring 
only to garden visitors). Their nesting 
haunt that I know of is in the Laurentian hills. 

The water-thrush is one of the earliest birds to 
come, as is also the Canadian warbler. I never see 
many of the latter, but the water-thrush is a regular 
visitor. As is well known it is one of our thrush- 
like warblers, resembling the ovenbird, but lacking 
the orange crown-patch. It can always be dis- 
tinguished from the ovenbird by its sew-saw walk, 
very similar to that of the spotted sandpiper. I 
seldom see the ovenbird in the garden; it is one of 
the few of the smaller birds that keeps almost en- 
tirely to the woods, but the water-thrush delights 
in inspecting moist lawns. It is not a great bather, 
but loves the vicinity of the bath. Even though in- 
doors I usually know of his presence—his loud 
clink or cleenk has a very penetrating quality, and 
I generally come out to watch this daintily marked 
“tip-up” as he zig-zags down a spruce limb and in- 
spects the wet lawn before taking a light bath. In 
its summer home the water-thrush lives in the sha- 
dows—in the cool wet woods—and in the garden, 
too, it is more active during the twilight of early 
morning and late afternoon, and is generally the last 
to bathe. The sew-saw motion of the water-thrush, 
and certain other birds, has always excited my 


nearest 


curiosity. 

The semipalmated sandpiper, almost wholly a 
bird cf the beach (during migration), follows the 
shore line by little runs and never bobs its body. 
Continual necessity for rapid action in avoiding the 
incoming waves may be responsible for this mode 
of advance, This small sandpiper keeps to the 
shore level and avoids boulders and other obstacles 
in its path. On the other hand the spotted and 
solitary sandpiper and the pipit, when feeding on 
the beach, generally examine the tops and boulders. 
It seems probable that similarity in feeding habits 
is responsible for the bobbing motion common to 
these three birds. Did the water-thrush acquire its 
similar motion in a like manner and has it only re- 


Watch 


a spotted or solitary sandpiper as it flies from stone 


cently left a water habitat for the woods? 


to stone in the bed of some swift-flowing brook, bal- 
ances a moment on the polished slippery surface, 


and creeps to the edge in its search for food 


[Vol. XXXIV, 


amongst the clinging mosses, and you will readily 
perceive one reason by which the “tip-up” may have 
acquired its motion. Even a sandpiper may not 
relish an unpremeditated ducking. The balancing of 
the spotted sandpiper is the most pronounced, while 
the solitary bobs spasmodically, as befits a sand- 
piper that has adopted the habit of rearing its young 
in trees, although it has not yet learned the art of 
nest-building. 

Often the bay-breasted warbler is amongst the 
first arrivals. They are always in flocks and by 
the time they appear the fall moult is almost if not 
quite complete. It is difficult to reconcile their fall 
dress with that of the spring. About the only 
recognition marks to be distinctly seen are the white 
wing bars and spots on the outer tail feathers and 
these marks are common to other species. Here 
is where the value of the bath is felt. If you 
look closely you can usually make out a little bay 
color on the sides, sometimes deepening to chestnut, 
according to the age or sex of the individual. This 
will serve to distinguish it from the young of the 
black-poll which often associates with the bay- 
breasted and which it resembles closely. I have 
watched these birds carefully during the past few 
years and have come to the conclusion that the bay- 
breasted far outnumbers the black-poll, at least in 
this district during the fall migration. It is a pretiy 
sight to see the bright yellowish-green backs of half- 
a dozen or more of these birds as they bathe in per- 
fect harmony. The bay-breasted warbler comes 
early and remains late and is one of the most com- 
mon fall garden visitors. In 1919 they were noted 
from August 20 until September 21. 

The Cape May, Magnolia, Nashville, and Ten- 
nessee warblers follow more or less closely. It 
seems almost unreal to see a Tennessee warbler 
composedly bathing a few feet away. it is quite a 
contrast to watching them in their nesting haunts 
where they seldom approach closer to you than the 
tip of some dead bleached limb, fifty feet or more 
from the ground. Then the male bird’s breast 
feathers were a dazzling white, now they are a dusky 
yellow or yellowish-white. 

On Aug. 10 this year I saw the first white- 
throated sparrow in the garden, but they did not 
become common until the second week in September. 
They were always to be seen from that time until 
late in October. Most of the sparrows are fond 
of bathing, but are not as energetic about it as the 
warblers. 

Vireos are much less given to bathing. They are 
usually content to perch beneath the spray and allow 
the mist to fall over them. Often they will dive 
through it and occasionally take a proper dip in the 
bath. The red-eyed vireo is found in the garden 


January, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


throughcut the summer, sometimes until October. 
The warbling vireo is less common, while the sol- 
itary and Philadelphia are rare visitors. I have 
only one record for the latter—August 11 (1918). 
It is a beautiful little bird, much smaller than the 
red-eyed vireo, and with a great deal of greenish- 
yellow in its make-up. I watched it glide along 
the elm twigs until it seemed a part of the foliage 
and melted from view. The pursuit of its prey—-the 
small hairless caterpillars, lying inactive in the 
curled-up elm leaves—called for a smooth, un- 
hurried progress. These caterpillars are very at- 
tractive to other vireos and especially to the Ballti- 
more oriole, 

Flycatchers act much like vireos toward the 
bath. The wocd peewee takes an occasional bath, 
but more often simply flies from perch to perch, 
back and forth through the spray. It is loath to 
remain long away from its beloved perch. Dab- 
bling in a bath gives opportunity neither to flip its 
tail nor snap up passing insects. 

» Another speedy bather is the ruby-throated hum- 
mingbird. I have never seen it do more than dive 
through the spray at the usual rapid gait. The 
ruby-throat is a color specialist. I have not known 
it to nest in the garden, but it often visits us during 
August and September—even as late as Sept. 14; 
it is generally found about flowers of a reddish hue. 
Sometimes late flowering scarlet runners are its ob- 
jective; again the orange lily is chosen. 

This brings us well into September. he yellow 
It disappears suddenly 
and very regularly about the end of August or dur- 
ing the first few days of September. As we are 
near the northern limit of this warbler’s range in 
the east, there are few arrivals from the north to 
take the place of departing local birds. 

The Maryland Yellow-throat is liable to visit the 
shrubbery at any time in September, but that is as 
far as it gets. I have never seen one bathe. A\l- 
though August (in the garden) 1s essentially a 
warbler month, there are a few of them that I gen- 
erally fail to see before September—such as the 
black-throated blue, black-throated green, and 
yellow palm warblers. They stay here quite late 
but the myrtle outcomes and outstays them all. 

If August is a warbler month, then September 
might be called a sparrow and thrush month. Be- 
sides the robin and bluebird I have seen four of the 
true thrushes in my garden—Wilson’s, olive-backed, 
gray-cheeked, and hermit—and all but the gray- 
cheeked bathed. The robin and the olive-backed 
thrush are especially fond of a bath and they bathe 
very thoroughly. The true thrushes are mild- 
mannered, but the robin finds the bath all too small 
to permit of mixed bathing, and generally chases 


warbler has gone entirely. 


FieLD-NATURALIST y 


other birds away. Some of them are discouraged 
for a time, but not so with the song sparrow. [| 
have often watched this persistent little fellow dodg- 
ing in and out, looking for an opening, until the 


larger birds finally vacated the bath. 


The robin has a far northern range, which is in- 
dicated by repeated influxes during September and 
October. One may fail to see them for a time and 
then some morning the lawn will be dotted with 
them. The lawn is the robin’s market-place. I 
watched an amusing incident one day. A robin 
had just pulled a worm from its retreat and landed 
it safely on the ground when another robin darted 
up and seized it. It was amusing to see the -wild 
chase that followed. 


The white-crowned sparrow usually arrives about 
Sept. 18, and can often be heard singing a low- 
voiced song. Never a boisterous singer, its fall song 
is especially subdued. Most of the sparrows ar2 
now in the midst of a song revival, but the songs 
are usually incomplete and faintly uttered; some- 
times a mere whisper of the spring song, and at 
other times quite different from it. As the weather 
becomes cooler the song often changes in volume 
and quality until frequently the full spring song is 
uttered. 

Many birds sing but a portion of the mating song. 
The Tennessee warbler, for instance, gives only 
about half of its full song, but it can always be 
recognized by the piercing insistence of the climax 
note. Little appears to be known as to what pro- 
portion of these unfinished songs is the product of 
mature and immature birds. Much might be learned 
in regard to subspecific relations from a study o! 
immature birds’ songs. 


About the time of the white-crown’s arrival there 
is an influx of chipping sparrows from the north, 
and the purple finch is liable to visit the garden al 
any time in September. Both of these birds arc 
fond of a bath. Red-breasted nuthatches are seer 
about Sept. 16, closely followed by the brown 
creeper, ruby-crowned kinglet, and an occasional 
winter wren. I have only once seen the winter wren 
bathe and it scolded all of the time. The creepel 
is the busiest bird I have ever seen. It is incessantly 
on the hunt for its daily bread and must consume an 
immense amount of insect eggs and larvae. Up te 
the top of one tree and away to the foot of another 
there is always another tree and never time for a 
bath. It does not relax even to sing; it is noted for 
its lack of song. I have heard it but once, curiously 
enough not in the depths of its woodland home, but 
in a garden on the main street of St. Lambert, during 
a drizzling rain—a very sweet song that took me 
some time to locate, owing to the ventriloquial qual- 


6 THe CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


ity of the creeper’s voice and the bark-like appear- 
ance of its plumage. 

September finishes with an occasional visit from 
a yellow-bellied sapsucker or blue jay and the ar- 
rival of the first batch of slate-colored juncos. The 
jays never linger long, merely alight on the tops of 
the elms and away again. ‘These elms offer an at- 
tractive resting place for birds of the open country. 
Once a sparrow hawk perched there; an occasional 
crow is seen in early morning, and meadowlarks 
Red-winged 
blackbirds, too, sometimes rest there; once I saw 
one of them bathe. 

About the beginning of October bands of restless 
golden-crowned kinglets visit the apple and cherry 
trees, as well as the evergreens, while an occasional 
white-breasted nuthatch prefers to examine the bark 
of the elms. A little later the black-capped chicka- 
dees come and tell me that migration is rapidly wan- 
ing. Though there are a few finches and others 
still in the garden, October is essentially a chickadee- 
kinglet month. 

The chickadees are the gleaners that follow in 
the wake of the earlier hosts of insect hunters. They 
are always followers rather than leaders. Their pro- 
gress must need be slow if they would hunt out all 
of the tiny stages of insects that the others have over- 
looked in their haste. 
there is an insect astute enough to hide its progeny 


often sing from the tip-top foliage. 


I sometimes wonder that 


It seems to 
me that, not only each tree, but each twig and leaf 
is examined many, many, times. 


from that army of keenly peering eyes. 


The hermit thrush is more commonly seen now. 
On Oct. 13, 1919, at dawn I saw one taking a 
bath, or rather, I heard him in a varied repertoire 
as it was scarcely light enough to see him distinctly. 
First he gave his usual chuch, followed by a whis- 
tled pheu, and then that nasal n’yea, that the Wil- 
son’s thrush delights in, and finally he sang in an 
extremely subdued tone. I had not been making a 
daily practice of arising at dawn but, heartened by 
hearing the hermit sing, I tried it again the following 
morning and saw a bird new to the garden, a fox 
sparrow, having a royal time all to itself in the bath 
and splashing noisily. At first 1 thought it another 
hermit, but the whir of the wings as it splashed 
spelt fox sparrow, and as it grew lighter I saw it 
distinctly—the first of this species I had seen in 
the garden. 


[Vol. XXXIV, 


Towards the end of October, pine siskins, red- 
polls, and tree sparrows pay brief visits to the gar- 
den, and still later possibly grosbeaks and waxwings, 
but the bathing season is over. It is cold now and 
the birds do not feel the need of it. The indomit- 
able song sparrow is still here in small numbers, 
and a few white-throats, juncoes, and robins, but 


the bulk has gone. 


November is mainly a chickadee month. What 
other birds there are have mostly retreated to the 
shelter of the woods. 


A list of the birds observed to actually rest in 
my garden, save two species, the saw-whet and the 
screech owl, which were plainly heard but not 
seen, is given below. Those designated by an 
asterisk used the bath, while several others were 
content with the spray. I have made no mention 
of birds seen passing overhead, such as swallows, 
swifts, nighthawks, and others. The lot on which 
these notes were made is situated in the town of 
St. Lambert (opposite Montreal), a quarter of a 
mile from the river shore. This lot is about one 
hundred feet square and contains lawn and garden 
with apple, cherry, ash, maple, elm, cedar and 
spruce trees. A favorable feature is a thicket of 
hawthorn and wild cherry in an adjoining lot. 


The list follows: sparrow hawk; screech and 
saw-whet owl; hairy and downy woodpecker; yel- 
low-bellied sapsucker; flicker; ruby-throated hum- 
mingbird; *wood peewee; “least flycatcher; 
*phoebe; kingbird; crow; blue jay; *bronze 
grackle; *red-winged blackbird; cowbird; *Balti- 
more oriole; meadowlark; evening grosbeak; pine 
grosbeak; redpoll; *purple finch; *goldfinch; 
*domestic sparrow; *song, *white-throated, *white- 
crowned, *chipping, *fox, and tree sparrows; *slate- 
colored junco; *black and white, *black-poll, *bay- 
breasted, *black-throated blue, *black-throated 
green, *Cape May, *yellow, *yellow palm, *Ten- 
nessee, “Nashville, | *chestnut-sided, *myrtle, 
*magnolia, and Canadian warblers; yellow-throat, 
*redstart, ovenbird, and *water-thrush; *red-eyed, 
solitary, Philadelphia, and warbling vireos; *cat- 
bird; ruby-crowned, and golden-crowned kinglets; 
*red-breasted, and  white-breasted nuthatches; 
black-capped chickadee; brown-creeper; house, and 
*winter wrens; *Wilson’s, gray-cheeked, *olive- 


backed, and *hermit thrushes; *robin; and bluebird. 


THE RHOPALOCERA, OR BUTTERFLIES, OF HATLEY, 
STANSTEAD COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1919. 


By H. Mous ey. 


In January of 1840 there was published in -Lon- 
don a book entitled, ‘““The Canadian Naturalist,” 
written by P. H. Gosse, who afterwards became a 
Fellow of the’ Royal Society, and a well known 
auther of works pertaining to invertebrate zoology. 
Gosse who was born in 1810, came to reside at 
Compton, a village some seven miles to the north- 
east of Hatley in 1835, and remained there for 
about three years. During that time he wrote the 
above book, which contains probably the first and 
only general account of the Rhopalocera and Het- 
erocera of this district. 


Of the first named I find there are twenty-five 
species and forms enumerated in the work. Of this 
number I have to-day verified twenty-three, be- 
sides adding another twenty, thus making a total in 
all of forty-five to the present day, certainly not a 
very large proportion of the six hundred or more 
species to ‘be found in North America, north of the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande. Hatley, 
therefore, cannot be said to be nearly so rich in 
butterflies as it is in birds, for of the latter I have 
already recorded one hundred and _ seventy-five 
species, or nearly one quarter of all those known 
to inhabit the United States and Canada. Before 
proceeding further, however, it may be well to 
state that my data regarding the butterflies has been 
gathered casually during the past nine years, whilst 
pursuing my favorite study of ornithology, and 
therefore the list does not profess to be final in any 
way, but may serve as a basis for further systematic 
work. Of the nine seasons referred to, the present 
one (1919) has been by far the most prolific, many 
species such as the Great Spangled and Silver-spot 
Fritillaries literally swarming, whilst the Yellow- 
spot and Tawny-edged skippers appeared in myr- 
iads, it being almost impossible to walk anywhere 
without putting them up in clouds. Apparently a 
similar state of things existed eighty years ago, for 
Gosse in his “The Canadian Naturalist,” 1840, p. 
228, says, “Among the clover blossoms, hundreds 
of little skippers are dancing in their peculiar jerk- 
ing way from flower to flower. The Yellow-spot 
(Pamphila pechius) is abundant, and another species 
much resembling it, the Tawny-edged skipper 
(Pamphila cernes).”” Other species such as the Red 
Admiral, Hunter’s Butterfly and most of the Grap- 
tas (now genus Polygonia), were more numerous 
than usual, the hot, and for the most part humid 
weather of June and July, no doubt, accounting 


for this extra abundance. In seeming contrast to 
this profusion, however, might be noticed the un- 
usual scarcity of the Black Swallow-tail, as well 
as the total absence of the Monarch, both of these 


species being as a rule fairly plentiful. 


The country around Hatley is of an undulating 
character, the village itself standing at an elevation 
of 1,000 feet above the sea level, with Lake Mas- 
sawippi, a fine sheet of water, nine miles in length, 
and about one mile in width, lying on the western 
side. It is between this lake and the village, that 
most of my records have been made, and I know 
of no species on the eastern side of the village, that 
cannot be found on the western, although a few 
are somewhat more abundant on the former side. 

Of the nine families of butterflies represented in 
the United States and Canada, namely, Papilionide, 
Pieride, Danaide, Satyride, Nymphalide, Liby- 
theide, Ricdinide, Lycaenide and Hesperiidae, all 
but two have been found at Hatley, the missing 
families being Libytheide and Riodinide. 


The Nymphalide or “Brush-footed Butterflies,” 
the largest of all the families of butterflies, is also the 
best represented here with twenty species, then fol- 
lows the Hesperiide or “Skippers,” with nine, the 
Lycaenide or “Blues,” “Coppers,” and “Hair- 
streaks,” with six, and the remaining four families 
with ten representatives. Most of these species are 
to be found generally distributed and in fair num- 
bers, but there are some that seem to call for special 
remarks, and I propose to deal with these, in the 
order in which they appear in the latest check list. 

THE BLACK SWALLOW-TAIL, Papilio polyxenes 
Fabr. In view of the general abundance of this 
species in most seasons, it is interesting to note what 
Gosse says about it in his “The Canadian Naturalist,” 
1840, p. 184: “Another species, the Black Swallow- 
tail (Papilio asterius), is likewise found: in New- 
foundland and the Southern States, in both of which 
I have found it numerous, and I have seen it men- 
tioned in lists of New England insects, yet I have 
not met with it in this province. 1 should suppose, 
however, that it is a native, but probably, as in New- 
foundland, only appears plentifully in particular 
Considering that Gosse lived three years 
at Compton, we can only come to the conclusion, 
that he could hardly have passed it over, if it had 
been there in those days, for he records another of 
the same genus, the Tiger Swallow-tail, as being 
plentiful. 


seasons.” 


THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY, Pieris rapae Linn. 
I never go into my garden and see a host of these 
butterflies flying about the cabbages, without think- 
ing of the halcyon days that must have existed in 
Gosse’s time, for he does not record this greatest of 
pests, although he mentions the Grey-veined White. 
Surely the march of civilization brings a trail of 
evils in its wake! 

THE CLOUDED SULPHUR, Eurymus philodice 
Godt. This is a very common and well distributed 
species, being more plentiful, however, in some sea- 
sons, than in others. It is fond of congregating on 
moist places, especially on roads, where I have seen 
as many as fifty gathered together so closely, as 
to be almost touching one another. 
least two broods, the first appearing in May, and 
the second in August, my dates for fresh examples 
ranging from May 15, to as late as Oct. 27. They 
vary considerably in size, several of the second 
brecd especially, being merely dwarfs, whilst many 
of the females are albinos, but I have never come 


There are at 


across a melanic form of the male as yet. 


THE PEARLY EYE, Enodia portlandia Fabr. 1 
only came across this species in 1918, and then only 
two examples were met with, one on July 31, and 
the other on Sept. 3. In the following year, con- 
ditions were evidently similar, for I only saw four 
examples between July 12 and 17, so that it is 
evidently an uncommon species here. In “The 
Canadian Naturalist,” Gosse, 1840, p. 246, there is 
an illustration of it drawn by the author himself, 
who speaks of it as a rarity here in those days, al- 
though plentiful in the Southern States. 


THE CLOUDED WOOD-NYMPH, Cercvonis alope 
form nephele Kirby. Probably the present excep- 
tionally humid season, may have been responsible 
for my finding two male examples of this dimorphic 
variety of Cercyonis alope, showing rather more yel- 
low on the fore wings than is quite typical, in fact 
a mild compromise between nephele and alope. 


Harris’ CHECKER-SPOT, Melitaea harrisi Scud. 
Of the smaller crescent-spots this apparently is the 
rarest, there being only one meadow where I have 
taken it so far, and even there it seems to be very 
scarce, only one specimen being seen in 1918, and 
none during the present prolific season of 1919. 


Nycteis, Phyciodes nycteis Db]. and Hew. As 
this little butterfly may be mistaken on the wing for 
Melitaea harrisi, with which it is often found flying, 
it is not so easy to define its exact status here, but 
so far as my experience goes, I have found it 
next to Harris’ Checker-spot, to be the rarest of the 
smaller crescent-spots. I only came across one ex- 
ample in 1917, none in 1918, and only five during 
the present season, 


THE CaNapiaAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol XXXGV: 


THE VIOLET TIP, Polygonia interrogationis F abr. 
Of the genus Polvgonia, this is certainly the rarest 
species here, for I have only come across it this 
season (1919), and then only three examples have 
been noted, as against large numbers of P. comma 
and P. progne. 

THE GREEN COMMA, Polygonia faunus Edw. 
Of the four Graptas (now genus Polygonia) men- 
tioned by Gosse, this is the only one that I have 
been unable to verify so far, which seems some- 
what strange, in view of the fact that the present 
season (1919), has been an exceptionally good one 
for the other members of this interesting genus. 

THE COMPTON TORTOISE, Aglais j-album Bdv. 
and Lec. ‘This large and handsome butterfly, al- 
though having a wide range, is more or less uncom- 
mon everywhere, and iis numbers at Hatley of late 
years, seem to be on the decrease if anything, al- 
though in July, 1911, it was quite common on the 
“meadow road” to the east of the village, which at 
that time was bordered by willow trees (on which 
the larvae feed) most of which, however, have since 
been cut down. Apparently there are two forms 
of the underside, one dark and the other light, but 
probably this difference is only sexual, the males 
being the brighter colored. 

HUuNTER’S BUTTERFLY, Vanessa virginiensis Dru. 
Until the year 1918, I had always looked upon this 
handsome butterfly as being particularly scarce here, 
but during June, August and September, quite a 
number of specimens were observed, probably owing 
to its being a good year for the species, the same as 
1911 was for Aglais j-album. The hot summer of 
1919 seems to have suited it also, for its numbers 
have been even greater than in the previous year. 
Gosse does not record it in his work, nor yet the 
still more showy Red Admiral. 

THE PAINTED LADY, Vanessa cardui Linn. Ap- 
parently this is an uncommon, if not a somewhat 
rare butterfly here, as I have never come across it 
until the present year (1919), and then only four 
examples have been noted, one on Aug. 7, and the 
other three at the end of September. 

THE BANDED PURPLE, Basilarchia arthemis Dru. 
This beautiful butterfly is fairly well distributed, 
and may be found from about June 11 to the middle 
of July, although I have seen worn specimens at the 
end of the latter month. Gosse in “The Canadian 
Naturalist,” 1840, p. 306, however, records an 
example as late as September 4, which he con- 
cludes was only an occasional straggler, or one of 
an unusual late hatching. 

Tue viceroy, Basilarchia archippus Cram. This 
handsome butterfly mimics the Monarch (Danaus 
archippus Fab.), and is one of the most striking cases 
of mimicry, which occurs in our fauna. It is by no 


January, 1920] 


means plentiful here, only very few examples having 
been met with each season, and these for the most 
part on the roadside. During the present excep- 
tion?! season (1919), I have only seen it once, 
on Aug. 7. 

THE ACADIAN HAIR-STREAK, Strymon acadica 
Edw. Prior to the present year (1919) this was 
the only hair-streak I had met with at Hatley. I 
first found it in 1914 on the roadside, about two 
miles to the south of the village, but only in very 
limited numbers. From that date onwards I lost 
sight of it until July of the present year (1919), 
when I found it again in the same locality, but in 
rather increased numbers. 

THE STRIPED HAIR-STREAK, Sérymon_ liparops 
Bdyv. and Lec. This is generally considered a 
somewhat rare little butterfly wherever it occurs, 
which remark is certainly true of it at Hatley, for 
I have never seen it until the present season (1919), 
and then only in two or three places, along the same 
roadside that the Acadian Hair-streak frequented. 
The two species were flying together, from about 
July 9-14 in about equal limited numbers. 

THE WANDERER, Feniseca tarquinius Fabr. This 
apparently is ancther rare little butterfly here, for | 
have only come across two specimens of it so far, 
one on June 8, 1917, and the other on May 25, 
1918. Only one species of the genus is known. 
While it is true that almost all the jaivae of 
lepidcptera subsist upon vegetable food, neverthe- 
less there are exceptions, one of which is the present 
species, whose slug-like larvae feed upon the woolly 
aphid ef the alder. 

THE SPRING AZURE, Lycaenopsis pseudargiolus 
form marginata Edw. Prior to the spring of 1919, 
I had only come across the form marginata, of this 
very polymorphic species, although Gosse in ‘““The 
Canadian Naturalist,’ 1840, p. 123, speaks of it 
as Polyommatus lucia, by which it might be as- 
sumed he refers to the form lucia Kirby, and was 
unacquainted with marginata. Both lucia and 
marginata are winter forms, coming from chrysalids 
which have lived through the winter and are the 
first to appear in early spring. As already in- 
dicated, I have found marginata to be by far the 
commonest form, two examples only of lucia 
having been taken in May of the present year, 1919. 

THE BLACK SKIPPER (Thymele brizo2) This 
name was used by Gosse on page 184 of his work. 
The reference may possibly be referable to the 
Sleepy Dusky-wing (Thanaos brizo Bdy. and 
Lec.), although the note of interrogation might al- 
low of its being placed under Thanaos icelus Lint., 
(The Dreamy Dusk-wing), which latter I hav. 
found to be not uncommon here, whereas brizo is 
out of its habitat. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 9 


THE ARCTIC SKIPPER, Carterocephalus palaemon 
Pall. This little skipper, which is totally unlike 
any other species in the fauna, is described by Gosse 
in “The Canadian Naturalist,” 1840, p. 219, as very 
rare near Compton, and I had held a similar view 
regarding it at Hatley, until June 4, 1918, when I 
first came across it in an open space in the centre 
of a little swampy wood, about a mile or rather 
more, to the north of the village. Later on I found 
it in some marshy ground, adjoining the meadow 
road to the east of the village, and in several other 
places as well. It seems strange I should never 
have come across it before, unless the above year 
was an exceptional one for the species, which I think 
it must have been, seeing that I have failed to come 
across it again during the present season (1919), 
(which might be described as a “skipper” year), 
when all the other members of the family have been 
unusually abundant. 

THE LONG-pASH, Polites mystic Scud. So far I 
am unable to say very much about this skipper, 
having only come across it for the first time during 
the present season (1919). In point of numbers, 
however, it was nothing to be compared with those 
of the smaller members of the genus, such as the 
Yellow-spot and Tawney-edged skippers, besides 
which its distribution seemed much more restricted. 

THE DUN SKIPPER, Euphyes vestris Bdy. This 
is another skipper whose presence was undetected 
until the present year, and looking to the general 
difficulty of capture, and identification in the field, 
I think this family probably offers more scope for 
additions to the Hatley list, than any other. As 
with the Long-dash, I am unable to say very much 
about its status, except that its distribution was more 
restricted, and numbers even less, than those of the 
former. 

Possibly the remark in my paper on the Orchids 
of Hatley (Otrawa Natura.isT, Vol. XXXII, 
1919, No. 8, pp. 144-147) that the possibilities of 
the place had only been touched upon, so far as 
regards those lovely flowers, may apply equally well 
here to the butterflies, and that before long others 
will be found able and willing to extend the fol- 
lowing list, the nomenclature of which is the same 
as that used by Barnes and McDunnough in their 
Check List of the Lepidoptera of Boreal America. 

List OF THE BUTTERFLIES OR Hart Ley, 1919. 

PAPILIONIDAE. 
*The Black Swallow-tail, Papilio polyxenes Fabr. 
The Tiger Swallow-tail, Papilio glaucus canadensis 
R. and J. 
PIERIDAE. 

The Grey-veined White, Pieris napi Linn. 
*The Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris rapae Linn. 

The Clouded Sulphur, Eurymus philodice Godt, 


THe CANADIAN 


DANAIDAE. 
The Monarch, Danaus archippus F abr. 
SATYRIDAE. 
The Pearly Eye, Enodia portlandia Fabr. 
*The Little Wood-satyr, Cissio eurytus Fabr. 
The Eyed Brown, Satyrodes canthus Linn. 
*The Clouded Wood-nymph, Cercyonis alope form 
nephele Kirby. 


NYMPHALIDAE. 
The Great Spangled Fritillary, Argynnis cybele 
Fabr. 
The Silver-spot Fritillary, Argynnis aphrodite 
Fabr. 
The Silver Bordered Fritillary, Brenthis myrina 
Cram. 


*Meadow Fnitillary, Brenthis bellona Fabr. 
The Baltimore, Euphydyras phaeton Dru. 
*Harris’ Checker-spot, Melitaea harrisi Scud. 
*Nycteis, Phyciodes nycteis Dbl. and Hew. 
The Pear! Crescent, Phyciodes tharos Dru. 
The Violet Tip, Polygonia interrogationis F abr. 
Hop-merchant, Polygonia comma form drvas 
Edw. 

**The Green Comma, Polygonia faunus Edw. 
The Gray Comma, Polygonia progne Cram. 
The Compton Tortoise, Aglais j-album Bdv. 

and Lec. 


American T ortoise-shell, 


Godt. 


The Aglais milberti 


A RARE FUNGUS 


FieLD- NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


The Mourning Cloak, Aglais antiopa Linn. 
*The Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta Linn. 
*Hunter’s Butterfly, Vanessa virginiensis Dru. 
*The Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui Linn. 

The Banded Purple, Basilarchia arthemis Dru. 
*The Viceroy, Basilarchia archippus Cram. 

LYCAENIDAE. 
*The Acadian Hair-streak, Sirymon acadica Edw. 
*The Striped Hair-streak, Strymon liparops Bdv. 
and Lec. 
*The Wanderer, Feniseca arquinius Fabr. 
The American Copper, Heodes hypophlaeas Bdv. 
The Spring Azure, Lycaenopsis pseudargiolus 
form marginata Edw.* and form lucia Kirby. 
HESPERIIDAE. 
*The Northern Dusky-wing, Cocceius pylades 
Scud. 
*The Dreamy Dusky-wing, Thanaos icelus Lint. 
**The Black Skipper (Thymele brizo2) 
The Arctic Skipper, Carterocephalus palaemon 
Pall. 
The Tawny-edged Skipper, Polites cernes Bdv. 
and Lec. 
*The Long-dash, Polites mystic Scud. 

The Yellow Spot, Polites peckius Kirby. 

*The Hobomok Skipper, Poanes hobomok Harris. 
*The Dun Skipper, Euphyes vestris Bdv. 


*Not recorded by Gosse. 
**Recorded by Gosse but not yet verified. 


NEW TO CANADA 


By W. S. ODELL. 


While collecting* fungi in the vicinity of Ot- 
tawa during the past year, for the Victoria Memorial 
Museum, one of the earliest forms found was the 
edible morel, Morchella esculenta Pers. Shortly 
after snow had left the ground and before leaves 
appeared on the trees and shrubs, its dark olive 
green or brownish cone was seen protruding a few 
inches above ground. It is fairly common, growing 
usually in damp situations, and lasts during May 
and part of June if the weather is favorable. Any- 
one who has seen this peculiar fungus w. remem- 
It belongs to the order 
Ascomycetes, family Helvellaceae, and differs from 
mushrooms, puff balls, etc., in the manner in which 
its spores are borne. 


ber and readily recognize it. 


In mushrooms the reproduc- 
tive bodies called spores, are borne, four in number, 
on ends of club-shaped bodies called basidia, cover- 
ing both sides of the gills. The spores which are the 
seeds of the mushroom, are of various sizes; they 
are microscopic, but may be seen en masse by 
placing a specimen on black paper, tightly covered 


with a glass jar to prevent air currents. After a 
few hours the paper will be covered with a whitish 
deposit, which consists of spores in inconceivable 
numbers. Spores are dispersed by the wind; some 
fall to the ground, and in process of time, it may be 
months, often years, produce under proper con- 
ditions, tiny thread-like jointed strands called 
“spawn” by gardeners, which grow through the 
substance on which the plant feeds. A familiar 
form occurs in white mould often seen on vegetables 
or on bread, and is better known as mycelium. It 
may be found by digging up young mushrooms or 
under matted leaves or in much decayed logs in 
the woods, permeating every part. In fact the 
mycelium is mainly responsible for the rapid decay 
of wood, and causes much loss annually to standing 
timber. 

While in the form of threads mycelium is the 
vegetative stage of the mushroom. When the fruit- 
ing stage begins, small knobs appear on these strands, 
minute at first, varying from the size of a pinhead 


January, 1920] 


Fig. 1, Morchella 


esculenta; 
bispora, showing 


THE CANADIAN 


FiELD- NATURALIST 


2, Morchella esculenta, section: 3, Morchella 


bispora 


partitions (P?); 5, Morchella bispora, showing mycelium 


1, 


(M). 


12 THE CaNapDIAN’ FiELD-NATURALIST 


to that of a pea, growing larger all the while, mak- 
ing their way to the surface of the ground, when 
if conditions are favorable mushreoms will mature 
in a short time. 

The cap or pileus of a mushroom is the expanded 
part; on its under side are gills or lamellae, thin 
plates radiating from the stem to margin of the 
pileus, affording a foundation on which club-shaped 
cells stand parallel to each other. The entire sur- 
face of the lamellae is covered with these cells, 
called basidia. 

In Ascomycetes, including morels, the distinctive 
feature consists of spores enclosed in a long cylin- 
drical tube or ascus. 
sist of two prominent parts, stem or stipe, and cap 
or pileus; but are very unlike them in general ap- 
pearance. The pileus varies much in form being 
conical, ovate, rounded, bell-shaped, or cylindrical, 
and is always pitted. These depressions are usually 
regular, covering the entire outer surface, and are 
separated from each other by ridges with rounded 
blunt edges, thus forming a network assuming a 


Like mushrooms, morels con- 


honeycombed appearance. 

Unlike mushrooms, the upper or exterior surface 
is the spore bearing part in morels, and spore sacs 
The 
pileus is hollow, closed at the apex, and attached 
throughout its length to the sides of the stipe. In 


are developed on both ridges and depressions. 


color it varies from shades of olive, to greenish 
brown, and light ochre yellow. Its stipe is hollow 
and continuous with the cavity of the pileus. It is 
stout, smooth, but covered with minute granular par- 
ticles, and varies from '% to | inch in diameter. 
Its spores as before mentioned contained in an ascus, 
are smooth, hyaline, elliptical, standing obliquely, 
eight in a continuous row, varying in size from 19 
to 22 microns long by || microns wide. The plant 
is from 2 to 4 inches high, but is often found larger. 


The rare species referred to in the title of this 
article, namely Morchella bispora Sor., or the Two- 
spored morel, is a morel somewhat similar to the 
one described, but unlike it in several distinctive 
with 
ridges running in a more regular longitudinal man- 


characteristics. Its surface is_ reticulated, 
ner, and differs in having its pileus free from stipe 
along lower margin, but is attached to it at its apex. 
Its main difference, however, lies in the fact that its 
ascus contains only two exceedingly long spores, 
The pileus is 
dark greenish brown in color, | to 1% inches long 
by | to 1% inches wide. Its stipe is stuffed with 
a pithy substance, at intervals of one-half inch, form- 
It is 
cylindrical, very fragile, tapering to apex, straight, 
often slightly curved, easily separating from pileus, 
having base covered with a thick floccose substance 


while all other morels have eight. 


ing partitions, leaving hollow spaces between. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


readily rubbed off. In size it is from 4 to 5 inches 
long, and from '4 to 44 of an inch thick, at widest 
part. Its spores are cream or light yellow, faintly 
granular, two in an ascus, often slightly curved, 
fairly uniform in width, exceedingly variable in 
length. They are narrowly-oblong, size 52-62 
microns long by 14 to 17 microns wide. 
Morchella bispora grows singly, under open 
hardwood trees, in rocky soil, among leaves; height 
frcm 4 to 6 inches. A few plants were found in 
Gilmour’s grove, Chelsea, Que.; two in Arm- 
strong’s bush near Green’s creek, and six in Bill- 
ings’ bush, both of these latter localities being in the 
province of Ontario, near Ottawa. After May 15, 
no more specimens were seen. Possibly if the sur- 
rounding woods were systematically searched in 
early spring, the range of its habitat might be ex- 
tended. Considerable interest is attached to this 
species partly on account of its rarity, but mainly 


A 
/ 
6 7 8 
Fig. 6, Basidium of Coprinus comatus (A, spores; 
st., sterigmata;: B, basidium):; 7, ascus of Morchella 


esculenta (A, spores); 8 ascus of Morchella bispora 
(A, spores). All highly magnified. 

because there is no record of its having been pre- 
viously found in Canada. 

All morels are edible, and in the writer's estima- 
tion surpass all other kinds of mushrooms, as a 
choice article of diet. They are not found in large 
numbers in the district of Ottawa, but are general 
around suburbs of the city in such places as the 
edges cf woods, in grass, and in shady places. They 
have been found at Rockcliffe, at the Rifle Range, 
Experimental Farm, High Bridge over Rideau 
river, Wychwood, Lake Flora, and in the woods 
south of Lemay’s lake. 

There seems to be a popular misconception re- 
garding the food value of mushrooms. From articles 
appearing in newspapers, one would be led to infer 
that their food value is high—that they could take 
the place of our staple foods, wheat, beans, flour or 
meat. Investigation proves that their edible value 
is not so high as is supposed. Careful analyses have 
been made of many species, and while there is con- 


January, 1920] 


siderable variation in composition, the average is 
85 to 90 per cent water and 10 per cent solid 
matter, In Morchella esculenta it is 89.54 per cent 
water, 10.46 solid matter; in the cultivated mush- 
room, Agaricus campestris, 91.8 per cent water, 8.2 
per cent solid matter. This would place them on 
a par with cabbages and turnips, which are not 
generally considered as being highly nutritious. 
Large quantities of edible mushrooms go to waste 
every summer. This is to be regretted since they 
are easily accessible. While some mushrooms have 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 13 


an indifferent taste, most are of fine flavor, and 
would repay the trouble taken in collecting them. 
If their value as a delicacy were more generally 
known, sufficient could be found all 
through summer, at tke cost of a little exertion, to 
furnish an appetizing relish for many a meal. 

Thanks are due to the late Mr. J. M. Macoun, 
Botanist of the Victoria Memorial Museum, for the 
photographs from which the accompanying plate 
has been made and to Prof. John Dearness, London, 
Ont., for identification of specimens. 


numbers 


A FABLE OF TO-DAY. 


By Rar RANGER. 


Once upon a time there was an Old Naturalist. 
He was quite a good Old Naturalist too, and if 
you look in many of the books you will find many 
observations and the results of interesting and im- 
portant investigations credited to him, and not a 
few monographs bear his name as author. 

After some further years of work this Old 
Naturalist was about to write a book dealing with 
a good many different forms of animal life. One 
day he went up to a big museum and introduced 
himself to Mr. Flittin Nomen, the young expert 
in charge of the ornithological section. 

“Ah, yes, sir,” said Mr, Flittin Nomen, “I am 
extremely glad to meet you. I have always ad- 
mired your monograph on Planesticus migratorius.” 

“Pardon me, but I could not have been the author 
of the work you refer to. I do not even know the 
species of which you speak.” 


“Yes, yes, but I mean your monograph on the 
American Robin.” 


“Oh, the American Robin. 
Merula migratoria =” 

“Tt has not been called Merula migratoria for a 
long, long time, for four years at the very least,” 
said Mr. Flittin Nomen. ‘Your account of the 
habits of Dendroica fusca, too, I have always held 
in very high esteem.” 

“Dendroica fusca? | thought that I knew the 
genus Dendroica pretty well, but I know of no such 
species.” 

“Tt used to be called Dendroica blackburniae, 
but not for a long time, not for the last three years 
certainly. And you know,” said Mr. Flittin No- 
men, his eyes brightening, “it is really not worth 
your while learning the name fusca for this species, 
for I have recently made a great discovery—I have 
found that the specific name alba really has prior- 
ity. That is the name used in the work published 
a week before the publication of fusca and con- 
sequently—” 


But is not the name 


“But this species is not white’’ exclaimed the Old 
Naturalist. 

“Oh, that doesn’t matter a bit, alba has priority 
by a whole weeh—think of that! It took me a 
long time, and much very careful research, to make 
sure of the exact week cf publication of the two 
works, but I have confirmed it, and am proud to say 
that I have thus been able to make a very valuable 
contribution to science. I know that in the old days 
it was supposed that a scientific name should be in 
some degree descriptive of the species, or at least 
should not be entirely misleading in its significance, 
but that idea is now entirely out of fashion. Alba 
is undoubtedly a lapsus calmi, but that doesn’t 
matter either, it has priority, and that’s the thing.” 


“But is there no such thing as a nomen con- 
servenda, thus allowing a name which has become 
thoroughly established to remain >” 

“T believe there used to be, in ancient times, but 
such absurd ideas are entirely out of date.” 


The Old Naturalist turned to go. 


“So very glad to have met you,” said Mr. Flittin 
Nomen,” and I can give you a bit of advance in- 
formation. I believe that I can prove that Melos- 
piza is untenable for the Song Sparrows, and it 
should be Rubraspizella. It’s really a very good 
job too, for they have been Melospiza long enough.” 


“Truly, ‘the letter of the law and not the spirit’,” 
murmured the Old Naturalist as he wandered off 
in the direction of the entomological section. 


In the entomological section the Old Naturalist 
met the expert in charge, Dr. Changem Offen, and 
tried to converse with him, but as all the names the 
Old Naturalist used had to be dug up in a list of 
synonyms, there was little time left for discussion 
of life-histories, habits, habitats, economic status, 
and other points in which the Old Naturalist was 
interested, but which Dr. Changem Offen seemed 
to regard as of very secondary importance. 


14 THE CaNADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


The Old Naturalist wandered on to the mamma- 
logical section. Here he found the curator con- 
templating a tray of skins of the genus Microtus, 
while on the table lay a single specimen. After 
introducing himself, he enquired as to the identity 
of the specimen on the table. 

“IT don’t know what it is,” said the curator. “In 
fact, I am afraid it is impossible to say. You see 
it has lost its label, and without the locality I am 
entirely unable to say to what subspecies it be- 
longs.” 

“But, if you cannot tell what it is without a 
locality label, it can hardly be worth bothering 
about,” said the Old Naturalist. 

“Oh, yes, indeed yes. That’s not the point at 
all. If any two mammals come from different local- 
ities they must belong to different subspecies, whether 
we can see the differences or not, and we're all 
right, quite all right, as long as we have the labels.” 

“IT thought that subspecies were named to facil- 
itate reference, caused by climatic conditions, and 
that their chief interest lay in correlating these dif- 
ferences with the conditions under which they were 
produced.” 

“That, I know, used to be the old idea, but we 
have got far beyond that now, and we know that 
subspecies exist for each locality. It is a great im- 
provement on the old method and quite simple as 
long as we have the labels.” 

The Old Naturalist left the curator hunting 
for his lost label, and proceeded to the botanical 


section. Here he introduced himself to Dr. Synn 


O’Nymm Seeker, Chief Taxonomist of the Order 
Rosales. 

“T used at one time,” said the Old Naturalist, 
“to be interested in the genus Crataegus. What is 
the situation in that genus at the present time >?” 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


“The genus Crataegus?” exclaimed Dr. Synn 
O’Nymm Seeker, “why my dear sir, there is no 
such genus. It was discovered long ago that each 
of the old species of that so-called genus was really 
a separate genus, and that each of these separate 
genera had from fifty to a hundred species. But 
even this point of view is now obsolete, as Professor 
Splittem Finer has just found that every individual 
hawthorn is a distinct species and he is now en- 
gaged in the momentous task of going over the 
whole of North America tagging every tree with 
its own specific name.” 


The Old Naturalist turned sadly away. Poor 
old out-of-date chap! He returned to his home, 
spent the rest of his life in trying to catch up with 
a synonomy which got away from him in one group 
while he was working at another, and in trying in 
vain to find some rhyme or reason in the mass of 
published subspecies. So he wore himself out and 
died—and never wrote his book. 


I remember the Old Naturalist well. He was a 
good worker and a progressive. He would have 
done even more practical field work if his time 
had not been so largely taken up in controversy with 
the conservatives of his day. However, we owe him 
a larger debt of gratitude than is generally realized. 
It was largely due to him aa code of nomenclature 
was established which ended the existing practice 
whereby each individual crank was a law unto him- 
self, the confusions from which we are only just 
straightening out to-day. He had a caustic pen 
too. His papers on Turdus vs. Merula in the old 
numbers of Ornithologica are classics of sarcasm 
and irony, and well worth occasional re-reading. 


PAL a 


NOTES ON THE NESTING HABITS AND FOOD OF. PRAIRIE HORNED- 
LARKS IN MANITOBA. 


By NorMAN CrippLe, TREESBANK, Man. 


The notes presented below are largely from ob- 
servations made during the spring of 1918, and 
owe their origin to the fact that I was unable, at 
that time, owing to ill-health, to devote my atten- 
tion to the more strenuous work which usually falls 
to the lot of a field officer of the Dominion ento- 
mological service. As it happened, the horned- 
larks were nesting close at hand and, therefore, pre- 
sented opportunity for study without fatigue to the 
observer. 

The horned-larks of Manitoba have already been 


dealt with in this journal,* but as the present notes 


*Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXX, No. 11, Feb. 1917. 


add to what was previously written they seem 
worthy of record here. 


Prairie horned-larks are the first birds to return 
to their summer homes from the south; they are 
usually with us in numbers by March | and at the 
end of that month are, as a rule, busily engaged 
in incubating a clutch of eggs. My 1918 records 
read somewhat as follows: April 18, young birds 
almost able to fly; April 30, young flying; May 
3, nest with 3 eggs; young from this nest left on 
May 26. May 16, nest with 4 eggs, young hatched 
May 26 and left the nest June 4. On June 7, a 


nest with 4 eggs was discovered and on July 2 one 


January, 1920] 


with 2 fresh eggs. On July 14 still another nest 
was located, this one having 4 eggs. Att this last 
date males were singing everywhere and the time 
was undoubtedly one of general breeding. From 
these records it will be seen that there is a nesting 
period of at least four months, also that the birds 
rear three and perhaps four broods in a season. It 
is interesting to relate that while the birds do not, 
as a general rule, rear two families in the same 
nest, one pair did so, while another couple built a 
second nest within a few feet of the first. One nest, 
under close observation, contained young which left 
it in nine days after hatching, and though they 
were still unable to fly at that time they had, never- 
theless, acquired considerable feathering. The nest 
to which I devoted most attention was situated quite 
close to the house and within easy vision from a 
window; it was built among chips and sunken, as 
usual, in the ground, the locality being one frequent- 
ed by humans as well as by dogs and poultry. When 
either of the first two drew near, the brooding bird 
slipped quietly from the nest, apparently trusting to 
the color similarity of the young and the nest to the 
surroundings to keep them from harm, but when a 
hen came within reach the small bird flew at her 
with such vigor as to cause the hen to become ser- 
iously alarmed and make her leave in a hurry. 


The young birds were attended by both parents 
from the time they were hatched until they left the 
nest and both adults took an equal share in feeding 
their offspring, as well as cleaning the nest. As 
it began to grow dark the female fitted herself over 
the young for the night while the male after singing 
in the twilight went to rest in the vicinity. 


Judging from the observations made in 1918, it 
would seem that the food of young prairie horned- 
larks consists very largely of cutworms which the 
parent birds dig out of the ground by aid of their 
beaks. The locating of these insects is performed 
with remarkable accuracy though it is due to a 
knowledge of the insects’ haunts rather than to a 
perception of the exact situation in which they rest. 
Thus, parent horned-larks were seen, repeatedly, 
searching around clumps of weeds which were more 
or less isolated through being surrounded by bare 
spots, these being the situations which our observa- 
tion have shown are most frequented by cutworms. 
The time occupied in securing one of those insects 
naturally varied, but on an average required rather 
less than four minutes. A pair of birds watched 
on June 4, feeding young a week old, and com- 
mencing at sunset, visited the nest with food on an 
average every two minutes. Judging from these 
and other observations we can, therefore, estimate 
the total number of cutworms consumed in a day at 


fully 400; in other words, nearly 3,000 a week, and 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 15 


this does not take into consideration the number of 
insects eaten by the adults which would add con- 
siderably to the total. 

Cutworm hunting is naturally a daylight oc- 
cupation and since it continues until dark there is 
every reason to suspect that it commences soon after 
dawn, especially as the male birds begin to sing 
at the first indication of returning day. The birds 
I had under observation abandoned their work as 
the day grew dark. 


A few mornings after the records mentioned above 
were taken, I found the young still in position in 
the nest, but at 8 a.m. the largest and oldest nest- 
ling followed its mother away and was soon after 
lost in the herbage, neither birds being seen again. 
The male continued to feed the remaining two until 
five minutes after nine, when the next largest fol- 
lowed him away. The third nestling was smaller 
than the others and I fully expected that it would 
be left to perish as often happens when food is 
scarce. For a time the male continued to devote 
all his attention to the one that had followed him 
but eventually he returned to the nest with a cut- 
worm and shortly after with yet another. Feeling 
sorry for the hard worked little bird I placed five 
full sized cutworms on the edge of the nest and 
then awaited developments. The male soon re- 
turned with the usual fare, and then spying the in- 
sects placed near, he stuffed four of them in suc- 
cession down the throat of his greedy charge, taking 
the last grub to the other bird. He continued to 
labor on behalf of both young until shortly after 
eleven o'clock when the remaining nestling followed 
him away. 

The habit of the male bird continuing to support 
both young after the female had evidently deserted 
them is naturally a very important characteristic 
providing it is one that is generally followed. The 
question remains, would he have attempted to do 
so had food been scarce? The evidence is in the 
negative. It is common knowledge to those who 
have studied horned-larks that they seldom rear 
more than one of the first brood, the reason for 
this is apparently the scarcity of insect food at that 
During 
June cutworms are at the height of their season and, 
therefore, the birds find little difficulty in rearing 
the full allotment of young. July is also a favor- 
able month owing to the presence of locusts and 
caterpillars of various kinds. 


The food of adult horned-larks is less insectiv- 
orous than js that of the young and is at least in 
part made up of seeds and sprouted plants of var- 
ious kinds, but from the fact that enormous flocks 
of these birds sometimes continue on the grain fields 
for two or three weeks in spring time without doing 


time, especially the scarcity of cutworms. 


16 THe CaANapIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


any appreciable harm we must conclude that they 
are either eating weed seeds or insects. We know 
that before the spring really opened that horned- 
larks partook daily of the weed seeds placed for 
them. This is doubtless why they became tame 


[Vol. XXXIV, 


and later nested nearby. We have also seen them 
repeatedly devour cutworms during the nesting sea- 
son so that the evidence of their usefulness seems 
to be without question. 


BRIEF REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB 


FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 2, 


eae 


At the March, 1919, annual meeting of the 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, the constitution 
was amended to make the club year coincide with 
the calendar year, and, therefore, each future volume 
of the club publication will cover one calendar year 
instead of parts of two as in the past. In spite of 
the fact that owing to this change in the constitution, 
the past year—the fortieth of the existence of the 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, covering a period 
of only nine months—was the most successful in 
the recent history of the society, which now has a 
membership of 644, or more than double that of 
1917. 

The club activities are directed toward the popu- 
larizing and the diffusing of knowledge of the na- 
tural sciences, and are carried on in three chief 
ways: a course of lectures, two series of field ex- 
cursions, and the publication of THE CANADIAN 
FreLp- NATURALIST. 

Owing to the short year the lecture programme 
was not begun prior to the annual meeting. A list 
of thirty-six lectures to be given by club members 
has been sent to local societies, clubs, churches and 
schools from which they may select and requ-st de- 
sirable talks. 

The eight field excursions were well patronized, 
the average attendance being 23. Scientific men 
attended the excursions to direct interest and answer 
questions. 

Tue CANapiAN Fietp-NaTurALisT, the official 
organ of the club which has completed its 
thirty-third volume, is also now being used as a 
medium of publication by the four affiliated societies 
listed on the cover. 

At a recent meeting the council was informed that 
Mr. R. B. White had bequeathed the club one 
hundred dollars per year, which will be allowed to 
accumulate along with other funds in trust to form 
the nucleus of a trust fund the interest of which 
will eventually be used to promote natural history 
research work in Canada. 

The officers and committee for the year 1920 are 
as follows: 


President, M. Y. Williams; Vice-Presidents, L. 
D. Burling, R. M. Anderson; Secretary, Clyde L. 
Patch; Treasurer, Miss E. B. Crampe; Editor, 
Arthur Gibson. 

Additional members of Council: Hoyes Lloyd, 
W. T. Macoun, G. A. Miller, Miss M. E. Cowan, 
C. B. Hutchings, C. M. Sternberg, H. I. Smith, 
P. A. Taverner, E. Sapir, F. W. Waugh, E. M. 


Kindle, W. J. Wintemberg, R. E. DeLury, F. 


Johansen. 


STANDING COMMITTEES OF COUNCIL. 

Publications—Clyde L. Patch, A. Gibson, L. D. 
Burling, H. Lloyd, F. Johansen. 

Excursions—F. W. Waugh, C. M. Sternberg, 
G .A. Miller, Miss M. E. Cowan, C. L. Patch, C. 
B. Hutchings, W. T. Macoun, H. Lloyd, F. 
Johansen. 

Lectures—R. M. Anderson, P. A. Taverner, L. 
D. Burling, W. T. Macoun, G. A, Millar. 


Trust Funds—W. T. Macoun, 
Hewitt, H. M. Ami. 
Auditors—J. Ballantyne, E. C. Wight. 


C. Gordon 


LEADERS AT EXCURSIONS. 

Archaeology—Harlan I. Smith, F. W. Waugh, 
W. J. Wintemberg, Dr. C. M. Barbeau, Dr. E. 
Sapir. 

Botany—G. A. Millar, W. T. Macoun, Mrs. 
A. F. Brown, Dr. M. O. Malte, J. R. Dymond, E. 
C. Wight, Miss M. E. Cowan. 

Entomology—C. B. Hutchings, Arthur Gibson, 
J. M. Swaine, F. W. L. Sladen, Miss Crampe. 

Geology—Dr. E. M. Kindle, Dr. M. Y. 
Williams, H. McGillivray, L. D. Burling, E. 
Poitevin, Dr. M. E. Wilson. 

Ornithology£P. A. Taverner, C. L: Patch, Dr. 
M. Y. Williams, A. G. Kingston, Hoyes Lloyd. 

Zoology—Dr. R. M. Anderson, A. Halkett, C. 
L. Patch, E. A. LeSueur, C.oF Young tee. 
Johnson. 


Photography—W. S. Hutton. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


THE YELLOW-THROATED VIREO NEAR SEELEY’S 
Bay.—This bird is usually looked on as rather 
southern in Ontario, and I was a little surprised 
to hear its well-known and easily distinguished 
song in the woods near Seeley’s Bay while motoring 
to Ottawa on July 3, 1919. On looking up the 
records I find that there are many reports of its 
occurrence in eastern Ontario, but that observed on 
the above date is the first one that I remember to 
have seen myself, and perhaps the occurrence is 
worthy of record. 


W. E. SAUNDERS. 


A New Mammat For Canapa.—In the summer 
of 1890 the writer, with Dr. F. A. Saunders, was 
collecting mammals at Ottawa, and among others 
we were after bats. 
we took in “Clarke’s woods,” immediately north- 
west of the Observatory gate of the Experimenial 
Farm, a little brown bat, and unfortunately, we 
managed to lose the skull. Recently, I was send- 
ing some specimens for identification to Washing- 
ton, and decided that the little bat was sufficiently 
different to be identified without the skull, so I in- 
cluded it, 

The answer comes back that it is the Pipistrelle, 
Pipistrellus subflavus, and the first to be taken in 
Canada. It does not differ from the specimens 
taken in New York state near Lake George, and 
that general region, the only source of records up 
to the present. 

This bat may now be looked for in all the ter- 
ritory between Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, and 
ought to be found at Montreal. 

The little known bats are near enough alike to 
be a moderate puzzle to those who do not know 
them, but most species can be readily picked out 
by the initiated. We have in Ontario Eptesicus 
fuscus, Myotis subulatus, M. lucifugus, and prob- 
ably Nycticejus humeralis, besides the additional 
species noted above. 


W. E. SAunpeErs. 


PHENACOMYS INTERMEDIUS FROM HicH River, 
ALBERTA.—Among a small number of mammals 
sent to Washington for identification, one is re- 
turned with the above label. I have been hunting 
for specimens of this genus for years, and it is a 
sad commentary on one’s acuteness to find that an 
example has been taken and remained unrecog- 
nized! 

It was with a lot of Microtus living in a shrubby 
valley, and is really remarkably like some members 


On the evening of July 10, - 


of the other genus taken there and in the nearby 
regions. When I showed the specimen to a noted 
mammalogist he said at once that he recognized 
Phenacomys roughly by the long thick fur, but im- 
mediately he found that Microtus drummondi from 
the same locality was indistinguishable. The root 
characters of the teeth turn out to belong to very 
old individuals only, and this leaves the younger, 
though fully grown adults, in the class of “very 
difficult to identify.” 

The tail is short, but so are tails of Microtus 
found alcngside. To illustrate the difficulty the 
following measurements are of several specimens: 


Length. Tail. 
654 ‘Poenacomvs sete. Lee 123 27 
882 Microtus minor ___________ 118 26 
880 i drummondi _______ 126 35 
884 ‘; TNO Ta eer 127 29 
885 re he) | ee a 127 29 


W. E. SAuNDERs. 


BREWER’S SPARROW IN SASKATCHEWAN AND 
ALBERTA.—In a recent issue of the Condor, there 
is a record of the occurrence of this sparrow in 
Alberta, and it is given as the first record for the 
province. When I looked it up in Macoun’s 
Birds of Canada, I was surprised to find that the 
claim is correct. My impression had been that it 
was fairly well known and widespread near the 
Alberta-Saskatchewan line, but in this I was mis- 
taken. Moreover, I find that I have failed to find 
it three times when on what might be considered 
to be favorable ground in those provinces, name- 
ly, at Gull Lake, Sask.; High River, Alta., and 
Dunmore, Alta. On Sept. 1, 1896, I took a 
specimen, my first, at Maple Creek, Alta., and my 
records do not show any others observed on that 
day. I did not meet with it again until June 9, 
1906, when my train was delightfully held up all 
day at Cummings, in the dry region of Saskatche- 
wan, owing to a “washout.” The other passengers 


fretted, but to me it was a great chance. In my 


wanderings through the muddy plains that day, 
I found two nests of Brewer's sparrow and took 
two male birds, and heard and saw many others. 
These are now in my collection and measure 
138, 64, 56, 18 and 140, 65, 61, 17. 

These birds were inhabiting a sage brush coun- 
try, and the nests were in sage at about a foot 
from the ground. They resembled those of the 
field and chipping sparrows, and the eggs are of 
the same type. 


W. E. Saunpers. 


18 THE CANADIAN FieELp-NATURALIST 


Puss iN A Sparrow CHase.—Our family cat 
doubtless has figured in other sparrow chases—of 
her own instituting, but I want here to introduce 
her as a star actor in a real humanly-conducted 
chase, such as the boys in some communities at 
least, are all familiar with. 

As everyone knows, the noisy, quarrelsome, 
hungry, dirty, little English or house sparrow be- 
comes an intolerably numerous and annoying nuis- 
ance at times. To keep him within some sort of 
bounds, shooting, poisoning, and other means must 
be employed, and as I have intimated, these var- 
ious measures may be applied in concert by a 
whole community. A sparrow chase is ordin- 
arily launched by the choosing of sides, usually 
in the winter season, when other birds are out of 
harm’s way. 

On one ocasion Puss entertained us to some rather 
extraordinary behavicur, and set us wondering just 
what goes on in the mind of a mere cat. When our 
quest of sparrows one night, took us up into the barn, 
we found Puss there ahead of us on a like errand, 
experience having taught her that occasional strag- 
lers might be had for the taking. Being an old 
pet, our proceedings did not disturb her much, and 
she looked on quietly, unti! presently escaping 
sparrows, blundering about the mows, aroused her 
interest. In the fitful light of our lanterns the 
birds would sometimes find new roosting places 
under the roof, but as often as not they would 
settle where quite accessible to us, or the cat, The 
latter was quick to see her advantage, and would 
spring after a passing sparrow, or marking its 
course, would pick her way along the frame- 
work or across mows, to reach its new resting- 
place. She was soon fairly beside herself over 
the novelty of the situation; at least that is how 
we charitably accounted for some of her eccentric 
doings. Time and again on capturing a bird, she 
hurried directly to us, and dropping it at our feet, 
proceeded to divide her attention between jealously 
guarding her precious booty, and rubbing herself 
furiously about our legs. Evidently she knew she 
“hadn’t ought to” trust us humans so far, and yet 
she was consumed with a desire to manifest her 
delight, and we were the only beings about to 
show any adequate appreciation of her magnificent 
prowess. We surely did lionize her, seeking in so 
doing to hold her attention sufficiently to enable 
us to appropriate the sparrow’s head before she 


The head was 


all we wanted, but when we feared her appetite 


should take the notion to eat it. 


might begin to fail, we deftly slipped an occasional 
bird out of sight, and took care to get her in- 


[Vol, XX XPV: 


terested in the chase again as quickly as possible. 
For several nights the comedy was repeated, Puss 
retaining her inordinate vanity, or whatever we 
call it, to the end of our operations in this barn. 
Once in a while, through a lurking suspicion of us, 
or some other whim of her own, she was ready 
to ignore us, and make a meal of her capture by 
herself, but usually coaxing was effective, when 
her own motives would not have brought her. 

I have thought it worth while to record this, be- 
cause, while a cat with a bird or mouse will often 
show a certain degree of friendliness, I have never 
seen or heard of anything to compare with this de- 
monstration. On a couple of occasions I have 
known a cat with young kittens to behave in a 
somewhat similar manner. After keeping them 
carefuly secreted for a time, she one day displays 
unusual attachment to a human friend, persisting 
in her attentions until she succeeds in drawing him, 
with evident purpose, to their hiding place—another 
instance, it would seem, of some overwhelming 
hunger after human sympathy or commendation, 
which domestication has placed there. 

HERBERT GROH. 


ALBERTA NaTuRAL History Socitety.—The 
14th annual meeting of the society was held at 
Red Deer, on Friday, Nov. 28, 1919. 

At the afternoon session the usual business was 
transacted, including the reading and passing upon 
of the report and financial statement of the secre- 
tary-treasurer, and the election of officers for the 
ensuing year, viz: Hon. President, Hon. D. Mar- 
shall; Hon. Vice-President, Mr. J. J. Gaetz, 
M.P.P.; Second Vice-President Mr. H. A. 
Craig; President, Mr. F. C. Whitehouse; Vice- 
President, Mrs. W. A. Cassels; Second Vice- 
President, Dr. H. George; Directors, Mrs. 
George, Mrs. Pamley, Mrs. Root, Mr. E. Wilton, 
Mr. C. H. Snell, Mr. W. F. Harris; Edmonton, 
Messrs. K. Bowman, F. S. Carr, D. Mackie. 

At the evening session the following papers were 
read: The executive report, Mrs. Cassels; Annual 
entomological report, dealing with insect pests, Mr. 
Whitehouse; The crow family, Dr. George, illus- 
trated with specimens and eggs; Birds of Flagstaff, 
Alberta, Mr. Fleming, of the University: staff, Ed- 
monton. 

During the 
given: 


year the following papers were 


Feb. 31—Notes of a survey tour down Peace 
river and through the Peace Delta, 1916, Mr. C. 
H. Snell. 

March 28—Butterflies of Alberta, demonstrating 


January, 1920] THE CANADIAN 
the use of a mirroscope for showing specimens, Mr. 
F. C. Whitehouse. 

Sept. 26—Edible fungi, Mrs. Powell. 

In January a meeting was held at Wetaskiwin 
and special papers were given by members from 
Red Deer. 

The  Society’s 


publication of ‘Dragonflies 


FieLp- NATURALIST 19 
(Odonata) of Alberta” by F. C. Whitehouse, 1918, 
was followed this year with “Annotated Check 
List of the Macrolepidoptera of Alberta,” by Mr. 
K. Bowman. 

The society’s report is published annually in the 
Report of the Provincial Department of Agricul- 
ture. 


BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 


Six New FisHes FROM NorTHWESTERN CAN- 
apa. By Francis Harper and John Treadwell 
Nichols. Bulletin of the American Museum of 
Natural History, Vol. XLI, Art. 11, pp. 263-270, 
plate XV. New York, Sept. 22, 1919. 

‘A collection of fishes made by Francis Harper, 
while on an expedition of the Geological Survey 
of Canada to Great Slave lake in 1914, in com- 
pany with Charles Camsell “An Exploration of 
the Tazin and Taltson rivers, Northwest Terri- 
tories,” by Charles Camsell, Memoir 84, Geol. 
Series 69, 1916, pp. 1-124, plates 18, map 1), has 
been found to comprise fifteen species, represented 
by approximately 120 individuals. Although pre- 
vious collections of fishes from the region had been 
scanty and the material in poor condition, the col- 
lection described contained a surprisingly large 
proportion of previously unknown species. The 
new species described are as follows: 

Catastomus richardsoni Harper and Nichols. 
Richardson’s Gray Sucker; “Gray Sucker.” Type 
locality, Talston river, at its junction with Tazin 
river, south of Great Slave lake. Geographic 
range, Mackenzie and Winnipeg (>?) Basins. Al- 
though this species was discovered by Dr. Richard- 
son, it has been either disregarded or considered 
identical with various other species for nearly a 
century. 

Opsopoeodus borealis 
Athabasca Minnow. 


Harper and Nichols. 
Type locality, Lake Atha- 


basca, at Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Type spec- 
imen, No. 1048, Victoria Memorial Museum, 
Ottawa. 


Coregonus preblei Harper and Nichols.  Pre- 
ble’s Whitefish. Type locality, Tazin river, about 
the Taltson 
Type specimen, No. 1038, Victoria Mem- 
orial Museum, Ottawa. 

Leucichthys entomophagus Harper and Nichols. 
Tazin River Cisco. Type locality, Tazin river, 
at the foot of Kolethe rapids. Type specimen, 
No. 1021, Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 

Leucichthys athabascae Harper and _ Nichols. 
Cisco of Lake Athabasca, Type locality, Lake 


Athabasca, at mouth of Charlot river, northern 


one mile above its confluence with 
river. 


Saskatchewan. Type specimen, No. 1020, Vic- 
toria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 

Leucichthys macronathus Harper and Nichols. 
Cisco of Great Slave lake. Type locality, Shore 
waters of Great Slave lake, near Fort Resolution. 
Type specimen, No. 1031, 
Museum, Ottawa. 

All but one of the above 
fishes. 
coming more important as settlement advances into 
this borderland of the north, and the work of 
Mr. Harper is an indication that much is to be ex- 
pected when the fish fauna of the region is more 
thoroughly examined scientifically. 


R. M. ANDERSON. 


Victoria Memorial 


food 


The commercial use of these fishes is be- 


are valuable 


THE Birps oF THE Rep Deer RIVER, AL- 
BERTA, by P. A. Taverner. Reprinted from the 
Auk, January and April, 1919. A_ report of 
work done on and near the Red Deer river in the 
summer of 1918, by the author, assisted by the 
keen intelligence of Mr. C. H. Young, both of the 
Geological Survey staff. 

The party floated down the river in a rough 
‘but roomy and competent boat made for the pur- 
pose, of which the author says that he knows of 
no important detail where a change would have 
been advantageous. Camps were made at con- 
venient locations for several days at a time, and 
each locality was worked as thoroughly as time and 
circumstances permitted. A map js_ attached, 
showing the location of the various camps, and the 
topography of the country in general. 

The present account, including additional infor- 
mation available from local sources, doubtless in- 
cludes most of the breeding birds of the region. 
A commendable feature of the report of the ex- 
pedition is the treatment of the matter of geogra- 
phical variation, that bugbear of the field natur- 
alist. There are specialists whose energies are 
(or appear to be) wholly devoted to the discovery 
of infinitesimal shades of difference between ex- 
amples of a species from different habitats, and far 
be it from us to hint that theirs is not a useful 
niche in the world of ornithology, but the results 


20 THE CaANapIAN’ FieELD-NATURALIST 


of their work are often a thorn in the side, until we 
become sufficiently calloused to ignore them. Tav- 
erner is a radical, and realizes that varietal differ- 
ences are not always items of the highest import- 
ance and goes on his way in blissful carelessness 
of what some other members of the ornithological 
world may think or say of his conclusions. It is 
thus that progress is made, and the present writer 
finds it difficult, or impossible (>) to criticize such 
an attitude severely, being too strongly tinctured 
with that same spirit of radicalism himself. 

One evident lack in the preparations for the trip, 
was the providing of a pair of competent listening 
ears, for while the sight records of the party are 
beyond criticism, there are omissions which a pair 
of good ears might have prevented. Sprague’s 
skylark, for instance, probably delivered its song 
within hearing, dozens of times, before the bird 
was added to the list at Camp No. 11, while the 
Yellow rail lives in most favorable marshes in the 
district traversed, and needed only to be listened 
for, to be added. 

What the party may have lacked in this regard 
was fully made up by the keen diligence with 
which the objects of the expedition were pursued, 
and the members are to be congratulated on the 
results obtained. 

One must not forget to mention the photographs 
with which the is illuminated. To take 
such views, one needs a keen artistic sense as well 


report 


as an accurate knowledge of the capabilities of 
the camera, and both of these the author has with 
him on the spot, and used them with the very best 
results. Seldom indeed, is an article read which 
is illustrated with pictures of such beauty, and 
which, at the same time, convey to the mind such 
a clear perception of the country explored, 

As a whole, the paper makes a fine starting 
point for the further study of the birds of that 
part of Alberta. 


W. E. SAUNDERS. 


In the Auk for July, 1919, are the following 
titles of Canadian interest: 

Some Notes ON THE DRUMMING OF THE 
Rurrep Grouse, by H. E. T. Trotter, pp. 325- 
339. This recounts personal experience with, and 
the study of, the drumming of this species and is an 
important and interesting contribution to a question 
that has long been of interest and an object of con- 
siderable controversy amongst observers. 

THe Sincinc TREE, OR HOW NEAR TO THE NEST 
DO THE MALE BIRDS SING? by H. Mousley, of 
Hatley, Que., pp. 339-348. This is an account of 
the methods pursued by this notable warbler nest- 
finder. The substance of the article is that the 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


male bird has usually a regular habit of singing from 
a favorite perch, as a rule within twenty yards of the 
nest. The discovery of a bird habitually singing 
through the nesting season from a certain point 
considerably limits the area to be searched for in 
finding the nest. By carefully watching this area 
centered on the “singing tree’ Mr. Mousley has 
probably found more warbler nests in the past few 
years than any one else in an equal time in Can- 
ada. The article is a valuable contribution to field 
methods and to our knowledge of bird habits and 
should be read by all interested in the field study 
of birds. 

In Notes oN NorTH AMERICAN Birps, pp. 406- 
408, Harry C. Oberholser concludes that our Am- 
erican Pipit should be reduced to a subspecies of 
the Old World Anthus spinoletta and should be 
called Anthus spinoletta rubescens. He also pleads 
for the recognition, not at present accorded it, of 
the Kennicott Willow Warbler as a subspecies of 
Acanthopneuste borealis. 

In GENERAL NoTEs, under the title of— 

THe GENERIC NAME OF THE GANNETS, p. 417, 
Harry C. Oberholser recommends the adoption of 
Mathew’s proposal to split the genus Sula but fol- 
lowing the Code of Nomenclature of the A.O.U. 
decides contrary to him that the name Moris is the 
proper term for the division including our Gannets. 
Sula bassana would thus become Moris bassana. 

THE STATUS OF THE GENUS ARCHIBUTEO, p. 
420, the same author, states that further investigation 
induces him to agree with Hartert’s proposal to 
unite this genus with Buteo as in the feathering of 
the tarsus, the most important character of Archi- 
buteo, it intergrades with it. He, therefore, recom- 
mends that Archibuteo be reduced to subgeneric 
rank or dropped altogether in which case our two 
species would stand as Buteo lagopus sancti- 


johannes, American Rough-legged Hawk, and 
Buteo  ferrugineus, Ferugineus Rough-legged 
Hawk. P. A. TAVERNER. 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF 
Naturat History.—The Ottawa Public Library 
recently received for the Field-Naturalists’ Club, 
the following three books, from the American 
Museum of Natural History: 

“TIlustrations of the North American species of 
the Genus Catocala.” 

“The Indigenous Land Mammals of Porto Rico, 
Living and Extinct.” 

“Fquidae of the Oligocene, Miocene, and Plio- 
cene of North America, Inconographic Type Re- 
vision. 

These memoirs have been placed with the Field- 
Naturalists’ collection and may be examined on ap- 
plication. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


FEBRUARY, 1920. 


No. 2 


LAKE-SHORE BIRD MIGRATION 


AT BEAMSVILLE, ONTARIO. 


By Hamicton M. Lainc, PortTLaNnp, OREGON. 


The following field notes were gathered during 
the summer and autumn of 1918. While in the ser- 
vice of the Royal Air Force the writer was sta- 
tioned upon the south shore of Lake Ontario almost 
due north of the town of Beamsville. Here in 
checking the aerial gunnery practice six or seven 
hours were spent daily up in a fifty-foot tower at 
the water’s edge. Periods on duty ranged from 
daylight until dark. As every day was spent large- 
ly out-of-doors and duty commenced on alternate 
mornings at dawn, excellent opportunity for obser- 
vation was afforded. A rough bird census was 
taken daily and new migrants and disappearances 
thus noted. 

The country surrounding the tower and within 
range of the field glasses consisted of the open lake 
northward, and to the south stretched a flat typically 
peninsular farming land of fields and orchards in- 
terspersed with remnant wood lots. Most of the 
notes were gathered from the tower; unless other- 
wise stated, each record following may be so taken. 
A few birds were noted in the woods to southward 
that did not show themselves close to the water. 

The course of migration here was from east to 
west. A great many birds followed the shore and 
it was plain very early in the season that this was a 
pathway. Many expected species, however, not- 
ably the hawks, were disappointments, and the fol- 
lowing gleanings may be as noteworthy for their 
omissions as their records. Nearly all migrants 
chose the fine days for moving and almost invariably 
passed during the early morning hours, or before 
9 am. 
noon. 


There was little movement in the after- 
The bobolinks, bluebirds, blackbirds, snow- 
flakes, horned larks, waxwings, pipits and swallows 
made a procession of it here; other species were 
more retiring and veiled their movements. Birds 
not mentioned in the following list were not seen in 
the autumn. No specimens were taken. Where any 
doubt existed in the mind of the writer, the record is 
marked so (>). The number in italics after the 
date gives the number of birds seen. The last notes 
were made November 26. 


Colymbus auritus, Horned Grebe. Oct. 5, first 
noted; small company. Oct. 13, hundreds occupy- 
They be- 


came quite callous to machine-gun fire and were 


ing waters near shore for several miles. 


very numerous till the end of the month. Only on 
rare occasions was one of these divers noted in 
flight. Numbers declined as follows: Nov. 6 (50); 
Nov. 8 (50); Nov. 16 (1); Nov. 18 (few); Nov. 
26: (1). 

Gavia imber, Loon. Aug. 10 (1); Aug. 20 (1); 
Sept. 30 (1). During October seen almost daily 
and often in flight. Nov. | (2 in flight); Nov. 6 
(young); Nov. I] (1); Nov. 19 (one flying high 
south-east across the peninsula). 

Larus argentatus, Herring Gull. Aug. 17 (6)? 
Owing to the difficulty in distinguishing this from 
the next species, no exact record could be kept. 

Argentatus was noted in September and October 
but very sparingly, and in November the numbers 
rose and fell apparently with the weather. Nov. 
4 (numerous); Nov. 7 (beautiful adult picked up 
on shore); Nov. 20 (numerous); Nov. 26 (adult 
and young). 

Larus delewarensis, Ring-billed Gull. Much 
more common than the preceding species up till 
November. July 21, July 28, Sept. 26, Oct. 13, 
Oct. 17, Oct. 19 (young); Oct. 23, 26 and 29 
(numerous); Nov. 10. 

Larus philadelphia, Bonaparte’s Gull. Oct. 13 
(flock); Oct. 17, Oct. 31, Nov. 1 (flock). Ob- 
served also Nov. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 and 18. Unlike 
the larger gulls, this bird almost invariably was post- 
ing west close to shore. 

Sterna caspia, Caspian Tern. Sept. 4 (3); 
Sept. 25 (2). One of these birds in the first in- 
stance and both in the second were travelling east 
fairly close to shore. 

Sterna hirundo, Common Tern. Aug. 19 (12); 
Aug. 22 (3); Aug. 25 (2); Sept. 6 (flock); Sept. 
17 (11); Oct. 1 (20); Oct. 2 (three flocks). In 
nearly all cases moving westward, low. 

Phalacrocorax dilophus, Double-crested Cormor- 


ant. On Nov. 21, 23 and 24, a lone bird, doubt- 


22 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


less this species, took perch on one of the floating 
targets. Machine-gun fire from the air did not seem 
to interfere with his fishing. 

Merganser 
Suspected in the distance more than once, but none 
of the mergansers were positively identified in the 


americanus, American Merganser. 


autumn. 

Anas obscura, Black Duck. The commonest 
duck noted on this shore. Noted plentifully from 
first appearance July 26, until November. Large 
flocks on the lake Sept. 15. Last ncted Nov. 4. 

Mareca americana, Baldpate. Sept. 26?. 

Spatula clypeata, Shoveller. Sept. 19 (2). 

Dafila acuta, Pintail. Sept. 20 (3); Oct. 18 
(flock); Nov. I (1). 

Avthya marila, Scaup. Sept. 27 (flock) >. 

Clangula clangula americana, American Golden- 
eye. Oct. 26 (flock); Nov. 4, Nov. 5, Nov. 10 
(flock); Nov. 26 (3). 

Charitonetta albeola, Buffalo-head. Nov. 7 (3); 
Nov. 10 (several). 

Harelda hyemalis, Old Squaw. 
of 35); Nov. 10 (several). 

Oidemia deglandi, White-winged Scoter. One 
of the common ducks. Oct. 8 (flock); Oct. 17, 
Oct. 18, Oct. 23 (small flock); Nov. 4, Nov. 10 
(2); Nov. 21 (6); Nov. 26 (1). 

Branta canadensis, Canada Goose. Oct. 7 (20); 
Oct. 18 (43); Nov. 2 (small flock); Nov. 5 (14); 
Nov. 8 (6). Three of these flocks when observed 
were in migration and followed a south-easterly 
course toward Niagara. 

Ardea herodias, Great Blue Heron. 
(2); July 23 (2). 
most daily, usually going west, low over the water. 
Not noted between Aug. 22 and Oct. 15. Oct. 15 
(1); Oct. 27 (1). None were seen to stop here. 

Butorides virescens, Green Heron. July 27 (2); 
Aug. 13 (2); Aug. 16 (1);. These two birds 
were noted at their fishing along the little creek 
that flowed by the foot of the lower tower. 

Nycticorax nycticorax naevius, Black-crowned 


Nov. 4 (flock 


July 22 
During August seen singly al- 


Night Heron. Aug. 10 (1); Aug. 31 (1). These 
followed the shore in the evening. 
Arenaria morinella, Ruddy Turnstone. Aug. 13 


(1). Noted resting on the gravelly beach. 

Numenius hudsonicus, Hudsonian Curlew. July 
31 (15); Aug. 5 (1); Aug. 6 (small flock); Aug. 
7 (4); Aug. 10 (15); Sept. 8 (3); Oct. 1 (2)?. 
Those noted Sept. 8 were travelling east; the others 
were going west; none were seen to stop on this 
shore. 


Bartramia longicauda, Bartramian Sandpiper. 
July 25, Aug. 9 (2); Aug. 10 (2). This species 
bred locally not far from the tower. The bird ob- 


served July 25 either came across the lake or made 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


a wide circuit over the water, as he was noted com- 
ing inland several hundred yards. ‘The others were 
high in air and travelling westward. 

Actitis macularia, Spotted Sandpiper. The com- 
monest shore bird in this section. Bred plentifully; 
very numerous through July and August, the num- 
bers dwindling early in September and by the I1Ith 
of the month was gone. A doubtful record Sept. 
19. This bird gave no hint of his manner of leave- 
taking; it simply disappeared. 

Calidris arenaria, Sanderling. 
flight low over water, west-going. 

Squatarola  squatarola, Black-bellied Plover. 
Aug. 10 (2); Aug. 23 (flock); Aug. 29 (1). On 
Aug. 2, the two plover were noted in company with 
eleven curlews. These plover did not rest here; 
all were observed west-going. 


Oxyechus vociferus, Kildeer. July 23 (7); July 
30 (several); Aug. 5 (1); Aug. 7 (2); Oct. 6 
(1). The seven observed on July 23 were most 
probably a family. 
a considerable 


Aug | (3)>. In 


They were out over the water 
distance (300 yards) and were 
winging off westerly, evidently on a mission. 

Aegialitis semipalmata, Semipalmated Plover. 
Aug. 7 (7); Aug. 12 (5). The first group noted 
were old and young. They did not use this shore 
as a stopping-place, but went by low as the other 
shore birds did. 

Totanus melanoleucus, Greater Yellowlegs. Aug. 
1 (1)>. Only a fleeting glimpse of this bird was 
secured though his notes were heard. No other 
Yellowlegs were observed throughout the season. 

Bonasa umbellus togata, Ruffed Grouse. Ob- 
served in woods back on rocky ridge. During the 
“mad” season in October a bird of this species was 
reported in the orchard near the tower. 
seen by the writer. 


It was not 


Zenaidura macroura, Mourning Dove. Common 
through July, August and September. Noted also 
Oct. 4 and Oct. 13. The latter observation was 
peculiar for at this date a fledgling barely able to 
fly was discovered. 

Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, American Osprey. 
Sept. 20, a beautiful adult hunted near the shore 
during the afternoon and disappeared to eastward, 

Circus hudsonicus, Marsh Hawk. An old male 
in grey plumage came occasionally to hunt in a 
nearby field. Noted July 25, July 30; Aug. 29, 
Sept. 10. Doubtless always the same bird. One 
young bird was seen here also, but the date was 
not recorded. 


Accipiter velox, Sharp-shinned Hawk. Nov. 
23:(¥)2. 
Accipiter cooperi, Coopers Hawk. Sept. 17 


(1)?; Oct: 12 (1); Nov: 30°C); 


February, 1920] 


Buteo borealis, Red-tailed Hawk. Sept. 18 
(1)?. 
Falco sparverius, American Sparrow Hawk. 


Bred locally, but no birds were observed in migra- 
tion along the shore. 

Buteo smainsoni, Swainson’s Hawk. Sept. 2 
(1)? Possibly a Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo 
lineatus lineatus. Field description reads: ““Yellow- 
ish below; darker towards breast; little brown mark- 
ing on under parts. 

Megascops asio, Screech Owl. Oct. 9, heard 
hooting in the orchard close to the tower at night. 

Coccyzus erythrophthalmus, Black-billed Cuckoo. 
One of these birds evidently nested near the tower 
as it was observed carrying food over a regular 
beat. Disappeared July 22 and none seen later. 

Ceryle alcyon, Belted Kingfisher. Aug. 17, Aug. 
30, Oct. 3, Oct. 13. Always noted singly; never in 
migration. 

Drvyobaies pubescens medianus, Downy Wood- 
pecker. Sept. 14, Sept. 20. 

Dryobates villosus, Hairy Woodpecker. Nov. 
2, heard his loud cail in the woods a mile south of 
the lake. Not noted on the shore. 

Colaptes auratus luteus, Northern Flicker. 
20 (1). 

Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Wood- 
pecker. Aug. 26. This bird like the flicker, 
though breeding locally close at hand, did not ap- 
pear on the shore more than once in migration. 

Sphyrapicus varius, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 
Sept. 29. On this date a young bird was noted in 
the woods back of the ridge. Not noted on the 
shore. - 

Chordeiles virginianus, Night Hawk. Aug 21 
(3); Aug. 24 (8); Aug. 27 (2); Aug. 31 (2); 
Sept. 3 (1); Sept. 6 (1); Sept. 9 (1); Sept. 23 
(1). These followed the usual westerly course. 

Chaetura pelagica, Chimney Swift. July 28 (4); 
July 31 (4); Aug. 17 (15); Aug. 29 (numerous) ; 
Sept. | (2); Sept. 2 (2); Sept. 3 (1); Sept. 4 
(1); Sept. 5 (3); Sept. 7 (5); Sept. 9 (2); Sept. 
17 (3); Sept. 25 (2); Sept. 27 (several). Their 
destination was westward. 

Trochilus colubris, Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 
Sept. 14 (1). Female or young. 

Tyrannus tyrannus, Kingbird. In greatest num- 
bers about Aug. 22. Numbers thinned by Aug. 28. 
Sept. 2 disclosed a family, and Sept. 4 a single bird. 

Myiarchus crinitus, Crested Flycatcher. Sept. 14. 
A young bird noted in the timber. Not seen on 
the shore. 

Sayornis phoebe, Phoebe. Sept. | (family); 
Sept. 2 (heard calling); Sept. 12 (2, old and 
young); Sept. 17 (1); Sept. 26 (1); Sept. 29 
(heard). 


Sept. 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 23 


Contopus virens, Wceod Pewee. July 30, Aug. 
22, Aug. 28, Sept. | (heard); Sept. 6 (heard) ; 
Sept. I] (heard); Sept. 14, 17 and 18. 


Empidonax minimus, Least Flycatcher. Aug. 
28 Cb): 

Empidonax flaviventris, Yellow-bellied Fly- 
catcher. Sept. 2 (2). These were noted in the 


timber back from the shore. 

Otocoris alpestris praticola, Prairie Horned Lark. 
Horned larks bred in the adjoining fields, but 
migrants supposedly this species followed the shore 
regularly in small parties throughout October and 
November. Oct. 2 (10); Oct. 10 (numerous) ; 
Oct. 26 (flock); Oct. 30 (flock); Nov. 3 (flock) ; 
Nov. 6 (flock). 

Corvus americanus, American Crow. Bred !oc- 
ally, but no flocks passed this way in migration. 
Sept. 23 (family); Sept. 29 (small party); Oct. 1 
(4); Oct. 7, Oct. 17, Nov. 9 (2). 

Cyanocitta cristata, Blue Jay. Observed back in 
the timber, but not on the shore. 

Quiscalus quiscula aeneus, Bronzed Grackle. 
Bred locally. The flock of locals after gathering 
up to about fifty strong on July 20, left and was 
seen no more. 

Scolecophagus carolinus, Rusty Blackbird. Sept. 
30 (flock, males and females); Oct. 1 (flock); 
Oct. 4 (flock). 

Agelaius phoeniceus, Red-winged Blackbird. 
July 22 (15); Sept 1 (small party, males and 
females); Sept. 18 (12); Sept. 25 (sma!l fiock); 
Oct. 4 (flock). With the exception of the july 
flock, all the rest were migrants, like the cther birds, 
headed westward. 

Molothrus ater, Cowbird. This bird furnished 
surprises. Bred locally and during July the young 
were under observation almost daily. On July 31 
a female and two young were noted after which 
the species disappeared entirely until Oct. 4, when 
a whole flock of males, females and young in 
company with Rusty Blackbirds, one morning sur- 
rounded the tower and spent an hour before moving 
off westward. A few more followed over the same 
course Oct 6 and on Oct. 15 a male was noted. 

Icterus galbula, Baltimore Oriole. Aug. 3 (2, 
young); Aug, I] (male in song); Aug. 24, Aug. 
30 (2); Sept. 1 (1); Sept. 2 (2). These birds 
probably were locals. On Aug. 24 two were seen 
to fly out over the lake a distance as though restless 
and ready to move; and their disappearance a week 
later followed. 

Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Bobolink. Bred locally, 
but it was also one of the most interesting migrants. 
July 20 (‘“‘chinking” restlessly); July 22 (flock of 
fifty, only one faded male in evidence); Aug 6 
(two small flocks); Aug 11 (30); Aug. 15 (flock) ; 


24 THE CANADIAN 


Aug. 17 (flock); Aug. 22 (several flocks); Aug. 
24 (several flocks); Aug. 26 (several flocks); Aug. 
28 (flock); Aug. 31 (flock heard in the night, 10 
o'clock); Sept. 2 (several flocks) ; Sept. 3 (flock) ; 
Sept. 7 (heard passing over). All these later flocks 
with the exception of one or two on Aug. 22, moved 
westward. They picked fair mornings and flew 
low. Usually they followed a course out over the 
water, aiming at the points on the shore and cutting 
the bays, and though they were often disconcerted 
by the aeroplanes, could not be shaken from their 
course. The height of their migration passed on 
Aug. 24. All these flocks were small, suggesting 
families, from five to eight being the rule. None 
were observed en route in the afternoon. 

Sturnella magna, Meadowlark. Bred _ locally. 
Observed a small flock of about a dozen almost daily 
from Aug. 12 till Oct. 17. Only once (Oct. 6) 
did they show any evidence of migration, when a 
number of them flew off westward over the orchards 
as though in farewell. 

Astragalinus tristis, American Goldfinch. Sept. 
2 (several); Sept. 18 (common); Oct. 29 (five 
or six flocks heard); Nov. 16 (flock heard). It 
will be seen that this bird here was somewhat 
erratic. Only on Oct. 29 when several flocks 
passed overhead toward the west did it give a clue 
to its course. 

Carpodacus purpureus, Purple Finch. This bird 
was never definitely identified though the clucking 
notes theught to belong to this species were heard 
Aug. 12, Sept. 2 and Oct. 6. A male, probably 
nesting, sang all summer in the ravine behind the 
main camp to southward. 

Pooescetes gramineus, Vesper Sparrow, Sept. 14, 
Sept. 26, Sept. 29 (4); Oct. 2 (1); Oct. 4 (1); 
Oct. 12. This was a common summer resident 
about the tower, but like the song sparrow gave 


no hint of its manner of leave-taking. It merely 
disappeared. 

Passerculus sandwichensis savanna, Savanna 
Sparrow. Bred locally. Sept. 2 (1); Sept. 2 (in 


song); Sept. 8 (in song). This was the last de- 
finite. record; there was mystery about this bird. 
What was probably his migration began Sept. 9. 
On the morning of this date fully: fifty sparrows 
answering to the Savanna’s markings, size and notes, 
came close by the tower. They took perch in the 
top of the walnut and locust trees and gave excellent 
view in the field-glasses. In threes and fours they 
broke away at short intervals and went dodging off 
westward, plainly on a mission. On Sept. 14 and 
Sept. 25 they repeated these field manceuvres. A 
single bird of the same was noted Sept. 28. To all 
appearances these were Savannas, but the trait did 
not seem to ring true. 


FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


Zonotrichia albicollis, White-throated Sparrow. 
Sept. 25 (heard); Oct. 4 (heard in song); Oct. 7 
(several seen). 

Spizella monticola, Tree Sparrow. Oct. 18 (1); 
Nov. 6 (5); Nov. 8 (several); Nov. 16 (flock of 
12). Never observed en route; always in the 
shrubbery. 

Passer domesticus, House Sparrow. During the 
late autumn several densely crowded small flocks 
of these adjustible gamins passed the tower. They 
were mostly west-bound and suggested a local 
migration. . 

Melospiza melodia, Song Sparrow. Perhaps th 
commonest bird of the locality. Very numerous 
during September, thinning out in mid-October. Ob- 
served also Oct. 31 and Nov. 6 (2). : 

Passerella iliaca, Fox Sparrow. Oct. 12 (1). 
Observed in the woods half a mile from the 
shore. 

Junco hyemalis, Slate-colored Junco. Oct. 6 
(several); Oct. 12 (numerous); Oct. 13, Oct. 14. 
As usual, these birds were not noted on the march; 
they merely came, increased and diminished. 

Passerina nivalis, Snowflake. Oct. 15 (2); Oct. 
29 (2 flocks); Nov. 3 (4 flocks); Nov. 5 (flock) ; 
Nov. 6 (6 flocks); Nov. 9 (flock); Nov. 10 (4); 
Nov. 16 (flock); Nov. 21 (large flock); Nov. 26 
(flock). For the Snowflakes this shore seemed a 
direct pathway; they never on any occasion showed 
inclinaticn to come down to the nearby fields. 

Acanthis linaria, Redpoll. Oct. 18 (1); Oct. 19 
(3); Oct. 20 (several); Oct. 29 (5 flocks); Oct. 
30 (numerous); Nov. 3 (flock); Nov. 5 (flock) ; 
Nov. 6 (flock). These tiny sprites behaved like 
the Snowflakes, except that they invamably flew 
higher. Their chattering notes were the only means 
to identification. 

Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Towhee. Bred locally. 
Observed in timber Sept. 14 (1); Sept. 29 (1); 
Oct. 7 (1). Not observed at all on the shore. 

Calcarius lapponicus, Lapland Longspur. Noted 
only once (Nov. 9) when three went clicking over- 
head. 

Petrochelidon lunifrons, Cliff Swallow. Aug. 5 
(a few small parties); Sept. 8 (1); Sept. 19 (1)?. 
It was rather hard to definitely identify the swal- 
lows as they posted by the tower on rapid wings. 
Several “doubtfuls” were recorded. The bird on 
Sept. 9 was with barn swallows and-chimney swifts; 
the one noted Sept. 19 was alone. All were moving 
westward. post-haste, 

Hirundo erythrogaster, Barn Swallow. The 
commonest swallow here in migration. July 19 
(family); July 22 (80 counted, passing a given 
point in 5 minutes, west-going); Aug. 10 (flock); 
Aug. 24 (2 families); Sept. 5 (1); Sept. 9 (12); 


February, 1920] 


Sept. 12 (1); Oct. 4 (1). 

Tridoprocne bicolor, Tree Swallow. Aug. 10 (1 
young in a flock of barn swallows); Sept. 12 (3) ?. 

Riparia riparia, Bank Swallow. During the sum- 
mer the commonest swallow species here; several 
colonies nested in the perpendicular clay banks. 
Latest appearances, Aug 26 (2); Sept. | (2)?; 
Sept. 12 (5). 

Progne subis, Purple Martin. Only one martin 
was seen on this shore. This was late in August; 
the date of appearance was neglected. 

Ampelis cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing: In very 
large numbers along the shore by Aug. 10. The 
height of migration passed about Aug 28, in small 
parties they moved off along the shore almost ex- 
actly as the bobolinks had done. They travelled 
low, seldom over two hundred feet. Later dates 
gave Sept. 4 (1); Sept. 5 (1); Sept. 7 (3); 
Sept. 10 (2); Sept. 11 (1). 

Lanius ludovicianus migrans, Migrant Shrike. 
Bred locally. Old and young, the former with a 
fledgling house sparrow in its clutches, observed 
on the range by the tower Aug. 4. Not seen later. 

Lanius borealis, Northern «Shrike. Nov. II. 
Shrike noted on a high perch in the field; doubt- 
less this species. 

Vireo olivaceus, Red-eyed Vireo. Aug. 15 (1); 
Sept. 2 (several); Sept. 8 (1); Sept. 14 (2); 
Sept. 24 (1); Sept. 29 (2). 

Vireo flavifrons, Yellow-throated Vireo. 
8 (1)?. 

Mniotilta varia, Black and White Warbler. Sept. 
8 (1). Observed in timber half a mile from shore. 

Helminthophila peregrina, Tennessee Warbler. 
Sept. 2 (in song) ?. 

Dendroica tigrina, Cape May Warbler. Sept. 
24 (1 male). 

Dendroica aestiva, Yellow Warbler. Bred plen- 
tifully. Last young noted July 28. Aug. 6 (2); 
Aug. I] (6); Aug. 22 (2). Neither this warbler 
nor any of the others were observed to make any 
bold flights. They merely darted from one cover 


Sept. 


to another. 
Dendroica caerulescens, Black-throated Blue 
Warbler. Sept. 5 (adult male); Oct. 12 (adult 


male). The second bird was noted back from the 
shore in the timber. 

Dendroica coronata, Myrtle Warbler. Sept. 23 
(1); Sept. 25 (heard); Sept. 29 (7); Oct. 1 (1); 
Oct. 12 (numerous). Observed also Oct. 13, 15, 
16 and 17. On Oct. 16 several of these fine war- 
blers were in company with the bluebirds and as 
they worked below the tower there was a stiff 
contest between the two over the capture of a 
species of large insect prey coming from over the 
water. Often a bluebird and a warbler went after 


THE CANADIAN FieLtp-NATURALIST 25 


Seen from above it was a beau- 
tiful picture indeed. 


the same victim. 


Dendroica maculosa, Magnolia Warbler. Sept. 
6, Sept. 14 (family); Sept. 24 (adult male). 
Dendroica striata, Black-poll Warbler. The 


warbler most commonly observed on the shore. Sept. 
5, 6, 15, 17. Sept. 19 (2); Sept. 23° (1); Sept. 
24. (ZY; Sept. 25-(Z¥. 

Dendroica virens, Black-throated Green War- 
bler. Oct. 13 (1); Oct. 14 (1). Neither of these 
birds were on the shore; both were back in the 
timber. 

Geothlypis trichas brachidactyla, Northern Yel- 
low-throat. Aug. 29 (1); Sept. 17 (1). The first 
was an adult; the second young. 

Wilsonia canadensis, Canadian Warbler. 
8 (family). 
woods. 

Setophaga ruticilla, American Redstart. 
2 (young). 

Anthus pensylvanicus, American Pipit. Sept. 13 
(3); Sept. 23 (1); Oct. 31 (several). All these 


birds went by westward above the tower and 


Sept. 
These were observed back in the 


Sept. 


showed no inclination to stop here. 

Troglodytes aedon, House Wren. 

Olbiorchilus hiemalis, Winter Wren. Oct. 7 
(heard) ?; Oct. 13 (1); Oct. 14 (1). All these 
birds were in the woods back from the shore. 

Toxostoma rufum, Brown Thrasher. Bred loc- 
ally, but not observed near the shore. 

Galeoscoptes carolinensis, Catbird. Aug. 9 (2); 
Aug. II (1). 

Sitta canadensis, Red-breasted Nuthatch. Sept. 
2 (2); Sept. 8 (2); Oct. 4 (1). The September 
birds were noted in the timber to southward. 

Sitta carolinensis, White-breasted Nuthatch. 
Oct. 6 (1); Oct. 17, Oct. 31, Nov. 11 (1); Nov. 
6 (1). This species followed the shore more close- 
ly than the preceding. 

Parus aatricapillus, Black-capped Chickadee. 
Sept. 14 (2); Sept. 24 (family); Nov. | (numer- 
ous); Nov. 6, 7, 11, 26. These little sprites were 
most numerous during the first week in November. 
They plainly were working westward. On Nov. 
1, during a strong south-westerly wind, four were 
observed to spring up from a nearby walnut and 
fight it out with the wind for several minutes. They 
made two or three trials and then gave it up. They 
were more numerous at this time than circumstances 
other than migration could warrant. 

Regulus satrapa, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Oct. 
12, 13, 14, 30 and Nov. 7. On the last two dates 
only, the birds were in the apple trees along shore. 
The earlier records were back in the timber. These 
birds were always in small companies. 

Regulus calendula, Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Oct. 


Sept. 25 (1). 


26 THE CanapdiAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


1 (1); Oct. 4 (1); Oct. 6 (3); Oct. 7 (4); Oct. 
14 (2). With the exception of the last record when 
both species were found in company back in the 
woods, all the ruby-crowns were noted in the orch- 
ard below the tower. 

Hylocichla aliciae, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Oct. 
7 (1)?: 

Hylocichla  ustulata  swainsoni, Olive-backed 
Thrush. Sept. 2 (several); Sept. 8, Oct. 7 (20); 
Oct. 12 (50); Oct. 13 (3). Not one bird of these 
numbers was observed at the tower; all clung to the 
woods to southward. Owing to the extreme difh- 
culty in distinguishing the grey-cheek from the 
olive-back in the field, it is possible that numbers of 
the former may have been overlooked. 


Hylocichla guttata pallasii, Hermit Thrush. Oct. 
11 (1). On this date a thrush with a reddish tail 


was observed for a few moments almost directly 


[Vol Xe 


below the tower. It was doubtless a hermit. Not 
seen elsewhere. 

Merula migratoria, Robin. Sept. 2 (several) ; 
Sept. 7 and 8 and Oct. 4, heard in song; Oct. 13 
(12); Oct. 18 (3); Oct. 31 (1); Nov. 1 (small 
flock). 

Sialia sialis, Bluebird. Sept. (family); Sept. 
14 (family); Sept. 29 (family); Oct. 4 (flock of 
30); Oct. 6 (several; Oct. 8 (flock); Oct. 9 
(several); Oct. 16 (several); Oct. 17 (several) ; 
Oct. 18 (several). The September records prob- 
ably were all local birds; they were seen remote 
from the tower. But on Oct. 4 the birds were en 
route westward. ‘They stormed into the locusts 
nearby—a beautiful blue blizzard—and after a short 
council they swirled away again over the orchards. 
On Oct. 8 a large flock went over without stopping 
to pay their respects. The later birds were in small 
numbers and taking their time. 


THE FLORA OF WARRENS LANDING, LAKE WINNIPEG, MAN. 


By Cuas. W. Lowe, M.Sc., Botanica DEPARTMENT, UNiversiTy oF MANITOBA. 


Warrens Landing is at the extreme north of Lake 
Winnipeg and at the source of the Nelson river 
which carries all the waters of the lake to the 
Hudson Bay. It is north of the fifty-second par- 
allel and is, therefore, in that territory which has 
been recently added to the Province of Manitoba. 

The source: of the Nelson river is about 2! 
miles wide and is almost blocked by an island which 
is nearly 2 miles across with approximately 8 miles 
of coast line. The eastern channel is narrow and 
comparatively little water flows through it. The 
western channel is the important one. Here, the 
only signs or marks of civilization are four light- 
houses, two on the mainland and two on the island, 
and two fishing stations, one on the mainland and 
one on the island. It was during a visit on the first 
eleven days in August, 1918, to the fishing station 
on the island that I made the observations recorded 
here. 

Travelling northwards up Lake Winnipeg one 
cannot help noticing a number of natural features 
and | think the most conspicuous is the difference 
The east- 
ern shore is strewn with large red rocks of Lauren- 
tian granite, whilst the western shore is littered with 
grey Cambro-Silurian boulders. This 
feature is alone sufficient to make a study of the 
flora surrounding the lake of great interest. On the 
eastern side many species typical of Ontario reach 
their western limits and on the western shore are 


between the eastern and western shores. 


limestone 


found the first of many prairie forms not found in 
the east. 

Another conspicuous feature travelling north- 
wards is the gradual ascendancy of coniferous trees 
over the deciduous ones. The coniferous trees are 
not frequent at the southern end of the lake and the 
deciduous trees are comparatively few around the 
the northern shores. The prevailing conifer is the 
white spruce, Picea alba, in the more southern parts, 
and the bog spruce, Picea mariana, in the swampy 
regions of the north. The deciduous trees in the 
northern parts around the lake are comparatively 
small and restricted to poplars, willows, and a few 
birches. 

The island at Warrens Landing is practically all 
muskeg. It appears to be, for the greater part a 
deposit of mud on the top of granite and covered 
with from one to two feet of Sphagnum. Only in 
a few places is the rocky substratum exposed. It is 
thickly treed with the bog spruce. The shore on 
the south and west is littered with uprooted trees 
and shrubs. ‘This iis the result of rapid coast erosion 
and is due to the violence of lake storms, the strong 
and fast current carrying great masses of ice through 
the very shallow and comparatively narrow channel, 
and to heavy rain storms. During the eleven days 
I was there it rained every day and nearly every 
night and caused frequent landslides along the shore. 
Water slowly soaking through the Sphagnum washes 
out the loose muddy soil underneath and when a 


February, 1920] 


heavy fall of rain saturates this peaty moss the 
weight is too great for it to remain in position and 
it breaks away and slides down to the water's 
edge. 

The dominant feature of the island is the bog 
spruce, Picea mariana. It is by far the commonest 
and largest tree on the island. Near the shore in 
a few places the poplars are plentiful, but elsewhere 
they are scarce, the two species Populus tremuloides 
and P. balsamifera are evenly distributed. Larix 
laricina is not infrequent among the spruce. 


La fep uals 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 27 


The interest of the small sandy portion of the 
island centres on the variety of willows of which 
there are seven species, some of them being typically 
northern ones, as Salix candida and S. argyrocarpa. 
Mertensia paniculata is frequent here. The follow- 
ing beach plants are also restricted to this area, 
Lathyrus maritimus, L. palustris, Artemisia caudata, 
and Juncus balticus var. littoralis. 

Two plants usually found in limestone regions, 
Rhinanthus Kyrollae and Primula miséassinica, are 
found on a small mud flat which has been thrown 


Map showing the source of the Nelson river and the 


island in the source of Warrens Landing. 


A dense shrubbery undergrowth prevails through- 
out the greater part of the island and the Labrador 
tea, Ledum groenlandicum, is the most prevalent. 
Other shrubs less numerous although fairly plentiful 
are Kalmia polifolia, Chamaedaphne calyculata; 
and Viburnum pauciflorum. 

Under the shrubs many species, typical of north- 
ern regions, are found in large numbers. These in- 
clude Rubus arcticus, Rubus chamaemorus, Ranun- 
culus lapponicus, Petasites trigonophyllus, and Stell- 
aria longipes var. lacta. 


up by lake storms and is rich in fragments of broken 
calcareous shells. 

Owing to the heavy and frequent rains many 
plants were found submerged. One patch of 
Drosera rotundifolia, was in from six to eight inches 
of water, nearly every plant was in flower and 
every flower was two inches or more above the 
water. 

In the following list of species the arrangement 
and nomenclature is as far as possible that used 
in the seventh edition of Gray’s Manual of Botany. 


28 THe CaNnapiAN FieLp-NaATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


LIST OF PLANTS FOUND AT WARRENS' LANDING 
ISLAND, LAKE WINNIPEG, MANITOBA. 


EQUISETACEAE 
Equisetum arvense L. 
fluviatile L. 
sylvaticum L. 
PINACEAE 
Juniperus communis L. var. depressa Pursh. 
horizontalis Moench. 
Larix laricina (Du Roi) Koch. 
Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. 
TYPHACEAE 
Typha latifolia L. 
NAJADACEAE 
Potamogeton interior Rydb. 


Richardsonii (Benn.) Rydb. 


Carex Bebbii* Olney. 
brunnescens* Poir. 
retrorsa*® Schewin. 
utriculata* Boott. 
viridula* Michx. 
Eleocharis acicularis (L.) R. & S. 


palusiris (L.) R. & S. 


Eriophorum callitrix Cham. 
Scirpus microcarpus Presl.* 


validus WVahl.* 


LEMMACEAE 
Lemna minor L. 


JUNCACEAE 
Juncus balticus Willd. var. litioralis Engelm. 

bufonius* L. 

Richardsonianus* Schutt. 


Fig. 2. Part of the shore of the island at Warrens Landing, showing the 
effect of coast erosion. The trees are Picea mariana, Populus 


balsamifera and P. tremuloides. 


In the foreground on 


the left is Eleocharis palustris. 
ALISMACEAE LILIACEAE 
Alisma Plantago-aquatica L. Smilacina trifolia (L.) Desf. 
Sagittaria latifolia Willd. IRIDACEAE 
GRAMINEAE Sisyrinchium angustifolium Miller. 
Agropyron tenerum Vasey. ORCHIDACEAE 
Alopecuris pratensis L. Habenaria hyperborea (L.) R. Br. 


Beckmannia erucaeformis (L.) Host. 
Deschampsia caespitosa* (L.) Beauv. 
Elymus macounii* Vasey. 
Hordeum jubatum L. 
Panicularia grandis* (S. Wats.) Mash. 
Phalaris arundinacea* L. 
CYPERACEAE 
Carex atherodes* Spreng. 
aquatilis* Wahlenb, 
aurea Nutt. 


SALICAEAE 
Populus balsamifera L. 
tremuloides Michx. 


Salix 


argyrocarpa Anders. 


candida Fligge. 
discolor Muhl. 
longifolia Muhl. 
lucida Muhl. 


Plants 


Malte, 


Ottawa, 


marked with * were sent to Dr. M. O. 


for identification and confirmation, 


February, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


Salix pellita Anders. 
rostrata Richards. 
URTICACEAE 
Urtica gracills Ait. 
POLYGONACEAE 
Polygonum aviculare L. 
Convolvulus L. 
Persicaria L. 
Rumex mexicanus Meism. 


CHENOPODIACEAE 
Chenopodium album L. 


CARYOPHYLLACEAE 
Arenaria lateriflora L. 
Stellaria longifolia Muhl. 
longipes Goldie var. laeta (Richards) 
Wats. 
RANUNCULACEAE 
Actaea alba (L) Mill. 
rubra (Ait.) Willd. 
Anemone canadensis L. 
Ranunculus abortivus L. 
Cymbalaria Pursh. var alpinus Hock. 
aquatilis L. var, capillaceous D.C. 
Flammula L. var. reptans (L.) Mey. 
lapponicus L. 
pennsylvanicus L. f. 
sceleratus L. 
CRUCIFERAE 
Arabis Drummondi Gray. 
Brassica arvensis (L.) Kitz. 
Capsella Bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic. 
Erysimum cheiranthoides L. 
Lepidium apetalum Willd. 
Radicula palustris (L.) Moench. 
Sisymbrium incisum Engelm. 
DROSERACEAE 
Drosera rotundifolia L. 
SAXIFRAGACEAE 
Mitella nuda L. 
Parnassia palustris L. 
Ribes oxyacanthoides L. 
prostratum L’Her. 
ROSACEAE 
Fragaria virginiana Duchesne. 
Geum strictum Ait. 
Potentilla Anserina L. 
monspeliensis L. 
palustris L. 
Rosa acicularis Lindl. 
Rubus arcticus L. 
Chamaemorus L. 
idaeus L. var, 
R&T: 
triflorus Richards. 
LEGUMINOSAE 
Astragalus canadensis L. 


aculeatissimus 


(Mey) 


29 


Fretp- NATURALIST 


Lathyrus maritimus (L.) Bigel. 
palustris L. 
Vicia americana Muhl. 
GERANIACEAE 
Geranium Bichknellii Britton. 


VIOLACEAE 

Viola nephrophylla Greene. 
ELAEAGNACEAE 

Elaeagenus argentea Pursh. 
ONAGRACEAE 


Epilobium adenocaulon Haussk. 
angustifolium L. 
HALORAGIDACEAE 
Hippuris vulgaris L. 
ARALIACEAE 
Aralia hispida Vent. 
UMBELLIFERAE 
Carum Carvi L. 
Heracleum lanatum Michx. 
Sanicula marilandica L. 
Sium cicutaefolium Schrank. 
CORNACEAE 
Cornus canadensis L. 
stolonifera Michx. 
ERICACEAE 
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. 
Chamaedaphne calyculata (L.) Moench. 
Chiogenes hispidula (L.) T. & G. 
Kalmia polifolia Wang. 
Ledum groenlandicum Oeder. 
Pyrola asarifolia Michx. 
secunda L. 
Vaccinium Oxycoccus L. 
PRIMULACEAE 
Dodecatheon Meadia L. 
Primula mistassinica Michx. 
Trientalis americana (Pers.) Pursh. 
GENTIANACEAE 
Gentiana Amarella L. var. acuta (Michx.) 


Horder. 
BORAGINACEAE 
Mertensia paniculata (Ait.) G. Don. 
LABIATAE 
Mentha arvensis L. var. canadensis (L.) 


Briquet. 
Stachys palustris L. 
tenuifolia Willd. var. aspera (Michx.) 
Fernald, 


SCROPH ULARIACAEA 

Rhinanthus Kyrollae Chabert. 

Veronica serpyllifolia L. 
PLANTAGINACEAE 

Plantago major L. 
RUBIACEAE 

Galium triflorum Michx. 


30 THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


CAPRIFOLIACEAE 
Linnaea borealis L. var. americana (Forbes) 
Rehder. 
Viburnum pauciflorum Raf. 
CAMPANULACEAE 
Campanula rotundifolia L. 
LOBELIACEAE 
Lobelia spicata Lam. var. hirtella Gray. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


COMPOSITAE 
Artemisia. caudata Michx. 
Bidens cernua L. 
Erigeron philadelphicus L. 
Petasites sagittatus (Pursh) Gray. 

irigonophyllus Greene. 

Solidago multiradiata Ait. 
Taraxacum officinale Weber. 


CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE., 


By THE Hon. Mr. Justice LATCHForD. 


(Continued from Vol. XXXIII, page 86) 


2. SPHAERIUM CRASSUM Sterki. This species 
was described in 1901 from shells procured in North- 
ern Michigan. In Ontario it has so far been found 
in but one locality—an artificial water-course, made 
abcut twenty-five years ago to intersect the flow of 
Cave creek across Holland Avenue, and divert it 
directly northward to a new outlet above the Little 
Chaudiere rapids. The members of the Club are 
now regrettably few who can recall the time when 
this stream disappeared into a rocky cave or fissure 
in Hintonburg, south of the Richmond road, and saw 
light again only when near the foot ef Lazy Snye— 
le Chenal Paresseux of the rivermen—a locality pro- 
lific in molluscs in those remote days, though now 
foul and virtually barren. 


A few immature shells, collected long ago in Cave 
creek, on the Stewart and Hinton farms, when it 
contained a large volume of water, which were 
thought to be S. sulcatum, were probably S. crassum. 
But the very metropolis of the species was not dis- 
covered until many years later. Jt was—not is, I 
regret to say—in the deepest part of the cutting 
through the Black river limestone, north of the 
Canadian Pacific Railway, in the line of Holland 
Avenue produced. There was at the time about 
a foot of clear water at the bottom of the trench, 
flowing freely over a few inches of small pieces of 
rock—in many cases fragments of cephalopods, 
corals and brachipods that had flourished and per- 
ished on the shores of a torrid sea in the inconceiv- 
ably remote era when this limestone was in process 
of formation. Among these relics of primaeval 
faunas the new species was unexpectedly found 
in great numbers and beautiful form. Dr. Walker 
has courteously afforded me an opportunity of 
examining specimens of the type lot from Michigan. 
Our shells are larger and more robust, but appear 
to be identical in many of their aspects. 

It is fortunate that an extensive series was secured 
during the season when S. crassum was first ob- 


served, as more recent visits to the locality proved 
absolutely fruitless. The new intercepting system cf 
drainage along Wellington Street had cut off the 
flow of water from the south, and large blocks of 
stone fallen from the banks had clogged the cutting 
so that little water flowed thrcugh it. Of this rare 
and remarkable species not even a “bone’—as a 
mere value or empty shell is called—could be 
found, though many of Lymnaea palustris (a pond 
snail that ranges deeply over three continents) and 
of a large form of Planorbis trivolvis were noticed. 
However, on passing cut of the cutting, and reach- 
ing a muddy pool in the stretch extending directly 
southward to the railway, a few good specimens of 
S. crassum were procured. This locality was still 
producing sparingly in August, 1919. For a few 
more years it will doubtless afford opportunities for 
collecting this fine shell, and then, like the ponds 
which once existed near Gladstone Avenue and St. 
Louis’ Dam, be swallowed by the insatiable city. 

S. crassum, when mature, is easily distinguished 
from S. sulcatum, especially when large number of 
the two species are placed side by side. To state 
the precise differences briefly and without the use 
of many technical words is difficult. Perhaps it will 
suffice to say that crassum as found near Ottawa, is 
less elongated than sulcatum, more inflated and 
heavier; the umbones are larger and rounder, and 
the beaks more closely approximate. The striae 
are deeper, and the rest bands are less distinct; the 
general colour, a deep ashy grey, is much more 
uniform. 

This fine Sphaerium probably occurs in other 
places in Ontario, I have a few shells in poor condi- 
tion from Masham which may be crassum. It is 
said by Dr. Sterki to have been found in Quebec, 
and New York, but the localities are not given.° 

3. SPHAERIUM AUREUM Prime was described in 
1851 from speciments probably found by Prof. 


6Ann. Carng. Mus. Vol. X (1916) p. 432. 


February, 1920] 


Agassiz on the expedition to Lake Superior. It is 
supposed to be identical with a Sphaerium now 
found in the Upper Mississippi Valley, in Illinois, 
Iowa, South Dakota, and as far east as North- 
western Ohio. Such shells are generally light to 
dark corneous or greyish. As it occurs near Ottawa 
it conforms more clesely to Prime’s description, and 
is “bright golden” or “greenish-yellow.” Like S. 
crassum it has been found here in but one station— 
Moore’s Creek in Hull. It is not a commen shell, 
but is least rare in a pool about a hundred yards 
north of the Aylmer Road, near the abrupt turn of 
the stream southward, after a short westerly course. 
It is smaller than S. sulcatum, and larger than the 
recently described S. torsum, which are found asso- 
ciated with it in Moore’s Creek. 


A single representative of each of ‘the three genera 
of Unionidae found in Canada occurs in the same 
stream—Unio compressus. Lea, Margaritana undu- 
lata Say, and Anodonta ferussaciana, var. subcylin- 
dracea Lea—the latter being the only anodon occur- 
ing also in the creeks at Stittville and Britannia 


Highlands. 
Mr. €. W. Johnson of the Boston Society of 


Natural History, has ccmpared specimens of S. 
aureum from Hull with shells believed to be Prime’s 
types, and is satisfied of the corectness of the identi- 
fication, which Dr. Sterki confirms. 


A single shell, shorter and much more inflated— 
almost sphaerical in fact—from Moore’s creek, is 
doubtfully referable to this species. It might be re- 
garded as merely abnormal if another shell, iden- 
tical in size and shape, had not been found in the 
outlet of Meach Lake. If additional specimens 
should be found, the shell may be entitled to specific 
rank. 


4. SPHAERIUM FLAVUM Prime is another of the 
shells described from specimens found on the Agassiz 
Expedition, and was described as from Sault Sie. 
Marie. Dr. Sterki states its habitat to be “the 
region of the Great Lakes.””’ Whiteaves’ records 
it as collected by Mr. McInnis in the Root and 
English rivers, near Lac Seul, in north-western 
Ontario. 


My first specimens were imperfect separate valves 
obtained in the early eighties in the mill pond of 
Pattee & Perley, at the Chaudiere, which happened 
at the time to be empty. They were sent for inden- 
tification to Tryon of the Philadelphia Academy, 
who marked them “S, striatinum?” It was not until 
long afterward, one day in late summer, when the 
river was very low, that the shell was found living 
about a mile higher up the Ottawa. I was picking 
my steps along the remains of the dam that once led 
_a portion of the waters of the Little Chaudiere to the 


7Report Bureau of Mines, 1912, p. 138. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 31 


pioneer mills of Nicholas Sparks.* As the crib 
work of the dam decaycd the filling of stones and 
gravel was in places pressed outwards into the 
rapids. In the centre of a runnel in one of the 
breaches so formed I observed what seemed like a 
number of golden beads. Closer inspection proved 
the attractive little objects to bz bright yellow 
sphaeriums unlike any form of striatinum known to 
me. Large numbers were collected in this and other 
similar places along the dam, and good sets dis- 
tributed among my correspondents. The shell was 
so uniformly regarded as S. flavum of Prime that 
I have little doubt of the correctness of the identi- 
fication. 

Although the dam has since been swept com- 
pletely away, the shell is, I am sure, still to be found 
in the depressions in the rapids where eddies form 
and fragments of rock accumulate. However the 
current is usually so strong that wading would be 
seldom unattended with danger. One locality for 
this species is accessible without risk when the river 
is low. It is in the old mill race itself. Along the 
shore line, and from fifty to a hundred feet above 
the dead water in the “Snye,” lies a narrow talus, 
covered in late summer with not more than a few 
inches of water. On moving the larger stones and 
raking among the smaller ones, many specimens of 
this shell may be easily found. 

S. flavum is smaller than any of the shells pre- 
viously mentioned, At Ottawa it rarely exceeds 10 
mm. in length. Its color is brighter than that of any 
of our sphaeriums except the much larger S. aureum 
and certain of the less inflated S. occidentale. As 
no other shell of the family has been observed in 


sIt may be of interest to note that Captain Le 
Sreton’s mills at Britannia were of a still earlier 
date. They were begun in 1818 to serve the military 
settlements established in that year at Richmond 
and March, and were the first built on the Upper 
Canada shore of the Grand river (as the old name 
of the Ottawa was then commonly abbreviated) 
above the Long Sault, where Hewkesbury now is. 
Robert Randall’s ambitious projects to develop water 
power and establish mills and iron works to smelt 
the Hull ores on his four hundred acre property, 
purchased in 1809, and extending (in present-day 
nomenclature) from Bronson avenue to Booth 
avenue «nd from Carling avenue to the Ottawa (but 
not including the islands), were frustrated by the 
persecution to which he was subjected by members 
of the Family Compact, his seven years’ imprison- 
ment at Montreal, and the scheme devised and suc- 
cessfully carried out by Le Breton and Levius 
Peters Sherwood, assisted by Sherwood’s brothers- 
in-law, John Stuart and Henry John Boulton, by 
which Stuart, as sheriff of Brockville, at the in- 
stance of Boulton, and without notice to Randall, 
for whom Boulton had acted as counsel, sold to Le 
Breton on December 11, 1820, all Randall's lands in 
whet is now the heart.of Ottawa. On the next day 
the captain, as no doubt in duty bound, conveyed an 
undivided half-interest in the property to Sher- 
wood. The story of this nefarious transaction, 
which was held nevertheless by a judicial member 
of the Compact to be within the law, is told at 
length in Appendix (S.8.S.S.) to the Journals of the 
Legislative Assembly of Upper Cenada for. 1853. 

The destruction of Sparks’ mills is among the 
faintest of early memories. Of these mills—as of 
Troy—it may be truly said that even the ruins have 
perished. 


32 THe CanapiaN’ FiIELD-NATURALIST 


the Little Chaudiere rapids, at least along the Ont- 
ario shore, any bright little bivalve found there may 
safely be designated S. flavum. 

5. SPHAERIUM RHOMBOIDEUM Say is a shell of 
great beauty and very wide distribution, its range 
extending from the New England States to Alaska. 
The most northerly locality recorded for this prov- 
ince is Albany river, where it was collected by Mr. 
McInnes. 

The specific name, like many of the names ap- 
plied by the famous naturalist who described it, ex- 
presses the most striking characteristic of the species. 
Certain other sphaeria are rhomboidal in lateral 
outline; but none appears so obviously to have that 
form. Other features renders this species readily 
distinguishable. The epidermis is highly polished, 
usually dark olive in color, with lighter bands and 
an outer yellow zone. In a few localities, however, 
it is of a uniform deep brown. This is especially a 
marked feature of the shells from the pond on Duck 
Island, and, to a less extent, of those from the pond 
on the Metropolitan Electric Company’s property at 
Britannia. Iron in the water may have brought 
about this effect. No other cause can in my opinion 
be suggested for the brown color—not only external 
but incorporated in the substance of the shell of the 
lymnaeidae which swarm in the bay, opposite the 
Rideau falls, into which Leamy lake discharges— 
“the Rafting Ground” of other times, where the huge 
sticks of white pine, made in the chantiers of the 
Wrights, McGoeys, and Hamiltons, were after their 
perilous drive down the chutes and cataracts of the 
Gatineau, formed into cribs and rafts in the spacious 
days of the square timber trade. Either from rusted 
chains, iron implements long lost in the bay, or from 
leachings from the mines and furnaces once operated 
a few miles to the north, every shell there acquires a 
coat of brown mail, and many become dwarfed in 
growth. Planorbis antrorsus has not a tenth of the 
volume of shells of the same species found among the 
nearby hills; and Pl. campanulatus is even smaller 
than the depauperate form from the marl beds at 
Hemlock Lake. S. rhomboideum, as it occurs not 
in the bay, but in the canal leading into it from 
Leamy lake, is not seriously affected, though browner 
than any found elsewhere except at Britannia and 
on Duck island. 

This species was once very common in the ponds 
north of St. Louis’ Dam, and is doubtless still to be 
found in Dow’s lake, south of it. Farther to the south 
it ocurs in the outlet of Dow’s swamp. To the east 
it is found in Hemlock lake, but not in large num- 
bers. The most easily accessible and productive 
locality for it is the creek in Britannia Highlands, at 
the Bridge on Tavistook Road. It may, however, be 
met with in almost any stream or pond on the On- 
tario side of the Ottawa. In the clearer waters of 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


the Laurentian hills it seems to occur but rarely. One 
specimen has been found in Meach lake, and none 
elsewhere on the Quebec side. An adult shell of 
average size measures 13x10x9 mm. Young shells 
are proportionably less inflated. 

6. SPHAERIUM OCCIDENTALE Prime. This is one 
of our commonest species. It may be found in almost 
any marsh, or any depression in our deciduous 
woods where water lies at intervals. Many of the 
sphaeriidae are capable of enduring long periods of 
dessication—more apparent at times than real, as 
some moisture will on careful investigation be often 
seen to be present; but this species can seal up its 
activities and lie dormant for weeks or months in 
the driest situations. Of course all molluscs livine 
in our marshes, and shallow creeks, and ponds, are 
frozen stiff as icicles every winter; but except in 
winter comparatively few can remain long alive 
without water or at least moisture. SS. occidentale 
can better endure a long period of absolute drought, 
such as sometimes prevails in Ontario, especially in 
recent years, than any of the genus. None of our 
large bivalves seems capable of enduring dessica- 
tion for more than a few days or at most a week; 
though certain Florida kinds have been found alive - 
by Charles T. Simpson in stations which had long 
been as dry as dust. 

In the woods in the Eastern part of the City, near 
Beechwood cemetery, every hollow contains this 
Sphaerium and no other. In midsummer it may be 
found in such places by: raking the surface of the 
mould. It is usually bright yellow, oval in outline, 
but slightly inflated, and seldom exceeds 8 mm. in 
length. A much paler form ocurs on Lemieux island, 
south of the new pumping station. It is a clear 
Naples yellow in color, but does not vary from the 
normal in any other respect. At Britannia where 
S. occidentale exists in great numbers in the marsh 
in Loma Park, near the Magee farm, and, on that 
farm, north of the railway lines, in a hollow under 
large willows directly north of Britannia Highlands 
station—a locality singularly prolific in many desir- 
able shells—it is smoky grey in color. West of the 
village it may be found inside the railway culvert. 
In these and other stations it is accompanied by 
several members of the family, and the beginner 
would do well to procure first the shells of McKay’s 
bush or Lemieux island before resorting to places 
where several sphaeriums and musculiums are also 
found. 

Under an inch objective this shell will be noticed 
to be covered with numerous small papillae. This 
feature has not been observed in any of our other 
species, and may serve as a means of identifying 
occidentale. Once however the characteristics of the 
species are carefully observed, confusion with any 
other known to occur near Ottawa is unlikely. 


February, 1920] 


S. occidentale does not extend as far to the north 
as S. rhomboideum. It ranges however in a belt of 
irregular width from Quebec and the Eastern States 
to California and British Columbia. 

7. SPHAERIUM TORSUM Sterki was described 
from shells collected in Moore’s Creek in the same 
station that affords S. aureum. I have not found 
it elsewhere. Dr, Sterki may, however, have speci- 
mens among shells sent to him from the Rideau. If 
so the fact escaped my notice. By his permission— 
one of many sets of kindness—I append his descrip- 
tion: — 

Sphaerium torsum sp. nov. 

Mussel inequipartite, oblique, well-inflated, poster- 
ior part higher, and much more voluminous than the 
anterior; dorso-ventral axis curved and oblique; 
beaks strongly inclined forward, large, prominent, 
rounded, not or slightly, mamillar, superior margin 
curved, not, or barely, bounded by angles; scutum 
and scutellum well marked; anterior and posterior 
ends rounded, inferior margin moderately curved; 
surface with fine, slight, irregular or subregular con- 
centric striae and a few lines of growth, shining; 
yellow, straw colored in younger specimens; shell 
moderately strong, hinge long for the shape and size 
of the mussel, almost regularly curved, rather slight; 
cardinal teeth small, the left posterior tooth vestigial 
in some specimens; laminae rather slight, at almost 
right angles to each other; ligament covered, resilium 
moderately strong. Soft parts not examined. Long. 
1] mm.; alt. 9 mm.; diam. 7 mm. (100: 83:64). 

S. torsum appears to range near emarginatum of 
the same region, but is more oblique, of more rounded 
outlines, more evenly inflated. The beaks are less 
elevated, less mamillar, and more inclined forward, 
and the hinge is much slighter. 

Habitat Quebec, Ontario, along the Ottawa 
River near Hull and Ottawa, collected by Justice 
Latchford. No. 6956 for full-grown, and 7286 
for young and adolescent specimens. It occurs also 
in Wisconsin. 

Fossil—Goat Island, Niagara, collected by Miss 
J. E. Lotson, 1900, (No. 2224a). 

8. SPHAERIUM EMARGINATUM Prime ranges 
from Maine to Lake Superior and Winnipeg, and 
northwest to the District of Patricia, where it was 
found by Mr. McInnes in the Attawapiscat river. 
Mr. James 1H. Ferris found it in great numbers in 
the Montreal river, north of Sault St. Marie, and 
has kindly sent me specimens from that locality. 

In the vicinity of Ottawa this species has been 
found only in the canal, above Hartwell’s locks, and 
in the outlet of Phillip’s lake, in the County of Pon- 
tiac. Its resemblance to torsum is indicated in the 
description of that species. The Ottawa shells are 
slightly more inflated, the average size from the canal 


being 10.2 x 8 x 7 mm. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 33 


9. SPHAERIUM STAMINEUM Conrad does not 
seem to be a common shell in or near Ottawa, where 
I have not found it elsewhere than in the Rideau 
opposite Strathcona Park. In Toronto it abounds in 
the Don and Humber. The beautiful little Lynn 
between Simcoe and Port Ryerse, in the County of 
Norfolk, also affords it in great numbers. 

A shell doubtfully considered stamineum, but 
which may be an undescribed species, occurs in the 
outlet of Swan lake in Pontiac. 
only a few could be procured. 

S. stamineum is approximately triangular in out- 
line and of a uniform yellow color. The name ap- 
plied to it by Conrad (meaning thready or fibrous) 
does not refer to any of its characteristics. Probably 
stramineum (=strawy) was the term intended, as 
that is the prevailing color of the species; but as 
the specific name applied has some meaning it must 
stand for all time. Toronto shells average 13.5 x 10 
x 9.7 m.m. 

10. SPHAERIUM ACUMINATUM Prime. A mus- 
sel believed to be this species is very common in 
Lake Des Chenes, especially above the pier at 
Britannia and in Graham Bay. Prime at one time 
at least regarded acuminatum as a synonym of séri- 
atinum ; but no form of the latter species that I have 
ever seen approaches in appearances the Des Chenés 
shell when mature, though young shells are not un- 
like young striatinum. 

In midsummer dead shells may be occassionally 
noticed washed up along the railway embankment at 
the southerly end of the bay. Later, when the river 
is in its lowest state, thousands of this species rise 
from their drying beds all over the exposed flats, 
and plough along the surface their slow way— 
devious at times but in the main direct—towards 
the receding water. This manifestation of the in- 
stinct of self preservation is common to all mussels, 
large and small, in similar condition; but I know of 
no place in which it is more plainly exhibited than 
in Graham bay. The furrows end in a deeper de- 
pression when the animal is exhausted or has reached 
a location sufficiently moist. The number of speci- 
mens that one can collect is limited only by the 
time at one’s disposal. Children learn quickly where 
the shells are to be found, and delight in picking them 
up and rendering aid to the naturalist who desires 
a large series of specimens. Identification is ren- 
dered easy owing to the fact that no other Sphae- 
rium has been found in the bay. Many pisidia how- 
ever ocur there—of which more hereafter; and south 
of the railway, in the marsh, connected at high water 
with the bay through a culvert, several species of 
our three genera of sphaeridae are to be found in 
early summer. 

Eighty or ninety shells found on June 21, 1916, 


between little islets, near the shore, about five hun- 


Unfortunately 


34 THe CanapiAN FieLtp-NATURALIST 


dred yards west of the pier at North Bay in Lake 
Nipissing, while similar to acuminatum not fully 
matured, appear to be a different species, If so, they 
have not been described. Additional material in 
quantity, collected later in the season, would pro- 
bably remove all doubt; but an effort to obtain it 
on the occasion of a subsequent visit failed owing 
to the height of the water and the absence of pro- 
per facilities for dredging. The ten largest shells 
found average 8.78 x 7, 15 x 5.13 mm. or 100: 81.5: 
58.5. 


The average size of ten full grown shells found: 


at Britannia is 12.1 x 10 x 7.5 mm. or 100:82.5: 
61.5. Four miles up the lake, in Shirley’s Bay, the 
shell is slightly smaller. The species occurs sparsely 
along New Orchard Beach. 

11. SPHAERIUM STRIATINUM LAMARCK was de- 
scribed in 1818 from specimens believed to have been 
collected in Lake George, New York. The types 
are, I presume, preserved in the Jardin des Plantes. 
The type locality lies in a region where there are few 
collectors, even among those who, like the writer, 
occasionally visit its lovely shores. My few oppor- 
tunities have been restricted to the south or upper 
end of the lake, and were absolutely fruitless. The 
shell doubtless occurs in one or more of the bays 
along the east shore, or at the outlet, near historic 
Ticonderoga. 

The desirability of obtaining shells from the 
locality which furnished the type chiefly arises from 
the brevity of the original description and the difh- 
culty of determining what shell it was applied to. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Lincoln had in his law office a drawer labelled 
“Tf you can’t find it anywhere else, look here.” 
Similarly striatium is a species to which any medium 
sized shell of the genus may be assigned. Dr. Sterki 
states (Am. Carng. Mus. Vol. X, p. 437) that al- 
most every Sphaerium has been named “striatinum.” 

Mussels believed to be of that species abound on 
the sandy shoals along the northerly shore of Duck 
Ilsand. They are so numerous that sometimes in 
August and September they form a distinct line 
where washed up by the waves from passing boats, 
and are preyed upon by plover and cther wading 
birds. Ten adult shells average 11.2 x 8.3 x 5.6 
mm., or 100: 74:50. No Sphaerium but this has 
been observed along the upper beaches of the island, 
unless a shorter and less inflated shell which is but 
occasionally met with shall prove distinct. 

Striatinum has been found in the canal at Corn- 
wall. Shells from that locality more nearly resemble 
specimens attributed to this species received from 
various points in the United States than do the Duck 
Island shells. It occurred among shells collected 
at Toronto, in the bay east of the mouth of the 
Humber, a locality now destroyed by harbor im- 
provements, which afforded me the only specimens 
of the European Valvata piscinalis L. discovered on 
In passing it may be mentioned that 
Bithynia tentaculata L., 
abounds in Toronto Bay, and in the canal at Corn- 


this continent. 
another importation, 


wall. 


(To be continued.) 


BELATED GUESTS. 


By Frank Morris, PETERBOROUGH, ONT. 


In the last week of December, while working on 
examination papers, I took an occasional tramp with 
a colleague through the countryside about the city 
of Peterborough, Ont. We were both armed with 
field-glasses and got more than the usual run of 
luck in observations. 

On one occasion, west of the city, we sighted a 
flock of small birds at work among the coarse stalks 
of pigweed and other plants in a wayside field. 
The quickness of the birds’ movements and the cur- 
ious unanimity of the whole flock, as it forged hur- 
riedly ahead to a fresh clump of seed spikes, or 
rose in swirling flight through the air, now warping 
half across the field, to settle suddenly down, as 
by a single impulse, at some unexpected point—all 
this made endless entertainment to watch, even 
though the bleak wind drew the rheum from one’s 
eyes. On closer view the flock proved to be made 


up of goldfinches in their sober garb of winter with 
a sprinkling of snowbirds. 

East of the city, again, on Dec. 28th, from the 
middle of a field beside us, there suddenly rose 
just such another flock of small birds, for all the 
world like a flutter of leaves caught up by a ran- 
dom gust and swept through the air; along they 
came, warping this way and that, now rising, now 
falling; and suddenly wheeling downwards in mid- 
air, dropped into a row of elm saplings right be- 
side us. The numerous faint twitterings heard in 
flight were replaced by one or two, single, clear, 
deliciously sweet canary notes of tmee-ce, twee-ee, 
from some leader of the band. ‘“Goldfinches,” I 
exclaimed; but my companion, more alert with his 
glasses, soon detected the rich brown-crimson cap of 
the Redpoll, and before I had time to confound 
my ears with the more telling evidence of the 


February, 1920] 


eye, another puff of impulse had caught them into 
the welkin and away beyond our ken. 

Hoping next day to get another glimpse of living 
nature in the form of these winged spirits, we 
sallied forth after an early lunch past the field of 
their operations ;—nothing to be seen, but the wide- 
spread carpet of snow’ with scattered stalks of 
weeds and dry brown clover heads protruding here 
and there. 


A mile or more east, we turned down a side- 
road, and had just risen from swamp level with 
poplar and cedar thickets on either side, when a 
large cinnamon-brown bird flew across the road 
in front of us, apparently from the outskirts of an 
old deserted orchard on our right. 


It settled forthwith, in some staghorn sumacs at 
the margin of the road within 4 or 5 yards of where 
we stood. Like many birds seen feeding in win- 
ter, it appeared remarkably tame; there it perched, 
while we scanned it leisurely through our glasses; 
z large bright-brown bird with broken lines of 
dark throstle flecks on its white breast, a long 
light brown tail apparently more than doubling the 
length of the bird; on-the forward half of the wing 
two distinct, if not conspicuous bars of whitish, the 
upper somewhat shorter than the lower; unmistak- 


ably, the Brown Thrasher. 


It presented a remarkable picture as it stcod 
swaying slightly in the breeze among the stiff, naked 
and fantastically angled branches of the sumac; pre- 
sently, craning forward and up, it drove its long 
slender bill into one of the quaint, velvety-crimson, 
candelabra seed-spikes of the “Staghorn,” and ate 
voraciously. A slight breeze was blowing and the 
delicate plumes of the bird’s neck and back ruffled 
and stirred with the play of the air as soft as 
thistledown; perhaps this flufiing of its feathers was 
a protest at the chill of our northern winter. Oc- 
casionally the breeze freshened and the bird al- 
most lost its balance, reft of its beloved prop and 
windbreak of summer foliage; once I saw it partly 
unfurl the wings, but for the most part it used the 
long tail for a balancer, depressing and spreading 
the feathers fanwise in perfect adjustment to the 
streams of air. 


From first to last the bird remained perfectly 
silent and careless, though aware of its observers. 
It little skilled to note that here and there in the 
sumac where the bird had perched, the stout vel- 
vety spikes had already been picked to the bone 
and nothing left but bare skeletons of stem and 
pedicel; or that on the snow-white floorcloth be- 
neath lay a sprinkling of seed and husk—crumbs 
from the feast of previous days; none but the most 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 35 


perverse of skeptics needed any such demonstra- 
tion; in the directness with which the bird flew to 
the sumac, mounted its perch and fell to, the in- 
ference was already plain—here was its daily lunch 
counter where it had a standing order for one set 
dish and no other, 
shew this constant preference in their food; the 


Many of our winter residents 


Pine Grosbeak flocks to the rowan, the Evening 
Grosbeak to the Manitoba maple, with the same 
unerring flight as this Thrasher to the sumac. 


We took our fill of this delightful sight and then 
passed quietly on, leaving the bird still “throng” 
The Brown Thrasher 


given me many an hour of exquisite pleasure, 


at its simple one-course meal. 
has 
listening to its rhapsodies of leafy June, but I 
would not for a wilderness of summer songbirds 
have missed this sight of him in our December bar- 
rens, and the image of + all will not quickly fade 
from the heart. 

Twenty minutes later, as we retraced our steps 
on the next line scuth, we were stopped at the 
crest of a hill by a flock of Redpolls playing in 
the cedar shrubberies. The birds seemed to court 
the inner recesses of their thicket, and rather than 
be spied on presently rose in a twittering cloud and 
were wafted away to the south, We were just 
turning away with a sigh of pleased content at 
their joy of life, when we both on the instant be- 
came aware of some larger form moving about 
Fol- 


lowing its direction a few paces, we soon came 


under the cedars, skulking in the shadows. 


abreast of it, and quite unconcernedly it stopped 
and faced about in an open place by the fence; 
by all the Powers! a Ground Robin or Towhee, 
and a male at that! black coat, jet hood and cape, 
white vest flanked at the wings with reddish brown, 
and when it turned away, a long black tail with 
conspicuous white margins and cross marks at the 
cuter end. 


What were these birds thinking about? Had 
Doan Whetung of Chemeng deceived them to their 
undoing with his forecast cf an open winter, or 
hed birds and Indien chief alike misread the signs 
of the weather? December the 29th was a fine 
winter’s day, bright and almost calm, with only 
10 or 12 degrees of frest; but it is worth noting 
that three weeks earlier we had passed throuch 
a zero dip at least. Three times since, I have gone 
the same round. anvroaching the hallowed sncts 
with bated breath. but no further vision has been 
vouchsafed ; 
these summer residents of ours ever managed to see 
the old year out, cr sped south for their new year, as 
having outstayed their welcome in old Ontario. 


and I cannot even be sure whether 


36 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Micratory Birps CoNVENTION AcT PROSECUTIONS. 


The following is a condensed list of some of the 
cases brought into court by officers of the Dominion 
Parks Branch, of the Department of the Interior. 
The Dominion Parks Branch will be pleased to 
receive notice of cases brought by private individ- 
uals or societies. 

Marr MILLINERY ComPANY, LIMITED, St. John, 
New Brunswick, pleaded guilty to having posses- 
sion of gull plumage, and a fine of $10.00 was im- 
posed. 

Nettie McKinnon, Digby, Nova Scotia, fined 
$10.00 for having gull plumage in her possession. 

Miss G. P. Maw.ey, Summerside, Prince Ed- 
ward Island, fined $10.00 for having Brant out of 
season. 

GrorcE ARSENAULT, St. Elinor’s, Prince Ed- 
ward Island, sold Brant in June and was fined 
$10.00. 

Mr. McApam, manager, Island Cold Storage 
Company, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 
fined $10.00 for having Brant in his possession and 
birds confiscated. 

Francis RucGLEs, Caledonia, Nova Scotia, fined 
$10.00 for shooting White-rumped Sandpipers. 

EpcarR Fromm, FRANK Dixon and JoHN TING- 
LEY, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, were 
convicted for having black duck out of season, and 
penalties of $20.00 each imposed. 


T. G. BuTLer, Ottawa, fined $10.00 for having 
a mounted loon. 

James Baker, of Clam Harbour, Nova Scotia, 
found guilty of illegal possession of eider duck and 
fined $10.00. 

Victor Crain, of Boston, Massachusetts, found 
guilty and gun confiscated for shooting shore birds 
in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. 

Wattace HatFieLp, of Central Argyle, Nova 
Scotia, was convicted of shooting Willets. 

CuHarLes Muse, of Central Argyle, 
Scotia, also convicted for same offence. 

FREEMAN DEVILLER, of Lower Melbourne, Nova 


Scotia, ordered to release young flock of ducks held 
in captivity. 


Nova 


The following mounted birds were confiscated at 
Ottawa: A Great Blue Heron, a Flicker, a Wood 
Duck, 3 Loons, a Herring Gull, and a Pileated 
Woodpecker. 


EucENE VAN ANBERG, of Lockport, Nova 
Scotia, found guilty and fined $10.00 for shooting 


an eider duck. 


ERNEST THOBURN, Lower Jordan Bay, Nova 
Scotia, fined $10.00 for shooting eider duck. 


WinsLow BUCHANAN, Lower Sandy Bay, Nova 
Scotia, shot an eider duck, and was fined $10.00. 


Tue ABsENCE OF Sonc Birps IN THE WILDER- 
Ness oF Nova Scotia—Any “bird man” who for 
the first time makes a trip to the wilderness country 
in the interior of the Province of Nova Scotia will 
be struck by the absence of bird songs. There are 
birds, it is true, but no real singers that at times 
compel us to pause in the act of dipping our paddle 
in the glassy lake or arrest our hasty step as some 
of our best feathered performers of the orchards and 
the clearings do. Occasionally the croak of a 
raven is heard or the dee-dee of chickadees, both 
the common yariety and the Hudsonian, and at 
night the hoot of the Great-Horned Owl. The 
Canadian Jay is quite common and well known 
with his extremely slow and noiseless flight, and 
his discordant Occasionally a flock of 
Crossbills will pass overhead with undulating flight, 
spreading out and closing together again in fan-like 
fashion, leaving one wondering why they do not 
collide and injure their frail wings. The flute-like 
whistle of these little acrobats is quite pleasant when 
nearby, and yet it would be impossible to describe it 
as a song. During the fall months, one meets more 


ca-Cd. 


birds in the wilderness than in the spring or’ summer. 
These, also, however, are not real singers, with the 
exception of the robins which at this time are in- 
different to song, being too busy fattening upon the 
luscious berries that cover the barrens in great pro- 
fusion. When seen far from habitation and especi- 
ally in the autumn they will nearly always be ac- 
companied by Flickers, migrating together in perfect 
harmony, the latter “sticking” against the dead pine 
trunks while the robins seek the bare branches. I 
have watched them many times while moose calling 
in the early frosty mornings of September and 
October, and never have seen any discord among 
them. It is quite the reverse with the Canadian 
Jays, which seem to agree when not feeding, but 
quarrel fiercely, though ludicrously, when engaged 
in stealing from a moose carcase. These latter are 
very bold and it is a common sight to see them 
tearing at a moose carcase while the operation of 
gralloching is in process. Perhaps one will tear 
off a piece of fat and fly through the swamp with 
two or three others pursuing him, the tit-bit chang- 
ing ownership many times before the fortunate one 


February, 1920] 


is left to enjoy his prize in peace. Occasionally 
one sees a solitary Swamp Sparrow as he patters 
over the mud and trash caused by the overflow of 
lake or river. His discordant metallic chink does 
not impress one as a feathered friend at all. The 
first time I visited the Nova Scotia wilderness in 
quest of big game, when a boy of sixteen, I re- 
marked upon the absence of crows to an old guide. 
“No sir,” said he, “you will never see or hear one 
back here, but I should like to bring a live one out 
here and let him go; he wouldn't live long.” 
“Why?” I queried. “Oh,” the guide replied, 
“he would fly up to one of these big granite rocks 


THE CANADIAN FieELp-NATURALIST 37 


and caw himself to death trying to locate a friend.” 
This fall I was surprised to hear a Song Sparrow 
burst forth into song. He was at least twenty- 
five miles from civilization. I waved my hat in his 
direction and wished him a safe journey south and 
an early return next spring. 
to the rule. 

We may sum up the perching birds that may be 
seen in the wilderness here as follows: Great- 
Horned Owl; Raven; Jay; Chickadee; Crossbill ; 
Flicker; Robin; Hawk; Swamp Sparrow. The 
first five mentioned are residents. 


H. A. P. Smitu, Dicsy, N.S. 


He was the exception 


BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 


Leap Polsoninc IN WATERFOWL, by Alexander 
Wetmore, Bulletin No. 793, U.S. Dept. Agr., Pro- 
fessional Paper, Washington, D.C., July 31, 1919. 
This is a twelve-page pamphlet of considerable in- 
terest to sportsmen, conservationists and ornitholog- 
ists. Many of our ducking marshes have been shot 
over for a good many years. Each shot so fired 
scatters in the neighborhood of an ounce of shot over 
the bottom. Mr. Wetmore estimates that on one large 
marsh examined by him an average of 75,000 shells 
are fired annually. This amounts to over two tons 
a year. A\s lead shot resists corrosion and is prac- 
tically everlasting, the effect is cumulative and 
amounts to over eighty tons in the past twenty years. 
The shot gradually sinks in the mud, of course, but 
as tipping ducks, such as Mallard, Pintail and 
others, dig down into it from 12 to 16 inches, 
it is evident that their opportunity for picking up 
shot is considerable. On examination the author 
found in the mud from the bottom in the neighbor- 
hood of favorite shooting stands from 20 to 22 No. 
6 shot in each sample dredged up and examined. 
The ducks in sifting through the mud for food re- 
tain any small hard particle like gravel and the 
presence of real gravel does not seem to prevent 
them from taking the shot as well. Experiments 
on captive specimens of wild species proved that six 
pellets, often less, are fatal to ducks. 

In this manner large numbers of ducks have been 
poisoned in certain marshes every year though it is 
only lately (see Bowles, Auk, XXV, 1908, pp. 
312-313) that the cause of the deaths was recog- 
nized. By a process of experiment and elimina- 
ticn it was proved that it is the lead content and not 
the additions to the metal such as arsenic that causes 
the trouble, though chilled shot is less rapid in its 
effects than soft. 

The paper deals at length with the symptoms and 
pathology of the poisoned conditions. The first ef- 


fect is a weakening of the wing muscles until the 
power of flight is lost, difficulty is experienced in 
walking and partial or complete paralysis of the 
legs ensues. The wings drag and the tail droops. 
The bird’s appetite remains good and even increases, 
but the food does not seem to pass the stomach and 
the proventriculus and lower esophagus become dis- 
tended with focd. The fecal matter is green and 
watery. The heart is finally affected and death 
comes in from a few days to five weeks. 

Though magnesic sulphate in water, 60 grams to 
10 quarts, seems to give relief and sometimes cure 
in individual treatments no suggestions as to treat- 
ment or prevention on a large scale is proposed. It 
is suggested that by its nature the trouble is more 
likely to increase than decrease but the author 
seems more anxious over the effect the lead poisoning 
will have, even in the cases of birds showing con- 
siderable resistance to or even recovery from it, on 
reproductive fertility, than over the number it actu- 
ally kills. 

So far only Mallards, Pintails, Canvas-backs, 
Whistling Swans and Marbled Godwits have been 
known to be affected, and as shot is common in 
stomachs of wild ducks examined by the Biological 
Survey, it seems that some individuals or species 
have more or less tolerance for, or resistance to, 
lead poisoning, or its effects would be more wide- 
spread and serious. It would be well for the sports- 
men to look out for sickly ducks and examine them 
for lead poisoning, in order that fuller details may 
be known. 

P, A. TAVERNER. 

ANNOTATED CHECK LisT OF THE MACROLEPID- 
OPTERA OF ALBERTA. By Kenneth Bowman. 
Published by the Alberta Natural History Society, 
Red Deer, Alta., 16 pp., February, 1919. 

For a number of years the late F. H. Wolley- 


38 THE CaNapIAN FiELD-NaTURALIST 


Dod, who was one of our leading lepidopterists, 
published in the Canadian Entomologist, a series of 
papers dealing with the lepidoptera of the pro- 
vince of Alberta. Since the appearance of Mr. 
Dod’s last paper, however, other indefatigable col- 
lectors, particularly Messrs. Bowman and Mackie, 
of Edmonton, have added many records new to the 
The new list prepared by Mr. 


province. Bow- 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


man is certainly a useful publication and I have 
In the pre- 
“endeavored to 


had many occasions to refer to it. 
paration of this list the author has 
provide an epitomy of what has been accom- 
published by students of this order within’ the 
province to date, as an aid, not only to present 
workers, but those who will follow after.” 
ARTHUR GIBSON. 


OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB SATURDAY AFTERNOON 
EXCURSIONS FOR THE SEASON OF 1920. 


May 1. Geology—Rockcliffe Park—Meet at 
the first stop in the Park. 

May 15. General natural history.—Caifish Bay, 
along the Ottawa River just west of Hull.—Meet 
in front of the Eddy Co’s office. 

May 29. Botany and Ornithology.—Fairy cape 
Take the Chelsea road electric car line to the 
end of the loop. 

June 12. Entomology (Mr. C. B. Hutchings, 
Leader).—Queen’s Park, Aylmer. 

June 26. Horticulture (Mr. W. T. Macoun, 
Leader)—Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 

Sept. 18. General natural history — Britannia. 
The time of meeting at the points indicated will 


be 2.45 p.m. ‘Leaders conversant with the subjects 
mentioned will be present to render assistance. All 
interested are cordially invited to attend. 

An unusually well-attended meeting of the Ex- 
cursions Committee of The Ottawa Field Naturalists’ 
Club was held on the afternoon of April 8, for the 
purpose of formulating the above programme for 
the coming season. 

Reference was made incidentally to two very 
enjoyable reunions of the Club held during the 
past winter, and the intention was expressed of 
holding similar meetings and outings during the 
next winter season. 


OBITUARY. 


James MetvittE Macoun, C.M.G 


Succumbing to a fatal illness, James Melville 
Macoun, C.M.G., passed peacefully away, in 
Ottawa, on January 8th, 1920. 

The late James Macoun was born in Belleville, 
Ont., in 1862, and was the son of Professor John 
Macoun, the illustrious Father of Canadian Botany, 
who, living at Sidney, cn Vancouver Island, B.C., 
is still active in natural history research. James 
Macoun attended the Belleville High School and 
Albert College, where, at that time, his father was 
Professor of Botany. When, in 1882, Professor 
Macoun was called to Ottawa to take charge of 
the botanical and other natural history work in the 
Geological Survey, James Macoun became his 
Assistant, beginning regular work with the Domin- 
ion Government in 1883. As early as 1881, how- 
ever, he assisted his father in field work, exploring 
the territory between Portage la Prairie, Man., and 
the headwaters of the Assiniboine. 

James Macoun was a born naturalist and natural 
history explorer. Although, by natural inclination, 
he gradually specialized in botany, he made most 
valuable contributions in other branches of natural 


history. The wideness of the extensive scope of 
work in which Mr. Macoun was engaged during 
his long career as a Canadian naturalist may be more 
fully realized from the brief data which are pre- 
sented herewith. 

In 1884, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Macoun 
made extensive collections of Cambro-Silurian fos- 
sils in the Red River valley, Man., on the west 
shore of Lake Winnipeg, and on the adjacent 
islands. In 1885, he collected natural history speci- 
mens in general in the Lake Mistassini district in 
the Province of Quebec and, the following year, 
worked along the line from Lake Winnipeg, Man., 
to Hudson bay. In 1887, Mr. Macoun explored 
islands of James Bay and contributed much inter- 
esting information, floristic and zoological, to the 
knowledge of the natural history of the southern 
part of the Hudson Bay region. 

In 1888, he collected plants and birds along the 
Athabaska and the Churchill rivers, and in the 
following year collected, with his father, birds, 
mammals, reptiles and insects in British Columbia. 
He also greatly assisted his father in making a very 


February, 1920] 


complete collection of the flora from the Pacific 
Coast to the Eagle Pass in the Gold Range, a dis- 
tance of nearly 400 miles on the Canadian Pacific 
Railway. In 1890, he again worked in British 
Columbia, assisting his father collecting on the 
Columbia river along the Kootenay lake, and in 
the Selkirk and Rocky mountains. 

Up to this time, Mr. Macoun had devoted his 
time and energy to natural history study in general. 
His intimate knowledge of methods and his ability 
to draw reliable conclusions from his findings were 
then fully recognized by the Geclogical Survey and, 
as a result, his wide knowledge and his skill as an 


Fe 
| 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 39 


ence at Washington, D.C. Because of his most 
valuable work on the international fur seal investi- 
gations he was made a C.M.G., at the recommen- 
dation of Lord Bryce, then British Ambassador to 
Washington. 

Mr. Macoun’s intimate knowledge of Canada’s 
forestry resources was taken particular advantage 
of by the Government in 1899. That year Mr. 
Macoun was placed in charge of the Canadian 
Forestry Exhibit, which was to be displayed at the 
Paris Exposition in 1900. Mr. Macoun brought 
together a magnificient collection of Canadian for- 
estry products which, when exhibited in Paris, most 


JAMES M. MACOUN, C.M.G. 


investigator soon prompted the Government to en- 
gage him in special and important work. 

When, in 1891, the fur seal conditions in the 
Northern Pacific became of international import- 
ance, Mr. Macoun was made Secretary to the late 
Dr. G. M. Dawson, Director of the Geological 
Survey and Behring Sea Commissioner of Canada, 
and in this capacity he went to the North Pacific to 
investigate the fur seal conditions. His services 
in the study of the habits and life history of the 
fur seal proved so valuable that he was retained on 
this special work in 1892 and 1893, and sent to 
Europe as an expert in connection with the Fur 
Seal Arbitration. In 1896 he again went to Behr- 
ing Sea, and also in 1914. In 1911, he was one of 
Canada’s representatives at the Fur Seal Confer- 


strikingly demonstrated to all Europe the immense 
timber resources of the Dominion. 

When in Paris, in 1900, Mr. Macoun also at- 
tended the International Congress of Botanists, 
which was called together for the purpose of draft- 
ing rules and regulations to govern the use of botan- 
ical nomenclature. On behalf of Canada, Mr. 
Macoun signed the recommendations which later 
were adopted at the International Congress at 
Vienna, thus committing Canadian botanists in ofh- 
cial positions to adhere to the so-called “Vienna 
rules of nomenclature” in botany. 

In 1903, Mr. Macoun undertook an investigation 
of the Peace river country in general, and of the 
upper portion in particular, to ascertain the true 
character of the soil and climate of that part of 


40 THE CaNapDIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 


Canada. His resultant report displays, in the 
amplest degree, a faculty of observation given to 
but a very limited number of investigators, and a 
fearlessness in presenting the results of findings 
which is, and always will be, the highest and most 
valued characteristic of a genuine scientific investi- 
gator and a true public servant. 

When not engaged in the special work briefly re- 
ferred to, Mr. Macoun was, during his last 20 
years, largely occupied with botanical work, except 
in 1909, when he spent considerable time assisting his 
father in the preparation of the “Catalogue of 
Canadian Birds.”’ Remaining in Ottawa during the 
summer of 1897, for the first time since being con- 
nected with the Geological Survey, Mr. Macoun 
made a special study of the violets of the Ottawa 
region, discovering species new to science, and in 
1913 he again collected in the Ottawa region, sup- 
plementing the botanical material which had been 
brought together by his father and himself with a 
view of publishing a “Flora of the Ottawa District.” 
In 1910, Mr. Macoun studied the fauna and flora 
on the west coast of Hudson bay, and, in 1912, he 
was engaged in botanical work on Vancouver 
island, particularly in Strathcona Park where sever- 
al species new to Canada as well as to science were 
discovered. From 1914, he worked in British 
Columbia and in Jasper Park, Alberta . The 
islands of the Gulf of Georgia, as well as the 
Comox district of Vancouver island, were thorough- 
ly investigated from a botanical standpoint. During 
the last two years, Mr. Macoun made a most com- 
plete botanical survey of Jasper Park, Allta., ex- 
tending his working field the last year westward 
along the Grand Trunk Pacific railway. 

Mr. Macoun was appointed Assistant Naturalist in 
the Geological Survey in 1898 and Botanist in 1917. 
In 1918, he was appointed Chief of the Biological 
Division. 

This brief outline of Mr. Macoun’s field work 
and career as a naturalist may give some idea, al- 
though a rather incomplete and vague one, of the 
magnitude of the scope of work undertaken by him. 

His unique record will, by force of its excellence, 
guarantee him an ever-honoured place as a Canadian 
naturalist of the highest rank. As a botanist, par- 
ticularly, he contributed enormously to the knowl- 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


edge and understanding of the Canadian flora. 
His extensive travels made him familiar with the 
flora from eastern Canada to the extreme islands off 
the Pacific coast, and from the hot and arid parts 
of southern British Columbia to the tundra of the 
Arctic. No one in Canada, with the exception of 
his illustrious father, ever possessed such a thorough 
knowledge of the Canadian flora as did James 
Macoun, and, as a result, he was justly recognized 
and esteemed as the greatest authority in matters 
betanical, next to. his venerable father, that Canada 
ever produced. His name is indelibly written on 
the pages of the History of Canadian Botany. 


Mr. Macoun’s fame as a botanist and as a 
naturalist in general may be contributed to three 
main characteristics, namely, a brilliancy of mind 
enabling him to grasp quickly and accurately the 
central idea of arguments and the relative value of 
evidence presented, an in-born love of investigations 
for the sake of the investigation itself, and a fund 
of energy which permitted no physical obstacles to 
be raised in the way of his investigational efforts. 


Extremely modest and unassuming, Mr. Macoun 
was the type of scientist who derives complete satis- 
faction from the conscientious persecution of his 
work without seeking public reward for the ser- 
vice done. 


Mr. Macoun was a true scientist whose untimely 
death is sincerely deplored by his many scientific 
and other friends. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ 
Club is feeling his departure deeply and recently 
expressed its sentiments in the following resolution: 


“The members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ 
Club desire to place on record their deep sorrow in 
the death of their fellow member and friend, Mr. 
James M. Macoun, C.M.G. Mr. Macoun’s repu- 
tation as a careful, conscientious naturalist was by 
no means confined to Canada. In his death the 
Geological Survey has lost a valuable officer and 
members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club 
a true friend, ever ready to assist, not only in the 
furtherance of the botany of Canada, but in other 
branches of natural history as well The council 
desires to express its sincerest sympathy to his widow 
and daughter.” 


M. O. MAtte. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL AAXIV. 


MARCH, 1920. No. 


Ww 


THE. SCOTERS, AND EIDERS. 


By P. A. TAvERNER. 


(PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.) 


The scoters and eiders are often regarded by 
the amateur ornithologist and the general sportsman 
as confusing groups. Whilst the males are well 
marked by color and bill characters some females 
bear close general resemblance to each other. The 
following diagnosis and plates may therefore be of 
interest to those who have occasion to identify these 


SCOTERS-GENUS Oidemia 
MACREUSES-Genre Oidemia 


FEMALE 
FEMELLE 


3864 “ue sR 
ta ge . 


-  O.americana 


species. [wo species of eider, Steller’s and the 
Spectacled, are rather different from the others, but 
as they only are to be expected in the extreme north- 
west, Alaska and the Yukon, they need rarely be 
considered in connection with eastern material. 
Except these two species, the scoters and eiders 
are ducks of the largest and sturdiest build. As the 
accompanying plates show, the males are char- 
acterized by unusually heavy bills often with strange 


2b Sa 
O.deglandt 


swellings, protuberances and extended processes. 
In the females these bill characters are reduced; 
but, except in the American Scoter, they retain 
enough peculiarity of shape for ready generic recog- 
nition. Generally juvenile males are similar to the 
females but soon show sufficient traces of the com- 
ing adult plumage to indicate their sex. 


11567 


CEL JOHNSON 


Cie he ia 
O.perspicillata 


THE SCOTERS. 


The adult males of all the scoters are practically 
solidly black birds or with only restricted and sharp- 
ly defined patches of pure white on head or wing. 
The females are without variegation, dark brown 
gradually lightening below or on breast and face, 
and show no indication of bars or streaks. The 
bills of all plumages except that of the female 
American Scoter are characteristic. 


42 THe CanapdiaAN- FieLtp-NaTURALIST 


AMERICAN SCOTER, Oidemia americana. 
Plate I, Figs. 1, la. 


The adult male is solidly black without spot or 
touch of other colour except the butter-coloured 
swelling at base of bill. The female shows a com- 
paratively normal duck bill, the feathering neither 
encroached upon nor encroaching on the sides of 
the bill. There is a more or less well defined dark 
cap including the sides of the crown, contrasting 
with the cheeks that are evenly coloured instead cf 


showing two diffused light patches as in the other 


two scoters. 


FEMALE 
FEMELLE 


LES EIDERS - Genre 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


be traced in a depressed area of soft black velvet- 
like feathers. The sides of the bill encroaches on 
the cheek feathering in a square shape and is 
coloured bright yellow, red and white with a strange 
squarish spot of black as shown. The female has 
two lightish patches on the sides of the face like 
the female White-winged, but the bill surface in- 
trudes upon the feathering of the cheek in the same 
square shape as in the male and the feathering of 
the crown extends half way to the nostril and far 
beyond that on the sides of the bill. The square 
black spot at the base of the bill is indicated in the 


EIDERS = GENUS} Somateria we St 


B21 Ta use 2G iia. 3a eee 
S.mollissima Smollissima Nee Re oe 
dresseri borealis »SPEClavdis 


WHITE-WINGED ScoTER, Oidemia deglandi. 
Plate I, Figs. 2, 2a, 2b. 


The prominent white wing patches (Fig. 2a) in 
all plumages of this bird prevents its confusion with 
any other species. The adult male is all black 
with a white crescent under the eye, white secon- 
daries and a bill coloured in bright reds and black. 
The female has two vague light spots on the cheek 
like the Surf Scoter, and the feathering of the 
cheeks encroaches upon the sides of the bill nearly 
to the nostrils and about as far as that of the crown. 


Surr Scorer, Oidemia perspicillata. 
Plate I, Figs. 3, 3a. 


The adult male is an all black bird with small 
white patches on the fore and hind crown. In some 
changing or moulting plumages this latter is lost 
wholly or in part but its position and outline can still 


a Me Feo oh es <2 | 
juvenile male at an early age and before other sex- 
ual characters are assumed. 

THE EIDERS. 


Adult male eiders are easily distinguished from 
similar scoters by being colored in large contrasted 
masses of black and white, the latter variously suf- 
fused on face, fore and under parts with delicate 
nile-green, pale slate-blue or vinaceous (pinkish). 
Comparable scoters are nearly solid black, reiieved 
only by restricted, sharply defined patches of pure 
white about head and on wings. 


Female eiders are colored with mixtures of black, 
brown, ochre and rusty in various proportions, tend- 
ing towards fine streaks on face, coarser ones and 
V-shaped markings on back and broken bars across 
breast and flanks. The cross barring across the up- 
per breast of the females is sufficiently distinctive 
of the eiders to separate them from any other duck 


March, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


regularly occuring in Canada. Comparable scoters 
are solidly coloured dark brown without variegation 
except for gradual lightenings of face, fore parts, and 
below,—they are entirely without bars or streaks. 


Kinc Emer, Somaieria spectabilis. 
Plate II, Figs. 3, 3a. 


The greatly enlarged bill process, coloured bright 
yellow, easily distinguishes the male of this species. 
The feathering of the fore crown and the cheeks 
are diagnostic in other plumages. In this species 
the crown feathers extend down the ridge of the 
bill as far as the rear of the nostrils, whilst the 
feathering of the cheeks does not extend as far as 
that of the crown. In other comparable eiders the 


EIDERS -GENERA } Polysticta 
LES EFIDERS -Genres [Sonate 


FRONT VIEW 
OF BILL 


10 


FEMALE 
FEMELLE 


FreLp- NATURALIST 43 


the Northern Eider, Somateria mollissima borealis 
can be shown to exist. The American Eider there- 
These 
two American forms can only be separated by the 
In the 
American Eider these processes in either sex are 
broad and end in a well rounded instead of a 
pointed tip as in the Northern and the Pacific 
Eiders. 
PaciFic Emer, Somateria v. nigra. 
Plate. IIT, Figs. 2; 2a. 


The Pacific Eider can usually be told from the 
Atlantic Eider by the black V-mark on the throat 
similar to that of the King Eider. 


fore becomes Somateria mollissima dresseri. 


bill processes on the sides of the crown. 


In occasional 


Aretonetta 


1b 8784 2¢ 
Polysticla co Somateria Arctonetta CE JOHNSON 
stelleri V-nigra fischeri 


cheek feathering projects forward of that of the 
crown. 


ATLANTIC EIDER, Somateria mollissima. 
Plate II, Figs. l', la; 2, 2a. 


The long Y-shaped arms of the bill processes ex- 
tending up the sides of the crown are distinctive of 
the male Atlantic and the Pacific Eiders. In the 
females of these species the crown feathering not 
nearly reaching to the nostrils and the cheek feathers 
extending beyond those of the crown are diagnostic. 

In the 1910 A.O.U. Check List, the standard au- 
thority, the American Eider is given as a full 
species, Somateria dresseri. Late investigation, how- 
ever, has shown that it is only a subspecies of the 
eider common to the New and Old Worlds (At- 


lantic Eider), as all intermediates between it and 


Atlantic specimens this throat mark is said to be 
present, in which case and in females, the relatively 
larger and heavier bill, the shorter and more acutely 
pointed bill processes on the fore crown, and the 
slightly blunter ending of the feathering on the 
sides of the bill of the Pacific seem to be the only 
diagnostic guides. None of these points are satis- 
factorily obvious or reliable but the ranges of the 
two species are so widely separated that it will 
only be birds from a limited section of the Arctics 
or occasional stragglers that need ever be confused. 


SPECTACLED EIDER, Arctonetia fischeri. 
Plate III, Figs. 3, 3a. 
The white spot about the eye and the black spec- 
tacle mark of the male Spectacled Eider is unmis- 
takable. In the female this white eye spot is indi- 


44 THE CanapbIAN- FIELD-NATURALIST 


cated by a similar patch of feathers scarcely dis- 
tinguishable from the surrounding area in color- 
ation but cf peculiar velvety texture that makes its 
outlines obvious. In all plumages the feather line 
of the bill is distinctive, extending down the culmen 
of the bill well over the nostril, cutting in an almost 
straight line from thence to the gape at the sides. 
STELLER’S E1DErR, Polvysticta stelleri. 
Plate III, Figs. 1, la, 1b. 

This is the smallest and the most divergent of the 
eiders. The male with his strangely pied head and 
silvery sheen on face is distinctive. The female can 
be recognized from other eiders by its steel blue 


[Vol. Xiexine 


speculum edged above and below with a white line 
like a mallard. ; 


Probably the bill gives the most satisfactory single 
character for the recognition of the species. Coues 
says of it,—‘‘tomial edges dilated and leathery.” 
In all dry specimens seen by the writer the edges 
of the upper mandible are incurved, (Fig. 1.a) 
probably the results of drying, and the normal con- 
dition of preserved specimens. 

It is thus seen that by comparing the esti 
characters about the base of the bill nearly all of 
these species can be readily identified. With the 
plates this task should be easy. 


——; 


FURTHER NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD 
COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1919: 


By H. Niagara: 


In my last paper on the orchids of Hatley 
(Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. xxxii., 1918, No. 8, pp. 
144-147) after recording eighteen species, I con- 
cluded by suggesting, that even then, the possibili- 
ties of the place might only have been touched up- 
on, seeing that practically the whole of my time had 
been devoted to the birds, and very little attention 
paid to the orchids, it having taken eight years to 
locate the above eighteen species. Now in order to 
put the above suggestion to the test, and at the same 
time gratify a long felt wish of becoming better 
acquaintcd with the ferns of the district, I decided 
early in 1919, not without much deliberation how- 
ever, to entirely ignore the birds after the spring 
migration, and devote the rest of the summer months 
or until such time as the fall migration set in, to the 
collecting of ferns, and any further species of or- 


chids, should that indeed be possible. 


The weather entirely favoured my plans, it being 
very hot on and off, all through June and July, with 
a good deal of humidity in the air, which entirely 
suited the orchids, many appearing in greater pro- 
fusion and blooming earlier, than in previous years. 
Of the ferns, probably forty species have been col- 
lected, including the Adder’s Tongue (O. vulgatum) 
and at least six specics and forms of Botrychiums, 
two ef which have never been found in the Province 
of Quebec before. These however, will be dealt 
with in a separate paper, when they have been 
further critically examined. 


Now I have noticed in some of the text books, 
that it is a moot point in many localities, as to which 
of the three following orchids is the earliest bloom- 
er, namely, Cypripedium acaule, Orchis spectabile 
or Calypso bulbosa. There need be no mystery con- 


es this at Hatley, for it is certainly the lovely 
little Calypso, which was much more plentiful in 
1919 than in the year previous. As regards the 
showy Lady’s Slipper (C. hirsutum), I am glad to 
say after the disaster that overtook the species in 
1918 (as previcusly described), it was found this 
year growing in greater profusion than ever, one 
little patch alone containing forty-one blooms, whilst 
another close to, had seventeen. I only found a few 
plants, however, with more than one blcom, three 
blooms being the most in any case. Four snow- 
white blooms of the Mocassin or Pink Lady’s Slip- 
per (C. acaule) were noted. Of the Habenarias, 
I came across one very large plant of the Tall 
Leafy Green Orchis (H. hyperborea), the height 
of which including the raceme was 9.5 dm., the 
raceme being 3 dm. I have noticed the larger 
plants of this Habenaria, bleom much earlier as a 
rule than the smaller ones, and grow in certain lo- 
calities only. Can it be that they belong to a dis- 
tinct species?, a contingency not altogether unlikely 
in hyperborea, which is supposed by some authors 
to include several species. 


With the exception cf the Wide-leavcd Ladies 
Tresses (Spiranthes lucida), I have this year (1919) 
found all of the other seventeen species enumerated 
in my previous paper, besides adding another 
twelve. It will thus be seen, that my total now 
stands at thirty species and forms of these rare and 
interesting plants that I have located at Hatley, or 
considerably more than one-third of all those to 
be found in eastern North America, and all have 
been gathered within a space of four square miles. 
The record for the Gray’s Manual area has been 
made in the State of Vermont I believe, where 


. 


March, 1920] 


thirty-three species of orchids have been collected 
in a given space of five square miles. This being 
so, it looks as though I can now safely lay claim to 
second honours for the Province of Quebec. 

Appended is an annotated list of the twelve new 
species found this year (1919), as well as an ab- 
breviated one, for the benefit of those wishing to see 
at a glance, the total number of orchids, approxi- 
mate dates when, and number of stations at which, 
they have been found. 

LarceE Rounp-Leavep Orcuis, Habenaria or- 
biculata (Pursh) Torr. 
chid on June 8, four plants in leaf only being found 


I first came across this or- 


at this date. On subsequent visits, however, I in- 
creased this number to eleven, but none of these 
bloomed, with the exception of one, which when I 
went to gather it the first time, was not quite fully 
out. Returning a few days later, 1 was disappeinted 
to find that the flower had been eaten off, probably 
by some cows, of which there were a good many 
grazing in the immediated neighbourhood. Most of 
the plants were growing under hemlock trees, in 
company with C. acaule and E. tesselata 
Habenaria macrophylla Goldie. In addition to 
the eleven plants mentioned above, were two with 
very much larger leaves than any of the others. 
Fortunately one of these blcomed, and I think 
I am justified in recording it as macrophylla, 
for in addition to the 
scape was 41 cm. high, and none of the spurs 


size of its leaves, the 
were less than 3 cm. long, both of these dimen- 
sions considerably exceeding those given in Gray’s 
Manual for orbiculata. The raceme was I] cm. 
long and 5 cm. through, and held fourteen flowers. 
I first found this particular plant on June 13, the 
scape then being 18 cm. high, which had increased 
to 28 cm. by June 22. It was not, however, until 
the beginning of July, that its full height of 41 cm. 
was attained, and by the thirteenth, all the fourteen 
flowers were fully developed, making it, if not exact- 
ly a showy, still a fine, and uncommon looking 
plant, in my opinion. 

x Habenaria Andrewsii, White. I have no ver- 
nacular name for this supposed hybrid between H. 
psycodes and H. lacera. I first came across it on 
July 26, when I found one perfectly white bloom, 
and one almost so, the top of the raceme only being 
suffused with pink. They puzzled me at the time, 
but I entered the record in my Gray’s Manual un- 
der the above, with a note of interrogation, however, 
scarcely believing that they could be Andrewsii, 
seeing that there were no H. lacera about. For- 
tunately about a week after, I had the pleasure of 


THE CANADIAN FieLp-NaTuRALIST 45 


Mr. Ludlow Griscom’s company for a few days 
botanizing, and on August 3, he came across an- 
other plant, which also puzzled him. 
taking it home and critically examining it, he came 
to the conclusion that it was really Andrewsii, and 
on submitting it to Mr. Oakes Ames, his identifica- 
tion was confirmed, Mr. Ames at the same time 
questioning the correctness of regarding it as a hy- 
brid between H. psycodes x lacera. I understand 
the plant has been found commonly in Newfound- 
land, which has also aroused suspicion as to its be- 
ing a hybrid between H.psycodes x lacera. It may 
be of interest to here give Mr. Oakes Ames’ exact 
label of determination of the above specimen, which 
is as follows, viz.: “Habenaria Andrewsii White? 
The divisions of the labellum not as deeply fringed 
as in Andrew’s specimens from Vermont. This 
specimen is more like material from Newfoundland 
(Fernald and Wiegand 5216). The raceme of 
this specimen is rather characteristic of the hybrid. 
It may be convenient to regard it as of hybrid 
origin, with psycodes lacera parentage!” It seems 
obvious from this comment, that my failure to find 
lacera anywhere in the district, is an interesting 
piece of evidence. 

LarcE PurpLe FRrINceD Orcuis, Habenaria 
fimbriata (Ait) R. Br. It was not until July 10, 
that I came upon a colony of these delicate belles 
of the swamp, as Thoreau calls them, alluding to 
the peculiar charm of the pale pink flowers. The 
larger, paler flowered, and usually more open 
raceme, distinguishes this species from its cousin H. 
psycodes, besides which it generally occurs in more 
shady situations than the latter. One very fine 
plant that I found, had a total height of 9.5 dm., 
the raceme being 18 cm. long by 5 cm. through, 
and the four large leaves were 16-18 cm. long by 
6-10 cm. broad. My dates for fresh blooms, range 
from the tenth to about the middle of July, but 
judging from the condition of those on the tenth, it 
is evidently to be found somewhat earlier. 

Grass Pink, Calopogon pulchellus (Sw.) R. 
Br. The peculiarity of this lovely magenta crimson 
orchid, consists in its not having the ovary twisted, 
so that consequently the lip is on the upper, instead 
of the lower side of the flower. Apparently it is 
rare at Hatley, for I have only found one station 
for it so far, in the large bog to the north-east of the 
village, and then only a very few plants could be 
located. It was in bloom from July 8-15. 

SLENDER Lapies’ TresseEs, Spiranthes gracilis 
(Bigel) Beck. This slender little orchid like the 


Grass Pink, is apparently rare here, only one sta- 


However, on 


46 THE CANADIAN 


tion with three plants having so far been discovered. 
Two of these were found on July 16, and the re- 
maining one on July 25, but they were not in bloom 
until August 3. The situation consisted of some 
very dry hilly knolls, on the outskirts of a large 
wood, and I am not likely to forget the day, seeing 
that at the same time I also discovered the Green 
Adder’s Mouth (Microstvylis unifolia), and those 
rare little ferns the Adder’s Tongue (Ophioglossum 
vulgatum), and Little Grape Fern (Botrychium sim- 
plex), the dry location for these three latter, being 


somewhat uncommon, as they generally occur in: 


damper situations as a rule. 

Hoppices RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN, Epipactis 
tesselata (Lodd) A. A. Eaton. I really found this 
orchid away back in 1915, but as it was not then in 
bloom, and I was unacquainted with the difference 
in the shape, size, and colouring of its leaves, to 
those of E. repens, I passed it over, and tock it for 
the latter species. However in the fall of 1918, I 
came across a few dead scapes, which by their size 
and height, struck me at once as not being repens, 
but something new. This idea was further strength- 
ened in the following spring, when the difference in 
the leaves was noticed, and later in July when the 
flowers appeared, all doubt was at an end, as they 
were then seen to be the present species, and not 


repens. 
HEaART-LEAVED IT WAYBLADE, Listera cordata 
(Lin.) R. Br. This little orchid even if it were 


common, would nevertheless be hard to find, owing 
to its small size, and inconspicuous madder-purple 
flowers. I first came across it on June 8, of the 
present year (1919), growing amongst spagnum 
moss, in a damp wood to the north-west of the 
village, and again on July 8, in the large bog to the 
north-east of the village, and yet again on August 
4 (one plant only), in the woods surrounding the 
great Brulé bog near Waterville, some miles also 
to the north-east of Hatley. In the first mentioned 
locality, I found bunches of eight, ten, nineteen, 
and in one case as many as twenty-seven plants, all 
growing somewhat closely together. In two cases, 
there was a small bract leaf (the same as often oc- 
curs in H. obtusata), at the base of the raceme, and 
in a few the lip was devoid of madder-purple, this 
giving the whole raceme a green appearance. My 
dates for fresh blooms, range from June 8 to July 3. 
In “THe Canapian NaturatisT,” 1840, pp. 
297-303, Gosse gives a good account of the Brulé, 
describing it as exactly resembling the bogs of New- 
foundland. It consists of some thousands of acres, 
and is said to owe its origin to the beavers, which 
were formerly numerous, damming up the streams, 
which overflowing and spreading over the flat lands, 
killed the growing timber. When Mr. Griscom and 
I visited it for the first time, on August 4, we both 


Fietp-NaTURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


came to the conclusion, that there were great possi- 
bilities regarding the place. Seven different orchids 
were found, even at this somewhat late date, as well 
as many of the plants, shrubs and trees, mentioned 
by Gosse as growing in similar situations in New- 
foundland, including black spruce, which I had not 
noticed here before. It is hoped to again visit the 
locality early in June, when good results are ex- 
pected, especially in regard to the orchids, of which 
our trip in August gave promise. 


LarcE Cora Root, Corallorrhiza maculata Raf. 
It was not until August 9, that I came upon a little 
colony of this species, consisting of forty plants, the 
blooms of which were over of course, but the fruit 
still remained. They were found growing in a 
small cedar wood, on some dry sloping ground, 
about two miles to the south-east of the village. 
Later on, or on August 21, another plant was shown 
to me on the roadside, some few miles to the north 
of the present site, but also on the east of the village. 


Wuite Apper’s Moutn, Microstylis monophyl- 
los (Linn) Lindl. This rare little orchid like many 
others, is easily passed over, unless you are specially 
looking for it, which no doubt accounts for my hav- 
ing found it during the present season (1919), 
when all my energies were devoted to the fern and 
orchid families, instead of the birds. The situation 
was a low damp one, at the edge of a little wood, 
where twenty-four plants were located. Later on I 
found one other plant in a similar situation, two 
miles to the north-west of the village, whereas the 
first locality was two miles to the south-east of it. 
The plants were just in their prime on June 30, 
the day on which I found them. 


GREEN Apper’s MoutnH, Microstylis unifolia 
(Michx) B.S.P. This is another somewhat incen- 
spicuous little plant, but is much commoner than 
monophyllos, there being at least five stations at 
which I have found it, and generally in somewhat 
goodly numbers. Its habitat seems to vary a good 
deal, the situation sometimes being very dry, as al- 
ready mentioned in the account of the Slender 
Ladies’ Tresses, and at others very damp, the same 
as those favoured by monophyllos. 


LogsEL’s TwayBLaDE, Liparis Loeselii (Linn) 
Richard. This is another of those somewhat in- 
conspicuous little orchids, and one which I must 
have passed over many times, before finally noticing 
it in bloom, on July 12 of the present year (1919). 
It certainly favours very wet boggy places, especial- 
ly those where the water drains out of the land, at 
the foot of hill-sides. At present I have located 
about four stations, where its numbers vary con- 
siderably, from three plants in one, to some dozens 
in another. My data for fresh blooms range from 


June 27 to July 5. 


March, 1920] 


List of the orchids of Hatley, with approx. sta- 
tions, and dates of flowering. 
Stations Species Flowering 
3. Cypripedium parviflorum May 29-June 10 
3 do do 
var pubescens 
Cypripedium hirsutum 
do acaule 


2 
8 
4 Orchis spectabilis 
4 
a 


May 28-June 18 
June 14-July 17 
May 24-June 18 
June | 


May 20-June I] 


Habenaria bracteata 


Many do hyperborea May 31-July 25 
2 do dilaiata June 18-July 26 

Many do obtusata June 8-July 17 
Z do orbiculata July 8 
| do macrophylla July 13 

Many do psycodes July 19-Aug. 15 
2 do Andrewsii July 26-.Aug. 3 
2 do fimbriala | July 10-17 
1  Calopogon pulchellus July 8-15 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


47 
Stations Species Flowering 
| Arethusa bulbosa June I1-July 17 
1 Spiranthes lucida Aug. 3 
(three plants only) 
|  Spiranthes lucida July 20 


(one plant only) 
Many Spiranthes cernua 


Aug. 17-Oct. 17 


Many do Romanzoffiana July 16-Aug. 22 
4 Epipactis repens var 
ophioides July 22-Aug. 22 
4 Epipactis tesselata July 8-Aug 2 
3 Listera cordata June 8-July 3 
6 do convallariodes June 18-July 17 


Many Corallorrhiza irifida May 20-June 15 
2 do maculata Aug. 9 (in seed) 
2  Méicrostylis monophyllos June 30-July 4 
5 do unifolia July 12-Aug. 3 
4 Liparis Loeselii June 27-July 5 
| 


Calypso bulbosa May 15-28 


AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS OF COLDSTREAM, ONTARIO, 
VICINITY. 


By A. A. Woop. 


|. Ho:poe.t’s Grese. Colymbus holboelli. One 
shot, Oct. 6, 1902, on Duncrief pond—four miles 


north ef Coldstream—by Roger T. Hedley. The 
specimen is in my collection, No. 1,402. 
2. Hornep GresBe, Colymbus auritus. A few 


stop on the mill-pond nearly every spring; only an 
occasional one seen in fall. They seem much friend- 
lier than the Pied-bill, while here, especially when 
a single bird comes. If you sit quietly at edge of 
pond, it will swim within a few feet of you then fly 
to other end of pond, only to drift back again. It 
will repeat this several times, uttering its plaintive 
cry at intervals. 

3. Piep-pILLED GreBe, Podilymbus podiceps. 
A pair bred here quite regularly previous to 1904: 
rather rare now in spring; common and regular in 
fall. 

4. Loon, Gavia immer. A single bird seen every 
three or four years in spring; rare in fall. 

5. Herrtnc GuLt, Larus argentaitus, A few 
small flocks pass through each spring and fall, some 
resting on the pond a few hours. I think the birds 
that touch here are passing between Lakes Huron 
and Erie. Coldstream is about in a straight line be- 
tween Grand Bend and Pt. Stanley making it nearly 
a fifty mile flight direct. 

6. Bonaparte’s GULL, Larus philadelphia. Two 
came in spring of 1900. One was shot. Have a 
specimen taken by R. T. Hedley, at Duncrief, Apr. 
26, 1902. 


7. ComMMoN TERN, Sterna hirundo. I have two 
specimens shot by R. T. Hedley at Duncrief; the 
first, I believe to be taken in Middlesex. 

8. Brack TERN, Hvdrochelidon nigra surina- * 
mensis. One specimen in my collection taken by 
R. T. Hedley at Duncrief—also a first record for 
this county. 

9. MERGANSER, Mergus americanus. A few stay 
in the open rapids of the creek every other year, 
through January and February often they will walk 
away from the water in the snow considerable dis- 
tances. 

10. Hoopep Mercanser, Lophodvtes cucullatus. 
Not regular. Have taken them both spring and 
autumn. 

11. Matrtarp, Anas platyrhunciics. 
regular; more seen at Duncrief. 

12. Brack Duck, Anas rubripes. Fairly com- 
mon migrant, A flock of nearly 200 stayed in a 
slough, two miles south, about two weeks in August, 
1917. The flocks very seldom come to the ponds; 
they seem to lke the little sloughs back in the fields, 
especially late in the season. 

13. GREEN-wINGeED TEAL, Nettion carolinense. 
I have never seen them near in spring; always a 
few come through in the fall. 

14. BLuE-wiNcED TEAL, Querquedula discors. 
Not as ommon as the Green-wing. 

15. SHOVELLER, Spatula clypeata. 
specimen noted. 


Very ir- 


Only one 


48 THE 


16. Woop Duck, Aix sponsa. Very rare now. 
Ocasionally one or two stop at Komoka—eight 
miles south. 


17. RepHeab, Marila americana. Frequently one 
is met with in fall aleng with the Teals. 


18. Scaup Duck, Marila marila. R. T. Hedley 
has a specimen he tcok at Duncrief, which, the late 
Robert Elliott of Plover Mills, Ont., identified as 
M. marila. 

19. Lesser Scaup Duck, Marila affinis. 
lar spring and fall visitor. 


I have is May 10, 1916. 


Regu- 
The latest spring record 


20. GoLDEN-EYE, Clangula clangula. Nearly 
always appears spring and fall. Ocassionally stays 
on the creek with the Mergansers. A flock of 20 


came to the pond one fall. 

21. Barrow’s GoLDEN-EYE, Clangula islandica., 
I have a young male I shot here October !7, 1917. 
The only Golden-eye seen with the cresent spct. 

22. BUFFLEHEAD, Charilonetta albeola. Our 
commonest duck. They usually stay a day or two 
if unmolested. 

23. Orp Souaw, Harelda hyemalis. A male 
in full plumage was taken at the Duncrief pond by 
R. T. Hedley. 

24. Kinc Emer, Sometaria spectabilis. One 
taken at Duncrief by R. T. Hedley, November 24, 
1900; the first Middlesex record. The specimen is 
in the collection of W. E. Saunders, of London. 

25. WHITE-WINGED ScoTer, Oidemia deglandi. 
I have a specimen taken by R. T. Hedley, at Dun- 
crief. 

26. Ruppy Duck, Erismatura jamaicensis. Rare 
fall migrant. 

27. CANADA Goose, Branta canadensis. Abun- 
dant migrant. Sometimes feeding on the wheat fields 
in spring. 

28. AMERICAN BiTTERN, Botaurus lentiginosus. 


Always present during the breeding season. They 
have their eggs laid by June 3. 
29. Least BitTerN, /xobrychus exilis. Took one 


September 13, 1917, the only individual I have 
seen near Coldstream. 

30. Great Briue Heron, Ardea _herodias. 
There is a black ash swamp 2! miles east, where 
about 22 pairs have nested for years. [he majority 
of the nest-trees are very tall dead ashes standing 
in water; in most cases next to impossible to reach. 
A set of six was taken from there by Clifford Zavitz, 
May 10, 1901; incubation was very far advanced, 
as they are through laying the last week in April. 
There is always a pair of Great Horned Owls 
staying there, as well as in the heronry north of 
here. A heron has spent the winter along the creek 
several times. 


31. Green Heron, Butorides virescens. A pair 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


nest here regularly. Four nests observed were—two 
in cedar, one in aspen and one in hawthorn, all 
quite near the creek. Last year the crows destroyed 
one set of five. Four more were laid in the same 


nest. 


32. Vircinia Rat, Rallus virginianus. Rather 
scarce. Usually a pair breeds. I found the young 
birds one season; have sets of nine and ten eggs. 

33. Sora, Porzana carolina. At least one pair 
seen each year. In cone nest containing fifteen eggs, 
they were piled up in two layers. 

34. Coot, Fulica americana. Occasionally breeds, 
but much more frequently seen in the fall. 

35. Woopcock, Philohela minor. 
but a pair always breeds. Young birds seen quite 
regularly. I saw a nest with four infertile eggs, 
May 10, 1915. The bird allowed me to stroke 
her head before leaving. Evidently just the female 
was present that year, as during repeated waits in 
early April, no notes were heard from the male. 
Just the one bird was seen all season. 

36. WiLson’s SNIPE, Gallinago delicata. 
mon spring and fall. 

37. Knot, Tringa canutus. Two birds were 
found dead under telephone wires, about eight and 
one-half miles south. They are mounted and in 
the possession of Mr. Knolls, Delaware. 

38. Pectoral SanppIPeR, Pisobia maculata. 


One specimen in my collection taken by R. T. Hed- 
ley, at Duncrief, Ont., October 18, 1901. 


Scarce now 


Com- 


39. Least SANDPIPER, Pisobia minutella. Com- 
monest in late July and early August. 
40. RED-BACKED SANDPIPER, Pelidna alpina. 


Two came to the pond, October 15, 1917. Secured 
one specimen. ‘These are the only ones noted. 

4]. SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER, Ereunetes pusil- 
lus. Frequently seen with Least Sandpiper. 

42. GREATER YELLOW-LEGS, 7 otanus melano- 


leucus, A few each spring. Quite common in 
the fall. 
43. LESSER YELLOW-LEGS, Totanus flavipes. 


Not so regular as melanoleucus. 

44. Sotitary SANDPIPER, Helodromas solitarius. 
Irregular in spring, but always a few in August. 

45. UpLanp PLover, Bartramia  longicauda. 
Several pairs nest regularly in the large grass fiew::. 
W. R. Campbell, of Lobo, has a set of four taken in 
May, 1914. I have a set of four found on June 3, 
1915. Both birds flushed hard from the nest; the 
one in June, 1915, did not leave until grass-tufi 
around the nest was touched (and these were fresh 
eggs). While searching for the last mentioned nest, 
two birds continually circled over the field giving 
their cdd rattling notes. We thought at the time they 
were the pair from the nest but on finding a bid 
setting, concluded, there must have been two secu- 


March, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


pied nests and that these were the two males-—or the 
two birds off duty from the nests. 


46. SpoTTED SANDPIPER, Actitis macularia. 
Common summer resident. An instance which might 
suggest that the number of eggs in a set is, perhaps, 
in a small measure voluntarily under contro! of the 
bird is the following: A pair of these birds were 
excavating the slight depression necessary for their 
nest; when they came to a stone practically the same 
size as an egg, they left this and buiit the nest 
around it, then laid three eggs which, with the stone, 
formed the perfect circle usual wiih the four eggs. I 
think if the stone had been removed at first, they 
would have laid the usual set of four, as I have never 
found a nest with other than four eggs. 


47. BLACK-BELLIED PLover, Squatarola squata- 
rola. Six were shot several years ago. 

48. GoLDEN PLover, Charadrius dominicus. 
Two specimens in my collection taken by R. T. 
Hedley, at Duncrief, September 19, 1904. 

49. KILLDEER, Oxyechus vociferus. 
summer resident. 

50. SEMI-PALMATED PLover, Aegialitis semipal- 
maia. Took one at Duncrief, July 29, 1918. 

51. Bopwuite, Colinus virginianus. Becoming 
exceeding scarce; rarely seen now. A number of 
years ago they bred quite commonly. 

52. RUFFED Crouse, Bonasa umbellus. Quite 
scarce in the township now. 

53. MourNING Dove, Zenaidura macroura. 
Very generally distributed. I have found fresh eggs 
from the last week in April until the third week in 
June. 

54. TurKEY VuLTuRE, Cathartes aura. Three 
pair bred in the vicinity every year. Four nests 
noted were all in hollow logs. W. R. Campbell 
tock a set of one, May 18, 1919; it was in a hollow 
of the rotton wood, about twelve feet from opening, 
very difficult to see from end of log. Egg far ad- 
vanced. 

55. MarsH Hawk, Circus hudsonius. Breeds 
here regularly. See more of the “blue” males than 
formerly. 

56. SHARP-SKINNED Hawk, Accipiler velox. A 
few seen every spring and fall, but only ocasionally 
in summer. 

57. Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiler cooperi. 
one or two observed each season. 

58. GosHawK, Astur atricapillus. 
comes in late fall. 

5S. Rep-TaiLep Hawk, Buteo borealis. Is al- 
ways common in breeding season, a pair or two 
often staying over winter. Then, they usually nest 
earlier. On March 30, 1914, a nest was found with 
three eggs. This pair was usually resident and laid 
at least a week earlier than the average migrating 


Common 


Only 


Occasionally 


FieLp-NaTuRALIST 49 


bird. Twelve nests were noted near here in 1916. 


60. ReEp-sHOULDERED Hawk, Buteo lineatus. 
The Red-shoulder seems to be locally distributed. 
It is very scarce in this part, while south and east a 
few miles it is commoner than the Red-tail. On 
May 10, 1901, C. G. Zavitz and I found a Great 
Blue Heron’s nest containing three eggs and one 
Red-shouldered Hawk’s egg, all equally incubated 
(far advanced). The Hawk doubtless had only 
laid one egg by the time the colony of Herons came 
and when it was driven out. I have found this Hawk 
to lay in a squirrel’s nest of leaves, without adding 
any twigs or sticks, but never have heard of its hav- 
ing laid in other bird’s nests. 


61. Broap-wincep Hawk, Buteo platypterus. 
Quite abundant during migration. Very ordinary 
fare seems to satisfy these birds. I have found a 
Mole shrew, Blarina brevicauda, in the stomach of 
one specimen in the spring of 1919. 

62. RouGH-LEGcED Hawk, Archibuteo lagopus. 
Two or three are seen nearly every year. 

63. Bap Eac.e, Haliaeetus leucocephalus. One 
or two seen nearly every year. A pair bred about 
about eight miles south in the spring of 1919. 

64. Sparrow Hawk, Falco sparverius. Regular 
summer resident. Although usually subsisting on 
small fare, I have seen them carry off an adult robin. 

65. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus. Usually one or 
two visit the pond each spring. 

66. Lonc-EaRED OWL, Asio wilsonianus. A 
pair breeds always in one of the cedar swamps or 
woods each spring. I think their average date of 
finishing laying is about April I, but the crows de- 
stroy the first set more often than not. The five sets 
noted, which escaped destruction by crows before 
completion, each contained five eggs; all were in 
old crow’s nests, no repairs evidently being made. 
The eggs in the early sets are laid usually at inter- 
vals of several days, so the young birds are quite 
noticeably different in size, especially while in the 
natal down. One set taken, May |, 1916, all eggs 
were uniformly incubated; they may have been laid 
unevenly (as the bird would not have to set until 
through laying this time of year) but I think not 
as I have never found a nest with an egg in it 
and the bird not setting close. They apparently are 
much like the Great Horns, nesting at the usual 
time regardless of the weather. One pair had two 
eggs on March 31, 1903, when there was four 
inches of snow on the ground. 

In a nest found April 24, 1917, the young birds 
stayed in the nest three and a half weeks. The 
ald birds were very bold. One would alight on a 
limb near the next tree, flapping its wings, then fall, 
sometimes fifteen feet, to the ground, floundering 
about among the leaves as if wounded. 


50 THe CANADIAN 


They seem to feed almost entirely on meadow 
voles and white-footed mice. In twenty disgorged 
pellets of fur and bones found under roost trees, 15 
contained, each, skulls, etc. of two M. pennsylvani- 
cus, 3, each, one M. pennsylvanica and 2, each, one 
When one 
bird is setting the other keeps a plentiful supply of 
mice; usually a mouse is lying on the edge of the 
nest. 

67. SHORT-EARED Owt, Asio flammeus. Sore 
autumns a few are seen, also, on through the winter. 


68. Saw-WHET OWL, Crvptoglaux acadia. Rare 
only one specimen taken, November 2, 1913. 


69. ScREECH OWL, Ofis asio. Common resident. 

70. Great Horned Ow_, Bubo  virginianus, 
Several pair breed near here, laying the last week in 
February. On April 28, 1914, in climbing to a 
Great Blue Heron’s nest, was surprised to find a 
young Horned Owl, nearly ready to fly. In a 
heron’s nest a few rods over was another young 
I tried this bird but it couldn’t fly, so I pre- 
sume the old bird must have moved the one to the 
second nest—perhaps when they became quarrel- 
some. Evidently the other nest was appropriated 
after the herons took possession, as a pair of herons 
were building a new nest; the other 21 were all 
occupied. The owls were nearly in the centre of 
the heronry. I took three specimens in the spring of 
1918 which I think are a phase of subarcticus. 

71. Snowy Ow , Nyctea nyctea. Wery seldom 
seen, more commonly appearing a few miles north. 

72. YELLOW-BILLED Cuckoo, Coccyzus ameri- 
canus. Common; breeds. 

73. BLacK-BILLED Cuckoo, Coccyzus ervihro- 
pthalmus. Common; breeds. ‘ 

74. BeLctep KINGFISHER, Ceryle alcyon. 
stayed over winter. 

75. Hairy Wooppecker, Dryobates villosus. T, 
y. villosus seems to be the common winter form. 

76. Downy Wooppecker, Drvobates pubescens. 
Is commoner than the Hairy woodpecker. Several 
present at all seasons. 

77. Arctic THREE-TOED WoopPECKER, Picoides 
arcticus. W.R. Campbell took a male in 1913 and 
I a female, Nov. 20, 1918, the only two I have 
seen. 

78. YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, Sphyrapicus 
varius. Regular migrant. 

79. Piteatep WooppecKer, Phocotomus pile- 
Two pair nest regularly a few miles south- 
One dead beech stub has three 
three or four feet The 


M. pennsylvanica and one P, leucopus. 


owl. 


Has 


alus. 
west of here. 
about 
lowest forty-five feet from ground. 

80. Rep-HEADED WooppecKerR, Melanerpes 
erythrocephalus. Not nearly so common as form- 


erly. 


nest-hcles apart. 


Winters over in years the beech-nuts are 


FireLtp-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


plentiful. "They seem to nest earlier those years. 

8]. ReED-BELLIED WoopDPECKER, Centurus car- 
olinus. A few pair resident; but used to be much 
more common. A nest May 7, 1913, contained two 
fresh eggs. 

82. FLIcKER, Colaptes auratus. Very common. 
An occasional bird staying through the winter. 

83. Wuip-poor-wiLL, Anthrostomos 
Quite regular, never very many. 

84. NIGHTHAWK, Chordeiles virginianus. Al- 
Found a nest June 4, 1918, 
near edge of a small wood. The eggs were laid 
in the imprint of someone’s heel in the earth, only 
one small leaf under eggs. 


vociferus. 


ways several pairs. 


85. CHIMNEY SwiFT, Chaetura pelagica. They 
seem to build in silos, granaries, or in barns on the 
siding as often as in chimneys. 


86. RuBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, Archilo- 
chus colubris, Breeds. Is quite abundant along the 
borders of swamps when the spotted jewel-weed 
(Impatiens biflora) is in bloom. 

87. KiINGBIRD, 
breeds. 

88. CRESTED FLYCATCHER, Myjiarchus crinitus. 
Fairly common; breeds. 

89. PHoEBE, Savyornis phoebe. 
breeds. 

90. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, Nuttallornis bhor- 
ealis. Only three individuals seen. 

91. Woop PEWEE, Myjiochanes virens. 
mon; breeds. 

92. YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, Empidonax 
flaviventris. Rare. One taken May 28, 1919. 

93. ALDER FLYCATCHER, Empidonax _ trailli. 
Two E. t. alnorum taken May 10, 1918. Not 
more than one or two seen in the spviig. 

94. Least FLycaTCHER, Empidonax minimus. 
Common in migration. Only a very few seem to 
breed here. 

95. Prairie Hornep Lark, Otocoris alpestris. 
O. a. praticola is a common resident, raising two 
broods a season. It seems more abundant in winter 
owing to its being in flocks. Took an albino female 
June 11, 1917. 

96. BLUE Jay, Cvyanocilta cristata. Resident. 
They gather in the Cedar swamps in the late fall and 
eat large quantities of Skunk Cabbage (Symplo- 
carpus foetidus) seeds. 

97. Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos. 


resident; sometimes rather scarce in winter. 


Tyrannus tyrannus. Common; 


Very common; 


Com- 


Abundant 
Their 
chief form of recreation seems to be making life 
miserable for the Horned Owls. Yet they prove an 
effectual body guard, when the owl is pursued with 
a gun, always getting him in motion in plenty of 
time. 


March, 1920] 

98. BoBoLinK, Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Very 
common summer resident. 

99. CowBiRD, Molothrus ater. Much too abun- 
dant. Most of the small birds are burdened with 
the rearing of it’s offspring. 

100. Rep-wincep Biacksirp, Agelaius phoeni- 
ceus. Breeds in most of the cat-tail runs, also 
building in the wild Red Osier, Cornus stolonifera, 
and sedge grasses. 

101. Meapow Lark, Sturnella magna. Common; 
breeds. Sometimes few stay over winter. 

102. OrcHarD ORIoLE, /cterus spurius. 
noted in song May 31, 1917. 


103. BactimorE OrIoLe, /cterus galbula. Com- 
mon, breeds. 


One 


104. Rusty Gracie, Euphagus carolinus. Com- 
mon migrant. More abundant in fall. 

105. Bronzep GracLe, Quiscalus  quiscula. 
Abundant summer resident. Occasional birds stay- 
ing in winter. Is in rather poor grace with the 
farmers of this locality, through it’s love for sprout- 
ing corn, yet I think they receive much more benefit 
than harm from the bird. 

106. Pine GrossBeak, Pinicola enucleator. A 
number were here through the winter of 1918-19 
They seemed tto feed largely on apple seeds. 

107. PurPLE FINncuH, Carpodacus purpureus. 
They seem to be great wanderers, as there are 
long stretches at a time through the winter when 
they are entirely absent. 

108. CrossBILL, Loxia curvirostra. 
Feb. 14, 1918. 

109. WHITE-WINGED CrossBILL, Loxia leucop- 
tera. Saw six Nov. 18, 1917. 

110. Reppotit, Acanthis linaria. Some winters 
quite abundant, but usually only a very few seen, 
or entirely absent. 

111. GotpFINcH Astragalinus tristis. Abundant 
resident. Found commonest in winter on the Black 
Birch, Betula lenta. Feeds on the catkins. 

112. Pine. Siskin, Spinus_ pinus. 
small fllocks met with in fall. 

113. SHow Buntinc, Plectrophenax 
Abundant winter visitor. 

114. Vesper Sparrow, Fooecetes graminceus. 
Very common; raising two and three broods a 
season. 

115. SAVANNAH Sparrow, Passerculus sandwi- 


Three seen 


Occasional 


nwalis. 


chensis. Common summer resident. 
116. GrassHOPPER Sparrow, Ammodramus 
savannarum. Regular summer visitor. Have 


heard them in song up to the last week in July. 

117. WHITE-cROWNED Sparrow, Zonotrichia 
leucophrys. Always present in spring and fall mi- 
grations. 


THe Canapian — Fietp-NATURALIST 5] 


118. WHITE-THROATED Sparrow, Zonotrichia 


albicollis. Abundant in spring and fall. Have 
never observed it during the breeding season. 
119. Tree Sparrow, Spizella monticola. Com- 


mon winter resident; remaining until the second 
week in April 

120. CHipPpING Sparrow, Spizella 
Very common; breeds. 


passerina. 


121. Fietp Sparrow, Spizella pusilla. Very 
few here. Common four miles south-west. 
122. SLaTE-coLorED JuNco, Junco hyemalis. 


Abundan! in spring and fall; a very few remain- 
ing to breed. Always quite a number present 
through the winter. 


Very 
A few spend the win- 


123. Sonc Sparrow, Melospiza melodia. 
abundant summer resident. 
ter. 


124. Linco_n’s Sparrow, Melospiza lincolni. 
Saw three Oct. 3, 1917. Took one specimen. 
They did not skulk through the grass, as I had 
expected, but stayed in the low dog-wood bushes 
which margined the pond, 

125. Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza 
Breeds sparingly here each season. 


georgiana. 


126. Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca. Five to 
ten seen each migration. 
127. TowHee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus. Com- 


mon. A few wintered here the season of 1917-18. 

128. CarDINAL, Cardinalis cardinalis. One taker 
May 3, 1918. The first to be observed. Another 
heard July 8, 1918. 

129. RosE-BREASTED GrosBEAK, Zamelodia lud- 
oviciana, Ccmmon; breeds. 

130. INpico BuNtTING, Passerina cyanea. A 
pair breeds in nearly every large raspberry patch. 

131. ScarLET TANAGER, Piranga ervythromelas. 
Common. Took a beautiful male June 3, 1918, 
half way between summer and winter plumag:, yet 
it was full—no pin-feathers. 
color of the female with heavy, clear-cut blotches 


The underparts were 
of scarlet. Crown, nape and back, variegated with 
scarlet and green, darker than crown of female. 

132. Purpite Martin, Progne subis. Only one 
seen—June 1, 1918. 

133. Curr Swattow, Petrochelidon lunifrons. 
Occassionally a colony attempts to build under the 
eaves of a barn, but are usually driven cut by 
House Sparrows. 

134. Barn Swatiow, Hirundo 
Common; breeds, 


crythrogaster. 


135. Tree Swa.iow, /ridoprocne bicolor. Re- 
gular migrant; few nesting. 
136. BANK Swa.Low, RRiparia riparia. A few 


breed in most of the gravel-pits. 
in the sand-banks along the creek. 


Larger colonies 


52 THE CaNapiAN-— FiELp-NaTuRALIST 


137. RoucH-wincep Swa.iow, Stelgidopteryx 
Becoming commoner. - Several pair 

Eggs are laid early in the second 
All nests I examined contained six 


serripennis. 
nest each season. 
week in June. 
eggs. 

138. CeparR Waxwinc, Bombycilla cedrorum. 
Resident, but very uncertain in winter, sometimes 
nct noted until spring. 


139. NoRTHERN SHRIKE, Lanius _ borealis, 
Usually one each fall or winter. 

140. MicrantT SHRIKE, Lanius ludovicianus A 
pair or two always nested, but none se2n nzar sinc? 
1918. 

14]. Rep-EYepD Vireo, Vireosylva 
Common summer resident. Last spring <June 8, 
1918) I noticed a Red-eye excited over something, 
then saw a chipmonk climbing the sapling the bird 
was in. When he was about eight feet up, the 
vireo darted down knocking him to ‘he ground. 
The other bird was on the nest at the end of one cf 
the branches. The nest contained four 
bird’s eggs and one of their own, so little was 
gained in keeping the chipmonk away. 

142. PHILADELPHIA ViREO, Vireosylva philadel- 
phica. Appears sparingly early in he last week of 
May. 

143. WarBLING VirEO, Vireosylva gilva. Three 
or four pair breed in the village every summer. 

144. YELLOW-THROATED ViREO, Lanivireo flavi- 
frons. A regular summer resident. 

145. BLUE-HEADED VirEO, Lanivireo solitarius, 
Usually from one to six seen each spring and fall. 

146. Black aNnD WuitE WarsLer, Mniotilta 
Very seldom seen dur- 


olivacea. 


cow- 


Common migrant. 
ing nesting season. 

147. GoLDON-WINGED WARBLER, Vermivora 
chrysoptera. A pair regularly breeds near here, 
May 18, 1919, saw five. 

148. NasHvILLE WarBLeR, Vermivora_rubri- 
capilla. Never abundant. A few seen each spring. 

149. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, Vermivora 
celata. Only one positively identified, a male, May 
9, 1918. 

150. TENNESSEE WARBLER, Vermivora pere- 
grina. Fairly well represented from May 15 to 25. 
Always a few in fall. 

151. ParuLA WarBLer, Compsothlypis ameri- 
cana. Have only observed it in spring. 

152. Cape May Warster, Dendroica tigrina. 
Arrives about May 6. Usually see from two to 
six each spring; one or two in the fall. 

153. Yertow Warscer, Dendroica 
Very common summer resident. 

154. BLack-THROATED BLUE WarBLerR, Den- 
Common migrant spring and 


varia. 


aestiva. 


droica cacrulescens, 


fall. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


155. MyrtTLtE Warsuer, Dendroica coronata. 
Abundant migrant. 


156. Macnotia WarBLER, Dendroica magnolia. 
Common, spring and fall. 

157. CERULEAN WarBLER, Dendroica cerulea. 
Arrives about May 13. Breeds in a number of 
nearby wocds. 

158. CHESTNUT-SIDED 
pensylvanica. 


WarsB_erR, Dendroica 
Very common during migration, but 
only a few remaining to breed. Found two pair 
building June 13, 1918. 

159. Bay-BRESTED WarBLER, Dendroica cast- 
anea. Always quite a number in spring, the fe- 
males arriving nearly a week later than the males. 
Have never taken it in autumn. 

160. BLack-poLt WarBLER, Dendroica striata. 
Resular, spring and fall, but in no great numbers. 

161. BLacKBURNIAN WarBLER, Dendroica 
fusca. Very abundant migrant. Spring stay is about 
May 12-29. 

162. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, Den- 
droica virens. Very regular in spring and fall. 

163. Patm WarsLer, Dendroica palmarum. 
Most common in fall. All specimens I have ex- 
amined were D. p. palmarum. 

164. Prarie Ware er, Dendroica discolor. On 
the evening of May 20, 1919, C. H. Zavitz, of 
Coldstream told me of seeing a warbler in an orch- 
ard which he took to be the Prairie. I was on 
the ground at sunrise the next morning and secured 
a male, the only record for here. 

165. OveNnsirD, Seiurus aurocapillus. Common; 
breeds in most of the woods. 

166. WaTER-THRUSH, Seiurus 
Always a few each spring; have never heard them 
in June. May 8, 1917, I took a water-thrush 
which agrees perfectly in measurements and color 
with S. n. notabilis. My other skins fit novebora- 
censis fairly well. 

167. CoNNECTICUT WarRBLER, Oporornis agilis. 
Usually see two or three each spring in the woods 
or mixed swamps. 

168. Mourninc WarBLer, Oporornis philadel- 
phia. Always several each spring, but usually only 
a pair stay to breed. 

169. MarYLAND YELLOW-THROAT, 
trichas. Several pair breed. 

170. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, Icteria_ v-rens. 
One taken here on May 14, 1918, by Hoyes Lioyd. 
The only record. 

171. Witson’s WARBLER, 
Occurs sparingly as a migrant. 

172. CanapA WarBLeR, Wilsonia canadensis. 
Common migrant. 

173. Repstart, Setophaga ruticilla. 
during migration; quite a number breed. 


noveboracensts. 


Geothlypis 


Wilsonia — pusilla. 


Common 


March, 1920] THE 


CANADIAN 


174. Pipit, Anthus rubescens. Occurs both 
spring and fall but very irregular; always in flecks. 

175. Catsirp, Dumetella carolinensis. Very 
common summer resident. W.R. Campbell records 
one as wintering season of 1918-19. 

176. BRowN THRASHER, Toxosloma 
Common. Eggs laid about May 10. 

177. CaroLinA WrReEN, Thrvyothorus ludovicia- 
nus. A male came in spring of 1916; was in ful! 
song until August. 

178. House WreN, Troglodyles aedon. Very 
common; breeds nearly as often in old stumps in 
clearings as about farm-buildings. 

179; WiInTER WReEN, Nannus hiemalis. Have 
only found it as a migrant in spring and fall; is 
fairly common. 

180. SHorT-BILLED MarsH WReN, Cistothorus 
stellaris. Have cbserved it but twice locally; took 
a specimen Sept. 2, 1916; saw another June 5, 
1917. 

181. BRowN CREEPER, Certhia  familiaris. 
Usually resident. Absent winter of 1918-19. 
There is usually one to be seen in a mixed flock 
of chicadees, nuthatches and downy-woodpeckers. 

182. WuHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, Silla car- 
olinensis. Common resident. 

183. ReD-BREASTED NUuTHATCH, Silla 
densis, Quite common in spring and fall of some 
years; during others nearly absent. 

184. CuicKkaDEE, Penthestes atricapillus. 
mon resident; nesting early in May. 

185. GoLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, Regulus sat- 
rapa. Ordinarily fairly common all winter and 


rufum. 


cana- 


Com- 


FieLp-NATURALIST 53 


spring, but the last two winters (1917-18, 1918-19) 
entirely absent. 
spring. 

186. Ruspy-crowNep KINcLET, Regulus calen- 
dula. Regular migrant. 


Only one individual seen each 


187. Buue-cray GNATCATCHER, Poliopiila 
caerulea. Rare; only two noted. 
188. Woop Turusu, Hylocichla  mustelina. 


Fairly common summer resident, breeding in most 
of the wocds. 

189. VeERY, Hylocichla fuscescens. Not as 
common as the woodthrush in the breeding season, 
but common during migration. 

190. GRAY-cHEEKED THRUSH, Hylocichla ali- 
ciae. Rare migrant. Took a specimen May 13, 
1918; saw one May 14, 1919. 

191. Oxive-BackED TuHrusH, Hylocichla ustu- 
lata. Common spring and autumn migrant. 


192. Hermit TuHrusH, Hylocichla  guttata. 
Appears in numbers both spring and fall. 
193. Rosin,  Planesticus migratorius. Very 


abundant, occasional birds staying through the win- 
ter. The spring of 1915, two albinos hatched from 
a nest at Lobo (five miles east). One was prac- 
tically white, the other had a dark head. The 
white one became quite tame, as food was put out 
for it daily. It returned the next spring, but soon 
disappeared, probably taken by a cat. 

194. BLuesirp, Sialia sialis. Very commonly 
distributed. Oct. 12, 1914, I took an albino from 
a large flock. It is pure white with a little dusky 
shade on wings and tail, crown, nape and back 
showing very pale blue. 


THREE NEW PELECYPODS FROM THE COLORADOAN OF THE 
PEACE AND SMOKY VALLEYS, ALBERTA* 


By F. H. McLearn. 


The revised stratigraphy of the Cretaceous of 
northern Alberta is treated in recent reports of the 
Geological Survey of Canada.'! To them the reader 
is referred for detailed lithological and structural 


*Published with the permission of the Directing 

Geologist, Geological Survey of Canada. 

1. McLearn, F. H., Peace River Section, Alberta, 
Geol. Surv., Can., Summ. Rep., 1917, C., pp. 14C- 
Z2LG, : 
McLearn, F. H., The Cretaceous of Peace and 
Athabaska Valleys, in Dowling, Slipper & Me- 
Learn, Investigations in the Gas and Oil fieelds 
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Geol. 
Surv., Can., Mem. No. 116, Part III, pp. 27-33. 
McLearn, F. H., Cretaceous Lower Smoky River, 
Alberta, Geol. Surv., Can., Summ. Rep. 1918, C. 
pp. 1C-7C. 

McLearn, F. H., New Species of Pelecypods from 
the Cretaceous of Noorthern Alberta, Geol. Surv., 
Can., Mus. Bull., 29, pp. 9-12, pls. 3-5. 


descriptions, thicknesses, areal distribution, corre- 
lation, correlation table, faunal lists, and description 
of new species. A statement of the principal facts 
concerning the Coloradoan of the Peace and Smoky 
Valleys is given below and is followed by the des- 
cription of three new species of pelecypeds. Thanks 
are due to Dr. T. W. Stanton for aid in the study 
of the fossils. 


ForMmaTIONs. The Colorado group of the Peace 
and Smoky valleys includes, in ascending order, 
the St. John and Dunvegan formations and the 
lower shale and Bad Heart sandstone members of 
the Smoky River formation (the age of the lower 
100 feet of the upper shale member may be either 
Coloradoan or Montanan). The St. John consists 


54 


THE 


CANADIAN FieLp-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


March, 1920] 


of marine dark shale. The Dunvegan is composed 
cf sandstone and shale; the presence of some marine 
shells demonstrates temporary marine conditions, but 
the internal structure and nonmarine fossils indicate 
predominantly subaerial deposition. The Smoky 
River is made up chiefly of marine shale, with a 
marine sandstone band (Bad Heart sandstone) at 
or near the top of the Colorado part of the forma- 
tion. 


DuNvEGAN De.ta. The subaerial character of 
the Dunvegan and its conformable relation to marine 
beds above and below identify it as a delta built 
out into the Colorado sea. The thinning of sand- 
stone and its replacement by shale in an easterly 
direction points to a western source of sediment and 
the existence of high land there; it also indicates 
that the delta was built out from the western shore. 
It extended at least as far east as the Athabaska in 
the Pelican-House River area. Southward it is not 
thought to have reached far, but until the Colorado 
group of the Brazeau-Bighorn area is studied in 
detail the southerly limit cannot be determined. 


ZONAL ARRANGEMENT. Four fossil zones are 
recognized in the local development of the Colorado 
group. The St. John contains the first fauna with 
Acanthoceras cornutum Whiteaves, large /nocer- 
amus, etc.; it may be quite early Coloradoan. A 
part of the base of the St. John may represent a 
marine equivalent of the Dakota. The second or 
Dunvegan fauna contains, as guide fossils, Unio 
dowlingi McLearn, Corbula pvyriformis Meek, 
Brachydontes multilinigera Meek, Ostrea anomi- 
oides Meek, and Barbatia micronema (Meek.) Th> 
third fauna is found in the lower part of the lower 
shale member of the Smoky River and _ includes 
Prionotropis hyatti Stanton, Acanihoceras cf. colo- 
radoensis Henderson and J/noceramus labiatus 
Schlotheim. The difference between the second 
and third faunas can be explained by dissimilar en- 
vironmental conditions; for the Dunvegan contains 
freshwater, brackish water and marine sand _ bot- 
tom forms, while the basal Smoky River represents 
a shale facies with also ammonites. For the pur- 
pose of correlation they may be treated as one fauna. 
The fourth and highest zone, at the top of the lower 
shale member and in the Bad Heart sandstone 
member of the Smoky River, contains Scaphites 
ventricosus M. & H., Baculites cf. asper Morton, 
B. cf. anceps Lamarck, /noceramus umbonatus M. 


& H., Oxytoma nebrascana E. & S. and Preria 
linguiformis E. & S. 


New Species. Of the three species described 
below two are from the Dunvegan formation: 
Tellina dunveganensis, n.sp. 


Tellina (Moera) peaceriverensis, n.sp. 


THE CANADIAN” FieELp-NaTURALIST 


Ww 
Ww 


One is from the Bad Heart sandstone :— 


Gervillia stantoni, n.sp. 


Phylum MOLLUSCA. 

Class PELECYPODA Goldfuss. 
Order PRIONDESMACEA Dall. 
Family PERNIDAE Zittel. 

Genus GERVILLIA Defrance. 
Fic, I: 

This species is smaller and less oblique in out- 
line than Gervillia recta var. borealis Whiteaves and 
G. subtortuosa Meek and Hayden. The size is 
about as in G. recta Meek and Hayden, but it is 
not nearly so oblique in outline and is wider pio- 
portionately on the hinge line. 


Gervillia stantoni, n. sp. 


The species name is given in honour of Doctor 
T. W. Stanton of the U. S. Geological Survey. 

Height 40 m.m.; length 42 m.m.; length of hinge; 
line 35 m. m. 

Horizon and Locality. Rare in the Bad Heart 
sandstone member of the Smoky River formation, 
Smoky river, Alberta. 

Collection. Holotype Cat. No. 5669 in the Vic- 


toria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 


Order TELEODESMACEA Dall. 
Family TELLINIDAE Deshayes. 
Genus TELLINA Linné. 


Fics. 2, 4. 


A trigonal, moderately depressed, shell with sub- 
central beaks and somewhat angular post-umbonal 
slope. External ligament very short; pallial sinus 
rounded and shallow; lateral teeth well developed 
and the anterior one approximate; two stout cardin- 
al teeth in the left valve. 


Height 18 m. m.; length 25 m. m. 
Horizon and Locality. Rather rare in the Dun- 
vegan formation, Peace and Smoky rivers, Alberta. 


Collection. Holotype Cat. No. 5671 in the Vic- 


toria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 


Tellina dunveganensis, n. sp. 


Fics. 5: 6: 


Only molds of the left value are preserved. The 
outline resembles that of Donax cuneata Stanton, 
but this species is not so abruptly deflected on the 
postumbonal slope, is not curved upward at the 
anterior end, and the beak is not so prominent or 
terminal. Donax? oblonga Stanton is a larger 
shell with more prominent beak and is more angular 
and abruptly deflected on the post-umbonal slope. 

The form of this species suggests the genus 
Donax; but the dentition is like Tellina and the 
outline is closest to subgenus Moera. The left 
value has two cardinal teeth, the posterior much 
The lateral teeth are too 
well developed for Donax; the anterior lateral is 
approximate as in TJellina. Ligament not known, 


Tellina (Moera) peaceriverensis, n. sp. 


smaller than the anterior. 


56 THE 


The pallial sinus is shallow. 

Height 15 m. m.; length 30 m. m. 

Horizon and Locality. Rare in the Dunvegan 
formation, Peace river, Alberta. 

Collection. Hs!otype Cat. No. 5670, cast of holo- 
type No. 5670a, in the Victoria Memorial Museum, 
Ottawa. 

EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 

Figure 1.—Gervillia stantoni McLearn n. sp. Mold 
of interior of left valve. Geol. Surv., Can., Mus. 
No. 5669, holotype. 

Figure 2.—Tellina dunveganensis McLearn n. sp. 
Largely exfoliated left valve, revealing mold of 
interior and showing muscle scars, pallial line and 


pallial sinus. Geol. Surv., Can., Mus. No. 5671, 
holotype. 


CANADIAN FiELD-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Figure 3.—The same specimen. Shows dorsal view 


of both valves, with external ligament. 


Figure 4.—The same specimen. Right valve. 


Figue 5.—Tellina (Moera) peaceriverensis Mc- 
Learn n. sp. Left valve, shell exfoliated, reveal- 
ing mold of interior and showing muscle scars, 
pallial line and pallial sinus. Geol. Surv., Can., 


Mus. No. 5670, holotype. 


Figure 6.—The same. Cast of part of. left valve, 
showing hinge. Geol. Sury., Can., Mus. No. 
5670a, cast of holotype. 


Figure 7.—Smoky river at mouth of Bad Heart 
river. Cliff of Smoky River shale with band of 
Bad Heart sandstone. 


OBITUARY. 


LawrRENcE M. LAMBE. 


By the death of Lawrence Lambe, which oc- 
curred on March 12th, 1919, the Canadian Geo- 
logical Survey lost one of its best known scientists. 
Mr. Lambe was the Vertebrate Palaeontologist of 
the Geological Survey of Canada. 


Lawrence M. Lambe was born in Montreal, on 
August 27th, 1863. His father, Wm. B. Lambe, 
was an Englishman who came to Canada when a 
young man. His mother was of Schotch descent, 
the daughter of Hon. Wm. Morris, of Montreal. 

Lambe’s college training was taken with a view to 
entering the profession of civil engineer. He se- 
cured shortly after his graduation from college a 
position with the engineers of the mountain division 
of the C. P. R. It is most probable that he would 
have remained a civil engineer but for the fact that 
an attack of typhoid fever compelled his return 
home. Although offered, after his recovery, an- 
other position on the engineering staff of the C.P.R. 
he preferred an appointment to the Canadian Geo- 
logical Survey. 

Much of Mr. Lambe’s training in zoology and 
palaeontology was acquired chiefly through his 
association with that keen naturalist and palaeon- 
tologist, Dr. J. F. Whiteaves. This association be- 
gan when Lambe, at the age of twenty-two, re- 
ceived his first appointment to the Canadian Geo- 
logical Survey as artist and assistant to Dr. 
Whiteaves. At a considerably later period he 
studied with Dr. H. F. Osborne at Columbia Uni- 
versity. Concerning this period of Mr. Lambe’s 
career, Dr. Osborne writes as follows:— 

“When I was appointed in April, 1900, on the 


Geological Survey of Canada, as palaeontologist, 


to succeed Professor Edward D. Cope, I chose 
Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe as my chief associate 
and I immediately engaged with him in the study 
of the fauna of the Belly River, which was pub- 
lished in 1902 (see Osborn Bibliography 1902. 217). 
He afterward came to Columbia University and 
took my full course in vertebrate palaeontology.” 


Analysis of Lambe’s publications shows three 
distinct stages in his development as a scientific work- 
er. His first three papers dealt with living marine 
sponges. His contributions to zoology all relate to 
sponges and extend over a period of thirteen years, 
beginning in 1892. His first contribution to inver- 
tebrate palaeontology appeared in 1896, four years 
after he had begun publishing on sponges. “Two 
years later his first paper on vertebrate fossils was 
published. His papers published since 1900 relate 
with few exceptions to vetebrate palaeontology, 
the subject with which his name in recent years has 
been chiefly associated. Lambe’s most important 
work on invertebrate fossils relates to the corals. 
For a short period after the death of Dr. J. F. 
Whiteaves, the determination of all of the palaeon- 
tological collections of the Canadian Geological 
Survey fell to Mr. Lambe,—a task which few palae- 
ontologists could have ventured to undertake. After 
1910, Lambe was able to devote his energies c=- 
clusively to vertebrate palaeontology. He had, too, 
during the later part of his career the good for- 
tune to have the assistance of the Sternbergs who 
collected for him a wealth of dinosaurs and other 
material from the Alberta Cretaceous. 

Lambe’s interest centered in the office elaboration 
and description rather than in the collection of fos- 


March, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


sils. Being an accomplished artist, he took the 
greatest care in supervising the execution of the 
drawings which illustrated the remarkable series of 
fossils which he has described during the last eight 
years. Among these were the first specimens of 
horned dinosaurs which had ever been found show- 
ing the character of the skin. The vertebrate 
fauna described by Lambe included many enormous 
heavy boned reptilian creatures of most fantastic 
appearance. One of these which bears the name of 
Styracosaurus albertensis possessed a skull six feet 
in length. The top of the skull extended backward 
from the great hooked mandibles, expanded like a 
shield over the neck where it was bordered by six 
powerful horns projecting from its posterior margin. 

Among the important papers which he prepared 
in recent years were those describing the Triassic 
fishes of the Rocky Mountains. We are also in- 
debted to him for important contributions to our 
knowledge of the Devonian fishes of New Bruns- 
wick. But it is with the wonderfully rich and 
varied vertebrate fauna of the Red Deer River 
valley of Alberta collected by the Sternbergs that 


FieLp-NaTURALIST 57 
His 
various papers dealing with the Cretaceous faunas 
of the west show admirable illustrations of many of 
these bizarre creatures cf the Canadian Cretaceous. 
Several new genera were described from the Al- 
berta material. 

A complete list of the papers of Lawrence Lambe 
will be published in an early number of the Bulle- 
tin of the Geological Society of America. 

Mr. Lambe was elected a Fellow of the Royal 
Society of Canada in 1901, and was a member of 
various other scientific societies. 

Lawrence Lambe belonged to that small group 
of men who find in their work their greatest plea- 
sure. Palaeontological work was to him indeed a 
labour of love. The little worries of life seemed 
never to penetrate his optimistic temperament. His 
friends will long remember the cheery smile and 
kindly word with which he always greeted them. 
Lambe accomplished much toward revealing Can- 
ada’s early vertebrate life, and wherever such 
knowledge is cherished his passing will be deeply 
regretted. E. M. KInbLe. 


Lambe was chiefly occupied in recent years. 


WaLcTeER R. BILLINGS. 


Through the death of Walter R. Billings, Can- 
ada has lost a citizen of unusual attainments. His 
death occurred on March Ist, in his 7Ist year at his 
home in Ottawa. Mr. Billings was an architect 
by profession and a palaecontologist by natural 
taste and inclination. Although palacontology was 
an avocation with Mr. Billings which he actively 
followed during only a portion of his mature life, 
the work which he has left forms a substantial and 
valuable contribution to the science. 

The ancestry of Walter R. Billings on the pa- 
ternal side was rather complex including Welsh, 
English, Scotch and Irish elements. The family 
seemed to have, as tersely stated by Chas. Billings, 
“nearly the whole British Empire” at their backs. 
The grandfather of Walter R. Billings was born 
in Massachusetts; the grandmother in New York. 
Braddish Billings, grandfather of Walter, was the 
first white settler in Ottawa. The grandparents of 
Walter came to Ottawa when there was nothing to 
suggest the future city of Ottawa which developed 
later over a part of the 1000 acre tract of land 
which they acquired. The mother of Walter Bill- 
ings was a daughter of Capt. Walter Ross. Walter 
R. Billings was a nephew of Elkanah Billings the 
distinguished first palacontclogist of the Canadian 
Geological Survey. To palaeontologists the death 
of the nephew will recall the birthday of paloeon- 
tological science in Canada, which may be said to 
coincide with the publication of Elkanah Billings’ 
first paper on the Cystidea. To this able and 


remarkable man Canadian naturalists owe a debt 
of gratitude for starting at his own expense the first 
magazine devoted to natural history published in 
Canada. The eloquent declaration of E. Billings 
in a letter to Sir Wm. Logan at the time of sending 
him the first copy of the Canadian Naturalist and 
Geologist, is worth recording here as evidence of 
the fine courage and enthusiasm which dominated 
the father of Canadian palaeontology. To Sir 
William he wrote, “I have abandoned my profes- 
sion, (journalism) and intend to devote the rest of 
my life to the study of natural history.” One pur- 
pose of the new magazine he stated in this letter 
was to arouse “if possible the youth of this coun- 
try to pursuits for which they have everywhere most 
unrivalled facilities.” 


With such a sponsor in E. Billings it is small 
wonder that palaeontology made a strong appeal 


to the subject of this sketch. Inspired no doubt 
by the work of his uncle, Walter R. Billings be- 
came an ardent collector of fossils. That his col- 
lections came to include many rare and beautifully 
preserved specimens is sufficiently attested by the 
published references of foreign palaccntologists to 
them. Dr. Bather of the British Museum has re- 
ferred in various papers to specimens collected by 
W. R. Billings. The generous spirit of Billings 
led him to loan his collections freely to those pre- 
pared to make use of them and some of his rarest 
specimens were presented to the British Museum. 


58 THE 


His own published studies were confined chiefly 
to the Crinoidea. He is known to students of the 
Crinoidea for his valuable work on the Trenton 
crinoidal fauna of Ontario. Walter R. Billings 
during the pericd from 1881 to 1887 described in 
the Transacticns of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ 
Club, several new species and one new genus from 
Ottawa and Belleville. 

During this period Billings took an active part in 
the excursions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club 
sharing the leadership of field parties with such 
naturalists as James Fletcher, J. F. Whiteaves, W. 
R. Ells and H. M. Ami. 

Many important additions to the knowledge of 
the Crinoidea have been mdae by Dr. Bather from 
studies of material collected by W. R. Billings. 
The very valuable collection of fossils left by Mr. 
Billings has been presented to the Canadian Gece- 
logical Survey by his sister, Miss Myra, in accord- 
ance with his wishes. Besides the crinoids des- 
cribed by Billings, it includes much valuable material 
from other groups of fossils and many specimens 
from other countries. 

Billings was always ready to place at the dis- 
pesal of visiting geologists his intimate knowledge 
of collecting localities in the Ottawa district. Many 
geologists have been indebted to him for guidance 
to the interesting localities for collecting near Otta- 
wa. 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vok 3X 


Palaeontology was as already stated an avoca- 
tion with Walter R. Billings. He represented a 
type of man far too rare in Canada but more com- 
mon in England, who finds the time and shows the 
ability to make worthy contributions to pure scence 
while following a profession in no way allied to the 
science in which he delves. 

Walter Billings was a man of broad interests 
and for many years took a keen interest in athletics. 
In his younger days he took an active part in the 
water sports for which Ottawa is noted. Many of 
his vacations were spent on his luxuriously furnished 
house boat. 

The palaenotological studies of Walter R. Bill- 
ings had enabled him to “peer far back into the 
night of time” but he claimed no such insight into 
the future as the great majority of men believe they 
have. His keen analytical mind had given him 
little if any knowledge cf the uncharted seas of the 
Great Beyond. He was too frank and honest a 
man to lay claim to knowledge or beliefs which he 
had never acquired. It was therefore in deference 
to his modest views regarding the limitations of the 
human mind that the ceremonies usually observed, 
were omitted at the passing of Walter R. Billings. 
In his request that his remains be cremated we 
glimpse the fact that his concern was more for the 
welfare of those he left behind than for himself. 

E. M. KInbte. 


BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 


The library of McGill University has been en- 
riched by a collection of text books, monographs, 
and sets of periodicals (in English, French, Italian 
and German) devoted to birds; constituting the 
Emma Shearer Wood Library of Ornithology. This 
library, the gift of Colonel Casey A. Wood of 
Chicago, to his Alma Mater, will be endowed by 
the donor, and is intended to serve not only as a 
reference collection for the use of college students 
and research workers but it will be available, so 
far as its more popular books are concerned, to 
readers, interested in birds, outside the University 
precinc': 


It may be added that Dr. Casey Wood is an 
old Ottawa boy, having graduated as prizeman from 
the Collegiate Institute about 1875. He visited the 
Capital in 1918 as representative of the Surveyor 
General of the U. S. Army on a tour of inspection 
of our hospitals and other institutions engaged in 
the rehabilitation disabled soldiers. Col. 
Wood has retired from practice and is now engaged, 


in California, on the Medical and Surgical (Ameri- 


of our 


can) History of the War and other literary tasks. 
He was the Secretary of the Committee that pub- 
lished the Anniversary Volumes dedicated to the 
late Sir William Osler. 


In 1917, just before Dr. Wood took up his mili- 
tary duties-he published his Fundus Oculi of Birds. 
This is an important study of a neglected subject. 
It is profusely illustrated with a wealth of coloured 
plates and line drawings and is a most valuable ad- 
dition to avian anatomy in general and bird optics 
in particular. It also offers suggestions that may be 
of great value in the classification of birds. 


NoTES ON SOME OF THE MORE COMMON ANIMALS 
AND BIRDS OF THE CANADIAN Rockies. By 
William Spreadborough. Canadian Alpine Jour- 
nal, Vol. X., 1919, pp. 51-68. Mr. Spreadborough, 
the veteran naturalist and field collector, who has 
spent nearly every summer for the past thirty years 
with field parties of the Geological Survey of Can- 
ada, accompanying Mr. James McEvoy, Professor 
John Macoun, and the late Mr. James M, Macoun, 


March, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN 


relates some of his interesting field experiences. Of 
mammals, he gives notes on grizzly bear, hoary 
marmot, Columbian ground squirrel, little chief 
hare, bushy-tailed woodrat or pack-rat, mountain 
flying squirrel, and Hudson Bay red squirrel. 

Of birds, he gives many interesting notes on the 
habits of Richardson’s grouse, grey ruffed grouse, 
Franklin’s grouse or fool-hen, white-tailed ptarmi- 
gan, and golden eagle. Though he has writen 
little, Mr. Spreadborough has a keen eye and ear 
for natural history work, and his wide journeyings 
into some of the most inaccessible parts of Canada 
have given him a wide knowledge of the habits of 
beasts and birds. It is to be hoped that he will put 
more of his observations on record. 


R. M. ANDERSON. 


MIGRATIONS OF THE GRAY SQUIRREL (Sciurus 
carolinensis). By Ernest Thompson Seten, Jcur- 
nal of Mammalogy, Vol. I., No. 2, February, 1920, 
pp. 53-58. Mr. Seton quotes from early accounts 
of “incredible” migrations before the eastern wooded 
area was thickly settled. Robert Kennicott records 
a migration from Canada across the Niagara River 
into western New York. As corroboration of the 
high figures given by the old naturalists, from which 
may be deduced a gray squirrel population of sev- 
eral billions at one time in the area inhabited by 
the species in 1800, Mr. Seton states that recently 
it was necessary to thin out the gray squirrels in the 
protected area of Central Park, New York, and 
300 were shot without making much perceptible 
difference. That is, there were over 1000 to the 
300 acres of timber. “Im my recollection of a 
squirrel woods in Ontario, 1887, the numbers in 
Central Park are not to be compared to those in 
the northern woods. They were at least three times 
as numerous in the latter and yet we knew that 
there were about three to the acre in the park.” 

Mr. Seton asks young naturalists to render ser- 
vice now by interviewing all available old-timers 
who hunted squirrels in the 60’s, and make a record 
of the time, place, extent, direction, etc., of every 
emigration that can be traced, together with facts 
that bear upon the causes and results or that in any 
way offer interesting light. 


R. M. ANDERSON. 


The Condor, Vol. XXI., ending Dec., 1919. 
During the past year there has appeared in this 
* publication the following papers and articles of in- 
terest to Canadian readers: 

P. 42, Sapsuckers and Hummingbirds, a short 
note by H. H. Mitchell, Provincial Museum, Re- 
gina, Sask. In this is described the visits of at least 
seven Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that successive- 


FieLp-NaTURALIST 59 
ly came to drink sap flowing from the drilling made 
by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a birch tree. 


Pp. 57-60. Notes on the Breeding Habits of the 
Red Crossbill in the Okanagan Valley, British 
Columbia, by J. A. Munro, Okanagan Landing, 
B.C. This is an interesting paper on a little known 
subject. The author states that he secured specimens 
“which plainly show reversion from the yellow 
plumage to the red,” thus giving evidence supporting 
the much disputed view that the red plumage is 
not the livery of the most mature birds. 


Pp. 80-86. The Summer Birds of Hazelton, 
British Columbia, by P. A. Taverner, Geological 
Survey, Ottawa. This is an annotated list of 69 
species noted or collected, in the summer of 1917, 
at Hazelton, on the Grand Trunk Pacific at its 
most northern point in British Columbia, by Wm. 
Spreadborough and the author. 

Pp. 91-92. Letter by Mr. A. B. Howell, con- 
tinuing the discussion started by Mr. Taverner’s use 
of binomials. 

P. 124. Mr. J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, has a 
note giving measurements and descriptions of Trump- 
eter Swans from California, the St. Clair Flats, 
Mich., and the State of Washington. Mainly de- 


tails of a specimen in the British Museum, supple- 


mentary to its citation in The Game Birds of 
California. 
Pp. 175. Editorial notice of the departure— 


May 14th, of a zoological collecting expedition from 
the Muzeum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of 
California, into Alaska and British Columbia, en- 
tering in the vicinity of Wrangell to proceed up the 
Stikine River to the neighborhoed of Telegraph 
Creek. The party was composed of Mr. Harry S. 
Swarth, Curator of Birds in the museum and Mr. 
Joseph Dixon, Economic Mammalogist, and local 
assistants. It may here be noted that they returned 
in October with a large collection of important ma- 
terial. The expedition and the report that is 
planned to be published on its results was made 
possible through the financial interest of Miss Annie 
Alexander who has done so much to further zoo- 
logical investigation on the Alaskan and British 
Columbian coast. It is well recognized in Cali- 
fornia, more perhaps, than anywhere else in this 
country that it is impossible to truly understand 
local zoological problems without studying adjacent 
extralimital territory. 

Pp. 222-225. Bird Notes from Saskatchewan, 
by Mr. H. H. Mitchell, with three photographic 
illustrations. This consists of annotations on sev- 
eral species of birds. Brewer's Sparrow was found 
in some numbers in the valley of the Frenchman 
river, taken June 16, 1919, and fairly common be- 
tween Eastend and Ravenscrag. Specimens identi- 


60 THE CanapiAN Fietp-NaTuRALIST 


fied by J. H. Fleming. The White-crowned Spar- 
row, the eastern form, breeding June 18, 1919, near 
Eastend. It has been previously been reported from 


the Cypress Hills by A. C. Bent and Wm. 
Spreadborough apparently breeding but without 
definite substantiation. The Chipping Sparrow is 
reported as breeding in the Cypress Hills but is de- 
clared to be “not common in any part of the proy- 
ince.” The breeding form of the Horned Lark in 
the Cypress Hills is declared to be the Desert 
Horned Lark, Otocoris alpestris, leucolaema. It is 
not evident from the context whether Mr. Mitchell 
regards Mr. Oberholser’s Enthemia as a separable 
race which would be the expected form if it is. The 
Whip-poor-will was heard near the juncture of the 
North and South Saskatchewan rivers, about thirty 
miles east of Prince Albert, on July 15, 1919. This 
forms the first record for the province and the 
farthest west for Canada. Whether there is any 
likelihood that one familiar with the call of the 
Whip-poor-will of the East could mistake that of 
the Poor-will, can best be judged by those who are 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


acquainted with both. Either species would be 
important. 

P. 239. An amusing reason for the elimination of 
the subspecies is reported by J. H. Fleming from the 
suggestion of the editors of the London Catalogue 
of British Plants, third edition, who oppose plant 
splitting on the grounds that it would make the cata- 
logue unduly bulky and raise the postage on it be- 
yond the limits of a blue (two penny) stamp. 

P. 240. In a short note we are informed that 
Mr. Geo. Willet has established himself on Prince 
of Wales Island, Alaska, for the winter and ex- 
pects to devote practically his entire time to orni- 
thology. Prince of Wales Island is on the Pacific 
Coast just across Dixon Channel from the Queen 
Charlotte Islands and hence so close to British 
Columbian waters as to be of great interest to Can- 
adian ornithologists. Information of this coast is 
not very complete and there is probably no place 
on the continent where a winter's work could be 
put in to better scientific advantage. 


P. A. TAVERNER. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


A Canapian NationaL Museum.—The follow- 
ing is a copy of a resolution passed by the Council 


of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, on March 
12, 1920. 


“Whereas all important civilized nations have 
found it desirable and necessary to establish national 


museums as storehouses and repositories for historic 
artistic and scientific treasures, safe from the ravages 
of time or accident, or the exploitation or caprice 
of private ownership, and where they will be avail- 
able for the study or contemplation of the whole 
nation rather than of the favored few, and 


“Whereas Canada has at this time no such na- 
tional museum definitely established as such,— 


“Be it resolved that the Council of The Ottawa 
Field-Naturalists’ Club recommends that for the pur- 
pose of the safe-keeping of specimens of national 
importance, as an aid to and encouragement of 
Canadian scientists, to act as a general clearing house 
of scientific endeavors, for the general education of 
the public and as a monument to Canada’s intellec- 
tual life, the present museum organizations under the 
Federal Government of Canada be re-established as 
a Canadian National Museum. And, further, that 
the Council urge upon Parliament that steps be im- 
mediately taken to establish such a museum as will 
worthily and creditably represent the Dominion 
amongst like institutions of the world. And further, 


that a copy of this resolution be given to the press, 
and also published in The Canadian Field-Natur- 


alist.” 


“PRAIRIE” FRINGED OrcHip. Mr. F. Morris, 643 
Aylmer St., Peterboro, would be glad to hear from 
any reader of the NATURALIST who knows of a 
station in Ontario for the ‘so-called “Prairie” 
Fringed Orchid (Habenaria leucophaea). It was 
found by him on the margin of a mud lake near 
Smith’s Falls some 20 years ago, and in the moist 
heart of a tamarac swamp near Port Hope, 10 years 
ago, growing in Sphagnum moss with pogonias and 
cranberry vines close to standing water and cat- 
tails. It is a tall handsome plant with large creamy 
white flowers having a three-parted lip of fanlike 
and fringed divisions and a very long curving 
spur; the plants stand from 2 to 34 feet high.” 


THE Province oF QueBEc SociETY FOR THE 
PROTECTION OF Birps, MOonTREAL, recently held 
meetings as follows:— 

Jan. 12. Annual Meeting—Report—Election of 


Officers. Address: Mr. Napier Smith. 

Feb. 9. The Traditions and Superstitions of 
Birds and Insects. Speakers, Miss M. Hadrill and 
Mr. A. F. Winn. 


G. M. Dyer, Hon. Corres. Secy. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


APRIL, 1920. 


No. 4. 


NOTES ON THE MAMMALS OF RIDOUT, DISTRICT OF SUDBURY, 
ONTARIO. 


By J. Dewey Soper. 


The comparative isolation of much of Northern 
Ontario from centres of habitation, seems a reason- 
able cause for the relative dearth of literature on 
the mammals from this region. The smaller species 
have, naturally, received little attention, and much 
is yet to be known about them, notably in regard 
to their range and life histories. Big game hunting 
and the fur-trade have doubtless conduced to a 
greater familiarity with the larger mammals than 
would otherwise have been the case. So far as is 
known the Ridout country has had no detailed in- 
vestigation of its animal life; because of this fact 
the present paper based upon a collection of 55 
mammals and observations thereon made in the 
immediate vicinity of Ridout is presented. 

The first visit to the locality was from October 
20 to November 2, 1917, efforts being mainly 
directed to the accumulation of notes on the larger 
mammals and birds of that period. With the present 
paper in view a return was made the following 
year, from October | to November 1, with every 
provision for the collection of specimens in order to 
round out the data as fully as possible. 

The Jumping Mice (Zapus hudsonicus and 
insignis) were not secured, due partly to their early 
habit of hibernation. No bats were observed, nor 
Flying Squirrels (Sciuropterus sabrinus). No 
signs were seen of the Star-nosed Mole (Condy- 
lura cristata). Various circumstances prevent the 
list from being complete. 

Ridout is situated on the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
way, 132 miles north-west of Sudbury, 166 miles 
south-east of White River, 96 miles north of Lake 
Huron and 280 miles south-west of James Bay. 
It is located upon the northern height of land at 
an elevation of 1,364 feet above the sea and 778 
feeet above Lake Superior. The surrounding hills 
range in altitude from 1,400 feet to probably 2,000 
feet. Magnetic variation is about six degrees west 
of astronomical north. 

The whole region is intersected by hundreds of 
streams and dotted with countless lakes of all sizes. 
Many feeders of that noble stream, the Moose River, 


find their source along the height of land, converg- 
ing fan-like to the majestic tide that sweeps nortl. 
ward to James Bay. Others, notably the Spanish 
River, flow southward to the Great Lakes. 

The general character of the country about 
Ridout is that of vast rolling forested hills with 
frequent outcrops of gneiss or perhaps schist and 
greenstone. Some distance to the east, however, the 
region is broken into gigantic rock masses, moun- 
tains, and escarpments of desolate and_ infinite 
grandeur. The whole lies to-day as through all 
the ages. 

Ridout lies well within the Canadian zone and 
in floral aspect resembles broadly that of all tim- 
bered sections west of Sudbury. Occasional boreal 
“slands” suggest the stunted evergreen forests of 
the Hudsonian zone. Conifers are everywhere pre- 
dominant, the greater portion of the woods con- 
sisting of White and Black Spruce (Picea 
canadensis and mariana), Balsam Fir, (Abies 
balsamea) and Banksian or Jack Pine, (Pinus 
banksiana). Yellow and Canoe or White Birch 
(Betula lutea and papyrifera) occur, the latter 
especially being common and growing frequently in 
pure stands upon the side-hills. White and Red 
Pine (Pinus strobus and resinosa) flourish in vary- 
ing numbers. The remaining common trees of the 
forest are Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), Tamarack 
(Larix laricina), White Cedar (Tsuga occidental- 
is), Aspen Poplar (Populus tremuloides), Balsam 
Poplar (Populus balsamifera) occurring on low 
ground along lakes and streams, Alder (Alnus in- 
cana) and the Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum). 
Salix rostrata is the only tree-like willow. Blue- 
berries are usually an abundant crop, and numerous 
flowers, particularly the wild rose, I understand, 
grow in great profusion during the northern sum- 
mer. Mosses and lichens occur almost everywhere 
on rocks, logs, ground and upon the branches of 
standing trees. 

The avifauna of the region for October while 
inextensive will convey certain impressions in a 
brief list, impossible to other things. Birds noted 


62 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


during the first week of the month were Robin 
(Planesticus m. migratorius), Crow (Corvus brachy- 
thynchus); Raven (Corvus corax principalis) ; 
Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis); Blue Jay 
(Cvyanocitta cristata); White-throated Sparrow 
(Zonotrichia albicollis) ; Great Blue Heron (Ardea 
herodias) ; Black-capped Chicadee (Penthestes atri- 
capillus); Slate-colored Junco (Junco hyemalis) ; 
Horned Lark (Otocoris alpestris) and Rusty 
Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus). On October 10, 
a Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) and Pileated Wood- 
pecker (Ceophloeus pileatus abieticola) were ob- 
served, the latter again on the 21st. One Tree Spar- 
row (Spizella monticola) was noted on the morning 
of October 13. During the afternoon of the 18th, 
Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator leucura) were 
common. The first small flock of Snow Buntings 
(Passerina nivalis) made their appearance the fol- 
lowing day. A single Arctic Three-toed Wood- 
pecker (Picoides arcticus) was observed on Oct. 
21. Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) was noted 


but not commonly. 


In the preparation of this article I have received 
many courtesies from Mr. W. E. Saunders, of 
London, Ont., and Dr. R. M. Anderson of the 
Geological Survey, Ottawa. The late Mr. James 
M. Macoun also of the Geological Survey, kindly 
furnished the proper common and scientific names 
of the trees known to occur in the region. To Mr. 
George Visser, of Ridout, I am indebted for many 
favors extended during the trip. 


CoMMON EASTERN SHREW, CooPER SHREW, OR 


MASKED SHREW, Sorex personatus personatus I. 
Geoffroy. 


The masked shrew is very common at Ridout, 
persisting in nearly all situations from low woods 
and meadows to the wooded ridges. 

Nine specimens were taken. Color—Dorsal sur- 
face of the body brownish-gray, the latter barely per- 
ceptible; brown deeper on the rump. Sides slightly 
lighter. Belly, throat and chin ashy-gray, no sharp 
line of demarkation between color of belly and sides 
but change taking place rather abruptly. Tail ob- 
scurely bicolor, brownish above, paler below. Feet 
very light brown. 


RICHARDSON’S 
Bachman. 


SHREW, Sorex richardsonii 


Only three specimens of this beautiful shrew were 
collected at Ridout. A fourth was found dead on 
a trail through the woods but was beyond the stage 
for proper preservation. One of the three preserved 
was found lying dead on a trail intersecting a low 
meadow. No marks of violence were found on 
either of these animals but probably the pounce of 
a cat or bird would be sufficient to extinguish life, 
the aggressor leaving it unmutilated when discover- 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


ing by the unsavory odor of its prey (which char- 


acterizes the shrews) the reality of its mistake. 
Few animals, I believe, devour the shrews on this 
account, and I have seen dogs that were very re- 
luctant to even kill them for the same reason. 

One man whom I talked with in the north firmly 
believed that every Richardson’s shrew that crossed 
a human trail fell dead instantly; the idea doubt- 
less originating from the appearance of numerous 
shrews in these places. The two which I found in 
the traps were in low damp meadows frequented 
by the Forest Vole (M. fontigenus) and the Mole 
Shrew (B. brevicauda). So far as I am aware these 
specimens represent the second record for Ontario, 
the other being Miller’s two specimens collected at 


Peninsula Harbor, in 1896. 
Smoky SHREW, Sorex fumeus Miller. 


Only one specimen of this comparatively rare 
shrew was collected at Ridout. Its identity among 
many of the common shrews was for a time un- 
certain but it has now been referred to this species 
by both Mr. W. E. Saunders and Dr. R. M. 
Anderson. It was collected on Oct. 12, 1918 and 
measured: Length, 108 mm.; tail vertebratae, 44 
mm.; hind foot, 15 mm. 

Colour:—Bicolor; back, dark brownish; un- 
derparts slightly paler rust brownish. Pelage 
slightly glossy. 

MarsH SHREW, WATER SHREW, WNesorex albi- 
barbis (Cope). 

At Ridout I found that the water shrew was un- 
common. ‘Three specimens collected may be des- 
cribed as follows: Color—Above very dark, in 
some lights almost black, in others, faint brownish- 
black or greyish-black, overlaid almost impercep- 
tibly with silvery tip to some hairs giving it a slight 
frosted appearance. Belly silvery-grey washed with 
dusky, heaviest between forelegs. Whitish around 
lips and chin. ‘Tail bicolored, blackish above and 
around the tip, white below. Feet, light brown and 
fringed with silvery, bristle-like hairs, adapted for 
swimming. All are apparently adult and in win- 
ter pelage. 

It is perhaps strange that I found the water 
shrew in only one very limited locality at Ridout. 
This was along a small brook which flowed down 
from the timbered hills and entered the Ridout 
river a short distance east of the station. At in- 
tervals its margin was grassy and moss-grown and 
underneath this by lifting away the growth, the 
tiny tunnels of the shrew could be seen. In a 
space about twenty-five yards in length along the 
western bank of this streamlet I trapped the three 
specimens mentioned, all in four days, from Oct. 
4 to 7, after which no more were taken. Beyond 
doubt extended diligence would locate other small 


April, 1920] 


families or colonies along other brooks, beside the 
river or about beaver meadows. The other small 
mammals taken in the traps set for N. albibarbis 
were Blarina brevicauda, Sorex personatus, and if 
I remember rightly the only specimen of Sorex 
fumeus which I collected on the trip. 


SHORT-TAILED SHREW, Bos-TAILED oR MOoLe 
SuHrew, Blarina brevicauda Say. 


The eastern shrew is very common at Ridout. 

The seven specimens collected average larger 
than those given by Merriam from type locality* 
(near Blair, Neb.) and considerably larger than 
his eastern specimens from Martha’s Vineyard, 
Mass. 

The Ridout specimens are also larger than the 
average of nine specimens taken from my collection 
at Preston, Ontario. 

As is usual within its range, this shrew was found 
at Ridout in nearly all situations, from low, mossy 
swamps to wooded ridges. Scarcely a trap in any 
of these places but sooner or later yielded a Blarina. 
It was uncommonly abundant in low grassy mea- 
dows adjacent to dank spruce woods. By pressing 
the vegetation aside in these places I discovered small 
feeding pockets beneath, arched over thickly with 
grass, the bottoms, being covered with varying 
depths of excrement. Examining these places, the 
first day at Ridout, I credited the sole ownership 
to the Forest Vole (M. fontigenus) but soon dis- 
covered my mistake, for from six traps set in a 
grassy depression not over fifty feet in diameter, 
the following morning I took three blarinas and only 
one Microtus. Favoring Blarina, the ratio as a 
whole was even greater than this; in fact it is the 
mes abundant species of mammal in the region and 
perhaps anywhere in Eastern North America. 

Occasionally I found specimens in traps set for 
Evotomys and Synaptomys under logs in the deep 
moss of spruce woods; other times in hill-side sets 
among the pines intended for Peromyscus and just 
as often in the subterranean tunnels of albibarbis 
along the streams. The grassy sink-holes or mea- 
dows dotted with low bushes and shrubs, appear, 
however, to constitute the over-flowing nucleus from 
which, radiating, they invade every conceivable 
surface situation. 


Brack Bear, Ursus americanus Pallas. 

The black bear is reported as being tolerably 
common throughout the region. Although numerous 
signs both recent and old were observed, no indi- 
viduals were encountered. The black bear usually 
eludes the hunter very cleverly, offering compara- 
tively few shots, but large numbers are taken in 
heavy steel traps every spring. The following brief 
“experience” was told to us by a trapper on Oct. 30. 


*N. A. Fauna. No. 10, p. 11, 1895. 


THE Canapian FiEtp-NATURALIST 63 


in search of good trapping grounds, he came sud- 
denly upon a big black bear feeding, partly con- 
cealed behind a low windfall. The trapper carried 
no fire-arms, only a light axe and a hunting-knife, 
but was determined not only to discover what the 
bear was feasting upon but also if chances offered 
to kill it with the axe. But contrary to the usual 
custom, bruin preserved a stern front and refused 
to quit the scene. Several experimental advances 
on the trapper’s part ended with negligible results 
and the conviction that discretion was here the 
better part of valor. Several times old bruin wad- 
dled a few paces away, but would immediately re- 
turn with wicked eye, watchful and sullen. After 
some manoeuvering however the trapper detected 
the protruding blade of a moose’s antler but further 
critical scrutiny was suspended as impracticable. 


The interesting point lies in the fact that a few 
days previously a bull moose was wounded near the 
Ridout river five miles to the east, and when last 
seen was running in a westerly direction. We sup- 
pose that the dead moose and the wounded one are 
identical and before succumbing to injuries had 
traversed the considerable intervening distance. 


Gray Wo iF, Canis occidentalis (Richardson). 


Wolves are reported as occuring throughout the 
timbered portions of Algoma and Sudbury, but 
never numerous. None of recent occurence at 
Ridout. Inferring from many wild wolf stories 
afloat, the tribe seems numerous enough north of 
Superior and surrounding Lake-of-the-Woods. 


ComMOoN Rep Fox, Vulpes fulva Desmarest. 

The red fox occurs in fair numbers at Ridout 
judging by reports and the numerous tracks ob- 
served in the snow about the wooded hills and over 
the open ridges. All the freak color phases, black, 
silver and cross are represented in the pelt collec- 
tions taken from the country. 


MarTEN OR AMERICAN SABLE, Martes ameri- 
cana (Turton). 

No sign of the marten was seen at Ridout, al- 
though I traversed several tracts of very likely look- 
ing country. My friend Mr. Visser informed me 
that three skins were procured by him from Indians 
coming in from the south, apparently from the re- 
gion of Wakami, Pike, Trout and Kebskashishi 
Lakes. It is quite likely that all the old forests in 
Algoma not visited by fire are inhabited by marten 
in varying numbers. While on a canoe trip north 
of the confluence of the Ridout and Walkam 
rivers in Oct., 1917, I saw what looked like good 
marten country but had no time to _ investigate. 
This was high, heavily-timbered country about a 
fair sized lake. On the Standard Top. Map (Car- 
tier Sheet) this body of water bears no name. 

While exploring some heavily timbered country 


64 THE CanapiaAn’ Fietp-NATURALIST 


Miller* remarks: “At Nipigon a trapper told 
me that martens, wherever they occur in sufficient 
numbers, so terrorize the red squirrels by constant 
persecution that the noisy rodents, learning that 
silence is their best protection, stop chattering. 
Hence an abundance of silent squirrels is—accord- 
ing to my informant at least—a certain indication 
that marten fur is plenty. According to this, there 
are no martens at all near Ridout. 


FisHER, Martes pennanti Erxleben. 


Consensus of opinion admits this animal as com- 
monly occuring in all the wooded country. An ex- 
forest-ranger with whom I talked said that while 
existing in fair numbers, they never became abun- 
dant, according to his observations. On Oct. 18, 
I took one in a bear trap set at the offal of a moose, 
near the Ridout river. This was several miles north 
of the railway and in a comparatively heavy belt 
of spruce timber. The specimen was a well ma- 
tured male and according to numerous published 
measurements exceeded the usual size. Total 
length, 361% inches; tail, 14% inches; foct, 5 
inches. The ground color over all was a brown 
of medium depth very liberally besprinkled dor- 
sally with hoary greyish-golden guard hair; the 
posterior portion more suggestive of gray. 

The fisher is regarded as one of the few success- 
ful enemies of the porcupine from the frequency 
of “porky” javelins somewhere in its anatomy, which 
as a rule produce no bad effects. Although my 
specimen was apparently an old adult, no evidence 
of this was to be seen. Probably the genera) scar- 
city of Erethizon would account for it. 


SHORT-TAILED Mustela 


Bonaparte. 


WEASEL, cigognanit 

Numerous tracks of weasels were noted especial- 
ly during the autumn of 1917. No specimens were 
secured, but the trails and a single medium sized 
weasel hastily observed near the station were re- 
ferred to this species. 


Mink, Mustela vison Schreber. 


The mink is fairly common at Ridout. The 
lavish distribution of streamlets, rivers and lakes 
throughout the region should prove a very con- 
genial home for it. After a light fall of snow in 
November, 1917, I saw signs of one along the 
border of a small brook. A trainman saw one 
running along the Ridout river on October 25, 1918. 

CaNaDA SKUNK, Mephitis mephitis Schreber. 

Skunks are found in varying numbers throughout 
the region, but their distribution is governed locally 
by favorable situations. Much of the country is 
clothed heavily with conifers, and where this exists 


*Miller, Jr., G. S., Mammals of Ontario, Vol. 28, No. 


1, p. 42, 1896. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


with low, damp, mossy ground the skunk could 
scarcely be looked for. The poplar covered ridges 
with warm southern slopes form a congenial habi- 
tat for the species and many occur in the region. 
In a sandy slope covered with low deciduous trees 
north of Ridout I found two dens which I think 
belonged to this species; both had every indication 
of recent occupation. Mr. Visser has observed the 
animal on but two or three occasions at Ridout but 
informs me that its occurrence is more frequent 
about the higher ground at Lake Pishkniogama a 
short distance west of Ridout. The first week in 
November, 1917, we saw one cross the rails near 
the station and disappear in the woods. 


Canapa Otter, Lutra canadensis (Schreber). 


Mr. Visser informs me that although the region 
yields a number of skins each year, the species is 
not very common. Where, as at Ridout, the nature 
of the rivers are such that no alluviul material is 
deposited along their courses, evidence is scant in 
determining the occurence of terraqueous species 
such as the other. Personally I observed no signs. 

After ice forms, and there is a surface of light 
snow, the long excursions of the otter marked by 
its conspicuous trails are commonly seen. They de- 
light at this time in the fair open expanses of river 
and lake and enter into long nocturnal journeys. 
Once, on ascending the Hay river in Alberta, a 
fresh otter trail of the night before preceded me all 
day and was still in evidence when I camped for 
the night, headed strong into the mountains. The 
distance traversed by this animal before and after 
my own day’s journey of about fifteen miles, and 
added to it would, if known afford a very inter- 
esting and perhaps surprising figure. 

The usual mode of travel at such times is the 
alternate jump, and slide, peculiar to the species, 
with the latter five or six feet in length and main- 
tained in untiring regularity by the momentum re- 
ceived from each quasi-double bound. Each river 
rifle on these journeys are unfailingly explored, 
with varying success. If compensated the evi- 
dence is plain enough—a few flecks of blood, 
probably a fin, or a number of scales, and a yellow- 
ish stain in the water-soaked snow at the lip of 
the ice-hole. A corpulent male shot in November 
while feeding on a wild duck at one of these holes, 
was rankly “fishy” and loaded with fat. 


Canapa Lynx, Lynx canadensis Kerr. 


According to all accounts the lynx is at present 
the commonest furbearer in Algoma, and the Indi- 
an’s specialty. The recent annual “catch” I un- 
derstand has been large but the diminution, of 
hares may soon cause a change of local fortune in 
lynx skins. Lynx snares of former date were fre- 
quently noted along the Ridout and Wakami rivers, 


April, 1920] THE CANADIAN 
indicating the animal’s habit of travelling in such 
places. Winter or summer they seem to have a 
regular route, usually at the forest’s fringe; about 
rivers, lakes, or natural meadows rather than in the 
extreme depths. In western Alberta I learned that 
the Indians know these routes so well that snares at 
peculiarly favorable places are maintained in sea- 
son, from year to year and are handed down as a 
heritage from father to son. The general topo- 
graphy of a region usually suggests to the experi- 
enced man, the favorabie disposition of snares. 
Lynxes do not confine themselves to the lowlands 
for they possess an inherent love of expanse that 
betakes them regularly to breezy heights or the lip 
of yawning space. 


One day, in November, I happened upon a young 
Indian preparing a snare for lynx on a semi-forested 
elevation hundreds of feet above the Hay river. Ex- 
pressing surprise at the choice of such a place for 
a snare the young Cree answered in broken English 
“Him gocd;*much go.” I took his word for it. 
Passing by a few days later while moose hunting, 
sure enough a big cat was there, choked to death 
and apparently by his own effort, for both front 
feet were stiffly braced against the toggle to which 
the snare-thong was tied. 


It is perhaps interesting to note that the inevitable 
“beaver castor” so alluring to many animals, is 
equally so to the big cat. He simply cannot resist it. 
To purr and rub his neck against the concoction is 
apparently the one unsatisfied ambition,—unsatis- 
fied because the snare acts first. An Indian that 
I entertained in my cabin one night loosened up 
enough to tell me that the Crees’ common brown 
“lynx dope” was simply a mixture of boiled rabbit 
liver and beaver castor. As beaver were protected 
in Alberta at that time, we are permitted to guess 
where they got the “castor.” 


Dusky WHuiTE-FooTeD Mouse, Peromyscus 


maniculalus maniculatus (Wagner). 


The white-footed mouse is fairly common at 
Ridout, having collected it in nearly all high situa- 
tions both semi-barren and timbered. 

By measurements (actual and relative) nine 
specimens taken come well within the limits of 
P. m. inaniculatus (Wagner) Peromyscus cana- 
densis umbrinus Miller, recorded from Peninsula 
Harboy, Ont. (Notes on the Mammals of On- 
tario). 

“These specimens do not seem to show any in- 
termediate characters in measurements or coloration 
with P. maniculatus gracilis (Le Conte) =P. cana- 
densis canadensis Miller.” R. M. Anderson. 

All but one have tails slightly less than half 
the total length. All have under-sides of hind-feet 


FieLp-NATURALIST 65 


haired except on the pads and spaces between— 
length 20 mm. or greater. 

This northern variety of the white-foot, was 
found in nearly all of the greatly diversified sur- 
face situations. Include Blarina and the two cover 
the territory very well. On the very edge of low 
mossy woods I have taken them in traps set for 
Evotomys (Red-backed Vole) and likewise in 
“sets’’ made on high ground intended for other mam- 
mals. One afternoon while crossing a small barren 
plateau I noticed a neat little hole driven deep into 
the soil beside a log. Miller’s incident with 
Phenacomys was immediately recalled, wherefore 
through a little inductive reasoning I expected next 
morning to catalogue one of those voles, but alas, 
the trap held only a lonely Peromyscus. That was 
the closest I got to Phenacomys—in all probability 
rather remote. 

The places of commonest occurence for Per- 
omyscus, were about the fringe of woods bordering 
natural meadows or rocky tree-interspersed land. 
While trapping for Hoy’s shrew (Microsorex hovi) 
on dry wooded hill-sides, though failing to get that 
animal, I never wanted for deer mice. North of the 
station a small glaciated and striated ridge of granite 
ran east and west, covered with conifers wherever 
enough till or mould had accumulated in its hol- 
lows to support them. On the south side several 
small wooded terraces sloped down, alternating 
with rock which often formed low precipitous back- 
grounds for the former. At the foot of these 
among the trees I set a number of traps because in 
the individual character of the situations 
seemed to offer good opportunities for intercepting 
any small mammal that ran the ledge. But, again, 
though taking a number of the Masked Shrew 
(S. personatus), Peromyscus inevitably paid the 
greater price. And incidentally, this was one place 
that I failed to get Blarina—a genuine relief. Twice 
I trapped the dusky mouse in low grassy creek 
borders but the dainty white-foot usually haunted 
higher ground. 

NorTHERN 
fatuus (Bangs). 

This lemming is uncommon at Ridout. Only two 
specimens were collected. These are identical in 
appearance, except for the smaller size of No. 353 
which is evidently juvenile or adolescent. They are 
similar to adult Microtus p. fontigenus but the pep- 
per and salt effect on the back is noticeably coarser. 
These examples were taken in the same strip of 
swamp. Though persistent trapping in most fav- 
orable places was conducted for several weeks, no 
further specimens were observed, Only a few 
yards separated the two traps which captured them, 
both beside decayed, moss-covered logs in the sphag- 
num of a spruce woods north-east of the station. 


they 


LEMMING Mouse, Synaptomys 


66 THE 


The situation is only a couple of feet above the 
Ridout river’s highest water mark. ‘Their prefer- 
ence for cool, mossy, damp woods is clearly evident. 
No trails made by these animals or any other small 
mammal could be found; evidently all ranging in- 
discriminately over the forest floor. The other 
animals found associated with Synaptomys were 
Evotomys gapperi, Sorex personatus, and Microtus 
p. fontigenus. 

Rep Backep Mouse, Euotomys gapperi gapperi 
(Vigors). 

Though experiencing no particular difficulty in 
collecting red-backed voles at Ridout, their numbers 
were evidently much less than were found by 


Miller north of Lake Superior. 


The six specimens taken are all of the red phase. 
Two individuals are somewhat larger than the 
others. 
cate that all are young, with the exception of two 
which are noticeably inclined to the double-rooted 
molar of the adult. These were not, however, deep 
and distinct, better described perhaps as half-rooted. 

This was found in two distinct surface situations, 
the deep mossy woods and the comparitively high 
ground adjoining them. The first specimen I trapped 
was on a low pine ridge with an elevation of about 
forty feet above the contiguous spruce woods. 
Another was captured in a similar situation but 
lower in elevation, sparsely wooded, and strewn 
with rocks. The remainder were taken in deep 
forests. Nowhere was the species common. 

Forest Meapow Mouse; Forest VOLE; 
Hupsonian Meapow Mouse, Microtus pennsyl- 
vanicus fontigenus (Bangs). 


An examination of the teeth seems to indi- 


The forest vole appears to be rather uncommon at 
Ridout; though traps well baited and in favorable 
places remained set throughout the full time of the 
trip, only four examples were secured. ‘This seems 
to suggest a scarcity of the species at least locally. 
All were taken in natural grassy meadows in the 
vicinity of the Ridout river. Particulars of the 
habitat will be found under Blarina brevicauda. 

I had hopes, after making dental and cranial ex- 
aminations of these four specimens of finding a 
Phenacomys among them but in this I was disap- 
pointed. It is reasonable to suppose that a colony 
exists in the vicinity of Ridout since Miller took 
them at Peninsula Harbor and as their range ex- 
tends east to Labrador. 

The blackish-brown, and smaller size of two of 
the individuals indicate their immaturity. The two 
other examples, both adults are dull chestnut-brown 
above, darkened along the back with coarse black 
hairs. Underparts in one silvery-plumbeous, in the 
other plumbeous gray tinged with pale buff. — All 
have feet brownish and tails indistinctly bicolored. 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Muskrat, Ondatra zibethica Linn. 

Mr. Visser informs me that formerly the musk- 
rat was common in the region but exceptionally high 
water, I think a couple of years ago, nearly exter- 
minated them. The extensive and elaborate water- 
system of the country should be very favorable for 
this animal. Only a couple were seen while canoe- 
ing on the Ridout river; while of the usual “sign” 
on partly submerged logs, little was in evidence. 
No houses were observed. 


CANADA PorcuPINE, Erethizon dorsatum Linn. 


The porcupine occurs sparingly throughout the 
region. Although spending several weeks during 
two autumns in the forests about Ridout only one 
individual was seen. This one was curled up and 
asleep under a big spruce in the midst of an exten- 
sive coniferous forest. Little trails running out in 
several directions from the cozy hibernal retreat, 
showed plainly in the deep moss as they lead up to 
numerous trees upon which the porcupine fed. The 
scarcity of the species in the locality may be a re- 
flection of similar conditions throughout the county. 
Preble! found them nowhere abundant on_his 
Hudson Bay trip and remarks: “In a country 
where the life of the native is a constant struggle 
for food, the ease with which this animal may be 
taken, is sufficient reason for its scarcity.” 


CaNADA WoopcHucK, Marmota monax cana- 
densis Erxleben. 


I could get no information concerning this animal 
at Ridout. The season was already too far ad- 
vanced when I arrived for any collecting, as the 
animals hibernate in mid-September. Some small 
burrows observed on sandy southern slopes and 
credited to Mephitis mephitis may have belonged 
to monax. 

Miller? reported the woodchuck common at 
Peninsula Harbor so they may be expected to occur 
at Ridout. Preble* also alludes to specimens re- 


corded by Allen from James Bay and Nelson River. 


LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPMUNK, Eutamias quadri- 
vittatus neglectus (Allen). 


This small form is only of moderate abundance at 
Ridout. Miller found it “excessively abundant” 
on the north shore of Lake Superior but these super- 
latives would not apply in this instance. 

Regarding these specimens collected, Dr. R. M. 
Anderson remarks: ‘“These specimens differ prin- 
cipally from Eutamias quadrivittatus borealis 
(Allen), Northern Chipmunk, in having the sides 
much redder; typical borealis having the sides pale 


(1) Preble, E. A., Mammals of Keewatin; N.A. 
Fauna, No. 22, p..59, 1902. 

(2) Miller, Jr., G. S., Mam. of Ont., Vol. 28, No. 1, 
p. 26. 1896. 

(3) Preble, E. A., Mam. of Keewatin, N.A. Fauna, 


No. 22. 


oo 


April, 1920] 


yellowish-brown. Occasional specimens of borealis 
from Saskatchewan and Alberta approach these 
specimens in reddish tint of sides, but have the backs 
averaging much paler.” 

In a state of nature, the smaller size of this chip- 
munk combined with the relatively longer tail car- 
ried stiffly erect when travelling, serves readily as 
a means of differentiation from the larger species 
striatus which shares this same region. At a 
glance too, it appears much darker, perhaps because 
of the comparatively closer grouping of the dorsal 
stripes and the absence of chestnut or deep reddish- 
brown on the rump which characterizes the big 
chipmunk. 

Neglectus lives not only on the hillsides among the 
open boulders but also frequents remote places in the 
tangled wilderness. Twice I found them on slight 
declivities far in the forest surrounded by a maze of 
fallen trees, boulders and brush and cther things 
which vex the tired traveller. Thoughts of fatigue, 
however, disperse when a trim little chipmunk 
shrills at your elbow, and disappears like a buffy 
streak with twinkling feet curiously attached to a 
long tail. In a moment if all is quiet, he may re- 
appear, but most likely scolds and protests from 
a deep retreat until you leave. One observed in 
mid-afternoon comfortably hunched in the October 
sun was discovered later to have been doing some 
“fall threshing,” the grain, so called, having been 
removed from low shrubs among the boulders. 

In favorable places along the railway I found 
this chipmunk much commoner. Many birds and a 
few mammals are attracted there by slight grain 
leakages from passing trains. One “‘little chipmunk” 
I could count on seeing nearly every fine day near 
a pile of boulders bordering the highway; scraps 
from a near-by boarding car furnishing his meals 
de luxe without further anxiety, and extending his 
available time for frolic. Sometimes when I wan- 
dered by and interrupted this sumptuous pastime he 
would scramble with great concern over the sloping 
ballast and leap into a truck beneath the car. Once 
there I never could discover him, although mean- 
while I must have been under constant surveillance 
as manifested by his prompt return to terra firma 
the moment I was gone. 

Neglectus enters traps readily and is successfully 
retained by almost the smallest sizes. Once I 
found one dead in a small Victor mouse-trap, (the 
smallest size) set for a shrew at the base of a 
mossy stump in a pine woods. This species is said 
to be hardier than the larger chipmunk, remaining 
above ground much later in the season. In this 
respect I found only a few days’ difference but the 
forepart of the month (October) which was so fav- 
orable to striatus terminated in weather unsuited to 
either, so that the equalizing effect in favor of 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 67 


striatus terminated in weather unsuited to either, so 
that the equalizing effect in favor of striatus in this 
instance, diminished the difference between them. 
Miller, (Mammals of Ontario) found that on the 
north shore of Lake Superior the big chipmunk hiber- 
nated about the end of September. At Ridout, I 
last saw it on October 12; the two following days 
were cold and on the 15th it snowed, probably 
hastening its hibernation. So far as 1 am aware 
neglectus disappeared for good on October 14. 


EasTERN CHIPMUNK, J amias 
(Richardson). 

The Eastern Chipmunk occurs in about equal 
numbers with the smaller species neglectus. Ap- 
parently not nearly so numerous as was found by 
Miller at Peninsula Harbor and Nipigon. (sub- 


species griseus). 


striatus lysteri 


Dr. R. M. Anderson after examining three speci- 
mens collected at Ridout reported: “Our museum 
specimens of eastern chipmunk (7 amias s. lysteri) 
are not strictly comparable with these as to season, 
being early summer specimens, and averaging light- 
er in color. The Ridout specimens being in au- 
tumn or early winter pelage, show a markedly 
grayer cast; they also have a much deeper shade 
of brownish red on the rump than is found in our 
twenty-five specimens (from Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
Point Pelee, Lorne Park, Ottawa, and Algonquin 
Park, Ontario). The Ridout specimens, however, 
are similar in size to the eastern specimens and are 
very much smaller than our only specimen from 
farther west, Tamias striatus griseus Mearns, 
Gray Chipmunk, from Shoal Lake, Manitoba, and 
unlike the typical griseus do not have the dorsal 
stripes running back on the rump.” 


While in the Ridout specimens there are no 
marked separable characters from true lvysteri, a 
slight approximation to griseus doubtless exists, since 
Miller’s specimens (though typical lysteri from 
North Bay) approached griseus more closely than 
lysteri at Peninsula Harbor and Nipigon. Ridout 
is roughly mid-way between North Bay and the 
fo-mer point. 

These large chipmunks inhabit the same general 
localities as neglectus but I believe are more favor- 
ably disposed to the deeper woods. Around 
Ridout, their choise was semi-wooded, boulder- 
strewn situations near the skirts of the forest and al- 
ways on high ground. A place of this description, 
east of the station I visited on October 7. The 
forenoon was bright and warm and the chipmunk 
population everywhere in evidence, the calm forest 
resounding with their hollow tuck-tuck-tuck until 
careful restraint was necessary to prevent an undue 
impression of their numbers. They were there in 
conspicuous numbers, however, each “calling” his 


68 THE CaNnapIAN FIELD-NAaTURALIST 


best, evidently to emphasize the beauty of the morn- 
ing. 

NorTHERN Rep SQuiRREL, Sciurus hudsonicus 
hudsonicus (Erxleben). 


The red squirrel occurs in abundance throughout 
the region. 

“The specimens submitted (three) seen to be 
typical S. h. hudsonicus, showing little difference 
from specimens from Algonquin Park, Kabatogama 
Lake (St. Louis Co., Minn., near the Inter. 
Boundary), and Edmonton. The Minnesota speci- 
mens approach to the range of Sciurus hudsonicus 
minnesota Allen, but are probably hudsonicus. 
Hollister (Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. Soc.) places speci- 
mens from Two Harbors, north of Duluth, Minn., 
as S. h. hudsonicus.” (R. M. Anderson). 

The specimens reported upon by Dr. Anderson 
show a gradual advance from summer to winter 
pelage—discarding the dark brown of the back, 
ochraceous-white of the underparts and the black 
lateral stripe of summer, for the greyish ground 
color of the back, reddish dorsal band and neutral 
plumbecus-white of winter. Examination of the 
specimens seems to indicate a complete snoult in 


about three weeks: Sept. 25-Oct. 14. 


It will be interesting to note here in regard to the 
shedding of Sciurus that in one individual the sum- 
mer coat was being shed uniformly from rear to 
front, the line of demarkation between the two 
conditions being plainly evident. In a specimen of 
loguax taken at Preston, Ont., May 13, the same 
uniformity of shedding prevailed only exactly 
reversed; the moult beginning at the head and 
advancing backward. The demarkation in_ this 
specimen is very pronounced. The process affecting 
the new coat seems to be confined chiefly to the 
active edge of the renewing area, where apparent- 
ly the old hair drops out and the new replaces it 
in a gradual advance, each portion maintaining 
simultaneously the pure color of the respective sea- 
sonal pelages, with but little scattered shedding. 
This unusual manner of assuming a new pelage may 
be likened (permitting the simile) to an ice sheet, 
slowly enveloping a continent with the principal 
physical changes devolving from the active forces 
of its advancing border. 


CANADIAN Beaver, Castor canadensis Kuhl. 


I found the beaver common on all the rivers and 
many of the lakes in the locality. Abundance of 
signs on the Wakami above its junction with the 
Ridout river and the absence of lodges indicates the 
“bank nest” as the permanent abode. Along the 
latter stream, where dams and lodges are common, 
the shores for the most part are low, sometimes 
marshy, and fringed with willows. The Wakami 
river on the other hand is bordered with compar- 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


atively high banks and heavily timbered. At present, 
the trapping of beaver in Algoma is restricted to ten 
animals each year, per trapper. Each skin must be 
accompanied by a government “beaver coupon” 
(each 50 cents) before sale or shipment. This 
should have a beneficent result toward their con- 
servation. 


Hupson Bay Varyinc Hare, Lepus americanus 
Erxleben. 


The hare, as is commonly known has its sep- 
tenary ebb and flow of abundance. At Ridout, 
conditions pointed to a low ebb; only a few signs, 
mostly old, were observed, and but one or two 
A female taken on October 4, 1918, was 
beginning to change very slightly into the winter 
pelage over the buttocks and ears. Its two measure- 
ments were: Length, 17 inches, (434 mm.); foot, 
534 inches, (145 mm.) 

During October, 1917, the hare was scarce every- 
where, although numerous old signs indicated a 
former abundance. A specimen collected on the 
29th had affected a substantial change from the 
summer coat. Color: Ventral region extending to 
the throat and including the legs, buttocks, ears, 
and line anteriorly from eye to ear, nearly pure 
white. Ring around the neck and on the lower 
cheek, dirty-brownish white, darkest on the latter. 
Dorsally, conspicuous brown from shoulders to 
rump, much suffused with whitish. Fur over nasal 
and entire frontal, brown, mixed sparingly with 
white. Upper fringe of the ear, black. Length of 
hair on the back, 25 mm. 


NorTHERN VIRGINIA DEER, Odocoileus ameri- 
canus borealis Miller. 


animals. 


Deer occur, but are not common at Ridout. 
Whether the moose which are numerous there, ex- 
ert a positive detrimental influence against the in- 
crease of the former is problematical. Probably 
the general arboreal conditions are not highly fav- 
orable to the deer. East of Ridout in all the coun- 
try surrounding Metagama, Forks, Fluorite and 
Pogma, I understand the deer are extremely com- 
mon, supplanting the moose almost entirely. After 
a fresh snowfall in November, 1917, I saw two 
deer trails north of Ridout but in October, 1918, 
none were seen. A trainman reported seeing a fine 
big buck in the C.P.R. ballast pit a short distance 


west of the station. 


Moose, Alces americanus Jardine. 

Moose are very common in the general vicinity of 
Ridout and reported in numbers at all points from 
Cartier to the north shore of Lake Superior. The 
past fall (1918) was exceptionally favorable for 
observing these animals. If the weather is mild 
they frequent the waterways comparatively late in 
the season. During the past season individuals could 


~~ = 


April, 1920] 


be seen almost any day until the beginning of the 
last week of October. Previous to that time I saw 
nine individuals and secured a young bull. As cold 
weather approaches they retire to the higher woods. 
On traversing this same general region on about a 
forty-mile canoe trip commencing Oct. 22, 1917, we 
failed to see a single animal and attributed it to the 
very early formation of thin shore ice, which caused 
the moose to leave for higher situations. 

Although individuals of americanus from north- 
ern Ontario are not recognized as the largest variety, 
some attain a very respectable size. Some heads 
taken out of that country I was told, had an antler 
spread of from fifty to sixty-two inches. Two 
bulls observed at fairly close range from the canoe 
could I believe closely approximate those figures. 

Mr. Visser and I were afforded a splendid oppor- 
tunity for hearing a cow “call”? during the after- 
noon of Oct. 8. The canoe had just silently round- 
ed a bend in the river when we noticed indistinctly, 
a cow, standing among low growth upon the bank; 
first revealed by the whitish lining of the ears. 
Meanwhile the canoe with scarcely a ripple drifted 
nearer and nearer but she made no move, apparently 
overcome by curiosity. With ears cocked forward 
and long pendant muzzle slightly projected, she 
surveyed perhaps the first human being in her life. 
When within a distance of about thirty yards she 
lifted her muzzle slightly and called softly; the 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 69 


effect was peculiarly pleasing—low, tender, pleading, 
a single syllabled bleat of strange, but soft quality, 
quaveringly inflected, that seemed vaguely in keeping 
with the vast hush of the solitude. The next 
moment a young bull was seen slipping silently away 
among the spruces, where until this time he had re- 
mained discreetly hidden. Even then the cow 
seemed in no hurry to depart. 

Woop.anp Carisou, Rangifer caribou (Aud. & 
Bach). 

The woodland caribou is only a straggler at 
Ridout according to all I could learn. Mr. Visser 
told me of one killed in the vicinity a few years 
ago but says they are rare. The great number of 
moose in the country has a tendency, I believe, to 
drive the caribou from this range. Preble! alludes 
to similar circumstances on information received 
during his Hudson Bay expedition. 

The range of the moose and caribou seems to be 
gradually shifting of late years. Miller? says of 
the caribou “very abundant on the north shore of 
Lake Superior” and regarding the moose “‘occasion- 
ally found, but as a straggler only.” In respect to 
this and information received from different parties 
in the north, the condition now seems to be exactly 
reversed. 


(1) Preble, E. A., N.A. Fauna, No. 22, p. 40, 1909. 
(2) Miller, G..S., Jr.; Mam. of Ont., Vol. 28, No. 1, 
p. 40, 1896. 


CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE. 
By THE Hon. Mr. Justice LaTcHForb. — 


(Continued from Volume XXXIV, p. 34.) 


12. SPHAERIUM MODESTUM Prime has been con- 
sidered by Prime himself to be a synonym of S. 
striatimum. Monograph Am. Corbiculidae, 1865. 
p. 37. 

The rapids in the Rideau above Billings’ Bridge, 
along the right bank, contain in no small numbers a 
shell which Dr. Sterki regards as S. modestum or 
distinct. He says: “It is certainly not identical 
with S. striatimum Lamarck. Annals Carng. Mis. 
Vol. X. p. 436. 

If the sphaerium which occurs so abundantly at 
Duck Island is Lamarck’s striatinum, the Rideau 
shell is not that species. The latter is shorter, more 
robust, more inflated, and higher at the umbones. 
The average of ten full grown shells is 10.4 x 8.33 
x 6.38—100: 81.62. 

The only member of the family found associated 
with S. modestum in the Rideau is the much longer 
Musculium transversum. 


13. SPHAERIUM TUMIDUM Baird was described 
from specimens found by John K. Lord in the Fraser 
at Sumas Prairie, British Columbia. It is stated to 
be dark olive in color externally and _ strongly 
ribbed. ‘‘Within the shell is bluish: long. half an 


inch; lat. rather more than half an inch.” 


14. SPHAERIUM SPOKANI Baird is another of the 
shells found by Lord. It is said to be smaller than 
tumidum; more rounded, and with less distinct 
striae or riblets; color pale horn, shining; white 


within. Habitat, “Rivers Spokane and Kootanie.” 


Referring to Osoyoos Lake, Lord says: *“The 
shore is sandy like a sea beach, and strewn thickly 


with fresh water shells along the ripple line, has. 
quite a tidewater aspect.” 


(9) The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, by John Keast Lord, Vol. IL, p. 75. 


70 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


I have not seen any true sphaerium from British 
Columbia, though a number of musculia and pisidia 
—several of which proved to be undescribed— 
were collected there for me by the Revd. Mr. 
Taylor. From Baird’s description of S. spokani it 
appears not improbable that the shell is a musculium. 

It should not be difficult for some member of the 
Club resident in British Columbia to procure speci- 
mens of the shells found by Mr. Lord. His physa 
would be of especial interest. I have eamined the 
types of Physa lordi in the British Museum, and 
they appeared to me to differ not a little from the 
shell commonly designated by that name found near 
Ottawa, in Meach and Harrington lakes. 


15. SPHAERIUM PATELLA Gould is listed by Dr. 
Sterki as occurring from Northern California to 
British Columbia. In Vol. XIII of the report of 
the Harriman Alaska Expedition, p. 138, Dr. Dall 
mentions that S. patella was found in the crop of 
a duck taken at Pender Island, which is in the 
southern part of the Strait of Georgia. 


16. SPHAERIUM TENUE Prime. This little shell 
resembles occidentale. Some systematists have sep- 
arated the two species from the other members of the 
family under the sub-generic name Corneola. I 
have not met with it anywhere; but it has been re- 
corded from Ontario and Yukon Territory by Dr. 
Sterki. Dr. Dall (loc. cit. p. 139) states that it has 
been found in the Souris river (doubtless in Sas- 
katchewan) and in the Upper Mackenzie, at old 
Fort Simpson. 

What is suppesed to be a variety of S. tenue has 
been described by Dr. Sterki as Walkeri. The 
types were obtained in Lake Michigan in water 
twenty four meters deep. The same shell was found 
by Mr. McInnes in the Attawapiscat river. 


17. SPHAERIUM VERMONTANUM Prime has 
probably a wide distribution in the more southerly 
parts of the Province of Quebec. Prime states 
that it occurs in Lake Champlain and Lake Meph- 
ramagog. A shell very like vermontanum is found 
in the County of Ottawa, near the Village of Ste. 
Cecile de Masham. Dr. Sterki says (loc. cit. p. 
434) “Specimens which may belong to S. vermonta- 
num have been seen from Maine, Quebec and 
Ontario.” 


18 SPHAERIUM SOLIDULUM Prime must occur 
in many localities in Ontario. It is widely distrib- 
uted in the State of New York, and is listed by Dr. 
Dall (loc. cit. p. 136) from Brandon, Manioba, 
and Egg Lake, Alberta 

lowa specimens received in 1883 from Professor 
Shimeck are pale horn color, shining, and deeply 
striated. Each adult bears a single dark red band, 
near the margin in most cases, but varying much 


in pesiiicen. Prime gives the dimensicns in hun- 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


dreths of an inch as 56 x 43 x 31. My largest 
specimen is shorter—I2 x 934 x 6.7 mm.—but the 
proportions are identical, 100:77:56. 

Other described sphaeria which have not, so far 
as I am aware, been found in Canada, though they 
doubtless occur here, are in the east, Si fabale 
Prime; and in British Columbia, S. nobile Gould, 
and S. primeanum Clessin, both of which are re- 
corded from the State of Washington. 

In Dr. Richardson’s Fauna Bor. Americana, Vol. 
III, p. 316, written after his return from Sir John 
Franklin’s Second Expedition, a list of the shells 
collected includes two sphacria from “Methy Lake, 
Athabaska” under the names Cyclas medium and 
Cyclas stagnicolum. No description is given of 
either species. All that is stated is that the shells 
were submitted to James De Carle Sowerby, who 
was the second in line of a family whose members 
for nearly a century and a half have been dis- 
tinguished as artists and conchologists. 

The Methy Lake mentioned by Richardson is 
no doubt the lake on the portage between the Sas- 
katchewan and the Athabasca, east of Fort Mc- 
Murray, abcut lat. 56-40 N. and lon. 109-40 W. 
Dr. B. B. Woodward of the Natural History De- 
partment of the British Museum informs me that 
they do not appear ever to have had Dr. Richard- 
son’s shells. S. tumidum and S. spokani have how- 
ever been traced by his colleague, Mr. G. C. Rob- 
son, who is in charge of the molluscan collection; 
and figures may be ordered from Miss G. M. 
Woodward for publication in The Naturalist. 


MUSCULIUM. 

Musculium is the name now commonly applied to 
a number of small bivalves formerly classed with 
cuclas or sphaeria, but distinguishable by reason of 
little cups or calyces—the nepionic shells—which 
project markedly beyond the later grown portions 
of the valves. The shells, except in one of our spe- 
cies, are thin, pellucid and fragile. A\ll are pale in 
The striae are fine, and the cardinal teeth 
small or obsolete. Everywhere in the vicinity of 
Ottawa they abound in ponds and quiet bays, and 
occasionally, though rarely, in rapid water. The 
smaller species are much more alert in their move- 
ments than their relatives of the genus sphaerium; 
and the facility with which they single-foot up the 
sides of an acquarium or the stems of waterplants is 
little short of marvellous. E:very observer of mol- 
juscan life should maintain a fresh-water vivarium, 
even if it consists of no more than the ordinary 
gold-fish globe. But if small shells are to be 
studied, gold-fish must be excluded; otherwise the 
molluscan inhabitants will soon be exterminated. 

19. MuscuLIUM TRANSVERSUM Say. This is 
our largest, and, in certain localities, our commonest 


colour. 


—S ee tC~SY 


April, 1920] THE CANADIAN 
species. It appears to be intermediate between the 
two genera, but bears in most cases the little cupped 
beaks distinctive of Musculium. 


ia 
— 


ig. 3. 


Musculium transversum. 


M. transversum abounds in the Rideau Canal, 
along the right bank, immediately above the by- 
wash at Hartwell’s Locks, and in the by-wash it- 
self. This is the only Sphaerium or Musculium | 
have noticed until the discharge is reached, when 
a few S. simile may be found. Lower down the 
river, it is not uncommon in the rapids near Billing’s 
Bridge. In the Ottawa I have found it along both 
shores of the lower third of Duck Island. It seems 
to prefer mud to sand in that locality, and com- 
paratively quiet waters; but it withstands strong 
currents over clay in the by-wash, and over coarse 
gravel in the Rideau River. 


The number of shells of this species disclosed ai 
Hartwell’s Locks when the canal is unwatered is 
really phenomenal. Nearly all must perish annu- 
ally, but in many successive summers no lessening 
of the multitude had been observed. 


20. MuscuULUM TRUNCATUM Linsley. This 
shell was first noticed in Nepean Bay, near~ the 
Broad Street Railway Station. It has since been 
found in many other localities. In fact it is a very 
common shell on the Ontario side of the Ottawa, 
and in the Ottawa itself, at Duck Island, below he 
sand bars. The Duck Island shells (No. 2371 of 
my collection) are thought by Dr. Sterki to be 
“possibly distinct.” In Nepean it occurs in great 
prefusion in a wayside pool four or five miles south 
of Britannia, and west of the road between the 
third and fourth concessions fronting on the Rideau. 
East and West of Britannia village it is to be found 
in early summer in ponds formed by the overflow 
of the river, and to the south of the Grand Trunk 
Railway, in the “hele in the hill’’ on the the Honey- 
well farm. Later in ordinary seasons, all these 
ponds become dry; but year after year no diminu- 
ition in the numbers of these and other species has 
been observed. Many shells must surpive because 
either deeply buried, or like S. occidentale immune 
to dessication. 


I have not found the shell in the Province of Que- 
bec, though it doubtless occurs there in suitable 


localities. Dr. Dall (Harr. Expd. Vol. 13, p. 140) 


FieLp- NATURALIST 7\| 


i1ecords it as occuring in Methy Lake, Athabasca. 
One of the Richardson sphaeria from the saine lo- 
cality is probably M. truncatum. 


M. truncatum is very thin, pellucid, and but 
slightly inflated, the posterior margin is longer in a 
straight line than that of any other shell of the 
genus. Exteriorly the shell is sraw coloured; in- 
teriorly a very pale blue. The average size is 


13.2 x 11.15 x 4.5 mm., or 100:87:56. 


The anatomy of M. truncatum has been most 
carefully worked out by Mr. Ralph J. Gilmore of 
Cornell University: Nautilus, Vol. 31 p. 16 et seq. 
His figure, which may be regarded as applicable io 
the entire genus, I am enabled to reproduce through 
the courtesy of Dr. Walker. The margins, anterior 


and posterior, of the shells ordinarily found near 
Ottawa are much less rounded than those of the 


shell figured. 


Fig. 4. Musculium truncatum Linsley. 
M.—Mouth. 
Ly.—Labial palps. 


Es.—Oecesophagus. 

Ly.—Liver. 

Sto.—Stomach. 

Int.—Intestine. 

t.—Rectum. 

A.—Anus. 

Cb. G.—Cerebral ganglion. 

Ps. G.—Parieto Splanchnic gaglion. 
P.G.—Pedal ganglion. 


Sta.—Statocyst. 
V.—Ventricle. 
All.—Auricle. 


K.O.—Kidney opening. 
T.—Sperm follicles. 
O.—Egg follicles. 
G.D.—Genital opening. 
AA.—Ant. adductor muscle. 
Pd.—Post. adductor muscle. 
Ft.—Foot. 

Cl Ch.—Cloacal chamber. 
Ex. S.—Excurrent siphon. 
Int. S.—Incurrent siphon. 
G.—Gill. 

Man.—Mantle. 

Shl.—Shell. 

Kd.—Kidney. 
P.—Pericardium. 


(To be continued ). 


72 THE 


CANADIAN FieLD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


NESTING OF THE RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET AT GUELPH, ONTARIO. 


By J. Dewey Soper. 


A very pleasing situation, both unique and rare 
in the history of Ontario birds has befallen the 
lot of the O.A.C. campus at Guelph, Ontario. 
That this happens to be the favored locality for the 
nesting of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, (the absorb- 
ing topic in question) will be received by local 
bird students, I am assured, with a certain satis- 
faction. So far as a careful search of literature on 
the subject is concerned, it seems that this is the 
first authentic record for the species in the southern 
portion of the province. The Ruby-crownr, a bird 
typical of northern forests, pursues its role of nidi- 
fication usually far beyond the pale of civilization, 
where even there to find a nest would be a marked 
event to any ornithological enthusiast. Consider 
now, the singular opportunity of studying the home 
life of these sprightly northerners on the college 
campus of the O.A.C., at Guelph. Granted, this 
seems to tax credulity, but we have the indubitable 
evidence to cheer a bird lover on his way. 


Before proceeding further it gives me pleasure, 
in relation to the discovery of this nest, to announce 
Prof. Crow of that institution as the recipient for 
full honors. Some time after the rearguard of the 
Ringlet migration had passed on north, his attention 
was attracted to the singing of a Ruby-crown for 
several days in a clump of spruces opposite the 
museum. Shortly the singing ceased here but was 
later detected again in the spruces a few hundred 
yards to the north. At this time the nest was dis- 
covered with both birds in attendance and is be- 
lieved to be the same as earlier noted near the 
museum. Evidently they had been loitering about 
the college grounds all spring. 


In attempting to frame an analogical reason for 
this exceptional cccurence in relation to the spring 
migration I was about to describe the latter in point 
of numbers as one above the average. In fact it 
It is possible, 
however, that this impression is merely relative, be- 


appealed to me as an unusual one. 


cause of my removal from a point twelve miles west, 
where during the spring and summer of five years I 
was accustomed to take notes, and where as fruit- 
ful a line of migration does not obtain perhaps as 
up the valley of the Speed, via Guelph. However 
true this conjecture may be, there assuredly was no 
dearth of Ringlets during the past spring; and in the 
strength and duration of the vernal flight the pair 
under discussion have evidently been lured from 
their ordinary design by the close approximation to 
their ancestral home in the vigorous spruces of the 
campus. 


Reference to my migration records shows the 
species very common from Apmil 25 until May 3, 
after which their numbers gradually diminished, 
with two noted on May 9 and the last one on the 
sixteenth. To this one I instinctively bade silent 
farewell as the last of the season. A month later 
came the surprise when word reached me that Prof. 
Crow had made the discovery. Together on June 
25, we visited the scene. Both birds were readily 
detected in the immediate vicinity. With the aid 
of the binoculars we watched their actions as they 
passed to and fro from feeding the young, ex- 
amined as best we could the high suspended nest 
by the same means, and were treated frequently to 
the consummate song of the male. 


On the following morning I visited them again 
for an hour and also during the afternoon of July 
Ist. Upon this latter occasion with abundance of 
rope and an extension ladder I scaled to their pretty 
domicile and gleaned most of the particulars here- 
in concerning their domestic life. Balanced twenty 
precarious feet in the air opposite the nest and at- 
tempting the successful manipulation of a camera 
was also a part of the engrossing programme. 


In view of the paucity of information concerning 
the life-history of the Ruby-crown, I conceive it as 
pardonable to digress somewhat from that brevity 
which is the soul of wit, in favor of that greater 
detail which it was my privilege to obtain. 

The nest, composed entirely of moss and lined with 
feathers, was discreetly and beautifully hidden 
among the drooping branches of a large white spruce. 
Semi-pensile of construction, and swung twenty feet 
from the ground, it enjoyed all the advantages of 
unrestricted space. It was placed at that point 
where the foliage massed itself the heaviest on the 
bough, in this instance about four feet from the 
drooping tip and ten from the trunk. The shaggy 
pendant foliage so effectually concealed it that visi- 
bility was certain only from below. Contrary to 
most structures of this kind no use was made of the 
main horizontal limb but was welted directly be- 
neath it to numerous thin, dead, flexible twigs which 
had been denuded of their needles. These passed 
vertically down the outside walls of the nest at in- 
tervals about its full circumference, undergoing a 
flexion beneath it where the tips touched and were 
well secured. Thus it will be seen that the nest 
actually reposed within a wicker basket entirely 
free of the main branch. The latter was about 
two inches above the rim of the nest—just enough 
to admit the ready passage of the birds. The nest was 


April, 1920] 


perfectly globular in form and incurved sharply at 
the top. This produced an effect seldom met with in 
bird architecture. Instead of the usual interior per- 
pendicularity or even an cutflare to the walls, the 
rim rapidly converged, causing its equatorial cir- 
cumference to bulge bowl-fashion with the throat 
but half the diameter of the latter. It would be 
improbable or quite impossible for the wildest tem- 
pest to dislodge the young from this cunning cham- 
ber. In paint of real beauty of materials it yields 
to many warblers that I know, but like its voice is 
of remarkable strength and volume for a bird so 
small. 


As near as I cculd ascertain on July Ist, the 
nest contained five young. ‘These in certain sim- 
ilitude to that of chicadees were so closely packed 
in the nest that it seemed folly to entirely disturb 
them; for having done so for the purpose of making 
certain on this point left me doubtful as the possi- 
bility of having the nest contain them all again. They 
were a general olive color similar to that of the 
parents and about two-thirds grown. Both tail and 
wing quills were well advanced. 


Having secured myself in the tree, on June 26, 
at a point level with the nest, it became a matter of 
ease to watch the actions of the birds. The nest 
became less visible from this position, though only a 
few impassible feet distant, but in comparison to 
observation from the ground was much superior. 
During the half hour which I clung to the tree the 
male visited the nest with food three times and the 
female twice. The former upon deposition of the 
food vacated the nest promptly but the female on 
the contrary, often remained with the young until 
the return of her mate, when she then slipped quiet- 
ly away. In this manner the young were left alone 
for certain periods but sheltered again for longer 
ones when the female returned. 


During observation from the top of the ladder on 
July Ist, when it was balanced only three feet dis- 
tant from the nest, many points of interest became 
known. The detention of the female at the nest I 
observed, was due to her habit of regularly clean- 
sing the nest of all the sac-like excrement; due to 
the rapid digestion of the hungry infants, her obli- 
gations in this respect seemed never to cease. ‘The 
matter was probed for with scrupulous care, some 
consumed by her, and the remainder dropped over- 
board at some distance from the nest. In this the 
male never assisted. Candor bids me remark how- 
ever, that his tireless assiduity in harvesting for the 
young more than offset this disparity. 

In respect to their disposition I discovered the 
greatest satisfaction. Imagine these two creations, 
inexpressable in modest beauty, incomparable in 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 73 


graceful deportment, ineffable in euphony of song, 
passing to and fro in the execution of their poetic 
labor destitute entirely of fear or suspicion. With 
my face only a couple of feet distant from the nest 
the pair continued their work scarcely conscious of 
my presence. True, at first they hovered above me 
with sweet queries in their throats and entered the 
nest from the opposite side of the bough but soon 
this discretion was forsaken for perfect freedom. 
Twice, the male warbling an undertone alighted 
within two feet of my hand on the supporting guy 
rope of the ladder. A pretty performance and em- 
ployed only by the male was to flit from the nest 
and become suspended on whirring wings before 
me, like a hummingbird before a flower. It seemed 
like a feathered phantom surrounded by a halo of 
changing light, supported by some strange and 
magic force of gravitation. Having satisfactorily 
examined me in this aerial fashion he would flit 
easily away perhaps singing as he went.. Thus, 
without sign of timidity each came near with ad- 
vances of delightful piquancy, the male engaged in 
melody and the other quaintly moving about :n 
silence. The first time she uttered any note in my 
presence was when tapping the limb gently during 
one of her protracted visits to the young, she flitted 
with great celerity from the nest calling petulently 
in a single sweet querulous note identical in pitch 
and quality to the prelude of the male. She later, 
on one or two occasions, voiced the same call. 
Theirs was no suspicious and labored advances; no 
unconsolable, strident and satirical calls, but con- 
versely, uttering no protest, slipped demurely from 
limb to limb with sweet-tempered curiosity suggest- 
ing certain concessions of welcome. 


Only two distinct species of insects were observed 
to attract the attention of the Kinglets at this time. 
One, a delicate, winged gnat composed only occa- 
sional offerings to the young. The other, a dull 
whitish insect apparently without wings, was freely 
and regularly given. The offerings of the female 
were identical. The male persisted in song near and 
far during the gleaning of food and ranged for this 
purpose from ten to fifty yards at least from the 
nest. 


The song of this species has attracted no little 
comment during its spring migrations, when it is 
available to so many whom fortune otherwise would 
never favor. It is of unqualified distinction. For 
strength and beauty of tone in comparison to its 
size I regard it as peerless. No poor words of mine 
can express the supernal sweetness of this produc- 
tion. It wavers and trills in such exquisite tone 
color, such transparent delicacy, such distilled 
freshness—what superlatives can do it justice? 


74 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


DEADLY POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 
By R E. Stone, M.Sc., Pu.D. 
Department of Botany, Ontario Agricultural College. 


Nearly every year, especially in the late summer 
and early autumn our woods and fields bear a 
crop of mushrooms. Many people would enjoy 
collecting and eating them, but since some of these 
fungi are deadly poisonous, many are deterred from 
gathering them because they are unable to tell 
with absolute certainty the edible from the poison- 
ous forms. 

In Ontario there are at least two hundred (200) 
kinds of fleshy fungi of which sixty (60) occur 
in abundance, and are large enough to collect for 
Unfortunately a few of these are deadly 
Some 


eating. 
poisonous and sometimes occur in quantity. 
of these are also very attractive and always clean. 


L 


From Bulletin 263, Ontario Department of Agriculture, 


Fig. 1.—Fly Agaric 


The question is often asked—How do you tell 
a mushroom from a toad stool” meaning by toad 
stool a form that is either inedible or poisonous. 
There is no simple rule. Occasionally one sees 
published the old silver test. This is an old idea and 
still prevalent in some places, especially Italy. In 
olden days silver was accredited with many magic 
properties, especially that of turning black in the 
presence of malign influences, hence, silver would 
turn black in the presence of poison. This test can 
not, of course, be relied upon. Another test often 
spoken of is the peeling test. Some of our mush- 
room gatherers say that if the outer skin of a mush- 
room can be peeled off readily, that the mushroom 


(Amanita muscaria, Linn). 


is edible. Unfortunately some of the deadly poison- 
ous kinds will peel beautifully. Others say, collect 
only these that are pink underneath; this although 
good advice, unfortunately limits one’s. choice to 
but a few of the edible kinds. Still others say, 
never collect mushrcoms in the woods but only in 
the fields, yards and gardens. This is again, excel- 
lent advice but also limits our choice and eliminates 
many of the very best. ‘There is no simple rule 
that can be applied; one must learn to know the 
poisonous forms the same as he knows other plants. 
In order to enable mushroom lovers to avoid the 
dangerous forms, the most dangerous forms are de- 
scribed and figured below. 


Deadly Poisonous. 
Ontario Agricultural College. 

Fry Acaric (Amanita muscaria, Linn). Dead- 
ly poisonous. 

This fungus appears in July and August in 
groves and open woods or along roadsides near 
trees, usually preferring rather poor soil. (Fig. 1.) 
It is called “Fly Agaric” because an infusion of the - 
plant was at one time used as a fly poison. The 
plant is typically large and handsome. 

The cap is 3 to 5 inches broad, rounded when 
young, nearly flat when old, yellow or orange or 
even bright red in color, and covered with numerous 
angular scales, which are white or light yellow in 
color and can be easily brushed off. As the cap 
becomes old it fades out, so that it may become 


April, 1920] 


nearty white and the scales may be washed cff by 
rains. 

The stalk is 4 to 6 inches long, about half an 
inch thick, usually white but often yellowish in 
color, hollow in age. The bottom of the stalk 
is enlarged into a prominent bulb which is more or 
less rough and shaggy or scaly.. The lower part of 
the stalk above the bulb is also shaggy. 

The gills are white or slightly tinged with yellow 
and do not become pink or brown as do those of 
many edible mushrooms. 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 75 


weakening of the heart action. Of course, when 
symptoms such as these appear after eating mush- 
rooms a physician should be sent for immediately. 


The system should be freed of the 


fungus as soon as possible. 


undigested 


Strong emetics such as 
zinc sulphate, apomorphine or warm mustard and 
water should be used. If these are lack ng or pro- 
duce no effect tickle the throat with a feather or 
the finger to cause immediate and violent vomiting. 
This should be followed by a strong dose of castor 


oil. 


Fig. 


2,—Deadly 


Agaric 


The ring is quite large, white, and firmly at- 
tached to the stalk. 

The main points to remember about this fungus 
are:—The yellow or orange cap with loose white 
scales. Gills white, never becoming pink or brown. 
Ring large, white, firmly attached to the stalk. The 
stalk enlarged at the base into a prominent shaggy 
or scaly bulb and the stalk shaggy between the 
bulb and the ring. 

The poison in this mushroom is known as mus- 
carin. This substance fortunately has an unplea- 
sant bitter taste, so that the plant is seldom eaten 
even if collected by mistake. The poison does not 
act immediately, but the symptoms appear in from 
4 to 2 hours, and are: vomiting and diarrhoea, with 
a pronounced flow of saliva, suppression of urine, 
giddiness, uncertainty of movement, derangement of 
vision. This is followed by stupor, cold sweats and 


(Amanita phalloides, 
From Bulletin 263, Ontario Department of Agriculture, 


Fr.) Deadly Poisonous. 


Ontario Agricultural College. 


THE Deapty Acaric (Amanita phalloides, Fr.) 
Deadly poisonous. 

This fungus is called the Deadly Agaric because 
it is extremely poisonous and there is no known 
antidote for the poison. (Fig. 2). 

The plant usually grows in the woods or along 
the borders of woods, but has also been known to 
appear in lawns. It generally appears in July and 
August. It is quite variable in color, varying from 
pure white through yellowish to olive. 

The cap is 1.5 to 5 inches broad, at first bell- 
shaped, finally nearly flat, fleshy, viscid or slimy 
when fresh, smooth, often with a few loose white 
scales. The color varies from white, through yel- 
low to olive green, the dark forms being more com- 
mon in Ontario. 

The stalk is 2 to 8 inches long, 4% to 4 inch 
thick, hollow, white or colored like the cap, but 


76 THE CANADIAN 
lighter in shade, becoming discolored on handling. 
It ends in an abrupt bulb which generally has a 
sharp rim standing up around it, forming a sort of 
cup, called poison cup or volva. This poison cup 
is usually deeply buried in the soil, so that in order 
to find it it is necessary to dig the plant up. 

Gills white and remain white, never becoming 
pink or brown. 

The ring is white, prominent and is high up on the 
stalk close to the cap. The ring is attached to the 
stalk, not loose as in the smooth white mushroom cr 
parasol mushroom. 

The poison in the Deadly Agaric is phallin. This 
poison, unfortunately, has no pronounced taste or 
odor and gives no warning of its presence. Un- 
fortunately, also, the symptoms of poisoning do not 
manifest themselves until 9 to 14 hours after the 
fungus is eaten. There is then considerable ab- 
dominal pain, and there may be cramps in the 
legs accompanied by convulsions and even lock-jaw 
and other tetanic spasms. The pulse is weak and 
abdominal pain is rapidly followed by vomiting and 
extreme diarrhoea, the intestinal discharges assum- 
ing the rice-water condition characteristic of chol- 
era. These later symptoms persist, generally with- 
out loss of consciousness until death ensues, which 
happens in from two to four days. 

There is no known antidote for phallin. The un- 
digested portions of the fungus should be removed 
from the stomach and intestines by methods similar 
to those suggested under Fly Agaric. If the poison 
already absorbed is not tco great, it may wear it- 
self out and the patient recover. Of course, when 
symptoms of poisoning appear a physician should 
be sent for immediately. 

Tue Destroyinc ANGEL (Amanita 
Bull). Deadly poisonous. 

This fungus is probably the cause of more cases 
of mushroom poisoning than any other. (Fig. 3). 

The plant is pretty, clean, pure white and attrac- 


vernda, 


tive. 

It usually occurs in the woods or near them, but 
may grow in lawns newly made from forest soil. 
It is generally found in June and July. 

The cap is 1.5 to 4 inches in diameter, at first 
bell-shaped, later becoming nearly flat; pure white, 
shining, viscid or slimy when fresh. 

The stalk is 2 to 6 inches long, 4 to V4 an inch 
thick, pure white, hollow in age. The stalk ends in 
an abrupt bulb, with a free border closely surround- 
ing the base of the stalk and forming the poison cup 
or volva. This may be seen in even young speci- 
mens. This poison cup is buried in the soil, so that 
in order to see it it is usually necessary to dig up the 
plant. For this reason wild mushrooms growing 
in the soil should always be dug, not pulled up or 


broken off. 


FieLp-NaTURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


The gills are pure white and remain white, never 
becoming pink or brown. 

The ring is broad and high up on the stalk, just 
under the cap. It is firmly attached to the stalk 
and is not Iccse, as in the smooth white mushroom. 

Since this is our most poisonous mushroom its 
main characters should be thoroughly learned and 
remembered. 

The cap is pure white, shining and slimy when 
fresh. The stalk is pure white, ending in a dis- 
tinct poison cup or volva. Gills pure white and re- 
main white. Ring white, broad, high upon the 
stalk to which it is firmly attached. 


Angel (Amanita 
Poisonous. 


Fig. 


3.—Destroying 
Deadly 
From Bulletin 263, Ontario Department of Agricul- 


verna Bull.) 


ture, Ontario Agricultural College. 
The poison in this fungus is the same as that in 
the Deadly Agaric and the symptoms of poisoning 


and treatment are the same. 


ScarLet Cap (Russula emetica, Fr.) Reputed 
to be mildly poisonous. 

This fungus occurs very commonly in the woods 
from summer till autumn. It gets its name from the 
bright scarlet cap. (Fig. 4). It is hot and peppery 
to the taste and some report it to be mildly poison- 
ous, while others say that it is edible. 

The cap is 1.5 to 3 inches wide, thin, brittle, 
deep pink to rich red; furrowed near the edge, 


April, 1920] 


rounded when young, depressed in the centre when 
old. 

The stalk is 2 to 3 inches long, white or tinged 
with yellow. Very brittle. 
no volva or poison cup. 

Besides the scarlet cap, some of the forms wita 
milky juice are mildly poisonous. They are very 
hot and the milk is not reddish, as with the Orange 
Flow (Lactarius deliciosus). 


There are some mushrooms which have tubes in 
place of gills. Some of these are edible and others 
poisonous. The poisonous ones have a flesh that 
changes color when cut or broken or have tubes 
with red mouths. There are a few mushrooms that 


have clay-colored gills and a cobwebby veil that 
should also be avoided. 


There is no ring and 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 77 


GaTHERING WiLp MusHrooms. 

When one is gathering wild mushrooms a basket 
is the best receptacle for carrying them, as different 
compartments may be made for holding the various 
kinds, and thus keep from crushing and spoiling the 
more tender ones. 

When collecting mushrooms for the table they 
should never be pulled up or broken off. In the 
deadly poisonous mushrooms the most marked char- 
acteristic, the poison cup or volva, is deeply buried 
in the soil. If the plant is pulled up or broken off 
the poison cup is lost and it is impossible to dis- 
tinguish the poisonous kinds from certain edible 
ones. After a mushroom has been carefully dug 
up and examined and the collector is certain that 
it is edible, the lower part of the stalk may be cut 


Fig. 
From Bulletin 263, Ontario Department of Agriculture, 


Many mushrooms are wholesome when fresh but 
become dangerous when they begin to decay, or 
show evidence of the work of insects or worms. 


Jack-O-LanTERN, False chantarelle. (Clitocybe 
illudens Schw.) Mildly poisonous. 

This is a large mushroom growing in clusters on 
decaying wood. At first the plants are a clear yel- 
low but later become brownish. When seen in 
typical clusters it is very attractive but is mildly 
poisonous. Fresh specimens when placed in the 
dark give off a pale yellowish light, i.e. they are 
phosphorescent. 

The cap is from 4 to 6 inches broad and more or 
less funnel-shaped, yellow; stem 6 to 8 inches long, 
solid, yellow, tapering towards the base. Gills yel- 
low and running down on the stem. ‘There is no 
ring and no poison cup or volva. 

Some people can eat this mushroom but to most 
it is distinctly poisonous, producing nausea, vomiting 
and diarrhoea. 

When these symptoms occur, following the eat- 
ing of mushrooms, the digestive system should be 
cleared by purgatives and a physician sent for. 


4.—Scarlet Cap (Russula emetica Fr.) 


Mildly 
Ontario 


Poisonous. 


Agricultural College. 


off to get rid of the dirt. It is often very difficult 
to determine mushrooms from the young or button 
stage, so that unless buttons are accompanied by 
mature plants, they should generally be avoided. In 
case of doubt the fungus should be discarded or the 
complete specimen shown to one who knows mush- 
rooms very thoroughly. 


RULES To BE OBSERVED IN GATHERING 
Witp MusHrooms. 

It is impossible to give a simple rule or test for 
detecting poisonous mushrooms. Care must be taken 
to observe the characteristics of each mushroom 
gathered. 

The following rules, if carefully followed, will 
enable one to avoid the poisonous forms :— 

(1) Avoid fungi when in the button or unex- 
panded stage; also those in which the flesh 
has begun to decay, even if only slightly. 
Avoid all fungi which have stalks with a 
swollen base surrounded by a sac-like or 
scaly envelope, especially if the gills are 
white. 


(2) 


78 z 


(3) Avoid fungi having a milky juice, unless 
the milk is reddish. 

Avoid fungi in which the cap is thin and 
very brittle, and in which the gills are nearly 
all of equal length, especially if the cap 
is bright-colored. 


(4) 


Avoid all tube-bearing fungi in which the 
flesh changes color when cut or broken, or 
where the mouths of the tubes are reddish 
and in the case of other tube-bearing fungi 
experiment with caution. 


6) Avoid fungi having clay-cclored gills and a 
spider web or woolly ring on the stalk. 


(7) In case of doubt discard the plant. 


MusHrooms WuHiIcH May Be GATHERED. 


The foregoing rules are given as a warning against 
comparatively few plants; the edible mushrooms are 
more numerous and those that may be gathered are 
as follows:— 

All the puff balls and coral fungi; any of the 
hedge hog or spiny fungi and the morels; also any 
mushroom whose gills become brown; mushrooms 
having reddish or orange milk; all mushrooms that 
melt down into an inky liquid when mature; many 
mushrooms with white gills, but care must be taken 
to be absolutely certain that they have no poison 
cup or volva. 


LEARN To KNow THE MUSHROOMS. 


Before attempting to eat a large number of mush- 
rooms one should learn to know them by their in- 
dividual characters, the same as he would learn to 
know berries or other wild fruit. The best way 
to do this is to secure a book describing the various 


THE CanapiAN FieLtp-NATURALIST 


[Vol X*xine 


kinds and then gather the different ones and com- 
pare them with the descriptions and_ illustrations. 
Another way is to go out into the woods and fields 
with someone who knows the mushrooms and have 
the different kinds, both poisonous and edible, point- 
ed out and the characters explained. 

Still another way to learn the mushrooms is as 
follows. Carefully dig up the mushrooms so that 
all the fruit body including the very base of the 
stem is present. Wrap in dry paper, taking care 
not to crush the specimen, attach a note describing 
where the plant grew, ie. fields, woods or road 
side; whether it grows in the ground, or wood and 
the color of the fresh specimen. The specimen 
should then be enclosed in a strong cardboard 
carton or wooden box and sent in to the Department 
of Botany, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, 
Ont. 

If the specimen is carefully packed, it will arrive 
in fair condition and the name and properties of 
the mushroom will be sent to you by the next mail. 


Books THAT DeEscriBE MUSHROOMS. 


Mcellvaine, Chas.—One 
Fungi. 

Hard, M. E.—Mushrooms, Edible and Other- 
wise. 

Atkinson, Geo. G——Mushrooms, Edible, Peison- 
ous, etc. 

Marshall, Nina L—The Mushroom Book. 

Gibson, Hamilton—Our Edible Fungi. 

Murrill, W. A.—Edible and Poisonous Mush- 
rooms. 

Stone, R. E.—Mushrooms of Ontario: Ontario 
Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 263. 


Thousand American 


NOTES ON THE SUMMER BIRDS OF THE GASPE PENINSULA, 
PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 


By CHar_es W. TownseNnp, M.D., BosTon. 


In planning a trip to any spot in North America, 
one naturally turns to the indices of the Auk and the 
Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club in order 
to learn what ornithological work has been done in 
that region and what birds one may expect to find. 
As far as I can discover there has been no list pub- 
lished and no mention made of the birds of the Gaspé 
Peninsula in these journals. The only notes of this 
region published by ornithologists elsewhere that I 
can find are by Mr. Wm. Brewster, '; Mr. Frank 
M. Chapman? and Mr. P. A. Taverner’. In none 
of these notes is there any attempt to list the birds 
of the region, and it therefore seems worth while 
to present the following preliminary list. The gen- 


erosity of Mr. Taverner in putting his notes, made 
chiefly at Percé in the summers of 1914 and 1915, 
at my disposal has made this list of much greater 
value than if my own notes alone were to be drawn 
upon. 

I feel sure that Mr. Taverner’s work in these 
regions has had the greatest influence in determining 


(1) Notes on the birds observed during a Summer 
cruise in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Proceedings, 
Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 22S. 
364, 412; 1883. 

(2) Bird studies with a camera, New York, 1900, 


pp. 128-145. Gannets of Bonaventure, Bird Lore, 
WiOle AL Le oUy iiyee ioe 

(3) The Gannets of Bonaventure Island, The Ottawa 
Naturalist, Vol. 32, 1918, pp. 21-26. 


April, 1920] THE CANADIAN 
the Provincial Government to make Percé Rock, 
Bonaventure Island and Bird Rock near the Mag- 
dalens, bird reservations. This splendid piece of 
work was accomplished in 1918 and the wonderful 
colonies in these three localities are now protected 
for all time. These reservations are of great value 
and interest not only to ornithologists but to the gen- 
eral public and they will become more and more 
known and visited. Both Percé Rock and Bona- 
venture Cliffs have a beauty and grandeur of size 
and form and coloring that is unequalled along our 
Atlantic Coast, but their wonderful charm is in- 
creased manyfold by the variety and abundance of 
the bird life that adorns them. The Provincial 
Government, which has made them reservations, to- 
gether with Bird Rock off the Magdalens, is to be 
greatly congratulated, and it is to be hoped that 
this is but the beginning of their work and that 
other reservations may be added elsewhere, especi- 
ally along the Labrador Coast where they are so 
much needed. The splendid work of the Audubon 
Society in the United States may well be taken as 
a model. 

The Gaspé Peninsula projects like a lower lip at 
the mouth of the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence. It lies north of New Brunswick 
from which it is separated by the Bay of Chaleur 
and the Restigouche River. -A single track railway 
runs along the southern shore nearly to the end of 
the peninsula at Gaspé, and for a few miles along 
the northern shore as far as Matan. A carriage 
road follows the shore of the whole peninsula and 
there are a few short side roads extending but a 
mile or two into the interior which is an uninhabited 
region of forest and mountains. Villages inhabited 
for the most part by fishermen of French and Chan- 
nel Island descent, are scattered along the coast. 

The geology of the Gaspé Peninsula is most in- 
teresting and complicated. At Percé, for example, 
are outcrops of Cambrian, Silurian and Devonian 
limestones with strata almost vertical, overlaid in 
places with a great mantle of horizontal red sand- 
stones and conglomerates. The mountains near the 
north coast are of gray Silurian limestones and 
serpentines. Att the places visited there was no evi- 
dence of general glaciation, but only of slight and 
local glaciation. There are few lakes and the 
streams are deeply cut. 

The vegetation is of the Hudsonian type,—the 
forest is largely of spruce,—black and white, and 
balsam fir. Arbor vitae, canoe birches and aspens 
are common. A few white pines, larches, yellow 
birches, mountain ashes and sugar maples are to be 
seen. The avifauna is largely Canadian with a num- 
ber of Hudsonian and also of Transition forms. 

The itinerary of my trip was as follows :— 


Crossing on July 5th, 1919 from Campbellton, 


FieLp- NATURALIST 79 


New Brunswick, where the Restigouche River meets 
the Bay of Chaleur, I spent two days at Cross 
Point in the Township of Mann, and had an op- 
portunity to observe the birds in the woods and 
fields there. July 7th was occupied in travelling the 
150 miles to Cape Cove, from which I was taken 
by automobile nine miles to Percé. The railroad 
journey was such a leisurely one, with so many 
breakdowns of the engine that I was able to see 
something of the birds and flowers of the region. 
At Percé, a quaint little French fishing village with 
beautiful setting of rock, cliff and mountain, I 
stayed until August 6th and explored the neighbor- 
hood including Bonaventure Island, Corner of the 
Beach and Barachois. On the latter date I went 
by motor boat some twenty-eight miles to Grande 
Gréve near the eastermost tip of the Forillon, the 
narrow peninsula that stretches between Gaspé Bay 
and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here I stayed until 
August 25th and explored the neighborhood in- 
cluding a walking trip through Cape Rosier and 
Griffin Cove to Fox River, and back through the 
“portage” to Peninsula, and along the southern coast 
of the Forillon to Grand Gréve. A day was spent 
in the neighborhood of Douglastown on the southern 
side of Gaspé Bay and another at Gaspé and on the 
lower waters of the York River. 

Before presenting the annotated list I would say 
a few words about the two new bird reservations 
at Percé. 

Percé Rock is an isolated mass of nearly vertical 
strata of Devonian limestone some 1500 feet long, 
and 288 feet high at its highest point and 300 feet 
wide at its greatest breadth. It is connected with 
the shore only at low tides by a bar two or three 
hundred yards long. At the outer end stands a 
smaller isolated mass or pinacle. The main rock is 
pierced by an arch with a span of about eighty feet 
and from this the rock receives its name. Percé 
Rock is an object of exceeding beauty not only on 
account of its striking shape and great size, but also 
on account of the brilliancy and variety of its col- 
ouring. Its beauty and interest are greatly en- 
hanced by its bird inhabitants which throng its in- 
accessible summit and form a circling cloud. Breed- 
ing Kittiwakes to the number of about 400, occupy 
the shelves and niches of the northern face over the 
arch. Double-crested Cormorants, a thousand or 
more and Herring Gulls to the number of 2,000 
breed on the flat surface of the summit. A few 
Black Guillemots nest in some of the holes and 
corners on the sides of the rock. 

I was enabled to make a fairly intimate study of 
the home life of these birds of the summit through 
the kindness of Mrs. Frederick James, whose late 
husband was the beloved artist of the little village 
of Percé. At her invitation I spent many interest- 


80 THE CANADIAN 


ing hours looking through her powerful telescope 
from the piazza of her house on Cape Cannon. 

Bonaventure Island, is three miles distant from 
Percé and is of still greater value and importance. 
It is about three miles long and a mile and a half 
broad. The outer side faces the sea in sheer cliffs 
of horizontal strata of red conglomerate and sand- 
stone four and five hundred feet high. On the 
cliffs and niches and along the shelves, tier above 
tier nest a very large and notable collection of water 
birds. The most important of these in size and num- 
bers are the Gannets which are most numerous to- 
wards the southern end. Mr. Taverner has esti- 
mated their numbers to be 8,000. Herring Gulls 
breed on the cliffs to the number of several hun- 
dreds if not thousands. A smaller number of Kitti- 
wakes nest near the northern end of this outer side 
of the island on vertical cliffs that possess but few 
and small niches. Murres and Razor-billed Auks, 
perhaps 500 pairs of the former and 100 of the 
latter also lay their eggs on the cliffs. A small 
number of Puffins and a few Black Guillemots are 
also breeders there, while in the holes and crevices 
on top of the cliffs Leache’s Petrels nest. No 
Cormorants breed here but visitors from Percé 
Rock may often be seen. 

I visited Bonaventure Island three times, passing 
in a motor boat close under the cliffs and camping 
and spending two days on each of the first two 
occasions; the last time I spent only the day. It is 
possible to take up a position on the edge of the 
cliffs where one can sweep with a glass, tier on 
tier of nesting Gannets and be within thirty feet of 
As they fly by they are almost within 
arm’s reach. With an eight power prismatic bin- 
ocular and a thirty power telescope I spent many 
hours watching these birds. With the expert aid 
of Willie Duval, descendant of of Captain Peter 
John Duval the original owner of the island, I was 
able to climb a hundred feet or more up the cliffs 
from below and crawl along a ledge close to Puffins 
and Murres. Mr. Taverner? has vividly described 


such an adventure. 


the nearest. 


ANNOTATED LIST. 

1. Gavia immer. Loon. 
One flying by Bonaventure Island. Mr. Tay- 
erner reported a few. 

2. Fratercula arctica arctica. Puffin. 
Thirty or forty pairs of these birds breed in 
the deep clefts or holes in the cliffs of Bona- 
venture Island, mostly at the northern end of 
the eastern cliffs. 

3. Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. 
Common and very tame all along the rock 
shores, breeding in holes and in the clefts be- 


(4) Ottawa Naturalist, XXXII, 21-26. 


FieLp-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


tween the strata of the rocks. 
first seen in the water August Ist. 


4. Uria troille troille. Murre. 


About five hundred pairs breed at Bonaventure 
Island. I met with them at other places on the 
coast, but do not know whether they breed 
away from the island or not. Several times 
I saw Gannets that had alighted in the same 
niche in the cliffs drive the Murres out. Mr. 
Taverner reports seeing a number of ringvia. 


5. Alca torda. Razor-billed Auk. 


Perhaps a hundred pairs breed at Bonaven- 
ture Island. They were to be seen singly, 
sometimes among the Gannets and in compan- 
ies of two or three often with Murres in clefts 
or ledges smaller than those frequented by the 
Gannets. Flocks of ten or fifteen Murres on 
the water generally included one or two Razor- 


billed Auks. 
6. Rissa tridactyla tridactyla. Kittiwake. 
About 400 breed on the northern face of 


Percé Rock near the arch and about as many 
on the cliffs of Bonaventure Island. 


Great Black-backed Gull. 


A few seen in July. More common in August. 
No evidence of breeding. 


8. Larus argentatus. Herring Gull. 


Abundant. Breeds on the top of Percé Rock 
to the number of about 2,000, on the cliffs of 
Bonaventure Island and the Murailles at 
Percé, on the sea cliffs below Mt. St. Albans 
and on the Bon Ami cliffs near Grand Greve 
and doubtless on many other cliffs of the 
Peninsula. 


Cod fishing is the chief industry of the coast and 
the fish are cleaned and split at tables on the beach- 
es or on fishing stages. The heads and entrails are 
left where they fall and are eagerly sought by Her- 
ring Gulls, who gather when the fish are brought in, 
and do important work as scavengers. They are very 
tame and may often be seen searching for scraps 
on empty boats riding at anchor. I have counted 
as many as 30 on one boat. Until the young are 
on the wing none but full plumaged adults are to 
be seen; no birds with black tips to their tails were 
found in these flocks. The young appeared in the 
air the last week in July. ; 


Young were 


7. Larus marinus. 


A cloud of Herring Gulls, was constantly flying 
about Percé Rock and their cries were always to 
be heard by day and frequently by night. The 
bugle-like courtship song frequently resounded and 
fighting among the adults on the Rock was fre- 
quent. 


(To be continued.) 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


oe 


VOUXXXIV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., MAY, 1920. No. 


Ww 


BIRDS AND HOW TO ATTRACT THEM ABOUT OUR HOMES. 
By J. C. Mippteton, Lonpon, ONT. 


Most of us take a good deal of pride in the sur- 
roundings of our dwelling places, and have suc- 
ceeded in making them real beauty spots. However 
in most cases with city dwellings we have not the 
opportunity of carrying out a good many of our 
cherished wishes, still our surroundings are largely 
what we make them, individually or collectively. 
What could be more charming than being surround- 
ed by an abundance of bird life the year round ? 


Now without trees or shrubs we would have very 
few birds as they provide protection and shelter 
from extreme heat and cold, and from the searching 
eyes of natural enemies such as the cat, dog and 
birds of prey. They also provide resting and sleep- 
ing places as well as meeting places for many of our 
most favorite birds. Important as all these reasons 
are, trees, shrubs and plants are indispensible to 
most bird life for another great reason, that is they 
provide food either by producing or sustaining it. It 
is quite true we may have plenty of house sparrows 
and perhaps birds that feed while on the wing, 
such as the swallow or martin, without trees, but 
these are only exceptions which go to prove the 
general rule. It goes without saying that dense 
foliage is essential for good protection. This can 
be best obtained by the use of evergreens, which if 
planted in clumps or hedges will give ample pro- 
tection both for summer and winter, their growth 
is much thicker and heavier than cur deciduous 
trees. A good hedge of spruce trees is a great 
attraction for birds in the cool nights of early 
spring, or in the fall, and a thick cover of some 
sort of evergreen is essential if we are to have the 
birds stay with us during the winter. 


Most close growing shrubs and trees are valu- 
able for nesting places. Of course many birds nest 
on the ground in clumps of grass or thickets, but 
these are not likely to build in our gardens unless 
we have some quiet and unmolested spot. 

The different fruits and seeds being produced 
and ripened at the different times of the summer 
are either eaten, perhaps when only partly ma- 
tured, (such as the cherry) or on the other hand 
hang on long after the leaves have fallen to serve 
as food in fall and winter. 


The myriads of leaf insects, to say nothing of the 
moths and fruit pests, form a large portion of the 
birds’ bill of fare. Then again what about the 
borers, and other insects which live either in or 
under the bark? 

The sap of trees is also enjoyed by some birds. 
For instance, the sapsucker will aimost always be 
found at work where the Balm of Gilead poplar 
trees are plentiful. 


What is our deduction from these facts? Is it 
not a fact the more nearly we can create these 
conditions in our gardens, the more birdlife we are 
likely to have, for after all the two great essentials 
to success in attracting birds are an abundance of 
food and ample protection. 


Now I don’t suppose it would be either practical 
or wise to have all our garden space taken up with 
plantings suitable only for bird life; most of us 
are far too fond of flowers to allow this, but on 
the other hand how often are gardens planned en- 
tirely without a thought for the welfare of our birds. 
With our system of laying out our cities in blocks 
what would be easier than to have our back garden 
separated by hedges. I am quite sure you will 
agree with me that the garden would look very 
much more artistic and natural than they are with 
our present system of board fences. There are 
many different kinds of trees, plants and vines which 
are quite adaptable for hedges. If this system could 
be established, just think what it would mean for 
the birds, and not only for the birds for I am in- 
clined to think that living between board fences has 
a very detrimental effect on all our natures, and 
that if we could but trace where that hard or un- 
sympathetic spot in our natures originated we would 
find, perhaps back a generation or two, that the 
rude obstruction of a high board fence around our 
gardens has had a great deal to do with it. 

It would be difficult to name all the best trees 
and shrubs. Mr. Baynes in “Wild Bird Guests” gives 
a very complete and quite an extensive list of these 
with their relative fruiting seasons. I quite agree 
with Mr. W. E. Saunders that our own native 
trees are likely to prove more attractive than im- 
ported ones, We naturally take to our favorite 


82 


i, 


Upside down feeding box; 2 
1, 


Seed 


THE Canapian” Fietp-NaTurRALIST 


hopper; 5, Mrs Berry’s wired dish; 6, Feeding log, 


[Vol. 


XXXIV, 


2. Upside down feeding slab; 3. Bird Curate placed on window sill; 


~ 


iter 7a 


May, 1920] 


dishes, so with the birds, they are far more likeiy 
to be attracted by a clump of our red native cedars 
than by trees which they have never seen before. Of 
course this does not mean to say that we should not 
plant trees such as the Mulberry, whose fruit is 
specially attractive, but as a rule our native berry 
bushes, vines and trees are the best to plant. 

Perhaps the most interesting of our bird guests 
during the nesting season are those which occupy our 
bird houses. These are so well known that I need 
not enumerate them. It might be well to dwell for 
a little on the most suitable styles and locations of 
some of the preference for what he, or perhaps | 
had better say she, considers a properly made house. 
How do ‘we know whether a bird likes a certain 
style of house or not? This is only found out by 
observation and experiment. Perhaps Baron Von 
Berlepsch has achieved more along this line than 
any other student, having devoted a tremendous 
amount of time and practically the whole of his 
large estate to these studies, and bird houses con- 
structed after his ideas have proved most successful. 
I mention this only to show that through experi- 
menting it is quite possible to find out what kind of 
houses are preferred by the different birds. 

A standard Flicker house would be made from 
a log say, twenty-four inches long and about eight 
or nine inches in diameter. The entrance hole, 
two and a half inches in diameter, should be 
placed quite near the top. To hollow out the log 
it is best to cut it in half lengthwise and then 
with a gouge or chisel shape out the cavity into a 
pear shaped hollow extending sixteen inches below 
the entrance hole making half the cavity in each 
piece of the log and the big end towards the bot- 
tom. Place the pieces together again and fasten 
tightly with a piece of soft wire at either ends of 
the log; then cut the top of the leg sloping, with the 
back about one inch higher than the front; then 
nail a piece of board to this having it extend fully 
three inches beyond the log on both sides and 
front thus forming a shelter to the entrance hole 
which is quite important. 

Those who are interested in finding out about 
any special house will find complete directions for 
all houses in N. M. Ladd’s “How to Make Friends 
with the Birds.” 

It is a good idea to place a mixture of sand and 
sawdust in all Woodpeckers’ houses as they do not 
carry in nesting material. Fill the house about one 
third full, they will soon remove any surplus. 

Don’t make the mistake of making two compart- 
ments in the one house, as houses of this sort will 
seldom be occupied, and if occupied only one com- 
partment will be used. Purple Martin houses are 
an exception to this rule. With these houses the 
more rooms or apartments, each with a separate en- 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 83 


trance, the better your house. 

The placing of bird houses is very important. 
Care should be taken in selecting suitable locations 
which should be in open places as far as possible. 
When hanging the house see that the entrance faces 
the sheltered aspect, and that it is shaded from wet 
and storm as much as possible. 

All houses should be cleaned and repaired as 
early as possible each season. 

Don’t make the mistake of placing a Flicker and 
Wren house on the same tree as if these should 
both be lucky in attracting occupants the Wren 
will take the first opportunity of visiting the Flick- 
er’s nest in the absence of the owner and punctur- 
ing the eggs. This happened in my garden last 
season, not only in the Flicker’s nest but also with 
a Robin’s nest which was built in the same tree. 

Hang out wadding, wool, bits of string, and any 
other nesting material. Do this early as it is often 
the means of attracting a pair of birds to nest in your 
garden. 

A bird bath is a splendid attraction. This should 
be placed in the open thus affording the birds a 
clear view of any approaching enemies, such as the 
skulking cat. A bath with a graded bottom is 
preferable. This should start at half inch and 
slope gently to not deeper than two inches. A fine 
misty spray is a splendid addition, also have perch- 
ing accommodation nearby. A dust bath located 
in a sunny situation is much enjoyed by birds. This 
can be easily made by filling a flat tray or box say 
two or three inches deep with any sort of fine dust, 
preferably fine sand, with a small portion of slacked 
lime thoroughly mixed. A bath which will be much 
frequented especially by Robins and Sparrows can 
easily be made by securing a large plant saucer and 
placing it in a sunny location on a box or stool to 
raise it one or two feet from the ground, the only 
difficulty with this is that you will probably find that 
you will have to fill it several times during the 
day, as an enthusiastic Robin will splash consider- 
able of the water over the edge and when this is 
repeated several times the bath soon becomes empty. 

Besides serving as baths these basins of water are 
a great blessing in hot weather, as drinking pools, 
aud if kept regularly filled will be visited by hun- 
dreds of birds during one day. 

There is one golden rule to be observed if we 
are to make the birds feel perfectly at home in our 
gardens, that is that no cat or dog be allowed to 
roam about the premises. The proprietor must see 
that this is obeyed. Our movements have consid- 
erable effect on wild life. If we are gentle and even 
in our ways of going about the garden, and are not 
always appearing to be prying after the birds we 
will find that they will soon learn to treat us as 
friends. “there is no better illustration of this than 


84 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


with the Humming Bird. We all know how alert 
and absolutely instantaneous these birds are in their 
movements and yet, if approached in a gentle even 
way it is quite possible to gain their complete con- 
fidence. I have used an artificial flower made of 
bright paper, with a small bottle as a centre, filling 
the bottle with a mixture of honey and water, and by 
first letting them get acquainted with the special 
quality of the nectar of this rare flower have after- 
wards been able to have them come to my hand and 
sip from the bottle without any decoration. My 
experiments have been mostly carried on in the 
fall, and I am inclined to think that it would be a 
far more difficult proposition to tame these birds 
during the nesting season. This would apply to al- 
most all birds as nature has made them specially 
timid and watchful during the time they are rear- 
ing their young. 

Early in September it is well to hang out some 
feeding devices so as to attract any birds that might 
be persuaded to stay for the winter, and as with 
nesting materials it is a good plan to have them out 
early, however, just here I would like to say that 
it is far better not to start feeding the birds if we are 
not determined to do it regularly throughout the 
winter. 

The feeding of birds in the winter is perhaps one 
of the most interesting sides of bird study. As al- 
ready stated we must have some thick clumps or 
hedges of evergreen trees for protection if we are to 
be successful in keeping the birds about our gardens 
during the winter, but with this and careful regular 
feeding it is wonderful what can be done along this 
line. A feeding station arranged at a suitable win- 
dow is certainly a source of great enjoyment during 
the long winter months. I would like to explain 
some of the feeding devices which I have found 
successful, also some methods of taming the birds 
and preparing their food. 

Having selected our favorite 
aim will now be to entice as many birds as possible 
to this spot. If we are fortunate enough to have one 
or more trees within ten or twenty feet of the win- 
dow we will find this a great aid. A brush pile say 
about ten feet from the window is necessary, as 
birds do not feel comfortable without a certain 
amount of cover. The larger this is the better. An- 
other very good thing is to place artificially a good 
thick evergreen tree which will serve as a wind 
break and also make the birds feel more at home. 
There should be pieces of fat hung or fastened to 
trees for some distance around. Always have the 
best supply at your feeding station. It will not be 
long before you are rewarded with the arrival of 
a Downy Woodpecker, a Nuthatch, or a Chickadee. 
Once the birds have found your station all out- 
lying feeding places should be abandoned. If you 


window our 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


are ambitious, you will frame up your window with 
rough branches and make an artificial window sili 
of a rough board, say about twelve inches wide, 
your reason for doing this is to have a place for the 
birds to feed should you be successful in getting them 
tame enough to come to the window. At first the 
birds will be quite shy, but if you are careful not 
to frighten them at any time they will soon become 
comparatively tame. 

A splendid device for taming some of the more 
timid birds is a wire strung from the top of your win- 
dow frame to the nearest tree, the outer end should 
be a foot or two higher than the end at the window 
so as to give the wire a slight slope down to the 
window. This will give anything that is hung on 
the wire a tendency to shift towards the window 
instead of further away as would otherwise be the 
case. The wire must be strung quite tightly so as 
not to sag when it is carrying its load. Now the 
idea is to hang feeding devices on this wire, first 
at the farther end and when the birds have become 
used to going to them, gradually shift closer to 
the window. In this way it is possible to get many 
quite shy birds to feed from your window sill. We 
have succeeded in getting the Cardinals to feed 
from our window sill in this way. 

At first it may be found a good idea to sprinkle 
coarse grains such as oats, corn and perhaps some 
finer seeds, say millett, hemp, etc., in a specially 
prepared spot in your brush pile, but this will prob- 
ably attract more house sparrows than anything else, 
and if you do not resort to some means of out- 
witting them they will soon monopolize your sta- 
tion, eating everything you exhibit excepting the 
whole corn. 

Generally speaking you can divide the birds that 
will feed at your station into two classes, the seed 
eaters and the suet or fat eaters. This division is 
not absolute, but the Sparrows, Juncoes, Finches, 
and Cardinals, are preferably seed eaters. The 
Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers prefer 
suet or fat, while the Bluejay will do ample justice 
to either if it gets the chance. 

The Chicadees are probably the most interesting 
and most easily tamed of our guests and our station 
would indeed be quiet without them. 

The nature of a bird is to fly away as soon as 
it secures a morsel that is good to eat; now recog- 
nizing this fact and remembering that our object is to 
tame and see as much of the birds as possible, we 
should guard against this. How? Well, when 
putting out suet don’t put out suet, but buy beef 
fat. Of course I do not need to explain this to the 
ladies but to the men J would say that suet crumbles 
and breaks up into pieces just suitable for the birds 
to fly away with, while beef fat holds together and 
requires that each mouthful be pecked off. Result— 


May, 1920] 


bird has to stay on the job in order to get a meal. 
Also in putting out nuts for the Chickadees and 
Nuthatches see that these are reduced to a fine 
powder. 

You will have special spots for your fat. The 
best way to fix this is to take a nail, say a three 
inch nail, cut the head off thus making a point at 
both ends, drive one end into the tree or the place 
where the fat is to be put, leaving the longer por- 
tion sticking out and sloping upward. The fat can 
easily be shoved on to this spike which will remain 
permanently in position. 

To tame birds it is necessary to proceed by 
slow degrees. The birds must first become familiar 
with the general surroundings, and then they can 
be gradually brought to the window by getting them 
acquainted with a special feeding dish, and placing 
this a little nearer the window each day. After they 
have become accustomed to the window sill they 
can be tamed to feed from the hand by proceeding 
in the same slow, progressive way. If we are to 
keep the birds continually about we must have some 
feeding devices which will keep a supply of food 
always accessible. 

A seed or grain hopper surrounded by a covered 
tray is a device which should be at every feeding 
station. 

Mr. W. Saunders’ upside-down feeding slab 
is contrived to protect the food from snow and 
rain. I have made one by fastening cork bark to 
a piece of board, this bark being very rough is es- 
pecially adapable for the purpose. 

The fat is slightly warm and is then pressed into 
all the holes and crevices of the bark. This slab 
is much used by Chickadees, Nuthatches and Wood- 
peckers, and is indispensible in rough weather. 

An exceedingly useful addition to our outfit is a 
variant of Mr. Saunders’ upside-down feeding slab; 
this is made by adding sides about one inch deep to 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NaTURALIST 85 


the plain board. This when filled with melted fat, 
and nuts, if desired, provides a large bulk of food. 

The wired dish is a new idea which has been 
tested only this winter. It is the invenion of Mrs. 
J. S. Berry, and her experience, which tallies with 
my own, is that the Chicadees enter it with perfect 
fearlessness. 

The chief point in this dish is that the meshes 
formed by the crossing wires will admit a Chicadee 
but are too small to admit a Sparrow. 


The bird curate is the most satisfactory of all our 
feeding appliances, for the reason that it affords 
such ample accommodation. It is no uncommon 
thing to have twelve to fifteen birds feeding at 
once on the different sections. To secure this it is 
of course necessary to use finely powdered food, 
which requires that the bird stay on the spot in order 
to get a meal. This accustoms them to our person 
and our movements and has a great influence in 
taming them. 


The feeding log is another of Mr. Saunders’ in- 
ventions, the essential principle of which is that it 
shall hang by string or wire so that it oscillates with 
the breeze or the motion of the birds. Sparrows 
have a decided objection to feeding from a moving 
object, and until they cure themselves of this idiosyn- 
ocrasy we can take advantage of it to avoid having 
them steal the expensive food that we provide for 
our native friends. There remains the additional 
advantage that we can use these sparrow-proof de- 
vices further down in the garden, until such time as 
the Sparrows decide to assist in the destruction of 
the food thus provided. 


Have a feeding station. The birds will repay your 
kindness with their friendly confidence. Making 
friends with the birds brings us closer to the great 
world of nature about us, which is so full of won- 
derful blessings. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


THE CanapiAN  FieLp-NATURALIST 


86 


“BpBUBY) “UOT}BAIOSUOY) JO UOISsturMIOg jo AsoyMogQ— AQAING [BOLs0[oe4 Aq o10ud 
“(syny pelllqd-40ozey JON) GNVWISI HHUNLNHAVNOd WO AVdaH'T NO SNIAANd 


UONPAAASUOD JO UOISSILUWOD 


May, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NaTURALIST 


87 


NOTES ON THE SUMMER BIRDS OF THE GASPE PENINSULA. 


By CHarLes W. Townsenp, M.D., Boston. 


(Continued from Vol. 


The adults on alighting near their half grown 
young empty their stomach contents on the ground 
and the young eagerly swallow it. The young 
may often be seen practicing short flights on the 
top of the Rock, but when they once launch out from 
their nesting place they roost on the broken rock 
and beaches at the foot of the cliffs. 


9. Larus philadelphia. Bonaparte’s Gull. 
On August 14th I saw two adults and four 
immature birds of this species in the Gaspé 
Basin, evidently migrants. 
10. Sterna hirundo. Common Tern. 
The only birds of this species I saw anywhere 
along the coast of the Peninsula were about 
a dozen at Cross Point on July 5th. Mr. 
Taverner does not note them. 


11. Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. Black Tern. 
One seen August 27th in the lower part of the 
York River near Gaspé. 


12. Oceanodroma leucorhoa. \Leach’s Petrel. 
Breeding commonly in the clefts and holes in 


the top of the Gannet cliffs at Bonaventure 
Island. 


13. Sula bassana. Gannet. 
As already stated about 8,000 Gannets breed 
in the cliffs on the eastern side of Bonaventure 
Island. The great majority of the birds seen 
were in full adult plumage; abcut one in three 
or four hundred had black in the base of the 
wing, in the tail and scattered over the back. 
These, I suppose, are birds two years old. 
Early in July nearly all the eggs had hatched, 
but I watched an adult on July 18th which was 
brooding an egg in the nest. When the bird raised 
itself I saw that one webbed foot nearly covered 
the egg. This singular habit has been noted in 
literature. 


From time to time adults could be seen bringing 
rockweed in their bills and patching up their nests. 
The nests like the ledges were painted white with 
the droppings of the birds. The white downy 
young with black faces grew rapidly between the 
time of my first visit on July 10th and my last on 
August 3rd when they were nearly half as large as 
their parents. 


The curious courtship ritual I have described at 
length in my paper on Courtship in Birds®. This 
always takes place when a bird arrives at the nest 
to relieve its mate. It is evident that the sexes al- 


XXXIV, page 80.) 


ternate in feeding and brooding the young. The 
new arrival at the nest, after its mate has left, 
waddles around so that the young is in front of her 
breast. The young at once raises its black head 
and shows by its vibrating throat that it is calling 
for food. The parent often appears indifferent, 
preens her own feathers and the down of her off- 
spring, gapes sleepily and darts her head angrily 
at a neighbor. The young become more insistent 
and tries to wedge open the bill of its mother. She 
at last gives a gulp, curves her head down, opens 
wide her bill and appears to swallow the head and 
neck of her hopeful. The process is soon repeated; 
the young always seem ready to disappear into the 
cavern of its parent’s mouth. 


Whether the great volume of noise that goes out 
from this ledge is the courtship song or not I can 
not say, but it is doubtless augmented by the call- 
ing of the young for food. It suggests thousands of 
rattling looms in a great factory, a rough vibrating 
pulsing sound, and may be written down car-ra, 
car-ra, car-ra. 


Taking advantage of the strong sea breezes and of 
the currents deflected upwards by the cliffs, the 
Gannet is able to soar on rigidly outstretched wings 
for a long time without flapping. One,which I 
watched passing within a few yards of me, circled 
ten times to within a few feet of a ledge crowded 
with its kind, and each time he dropped his feet 
as if about to alight, but each time drew them up 
again and sailed by. 
ter just before each attempt to alight, his wings were 
held rigidly outstretched. The circle was one of 
three or four hundred yards in diameter. On each 
of the last three times he executed a smaller circle in 
addition, thus completing a figure of eight. On the 
eleventh attempt he dropped suddenly on the ledge 
The bill-shaking and 
bowing and caressing that went on was in the most 
spontaneous and eager fashion. They appeared 
over-joyed to meet again. 


Except for a momentary flut- 


close to his mate on her nest. 


Before flying from the ledge the Gannet generally 
poises motionless for several moments with its eyes 
and bill pointed upwards, perhaps in order to watch 
for an opportunity to fly without colliding with an- 
other bird in the air. It then leaps clear of its com- 
panions and of the ledge, and with tail turned 
down as a brake, it swiftly descends until it gathers 
impetus enough to rise. 


At Grand Greve in the early part of August | 
frequently saw Gannets singly or in groups of two 


88 


and threes fly back and forth in Gaspé Bay. Dur- 
ing the latter part of the month they were flying 
south. I did not see any fly over the land. 


14. Phalacrocorax auritus auritus. Double-crested 
Cormorant. 

A very abundant bird all along the coast. It 
breeds to the number of about 2,000 on top of 


Percé Rock and in large numbers on the great 


ome 


THe CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


abundant species and grows luxuriantly. 


The feeding of the partly-grown and especially 
of the fully-grown young Cormorant was always an 
amusing spectacle. An adult alighting on the rock 
is at once besieged by one or more young who wave 
their wings frantically and raise their heads, beseech- 
ing the parent for food. Often times the parent is 
reluctant to acceed to the request and runs away, 


of Gonservatio 
GENERAL VIEW OF GANNET LEDGES, BONAVENTURE ISLAND, 1914. 
Photo by Geological Survey of Canada —Courtesy of 
Commission of Conservation, Canada. 


sea cliffs at Bon Ami and at the foot of Mt. 
St. Albans. 

At Percé Rock there appeared to be seventeen 
distinct clusters of nests where everything in- 
cluding the nests was painted white with drop- 
pings and the ground was devoid of vegeta- 
tion. Where the Herring Gulls nest the sur- 
face is largely covered with vegetation. Yar- 
row, Achillea borealis, appears to be the most 


closely pursued by its offspring, dodging in and 
out among the other Cormorants and Gulls. Finally 
the parent gives in, opens its capacious maw into 
which the young disappears as far as its head and 
neck are concerned. The parent gradually lowers 
its head as the young pushes in, and finally bring it 
nearly to the ground. The young, meanwhile, flaps 
its wings violently, and the picture is of a large bird 
trying hard to swallow another bird of the same 


May, 1920] 


size who struggles violently in protest. It frequently 
happens that, after repeated requests for food, the 
parent, unable to rid itself of the tormenting young, 
takes refuge in flight. 

The young when fully grown may often be seen 
practicing flight by ascending a few feet into the 
air and coming back to the rock. ‘The earliest de- 
scent by the young to the water took place the last 
of July. 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 89 


that they stand out as light patches on the gray 
rock, while the birds themselves look like black 
bottles. During my stay at Grand Gréve during the 
month of August an almost continuous stream of 
these birds was passing and repassing over the little 
settlement, the birds were going to their feedina 
grounds in the Gaspé Basin and York and Dart- 
mouth Rivers and returning to their nests. They 
passed singly and in companies of two or three up 


CLOSE-UP VIEW OF GANNETS ON LEDGES OF 
BONAVENTURE ISLAND, 1914. 
Photo by Geological Survey —Courtesy of Commission 


of Conservation, Canada. 


The great cliffs, which rise from the water to a 
height of six or seven hundred feet and extend 
along the shore for four or five miles near Mt. St. 
Albans and Cape Bon Ami on the north side of 
the Forillon back of Grande Gréve are nearly per- 
pendicular and possess but few shelves for foothold. 
On these are built the nests of this species and they 
are so plastered with the white guano of the bird 


to thirty or forty. In warm weather most of the 
birds had their mouths open, but in cool weather 
they were shut. I looked carefully for carbo but 
all were auritus. 

During August groups of a hundred or more fully 
grown young birds were to be seen on the little 
pocket beaches at the foot of the Bon Ami cliffs. 

The fishermen dislike this bird as they say it 


THe Canapian’ FieLp-NaTuRALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


“—y od 
| Cofiaissiof-of Corservatiors 


GREAT GANNETT LEDGE, BONAVENTURE ISLAND, GASPE CO:, QUE. 
Photo by Geological Survey Courtesy of Commission of Conservation, Canada. 


May, 1920] THE CaNapiIAN FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 9] 


takes herrings on which they depend for bait, from 
their nets. I saw no shooting, but on the York 
River there were steel traps on posts and a few 
birds had suffered a lingering death. 

Mr. Taverner found two nesting colonies of this 
species in Gaspé Bay, one on Gull cliffs on the 
south side, the other on the north side at Three 
Runs. Here the nests, about thirty in number, 
were built in birch trees growing in crevices in the 


cliffs. 


15. Mergus serrator. Red-breasted Merganser. 
A flock of 20, seen at the mouth of the York 
River on August 27th. 


16. Anas rubripes tristis. Black Duck. 
A number seen in the Gaspé Basin and the 
mouth of the York River the latter part of 
August. Mr. Taverner found them there with 
young. 

17. Spatula clypeata. Shoveller. 
A bird prebably of this species from the des- 
cription given to Mr. Taverner, was shot at 


Cape Cove in June, 1915. 
18. Aix sponsa. Wood Duck. 


Mr. Taverner found a mounted specimen at 
Gaspé taken in the vicinity. 

19. Clangula clangula americana. Golden-eye 
Duck. 
Thirteen young with their mother were found 


on the upper Gaspé Basin by Mr. Taverner 
on July 29, 1914. 


20. Harelda hyemalis. Old Squaw. 
Small flocks were seen near Bonaventure Island 
in 1915 by Mr. Taverner. One was taken 
July 22nd. 


21. Histrionicus histrionicus. Harlequin Duck. 
In June and July, 1915, on three occasions 
bunches of three to seven were seen near Bona- 
venture Island by Mr. Taverner. “(hree were 
taken, all with undeveloped genitalia. 


22. Oidemia americana. Scoter. 
23. Oidemia deglandi. White-winged Scoter. 


24. Oidemia perspicillata. Surf Scoter. 
A few of each of these species, evidently mi- 
grants, were seen during the latter part of 
August. 

25. Botarus lentiginosus. Bittern. 
I saw two on the York River on August 27th. 


26. Ardea herodias herodias. Great-blue Heron. 
From the train on July 7th I saw numerous 
birds of this species in the tidal flats near Point 
au Garde. At Douglastown on August 21st 
I counted twenty-four behind the barachois. 
On the York River on August 27th there were 
eight. 


Zp 


28. 


Ps 


30. 


|p 


32. 


33. 


34. 


SBD 


36. 


37. 


38. 


35. 


40. 


41. 


42. 


43. 


Nycticorax nycticorax naevius. Black-crowned 
Night Heron. 

Mr. Taverner and I each saw a single bird at 
Percé. He found it common at Gaspé. 


Gallinula galeata. Florida Gallinule. 
Mr. Taverner saw a mounted bird at Gaspé 
taken in the vicinity. 


Lobipes lobatus. Northern Phalarope. 


Mr. Brewster saw this species near Percé in 


July, 1881. 


Philohela minor. Woodcock. 

Mr. Brewster reported one near Gaspé in 1881, 
and Mr. Taverner heard of another shot there. 
Pisobia minutilla. Least Sandpiper. 

Common migrant. 

Ereunetes pusillus. Semipalmated Sandpiper. 
Only a very few seen. 

Calidris leucophaca. 

One was seen on August 21st at Douglastown. 
There are very few suitable grounds for shore 
birds on the Gaspé Coast. 

Totanus melanoleucus. Greater-yellow legs. 
A number seen back of the barachois at 
Douglastown and on the flats about the York 
River. 

Actitis macularius . Spotted Sandpiper. 
Common all along the shore. At Bonaventure 
Island a pair, evidently having eggs or young 
near our camp, flew about nervously and 
alighted from time to time in the tops of low 
spruce trees. 

Numenius hudsonicus. Hudsonian Curlew. 

A few migrants seen. 

Squatarola squatarola. Black-bellied Plover. 
On August 21st I saw two flocks of a dozen 
each feeding back of the barachois at Douglas- 
town in the brackish marshes. 

Aegialitis semipalmata. Semipalmated Plover. 
A few migrants seen. 

Arenaria interpres morinella. Ruddy Turn- 
stone. 

A few migrants recorded by Mr. Taverner. 
Bonasa umbellus togata. Canada Ruffed 
Grouse. 

A few with young seen near Percé. 

Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk. 

One seen at Bonaventure Island and several 
on the Forillon. 

Accipter velox. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 

A few seen near Grande Greve. 

Buteo borealis borealis. Red-tailed Hawk. 
During the latter part of August there was a 
small southward migration of these hawks. 


92 


44. 


46. 


48. 


49. 


50. 


= I 


D3: 


54. 


55. 


56. 


57. 


9. 


. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis. 


. Falco peregrinus anatum. 


Falco columbarius columbarius. 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


Buteo platypterus. Broad-winged Hawk. 

I clearly identified one of these at Grande 
Gréve on August 24th, and saw the same one 
or another there the following day. 

Rough- 
legged Hawk. 

One seen at Grande Gréve on August 19. 


Northern 


Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus. 
Bald Eagle. 

Four of these birds in immature plumage were 
flying about a rocky crag in the woods of 


Cross Point on July 7th. 
Duck Hawk. 


A pair of these birds evidently nested near the 
Pic d’Aurore at Percé. 


Pigeon Hawk. 


One seen at Cannes des Roches,—one near 
Percé and two or three near Grande Greve. 
Falco sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. 

One seen from the train near Nouvelle on 
August 28. 

Pandion haliaetus carolinensis. Osprey. 

A few all along the coast. Between Grande 
Gréve and Gaspé I counted six, and six in a 
day’s trip on the York River. 

Ceryle alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. 


A few seen along the coast. 


. Dryobates pubescens sub. sp. Downy Wood- 


pecker. 


A few seen. Mr. Taverner secured a single 


specimen at Gaspé. Its measurements are,— 
wing 96; tail 62; culmen 16; tarsus 15. 
Sphyrapicus varius varius. Yellow-bellied Sap- 
sucker. 


One seen at Cross Point and their markings on 
trees seen elsewhere. 


Colaptes auratus luteus. Northern Flicker. 
Not uncommon at all stations. 

Chordeiles virginianus virginianus. Nighthawk. 
One seen at Cross Point by me and a few at 
Gaspé by Mr. Taverner. 

Chaetura pelagica. Chimney Swift. 

One seen at Cascapedia and Mr. Taverner re- 
ported a pair at Percé in 1915. 

Archilochus colubris. Ruby-throated Hum- 
mingbird. 

Mr. Taverner saw one at Percé in 1915. I 
saw one at Corner of the Beach and another 
at Grande Greve. 

Tyrannus tyrannus. Kingbird. 

One was noted by Mr. Taverner at Percé on 


June 10, 1915. 
Empidonax flaviventris. Yellow-bellied Fly- 
catcher. 


Not uncommon. 


60. 


61. 


62. 


63. 


64. 


65. 


66. Sturnella magna magna. 


67. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Empidonax trailli alnorum. Alder Flycatcher. 
A few seen and heard in song at Percé. 
Cyanocitta cristata cristata. Blue Jay. 

One was noted at Percé by Mr. Taverner on 
July 4th, 1914 and July 28, 1915, and one 
was seen by Judge C. F. Jenny in 1911 at 
Percé. 


Persisoreus canadensis canadensis. Canada 
Jay. 

One seen at Bonaventure Island on’ July 9th, 
1914 by Mr. Taverner. 

Corvus corax principalis. Northern Raven. 


At least one pair at Percé and another at 
Grande Gréve. A family were always to be 
seen about the cliffs at the Grande Coupe at 
Percé and the birds flew back and forth to the 
cliffs of the Murailles and Pic d’Aurore. Here 
they were continually set upon by Herring 
Gulls. The cause of the animosity on the 
part of the latter bird was evident, for Mr. 
Taverner records that a Raven was seen on the 
cliffs of Grande Coupe in 1915 feeding its 
offspring with a young Herring Gull. 

The flight of the Ravens about Pic d’Aurore 
was extremely graceful. In the strong sea 
breeze they often rose from near the sea to 
the summit of the peak, 700 ft. without ap- 
parent movement of the wings. 


Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos. Crow. 
Common everywhere and as tame and easily 
approached as I have found them at Cape 
Breton. At Percé I saw two Crows feeding 
in a field of young barley within thirty yards of 
a realistic scare-crow. They were often seen on 
fence posts and out-buildings and they often 
fed on the fish heads, and entrails spread on 
the land as fertilizer. At Barachois on July 
26th I saw about a hundred crows on the 
beach near the fish-splitting tables and alight- 
ing on the fishing boats. Here they took the 
part of the Herring Gulls at Percé and else- 
where. 

Molothrus ater ater. Cowbird. 

One in immature plumage was seen at King 
George Cove near Grande Gréve on August 
25th. 

Meadowlark. 

One was reported by Mr. Taverner as seen at 
Percé about June 10, 1915. ; 
Quiscalus quiscula aeneus. Bronzed Grackle. 
I am inclined to think this is a recent arrival in 
the Gaspé Peninsula. I was told both at 
Percé and Grande Greve that these birds had 
been seen in the last few years only. In 1914, 
Mr. Taverner saw a few at Gaspé but none 
at Percé. In 1915 he saw a few evidently nest- 


ra Ee 


May, 1920] 


68. 


69. 


70. 


71. 


72. 


73. 


74. 


75. 


76. 


df; 


78. 


79. 


80. 


ing just to the south of Percé. In 1919 I 
found a dozen or more spending the summer 
in Percé also at Grande Greve, and I saw a 
flock of 50 or 60 near the marshes of the York 
River. I was told that they had become a 
great pest at Grande Greve as a flock would 
descend on a newly planted grain field and 
root up the grain. 


Pinicola enucleator leucura. Pine Grosbeak. 
On July 16, 1915, Mr. Taverner gives a doubt- 
ful record of this bird. I saw single birds sev- 
eral times at Percé and Grande Greve. 
Carpodacus purpureus purpureus. Purple Finch. 
Common, breeding. 

Loxia curvirostra minor. Crossbill. 

A flock of a dozen seen near Percé on July 
30. 

Loxia leucoptera. White-winged Crossbill. 
On June 26th, 1914, Mr. Taverner saw a large 
flock of these birds near Percé and secured 
one. Later a flock of 100 to 150 were con- 
tinually moving about. I saw only one, an 
adult, at Percé on July 9th. 

Astragalinus tristis tristis. Goldfinch. 

Abundant everywhere. If the species depends 
here on thistle-down for nest construction it must 
needs wait until the end of August. 

Spinus pinus. Pine Siskin. 

The most abundant passerine bird. Seen every- 
where in flocks during July and August. Mr. 
Taverner found a nest and eggs on July 2Ist, 
1915. 

Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. 
Sparrow. 

Very common breeder in open fields every- 
where. 


Savannah 


Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys. White- 
crowned Sparrow. 

One was seen by Mr. Taverner at Percé on 
June 2Ist, 1914, evidently a late migrant to- 
wards the north. This is the only record. 
Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Sparrow. 
Abundant breeder everywhere. 

Spizella passerina passerina. Chipping Sparrow. 
Common at both Percé and Grande Greve. 
Feeding young at latter place on August 7th. 
Junco hyemalis hyemalis. Slate-coloured Junco. 
Very common breeder. 

Melospiza melodia melodia. Song Sparrow. 
Common breeder both at Percé and Grande 
Greve. 

Melospiza lincolni lincolni. Lincoln’s Sparrow. 
Mr. Taverner shot a bird of this species at 
Gaspé on July 28th, 1914, but has no other 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


81. 


82. 


83. 


84. 


85. 


86. 


87. 


88. 


89. 


90. 


93 


record of it. I had found the bird in crossing 
New Brunswick on my way to the Gaspé 
Peninsula but although I looked for it every- 
where there I did not find it. 


Passerella iliaca iliaca. Fox Sparrow. 

Mr. Taverner has only one doubtful record of 
this bird at Percé. Messrs. R. B. Mackintosh 
and A. A. Osborne saw one there on July 
14, 1915. I saw the bird not uncommonly at 
Percé and heard it singing through July and 
as late as August Ist. There were at least 
three pairs at Bonaventure Island. I did not 
find it at Grande Greve, but the song season 
was then over. 


Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons. Cliff Swal- 
low. 
This was the common Swallow, nesting every- 


where under the eaves of buildings. 


Hirundo erythrogastra. Barn Swallow. 

A few seen both by Mr. Taverner and me. 
I did not see any until August 3rd, evidently 
migrants. 


Tridoprocne bicolor. Tree Swallow. 
I saw two or three at Cross Point and at 
Gaspé. Mr. Taverner saw a few. 


Riparia riparia. Bank Swallow. 
A very few of this species were seen and those 
not till late in the season. 


Bombycilla cedrorum. Cedar Waxwing. 
A few were seen by Mr. Taverner in Percé in 


1914. 


Lanius borealis. Northern Shrike. 
On August 18 I saw one of this species at 
Grande Gréve. 


Vireosylva olivacea. Red-eyed Vireo. 

I found a few of these birds at Cross Point 
and at Percé. Mr. Taverner took a specimen 
at Percé. 


Vireosylva philadelphica. Philadelphia Vireo. 
At Percé on July 14th I had a momentary 
view of a bird that I believed to be of. this 
species and I determined to follow up any 
vireo I heard singing. On July 21st in the 
gorge of the Grande Chute near Percé I heard 
a song resembling that of the Red-eyed, but 
not so continuous, the phrases were more dis- 
tinct. I succeeded in seeing the bird within 
about fifteen yards and discovered that it was a 


Philadelphia Vireo. 


Lanivereo 
Vireo. 

One heard singing at Cross Point on July 5th, 
and one seen at Grande Gréve on August 20th. 


solitarius solitarius. Blue-headed 


94 THE Canapian Fietp-NaTurRALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


PERCE ROCK, QUE. 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 


Be ASH 


it 
yt 
ut te 


PERCE VILLAGE, QUE., WITH PERCE ROCK AND BONAVENTURE ISLAND 
IN THE DISTANCE. 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 


May, 1920] 


Al. 


2, 


93. 


94. 


9%. 


96. 


97. 


98. 


99. 


100. 
101. 


102. 


103. 


104. 


105. 


106. 
107. 


THE CANADIAN 


Mniotilta varia. Black and White Warbler. 
Two were seen at Cross Point. 

Vermivora peregrina. Tennessee Warbler. 

A very common bird at both Cross Point and 
Percé and in full song. Mr. Taverner took 
several nests. 


Compsothlypis americana usneae. Northern 
Parula Warbler. 

One observed at Cross Point. 

Dendroica tigrina. Cape May Warbler. 

A few were seen by Mr. Taverner in 1914 
and 1915. I saw one at Percé on August 
2nd. 

Dendroica aestiva aestiva. Yellow Warbler. 
One was seen at Percé on July 14, 1915 by 
Mr. Mackintosh. I saw several at Cross Point 
and two or three at Percé. Mr. Taverner ob- 
served two at Gaspé. 

Dendroica caerulescens caerulescens. Black- 
throated Blue Warbler. The only record is 
of one bird seen by me at Grande Greve on 
August 16th. 

Dendroica coronata. Myrtle Warbler. 

A rather common breeder. 

Dendroica magnolia. Magnolia Warbler. 

A very common bird everywhere. 


Bay-breasted Warbler. 


Dendroica castanea. 
Not uncommon. 
Dendroica striata. Black-poll Warbler. 
Abundant. Mr. Taverner found nests. 
Dendroica fusca. Blackburnian Warbler. 
A few were seen.. 
Dendroica  virens. 
Warbler. 

Common. 
Dendroica palmarum hypochrysea. 
Palm Warbler. 

One was seen at Percé on June 10, 1915 by 
Mr. Taverner. 

Seiurus aurocapillus. Oven-bird. 

I found this bird not uncommon at Cross Point 
but did not see it elsewhere. Mr. Taverner 
did not observe it. 

Seiurus noveboracensis noveoboracensis. Water 
Thrush. 

I found one of these in full song at Cross 
Point on July 5th and on August 17th and 
19th saw one at Grande Gréve. 

Oporornis philadelphia. Mourning Warbler. 
I saw one at Cross Point on July 5th. 
Geothlypis trichas trichas. Maryland Yellow- 
throat. 

I found a few of this species at Cross Point, 
but none elsewhere. Mr. Taverner does not 
record it. 


Black-throated Green 


Yellow 


FiELD-NATURALIST 


108. 


109. 


110. 


111. 


EA. 


113. 


114. 


LES: 


116. 


117. 


118. 


119. 


120. 


121. 


95 


Wilsonia pusilla pusilla. Wilson's Warbler. 
Mr. Taverner does not record it in 1914 but in 
1915 says “Not uncommon and seen in occa- 


sional individuals throughout our stay. Un- 
doubtedly breeds.” I saw none. 

Setophaga ruticilla. Redstart. 

Not uncommon. 

Nannas hiemalis hiemalis. Winter Wren. 


Not uncommon. 


Certhia familiarus americana. 
er. 
One seen at Grande Gréve on August 8th. 


Sitta canadensis. Red-breasted Nuthatch. 
Not uncommon after August 6th at Grande 


Gréve. The earliest seen by Mr. Taverner 
was July 29th. 


Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus. Chicadee. 
I saw two or three at Cross Point and also at 


Grande Greve. 


Penthesies 
Chicadee. 
Not uncommon at Percé and at Grande Greve. 
Mr. Taverner secured four specimens. They 
belong to this subspecies. He also saw nest- 
lings fed by parents. 


Brown Creep- 


hudsonicus littoralis. | Acadian 


Regulus Golden-crowned 
Kinglet. 
A. few seen at Gaspé during August. 


Taverner found nestlings fed by parents. 


salrapa  satrapa. 


Mr. 


Regulus calendula calendula. Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet. 

One was seen at Grande Gréve on August 
16th. Mr. Taverner reports a flock of about 


ten of this species on July 24th, 1914, a: 
Gaspé. 


Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens. Veery. 


I heard three singing at Cross Point on July 
5th. 


Hylocichla 
Thrush. 
Mr. Taverner took one of this species on July 
16th, 1914, at-Percé. I saw one at Percé on 
July 13th, and heard its calls answered by 


another. 


aliciae_aliciae. Gray-cheeked 


Aylocichla ustulata swainsoni. 
Thrush. 

Common everywhere and singing until the 
middle of July. 

Aylocichla guttata pallasi. Hermit Thrush. 
A few at Cross Point and Percé. 


Planesticus migratorius migratorius. Robin. 
Common everywhere. 


Olive-backed 


96 THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


THE DIVING HABIT AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT OF THE 
SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 


By H. Mousey, HatT.ey, Que. 


In the “Ottawa Naturalist,” for September, 1918, 
page 56, Mr. John D. Tothill gives an instance 
whilst out canoeing on the Restigouche River, of 
the diving of this small Sandpiper to avoid pursuit 
by a hungry Pigeon Hawk (Falco columbarius) 
and speaks of the behaviour as being unusual. I 
remember being equally surprised on first witnessing 
this habit some few years ago at Hatley. On that 
occasion I| had shot an immature bird which fell at 
the edge of the water, but on proceeding to the spot 
to pick it up as I thought, was surprised to see it 
wade out into the water, where after getting out of 
its depth it sank to the bottom, and by means of its 
wings and feet proceeded to travel at a great rate 
under the water to a small mud bank, where it came 
to the surface and hid in the surrounding rushes. 
(See “The Auk,” Vol. xxxii, 1916, p. 66.) 

That this wading, swimming and diving habit is 
by no means so unusual as most people imagine, 
seems to be borne out by the experience of others, 
for Dr. Warren notes that a young bird when 
wounded took to the water in a shallow stream, 
went to the bottom like a stone, ran across on the 
botton, and coming up on the other side endeavoured 
to conceal itself by submerging its body and pushing 
its head among long grass growing at the water’s 
edge. In September, 1876, Mr. E. H. Forbush 
saw a wounded bird of this species when pursued, 
dive into deep water from the shore of the Charles 
River and fly off under water, using its wings 
somewhat as a bird would use them in the air. All 
its plumage was covered with bubbles of air, which 
caught the light until the bird appeared as if studded 
with sparkling gems as it sped away into the depths 
of the dark river. (See “Game Birds, Wild Fowl 
and Shore Birds,’ Forbush, 1912, p. 323, where 
Dr. Warren’s experience is also recorded). Dr. 
Charles W. Townsend remarks in his “Birds of 
Essex County,” 1905, p. 188, that the young birds, 
while still covered with natal down, run very fast 
and when hard pressed, take to the water and swim 
rapidly and easily. 

Regarding the community spirit of this restless 
little Sandpiper, the same author speaks of its being 
particularly fond of nesting on islands, and that in 
the late seventies he used to find the eggs at Kettle 
Island off Magnolia, whilst Mr. W. A. Jeffries 
found eleven nests with eggs, and one with young at 
Tinker’s Island, off Marblehead, on June 8, 1878. 
Four nests were in the short grass on high land, 
while the others were all found more or less far un- 
der the rocks scattered over the grass or along the 
shore. 


Nuttall in his “Manual of the Ornithology of the 
United States and Canada,” 1834, Vol. 2, p. 164, 
speaks of their nesting at Egg Rock off Nahant, in 
the immediate vicinity of the noisy nurseries of the 
quailing Terns. Mr. Julian K. Potter, writing in 
“Bird Lore,” Vol. xx, 1918, No. 4, pp. 282-284, 
says, ‘“That the Spotted Sandpiper sometimes as- 
sociates with others of its kind, and may be found 
breeding in a restricted area, is an established fact, 
but I believe, however, that this habit is the excep- 
tion rather than the rule with these birds.’’ He then 
goes on to relate how at the end of May, 1913, he 
found Spotted Sandpipers nesting in colonies within 
the city limits of Camden, N.J., as well as in the 
wilds of Pike County, Pa. In the former place six 
nests were found within an area of one forth acre, 
whilst in the latter about twelve pairs (three nests 
were actually found) were thought to be breeding 
in quite a limited area. 

As regards my own experience at Hatley, I have 
already recorded in “The Auk,” that usually not 
less than six pairs used to nest on the margins of 
‘the marsh’ some fifteen acres in extent, but of late 
years the numbers seem to have decreased. The 
most extraordinary case, however, of this commun- 
ity spirit and partiality for nesting on small islands 
is related by Mr. L. M. Termill in his paper on 
“The changes in the status of certain birds in the 
vicinity of Montreal,” ‘‘Ottawa Naturalist,” Vol. 
xxx, 1911, p. 57, wherein he says, “Having seen no 
mention of gregarious habits attributed to this Sand- 
piper, it might be of interest to note that a few years 
ago a large colony were nesting on Isle Ronde (a 
small island of a few acres, opposite the city). 
Visiting this island on May 26, 1896, I located 
without difficulty thirteen occupied nests. Again on 
May 31, 1898, I examined upwards of twenty-five. 
On each occasion only a small portion of the island 
was examined and I estimated that there were well 
over one hundred pairs breeding.” 

In striking contrast to this might be mentioned 
my experience with the Common Sandpiper of 
Europe (Tringa hypolenca) first cousin to our 
Spotted species, and a bird very like it not only in 
appearance but in general habits also. In the British 
Isles on the rivers Wharfe in Yorkshire, the Wye, 
Hamps, Manifold and Dove (the latter immortal- 
ized by Isaac Walton and Charles Cotton, the lat- 
ter of whom calls her the “Princess of Rivers”) all 
in Derbyshire, I have had ample opportunities of ob- 
serving that instead of a community spirit existing 
the opposite seems to be the case, for there each 
pair of birds selects and monopolizes a certain 


May, 1920] 


stretch of river, upon which no other pair appears 
to intrude. In conclusion it can truly be said that 
of the very intimate home life and traits of even our 
must common birds we know very little, and I have 
yet to see the text book that gives any definite in- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 97 


formation on the exact incubation period of the 
Spotted Sandpiper, which in the case of its cousin 
(Tringa hypolenca) has only lately been ascertained 
to be twenty one days. See “British Birds,” 1913, 
Vol. vii, p. 146. 


WINTER BIRD LIST FROM LONDON, ONTARIO. 


(SUBMITTED BY THE McILwraiTH OrNITHOLoGICAL CLUB, THROUGH Mk. E. M. S. Date.) 


Have other localities been as favored with birds 
as was London last winter? From January | to 
February 8, forty-one species were reported which 
is about twice the normal number. 


As is the usual practice of our club members we 
took the 7.40 train to Hyde Park on New Year’s 
morning and walked back to the city, a distance of 
probably six or seven miles, following roughly the 
course of the River Thames. We made a list of 
twenty-two species, and on the following Saturday, 
January 3, visiting practically the same district, 
made another list of eighteen, which included six 
not seen on New Year’s Day. Since then “one at 
a time” has been the usual rule until we now have 
a total of forty-one as above mentioned. December 
was quite cold and snowy, and January decidedly 
so, the thermometer registering zero and below on 
many occasions, and a snowfall of upwards of two 
and one-half feet being registered for the month. 
The list in order of date is as follows:— 


January 1. Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nu- 
thatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bluejay, American 
Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill, Black-capped 
Chicadee, American Goldeneye, American Mer- 
ganser, Snowbird, Rusty Blackbird, Red-winged 
Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, 
Pine Siskin, Junco, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Car- 
dinal, Crow, Purple Finch, Tree Sparrow, White- 
throated Sparrow. 


January 3. Hairy Woodpecker, Black Duck, 
Redpoll, Goldfinch, Northern Shrike, Kingfisher. 


January 4. Hudsonian Chicadee. 


January 5. Robin, Evening Grosbeak, Long- 
eared Owl. 


January 11. Bronzed Grackle. 
January 12. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 
January 16. Coopers Hawk. 

January 21. Screech Owl. 

January 22. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 
February |. Ruffed Grouse. 

February 6. Pine Grosbeak. 

February 7. Herring Gull. 

February 8. Red-shouldered Hawk. 


The following notes on some of the species may 
be of interest. 


American Crossbill—Two rosy ones feeding quite 
low in a hemlock tree. Others have been seen 
seen since in Norway spruces. 


White-winged Crossbill—The flock of twelve or 
fifteen seen on New Year’s Day were in a hemlock 
which seems to be the favorite food of these birds 
here. There were several rosy ones in the lot. 
White wings have not been reported since that date. 

Cardinal.—P revious to 1910, Cardinals were of 
accidental or very casual occurrence here. Since 
that date they have been gradually increasing in 
numbers and are now fairly common. One winter 
one of our members had six or seven feeding at his 
place. They are a very welcome addition to our 
bird population. 

Siskin.—Pine Siskins were unusually abundant 
this fall, and since winter set in an occasional flock 
of two have been seen. 

Rusty Blackbird—This and the Redwing have 
been keeping each other company at a point where 
a little stream (which looks and smells like sewage) 
enters the river. It is our first winter Rusty although 
Redwings have been recorded twice before. 

White-throated Sparrow.—White-throats have 
stayed with us occasionally in winter, but this bird is 
living right in the heart of the city, being fed by 
friends and using a Norway spruce hedge for shel- 
ter. During December and early January it sang 
with spring time vigor, and would answer readily 
to a whistled imitation of its song. 

Redpoll.—Redpolls are quite common this win- 
ter, hardly a trip being taken to the country when 
they were not recorded. They have been feeding al- 
most exclusively on birch trees. 

Hudsonian Chicadee.—Two specimens were tak- 
en by a collector near London, and at least two 
more have visited the food shelves of members of 
our Bird Club in different parts of the city. 

Evening Grosbeak.—First reported by Mr. A. 
Wood near Coldstream, on January 5th. Since then 
a flock of some twenty-five have been seen by dif- 
ferent parties in and near the city, as well as smaller 
flocks which may be part of the twenty-five. 

Black Duck.—An unusual winter duck for us. 
Has been seen several times in the same locality. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.—First winter recorded. 


98 THE CanapiAN- Fietp-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


A 1919 CHRISTMAS CENSUS FOR TORONTO AND 
oTrawaA.— The Bird-Lore Christmas Census is well 
known. With a view to adding two more Canadian 
localities to the 1919 census, an excursion was made 
at Toronto on December 24th, and one at Ottawa, 
on December 26th. 

Unfortunately the lists were submitted too late 
to be included in Bird-Lore, but as they give an 
idea of the bird population of the two places at al- 
most the same time, they may be of interest. 

Toronto, Ontario, route from High Park to 
Grenadier Pond, along shore of Lake Ontario to 
Humber Valley, up river and return by Bloor 
Street; December 24th; 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.; 5 
inches snow; snowfall 1.5 inches; wind north-west 
25 to 21 miles per hour; temperature 18.5 to 14.7 
degrees F.; about 8 miles on foot; observers to- 
gether. 

Herring Gull 7, Loon 2, Chicadee 11, Hairy 
Woodpecker 1, (perhaps 2) Horned Grebe (?) 1, 
American Meganser |, Black-backed Gull 1, Duck 
(>) 1, Scaup Duck 1, Song Sparrow 2, Tree Spar- 
row I, Crossbill (>) 1, Redpoll 1. Total species 
about 13; individuals about 31. 

Observers: Stuart L. Thompson and Hoyes 
Lloyd. 

Ottawa, Ontario, to Hull, Quebec, Fairy Lake 
and return; December 26th; 12.45 p.m. to 4.45 
p.m.; wind south-east; average velocity 10 miles 
per hour; temperature 15 degrees F.; about 5 miles 
on foot; observers together. 

Chicadees 3, Pine Siskin 58, Ruffed Grouse 2, 
Redpoll 7, Pine Grosbeak 15; Total species 5, in- 
dividuals 85. 

Observers: H. I. Smith, L. D. Burling, and 
Hoyes Lloyd. 

Such lists become of value in proportion to the 
number of them from all parts of the country and 
conclusions upon isolated lists must of course be 
made with caution. 

The greatest number of species recorded from 
Toronto is due to the presence of various water- 
fowl, some of which may almost always be found 
on Lake Ontario. The Grebe and the Merganser 
were seen close under the shore ice, where they 
seemed to be endeavouring to escape the strong off 
shore wind and driving snow. The Loons were 
found just outside the mouth of the Humber River, 
which was frozen over. 

Perhaps the Black-backed Gull should be ques- 
tioned. However, it appeared large in comparison 
with the Herring Gulls and the mantle was very 


dark. 
There is no doubt about the Song Sparrow. 


They were in their favorite winter haunt, a Cat- 
tail marsh. On the two other occasions when I 
have noted these birds at Toronto in winter they 
were found in the shelter of marsh vegetation. 

The Ottawa list has fewer species; consisting 
strictly of winter birds; although weather condi- 
tions made the day much more favourable for ob- 
servation. The routes traversed at Toronto and 
Ottawa are comparable; but there was no body of 
open water at Ottawa. 

The flocks of Siskins were the most striking fea- 
ture. They were feeding upon the abundant crop 


of cedar seeds. The Pine Grosbeaks and Redpolls 


were the first noted by me at Ottawa last winter. 
Hoyes L ioyp. 


‘TEACHING BIRD PROTECTION BY MOTION PIC- 
TURES.—The Dominion Parks Branch of the De- 
partment of the Interior in co-operation with the 
Exhibits and Publicity Bureau of the Department 
of Trade and Commerce and the Biological Di- 
vision of the Geological Survey, is endeavouring to 
promote the interests of bird protection in Canada 
through the medium of the motion pictures. 

In films depicting bird life, as in other films, the 
Canadian element has not been duly represented. 
Of course films showing Canadian birds on their 
wintering grounds are of great value, but it is also 
desirable to balance these, by showing on the screen, 
pictures which tell Canadians of the wealth and 
value of the bird life existing to-day in Canada. 

To tell a person, not particularly interested, that 
so many million dollars worth of crops are des- 
troyed by insects, and that birds serve to protect 
these crops from damage does not impress him as 
much as to actually show the birds devouring the 
insects. Similarly, a dry dissertation on the need 
for distant bird sanctuaries, does not create the in- 
terest that a motion picture makes, which clearly 
shows the wealth of game and other birds protected 
by that sanctuary. . 

A beginning was made by showing the Geological 
Survey film of the “Birds of Bonaventure Island” 
and “Jack Miner’s Geese,” at two of the important 
fall exhibitions. These films are not suitable for 
general distribution because they lack sufficient ex- 
planatory titles, and in consequence, can only be used 
with lectures. 

“A Bird City” which shows the birds on the 
Dominion sanctuary at Johnson Lake, Saskatchewan, 
was taken by the Trade and Commerce Department 
in co-operation with the Dominion Parks Branch 
and has already been given wide publicity in 


Canada. 


4 
SL 


x 


May, 1920] 


Another film which shows the wonderful results 
obtained by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Middleton in the 
winter feeding of birds at London, Ontario, is com- 
pleted and others are in contemplation. 


There are a multitude of subjects to choose from 
in planning such pictures, but it is quite possible that 
the reader of this article knows of good material 
for Canadian bird pictures which has not been 
called to the attention of the Branch. If this 
should be the case valuable bird protection work 
can be done by acquainting the Dominion Parks 
Branch of any discoveries made of nesting grounds, 
feeding stations and the like, so that motion pictures 
may be taken where possible. Hoyes Luioyp. 


HupDSONIAN CHICADEE.—Several Hudsonian 
Chickadees spent last winter with us here in Red 
Deer, feeding with the common Black-capped cones 
and making themselves very much at home. I have 
fed the birds every winter for many years and while 
numbers of our common Chicadees, Hairy and 
Downy Woodpeckers and latterly Blue-jays, fed 
daily on the food provided for them. This is 
the first time the little Brownies have put in an ap- 
pearance at our feeding place. A friend reported 
having seen one near here several years ago. Wain- 
ter caught us early in Octeber, and my attention 
was drawn to a new bird note, which on investiga- 
tion, proved to be the Hudsonian Chicadee, and in 
a very short time they were feeding with the other 
birds within a few feet of a window where I| ob- 
served them at close range. All the birds were 
tame, the Chicadees absurdly so—and would settle 
on my hands when putting out food for them. It 
was rather amusing to watch the Hudsonians 
“bossing” the Black-caps, the latter having to give 
way to the strangers at all times. During the very 
cold weather their only nete was a drawling plain- 
tive de-de-de, very unlike our common Black-cap’s 
clear notes; but with warmer weather and bright sun- 
shine they sing two different songs—one a lovely 
bubbling note with a canary-like quality to it and 
the other beyond my powers to describe. Several 
people came to see these birds, and Mr. F. C. White- 
heuse, Dr. Henry George and Mr. C. H. Snell 
have identified them. We hope they will stay and 
nest with us. We have a lot of spruce trees here 
where they could spend most of their time. 


Description: Head dark brown, darker on fore- 
head and over eyes; small white spot on cheek; 
back grey, washed with brown; wings dark grey; 
tail very dark grey; throat black; breast greyish 
white; sides cinnamon. One bird, which I pre- 
sume was an adult male, had the breast pure white 
and the other colours correspondingly richer. 

(Mrs.) Exsie Cassecs, Rep Deer, ALTA. 


THE © CanapiaN FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 99 


THE STARLING IN CaNaDA—We all realize 


what a mistake it was to introduce the English or 


House Sparrow into America. However, even the 


lamentable results of naturalizing this alien was not 


a sufficiently awful example and the experiment had 
to be tried with other species. Most such introduc- 
tions have been failures. The European Gold 
Finch survived in limited numbers for a while, but 
quickly died out. The success with other species, 
such as the Skylark was equally futile, except in 
the case of the Starling. It has suceeded and mul- 
tiplied near New York and adjoining coastal lo- 
calities and like most of such successful intreduc- 
tions we wish it had been otherwise. Whilst not 
promising to be such an arrant pest as the English 
Sparrow, its effect has not been good and, flocking 
to city parks, orchards and such semi-wild places, 
has still further displaced native species with whom 
we are in closer sympathy. It has shown all its 
bad habits and few redeeming good ones. 


So far, in Canada, we have congratulated our- 
selves that our climate would prevent the intrusion of 
the Starling into our country and while we felt com- 
miseration for our neighbors across the border we 
took little more than an academic interest in the 
matter. But it now looks as if our complacency 
was to be rudely shattered. The Starling has been 
reported from Canada. 


Mrs. R. W. Leonard, of St. Catherines, Ont., 
writes that she saw a small flock about her place 
last winter. Further inquiries bring forth the 
following information from her in substantia- 
tion. The birds were observed at a distance of 
about twenty-five feet through field glasses and were 
identified by means of comparison with descriptions 
and plates in Chapman’s Birds of Eastern North 
America, Reed’s Bird Guide and the National 
Geographic Magazine. They are described as fol- 
lows: “Their heads were dark and something like 
a blackbird’s, the wings were a very dark shade 
of brown, speckled all over with light spots.” This 
last detail seems to be conclusive and to quiet any 
doubts that might otherwise arise as to the identi- 
fication. 


There have not been any published reports of 
the birds occurrence anything like so far from the 
place of original introduction and it is surprising that 
they should have made this great jump in distri- 
bution without being reported from intermediate lo- 
calities. Any other appearance of this species 
should be immediately reported that we may keep 
track of its spread and perhaps initiate methods of 
prevention. 


P. A. TAVERNER. 


100 THE CANADIAN FlreELD-NATURALIST 


How a Younc Puppy AvolpED STARVATION.— 
The Clearwater river, which enters the Athabasca 
at Fort McMurray, Alta., is from its mouth as far 
as Portage la Loche, a comparatively well-travelled 
canoe route. Several canoes at least will pass up 
and down its waters each month of navigation. This 
portion of the river was formerly an important link 
in the line of travel between the Churchill and 
Mackenzie river districts and is still largely travelled. 
Above Portage la Loche, however, the river - is 
rarely used, the Swan lake Indians being practically 
the only travellers. These people inhabit the region 
about Swan lake at the headwaters of the river up 
in the granite area, and come down once a year 
to trade at Methye lake. 


While on this upper portion of the Clearwater 
last summer, the writer came across an interesting 
example of how necessity can change the food 
habits of the domestic dog. On one of the port- 
ages at some little distance from the trail, a whining 
sound was heard, and on closer investigation a 
young puppy was discovered apparently not over 
three months old. In all probability he could not 
be found when the Indians moved their camp, as 
dogs in that country are too valuable to be volun- 
tarily abandoned. Pathos was lent to the scene 
when he was discovered lying on a new Indiar 
grave, which had been excavated laboricusly by a 
wooden pick and shovel. These, as well as a 
motley array of ancient pails and cans, had been 
left on the grave, while nearby was a small bottle 
filled with water hung from a branch to ward off evil 
spirits, We afterwards learned that the Indians 
had left for their homes at Swan lake nearly two 
months before, and in all probability had been absent 
from the portage at least six weeks. The degree of 
slumping of the earth on the grave lent corrobora- 
tion to this estimate. Apparently the puppy had 
lived on his ewn resources for that time. Con- 
siderable coaxing was required to gain his confidence 
so that he could be approached, but having done 
so, we were surprised to find that he was in much 
better condition than might have been expected. 


To one accustomed to seeing the gaunt, starving 
spectres of that country, which hang about the 
camps, stealing every possible scrap of food, the ap- 
pearance of this little fellow, in an unhabited coun- 
try, only a few weeks old, and whom one would 
not expect to know how to forage for himself, was 
quite remarkable. Upon closer investigation, it was 
found that he had changed his normal diet en- 
tirely, and, copying his cousin bruin, had become a 
berry eater. The country over which the portage 
passes is a burnt jackpine plain where blueberries 
and low bush cranberries grow in great profusion. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


These fruits the young dog was eating constantly, 
and he continued to do so, even after we had given 
him, as we thought ,a square meal of rice and meat 
scraps. Apparently he had become much addicted 
to his new diet. As he had made such a game 
struggle for existence, and as the autumn frosts would 
soon render his food supply precarious, we took him 
along until we reached the first Indian encampment 
on our return journey. Although well fed, when- 
ever we landed, he would jump ashore and com- 
mence hunting for berries. One wonders why more 
dogs in that country do not take advantage of this 
kind of food, but such occurrences seem uncommon. 
It may be added that kindness is as effective with 
the Indian’s dog as with the most pampered poodle. 
The average dog of the north country, kicked, 
clubbed, and whipped from puppyhood, can scarcely 
be blamed for occasionally biting even the hand 
that attempts to pat or feed it. Although with us 
a very short time, this little dog was very affection- 
ate and, as we paddled away, eluded the hands of 
the Indians to whom he had been given, jumped 
into the river and swam after us, and had to be re- 

turned forcibly to their keeping. 
E. J. WHITTAKER. 


Since mentioning the admirable work of Hamil- 
ton Laing in the Nature column of the Toronto 
Globe, (Can. Field Nat., xxxiii., p. 99). I have 
had my attention called to another similar writer in 
the Daily Province, Vancouver, B.C., J. W. Win- 
son who under the nom-de-plume of ‘“‘Wild-wood” 
contributes a series of articles entitled Open-air 
Jottings. These are a little more purely literary 
than those mentioned before but breath a wholesome 
out-of-doors spirit that is refreshing. They may 
not contain much information that is new to science 
but they present commonplace every day activities 
of wild and semi-wild things in an interesting light 
and must have a decided influence in educating the 
eyes of the indifferent to the wonders about them. 
It is to be regretted that the author does not boldly 
sign his own name. There is so much nature fakery 
that it is only due the public to let them know 
who they are listening to so they may judge author- 
itatively. 

P. A. TAVERNER. 


A Spiver New to Canapa.—At Lake Missa- 
nog, Frontenac Co., Ontario, on September 13th, 
1919, I collected specimens of Drapetisca socialis, 
a little spider which runs about on the trunks of 
trees. Mr. J. H. Emerton, who kindly determined 
the specimens of this species, informs me that these 
are the first Canadian specimens he has seen. 

A. Brooker KLuGH. 


THE CANADIAN  FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., SEPTEMBER, 1920. No. 6. 


AMONG THE COFFIN-CARRIERS. 


By Harrison F. Lewis, BERGERVILLE, P.Q. 


Near at hand lay the nest-dotted green slopes 
of the island, stretches of rank grass alternating 
with thickets of raspberry and waving alder; 
farther back were the sparkling blue lake waters, 
with here and there flocks of great Gulls bedded 
upon them; and in the distance rose other islands, 
dark-green lumps, marked with numerous white 
spots proclaiming their winged inhabitants at home. 
The picture was most charming, but upon it the 
eye did not linger, for the centre of attraction was 
directly overhead, imperiously demanding atten- 
tion. There, in the bright rays of the June sun, 
with the soft blue sky as a background, wheeled 
and circled, a hundred feet above me, a black and 
white cloud of six hundred Great Black-backed 
Gulls, the largest, the most magnificent, the most 
inspiring of our Sea-gulls. There was a scene 
which could not be duplicated! 

Not in Labrador, not in Greenland were these 
Gulls gathered thus. The lake in which they make 
their home is bordered in part by farm lands, is 
within a mile or two of a railway, and within 
twelve miles of a town of seven thousand people. 
Although considered one of the wildest of Gulls, 
the Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) or 
“Coffin-carrier” has established this colony, de- 
clared by Dr. C. W. Townsend to be “the largest 
breeding colony of this bird known, and the most 
southern one,” in the midst of an accessible, agri- 
cultural country at Lake George, Yarmouth Coun- 
ty, Nova Scotia. 

Lake George is situated in the northwestern 
part of Yarmouth Country, in latitude 44° N., long- 
itude 66° 2’ W., four miles from the Atlantic 
shore. It is four miles long and two miles wide, 
has a very irregular shore-line, and contains about 
a dozen islands, on seven of which, in the northern 
part of the lake, the Gulls nest. The greater part 
of its shore is wooded, but at no place are farm 
lands far distant, while for two or three miles they 
border directly upon the beach. The water-supply 
for the town of Yarmouth, twelve miles distant, is 
obtained from this lake. 


I know of no generally recognized names for 
the islands occupied by the Gulls, but in order to 
make my records intelligible I have adopted for 
my own use names which are here given, together 
with sufficient information to render the islands 
identifiable. Big Gull Island is the largest island 
in the northern part of the lake, and has a larger 
number of nesting Gulls than has any other island. 
It is about a quarter of a mile long and half as 
wide, and rises some forty or fifty feet above the 
surrounding waters. The greater part of it is 
covered with alders and wild raspberry bushes, 
but there are some areas of open grassland, and a 
few spruce trees. Northern Gull Island lies north 
of Big Gull Island, to which it is similar, although 
smaller and with a larger wooded area. Bar Island 
is a low bar of rocks and gravel, of small extent, 
without trees or bushes. It lies south of Big Gull 
Island, and is elevated but one or two feet above 
the surface of the lake. Garnet Island lies south- 
east of Big Gull Island, near the eastern shore of 
the lake. It is small and narrow, and supports two 
or three living spruces and about a dozen dead 
ones. On its western side is a rather large area of 
coarse red sand, made up of small garnets. Cat- 
brier Island, lying south of Garnet Island, is thick- 
ly wooded. A small thicket of Catbrier (Smilax 
rotundifolia), which is uncommon in Nova Scotia, 
grows among its trees. Southern Gull Island is 
another small wooded island, lying south of Cat- 
brier Island. Round Island is fairly well wooded, 
and is more nearly circular than are the other 
islands named. It is near the western side of the 
lake, at some distance from the remainder of the 
Gull colony. 

My latest visit to this thriving colony was made 
on June 16, 1920, when I spent about six hours 
there and landed on each of the islands on which 
the Gulls nest, and made in each case a short, 
rough survey, walking over as much of each island 
as was practicable and noting numbers of nests, 
eggs, and young birds. As the greater part of the 
nesting area is covered with a dense growth of 


102 THE CANADIAN 


trees, bushes, or ferns, no doubt many ness, prob- 
ably about one-third of the total number present, 
escaped my eye. A much larger proportion of the 
young birds, perhaps four-fifths, must have been 
passed unseen by me. Not long after hatching, 
these young Gulls are able to leave the nest, and at 
the approach of danger, to hide in the abundant 
cover. The skill with which they do this, and the 
very large proportion which in consequence are 
passed unnoticed are well shown by my experience 
in July, 1914, when banding young Gulls on Big 


FieLD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


of which was already banded. In other words, 
less than 7% of the first lot of young birds could 
be found in the second search, while more than 
95% of the second lot escaped observation at the 
time of the first search. 

In addition to counting exactly the young birds, 
nests, and eggs seen, I made careful estimates of 
the number of grown-up Gulls belonging to each 
island. This was very difficult because, when I 
visited an island, Gulls from other islands would 
fly over, in greater or less numbers, to join the 


er he 


A QUIET DOZE—TWO LAKE GEORGE 


COFFIN-CARRIERS 


RESTING ON THEIR 


NESTING-ISLAND. 


Howard H. Cleaves; 


Dominion 


Photo by 


Gull Island. A careful search of the island at 
that time revealed but 19 young Gulls, of which I 
banded 16, all that were large enough for the pur- 
pose. I then went to another island, and was there 
long enough to allow resumption of normal life and 
a general moving about on the part of the young 
Gulls on Big Gull Island. Then I returned to Big 
Gull Island and searched it a second time, finding 
21 young Gulls large enough for banding, but one 


reproduced by 
Parks 


permission courtesy of 


Branch. 


Cut by 


actual residents of the island in protest. Neverthe- 
less, I made repeated, careful estimates, with all 
the known conditions in view, and with the exer- 
cise of the strongest conservatism. A few Herring 
Gulls (Larus argentatus) are included in_ the 
colony, but they are almost lost in the clouds of 
Black-backs, in comparison with whose grandeur 
they, splendid birds though they are, seem small 
and very ordinary. 


September, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


The results of my survey are shown in the 
accompanying table. The figures in the three 
columns at the right are estimates; all the other 


FieLp- NATURALIST 103 


figures in the table are the results of actual counts. 
The term “adult” in this table refers to all birds 
hatched prior to 1920. 


z a Baie wins. aise = a > & & 45 <5 hes 
FROUNG = 5 1 — = 6 | 4 ae 15 — 15 
a = ae 5 3 Beira 10 7 48 95 Daas 
Catbrier ______ | — = es ] — yD, == — 10 es 10 
ae iI 8 3 | 23 rie ZI 50 50 
eee 4 | 2 2 9 riety 25 25 
Bie Cull. _____ he er tA 9 179 87 155 6 2 10 590 600 
Real... 80. 24 5 a ays 46 52 3 | 225 225 
ae Di 6 ie 4 S41 160.253. 8 ar. a5 5 950 


A conservative estimate would, I believe, place 
the total number of grown-up birds in the colony 
in 1920 at not less than 1,250, made up of about 
1,200 Great Black-backed Gulls and 50 Herring 
Gulls. These figures may be arrived at in either 
of two ways. 

The total number of nests seen is 341; if this 
was two-thirds of the total number present, the 
colony contained 511 nests, which would mean 
1,022 breeding birds. That there were enough 
non-breeding grown-up Gulls in the colony to bring 
the total up to 1,250 is not improbable. 

Again, the number of grown-up birds seen at the 
colony by me was most conservatively estimated, 
as shown by the tabulated figures, at 915 Great 
Black-backed Gulls and 35 Herring Gulls. To 
suppose that at least 285 of the former species and 
15 of the latter were away from the colony, hunt- 
ing for food, at the time of my visit seems very 
reasonable. Not only were Gulls to be seen flying 
to the lake at 9.00 a.m., when I approached it, and 
at 6.00 p.m., when I finally left its vicinity, but 
Great Black-backed Gulls, presumably from this 
colony, may be found daily in summer at practical- 
ly every point along the seacoast for sixty miles 
in either direction. 

These estimates are the best which I have been 
able to prepare, but, if any one considers them in 
error in any way, the actual counts and facts 
stated above may, of course, form a basis for any 
estimate preferred. 

When one approaches an island in the colony, 
the Gulls able to fly gradually leave it and, for the 
most part, circle overhead, although some alight 
on the water not far away. The air becomes filled 
with a pandemonium of deep cries, of which I was 


able to distinguish three kinds, a moderately loud 
cuh-cuh-cuh, cuh-cuh-cuh, a |cud, bass Ow, Ow, 
and a roaring rrr-rrr-rrr-rrr. Most of the flying 
birds are in fully adult plumage, but some of them 
show traces of immaturity in brown markings here 
and there. By the time one lands on an island, 
all the Gulls able to fly have left it, and none of 
them return until the intruder has departed. As 
I walked over Big Gull Island, with fully six 
hundred Great Black-backed Gulls circling above 
me, I could not help thinking how little their fear 
was Justified by the actual location of the power 
to harm. If those hundreds of tremendous birds 
had but realized their strength and willed to use 
it in effective coordination against the weaponless, 
shelterless human being intruding among their 
homes, they could with the greatest ease and speed 
have laid my bare skeleton to bleach upon the grass. 
But Great Black-backed Gulls are useful scaveng- 
ers, naturally wild and shy, and I could not see that 
any of them at any time showed even especial 
solicitude for the particular nests or young near 
which I might be. 

At the time of my visit, June 16, most of the 
young were recently hatched, but others were in 
the act of hatching. The newly-hatched young of 
the Great Black-backed Gull is a wet, spine- 
covered, ugly-looking dark object, sprawling help- 
lessly, and uttering repeatedly a short, shrill whine. 
Soon, however, its spines burst into gray and black 
down, it gains the ability to walk and run about, 
and its cry changes to a rattling eh-eh-eh. The 
majority of the young which I saw on June 16 
were in the downy stage. A small number showed 
feathers of the juvenal plumage in the wings and 
at the sides of the breast, and a very few of the 


104 


largest also had feathers of this plumage all across 
the breast and in the tail. Most of the young 
which are old enough to do so hide among ferns, 
bushes, grass, or rocks when the old birds leave 
an island at the approach of an intruder, but a 
few enter the water and swim rapidly away for a 
little distance. They are good swimmers, but can 
be overtaken easily by a rowboat. Those which 
hide usually remain quiet until they believe they 
are discovered, when they try to run, but they are 
slow and clumsy runners. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Gulls were the Black Duck (Anas rubripes), Spot- 
ted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia), Ruby-throated 
Hummingbird (Archilochus  colubris), Purple 
Finch (Carpodacus purpureus. purpureus), Song 
Sparrow (Melospiza melodia melodia), Yellow 
Warbler (Dendroica aestiva aestiva), and Mary- 
land Yellow-throat (Geothlypis trichas trichas). 
The colony of Gulls was first shown to me in 
June, 1912, by Mr. E. C. Allen, now of Halifax, 
N.S., who has given a brief account of it in his 


“Annotated List of Birds of Yarmouth and Vi- 


THE CHALLENGE 
Photo by 


A GREAT 


Howard H. Cleaves; 


BLACK-BACKED GULL CALLING AT LAKE GEORGE. 
reproduced by permission—Cut by courtesy of 


Dominion Parks Branch. 


On the gentle slopes of the islands the nests are 
mere hollows in the earth, generally with some lin- 
ing of sticks and dead grass or Usnea lichen. Nests 
which are placed on piles of large boulders are 
much more substantial, as the character of the site 
necessitates, and are solidly built of grass, sticks, 
and rubbish. In some cases | noticed that the grass 
was still green. In one instance only did I find a 
nest lined with down, and, as that was on Round 
Island, it was probably a Herring Gull’s nest. 

Other birds observed on the islands used by the 


cinity, Southwestern Nova Scotia” (Trans. N.S. 
Inst. of Sci., Vol. XIV, Part 1, pp. 67-95, Jan. 5, 
1916). A month later I again visited it, this time 
in company with Mr. Howard H. Cleaves, now 
of Albany, N.Y., who then made some splendid 
photographs of the gulls in their home, some of 
which were published in the ‘National Geographic 
Magazine’ for June, 1914, and some of which, by 
his kind permission, appear herewith. I visited 
the colony in July, 1913, and July, 1914, also. In 


those years there were not more than two-thirds 


September, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


as many Gulls in the colony as I found there in 
1920, so that it is evident that the colony is making 
encouraging growth. 

It is earnestly hoped that, through the powers 
conferred by the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 
this colony of Gulls may be made a_ permanent 
reservation, and that the friends of bird protection 
in Canada may do everything possible to assist 
in bringing this about. Although all Gulls are pro- 
tected by the Act, yet the general protection thus 
afforded must often, from force of circumstances, 
be insufficient, and to make this splendid colony a 


FieLp- NATURALIST 105 


jury to the colony becomes greater each year, and 
special protection should be given before any such 
harm, of which we have had too many sad ex- 
amples elsewhere, is actually committed. No 
chances should be taken with such a colony as this, 
the largest and the most southern and accessible 
colony in the world of the greatest and grandest 
of our Gulls. The islands used by the Gulls are 
small, with small timber of negligible value, and 
are quite valueless for other purposes, for neither 
man nor domesticated animals can be allowed to 
live on them, because the waters surrounding them 


ern: | 


PUSHING OFF—A GREAT 
Howard H. 


Photo by Cleaves; 


BLACK-BACKED GULL IN 


reproduced by 


THE ACT OF TAKING FLIGHT. 


permission—Cut by courtesy of 


Dominion Parks Branch, 


reservation, with a local warden during the breed- 
ing season, would add greatly to its chances of 
survival and growth. At present, although the 
wardens in the Maritime Provinces are alive to 
the situation and are doing their best, these Gulls 
must depend for protection largely on lack of 
widespread knowledge of their breeding at this 
place and on poor boating facilities on Lake George. 
As the country about the lake becomes more thick- 
ly settled, the chance of sudden irreparable in- 


are a source of water-supply for Yarmouth town. 
On the other hand, such an eminent authority as 
C. W. Townsend, M.D., has stated to me that 
“the presence of these Gulls would have no effect 
on the potability of the water, or perhaps a bene- 
ficial one, as they would at once remove all dead 
fish or other animal matter that might otherwise 
pollute the lake.” Although such a large number 
of Gulls must obtain the greater part of their food 
supply elsewhere than at the lake, yet they do not 


106 THE CaNapIAN” FieLp-NATURALIST 


neglect the lake, as some birds might do, but may 
be seen searching for focd even in parts of it 
remote from their nesting-islands. There seems, 
therefore, to be every reason for taking action to 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


ensure the preservation at one and the same time 
of a unique and splendid bit of wild life and of 
a tireless band of scavengers and guardians of the 
health of a large town. 


THE SPIDERS .OF CANADA. 


By J. H. Emerton. 


The writer recently published, in the Transac- 
ions of the Canadian Institute, Toronto, a catalogue 
of the known spiders of Canada, numbering 342 
species. This seems small when compared with 
the numbers in countries where the fauna is better 
known, but spiders are hard to find and this number 
represents very well the larger and more common 
species. Many more will do no doubt be found, 
as more persons take up the study of these animals. 

In 1846, John Blackwall, then the leading stu- 
dent of spiders in England, published in the An- 
nals and Magazine of Natural History of London 
a “Notice of Spiders captured by Prof, Potter in 
Canada” a few years before in the neighborhood 
of Toronto. In 1871, he published in the same 
journal a “Notice of Spiders captured by Miss 
Hunter in Montreal.” In 1875, T. Thorell pub- 
lished in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of 
Natural History “Descriptions of Spiders collected 
by A. S. Packard in Labrador.” In 1876, the 
writer spent a short time in Montreal and collected 
a few spiders, which were described in a paper on 
New England Therididae, published by the Cen- 
necticut Academy in 1882. Between 1880 and 
1890, J. B. Tyrrell collected spiders at Ottawa, in 
the Rocky Mountains and other parts of Canada, 
and at the same time T. E. Bean, in connection 
with his work on Lepidoptera, collected spiders 
around Laggan in the Rocky Mountains. 

Since 1900, a considerable number of collectors 
have interested themselves in Canadian spiders. In 
1905, the writer visited western Canada collecting 
at Vancouver, Lake Louise, Banff and Medicine 
Hat. The same year G. W. Peckham collect:d 
through the same region, especially at. Vancouver, 
Glacier and Banff. In 1914, the writer again 
visited the Rocky Mountains, and collected in the 
Yoho Valley and Lake Louise, Banff and Jasper 
Park, and also at Edmonton, Athabasca Landing 
and Prince Albert. In 1915, he collected in the 
lower St. Lawrence Valley, and in 1917 at Le 
Pas and along the Hudson Bay Railway. The 
Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913 to 1916 made 
a small collection of spiders on the Arctic coast 


of Canada and Alaska. The Crocker Land ex- 


pedition also collected spiders on the west coast 
of Greenland in 1917. Messrs. E. M. Walker 
and T. B. Kurata of Toronto, collected spiders in 
1913 at several points across Canada, and especial- 
ly on Vancouver Island. Mr. N. B. Sanson of 
Banff, has collected spiders for several years in 
the surrounding country, especially on Sulphur 
Mountain. Mr. M. Taylor of Vancouver, has col- 
lected around that city and in the mountains north 
of it. Mr. Robert Matheson collected in Nova 
Scotia in 1913. Dr. C. W. Townsend of Boston, 
on his visit to ““Audubon’s Labrador” in 1915, col- 
lected spiders and extended the known range of 
several species. Spiders have also been collected 
in recent years by Mr. Norman Criddle in Mani- 
toba, Mrs. J. H. Faull in -Toronto, Mr. Charles 
Macnamara of Arnprior, Ontario; Mr. F. W. 
Waugh of Ottawa, Mrs. W. W. Hippisley of 
Dauphin, Manitoba; Prof. A. B. Klugh of King- 
ston, Ontario; the late C. G. Hewitt, Mr. Arthur 
Gibson, and other correspondents of the Entomo- 
logical Branch of the Department of Agriculture 
at Ottawa. New discoveries have been noted from 
year to year in the Entomological Record published 
annually in the reports of the Entomological Society 
of Ontario. 


The spiders which Blackwall described cannot 
now be found and apparently no care was taken 
to preserve them after descriptions were published. 
The spiders collected by Packard in Labrador 
have also been lost, and some of their descriptions 
will never be certainly identified. The spiders col- 
lected by Tyrrell and his colleagues are in the 
collection of the Entomological Branch at Ottawa 
or in that of Harvard University. The collection 
at Ottawa has been much increased in the last 
few years and now contains probably 300 of the 
species catalogued. The Harvard ‘collection is 
rich in Canadian spiders and contains most of the 


The common spiders of Canada are described 


and illustrated in “‘Common Spiders of the United 
States,’’ by J. H. Emerton, published in 1902, by 
Ginn & Co., Boston; ‘‘The Spider Book,’’ by J. H. 


Comstock, published in 1912, by Doubleday, Page & 
Co. and “American Spiders and Their Spinning 
Work,’”’ by H. C. MeCook, published by the author 
in Philadelphia, 1889 to 1893. 


i 


September, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


author’s types and those described by Banks and 
Peckham. At Toronto there is a small collection 
with a large proportion of west coast species. The 
museum at Banff contains large numbers of the 
spiders living in the neighboring mountains. 

The spiders of Canada fall naturally into several 
faunal groups. The house spiders with which we 
are most familiar are most of them introduced from 
Europe or from more southern parts of this contin- 
ent. The common TJegenaria derhami of cellars 
and barns is a European species. The common 
round web spider of barns and bridges, Epeira 
sericata is also European, and is never found far 
from buildings. The still more common spider 
in houses of all kinds, Theridion tepidariorum, is 
found in caves and under cliffs farther south, but 
its original home is unknown. ‘The same is true 
of the large gray Epeira cavatica found in barns 
and sheds through southern Ontario, Maine, and 
New Brunswick. The European Epeira diademata, 
a spider of gardens and the outside of -houses, has 
been found at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and at 
Quebec. 

The most distinct faunal group in Canada is the 
so-called Canadian fauna which occupies the part 
of Canada originally covered by forest consisting 
mostly of spruce. This comes to the coast in Maine 
and New Brunswick, and its southern border ex- 
tends westward across Maine and Ontario north 
of the Great Lakes and the prairies to the Rocky 
Mountains. Several spiders have their southern 
limits along this border, as the author has shown 
in the report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 
for 1917. Theridion zelotypum is the most con- 
spicuous of these, making large coarse webs be- 
tween the spruce branches, with nests in which the 
female and her brood of young live together 
through the summer. Linyphia limitanea follows 
much the same range but a little farther north from 
Newfoundland to Manitoba, and has not been 
found beyond the Canadian boundary except in 
northern Maine. Zilla montana is another Cana- 
dian species that extends across the continent and 
south on mountain-tops to North Carolina. It lives 
in trees and on rocks, and settles readily on houses 
surrounded by forest. It lives also in Europe in 
the Alps. Linyphia nearctica, another species of 
this group, seems to be very sensitive to its sur- 
roundings. It is found usually on spruce trees near 
bogs from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, and 
extends south in the upper forest of the mountains 
of New England and New York from an altitude 
of 2,500 feet up to the limit of trees. All these 
spiders live in trees well above the ground, but 
other species that live in moss close to the ground 
have similar distribution. One of these is Theri- 


FieELD-NATURALIST 107 


dion sexpunctatum, a pale spider with gray and 
white spots, and another, Pedanastethus fusca, a 
darker gray species resembling P. riparius of farther 
scuth. All the spiders of the Canadian fauna do 
not have this restricted range but extend much 
farther north and south. The species of Pardosa 
which live in open ground in bogs, along river banks 
and on mountain-tops, extend northward, some of 
them as far as animals of any kind have been found 
and also extend southward in bogs to the New 
England coast, New York and Ohio and on 
mountain-tops to Colorado. Some of the widely 
distributed Canadian species extend eastward by 
way of Greenland and Iceland, into Europe, or 
westward through Alaska into Siberia. 

South of the spruce forest area, the country is 
eccupied mainly by a fauna known as “transition” 
or “Alleghanian,” containing many species of very 
wide distribution and closely related to the fauna 
cf northern Europe. Through southern Ontario, 
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the common spiders 
belong to this group. One of the most common 
and conspicuous by its cobwebs is Agalena naevia, 
which makes its large flat webs in grass fields, 
among low bushes, in dead trees and brush, and 
even in windows and doorways. These spiders lay 
their eggs late in the summer in flat cocoons partly 
covered with leaves and dirt, and adults all die 
before winter. The young hatch and sometimes 
leave the cocoon before cold weather, but for the 
most part wait until the next spring. The large 
Epeira marmorea and Epeira trifolium are con- 
spicuous species, and also mature in the late sum- 
mer and die before winter. In August and 
September their large round webs hang in large 
numbers in berry bushes and golden-rod, the 
brightly colored spiders hidden nearby in a nest 
of leaves fastened together and lined with silk. 
Epeira patagiata is another common spider of this 
fauna and extends far north into the Canadian 
area.. It is colored in grays and browns like bark 
and wood. It makes its cobwebs after dark and 
leaves them at daylight, hiding in some sheltered 
place often several feet away. It establishes itself 
readily in barns and on the outside of houses, 
porches and fences, both in America and_ in 
Europe. The large white flower spider, Misumena 
vatia, lives among flowers all the way across Can- 
ada, eating flies and other insects that come to rest 
and feed on the flowers. Into this part of the 
fauna come many species of jumping spiders, 
Attidae, Dendryphantes amilitaris and Dendry- 
phantes flavipedes live in great numbers on small 
trees and bushes, making no cobwebs but moving 
about constantly among the leaves, creeping close 
to resting insects and jumping upon them. They 


108 THE CanapiaAN’ FieELD-NATURALIST 


are covered with hairs and scales, often brightly 
colored and iridescent, especially in the males. The 
common Salticus scenicus of both Europe and 
America lives on the outside of houses and is cov- 
ered with a mixture of white, gray and yellow 
scales which give it the color of unpainted wood. 
It hunts and eats gnats and small insects of any 
kind. On the ground live several common Lyco- 
sidae, long-legged running spiders; in the woods, 
Lycosa pratensis and Lycosa frondicola, and in 
the open fields, several species of Pardosa. In 
midsummer the Lycosidae carry around their young 
enclosed in round cocoons attached behind to the 
spinnerets. 


In the southern part of Canada come in a few 
spiders related to the more southern Carolinian 
fauna. The most conspicuous of these are the two 
species of Argiope, large spiders brightly marked 
with black, yellow, and silvery white. They make 
large, round webs in tall grass and low bushes, 
especially in low ground near brooks and ditches. 
Unlike the large Epeira, they hang in their webs 
through the day and so are more generally known. 
Argiope aurantia has been found at Toronto and 
Argiope trifasciata at Ottawa and Montreal. The 
large burrowing Lycosa which are so abundant in 
southern Manitoba belong to species that range 
southward as far as Texas. The habits of these 
burrowing spiders have been described by Mr. 
Criddle in the Ottawa Naturalist of April, 1918. 


In the western part of Canada, a Pacific coast 
fauna extends north from California as far as 
Alaska, some of its species as far as the Klondike 
valley and eastward beyond the Rocky Mountains. 
Brachybothrium pacificum, the only Canadian rep- 
resentative of the tropical family Aricularidae oc- 
curs on Vancouver Island. Epeira gemma and 
Linyphia litigiosa, common in California, come 
north into British Columbia and eastward as far 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


as Medicine Hat. In British Columbia, Agalena 
pacific partly replaces the eastern Agalena naevia 
and Amaurobius pictus replaces Amaurobius ben- 
reti. As yet, however, little is known about the 
spiders of western Canada and the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

North of the coniferous forest of Canada is a 
country little explored. Its spiders are known only 
from explorations of Labrador and the Arctic 
coast. Some of the most abundant species are the 
same which live in bogs and open spaces through 
the forest area and even south of it. The most 
widely distributed of these is Pardosa glacialis, 
which is abundant as far north as Greenland and 
Banks Land, and south into the United States. 
Hardly less diffused is Pardosa greenlandica, which 
extends along the coast as far south as Maine, is 
found at various points across Canada, and is 
abundant on all the mountains east and west above 
the trees. Lycosa albohastata, a small species 
brightly marked with black, white and orange, is 
found running on the sed just above the trees in 
the mountains of New Hampshire, in the Rocky 
Mountains, on the coast of Maine and Labrador, 
and along the Hudson Bay railway, so that it 
probably extends entirely across Canada near the 
northern limit of trees. Another arctic species is 
the variable and handsomely marked Lycosa _pic- 
tilis that lives on the top of Mount Washington, on 
the coast of Labrador and Greenland and Alaska, 
and is probably identical with species described 
from arctic land farther north. Erigone psychro- 
phila and other small species living among low 
plants near the ground are found at various points 
along the arctic coast from 60° to 80° north. As 
far as spiders are concerned, no faunal group cor- 
responding to the “Hudsonian” of *bird students 
has been noticed, but may be defined by a more 
thorough study of the northern border of the coni- 
ferous forest. 


September, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN FieELD-NaATURALIST 109 


NOTES ON THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF EAST AND MIDDLE SISTER AND 
NORTH HARBOR ISLANDS, LAKE ERIE. 


By E. W. Catvert, ARNER, ONT. 


The following observations were made during a 
two days’ trip to the islands, which are situated a 
few miles west of Pelee island in western Lake 
Erie. All have rocky shores with much shingle or 
coarse gravel and have a number of bays and 
shoals. Owing to a severe gale most of the time 
was spent on North Harbor island which contains 
but slightly over an acre in its area. The island is 
narrow and a ridge follows the centre. The fol- 
lowing trees were found, being arranged in order 
of their abundance: —White Elm, Hackberry, Ken- 
tucky Coffee Tree, Sugar Maple, Chokecherry, 
Cottonwood, Staghorn Sumach and a_ shrubby 
willow. Along shore were observed several large 
stumps of the Red Cedar no doubt flourishing many 
years ago. Of the shrubs and vines the common 
elder (Sambucus Canadensis) is represented and 
Virginia Creeper, Climbing Bittersweet (Celastrus), 
Wild Grape and Poisin Ivy abound. No attempt 
has been made to tabulate the herbaceous plants as 
a number were not familiar to the writer. 

The item of greatest biological interest however 
is a large colony of the Common Tern (Sterna 
hirundo) the estimated number of birds being 2,000 
to 2,500. Some 800 occupied nests were counted 
over half of which contained three eggs, about one 
quarter containing two, a few with four and the 
remainder with one. The nests were situated on 
the shingle a few feet above the water. Some were 
somewhat concealed by foliage and driftwood, 
others were in plain view but blended rather well 
with the shingle, thus making it necessary to pick 
one’s steps. Most of the nests were composed of 
broken reeds and bits of driftwood but in some 
green leaves were employed, while in still others 
there was merely a hollow in the shingle; these 
were exceptional however. The nests were often 
as close as two feet to one another and were most 
numerous in the troughs of shingle formed by the 
action of the waves. The ground color of the eggs 
is a pale greenish or yellowish buff with variable 
dark spots sometimes forming a ring at the larger 
end. The eggs vary greatly in color, even in the 
same nest very light and very dark examples being 
frequent. ‘During our whole stay the birds kept 
up an incessant noise and seemed to treat our pres- 
ence with great disapproval. While at this island 
only one bird had hatched this being found just 
previous to our departure on the 21st of June. 

The bird population of the island other than 
tern was scant consisting of a Red-eyed Vireo and 


a Song sparrow, a visiting (?) pair of Kingbirds, 
as well as several Bronzed Crackles and a Crow, 
present no doubt for nest robbing as the terns made 
a great noise during their presence. Several Her- 
ring Gulls and a Bank Swallow were also noted 
flying past. 

The next island visited was East Sister and con- 
tains thirty or more acres, about ten of which is 
cleared and is planted to peach trees and garden 
crops chiefly. As might be surmised, owing to its 
much larger size all branches of the fauna and 
flora were represented by a larger number of spe- 
cies than was the island previously visited. In ad- 
dition to the trees enumerated as found on North 
Harbor the following were found on East Sister :— 
Basswood, Shellbark Hickory, White Ash, Silver 
Maple, Aspen, Sycamore, Red Elm and a species 
of Dogwood. The most abundant bird on this 
island was the Bronzed Grackle but the House 
sparrow, Kingbird and Red-winged Blackbird 
were also well represented. The following were 
also noted in small numbers:—Crow, Red-eyed 


Vireo, Wood Pewee, Cedar Waxwing, Cowbird, 
Robin, Killdeer and Turkey Vulture. According 
to report the Cottontail is found here but no other 
mammal is known, but no doubt others occur. 


The last island visited is somewhat isolated, be- 
ing about ten miles from the others and about 
twelve from the mainland. It contains some eleven 
acres, all of which are densely wooded, and has 
high rocky banks. On the side facing east is a 
promontory of rock and on the opposite side great 
windrows of gravel where Common Terns nest in 
great numbers. The tern population of this island 
was estimated at some 8,000 and the occupied nests 
at 1,500 to 2,000. Apparently over half of these 
had been robbed earlier in the season as the unoc- 
cupied nests were quite as numerous as the occu- 
pied ones. On the day the island was visited (June 
22nd) about twenty per cent. of the birds were 
hatched but probably these did not start to hatch 
before the 20th. 


The trees found on this island were almost identi- 
cal in species to those found on North Harbor, the 
Red Cedar being alive in this case and the Sumach 
absent. Other than the terns, the following birds 
were noted:—Indigo Bunting, Kingbird, Red-eyed 
Vireo, Carolina Wren and a flock of about 500 
Herring Gulls which left the bar on our approach. 
A visit to the island on May 30 revealed the pres- 


110 THE CANADIAN 


ence of a hatching Black Duck, the eggs of which 
had probably been laid for about three weeks. 
Down from the bird’s breast was used to line the 
finely-constructed nest. 

To those interested in the nesting of the Common 
Tern, I would refer them to an article in Bird-Lore 
for August, 1904, where the colonies on the Hen 


FieLD- NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


and Chicken group of islands were studied, and to 
the Wilson Bulletin for March, 1916, where a 
colony off the coast of Massachusetts was studied. 
Phctographs are supplied in both articles and it is 
interesting to note that in the ocean colony the 
nesting material is totally different from and more 
abundant than that employed in Lake Ernie. 


OBITUARY 


JOHN MACOUN, 1831-1920. 
ASSISTANT DiRECTOR AND NATURALIST TO THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 


Prof. John Macoun, one of the oldest members 
of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, died at Sid- 
ney, Vancouver Island, B.C., on July 18, 1920, in 
his 90th year. He was born at Maralin, Ireland, 
about twenty miles from Belfast, on April 17, 1831. 
Like many other families in Ireland, after the great 
depression through famine and rebellion between 
1840 and 1850, his family emigrated to Canada in 
the latter year, and settled in Seymour Township, 
Northumberland County, Ontario. At that time 
much of this part of Ontario was heavily wooded, 
and John Macoun and his brothers, Frederick and 
James, with their ‘mother, began to clear a farm. 
Profits were slow in coming, and in order to relieve 
the situation, John, who felt that his calling was in 
a different field, began to teach school, as many an- 
other bright young man has done in Canada. Teach- 
ers were much needed in the country, and soon he 
had charge of a small rural school. He felt, however, 
that to succeed as he desired, more knowledge was 
necessary, so he took a course in the Normal School 
in Toronto in 1859. Later he was in charge of 
one of the smaller schools in Belleville, then be- 
came head of the public schools there. 


All this time his love of nature had led him to 
study her many forms, but in botany he took par- 
ticular delight, and by 1874 he had made such a 
name for himself in this study, that he was ap- 
pointed Professor of Botany and Geology in Albert 
College, Belleville, a position he filled with great 
ability and success until 1881, when, having been 
appointed Botanist to the Dominion Government, 
he severed his connection with the college to devote 
all his time to public service, although since 1872 
he had been employed part of the time by the 
Dominion Government. 


In 1872, Mr. Macoun was invited by the late 
Sir Sanford Fleming to be the botanist of a party 
on a expedition through the West to explore and to 
determine the line for the first transcontinental rail- 


way, now known as the Canadian Pacific. Associ- 
ated with the party was the late Principal Grant of 
Queen’s University, who in his book “Ocean to 
Ocean”’ gave a description of the trip and the part 
John Macoun played in it. 


In 1875, Mr. Macoun was appointed botanist to 
an expedition under the leadership of the late Dr. 
Alfred Selwyn, then Director of the Geological 
Survey, and assisted in exploring the Peace River 
and the Rocky Mountains; and in 1877 he was 
asked to write a report on the country he had visited, 
and it was this report which brought Mr. Macoun 
prominently before the public, for in it he was 
most enthusiastic over the possibilities of the West, 
claiming that there were immense areas suitable for 
wheat culture, and for settlement. 


He again explored the prairies in 1879, 1880 
and 1881, and in 1882 published his very valuable 
work “Manitoba and the Great North-West,” an 
octavo volume of 687 pages, and still the most 
complete book on the West which has been pub- 
lished. This was a private enterprise, but the in- 
formation contained in that book did much to open 
the eyes of Canadians and the people of other 
countries to the vast possibilities of the Canadian 
North-West. On page 213 he wrote: “Much 
might be written about the future, and calculations 
made regarding the wheat production of years to 
come, but such speculations are needless. In a 
very few years the crop will be limited by the 
means of export, and just as the carrying capacity 
of the roads increase, so will the crop.” 

In 1877, he was invited to write a report on the 
whole of the western country for the information 
of the Minister of Public Works in connection with 
the new railway, and was cautioned not to draw 
on his imagination. “In response to this I wrote 
as much truth about the country as I dared,” he 
states in another part of his book, “for I saw that 
even yet my best friends believed me rather wild on 


September, 1920] 


the ‘illimitable possibilities’ of the country. When 
summing up the various areas I reached the enor- 
mous figures 200,000,000 acres. I recoiled from 
their publication on the ground that their very im- 
mensity would deny me that amount of credence | 
desired, so as a salve to my conscience | kept to 
the large number of 200,000,000 acres, but said 
that there were 79,920,000 acres of arable land and 
100,000,000 acres of pastures, swamps and lakes. 
My statements were looked upon as those of an 
honest, but crack-brained enthusiast and little at- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 111 


cultural Committee to give a description of the 
country, and after his address the following resolu- 
tion was passed: 
House of Commons, 
Ottawa, 23rd Jan., 1906. 
“Moved by Mr. Derbyshire, 
Seconded by Mr. Wright, (Renfrew) 
“That the thanks of this Committee be now 


tendered to Mr. John Macoun, Naturalist to 
the Geological Survey Department of Canada, 


PROF. 


tention was paid to them.” The sequel, however, 
has shown that he was a true prophet. 

Prof. Macoun was asked to appear before the 
Agricultural Committee of the House of Commons 
and other Government bodies a number of times 
to give information about parts of Canada he had 
visited which were not well known. After a 
journey which he made in 1905 along the route of 
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from Portage 
la Prairie to Edmonton, he was asked by the Agri- 


JOHN MACOUN. 


for the valuable information laid by him before 
the Committee, on the natural capabilities of 
that large section of Western Canada extend- 
ing from Edmonton to Portage la Prairie, on 
the occasion of his appearance before us, on 
this subject. 

‘The Committee desire also to record their 
appreciation of the valuable services Mr. 
Macoun has rendered to Canada in the past 
thirty years of his arduous official services as a 


112 THe Canapian’ FieELp-NATURALIST 


practical science officer of the Geological Sur- 
vey of the Dominion; notably, are the fol- 
lowing explorations of territory :— 

“Prof. Macoun’s first trip across the prairies 
was with Sir Sanford Fleming, in 1872. His 
glowing report of the country traversed caused 
him to be sent again in 1875, to explore the 
route that it was then intended that the Can- 
adian Pacific would follow. When the pre- 
sent route was decided upon the Government 
sent him in 1879, 1880 and 1881 to report up- 
on the country that would be opened up by 
the railway. Optimistic as his reports and 
prophecies were, they have all proved true. 
To these are to be added, Prof. Macoun’s ex- 
plorations in the Canadian Yukon Territory, 
in 1903, which revealed for the first time, that 
that far northern division of Canada also pos- 
sesses agricultural resources of no mean order.” 

“Motion cordially adopted by Committee, 
and presented to Prof. Macoun, pro forma, by 
the Chair.” 

The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club was or- 
ganized on March 19, 1879, and John Macoun, who 
at that time lived in Belleville, became that same 
year one of the corresponding members, and on 
March 11, 1881, came to Ottawa and delivered an 
address before the Club on “Capabilities of the 
Prairie Lands of the Great North-West as Shown 
by Their Fauna and Flora.” He asserted that 
the botanical test was the only true criterion by 
which the agricultural status of any district should 
be judged. In the North-West every species of 
plant was found to have its particular habit as re- 
gards soil and moisture. He had found that even 
as far north as the Peace River a large number of 
plants occurred which were of the same general 
biological type as many Ontario plants, hence he 
concluded that about the same summer climatic 
conditions prevailed. He found that certain grasses 
ripened in the same number of days as wheat in 
Ontario and the same grasses ripened in about the 
same time in the North-West, hence the growing 
seasons were sufficiently alike to ensure the culti- 
vation of wheat over a vast area. 

Prof. Macoun moved to Ottawa from Belleville 
with his wife and family in the autumn of 1882, 
and lived continuously there until 1912, when he 
moved to British Columbia. He was President of 
the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club in 1886-7. He 
was promoted to the position of Assistant Director 
and Naturalist of the Geological Survey in 1887, 
which he held until his death. While his home was 
in Ottawa, he was exploring and collecting in some 
part of Canada nearly every summer. 

It was during these thirty years that he, with 
the assistance of his son, James M. Macoun, built 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


up the greater part of the herbarium cf over 190,000 
specimens of Canadian plants, now in the Victoria 
Memorial Museum, Ottawa, although in the her- 
barium are many specimens which he collected six- 
ty years ago. He made large collections also in 
Western Canada between 1872 and 1882. ‘The 
first part of his “Catalogue of Canadian Plants” 
was published in 1883, and he continued to pub- 
lish parts of this list until 1902, when the last 
number was issued. The parts appeared as fol- 
lows:—Polypetalae, 1883; Gamopetalae, 1884; 
Apetalae, 1886; Endogens, 1888; Acrogens, 1890, 
Musci, 1892; Lichenes and Hepaticae, 1902. The 
publication of this catalogue was a great undertak- 
ing, brought to a successful completion after years 
of close and personal work. There was a great 
demand for it, and it is now out of print. 

Prof. Macoun began collecting bird skins for 
the Museum of the Geological Survey at Ottawa 
in 1879, and through his efforts a large number of 
skins were obtained from that time on, and before 
he left Ottawa he had the satisfaction of seeing a 
very fine collection of Canadian birds there mainly 
as the result of this work. 

He published a Catalogue of Canadian Birds in 
three parts, the first in 1900, containing the Water 
Birds, Gallinaceous Birds and Pigeons; the second 
in 1903, of the Birds of Prey, Woodpeckers, Fly- 
Catchers, Crows, Jays, and Blackbirds; the third 
in 1904, of the Sparrows, Swallows, Vireos, Warb- 
lers, Wrens, Titmice and Thrushes. These proved 
very popular and useful, and it became necessary 
to re-publish them in one volume, which was done 
in 1909 with the assistance of his son, James M. 
Macoun. This Catalogue gives the name, range, 
and breeding habits of Canadian Birds. 

He published many years ago a small text book 
on “Elementary Botany,” and from time to time 
during his long life issued many valuable reports 
and lists. 

He had in an advanced stage of preparation, 
before his death, an “Annotated List of the Flora 
of the Ottawa Regicn, an “Annotated List of the 
Flora of Nova Scotia,” and an “Annotated List of 
the Flora of Vancouver Island.” 

He was interested in and loved all branches of 
natural history, and may be said to have been an 
all round naturalist, though it was as a botanist he 
was most known. He was one of the first Canadian 
Fellows of the Linnaean Society of London, Eng., 
and was a charter member of the Royal Society of 
Canada. 

The town of Macoun, Sask., was named after 
him. 

Prof. Macoun was a man of very strong vitality 
and was seldom ill. He had decided that he would 


spend his last years on Vancouver Island, where in 


Septeinber, l 920] 


that mild climate he could be in the open air and 
collect specimens for most of the year, and had 
fixed on the spring of 1912 as the time when he 
would move to British Columbia. No doubt the 
rush and excitement of closing up his work at 
Ottawa had something to do with the paralysis 
which struck him down a few weeks before his in- 
tended departure. But, while the attack was a 
severe one, none of his faculties were affected, and 
though a few weeks later than the date he had de- 
cided upon, he left for British Columbia in April, 
1912, with his right arm and right leg somewhat 
affected by his illness. His health continued to 
improve, and he was soon roaming the woods of 
Vancouver Island making collections. He had 
been collecting mosses since 1861, and when he 
had found and catalogued practically all the flow- 
ering plants in Canada, he devoted much time to the 
study of mosses, lichens, liverworts and fungi, and 
when he went to live on Vancouver Island _ his 
time was devoted mainly to cryptogams, and he 
gathered many specimens there. 

The Government is often blamed for not show- 
ing appreciation of services rendered by members 
of the Civil Service, but in the case of Prof. Macoun 
this was not so. When at 81 years of age he de- 
cided to leave Ottawa in 1912, and spend the rest 
of his days in British Columbia, he knew that he 
might be superannuated as he was past the age 
limit and still on full salary, but the Government, 
considering his past record, treated him generous- 
ly, and he received a copy of the following order- 
in-council, by which he retained his position in the 
Service until his death,— 


“Privy Council, Canada, 
9th June, 1913. 
“The Committee of the Privy Council, on 
the recommendation of the Minister of Mines, 
advise that Prof. John Macoun, Naturalist 
and Botanist in the Geological Survey, who is 
over the prescribed age limit referred to in 
Rule 40 of the Treasury Board Minute, dated 
11th November, 1870, be, in recognition of 
the worth of his past work, allowed to retain 
until further notice, his connection with the 
Department of Mines, outside of Ottawa; his 
living expenses while engaged on actual field 
duty only to be a charge against the Geologic- 
al Survey appropriations.” 
Rodolph L. Boudreau, 
Clerk of the Privy Council. 
The Honourable 
The Minister of Mines.” 


SPECIES NAMED AFTER JOHN MACOUN 


Perhaps no better tribute to the work of John 
Macoun can be paid than the list of some of the 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 113 


species of plants, etc., which have been named after 
him, most of which were discovered and collected 
by him but named by some other scientist. While 
there are 45 species in this list, it is not a com- 
plete one, but it indicates the large number of new 
and rare specimens collected by him. Few scien- 
tists have had as many species named in honour of 
them as John Macoun. 


FLOWERING PLANTS. 


Alopecurus Macounii, Vasey. 
Calamagrostis Macouniana, Vasey. 
Elymus Macounii, Vasey. 
Ranunculus Macounii, Britton. 
Lesquerella Macounii, Greene. 
Draba Macouniana, Rydberg. 
Arabis Macounii, S. Wats. 
Potentilla Macounii, Rydberg. 
Rosa Macounii, Greene. 
Lupinus Macounii, Rydberg. 
Astragalus Macounii, Rydberg. 
Gentiana Macounii, Holm. 
Oreocarya Macouni, Rydberg. 
Antennaria Macounii, Greene. 
Hymenoxys Macounii, Rydberg. 
Arnica Macounii, Greene. 
Bidens Macounii, Greene. 
Sisyrinchium Macounii, Bickn. 


MOSSES. 


Andreaea Macounii, Kindb. 
Distichium Macounii, C.M. & Kindb. 
Encalypta Macounii, Aust. 

Entodon Macounii, C.M. & Kindb. 
Homalia Maccunii, C.M. & Kindb. 
Hypnum Macounii, Kindb. 
Philonotis Macounii, Lesq. & James. 
Pogonatum Macounii, Kindb, 
Racomitrium Macounii, Kindb. 
Cinclidium Macounii Kindb. 
Eurhynchium Macounii, Kindb. 
Heterocladium Macounii,: Best. 
Neckera Macounii, C.M. & Kindb. 
Timmia Macounii, Kindb. 


LICHENS. 
Biatora Macounii, Eckfeldt. 


Pannaria Macounii, Tuckerm. 


HEPATICEAE. 


Anthoceros Macounii, Howe. 
Cephalozia Macounii, Aust. 
Cololejeunea Macounii, Spruce. 
Fossombronia Macounii, Aust. 
Lophocolea Macounii, Aust. 
Odontoschisma Macounii, Aust. 


ECHINODERMS—STARFISH. 
Leptasterias macouni, Verrill. 


114 


MOLLUSKS. 


Boreotrophon macouni, Dall and Bartsch. 
Turbonilla (Pyrogolampros) macouni, Dall and 


Bartsch. 


INSECTS—BUTTERELY. 


Oeneis macounii, Edwards. 


FISH. 


Chauliodus macouni, Bean. 


Total, 45 species. 


Until the year before he died he continued quite 
active, but his heart finally gave him trouble, and 
following a severe attack of whooping cough in the 
spring cf 1920 his vitality was much lowered and 
after less than a week’s confinement to the house 
he died at Sidney, Vancouver Island, on July 18. 
During the last few months of his life, when he 
could no longer go far from home, it was his de- 
light, under the name of “Rambler,” to name plants 
sent in for identification through the local paper, 
the Sidney Review. After his death the following 
tribute appeared in that paper: “Rambler” is 
dead. The beautiful flowers of the forest, which 
he loved so well, will never again receive the gentle 
touch of “Rambler.” The flowers among which he 
spent the greater part of his life will miss him no 
less than those of our readers who took much in- 
terest and received great pleasure from this de- 
partment of the Review. Professor John Macoun, 
(“Rambler”), died last Sunday morning.” 


He had many strong and outstanding personal 
characteristics. His determination and _persever- 
ance are marked through all his early explorations, 
and many accounts might be related where it was 
nothing but sheer determination that carried him 
safely through perilous and exhaustive situations. 
After his recovery from the paralytic stroke in 1912, 
which left his right hand in such condition that he 
could not write with it, he determined to write with 
his left, and from that time on did so in a very 
He could never be idle and 
had nothing to regret in his old age over wasted 
days and nights, for he worked both night and day 
until a few years before his death, when he spent 
his evenings in reading. He was a very wide 
reader and kept himself well posted on the events 
of the world to the very last, and, having been a 
great reader for so many years, he was a veritable 
encyclopedia. He had a wonderfully retentive 
memory, and could give the year and the day of 
the month where he had been when anything out 
of the ordinary occurred in his personal experience 
apparently back to his childhood. He could give 
the scientific name on sight of thousands of flower- 
ing plants, mosses, lichens, liveworts, and fungi. 


legible handwriting. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


His quickness in this respect was remarkable, but 
quickness was one of his strong characteristics both 
in his actions and in his speech. His repartee was 
so keen that he was seldom, if ever, cornered in an 
argument, and he delighted in discussing any matter 
of general or personal interest. He had an ex- 
tremely logical mind and had great power of ac- 
curate deduction when given a few important facts. 
He was very emphatic in his statements, and his 
enthusiasm was so great that the combination of 
these two characteristics made his personality a 
striking one. With these two traits, however, went 
a very humorous disposition, and many an audience 
and individual went into bursts of laughter over his 
way of putting things. His honesty was proverbial 
and he was very frank and outspoken in regard to 
wrongdoing. He was kind and generous not only 
to his family and near friends but to those from 
whom he did not expect to receive anything in re- 
turn. He believed that there was an Overruling 
Power, but that men had much to do in shaping 
their own destiny. 

Perhaps the strongest trait in Professor Macoun’s 
character was a sympathetic undertanding of his 
fellow-men, one that made him hosts of friends and 
a much sought advisor in questions of doubt and 
difficulty. The honesty of his opinion and the 
straightforwardness with which his advice was giv- 
en, in conjunction with his sympathetic manner of 
giving it, secured for him a respect and affection 
that lasted a lifetime. His wonderful magnetsm and 
ready tact constituted him a leader of men, and 
had his great abilities turned to statesmanship he 
would have been a great power for the good of his 
country. He was a true Imperialist and a firm be- 
liever in the strength and integrity of the British 
Empire. 

His dearest wish was to live until the termination 
of the Great War, every phase of which he studied 
with the most intense interest, and his fervent hope 
was that he might be spared to see a proper readjust- 
ment of subsequent world conditions, and a ful- 
filment of the high ideals that were at stake. 

Prof. Macoun was a Presbyterian in religion, and 
was an elder in St. Andrew’s Church, Ottawa, for 
many years previous to his departure for British 
Columbia in 1912. 

He was married in 1862 to Miss Ellen Terrill, 
Wooler, Ont., who survives him. His children are: 
Mrs. A. O. Wheeler, Sidney, B.C.; Mrs. R. A. 
Kingman, Wallingford, Vt.; Mrs. W. M. Everall, 
Victoria, B.C.; and Mr. W. T. Macoun, Do- 
minion Horticulturist, Experimental Farm, Ottawa, 
Ont. His eldest son, Mr. James M. Macoun, Chief 
of the Biological Division of the Geological Sur- 
vey, predeceased him by a few months. 


W.T.M. 


September, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 115 


BOOK REVIEW. 


REPORT OF THE SECOND NorweciAN ARCTIC 
EXPEDITION IN THE “Fram,” 1898-1902, 4 vol- 
umes in 36 parts, large octavo, 1907-1919, 9 maps, 
111 plates, and 2,071 pages of text. Published 
by the Society of Arts and Sciences of Kristiania 
(Videnskabs-Selskabet i Kristiania), at the ex- 
pense of the Fridtjof Nansen Fund for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. 

The separate reports of what is 
known as the Sverdrup expedition have finally 
been completed and issued in collected form. 
The original papers have been published from time 
to time since the return of the expedition eighteen 
years ago, and well illustrate how the side lines 
or by-products of such an enterprise may show 
their value long after the more spectacular features 
have been more or less forgotten. 

The First Norwegian Arctic expedition, under 
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, had the attainment of the 
North Pole for its main object. After the return 
of this expedition, Captain Otto Sverdrup, who had 
been the navigating officer of the Fram, returned 
to the Arctic to explore and map portions of the 
American Arctic island archipelago. The lands 
explored by this expedition, Ellesmere island, and 
the later discovered Axel Heiberg island, Amund 
Ringnes island, and Ellef Ringnes island, are in 
the territory of the Dominion of Canada, and their 
history and resources should be of interest to Cana- 
dians. The ship Fram was furnished by the Nor- 
wegian government, and the remainder of the ex- 
pense of the four years’ expedition, about $60,000, 
was borne by Consul Axel Heiberg and the Ringnes 
brothers of Kristiania, and their names are per- 
petuated in the new, lands discovered. The ex- 
pedition explored and mapped about 100,000 square 
miles, the greater part of which is new territory. 

Captain Sverdrup was assisted by fifteen men. 

The scientific results were largely the work of G. 
I. Isachsen the cartographer, H. G. Simmons the 
botanist, Edward Bay the zoologist, and Per Schei 
the geologist. In reviewing their work, in Science, 
August, 1920, Prof. Charles Schuchert (Yale 
University) says: “‘A better fitted and a more 
loyal band of hard workers—both men of science 
and sailors—never explored unknown lands. . 
It is a source of regret that Per Schei did not live 
to see the final working up of his grand geologic 
collections, since all attest that this warm-hearted 
man of science collected a vast mass of material; 
in fact it may be said of him that he made acces- 
sible to paleontology and stratigraphy more inform- 
ation of an exact nature than all previous Arctic 
expeditions. 


sometimes 


“These four volumes, together with Captain 
Sverdrup’s popular account, entitled “New Land” 
(2 volumes, 1904), should be in every scientific 
library, not only because of their great intrinsic 
value, but because we owe it to our Norwegian 
friends thus to show our appreciation of their 
splendid achievement.” 

The astronomical and geodetic observations are 
worked up by G. I. Isachsen, (141 pages), ter- 
restrial magnetism by A. S. Steen (82 pages), 
meteorology by H. Mohn (399 pages). The 
botanical collections by Dr. H. G. Simmons (Uni- 
versity of Lund, Sweden) amounted to over 50,000 
specimens, and are described in eight papers. Dr. 
Simmons described the vascular flora, about 190 
species, showing that Ellesmere island has at least 
115 flowering plants which in general are a con- 
tinuation of the flora of Greenland although there 
is a strong American trait that has come from the 
west. E. Rostrup lists 80 forms of fungi. From 
over 7,000 specimens of lichens, O. V. Darbishire 
describes 161 forms. N. Bryhn describes 290 
forms of moses, of which 49 are new. F. Ingvarson 
identified samples of driftwood from the shores and 
elevated beach lines, and discusses their origin and 
source. 18 species of migrant water birds and 5 
species of land birds are recorded, as well as 9 
kinds of mammals (polar bear, wolf, fox, ermine, 
glutton, lemming, hare, muskox, and reindeer). Of 
the Crustacea, G. O. Sars describes 154 kinds, in- 
cluding copepods (71), amphipods (38), isopods 
(11), and ostracods (11). H. H. Gran discusses 
the phytoplankton, which form the bulk of animal 
subsistence. 53 species of Mollusca and one 
braciopod are described by J. A. Grieg; about 50 
kinds of bottom-living Foraminifera by H. Kiaer; 
and 77 species of bryozoans by O. Nordgaard. The 
Echinodermata are described by Grieg and _in- 
clude 2 crinoids, 6 starfish, 6 ophiurids, 4 holothur- 
and | The remainder of the 
marine fauna include 2 sponges, 4 actinians, 6 sea- 
squirts, 10 hydroids, 4 medusae, and 44 kinds of 
polychaete worms. 

The very rich geologic results of Per Schei 
were remarkable for the abundance and variety of 
the fossils collected, and also for the record of the 
distribution of the various formations. These showed 
that the Archeozoic granites of Ellesmere island are 
overlain by about 14,000 feet of Paleozoic strata, 
beginning with Upper Cambrian, followed by basal 
Ordovician (Beekmantown), middle Ordovician, 
early and middle Silurian, and an extraordinary 
development of Devonian. The Carboniferous is 
known only in the highest Pennsylvanian rocks, 


ians, sea-urchin. 


116 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


followed by marine Upper Triassic. Then there is 
no sedimentary record of any kind until the deposi- 
tion of the Miocene fresh-water beds with lignites. 
As Per Schei died soon after the return of the ex- 
pedition, the fossils are described by O. Hiltedahl. 
The land plants of the Upper Devonian and the 
very few from the Miocene are described by A. G. 
Nathorst; the Devonian fishes by J. Kiaer; the 
Devonian invertebrates by O. E. Mayer and S. 
Loewe; the Upper Carboniferous fauna by T. 
Tschernyschew and P. Stepanow; and the Triassic 
marine invertebrates by E. Kittl. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Points of interest to be noted are the richness of 
plant life in certain spots during the very short 
growing season. It was noted that flora was most 
abundant on granite lands and least developed on 
Paleozoic limestone. It was richest on bird grounds 
and around Eskimo habitations, and on the whole 
was sufficient to support the few land animals. The 
waters are alive with animal life, from minute 
forms to seals, walrus and whales. The marine 
fauna does not include a great variety of species, 
but makes up for this in the abundance of in- 


dividuals. R. M. ANpeErSoNn. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


A PiceEon Hawk WINTERS aT OtTawa—The 
past winter 1919-20 with its heavy snow and ex- 
treme cold could scarcely have been a worse one 
for any bird wintering north of its usual range. 
However that may be, a Pigeon Hawk (Falco 
columbarius) did spend part of the winter in Ot- 
tawa and was seen in Mr. E. G. White’s garden 
from January 8th to February 4th, 1920. This 
sojourn gave an opportunity to study its food habits 
to a certain extent. It braved the great cold of 
January during which month the thermometer regis- 
tered 29°F. below zero on at least one occasion. 

Mr. White had many chances to observe it dur- 
ing that time and we both watched it through field 
glasses for about half an hour on February 2nd. 

During its stay it often flew among Mr. White’s 
pigeons, but apparently took no toll of them. It 
was observed eating a House sparrow on January 
9th, and captured a Pine Grosbeak shortly before 
my visit on February 2nd, strewing its feathers 
about the garden. Chickadees were apparently 
beneath its notice, and on February 4th, it remained 
peacefully on its perch while a Ruffed Grouse 
budded the bare upper limbs of an adjacent crab- 
apple tree. 

Consultation of some of the bird literature shows 
that this species occurs occasionally in Quebec and 
Ontario in winter, although its winter range ex- 
tends to South America. 

Some recorded winter occurences are: 

Fleming: Auk, Vol. XXIV, 1907, p. 73— 
Given in the Canadian Journal, 1, 1852-3, as a 
winter resident at Toronto in 1853. 

Nash: Occasionally seen at Toronto in winter. 

Terrell: Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXIV, 1910, 
p. 39—One seen at Compton County, Quebec, 
December 2—15, 1909; and ibid—seen at Mont- 
real, Quebec, on December 9, 1908; January 2nd 
and January 30th, 1909. 

Hoyes Ltoyp. 


THE Birps oF THE WILDERNESS OF NoVA 
Scotia—On pp. 36 and 37 of ‘The Canadian Field- 
Naturalist, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2, February, 1920, 
Mr. H. A. P. Smith, of Digby, N.S., tells of notic- 
ing an absence of birds, especially song birds, in 
the interior wilderness of Nova Scotia, and enumer- 
ates the ten species which he has found there, one 
of which, the Song sparrow, he has observed there 
but once. 

It would appear that either Mr. Smith has been 
very unfortunate in the times and places of his 
journeys into the Nova Scotia wilds, or that in 
some way he has overlooked many birds ordinarily 
to be found there in the breeding season. On the 
cpen sphagnum bog, it is true, birds may be scarce, 
but if there are a few bushes and dead _ stubs, 
the White-throated sparrow, the Maryland Yellow- 
throat, and the Chestnut-sider warbler are almost 
certain to be present. Among the granite boulders 
the Nighthawk lays its eggs, at the numerous lakes 
Spotted Sandpipers, Loons, Great Blue Herons, 
Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls fre- 
quently occur, and, where even a small area of 
woodland has escaped the fire and the axe, Hermit 
Thrushes, Magnolia Warblers, Chickadees, Red- 
starts, and a great variety of other woodland birds 
proclaim their presence. 

I have had the pleasure of making a number of 
journeys into the interior of Nova Scotia, and 
while, unfortunately, I did not always make notes 
on the birds, especially the common birds, to be 
found there, yet I am able to state that I have ob- 
served at least fifty-nine species of birds in the 
Nova Scotia wilderness, the home of the moose 
and the wild-cat. As the avifauna of Nova Scotia 
is fairly well known, no attempt will be made to 
take up space here by enumerating these species 
(to which no doubt many more might be added) 
in detail, but the following resume of them may 
serve to prevent any impression that the interior of 


September, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


Nova Scotia lacks bird songs in the season of song. 
The observations on which this summary is based 
were made in the counties of Yarmouth, Kings, and 
Halifax. 

Loon, 2 Gulls, Great Blue Heron, 3 Snipe, Can- 
ada Ruffed Grouse, Barred Owl, Belted King- 
fisher, 3 Woodpeckers, Nighthawk, Ruby-throated 
Hummingbird, 3 Flycatchers, 2 Jays, Northern 
Raven, Crow, Rusty Blackbird, 7 Finches, Tree 
Swallow, 2 Vireos, 18 Warblers, Winter Wren, 
Redbreasted Nuthatch, 2 Chickadees, Ruby- 
crowned Kinglet, 3 Thrushes. 


Harrison F. Lewis, BERGERVILLE, P.Q. 


ProsEcuTIONS, Micratory Birps CONVENTION 
Act AND NortHwest GAME AcT By OFFICERS 
OF THE DomINIOoN ParKs BRANCH AND Roya. 
CANADIAN MountTEeED POoOLIcE. 


Micratory Birps CoNvENTION AcT. 


George Albert Culbert, Boisevain, Manitoba, for 
having four live Blue-winged Teal—Fine $10.09. 

Fred Z. Boudreau, Boudreauville, Petit de Grat, 
Cape Breton, N.S., shooting one Red-breasted Mer- 
ganser—Fine $10.00. 

Geoffrey Jeffries, Louidale, Richmond Co., Cape 
Breton, N.S., shooting one Red-breasted Mergan- 
ser—Fine $10.00. 

Murray Wilson, New Waterford, Cape Breton, 
N.S., shooting a Black Guillemot—Fine $10.00. 

Frederick Mason, Tancook Islands, N.S., shoot- 
ing Mergansers in P.E.I.—Fine $10.00. 

Marcus Schnare, Tancook Islands, N.S., shoot- 
ing Mergansers in P.E.I].—Fine $10.00. 

Sabean Allen, Upper Cape, Westmoreland Co., 
N.B., shooting a Merganser—case dismissed. 

Lloyd Smith, Chebogue, Yarmouth Co., N.S., 
possession of Canada Geese—Fine $40.00 and 
costs. 

Harold Cain, Arcadia, Yarmouth Co., N.S., 
shooting at a Bittern—Fine $10.00 and costs. 

James Paynter, Clinton, P.E.I., selling Canada 
Geese—Fine $10.00 and costs. 

James Paynter, Clinton, P.E.I., possession of 
parts of Canada Geese—case dismissed. 

Wesley Paynter, French River, P.E.I., posses- 
sion of Canada Geese—Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Charles Paynter, Long River, P.E.I., possession 
of Canada Geese—case dismissed. 

Robert Gibbles, Petite Lamec, Shippigan, N.B., 


serving Canada Goose at meals—case dismissed. 


NortTHwest Game Act. 


Peter Alexey (Indian) Husky River, for killing 
Mountain Sheep—Penalty—7 sheep hides, | head 


and carcasses. Seized and forfeited. 


FieLp-NATURALIST 117 


ACCESSIONS TO THE MuseEUM oF THE GeEo- 
LOGICAL Survey, CANADA—The Museum of the 
Geological Survey, the de facto if not the de jure 
National Museum of Canada has received lately 
two donations of more than ordinary importance. 

One is from Mr. W. E. Saunders, of London, 
Ont., well known as an enthusiastic and public 
spirited naturalist. It consists of duplicates which 
in a life-time’s work he has naturally gathered in 
his private collecting and which he feels would fill 
a larger sphere of usefulness in the National col- 
lections. They number 922 bird and 103 mammal 
skins. The great value of this particular collection 
hes in the fact that it contains many specimens 
collected at comparatively early dates and represent 
conditions passed beyond recall and upon which 
we have little or no other data. 

The other contribution was made by Mr. Ernest 
Thompson Seton, who is too well known to re- 
quire particular personal mention here. It consists 
of some 102 bird skins and an important collection 
of zoological books and pamphlets. The former 
is more notable from the original and unique records 
it contains than for numbers and the latter includes 
many rare papers and the proceedings of some 
small or defunct learned societies that are difficult 
to obtain. 

These donations form valuable additions to our 
National collections which constitute the basis of 
exact ornithological work in Canada and as such 
will be of assistance to all present and future 
ornithological workers in the Dominion. 

P. A. TAVERNER. 

THE NAME OF THE “ENGLISH SpaRRow”’—The 
House Sparrow, of Europe, since its introduction 
into America, has been so popularly called the 
“English Sparrow” that it hardly seems worth 
while to endeavor to return to the correct designa- 
tion. Since the beginning of the war, however, 
there have been some suggestions of obvious intent, 
to call this undesirable citizen the “Prussian Spar- 
row.” The proposal however is purely academic 
and there seems little chance that a name so firmly 
established can be changed in current usage even 
by the best intentions of the loyal friends of Eng- 
land. During the war, however, there have been 
some changes in the scientific name of this bird 
that are interesting to the general public as well 
as the nomenclaturist. 

In Falco, No. 2, Dec. 2, 1905, Kleinschmidt, 
of obvious nationality, separated the bird of the 
British isles from the continental form under the 
name of Passer hostilis thus commemorating to some 
degree the Song of Hate in scientific nomenclature. 


H. C. Oberholser, Auk, 1917, 329, states that 


118 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


whilst the British and the Continental forms may 
be distinct, the difference is only subspecific and 
hence the insular bird should stand as Passer 
domesticus hostilis. As undoubtedly our birds are 
descendents of English stock the same name applies 
to them. Thus though it does not seem that “Prus- 
sian Sparrow” can ever be substituted for “English 
Sparrow” in this country we really accomplish the 
same and by a sort of reflex action the opposite of 
the intention of the original describer, in calling it 


hostilis, the enemy. P. A. TavERNER 


LANTERN SLIDES FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.— 
For some time the Biological Division of the Geo- 
logical Survey of Canada has maintained a collec- 
tion of lantern slides for free educational use. This 
collection covers about three hundred slides of va- 
rious natural history subjects. They are mostly 
from original photographs taken by officers of the 
Survey though some have been kindly donated by 
other photographic naturalists. Most of them are 
unusually well colored and of great photographic 
as well as zoological interest. The series is still 
far from complete but it is being added to as rapid- 
ly as possible and already it is possible to illustrate 
a great number of subjects by its means. Birds are 
principally represented but mammals, amphibians 
and reptiles are also included in the series. 

Collections of these slides are loaned freely to 
any responsible person or institution to be used for 
educational purposes and not for personal profit. 
The only conditions attached to their use are, that 
they be returned promptly with a report on the oc- 
casion of their use and that the borrower pays ex- 
press charges, if any, and makes good losses not due 
to ordinary wear and tear. 

It is regretted that distance makes it impossible 
to extend this service west in the prairie provinces, 
or to the Pacific coast at present, but plans are now 
being considered for having duplicate sets distribu- 
ted from the branch offices of the Survey in Ed- 
monton and Vancouver. 

Any one desiring to use these slides should make 
written request to the Biological Division of the 
Geological Survey, Ottawa, stating his official po- 
sition, if any, the subject of the lecture it is proposed 
to illustrate, the society, institution or audience to 
be addressed, or under whose auspices the gather- 
ing is to be held, the number and kind of slides de- 
sired and the date. The application should be 
made well in advance so that conflict of dates can 
be adjusted. The slides should be returned prompt- 
ly that others who may be waiting for them and 
have dates already set may not be disappointed. 

P. A. TAVERNER, 
Ornithologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Birpv Micration.—In the May, 1919 number 
of THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST there is an 
article on the above subject by Mr. H. Mousley 
containing statements which can hardly be allowed 
to pass unchallenged. 

Mr. Mousley rejects as “one of the fairy tales 
of science” the theory that birds during migration 
find their way by the sense of sight. He states 
that “in pure nature there is no such thing as 
self-consciousness, or the power of reasoning,” yet 
he admits that these faculties are found in man. 
If man is not a part of “pure nature” then we are 
forced to the conclusion that he must be regarded 
as super-natural, a conclusion with which I think 
Further this state- 
ment is not in accord with carefully conducted ob- 


few scientific men will agree. 


servations and experiments on the higher animals. 
Mr. Mousley goes on to say that some of the 
higher animals, such as dogs, horses, etc., from 
long and intimate association with man, no doubt 
at times display traces of it, that is, of self- 
consciousness or reason. ‘This statement again is 
contrary to all the data furnished by the study of 
animal psychology, since no entirely new type 
of mental process, such as reason, can possibly be 
evolved by association with man, and all that man 
can do in the training of animals is to make use 
of, and develop more fully, faculties already pos- 
sessed by the animals in question. 

Mr. Mousley continues: “All wild birds and 
animals, however, I believe, are subconscious, and 
therein lies the secret of their making no mistakes.” 
The onus of proof that wild animals “make no 
mistakes” is upon Mr. Mousley. If this were true 
it would be most fortunate for them, but I fancy 
any close observer of wild life can recall cases in 
which wild animals have made mistakes, mistakes 
which in many instances have cost them their lives. 

The next statement is: “To understand this more 
fully one must be prepared to accept the fact that 
telepathy (now recognized by science) pervades 
and is general throughout the entire animal king- 
dom. It is a potential faculty (working on an 
astral plane unknown to us at present) which inter- 
connects subconscious mind, and permits silent 
intercourse to be established.” I would venture 
to suggest that telepathy is far from being recog- 
nized by the majority of scientific men, that the 
idea_ of 
biologists as a phantasy, and that there is abso- 
lutely no proof that any mind can communicate 
with any other mind, save through the medium of 
the senses of hearing, sight, touch or smell. 

But Mr. Mousley goes even further than relying 
on telepathy to acount for the directing of migra- 


“astral planes” is regarded by most 


September, 1920] 


tion and brings in “‘telaethesia,” which he defines as 
“power of vision passing the limits of time and 
space.” One can readily see what a very useful 
power this would be, a power more wonderful 
than all the gifts of prophecy and fairy wands, but 
one must be allowed to express a slight doubt as to 
its existence, 


If birds are possessed of this miraculous power 
it is rather hard to account for the fact of their 
becoming lost in a fog when migrating. A fog 
certainly might cause them to lose direction if they 
depended on the sense of sight, but it should have 
no influence on a purely mental attribute, such as 
“telaethesia’”’ is assumed to be. 


In conclusion I would suggest that if the guid- 
ing of migration by the sense of sight is to be 
regarded as one of “the fairy-tales of science” that 
Mr. Mousley’s theory may be regarded as “fairy- 
talaethesia.” 

A Brooker KiucuH. 


A Dopep ButTerFLy>—Early in September 
last year in woods on the shore of Lake Missanog, 
Frontenac County, Ontario, I came across a patch 
of very large specimens of the poisonous Fly Agaric, 
Amanita muscaria. On the pileus of one of the 
specimens was a Camberwell Beauty, FEuvanessa 
antiopa. It did not take flight when I touched it but 
merely wobbled weakly from side to side. I picked 
it up and let it go in the air, but it fell to the ground 
with closed wings. I then placed it on the trunk 
of a tree, to which it clung for a few minutes, and 
then fluttered back to the same fungus, where I left 
it. 

It would seem as if this butterfly had been pois- 
ined by muscarine, the extremely toxic alkaloid 
found in Amanita muscaria, though no absolute 
conclusion on this point can be drawn from this single 
instance. Its behaviour in returning to its poisonous 
repast is interesting, but here again no definite con- 
clusions can be drawn from a single instance. | 
should be glad to hear of any other observations on 
the relations of insects to this fungus. 


A. BRooKeR K Lucu. 


MorcHELLA BISPORA IN CANADA. Mr. W. S. 
Odell’s note in a recent number of The Canadian 
Field-Naturalist, apparently constitutes the first pub- 
lished record of the finding of M. bispora. The 
Division of Botany, Central Experimental Farm, 
some years ago (1912) studied some Morels col- 
lected by Mr. J. W. Eastham, B.Sc., near Billings 
Bridge; among them Mr. Eastham showed me 
Morchella bispora, and I well remember the charac- 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 119 


teristic ascus containing the two large hyaline 
spores. There is no doubt in my mind that the 


species then examined is the same as that recorded 


by Mr. Odell. 
H. T. Gussow. 


MoRCHELLA BISPORA IN CANADA.—I was inter- 
ested in the article “A Rare Fungus New to 
Canada,” by Mr. W. S. Odell in the January num- 
ber of The Canadian Field-Naturalist in which he 
records Morchella bispora from Chelsea, Quebec, 
and from the vicinity of Ottawa, but I beg to point 
out that his statement that “There is no record of 
its having been previously found in Canada,” re- 
quires modification. In the Ontario Natural Science 
Bulletin, No. 6, 1910, I first recorded this species 
from Canada and I reproduce below the original 
note :— 

“Morchella bispora is a very common fungus on 
the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario. It grows abundantly 
in damp woods, appearing in May, and lasting till 
early in June. Some of the sporophores attain a 
very large size. As an edible species it ranks high, 
as it is tender and of excellent flavour. Dr. Dear- 
ness informs me that this species has not been pre- 
viously recorded from Canada.” 

The fact that records of the occurrence of spe- 
cies of plants and animals in Canada can be easily 
overlooked shows the need of some central author- 
ity for each group. Such an authority should not 
be a worker in the group but should be willing to 
receive and keep on file all records of the distribu- 
tion of species in his group. I would suggest that. 
the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club try and make 
such arrangements for as many groups as possible, 
and publish the names of the authorities, so that 
anyone wishing information on the distribution of 
species in a certain group can appeal to the proper 
authority. In this connection I should be extremely 
glad to receive records of all species of Cyanophy- 
ceae (Blue-green Algae), Chlorophyceae (Green 


Algae) and fresh-water Protozoa of Canada. 


A. BRooKER KLuUGH. 


RUSTY BLACKBIRDS WINTERING IN ALBERTA.— 
A flock of eleven Rusty Blackbirds have remained 
in Camrose, Alberta, throughout the past winter. 
The winter of 1919 and 1920 has been as severe, 
and perhaps longer than any since the settlement of 
this portion of the west. The ground was frozen 
several inches deep by October 10th, and on the 
18th of that month eight inches of snow covered the 
ground. On November 6th the thermometer regis- 
tered 24 below zero, on which day a flock of 
Evening Grosbeaks began their residence in Cam- 


120 THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


rose for three months. There were several breaks 
in the weather before the New Year, but by the 
middle of January it became very severe, and the 
thermometer showed 55 below zero for several days 
towards the end of the month. 

The winter came on with such suddenness that 
many birds must have perished, likely more from 
want of food than from the terrible cold. On 
November 4th; tree sparrows and juncos were very 
plentiful, and seemed to be in an excited condition 
of mind, being more restless than the chicadees that 
were with them. On the 10th of the month some 
boys brought me a Richardson’s Owl that they had 
taken from the limb of a small poplar, even he, 
seemed to be chilled to the bone and did not resist 
capture. Before Christmas the snow was 20 inches 
deep on the level, and a month later I measured it 
in the woods and found it to be over 30 inches. 

Late in January I happened to be at the stock- 
yards one afternoon, and was very much surprised 
to hear the note of a blackbird, and on looking 
around saw a flock of eleven Rusty Blackbirds. 
Most of them were feeding on a stack of oat sheaves, 
while a few were sitting on the high fence that sur- 
rounds the yards. On enquiry I was told that 
they had been there since the first cold spell, and 
that on fine days they generally made a flight out 
to the neighboring farms, always returning before 
evening. None of the men could say where the 
birds spent the night, but thought they must have 
crawled into the stacks or the many crannies around 
the buildings. 

On several occasions after, I visited the yards to 
see how the birds were wintering, and always found 
them in the very best of spirits. On very cold days 
they seemed to be occupied mostly in keeping their 
feet covered from the frost, this was done by squat- 
ting down and spreading out their feathers very 
much like the way the Horned lark acts while on 
the ground. Warm afternoons seemed to brighten 
them up, and feeble attempts were made at chorus 
singing, but not with the same vigor as is shown by 
them in the fall before leaving for the South. At 
this date (March 26th) the flock is seen daily flying 
to various parts of the town in search of different 
foods, and there are indications of their mating, six 
are males and five females. Their plumage is com- 
mencing to assume the lustre of spring birds. 

Now the question must arise, why have these 
birds remained through such a long cold winter? 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Camrose is on the 53rd Meridian, nearly three 
hundred miles north of the Montana and Dakota 
lines. 


Did they know that this great distance separated 
them from a more congenial clime, and would not 
take the chance of a flight that might necessitate a 
stop where feed and shelter were uncertain? Some- 
thing told them they had remained too long last 
fall, and that it would be best for them to accept the 
hospitality of the stockyards, rather than make an 
effort to cross several hundred miles of uncharted 
snow covered plains! 


FRANK L. FARLEY. 


A Unique ENTomoLocicAL EXPERIENCE.— 
While in camp at Lake Missanag, Ontario, during 
September, I collected a specimen of Pedicia albi- 
vittata, a large Crane-fly with black markings on 
the wings. I placed the specimen in the cyanide 
bottle fully expecting that, after the usual manner 
of Crane-flies, it would shed several of its long and 
loosely-attached legs, and my anticipations were 
fulfilled by its losing three of these appendages. I 
removed it from the cyanide bottle, pinned it, and 
proceeded to stick the three lost legs on with Le- 
Page’s glue. In this process, which was one of 
some difficulty and demanded considerable accu- 
racy of manipulation, one of the legs broke at the 
tibio-femoral joint, but I succeeded in joining it 
together again and attaching it to the body. 


Half an hour after I looked at the specimen to see 
if all the appendages were still secure, when I ob- 
served, to my intense astonishment, that the leg which 
had been broken in two was waving up and down. 
None of the other appendages were moving and up- 
on touching the abdomen the insect showed no 
signs of life. This leg continued to wave about for 
an hour or so, and early next morning it was still 
moving, and continued to do so intermittently until 
noon. 


The only explanation of this peculiar episode 
which I can suggest is that some substance, possibly 
acetic acid in the glue, acted on the muscles of the 
leg, causing them to contract, and the broken leg 
moved because it had received a double dose of this 
substance. 


A. BrooKER KLUGH. 


THE CANADIAN 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., OCTOBER, 1920. 


No. 7. 


NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF THE MOOSE RIVER AND THE MATTAGAMI 
AND ABITIBI TRIBUTARIES.* 


By M. Y. WILLIAMs. 


INTRODUCTION. 


During a geological trip made in the summer of 
1919, between the National Transcontinental rail- 
way, and Moose Factory, the writer gathered the 
information contained in this article, on the fauna 
of the region. 

The trip was made by canoe, from Fauquier on 
the Transcontinental railway down the Groundhog 
river to Mattagami river, down this to Moose river 
and thence to Moose Factory, which is situated be- 
low tide water nine miles up river from James bay. 
The return route was up Moose river to the mouth 
of Abitibi river, up this river to Frederick House 
river and up this river to the landing near Clute, 
fourteen miles northwest of Cochrane. 

The journey was commenced on August Ist, 
and was completed on September 5th. Rainy 
weather between the 22nd and 28th of August de- 
layed travel, and hindered observations materially. 

The region traversed is wooded, except for burnt 
areas, some of which are old and of large extent. 
The clay belt as seen at Cochrane extends far down 
river, with the muskeg areas probably predominat- 
ing over the clay ridges. High sand hills are crossed 
in the Abitibi canyon, and are reported elsewhere. 
The region south of James bay is covered with 
marine silt which is more fertile than the soil of the 
clay belt. 

The rivers have incised their channels from fifty 
to two hundred feet into the loose deposits, their 
character, whether slow, rapid or torrential depend- 
ing upon the rock outcrops. Above the foot of the 
Long Portage on Mattagami river, and the Otter 
portage on Abitibi river, the streams are broken, 
by many rapids and falls, the intervening stretches 
of water being either slack or of moderate current: 
this region is underlain by pre-Cambrian gneisses, 
and other crystalline rocks. Lower down, the coun- 
try is underlain by limestone, sandstone and shale, 
and the rivers have few interruptions, although long 
stretches of rapids occur where the rock flows over 


*Published \ith permission of the Geological 
Survey of Canada, 


limestone and shale ledges. 

The river banks commonly rise twenty to fifty 
feet to a narrow terrace. ‘This terrace which aver- 
ages about 200 feet in depth, slopes upward to the 
general level of the country, which is principally 
muskeg,—a floor of spagnum moss, laurel, and 
Labrador tea, studded sparsely with black spruce. 
The terraces are well timbered with stands of white 
birch, white and black poplar, and white spruce. 
Where the region is underlain by pre-Cambrian 
rocks, white cedar, Jack pine, and some tamarack 
occur. At the water’s edge, and on the sand-bars, 
willows and dogwocd grow in dense masses, and 
during the summer, golden rod, and even red clover 
grow along the banks at favourable places. 

A distinct difference is to be noted between the 
water of Mattagami and Abitibi rivers. The water 
of the former is dark in colour, but reasonably clear, 
while that of the latter is very muddy. This prob- 
ably accounts for the absence on the Abitibi of fish 
ducks, fish hawks, and other birds which prey upon 
fish, although these occur commonly on the Mat- 
tagami. Fishing on the Abitibi is likewise very 
poor. 

Birps. 


COMMON LOON, Gavia immer. Two seen at 
mouth of Kapuskasing river on August 4th, flying 
from the direction of a small lake lying to the east. 

HERRING GULL, Larus argentatus. Generally 
common along the Kapuskasing, Mattagami, and 
Moose rivers from the National Transcontinental 
railway to Moose Factory, and up as far as the sec- 
ond rapids above the mouth of the Abitibi river. 
The greatest number were seen on the Mattagami 
river between the mouth of the Groundhog and the 
foot of the Long Portage. One was seen at the 
foot of the Long Rapids on the Abitibi river. Im- 
mature birds in grey plumage were seen on three 
occasions, one being shot near the second rapids 
above the mouth of the Abitibi river on August 
25th. Dates of observation, August Ist to 29th. 

COMMON TERN, Sterna hirundo. Several seen 
almost every day spent between Moose Factory, 


122 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


eological Survey, 


Incex Map, Moose River and lower Mattagami and Abitibi Rivers, Ontario. 


October, 1920.] 


Blacksmith’s rapids and on the Abitibi river; dates 
August 17th to 28th. Two were shot, a male and 
female in adult plumage on August 19th and 20th, 
one on Bushy island, and one opposite the mouth 
of the French river. 

AMERICAN MERGANSER, Mergus americanus. 
Three adults and several half-grown young were 
observed on the lower Groundhog river on August 
3rd; about thirty young and old on Mattagami 
above the Long Rapids on August I Ith; eighteen off 
the mouth of Missinaibi river on August 14th; one 
off mouth of Abitibi river on August 17th. 

BLACK DUCK, Anas rubripes. Observed as fol- 
lows:—One near La Duke rapids, Groundhog 
river, August 3rd; two adults and 2 immature on 
the lower Groundhog on August 3rd; one imma- 


ture being shot; thirty off mouth of Abitibi on Aug-’ 


ust 17th; two shot on Abitibi river, four miles above 
its mouth; one seen at second rapids of Abitibi riv- 
er; ten about ten miles below Blacksmith rapids of 
Abitibi river; eight just below Coral Portage of 
Abitibi river. 

GOLDEN-EYE, Clangula clangula. A pair on 
ponds below Long Portage, Mattagami river, Aug- 
ust 8th, the female collected. A few others, not 
identified with certainty along Moose river. 

CANADA GOOoSsE, Branta canadensis. One adult in 
pond at mouth of Pike creek, Mattagami river; one 
immature at Grand Rapids, Mattagami river; five 
seen on Abitibi river at second rapids above its 
mouth. 

GREAT BLUE HERON, Ardea herodias. One at La 
Duke rapids, Groundhog river; one at New Post, 
Abitibi river. 

CRANE, Grus canadensis, sp.» Fresh tracks on 
sand bar at low tide, on Moose river, opposite mouth 
of French river, August 20th. Tracks of three 
toes, rather thick, and about two inches in length. 

WILSON’S SNIPE, Gallinago delicata. One seen at 
Moose Factory, August 18th. 

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, Ereunetes pusillus. 
One male shot at foot of Long Rapids, Abitibi river. 

GREATER YELLOW-LEGS, Totanus melanoleucus. 
One came into camp on Long Portage, Mattagami 
river, August 6th; three seen on Moose river at 
mouth of Abitibi river August 17th; five on Bushy 
island, August 19th; two opposite mouth of French 
river, August 20th; three at mouth of Abitibi Aug- 
ust 21st; two at mouth of Abitibi river, August 23rd. 

SPOTTED SANDPIPER, Actifes macularia. Two 
seen at Cochrane, July 30th. Several were seen 
almost every day of the journey between August 
Ist and September Ist. One immature bird was 
collected on Moose river opposite the mouth of the 
French river, August 21st. 

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, Aegialitis semipalmata. 
A flock of thirty seen at Moose Factory, August 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


123 


18th; a flock, probably of this species on Abitibi 
river about 4 miles above its mouth, on August 23rd. 

RUFFED GROUSE, Bonasa umbellus. One male 
taken on the Little Long Portage of Mattagami riv- 
er, August 5th; two immature taken at Blacksmith 
rapids, Abitibi river, August 28th, and two more 
seen. 

MARSH HAWK, Circus hudsonius. One seen at 
mouth of Missinaibi river, August 14th; and others 
seen on Moose river, as follows:—one at Grey 
Goose island, August 15th; one at crossing of 
Niven’s line, August 16th; one at Bushy island, 
August 19th; one at mouth of French river, Aug- 
ust 20th; one at mouth of Abitibi, August 21st. 
One was seen at the Coral portage on the Abitibi 
river on August 30th. All were in brown plumage. 

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, Accipiter velox. One 
seen on Long Portage, Mattagami river, August 8th. 
A small hawk, probably of this species at Niven’s 
line on Moose river, August 16th. On Abitibi riv- 
er as follows:—one about 4 miles above mouth 
August 23rd; one near Niven’s line, August 26th; 
one at foot Long Rapids, August 29th; one at 
Coral Portage, August 30th; one at Red Sucker 
Creek, September 3rd; one at Cochrane, September 
6th. 

COOPER’S HAWK, Accipiter cooperi. Doubtful 
identifications. Niven’s line, Moose river, August 
16th; and second rapids above mouth of Abitibi 
river, August 24th. Two birds were clearly recog- 
nized as belonging to this species, one about ten 
miles below Blacksmith’s rapids on the Abitibi 
river, August 27th, and the other at Blacksmith’s 
rapids, on August 28th. 

RED-TAILED HAWK, Buteo borealis. One at Ham- 
ilton rapids, Groundhog river, August 2nd; one at 
Pike creek, Mattagami river, August IIth; a fine 
adult with red tail at mouth of Missinaibi river, 
August 14th. 

EAGLE, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, sp.> A dark- 
coloured eagle was seen near the crossing of Niven’s 
line on Moose river, August 16th. 

AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK, Falco  sparverius. 
Five seen at Cochrane, July 30th. Two birds of 
this species, or else columbarius were seen along the 
lower Groundhog river. Birds _ satisfactorily 
identified were seen, one on the Long Portage of 
Mattagami river, on August 7th; one at the mouth 
of Missinaibi river on August 14th; two at the 
crossing of Niven’s line on Moose river on August 
16th; one at the mouth of Red Sucker creek, Abi- 
tibi river, September 3rd; and one at Cochrane, 
September 6th. 

OsPREY, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis. Two 
were seen at the lignite claims on Mattagami river 
on August IIth, and one the following day at the 
Grand Rapids. On Moose river, two were seen at 


124 


the crossing of Niven’s line, August 16th, and one 
at the mouth of Abitibi river on August 17th. On 
Abitibi river one was seen at the foot of the Long 
Rapids on August 29th, and one at the Coral 
Portage cn August 30th. 

GREAT HORNED OWL, Bubo virginianus. One 
seen at Three Carrying places, Abitibi river, Sept. 
4th, and one was heard that night at our camp a 
few miles up Frederick House river. 

HAWK OWL, Surnia ulula. One seen west of 
Cochrane, July 29th. 

BELTED KINGFISHER, Ceryle alcyon. One seen 
at Cochrane, July 29th. Commonly distributed 
along the lower Groundhog, Mattagami, Moose, 
and Abitibi rivers, two or more being seen almost 
every day throughout the trip. The muddy waters 
of the Abitibi river did not appear to have the same 
influence on the distribution of the Kingfisher, as 
on most other fish-eating species. In all between 
thirty-five and forty individuals were seen between 
August Ist and September 5th. 

ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, Picoides 
arcticus. None seen on rivers, but one individual 
seen on September 5th in a grove about nine miles 
northwest of Cochrane. 

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, Sphvrapicus varius. 
One immature male shot on island at mouth of 
Missinaibi river, August 14th. 

PILEATED WOODPECKER, Phlocotomus pileatus. 
A note probably made by this species was heard by 
the writer near Clute, twelve miles northwest of 
Cochrane ,September 5th. 

FLICKER, Colaptes auraius. Several seen at 
Cochrane, July 28th. Two seen on Mattagami riv- 
er, one opposite mouth of Pike creek, August 11th, 
and one at Grand Rapids on August 12th. On 
Abitibi river, one below Niven’s line, August 
25th, one at same location on August 26th; one at 
foot of Long Rapids on August 29th; one near 
mouth of Frederick House river, September 4th. 

NIGHT HAWK, Chordeiles virginianus. Two were 
seen at Cochrane, July 29th. Several seen every 
day between the lower Groundhog and the Long 
Portage, of Mattagami river, August 3rd to 8th, 
and several seen each day between the Grand rapids 
of Mattagami and Grey Goose island, Moose 
river, August 12th to 15th. 

CANADA JAY, Perisoreus canadensis. Probably 
much more common than the number observed would 
indicate, due to their habit of remaining in seclusion 
until the camp site is abandoned. One heard on 
Groundhog river, August Ist; Mattagami river, Long 
Rapids, one seen each day, August 7th, 8th, and 
9th. Moose river, one seen opposite mouth of 
French river, August 20th; Abitibi river, heard 
near mouth, on August 23rd and 24th; two seen 
near second rapids above mouth on 24th; one near 


THe CanapiAn’ Fievtp-NaTURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Niven’s line on 25th; four at same locality on 26th; 
two at Blacksmith’s rapids on 28th; one at foot of 
Long Rapids on 29th; two at Coral portage on 
30th. One male collected near New Post on Sep- 
tember Ist. 

RAVEN, Corvus corax. Seen on Mattagami river, 
as follows:—one below mouth cf Groundhog, Aug- 
ust 3rd; two on Long Portage, August 10th, and 
one on IIth; three at mouth of Missinaibi, August 
14th; two on Moose river, near Niven’s line, August 
16th. On Abitibi river:—one at mouth, August 
17th; one at Second rapids above mouth, August 
24th; one at Blacksmith’s rapids, August 28th, one 
at foot Long Portage, August 29th; one at Coral 
Portage, August 30th; one at New Post, Septem- 
ber Ist; one at Frederick House, September 4th. 

AMERICAN CROW, Corvus brachyrhynchos. Sev- 
eral seen at Clute, September 5th. 

HOUSE SPARROW, Passer domesticus. Three seen 
at Moose Factory, August 18th. Mr. McLeod, 
Factor at New Post, but formerly of Moose Fac- 
tory, says that the sparrows came to Moose Factory 
about eight years ago, and that many die every 
winter. 

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, Astragalinus tristis, sp.? 
Fifteen birds probably of this species, but possibly 
Pine Siskins, were seen on the Lower Groundhog 
river, August 3rd. 

SAVANAH SPARROW, Passerculus sand wichensis. 
One specimen taken at the foot of the Long Portage, 
Mattagami river, August 8th. These sparrows are 
so dark in colour as to be quite unlike the Savannah 
sparrows of Southern Ontario; the commonest 
sparrow of Moose river and the tributaries travelled. 

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, Zonotrichia albicol- 
lis. Fairly common, being either seen or heard al- 
most every day of the trip. In song until August 
27th. 

jJuNco, Junco hyemalis. Well distributed. Mat- 
tagami river:—Long Portage, several August 8th; 
Pike Creek, two August 11th; Grand Rapids, two, 
August 13th. Abitibi river:—mouth, two August 
17th; four miles above mouth, two, August 23rd; at 
Second rapids, above mouth, common, August 24th; 
Blacksmith’s rapids, two, August 28th; Long por- 
tage, several September 2nd; Frederick House, 
river, common, Sept. 5th. 

SWAMP SPARROW, Melospiza georgiana. Birds 
doubtfully referred to this species were seen August 
13th and 14th, on the Grand rapids of Mattagami 
river, and again on the Second rapids above the 
mouth of the Abitibi river, on August 24th. 

TREE SWALLOW, /ridoprocne bicolor. Several ob- 
served on the Groundhog river on August 2nd and 
3rd, and on Mattagami river at the Long rapids on 
August 7th. A single bird at the second rapids 
above the mouth of the Abitibi on August 24th. 


October, 1920.] 


BANK SWALLOW, JRiparia riparia. Nests common 
along Grand Rapids of. Mattagami river, and also 
on Mecse river near Niven’s line. Six birds seen 


near mouth of Abitibi river, August 17th. Nests 
common near Niven’s line on Abitibi river. 
CEDAR WAXWING, Bombycilla cedrorum. On 


Groundhog river common August Ist to 3rd. Sev- 
eral on Little Long Portage, Mattagami river, Aug- 
ust 5th. Several at Bushy island, Moose river, 
August 20th. Heard on Lower Abitibi August 23rd 
and 24th. Common at Blacksmith’s rapids, and at 
foct of Long Portage, Abitibi river, August 28th 
and 29th. 

RED-EYED VIREO, Vireosylva olivacea. Matta- 
gami river:—one taken at foot of Long Portage, 
August 8th. Very common there on 8th and 9th; 
one at Grand rapids, August IIth. Several seen 
below Niven’s line, Abitibi river, August 26th. 


MYRTLE WARBLER, Dendroica coronata. “Two 
at Grand rapids, Mattagami river, August 12th. 


AMERICAN REDSTART, Selophaga ruticilla. One 


immature male taken near mouth of Abitibi river, © 


August 21st. Several others seen. 


MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT, Geothlypis trichas. 
One seen on lower Abitibi river, August 24th. 


BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, Penthestes atricapil- 
lus. Commonly seen or heard on the portages 
throughout the trip. 


HERMIT THRUSH, Hylocichla guilata. One seen 
at Long Portage, Mattagami river, August 7th. 

AMERICAN ROPIN, Planesticus migratorius. Com- 
mon cn Groundhcg, August Ist and 2nd, nest and 
two young, on branch five feet above bridge on 
Long Portage, Mattagami river, August 6th. Heard 
at mouth of Missinaibi river, August 15th. Two 
seen on Bushy island, Moose river, August 19th; 
heard at foot of Long Rapids, Abitibi river, Aug- 
ust 29th; one seen at New Post, September Ist. 


MamMALs. 


SHREW, Sorex, sp.? One seen near Lignite claims, 
Mattagami river river, August | 1th. 


BLACK BEAR, Ursus americanus. One swam 
across river ahead of the canoes near Wawadasing 
rapids, Mattagami river, August 5th. Tracks at 
mouth of Missinaibi river, August 14th. Destruc- 
tion of dogwood bushes due to bears common along 
Abitibi river below mouth of Frederick House river, 


September 4th. 
GREY WOLF, Canis occidentalis. Tracks identi- 


fied by Indian guides as those of wolves, common 


along Mattagami and Moose rivers, August 3rd- 
14th. 


BEARDED SEAL, Erignathus barbatus. One taken 
near Moose Factory on August 18th. Others seen 


THE ‘CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


on bars in river near Moose Factory. 

CHIPMUNK, Eutamias quadrivittatus borealis. 
Seen occasionally on the portages of all the rivers 
travelled. One taken at Long Rapids, Mattagami 
river, August | 2th. 

RED SQUIRREL, Sciurus hudsonicus. Fairly com- 
mon in heavier timber. One taken at fcot of Long 
Portage, Mattagami river, August 8th. 

BEAVER, Castor canadensis. Signs fairly common 
above Grand Rapids, Mattagami river, where an 
adult was seen in company with young on August 
5th. 

NORTHERN HARE, Lepus americanus. One young 
one caught in snare near camp at Whist Falls, 
Groundhog river, August 2nd, No others seen on 
trip. 

MOOSE, Alces americanus. One killed by Indian, 
seen near Little Long Portage, Mattagami river, 
August 4th. A large bull killed by campers above 
Grand Rapids, August 5th. A yearling bull killed 
by cur party near Lignite claims, Mattagami river, 
August I1th. Tracks common at mouth of Missi- 
naibi river. 


BATRACHIANS. 


NORTHERN FROG, Rana septentrionalis? Several 
seen at Little Long Portage, Mattagami river, Aug- 
ust 4th. One seen at Moose Factory, August 18th. 

AMERICAN TOAD, Bufo lentiginosus. One speci- 
men of a pink shade and small size seen near head 
of Long Rapids, Mattagami river, August 11th. 
One seen at Missinaibi river, August 14th; several 
large and small at Moose Factory, August 18th; 
one on August 22nd, and one on 23rd on Abitibi 


river three-quarters of a mile above its mouth. 


REPTILES. 
CARTER SNAKE, 7hamnopbis sirtalis. One seen 


on Little Long Portage, Mattagami river, August 
4th. 


FisH. 

LAKE STURGEON, Acipenser rubicundus? One 
large sturgeon seen by my men on the Long Rapids 
of the Mattagami river. 

PIKE, Lucius lucius. Common and very large in 
pools at foot of Long Portage, Mattagami river. 
Taken up to twelve pounds in weight, August 6th 
and 7th. 

PICKEREL, Stizostedion vilreum. Common along 
Groundhog and Mattagami rivers. Taken up to 
nine pounds in weight at foot of Long Portage, 
Mattagami river, August 6th and 7th. 

SUCKER, Moxostoma, sp.2 One dead on shore 


near foot of Long Rapids, Mattagami river, August 
12th. 


126 THE CANADIAN 
INSECTS. 


MOSQUITOES. Not very numerous aleng rivers, 
except at mouth of Missinaibi. Very plentiful at 
Moose Factory, on August 18th and 19th, and in 


FieLpD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 
general below tide water. 

MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY, A glais antiopa L. 
Two seen near foot of Long Rapids, Mattagami 
river, August 13th. 


THE LARGER FRESHWATER CRUSTACEA OF CANADA AND ALASKA. 


By Frits JOHANSEN. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Though the freshwater-crustacea are of great im- 
portance as food for fishes, birds, water-insects, etc., 
occuring in vast numbers even in ponds, and cer- 
tain of them (Malacostraca) are conspicuous enough 
by their size, their occurrence in Canada and Alas- 
ka has been little studied, apart from cray-fishes. 
A. G. Huntsman has already called attention to this 
fact in his ““Freshwater-Malacostraca of Ontario,” 
(Contributions to Canadian Biology 1911-14, Fasc. 
II, p. 145), and he also there emphasizes how com- 
paratively little is known about their habits and 
life-histories, on which their distribution in and their 
introduction into the innumerable ponds, creeks and 
lakes in Canada depends. 


So far as Alaska is concerned cray-fishes are not 
found there (they may occur in southern Alaska), 
and the other freshwater-crustacea do not seem to 
have appealed much to the many collectors in that 
territory as of sufficient interest, even to the extent 
of their picking up a few odd specimens, so easily 
secured by pulling up water plants, by using a 
catcher from the margin of a lake or pond, or by 
examining stomachs of fishes caught. The writer 
has had personal experience of how common fresh- 
water-crustacea are along the arctic coast of Alas- 
ka, and it is to be hoped that future collectors will 
connect up the collections made here with the data 
secured in the western provinces of Canada, by an 
examination of the bodies of freshwater in the more 
southern parts of Alaska and of Yukon Territory, 
so easily accessible all the year round.* As is the 
case for the United States so also for Canada the 
hitherto published records of freshwater-crustacea 
refer mainly to the Great Lakes and their ramifica- 
tions and tributaries. The present writer has only 
a few new data or collections to record from this 
area, and has only a tourist’s acquaintance with these 
extensive bodies of water. The present article 
therefore does not claim to treat the basin of the 
Great Lakes exhaustively; other writers are more 
qualified to do so, and as mentioned, these bodies of 


*See recent collections recorded by Pearse (1913). 


freshwater have been studied fairly well before (see 
bibliography), even Georgian Bay and other pure- 
ly Canadian (Ontario) localities (Huntsman). 
But, thanks to the efforts of various Canadian 
expeditions and collectors quite a few freshwater- 
crustacea have been collected in Canada and the 
arctic part of Alaska, in various ponds, lakes and 
streams, particularly in more recent years. I have 
gone over most of the larger forms from the col- 
lections (Amphipods, Isopods, Phyllopads), except 
cray-fishes, in the possession of the various museums 
in Canada; and by letters and words I have tried 
to stimulate the securing of further data, in par- 
ticular from hitherto quite unrepresented areas. The 
result has been most gratifying and the time seems 
now opportune to publish these many data, which 
perhaps will create a still greater interest in the 
subject. I may add that the freshwater-crustacea 
(Amphipeda, Phyllopoda, Cladocera, Copepoda, 
Ostracoda) I secured along the arctic coast of 
America while with the southern party of the Can- 
adian Arctic Expedition, 1913-16, are treated in 
detail by various specialists in Volume VII, of the 
scientific reports of the said expedition (Ottawa, 
1920), so I need only here refer to these reports. 
To give an idea of the many widely separated 
localities in Canada and Alaska from which we 
(mainly the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa) 
have specimens of freshwater-crustacea I mention 
the following places:—Teller (Port Clarence) ; 
Point Barrow, Camden Bay, Demarcation Point 
and Herschel Island, along the north coast of Alas- 
ka and Yukon Territory; International Boundary 
line between New Rampart House and Arctic 
coast; Cape Bathurst and various places on the 
south side of Dolphin and Union Strait in Arctic 
Canada; Fullerton on the west side of Hudson 
Bay; east coast of Grinnell land; Labrador coast 
and Newfoundland; western, northern and eastern 
coasts of Greenland (collections in Copenhagen) ; 
west side of Cape Breton island, N.S.; Nova 
Scotia, (according to Dr. Marsh’s and Juday’s let- 
ters to me of March 10, I1, 1920); Magdalen 
islands, Tadousac and Quebec City, P. Que.; 


October, 1920.] 


Thousand islands, N.Y.; Great Lakes; neighbour- 
hoods of Montreal, Ottawa and Hull; various lo- 
calities in middle and scuthern Ontario; a few 
localities in the middle and southern parts of Yukon 
Territory and the four western provinces, Manitoba, 
Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. 

The freshwater-crustacea known from the locali- 
ties given above are in some cases both Malacostraca 
and Entomostraca; in cther cases only one of these 
two sub-classes; in again other cases only certain 
orders belonging to one or the other of these sub- 
classes have been collected; finally it is often only 
certain families or genera which occur in these more 
northern parts of the American continent. 

The freshwater Entomostraca are mostly circum- 
polar in distribution, and are perhaps best treated 
from this point of view (as will be seen from the 
Canadian Arctic Expedition reports); and as the 
available records of them have been published 
rather fully in various countries, I do not intend to 
include such, in this article, apart from the Phyllo- 
poda (Branchiopoda). 

The freshwater Malacostraca occurring in Can- 
ada and Alaska are, however, properly to be con- 
sidered continental forms, outrunners from their 
much more numerous representatives in the United 
States. It is interesting to recall in this connection, 
that no Decapods or Isopods are known from the 
arctic and subarctic regions of Canada and Alaska; 
and that though the Amphipods are known to 
occur all the way to the arctic coast of the main- 
land (at least west of Hudson Bay), there are no 
records of them hitherto from the islands compos- 
ing the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, though they 
are probably found at least on the more southern 
islands. That no freshwater Malacostraca are 
known from Greenland is also significant. The 
details about this most. interesting point (the dis- 
tribution northward) will be given later in these 
articles; suffice is it to say now that the Decapoda 
going farthest north are certain species of cray 
fishes; and of Isopds and Amphipods prcbably only 
the three common forms, Asellus communis, Gam- 
marus limnaeus and Hyalella knickerbockeri. 

Unfortunately we have practically no records of 
freshwater Crustacea from the vast area outside 
the localities given above for this continent, except 
in so far as certain species (Gammarus limnaeus, 
Hyalella knickerbockeri), which are distributed 
over the whole of the mainland part of Canada and 
Alaska or more southern species (Mancasellus tenax, 
certain Amphipods and cray-fishes), are concerned. 
It is, therefore, most desirable that material be col- 
lected in the following two areas; the whole sub- 
arctic part of the continent from Alaska to the 
Labrador Peninsula (Ungava), and the islands 
composing the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is 


THE CANADIAN FieLp-NATURALIST 127 


my hope, that future collectors in these regions will 
pay far more attention to the freshwater-crustacea 
than has been done heretofore. Each collection will 
have considerable value, not only from a scientific 
but also from an economic point of view, particular- 
ly in a country like Canada where the freshwater 
occupies at least fifteen per cent of its total area, 
and the fish living therein which depend so largely 
upon these crustacea form one of our great national 
assets. 


AMPHIPODA. 


The general appearance of these crustacea, the 
great majority of which are found in the sea, (about 
two dozen species occurring in freshwater upon this 
continent), may be supposed to be fairly well known 
to the general public, who will have noticed them 
in great numbers in the small pools around stones or 
under sea-weed along beaches at low tide. They 
are commonly called “shrimps,” though this name 
properly should only be used for certain “Decapod” 
crustacea (prawns, etc.) “Sea-weed-lice” or 
“beach-fleas” are really better names and are 
popularly used, for instance in the Scandinavian 
countries. Ortmann (l.c.) gives “scuds” as the 
popular English name for them. The main char- 
acteristics of these crustacea are an arched outline 
and a compressed, many segmented body; the lack 
of carapace and of stalked eyes; the feelers (an- 
tennae) and legs are also considerably shorter than 
in the true “shrimps.” They swim mostly vertically 
in the water by bendings of the body and rapid, 
continuous movements of the paired “tail feet” 
(pleopods), while the body-legs (peraeopods) help 
in the balancing of the animal and the mouthparts 
(maxillipeds) are kept ready for any food. When 
they reach the water surface it will often be seen 
that they seem unable to descend again, and swim 
around in circles on their sides. The reason for this 
is that the air gets in under the protruding parts 
(pleura) of the body segments (somites), so that the 
animals become lighter than the water. They feed 
mainly upon decaying animal and vegetable matter, 
and are therefore, especially the smaller forms, often 
found among water plants, etc. It is well known 
how quickly meat-bones, dead fishes, etc., lowered 
into the sea or a lake are gnawed clean by these 
crustacea, so that only the skeleton-parts remain. 
In size they range from a few centimetres to some 
giant, marine, forms, several inches long. The fe- 
males carry their many eggs in a sort of brood- 
pouch on the underside of the body between the 
legs, and the embrycs go through their whole de- 
velopment here, so that when they are “born” they 
have practically the same appearance as_ their 
parents, a rather unusual thing among the crustacea. 
Even the recently emerged young ones keep for a 


128 


while to their mother and remain inside the brood- 
peuch, so that when such a mother animal is 
caught, if placed in a glass of water and disturbed 
by being touched with a stick, a stream of tiny 
yeung ones will be seen leaving the mother and 
swimming around in the water just as do the full 
grown amphipods. The time in the summer in 
which the birth of the first brood takes place in 
Canada and Alaska depends somewhat on_ the 
particular species and upon the latitude and longi- 
tude. Generally, it may be said, that it takes place 
about a month after the freshwater-ice begins to 
melt in the spring, in the neighborhood cf Ottawa 
it happens in May; on the arctic coast west of 
Coronation gulf, Northwest Territories, in July. 
There seems to be an interval of two months be- 
tween two successive broods at least during the 
summer, (May to Sept. inclusive), and probably a 
still longer pericd between the broods during the 
winter (October to Apmil inclusive). 

In the same way as is the case with the marine 
forms, which await the return of the tide upon the 
sand under moist sea-weed, so also are the fresh- 
water Amphipods very tenacious to life. They will 
congregate under stones, boards, etc., or be found 
along the margin of large lakes under washed up 
material. It is likewise interesting that certain 
species at least are equally at home in sluggish, al- 
most putrid water and in running creeks and clear 
mountain lakes, and that they are found in the 
alkali lakes of our western provinces as well as in 
the ponds hidden in the woods all over the country, 
and in springs as well as in arctic lakes. Their im- 
portance as fish-food may be gathered from the 
fact, that I have found the stomachs of trouts from 
lakes in the arctic literally “stuffed” with these 
crustacea, in the same way as the marine species 
make up the main food of fishes, seals and sea- 
birds in the Arctic and as is also known, in more 
southern latitudes. 

As to the detailed difference between the various 
species of freshwater-amphipods known from Can- 
ada and Alaska I refer the reader to C. R. Shoe- 
maker’s report (1920) and A. G. Huntsman’s 
paper (1915), mentioned in the introduction. A 
key to the determination of all the freshwater crus- 
tacea (Malacostraca), occurring in North America 
is given in Ortmann’s article (1918), (see also 
bibliography for other papers). 

Three families of freshwater amphipods occur on 
this continent all of which are represented in Can- 
ada, but probably only two of them in Alaska. 
The two first families are distinguished from the 
third (Orchestiidae) by the presence of a second- 
ary short flagellum on the 2nd antennae (antennula), 
and by the fact that the last pair of tail feet (uro- 
pods)are not single, but divided into two parts (rami). 


THE CaNapIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


The first family (Lysianassidae) is again easily 
distinguished by the fact, that the 5th pair of bedy- 
legs (peraeopods) are considerably shorter than the 
preceding ones, a rather unique feature among the 
amphipods. There is only one fresh-water genus 
(Pontoporeia) belonging to this family recorded 
from this continent and it is doubtful whether there 
is more than one species, (P. hoyi, Smith) though 
two other species (varieties) have been recorded, 
(P. filicornis and P. affinis). On this continent the 
first two have so far only been found in freshwater, 
(deeper parts of Lakes Superior, Michigan, On- 
tario, Geergian Bay), the last named only in the 
sea. 

The second family (Gammaridae) is represented 
upon this continent by half a dozen genera, of which 
however only three are known from Canada, a 
fourth has so far been found only in Alaska, and 
the rest occur in caves, and underground wells in 
the United States. The one Alaskan genus is a 
small form (Synurella johanseni) which I myself 
found in the tundra ponds at Teller, Seward Penin- 
sula, in August, 1913. It is figured and described 
in detail by C. R. Shoemaker (1920). It is not 
likely to be found in Canada as it belongs to an 
Alaskan and Eurasian genus, thus reminding one 
strikingly of the phyllopod genus, Polyartemia. One 
of the three genra found in Canada is Eucrang- 
onyx, which is distinguished from the other Cana- 
dian genus Gammarus by having the inner ramus of 
the urepods rudimentary, and by not having the 
tail-end (telson) nearly so deeply cleft as is the casz 
with Gammarus. The shape of Eucrangonyx is 
more clumsy than that of a Gammarus of corres- 
ponding size. There is only one species of Eu- 
crangonyx (E. gracilis, Smith) in Canada, hitherto 
known from the Great Lakes, (Superior, Michigan 
and Huron), Georgian Bay and Bond Lake (To- 
ronto), while in the United States it is distributed 
from Rhode Island to Wisconsin. Outside of the 
Great Lake system it seems to be limited to Ontario 
and the Ottawa valley, judging from the following 
new records :— 


De Grassi Point, W.-shore of Lake Simcoe, Ont. 
May 10, 30, 1917, E. M. Walker, coll., 6 specimens 
(4 of these are from a large, temporary forest- 
pool). About 30, (less than 1 cm. long) specimens 
from ponds near Bond Lake, York County, Toron- 
to, Ont., April 19, 1920, A. G. Huntsman, coll. 
Collected by myself, surroundings of Ottawa, Ont.: 
(1) McKay Lake, Rockcliffe, April 13th, 1919, (1 
small (5 mm.) immature specimen). (2) Pool-stream 
in swamp at Deschenes Rapids, P.Q., April 20, 
1919, 4 specimens (6-10 mm.), of which two were 
immature, one full grown male and one mature fe- 
male with many pink eggs (2 mm. in diameter, 


shape oval). (3) Fairy Lake, P.Q., May 4, 1919. 


Octcber, 1920.] 


One full-grown female with pink eggs. (4) 10 
specimens, pool near Gatineau Point, P.Q., May 
13, 1917, (3 of the females with eggs). (5) Sev- 
eral specimens (all sizes; full grown femate with 
eggs), from pool at Catfish Bay, Hull, P.Q., May 
16th, 1920. (6) Pool in wocds at Rockcliffe, 
Ont., May 24, 1919, one full grown female with 
newborn young in the brood-pouch. (7) Bight in 
Ottawa River, Hull Park, P.Q., July 6, 1919; un- 
der stones, several specimens mostly full grown fe- 
males with ripe eggs and young in brood-pouch. 
Two young spccimens from Montreal West, Que., 
Oct. 19, 1918, A. Willey, coll. 

Some interesting facts about the life history of 
this species will be gleaned from the above new 
records. There thus seems to be at least two 
breeds each summer, one in May, the other in 
July, and probably also one in September, in the 
surrcundings of Ottawa. Its frequent occurrence 
in temporary pools, bights or streams is also note- 
worthy, and it reminds one of what is known about 
the phyllopeds. When full grown its size is about 
double that of Hyalella, but only half of that of 
Gammarus. It is not nearly so frequent as these 
two species (H. knickerbockeri, G. limnaeus), 
though at certain places where it is found it may be 
common enough, (see above under (2), Deschenes). 

Though the coler of freshwater amphipcds is to 
a large extent caused by the immediate surroundings 
and their food, the color of Eucrangonyx gracilis 
is like that of green glass, changing to yellowish or 
orange in the females at the time the eggs ripen. 
Its geographical distribution has already been re- 
ferred tc. 

Of the genus Gammarus we have two species in 
Canada, of which one (G. fasciatus) hardly occurs 
here at all (outside of the Great Lakes); but the 
other (G. limnaeus) is found over the whole width 
and breadth of the mainland part of the Dominion 
and Alaska. G. fasciatus is known from Niagara 
River and Lakes Superior and Michigan, also from 
Georgian Bay. In the United States it is found 
from Maine to Wisconsin. It is common enough 
where it occurs according to various authors (Hunts- 
man, Shoemaker) but I have never observed or col- 
lected it myself. It resembles very much the other, 
more widely distributed species G. limnaeus, and 
the young of the two species are very difficult to 
separate. 

Gammarus limnaeus is differentiated from its near 
relative G. fasciatus by the fact that the long hairs 
upon the terminal joint of the outer ramus of the 
uropods, are plumose, and not simple; a character 
only to be ascertained by the aid of the microscope 
and with not too young or imperfect specimens. It 
is interesting to note, that while G. fasciatus, as 
mentioned above has only a limited range in Can- 


THE CANADIAN~ FIELD-NATURALIST 


129 


ada, G. limnaeus is distributed over the whole width 
and breadth of the Dominion* from the American 
border to the Arctic ocean, the reverse is the case 
as one goes south on this continent. Mr. Shoe- 
maker tells me, that at Washington, D.C., G. fasci- 
atus is far more common than G. limnaeus. The 
latter species is found in larger pools in lakes and 
in streams, the younger individuals having the habit 
of hiding under stones and vegetation (moss, algae, 
etc.), the older ones swimming around freely. As 
I observed them in the arctic they seem to be found 
only in lakes which owing to their depth do not 
freeze to the bottom during the winter, or in creeks 
(rivers) which were open (or partly so) all the 
year round. Where they occur in temporary pools 
and streams at more southern latitudes it can, ac- 
cording to my own observations (Ottawa and St. 
Lawrence rivers), mostly be explained by the fact 
that these temporary bodies of water were in con- 
nection with the rivers or large lakes earlier in the 
season, and the amphipods, therefore, probably 
migrated into them at that time. In the arctic I 
found them during the period October to June in- 
clusive, when the lakes had thick ice and generally 
just below the ice. I suppose their main food then 
is the many Entomostraca (copepods) swarming 
here. That they live a pelagic life is also indicated 
by the fact that the many trout caught here had 
their stomachs filled with them at that period. When 
the lakes are free of ice or when the ice is thin 
(July to September inclusive) the amphipods lit- 
erally swarm in shallow water along the margin of 
the lake, and seem to find their food more among 
the many plants (moss, algae) on the stones in such 
situations. The detailed data for the specimens of 
this species collected on the Arctic coast (Sadle- 
rochit River, Alaska, Herschel Osland, Yukon 
Territery, Bernard Harbour, Northwest Territories) 
have been recorded on p. 16 in Shoemaker’s re- 
port. Mr. Shoemaker tells me, that the specimens 
from the warm spring creek tributary to Sadlerochit 
River, and which lived in water of a temperature 
from 40° to above 60° F., cannot be distinguished 
from those from the other arctic localities except 
perhaps by their average, smaller size. 


Curiously enough, egg-bearing females of this 
very common species, which I have observed so 
often at many localities in Canada are far less 
frequently? met with than is the case with the more 
rare Eucrangonyx gracilis; it is perhaps because the 


*Huntsman says (l.c.) p. 151 that this species is 
much less abundant in the waters examined than 
G. fasciatus: but he did not then know of the 
many records of G. limnaeus from various parts of 
the Dominion now secured. 

+Two of the specimens collected in Whitefish 
Creek, Lake Simcoe, Ont., June. 17, 1917, by E. M. 
Walker were egg-bearing females. 


130 


development of the Gammarus eggs takes place in 
much shorter time, and are thus not carried for so 
long a period by the mother-animal compared with 
Eucrangonyx. The young ones are probably born 
in May, July and September in the latitude of the 
Great Lakes. Gammarus limnaeus is said to range 
in the United States from Maine to Utah, and has 
formerly been recorded from Lakes Superior, Michi- 
gan and Georgian Bay. It has also (Pearse, 1913) 
been recorded from lakes in the neighborhood of 
White Horse, Yukon Territory and Rampart 
House, Alaska (Porcupine River). I have (be- 
side the Arctic ones mentioned above) a number of 
hitherto unpublished records from additional localli- 
ties, which I give here, arranging them from east 
to wesi,— 

Observed (animals escaped) in pool at Tadou- 
sac, P.Q., September 6th, 1919; young individuals. 

Stream-pool between St. Lawrence River and 
Diamond Hill, Quebec City, September 19, 1919; 
many specimens (4-9 mm. long.) 

Bight at Alexandra Bay, N.Y. (Thousand 
Islands), September Ist, 1919; many specimens up 
to 10 mm. long (females with eggs.) 

I have not yet found this species around Ottawa, 
though the two smaller freshwater-amphipods, (Eu- 
crangonyx gracilis, and Hyalella knickerbockeri) 
are common here; but Prof. E. M. Walker, of 
Toronto, has sent me some ('% doz.) full grown 
specimens of this species collected near Whitefish 
Creek, Lake Simcoe, Ont., on June 17, 1917. 

From Manitoba I have before me ten specimens, 
full grown, about (2 cm. long) collected by E. 
Criddle, at Treesbank,(Assiniboine River), Novem- 
ber 21, 1917; and two specimens (1 smaller, one 
almost full grown), from Cross Lake (about lat. 
54 2° N.) collected by F. J. Alcock in the sum- 
mer of 1919. 

I have no records of this species from Saskatche- 
wan, though it undoubtedly occurs there, having 
been found both in Manitoba and in Alberta. 

From Alberta I have before me twenty-seven 
specimens, about 2 cm. long, from Dodds Lake, 
near Edmonton, collected by a university student 
there on March 8, 1919 and sent to me by Dr. Mc- 
Lean Fraser of Nanaimo, B.C. 

Also 2 dozen specimens from Miquelon Lake, 
Alberta (about lat. 53° N.), collected on Septem- 
ber 30, 1918, by R. M. Anderson, of Ottawa. 

Many specimens (mostly full grown) from a 
marsh in Cabin Lake Creek, Jasper Park, col- 
lected by W. Spreadborough, on Aug. 31, 1918. 

Also 1% doz. specimens from the plain near 
Red Deer and Battle Rivers, east of the foot- 
hills, Alberta (about lat. 53° N.) collected by 
J. B. Tyrrell, June to September, 1885. 

From British Columbia I have examined the fol- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


lowing specimens :-— 

Three large ones from Sink Lake, near Stephen, 
E. Kootenay county, B.C., September 26, 1883, J. 
B. Tyrrell, collecter. 

Half a dozen from Beaver Pond in valley of 
Kish-e-nek-na creek, (Flathead River, near Inter- 
national Boundary, B.C.) August 27, 1883, J. B. 
Tyrrell, collector. 

We now come to the third family of freshwater- 
amphipods, namely the Orchestiidae, represented by 
only one species on this continent—the common 
HA yalella (allorchestes) knickerbockeri, Bate. The 
other species (H. azteka Lauss, H. dentata, Smith, 
H. inermis Smith) described formerly have proved 
to be only varieties. In addition to the characters 
given for the family, (p. 128) this amphipod is 
immediately recognized by the presence of a curved 
spine projecting backwards from the middle of the 
posterior margin of each of the first two abdominal 
segments, a character which can be seen with the 
aid of a strong magnifying glass, and reminds one 
strongly of certain marine (especially arctic) am- 
phipods.* 

The biology of Hyalella knickerbockeri has been 
studied by various naturalists and a rather full ac- 
count of it has been given by H. H. T. Jackson 
(1912). He says it is a littoral form, only occur- 
ring to the depth of about one fathom of water in 
larger lakes, and that it prefers sluggish streams 
and lakes, etc., with much vegetation. He states 
that it feeds almost exclusively on protozoa and 
algae, which it gets by swimming or crawling. He 
found it was more active at night than during the 
day time, also that there was much variety in its 
color, and that the latter was not solely due to 
food in the intestine (compare Eucrangonyx gracilis, 
p. 129). The largest specimen he observed was 7.6 
mm. long; the females average less than the males 
in length, but are deeper in the body. According to 
the author quoted, the species breeds throughout the 
year, but especially during the summer; while thus 
engaged the male carries the female, though releas- 
ing his hold when the moulting takes place. Soon 
after copulation the eggs pass into the ovarial sack 
(brood-pouch) of the female, but they take almost a 
month to hatch. Jackson paid particular attention to 
the moults. He found, that there is a varying period 
(1 to 5 weeks) between the moultings, and that 
each moult begins with a transverse split in the fore- 
part of the body. Contrary to what is the case 
with many crustacea (for example the cray fishes) 
the moulted skins are not eaten by these amphipods 
after being cast. My own observations on the 
biology of this animal agree with those of Jackson 
except that he says it does not occur in temporary 


*Shape of Hyalella is more robust and rounded 
than Eucrangonyx of corresponding size (see DP. 
129). 


October, 1920.] 


pools. In the district of Ottawa, however, it does 
eccur in such pools as will be seen below. On 
June 22, 1919, I collected a dozen specimens of 
this species in McKay Lake, Rockcliffe, 
Ottawa, the males were often seen embracing (car- 
rying) the females, which had many newborn young 
in the brood-pouch. When I placed the amphi- 
pods in a glass with water the young ones came 
forth and swam freely around; rather larger ex- 
amples, but still minute (2 mm. long) ones, were 
secured in Pink Lake, outside of Hull, P.Q., on 
September 22, 1919, so there must be several broods 
during the summer, probably at least every second 
month. 

This species has an exceedingly wide distribution 
on this continent. It has been recorded from Lake 
Tititaca, Peru; in United States from Maine to 
Florida and Wisconsin and across to Mexico, Cali- 
fornia and Oregon; also 48 miles north of Ram- 
part House, Alaska. The only records of it from 
Canada were formerly White Horse, Yukon Terri- 
tory and the Great Lakes (Superior, Ontario, Erie, 
Georgian Bay) and southern Canada. I am able 
here to add a number of others, which show that 
this species occurs in Canada from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific and from the international boundary 
line in the south to a considerable distance north- 
ward, though it probably does not approach the 
barren grounds of Alaska and Canada. It would 
be most desirable to secure data to define the 
northern limit of this species; I did not find it along 
the arctic coast west of Coronation Gulf, although 
Gammarus limnaeus is commen enough there. As 
both these amphipods are found in great numbers 
wherever they occur, and are easily observed and 
collected it should be a comparatively simple matter 
to get further data. 

The following unpublished records of this species 
in Canada are based upon specimens in the Vic- 
toria Memorial Museum, Ottawa; except where 
otherwise stated they were all collected by me. 

Four young ones from Pembroke Lake, Grand 
Etang, West side of Cape Breton Island,* N.S., 
September 2, 1917; under stones. 

Three full grown specimens (1 male, 2 females) 
from pond on Amherst Island, Magdalen Island,* 
P.Q., middle of July, 1917. 

Two small ones from pool at Tadousac, P.Q., 
September 6, 1919. Several specimens (smaller) 
from bight of canal at Alexandria Bay, Thousand 
- Islands, N.Y., September 1, 1919. 

A great number of specimens of all sizes and 
both sexes from the surroundings of Ottawa, Ont., 
and Hull, P.Q., in 1918 and 1919 from June to 
October (inclusive), both from pools, ponds, lakes, 


*These records suggest strongly, that the species 
also occur in Newfoundland. 


near 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 131 


streams and bights of the Ottawa river. More 
definite Ottawa district localities are: —McLaurin 
Bay, Gatineau Point, outside the city of Hull, Fairy 
Lake, the Golf Club grounds, Pink Lake, etc., al] 
on the Quebec side; and McKay Lake, Rockcliffe, 
etc., on the Ontario side. There is hardly a pool, 
stream or lake around Ottawa where it does not 
occur in great numbers. 


One young specimen from creek (barred at 
mouth) emptying into Lake Nipissing, near North 
Bay, Ont., Aug. 25, 1918; among water-plants. 


Three specimens from Cross Lake, Manitoba, 


summer, 1919, F. J. Alcock, collector. 
I have no records from Saskatchewan. 


Half a dozen specimens from Miquelon and Dry 
Meat Lake, Alberta (near Camrose), September 
30, 1918, R. M. Anderson. 

A couple of specimens from stream pool in woods 
in Jasper Park, (near Jasper station) Alberta, Sep- 
tember, 1916. 

One dozen specimens from Beaver Pond in yal- 
ley of Kish-e-neh-na creek (Flathead river) B.C., 
August 27, 1883, J. B. Tyrrell, collector. 

To sum up, our present knowledge of the dis- 
tribution of freshwater amphipods in Canada and 
Alaska is as follows: 

One species seems to be limited to the western 
part of Arctic Alaska; three others to the Great 
Lakes, the Ottawa Valley and southern Ontario, 
while two occur from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
One of these probably does not reach the barren 
grounds, while the other is found as far north as 
the arctic coast, and may thus be termed the only 
true Canadian species. 


Note:—In Europe there occur in freshwater,— 
Gammarus pulex and G. fluviatilis. The genus 
Gammarus is known already from tertiary deposits. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CANADIAN AND ALASKAN 
FRESHWATER AMPHIPODS. 


A. G. Huntsman—Freshwater-Malacostraca of 
Ontario; Contributions to Canadian Biology, 
1911-14, Fasc. II., Ottawa, 1915, p. 149-52. 

A. G. Huntsman—Invertebrates: Natural History 
of Toronto Region, Toronto, 1913, p. 273-74. 

S. I. Smith—Crustacea of the Freshwaters of the 
United States America: Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish- 
eries, Pt. 2 (1872-73), Washington 1874, p. 637. 
A synopsis of the higher Freshwater Crustacea 
of the northern U.S.A. (east of Mississippi Riv- 
er); p. 690, sketch of the Invertebrate Fauna of 
Lake Superior. 

S. I. Smith and A. E. Verrill—Invertebrata dredged 
in Lake Superior in 1871, (U.S. Lake Survey): 
Amer. Journ. Science, Series 3, Vol. II, 1871, p. 
452-53. 


132 THE 


S. I. Smith—Prelim. Rep. Dredgings in Lake 
Superier, 1871. 

A. L. Weckel—Freshwater Amphipods of N.A.: 
Pree. U.S.N.M., Vol. 32, Washingten, 1907, 
p. 25-58. 

H. H. T. Jackson—A Contrib. to the Nat. Hist. cf 
the Amphiped Hyalella knickerbockeri (Bate); 
Bull. Wisc. Nat. Hist. Sec., Vol. 10, 1912, 
p. 49-60. 

A. E. Ortman—Malacostraca (Higher Crustace- 
ans), in Freshwater Biology (Ward and 
Whipple), New York, 1918, p. 828-50. 

H. A. Nicholson—Contrib. to a Fauna Canad. 
(Animals dredged in Lake Ontario, 1872): 
Canad. Journ. Science, Litt. and Hist. (Canad. 
Institute) New Series, Vol. XIII, Toronto, 1873, 
p. 490-501. 

O. P. Hay—Notes cn some Freshwater Crustacea, 
together with descriptions of two New Species: 
Amer. Nat. Vol. XVI., 1882, p. 143-46. 

P. R. Hoy—Deep-water fauna of Lake Michigan; 
Trans. Wisc. Acad. Science, 1870-72, p. 98-101. 

G. C. Embody—Distribution, Feed and Reproduc- 
tive Captivity of some Freshwater Amphipods; 
Int. Rev. Ges. Hydrobiol, Biol. Suppl. II. 

L. M. Underwcod—List cf described species of 


Freshwater Crustacea, from America. north of 


CANADIAN FieEtD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Mexico; Bull. 
1888. 

C. R. Shoemaker—Report of Canadian Arctic Ex- 
pedition, 1913-18, Vel. VII, Part E, Amphinods, 
Ottawa, 1920. 

A. S. Pearse—-Notes on Crustacea recently acquired 
by the Museum; Occas. Papers of Mus. Zocl., 
Univ. Mich., No. 1., Dec. 20, 1913. 


Ill. Lab. Nat. Hist., Vol. IL., 


POSTSCRIPT. 


The summer cf 1920, I spent in Jumes Bay, and 
along the east side of Hudscn Bay to beyond lat. 
56° N. No phyllopeds nor isopeds were found in 
freshwater, and amphipcds only in James Bay, at the 
following places: 

Gammarus limnaeus in creek-pools on the south- 
east side of Charlton Island, September 26 and 22. 

Hyalella knickerbockeri in creek-pcols in the in- 
terior of Charlton Island (south-end), July 17 and 
September 22; and in ponds at Moose Factory 
(field), July to October, and on Cape Hope Islands 
(about lat. 524%.° N.), September 13. 

All occurred in great numbers. Those secured 
at Moose Factory in July, comprised greenish males 
and yellow-brown, egg-bearing females, in copula- 
tion, besides pale, newborn ones. 


CHANGES IN THE STATUS OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN THE VICINITY OF 
QUEBEC, PQ: 


By Harrison F. Lewis. 


In the year 1906, Mr. C. E. Dionne published his 
well-known work, “Les Oiseaux de la Province 
de Québec,” in which, besides noting the distribu- 
tion of the species of birds in Quebec Province, he 
stated particularly the status of the different species 
in the neighberhood of Quebec City, where the 
greater part of his own field work had been done. 
The area to which these local records refer is vari- 
ously designated by Mr. Dionne as “prés de Qué- 
bec,” “dans les environs de Québec,” or “dans 
Québec,” and is defined by him (fcotnote (1), page 
20) as “within a radius of five or six leagues of 
Quebec, unless otherwise indicated.” Since the 
publication of this book, Mr. Dionne has been able 
to do comparatively little field-work in this area. 

Since July, 1918, I have been resident at Berger- 
ville, parish of St. Colomb de Sillery, in the suburbs 
of Quebec, and have done such field work (chiefly 
in 1919 and 1920) in the vicinity of the city as my 
other duties have permitted. This work has made 
clear the fact that, in the fourteen years since 1906, 


the status of a number cf bird species in the area 
defined by Mr. Dionne as referred to above has 
changed markedly. There is little doubt that most, 
if not all, of such changes which I have noted are 
actual, since Mr. Dionne frequently visited in his 
work the vicinity of Bergerville and Gomin Wood, 
where most of my work has been done, although he 
went even more often to areas northward from Que- 
bec City, where my observations have been occa- 
sional only. The majority of my notes relate to land 
birds; opportunities for observing water birds in the 
neighborhood where I am resident are very limited. 
In order to keep the record of birds of the Quebec 
arca as accurately up-to-date as possible, and in or- 
der to render readily available some local details 
of the general avifaunal changes taking place in 
northeastern North America during the period 1906- 
1920, I have prepared this paper. A similar paper 
by Mr. L. Mcl. Terrill, dealing with the vicinity 
of Montreal (‘Ottawa Nat.’, Vol. XXV, No. 4, 
pp. 57-63, July, 1911), furnished me with the 


October, 1920.] THE CANADIAN 


original suggestion and an admirable model. 

In the case of each species of which a change in 
status is hereinafter noted, I have given, following 
the English name, a translation of Mr. Dionne’s 
statement concerning his observations on its occur- 
rence here, as found in his book, such translation 
being terminated by Mr. Dicnne’s name in paren- 
theses. Then I have summarized my own cbserva- 
tions of the species under discussion. In order to 
ensure that my translations should render the mean- 
ing of Mr. Dicnne’s French scntences as accurately 
as possible, I have submitted them all to Mr. Dionne, 
who has mest kind!y verified them. I am much. in- 
debted to Mr. Dionne, not only for this aid, but also 
for his ever-ready assistance and encouragement in 
all the work of an ornithological character which I 
have done at and near Quebec. 

The changes of status described in this paper 
may be divided into the following fcur classes: 


(A) The increase in abundance cf many small 
Warblers, Finches, Vireos, etc., normally of more or 
Jess northern breeding range. The chief known fac- 
tors which may have assisted in causing these birds 
to increase seem to be their protection by law here 
and in the United States, the creation of many clear- 
ings in the forests of the north, and the absence or 
rarity of the domestic cat over large parts of their 
breeding range. 


(B) The northeastward advance of five species 
(Crested Flycatcher, Meadowlark, Vesper Spar- 
row, Migrant Shrike, and House Wren), originally 
of more southern or southwestern breeding range. 
While this may represent the continuation of the 
northward advance of many species following the 
close of the last Glacial Period, there is no doubt 
that it has been greatly accelerated by the cutting 
of the forests and the settlement of the country by 
the white race. 

(C) The diminution of two species (Eskimo Cur- 
lew and Purple Martin), due to very obscure causes. 


(D) The accidental occurrence of one species 
(Blue-gray Gnatcatcher). 

The Zone Map of North America, as published 
inside the front cover of F. M. Chapman‘s “Hand- 
book of Birds of Eastern North America”, 1912 
edition, indicates the vicinity of Quebec City to be 
in the Canadian Zone. The Transition Zone is 
represented as reaching northeastward along the 
south bank of the St. Lawrence River about as far 
as to Levis, P.Q., but as not extending northeast 
of the Ottawa River on the north bank of the St. 
Lawrence. The dividing line between the two 
zones between Montreal and Levis, which is di- 
rectly opposite Quebec, is thus made to coincide 
with the St. Lawrence River. There can be little 
doubt that this is not exactly correct, for the Tran- 


FieELD- NATURALIST 133 


sition Zone certainly crosscs the Ottawa and extends 
nertheastward along the north bank of the St. Law- 
rence for some distance. Whether or not it should 
be considered as reaching to Quebec City is a matter 
on which opinions may differ. It appears to me, 
-owever, that the most nearly correct position for 
this portion of the necessarily arbitrary dividing line 
between the Transition and Canadian zones is at 
the southern foot of the Laurentian Mountains, in 
general some miles north of the St. Lawrence. This 
would mean that a strip of the Transition zone ex- 
tends along the north shore cf the St. Lawrence as 
far as Cap Tourmente, about twenty-five miles be- 
low Quebec, where the Laurentians finally front 
directly on the river. A person standing on the 
Citadel, or even on Dufferin Terrace, at Quebec, 
can distinguish at a glance the low-lying cultivated, 
Transition (>) ccuntry immediately around the 
city and along the St. Lawrence in either direction 
from the elevated, wooded, undoubtedly Canadian 
mountainous country behind. The following data 
concerning the status of certain species of birds about 
Quebec may be of assistance to those interested in 
this question: 


1. Transition species which are summer residents 
at Quebec: Virginia Rail (not common), Sora Rail 
(fairly common), Black-billed Cuckoo (irregular), 
Kingbird (common), Crested Flycatcher (uncom- 
mon), Prairie Horned Lark (fairly common), Bobo- 
link (uncommon), Cowbird (uncommon), Red- 
winged Blackbird (uncommon), Meadowlark (fair- 
ly common), Vesper Sparrow (fairly common), 
Chipping Sparrow (very common), Purple Martin 
(rare), Blue-headed Vireo (rare), Catbird (fairly 
common), House Wren (uncommon), Veery (com- 
mon), and Bluebird (uncommon). 


2. Canadian species which are summer residents 
at Quebec: Pine Siskin (common), White-throated 
Sparrow (common), Slate-colored Junco (rare), 
Lincoln’s Sparrow (rare), Philadelphia Vireo (not 
common), Tennessee Warbler (rare), Myrtle 
Warbler (rare), Magnolia Warbler (fairly com- 
mon), Bay-breasted Warbler (rare), Blackburnian 
Warbler (fairly common), Water-Thrush (fairly 


common), Mourning Warbler (not commen), 
Canadian Warbler (common), Winter Wren 
(rare), Red-breasted Nuthatch (rare), Ollive- 


backed Thrush (uncommon), and Hermit Thrush 
(rare). 

266. Numenius borealis (Forst.). Eskimo Curlew. 

This Curlew is more common than the preceding 
species [N. hudsonicus] and frequently occurs on 
the beaches and in the fields not far from Quebec 
(Dionne). 

No recent record of this species near Quebec is 
known to Mr. Dionne or myself. 


134 THE CANADIAN 

452. Mviarchus crinitus (Linn.). 
catcher. 

Mr. Dionne gives no record for this species near 
Quebec and has never observed it here. I found it 
an uncommon summer resident near Quebec in 
1919 and in 1920. On August 4, 1919, an adult 
was seen feeding young birds out of the nest at 
Bergerville. 

459. Nuttallornis 
sided Flycatcher. 

Up to the present I have met but three specimens 
in the woods near Quebec (Dionne). 

I have secured the following records of this 
species—all of singing males—near Quebec: two 
on June 3, 1919; one on May 27, 1920; one on 
May 30, 1920; one on June 3, 1920; and one on 
July 12, 1920. 

501. Siurnella magna magna (Linn.). Meadow- 
lark. 

One individual was killed, some years ago, at 
Jeune-Lorette (Dionne). 

In 1919 and 1920 this species was a tolerably 
common summer resident in the many suitable fields 
in the vicinity of Quebec. 

514. Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina 
Coop.). Evening Grosbeak. 

The first one which, to my knowledge, appeared 
in the neighborhood of Quebec was killed March 
11, 1890, at Jeune Lorette. Later, on November 
24, 1903, four individuals were killed at L’Ange 
Gardien, and, in December, three others were taken 
at Ste-Foy (Dionne). 

Mr. Dionne informs me that a few others ap- 
peared near Quebec between 1903 and 1919. On 
December 26, 1919, I saw a flock of this species, 
containing four adult males and nine dull-colored 
birds, between Quebec and Ste-Foy. (See ‘Bird- 
Lore,’ Vol. XXII, No. 1, p. 15, January-February, 
1920, “Christmas Bird Census, 1919, Quebec, 
P.Q.”). During the remainder of the winter of 
1919-20 I observed this species near Quebec on 
twelve additional occasions, the number of indi- 
viduals noted on any one occasion ranging from one 
to five. It was last seen on March 26, 1920. 

533. Spinus pinus pinus (Wils.). Pine Siskin. 

Each autumn we see some small flocks of them in 
the vicinity of Quebec and even in the gardens and 
parks of the city. Elsewhere also it is common 
and it spends the winter in the deep woods (Dionne). 

In 1919 and 1920 this was a common summer 
resident about Quebec, but I have not remarked it 
in winter. 

540. Pooecetes 
Vesper Sparrow. 

It is rare about Quebec; so far I have seen but 
four specimens of it (Dionne). 

This species was a regular and tolerably common 


Crested Fly- 


borealis Olive- 


(Swains. ). 


(W. 


gramineus gramineus (Gmel.). 


FieELD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 
summer resident near Quebec in 1919 and 1920; a 
few even summered within the city limits. 


567. Junco hyemalis hyemalis (Linn.). Slate- 
colored Junco. 

It is likewise very common and occurs in flocks 
in spring and autumn near Quebec and in the 
neighboring districts; it does mct occur here in 
summer (Dionne). 

The Junco is now a rare summer resident in the 
immediate vicinity of my residence at Bergerville, 
where I noted it repeatedly during the summers of 
1919 and 1920. On June 21, 1919, I saw an 
adult Junco feeding a young one out of the nest at 
Bergerville. 

583. Melospiza lincolni lincolni (Aud.). 


coln’s Sparrow. 


It occurs accidentally near Quebec; up to the 
present time I have killed three specimens only 
(Dionne). 

In May, 1919, I twice observed an individual of 
this species near Quebec. In 1920, I observed the 
species near Quebec as follows: May I1 (one), 
May 18 (one), May 21 (one), May 23 (three), 
May 24 (one), May 25 (one), May 27 (one), 
May 28 (one), May 30 (one), May 31 (two), 
June | (one), July 12 (one), July 25 (one), Sep- 
tember 26 (one), October 10 (one). I was absent 
from Quebec from June 5 to June 27 in 1920. I 
am confident that Lincoln’s Sparrow is a rare sum- 
mer resident in sphagnum swamps in Gomin Wood, 
near Quebec, where nearly all of the above obser- 
vations were made. 

584. Melospiza 
Sparrow. 

In the spring of 1878 I killed several specimens of 
it at the foot of the slope north of the heights of 
Ste-Foy, but I have seen it nowhere else (Dionne.). 

In 1919 and 1920 this species was a tolerably 
common summer resident in all the many suitable 
swampy areas which I visited near Quebec. 

611. Progne subis subis (Linn.). Purple Martin. 

It is common at Quebec as well as at Montreal 
and nests in these places (Dionne). 

The Purple Martin was rare at Quebec in the 
summers of 1919 and 1920. Mr. Dionne informs 
me that it has been so since about 1909. I saw it 
more frequently in 1920 than in the preceding year, 
which leads me to hope that it is now on the in- 
crease. 

618. Bombycilla 
Waxwing. 

Couper says that it occurs sometimes, during se- 
vere winters, in small flocks in the weods about 
Quebec. In the winter of 1890 I obtained six in- 
dividuals which had been killed at Chateau-Richer, 


and since then | have seen but two others, some years 


Lin- 


(Lath.). Swamp. 


georgiana 


garrula (Linn.). Bohemian 


October, 1920.] THE CANADIAN 


later; doubtless it should be found in our woods at 
that season (Dionne). 

On February 22, 1920, I first observed this 
species near Quebec, when I saw two flocks, one 
containing five individuals, the other about one 
hundred and twenty. Other flocks, containing usu- 
ally about forty birds each, were seen on several 
occasions from that date until April 12, 1920. 
Several times they were observed within the city 
limits. 

622.e. Lanius 
Migrant Shrike. 

I have not yet observed it near Quebec; but it 
should, however, occur here (Dionne). 

On May 2, 1920, I observed a pair of birds of 
this subspecies near Ste-Foy. They were carefully 
examined with binoculars from a distance of a few 
feet only, and were positively identified. On a few 
other occasions I have seen near Quebec, but at a 
greater distance from me, Shrikes which were 
probably of this subspecies, but as I was unable, 
under these conditions, to distinguish them with cer- 
tainty from the Northern Shrike, which I have 
identified here several times, I did not record them. 

626. Vireosylva philadelphica (Cass.). Phila- 
delphia Vireo. 

Mr. Dionne gave no record of the occurrence of 
this species nearer to Quebec than Tadousac, where 
it was observed by Dr. Dwight. In 1919 and 1920 
I found it to be a not common breeding bird in the 
immediate vicinity of Quebec. 

629. Lanivireo _ solitarius 
Blueheaded Vireo. 

Up to the present time I have seen but four speci- 
mens of it, which I killed in the woods to the north 
of Quebec, one of them at Cap Tourmente near 
St-Joachim (Dionne). 

In the vicinity of Quebec I have observed one in- 
dividual of this species on each of the following 
dates: May 18, 1919; May 20, 1919; June 30, 
1919; May 18, 1920. 

636. Mniotilta varia (Linn.). 
Warbler. 

It is hardly common in the vicinity of Quebec, 
although some are seen each year in spring and 
autumn (Dionne). 

In 1919 and 1920 I found this Warbler to be a 
common migrant in spring and fall and an un- 
common summer resident near Quebec. 

645. Vermivora rubricapilla rubricapilla (Wils.). 
Nashville Warbler. 

It is uncommon about Quebec; I have seen so 
far but two individuals, killed in July, 1878 
(Dionne). 

This species was found in 1919 and 1920 to be 
a regular, uncommon summer resident, locally tol- 
erably common in the vicinity of Quebec. 


ludovicianus’ migrans_ Palmer. 


solitarius 


(Wils.). 


Black and white 


FiELD- NATURALIST 135 


647. Vermivora peregrina (Wils.). 
Warbler. 

I have seen it but once in the woods about Que- 
bec, toward the end of May, 1886, and, in a flock 
of seven individuals, of which five were killed, 
there was but a single female (Dionne). 

In 1919, I observed this species near Quebec 
from May 19 to July 5, and in 1920 from May 21 
to July 17. In those years it was a not common or 
a tolerably common spring migrant and a rare sum- 
mer resident. Probably it occurs in the fall also, 
but so far I have not recorded it here at that season. 

650. Dendroica tigrina (Gmel.). May 
Warbler. 

I have not been able so far to obtain more than 
three specimens, two of which were killed near 
Quebec in 1878, and the other one much further 
north some years later (Dionne). 

Mr. Dionne has since recorded this Warbler’s 
unusual abundance near Quebec in the spring of 
1912. (‘The Auk,’ Vol. XXIX, No. 4, p. 545, 
Oct., 1912.) 

In 1919 I observed at least five different males of 
this species, the first on May 22, the last on June 1. 
In 1920, I observed seven males of the species, the 
first on May 19, the last on May 30. All of these 
records were obtained near Quebec. 
records of females and no fall records. 

655. Dendroica coronata  (Linn.). 
Warbler. 

This species, which travels in small flocks during 
its migrations, arrives here very early in the spring, 
and afterward disappears, to go further north to 
nest (Dionne). 

In 1919 and 1920 a few of this species remained 
near Quebec during the entire summer each year, 
and probably nested there. 

660. Dendroica castanea (Wils.). 
Warbler. 

It is rare about Quebec; up to the present I have 
seen but five specimens (Dionne). 

The following summary contains my observations 
of this species in the immediate vicinity of Quebec 
in 1919 and 1920: May 24, 1919 (one); May 26 
(one); June | (one); June 3 (one); August 23 
(two) ; May 23, 1920 (one); May 24 (one); May 
28 (one); May 29 (two); May 30 (two); May 
31 (one); July | (two); July 12 (one); Septem- 
ber 15 (one). 

661. Dendroica 
Warbler. 

I killed five, one day in autumn, about fifteen 
years ago, and I have seen some on some occasions 
since, but very rarely (Dionne). 

In 1919, I observed this species near Quebec on 
five different days, first on May 30 and last on 
June 6, the total number of individuals noted being 


Tennessee 


Cape 


I have no 


Myrtle 


Bay-breasted 


striata (Forst.). 


Black-poll 


136 


not less than six. In 1920, I observed it in the same 
region in spring on seven different days, first on 
May 27 and last on June 4. It was then tolerably 
common for a time, eleven individuals being re- 
corded on June 3. The only fall records which I 
have for this warbler at Quebec are: September 9, 
1920 (two); September 11 (one); September 23 
(two). 

662. Dendroica fusca 
Warbler. 

This beautiful warbler is not common in our 
weods about Quebec (Dionne). 

This species was common in 1919 and tolerably 
common in 1920 as a summer resident in the vicin- 


ity of Quebec. 


(Mull.). Blackburnian 


679. Oporonis philadelphia (Wils.). Mourning 
Warbler. 

Occurs accidentally at Montreal and at Quebec 
(Dionne). 


The Mourning Warbler was a not common 
summer resident near Quebec in 1919 and 1920. In 
the course of a three-mile walk on June 3, 1919, in 
the immediate vicinity of Quebec, I observed eight 
males of this species, and during a similar walk on 
June 13, 1919, I observed seven. 

686. Wilsonia canadensis (Linn.). 
Warbler. 

This species is usually uncommon (Dionne). 

The Canadian Warbler was a common summer 
resident about Quebec in 1919 and was tolerably 
common in 1920. 

721. Troglodytes aedon aedon (Vieill.). House 
Wren. 

In the first part of July, 1880, I captured a fe- 
male which had just made its nest in a hole in one 
of the corners of a small arbor in the garden of the 
Quebec Seminary, which is the only time that I 
have seen it here (Dionne). 

As a summer resident about Quebec this bird was 
recorded by me as rare in 1919 and as uncommon 
in 1920. Probably “uncommon” would more cor- 


Canadian 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


rectly represent its status in 1919. Two or three 
pairs spend the summer on the cliffs bordering the 
St. Lawrence just below Merici Convent, and a 
number of other pairs are scattered through the 
suburban districts each summer. 


751. Polioptila caerulea. caerulea (Linn.). Blue- 
gray Gnatcatcher. 

This species was not included by Mr. Dionne in 
his book because, when that book was written, there 
was no record acceptable to him of its occurrence 
in the Province of Quebec. One stray individual 
was observed by me within the limits of Quebec 
City on May 18, 1920. (See “The Auk,’ Vol. 
XXXVI, No. 3, pp. 464-465, July, 1920.) 

757. Hylocichla aliciae aliciae (Baird). 
cheeked Thrush. 

Mr. Dionne does not speak of any occurrence of 
this Thrush near Quebec City. 

The only positive identification of it here which 
I have obtained so far was made by me in Gomin 
Wood on May 21, 1920, when I watched a single 
individual for some time at close range with binocu- 
lars» I was able to see clearly its uniform olive 
upperparts and its gray lores, and to note the lack of 
obvious buffy on the sides of the throat and breast. 
The bird, although chased abcut a good deal by 
me, remained absolutely silent, whereas Olive- 
backed Thrushes, when they arrive at Quebec, 
where they are summer residents, freely utter their 
characteristic notes. I have twice visited in Nova 
Scotia the breeding haunts of H. a. bicknelli, which 
differs from this subspecies in size only, and have 
there seen undoubted specimens of the species and 
noted their peculiarities of coloration, and I am 
well acquainted with the Olive-backed Thrush in 
the field. : 

On two or three other occasions in late May I 
have seen near Quebec solitary Thrushes which 
were probably Gray-cheeked Thrushes, but which 
I was unable to approach and see well enough to 
make satisfactory identifications. 


Gray- 


October, 1920. ] 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 


137 


THE FERNS OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1920. 


By H. Mous-ey. 


In my second paper on the orchids of Hatley, 
“THE CANADIAN FieLp-NaTurRALisT,” Vol. 
XXXIV, 1920, No. 3, p. 44, I intimated that 
probably about forty species and varieties of ferns 
had been collected here in 1919, and that these 
would be dealt with in a separate paper. This it had 
been my intention to do early this year, but from one 
cause or another the matter has had to be postponed. 
This delay, which at first appeared vexatious, has 
really been beneficial, as it has given me another sea- 
son in which to further prosecute my studies and at 
the same time add some new species to the list. For 
the benefit of those interested in ferns only, and who 
may not have read any of my previous papers on 
the birds, orchids and butterflies of the district, it 
seems almost necessary to again say a few words on 
the nature of the country surrounding Hatley. The 
village itself lies at an elevation of about 1,000 feet 
above the sea level, being backed on its eastern side 
by a ridge of hills rising some three hundred feet 
higher. The ground on the western side eventually 
slopes away until it reaches the level of Lake Massa- 
wippe (about 530 feet) a fine sheet of water nine 
miles in length, with an average breadth of about one 
mile. On its western shore, another ridge of hills 
known as the Massawippi Hills rises some 900 feet 
above the level of the lake. The country all round 
is well wooded, and there are numerous small streams 
most of which eventually find their way into the lake. 
In the deciduous woods, the prevailing trees are 
maple, birch, ash, elm, beech, cherry, butternut and 
poplar, whilst the coniferous ones consist of spruce, 
fir, hemlock, pine, tamarack and cedars. The geo- 
logical strata for the most part consists of a fine- 
grained sedimentary rock, containing pyrite in some 
cases, whilst slightly calcareous in others, with veins 
of quartz appearing here and there, as well as gran 
ite. As in common with the rest of the Eastern 
Townships, the soils have been almost entirely 
formed during the glacial period, which is the most 
recent outstanding geological event in the history of 
this district. Any soils which previously existed, were 
apparently largely carried away by the movement of 
the ice, and even the solid rock was deeply eroded. 
On the retreat of the glacier, there was left a blanket 
of unconsolidated materials, composed of a hetero- 
geneous mixture derived from both far and near, and 
including probably a small proportion only of old 
soils, together with a much larger proportion of rock, 
fragments ranging in size from a flour to huge 
boulders of a ton weight. Following the retreat of 
the glacier, this blanket has, until the present day, 
been subjected to the ordinary physiographic pro- 


cesses of weathering and transportation by frost, 
streams, etc., resulting in a decomposition of the 
materials, and a tendency for the smaller particles to 


be continually moved downhill, and deposited as 
alluvium, etc. While the area south-east of the 
Massawippi valley is underlain by somewhat cal- 
calcareous slates slightly metamorphosed, and the 
area to the north-west by highly metamorphosed 
volcanics and sediments, these rocks, as indicated 
above, have had a general rather than a detailed in- 
fluence on the composition of the overlying soil. 


As with the butterflies and orchids, most of my 
collecting has been done on the western side of the 
village, although there are some famous localities 
on the eastern side, one of which contains the only 
known station for Braun’s Holly Fern, Polystichum 
Braunii. On this side lies also Barnston Pinnacle, 
a rocky bluff rising almost sheer out of Baldwin’s 
Pond for a height of 600 feet. Mount Orford 
(2,860 feet) to the north is another rocky locality, 
but both cf these places are some distance from my 
home and have only been visited once some years 
ago, when ferns were not being taken into consider- 
ation. Some of the smaller Aspleniums I think ought 
certainly to be found in these two localities, and per- 
haps the Male Fern, Thelypieris  Filix-mas. 
Burrcugh’s Falls to the south, and the gorge through 
which the river runs at Coaticook on the east, and 
the shores of Lake Massawippi in places are also 
rocky, but even these it has been found quite im- 
possible to so far work properly, which may account 
for the scarcity in my list of purely rock-loving 
ferns. Of the other species enumerated most of them 
occur in more or less profusion, but there are some 
that seem to call for special attention, and these I 
propose to deal with in the order in which they 
appear in the list, which is that of Gray’s Manual, 
seventh edition, the nomenclature of which, however, 
has been altered in accordance with the more ad- 
vanced ideas, as set forth in Mr. C. A. Weatherby’s 
paper, “Changes in the Nomenclature of the Gray’s 
Manual Ferns,” “Rhedora,” Vol. XXI, 1919, No. 
250, pp. 173-179. Most botanists, I believe, are in 
agreement with these changes although some will not 
admit the priority of Thelypteris for the Shield Ferns, 
and still use the name Drvyopteris for this family. 
However, as Mr. Weatherby says on page 174, 
“Thelypteris remains the earliest valid name for 
Aspidium of the Manual, and much as one regrets 
adding another to the numerous names this genus 
has already borne, it must be taken up. Rules are 
of no use unless conscientiously followed.” It seems 


138 


to me that Mr. Weatherby is right in what he says 
for if ever this bugbear nomenclature is to be laid 
by the heels, not only in this, but in all the other 
sciences, personal opinions will have to be made sub- 
servient, and rules strictly adhered to. For this 
reason I have followed the new order of things to 
the letter, as laid down in Mr. Weatherby’s paper. 

Common Potypopy, Polypodium vulgare L. 
This fern so far does not appear to be the common 
one it usually is in most places. Certainly several 
stations for it have been found, but in none of them 
can it be said to be anything like abundant, nor have 
any of its numerous varieties been noted. 

NARROW-LEAVED SPLEENWORT, Athyrium an- 
gustifolium (Michx.) Milde. Only one station for 
this smooth and delicately leaved fern has been 
found so far. This is in the centre of a large wood 
which has been partially cleared, and here in some- 
what of a gully which is usually wet, is angusti- 
folium found in some profusion, its principal com- 
panion being the Ostrich Fern, Péeretis nodulosa. 

CuHristMAs FERN, Polystichum  acrostichoides 
var. Scheiniizii (Beck) Small. In one corner of the 
above wood that harbours A. angustifolium, this var- 
iety of the Christmas Fern can be found in almost 
if not greater abundance than the type, the sori ap- 
pearing in some cases on the tips of every pinne, 
which are toothed, and the fronds usually larger than 
in typical plants; no doubt due to the cutting down 
of the trees in this particular part of the wood, which 
allows the sunlight to act as a strong stimulus, thus 
producing plants of extra luxuriance; see “How 
Ferns Grow,” Slosson, 1906, pp. 88-89. 

Braun’s Hotty Fern, Polvystichum Braunii 
(Spenner) Fee. This handsome and uncommon fern 
with its long chaffy stalks has only been found in 
one locality known as the Gulf on the east side of 
the village. Here during the present season I 
counted over thirty plants. The time is probably 
not far distant when misfortune may overtake this 
species in the shape of being ushered into a new 
genus, when it will be known as Aetopteron Braunii 
(Spenner) comb. nov. See “American Fern Jour- 
nal,” Vol. X, 1920, pp. 88-89. Will finality in 
nomenclatural matters be ever reached? 

Broap BeecH FERN, Thelypieris hexagonoptera 
(Michx.), n. comb. The Broad Beech Fern is ap- 
parently rare here, as I have only come across a 
very few examples so far, and these mostly small 
With regard to the difficulty sometimes ex- 
perienced in determining this species from the Long 
Beech Fern, Thelypteris Phegopteris, 1 would here 
like to draw attention to an article by Mr. C. A. 
Weatherby entitled, “A Neglected Character in the 
Beech Ferns,” which appeared in the “American 
Fern Journal,” Vol. IX, 1919, No. 4, pp. 121-122, 


in which the author points out how the difference 


ones. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


in the shape, size and coloring of the scales, which 
in both species are borne along the main mid-rib on 
the under side of the fronds, forms an almost certain 
index to the species. I have found this hitherto 
neglected character most useful in determining my 
specimens. Another character in the Beech Ferns 
is described by Mr. E. H. Clarkson in “The Am- 
erican Fern Journal,” Vol. X, 1920, No. 2, p. 60. 
Here it is pointed out that when the fronds of the 
Long Beech Fern die down in the autumn the coiled 
tops of the next year's croziers may be seen pro- 
truding a little above the ground. This is never the 
case with the Broad Beech Fern whose croziers do 
not appear in the fall nor yet in very early spring. 
Fine fresh green fronds of it, however, can be found 
in September when Phegopteris is of a dull olive 
colour and no new fronds whatever are to be seen. 
In this country one can hardly walk in some of the 
woods without treading the Beech and Oak Fern, 
Thelypteris Dryopteris, under foot, and yet if I 
remember rightly neither of them are common in 
England, at all events I can only call to mind 
having once seen them at Bolton Abbey, in York- 
shire, and there only in one particular wood. The 
order in which the Beech Ferns appear in my list is 
different to that of the Manual, and has been made 
necessary by the new classification as set forth in 
Mr. Weatherby’s paper. See page 176. 

THE Marcinat SHIELD FERN, Thelypteris mar- 
ginalis (L.) Nieuwl. This is a well distributed fern 
but more abundant in some localities than others. 
Probably the Gulf already referred to is the best 
station for it, and here I have found a few examples 
of the var. elegans, J. Robinson, a handsome form 
with larger fronds and lobed or toothed pinnules. 

Go.tpie’s FERN, Thelypteris Goldiana (Hook) 
Nieuwl. |.c. This large and very handsome species 
is what may be termed one of the rarer or more ex- 
clusive ferns, and I only know of two stations for it, 
one in the Gulf, and the other in the same wood 
where A. angustifolium is found. Only a very few 
plants occur at either place. 

Boot’s SHIELD FERN, Thelyteris Boottii (Tuck- 
erm.) Nieuwl. Hardly sufficient time has yet been 
given to this species to express any very decided 
opinion, as to its rarity or otherwise. I am inclined 
to think, however, that it is fairly well distributed. 

CLINTON’s Woop FERN, Thelyteris cristata var. 
Clintoniana (D.C. Eaton), n. comb. The same re- 
mark applies equally well to this species as to 
Goldie’s Fern, both being found in the same localities 
and in about equal limited numbers. 

SPREADING Woop Fern, Thelypteris spinulosa 
var. americana (Fisch.), n. comb. This form of the 
Spinulose Wood Fern appears to be by no means 
rare, and can be found, | think, in most of the large 
woods. ‘The type and various varieties, however, 


October, 1920.] 


such as Boottii, intermedium and americana (the 
latter formerly known as dilatatum) are by no means 
always easy to determine, and more time will have 
to be spent on them before any very definite opinion 
can be expressed as to their distribution. 

BuLBLet BiappeR FERN, Cystopteris bulbifera 
(L.) Bernh. It seems strange to have to speak of a 
fern as a nuisance, but that is what this species really 
is at times. It abounds everywhere not only on the 
rocks, but in the woods as well. I remember once 
visiting Burrough’s Falls in the hope of finding some 
of the smaller rock ferns. I soon gave up the search 
as the rocks were simply smothered with this species, 
and it would have been impossble to detect any of 
the small Aspleniums with such a blanket over them. 
The Fragile Bladder Fern, Cystopteris fragilis, is not 
nearly so abundant and can really be said to be rare 
in comparison with the Bulblet. 

SmootH Woopsia, Woodsia glabella, R. Br. 
This rare and delicate little fern I look upon as one 
of my best finds. The only locality for it is situated 
on the eastern shore of Lake Massawippi, between 
the railway station of that name and Perkin’s Point. 
I first found it on May 24 of this year (1920) 
almost at the foot of a rocky railway slope 
and I am pleased to say there was quite a little 
colony of it, all the plants I examined being 
heavily fruited. 

OstricH FERN, Pteretis nodulosa (Michx.) 
Nieuwl. Of the large ferns this in my opinion is the 
handsomest, although the great Osmundas run it very 
close. The reason for its masquerading under the 
names Pteretis nodulosa and not Onoclea Struthiop- 
teris as heretofore ,will be found fully explained in 
Mr. Weatherby’s paper already referred to. 

Roya FERN, Osmunda regalis L., var. spectabilis 
(Willd.) Gray. Seeing that the American Royal 
Fern differs from the European in the shape of its 
pinnules it has been thought desirable to make it a 
geographic variety, hence the var. spectabilis, see 
Weatherby as above. 

CINNAMON FERN, Osmunda cinnamomea L. Pos- 
sibly of the three Osmundas this is the most widely 
distributed. On August 22, 1919, I came across a 
peculiar frond growing apparently from a root of 
Osmunda Claytoniana, which I gathered and 
pressed, there being only this one example. From 
the disposition of the pinnules I took it to be var. 
dubia Grout. On September 7, 1920, however, I 
came across another similar frond very near the 
same spot, which clearly belonged to O. cinna- 
momea. ‘This caused me to more carefully examine 
the previous frond at the base of some of whose 
pinne, by means of a magnifying glass, I found the 
little woolly tufts, thereby clearly establishing its 
identity as cinnamomea. I also found where | had 
gathered it the year previous that there was a root of 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


139 


cinnamomea and Claytoniana growing almost inter- 
locked, and as there were several fronds of the latter 
and only this one of the former I had taken it as 
belonging to Claytoniana. The pinnae of these 
fronds are placed far apart on the rachis the upper 
ones being from 2.5 to 3.5 cm., and the lower ones 
4 cm. apart. The pinnules which are somewhat 
toothed or lobed are also from 5 to 10 mm. apart 
which gives the whole frond a very light and open 
appearance. As far as I can gather there is no 
name for this variety, or may it be a cross between 
these two Osmundas ? 

Apper’s ToNncuE Fern, Ophioglossum vulgatum 
L. As it is proposed to make the family Ophio- 
glossaceae the subject of a further paper, at some 
future time, I only propose in the present instance to 
deal very briefly with each species. The present one 
I find in the damp hollows of almost every mowing 
field, as well as on the dry knolls of some of the 
upland pastures. In the latter situations, environ- 
ment plays an important part in the growth of the 
species, many of the plants only attaining a height of 
from 3 to 9 cm., whereas those growing in the 
damper situations run from 20 to 33 cm. 

Moonwort, Botrychium Lunaria (L.) Sw. This 
rare little fern was only discovered in June of the 
present year (1920) in two localities, in one of 
which only one plant was found, and about half 
a dozen in the other. These latter seem referable to 
the form known as onondagense Underw. 

Matricary Grape FERN, Botrychium ramosum 
(Roth.) Aschers. In 1919 this species was particu- 
larly abundant in one station on sloping ground under 
cedars, but this year comparatively few plants could 
be found, although at another new staticn, also on 
sloping ground, but under deciduous trees, quite a 
number could have been gathered. 

ComMoN Grape FERN, Botrychium obliquum 
Mulh. This species and the var. dissectum Spreng, 
I had the gratification of adding to the list of Qu-bec 
ferns on December 21, 1918, as recorded in “THE 
CANADIAN. Fievp-Naturauist,” Vol. XXXIII, 
1919, No. 5, p. 97. At that time only one example 
of each was found, and nothing was known of their 
distribution. Now, however, I am able to state that 
both are abundantly distributed, obliquum being 
much the commoner of the two. 

TERNATE Grape FERN, Botrychium ternatum 
(Thunb.) Sw., var. intermedium D. C. Eaton. This 
is another well distributed species, but not nearly so 
plentiful as obliquum. 

RATTLESNAKE FERN, Boitrychium  virginianum 
(L.) Sw. There is hardly a wood in which this 
species is not more or less abundant, the plants 
ranging in height from 8 to 60 cm. 

It may here be of interest to mention, that of the 
forty-one species and varieties enumerated, all have 


140 THE CANADIAN 


been gathered within an area of four square miles, 
which area could still further be reduced to three 
square miles if we except Woodsia glabella. In the 
United States a friendly rivalry exists as to which 
State holds the record for the best fern localities. At 
present the State of Vermont which adjoins cur 
County of Stanstead claims premier honors (the 
same as it does for the orchids,) having three locali- 
ties, Willoughby Lake, Dorset and Manchester 
where thirty-five, and Pittsford, where thirty-four 
true species of ferns have been collected. In view 
of this it has recently been said that apparently only 
Vermont can compete effectively with Vermont, a 
statement which I hope ere long to refute, seeing that 
my list of true ferns for Hatley now stands at twenty- 
eight species, and this for only two years work, 
whereas most, if not all, of the above lists have been 
in the making for over twenty years. It seems 
strange in view of Gosse’s diversified love of natural 
history subjects, he should have entirely ignored the 
ferns, for we find no mention whatever of them in 
his “The Canadian Naturalist,” 1840, written whilst 
residing in these parts from 1835-38. 

In conclusion, my best thanks are due to Mr. 
William R. Maxon, who after the death of Mr. 
James M. Macoun, kindly undertook to verify my 
determinations, and who in many other ways has 
given me much valuable help and assistance which 
has greatly facilitated the writing of this paper. To 
Dr. Harvie I am indebted for the information re- 
garding the geological formation of this district, and 
for naming samples of rock submitted. 


List oF THE FERNS OF HarT_Ley, 1920. 
POLYPODIACE/E. 


Polvpodium vulgare L. Common Polypody. 

Adiantum pedatum L. Maidenhair. 

Pteridium latiusculum (Desv.) Maxon. 
Brake, Bracken. 

Athyrium angustifolium (Michx.) Milde. 
row-leaved Spleenwort. 

Athyrium acrostichoides (Sw.) Diels. 
Spleenwort. 

Athyrium angustum (Willd.) Presl. Lady Fern. 

Polystichum acrostichoides (Michx.) Schott. 
Christmas Fern. 

Polystichum acrostichoides var. Scheinitzii (Beck) 
Small (var. incisum Gray). 

Polystichum Braunii (Spenner) Fee. 
Holly Fern. 

Thelvypteris palustris Schott. Marsh Fern. 

Thelypteris noveboracensis (L.) Nieuwl. l.c. New 
York Fern. 

Thelypteris Phegopteris 
Beech Fern. 


Common 
Nar- 


Silvery 


Braun’s 


(L.) Slosson. Long 


FieELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol XXXIV 


Thelypteris- hexagonoptera (Michx.), n. comb. 
Broad Beech Fern. 

Thelypteris Dryopteris (L.) Slosson. Oak Fern. 

Thelvypteris marginalis (L.) Nieuwl. l.c. Marginal 
Shield Fern. 

Thelypteris marginalis var. elegans J. Robinson. 

Thelvpteris Goldiana (Hook.) Nieuwl. Lec. 
Goldie’s Fern. ; 

Thelypteris Boottii (Tuckerm.) Nieuw]. 
Shield Fern. 

Thelypieris cristata (L.) Nieuwl. l.c. 
Shield Fern. 

Thelypteris cristata, var. Clintoniana (D. C. 
Eaton), n. comb. Clinton’s Wood Fern. 

Thelypteris spinulosa, var. intermedia (Muhl.), 
n. comb. Spinulose Wocd Fern. 

Thelvypteris spinulosa, var. americana (Fisch.), 
n. comb. Spreading Wood Fern. 

Cystopteris bulbifera (L.) Bernh. Bulblet Bladder 
Fern. 

Cystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh. Fragile Bladder 
Fern. - 

W oodsia glabella R. Br. Smooth Woodsia. 

Dennstaedtia punctilobula (Michx.) Moore. 
Hay-scented Fern. 

Onoclea sensibilis L. Sensitive Fern. 

Onoclea sensibilis var. obtusilobata (Schkuhr.) 
Torr. 


Boot’s 


Crested 


Pteretis nodulosa (Michx.) Nieuwl. Ostrich 
Fern. 
OSMUNDACE£-. 
Osmunda regalis L., var. spectabilis (Willd.) 
Gray. Royal Fern. 


Osmunda Claytoniana L. Interrupted Fern. 


Osmunda cinnamomea L. Cinnamon Fern. 


OPHIOGLOSSACEFE. 


Ophioglossum vulgatum L. Adder’s tongue. 

Botrychium Lunaria (L.) Sw. Moonwort. 

Botrychium ramosum (Roth.) Aschers. Matri- 
cary Grape Fern. 

Botrychium obliquum Muhl. 
Fern. 

Botrychium obliquum var. elongalum Gilbert & 
Haberer. 

Botrychium obliquum var. dissectum (Spreng) 
Clute. Feathery Grape Fern. 

Botrychium obliquum var. 
Waters. 

Batrychium ternatum (Thunb.) Sw., var. inter- 
medium D. C. Eaton. Ternate Grape Fern. 

Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw. Rattlesnake 
Fern. 


Common Grape 


er (Gilbert) 


THE CANADIAN 


VOL. XXXIV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., NOVEMBER, 1920. 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


No. 8. 


THE VERTEBRATES OF THE OTTER LAKE REGION, DORSET, ONTARIO. 


By A. H. WricHT anp S. E. R. Simpson. 


I—GENERAL ACCOUNT. 
By A. H. Wricut. 


The district covered by these notes might well be 
termed the Lake of Bays region. More strictly 
they pertain to the extreme eastern part of Mus- 
koka from the longitude of Portage (between Pen- 
insula Lake and Lake of Bays) to that of Hollow 
lake (Lake Kawagama, or Kahweambelewgamat 
or Kahweamhegewagamag) in northwestern Hali- 
burton. In latitude they relate of the region from 
Dorset on Trading lake (the eastern end of Lake 
of Bays navigation) northward to Algonquin Park 
Station in southwestern Nipissing. The center of 
activity is at Camp Otter (Professor C. V. P. 
Young, Cornell 99, Director) on Otter lake which 
is two miles north of Dorset. The waters and 
woodlands of the above roughly outlined district 
are more or less traversed each summer by coun- 
cillors of this camp. 


Camp Otter is now in its eleventh season. From 
its beginning Prof. and Mrs. C. V. P. Young, its 
directors, have been interested in various phases of 
animal and plant life. Early associated with them 
were Dr. and Mrs. S. A. Munford and later Dr. 
and Mrs. Abram T. Kerr, of Ithaca, N.Y. Be- 
sides those who have encouraged the study of natur- 
al history in this region, have been several students 
or associates of the senior author. Some of these 
resident naturalists have been Prof. Asa C. Chand- 
ler, Mr. Frank M. Kilburn, Prof. E. L. Palmer, 
Mr. G. M. O’Connell (several seasons), Dr. H. 
G. Bull, Mr. D. C. Gamble and Mr. S. E. R. 
Simpson. We have added some observations of Mrs. 
Julia Moesel Haber (Prof. of Zoology in Elmira 
College, Elmira, N.Y.) for Fox Point (1911). 
Several summers Mr. L. A. Fuertes, the bird artist, 
has spent varying periods in the camp. 

These lists are presented with the idea of start- 
ing a permanent catalogue of animal and _ plant 
forms of the region. 

Otter Lake is distinctly in the Canadian life 
zone. ‘The coniferous evergreens are: larch, black 
spruce, balsam fir, arbor vitae, hemlock, white and 


red pines, and common juniper (Juniperus com- 
munis). Back of camp in the deeper woods or un- 
disturbed areas occur plenty of yellow and paper 
birches, sugar maples, mountain ash with under- 
growth of mountain and striped maples, hobble- 
bush, beaked hazel nut and hoary alder (A. in- 
cana). In the more open places are quaking aspen, 
large toothed poplar and some balsam poplar. 


Along the road southward to Dorset and Lake 
of Bays where sparse settlement begins, occur a few 
basswood, American elm, white ash, black birch, 
staghorn sumac, scarlet oak, choke cherry, alter- 
nate-leaved dogwocd, thorn apple (Crataegus sp.), 
and (Diervilla Lonicera), unmistakable signs of 
the Transition Zone. No black walnuts, butter- 
nuts, nor hickories were recorded. On Rock Island 
of Otter lake and along some roads occur red oak, 
wild red cherry, june berry, Bebb’s willow. 

Along the road to Hardwood lake and at Hard- 
wood lake a similar element we have, in some 
beeches among many. maples and birches, plenty of 
wild black and red cherries, staghorn sumac, black 
elders, alternate-leaved dogwood and white ash. 


Around or in peat bogs occur: leather leaf, bog 
rosemary, withe rod (Viburnum cassinoides), blue- 
berries (Vaccinium pennsylvanicum, V. p. nigrum, 
V., canadense), black alder (Ilex verticillata), 
skunk currant (IRibes prostratum) and mountain 
holly (Nemopanthus mucronata) the last being 
rare. 


Around some of the lakes or in swampy edges 
were found sweet gale (Murica Gale) red berried 
elder, glaucous willow, shining willow, meadow 
sweet and black ash. 

Other trees and shrubs which proved unccemmon 
about camp were red-osier dogwood, sheep laurel 
(Kalmia angustifolia), American fly honeysuckle, 
hop hornbean (Osirya virginiana). 

The herbaceous flora reveals a strong Canadian 
cast. Around the camp site are twin-flower 
(Linnaea borealis), dwarf cornel (C. canadensis), 
common wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), pale cory- 
dalis (Corydalis sempervirens), bristly sarsaparilla, 


142 THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


(Aralia hispida), enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea 
alpina), yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis), 
painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), large coral 
root (Corallorhiza maculata), shin-leafs (Pyrola 
elliptica, P. cholorantha, P. minor), false-lily of 
valley, (Maianthemum canadense) and _ twisted 
stalk (Streptopus). 

In and around the peat bog were (C@vpripedium 
acaule) both normal pink, and albino yellow-pet- 
alled specimens, small greenwood orchis (Haben- 
aria clavellata), small northern bog orchis (H. 
obiusata), rattlesnake plantain (Epipactis pubes- 
cens), nodding ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes cernua), 
multitudes of grass pink (Calopogon pulchellus) 
and rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides), gold- 
thread (Coptis trifolia), creeping snow-berry (Chio- 
genes hispudula), dwarf raspberry (JRubus triflorus ), 
Dalibarda (D. repens), both cranberries, three- 
leaved Solomon’s seal (Smilacina trifolia), arbutus 
(E. repens), masses of horned bladderwort (Uftri- 
cularia cornuta), lance-leaved violet (Viola lance- 
olata), naked bishop’s cap (Mitella nuda), Indian 
cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana) and Aster 
junceus, spatulate and _ round-leaved sundews 
(Drosera intermedia and D. rotundifolia), and 
Canadian and marsh St. John’s wort (Hypericum 
canadense, Triadenum virginicum). 


On the more open hillside opposite camp and 
toward Dorset were narrow-leaved gentians (Gen- 
tiana linearis) and the northern bed straw (Galium 


boreale). 


The mammals are decidedly of Canadian affinity, 
but with the rare appearance of wildcat, raccoon, 
black squirrel, transition zone influences enter. 


In the birds more transitional forms appear rare- 
ly or sparingly, toward Dorset, southward and 
towhee, woodthrush, yellow- 
throated vireo, Baltimore oriole, catbird, whippoor- 
will, least flycatcher, indigobird, yellow warbler, 
parula warbler, red-headed woodpecker, Maryland 
yellow-throat. 

Thus in trees, herbaceous under-cover, birds and 
mammals there is close agreement in the preponder- 
ance of Canadian forms. At Otter Lake and 
northward, the incursion of the transition element 
is not so pronounced as at Huntsville, where rail- 
road and other civilized encroachments play a 
greater role. The ride from Huntsville to Dorset 
and thence by foot to Otter lake emphasizes this 
difference to the trained observer. 

To such as might wish to know what ferns we 
casually observed the list is: 

W oodsia IIvensis 

Osmunda Claytoniana 

Onoclea sensibilis 

Osmunda cinnanomea 


westward to wit: 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Osmunda regalis 
Dicksonia punctilobula 
Polystichum acrostichoides 
Aspidium noveboracense 
Aspidium cristatum 
Aspidium marginalis 
Asplenium Filix-femina 
Pteris aquilina 
Polypodium vulgare 
Phegopteris polypodioides 
Phegopteris hexagonoptera 
Phegopteris Dryopteris. 


i THES RIsSe. 
By A. H. WricutT. 


The present list of sixteen species reveals the 
scanty variety of the Highlands of Ontario. Sev- 
eral of these are introduced species. Others are 
steck introduced to replenish the supply of the 
waning species in this series of lakes which are 
two hundred or more feet higher than the Muskoka 
group. The decided barriers do not permit incur- 
sions from the great variety of the Great Lakes. 
The region, however, abounds in individuals‘ of 
the few game species it possesses. For comparison, 
we have employed Meek’s! results in the Highlands 
of Ontario. He began at Hawkestone and Orillia 
on Lake Simcoe and followed the Grand Trunk 
railroad through Gravenhurst (Muskoka lakes) to 
Trout Creek and North Bay (Lake Nipissing). 
All the way northward the railroad bears away 
from Georgian bay and the stations he successively 
came to were successively farther away from it in 
barriers, etc. Lake Simcoe and the Muskoka lakes 
are much nearer Georgian bay and Lake Ontario 
than Lake of Bays or Otter lake. Hence the Great 
Lakes’ complexion of Lake Simcoe with silversided 
minnow (JN. atherinoides), log perch (Percina cap- 
rodes zebra), spot-tailed minnow (Notropis hud- 
sonius), silvery minnow (Hybognathus nuchalis), 
trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) and _ long- 
nosed dace (IRhinichthys cataractae), or Moon riv- 
er just below Muskoka lake (Bala) with log perch, 
spot-tail minnow and silvery minnow. Such species 
are never to be expected in Otter lake unless intro 
duced or unless it was geologically connected with 
the Great Lakes. Otter Lake seems more compar- 
able to Trout Creek. The former has sucker, 
horned dace, red-bellied dace, fathead, Cope’s min- 
now, shiner, brook trout, pumpkin seed; the latter 
has suckers, horned dace, red-bellied dace, fat- 
head, blunthead, shiner, brook trout, brook stickle- 
back, nine-spined stickleback and pumpkin seed, 


(1) Meek, S. EE. Field Columbian Museum Zoo- 
logical Series, Volume I., No. 17., Publ. 41, Novem- 
ber, 1499, pp. 307-311 and Volume III., No. 7, Publ. 
67, July, 1902, pr 131-140. 


November, 1920] 


and in the blunthead and nine-spined stickleback 
‘shows slightly greatly affinity to the Great Lakes 
than Otter Lake. Most previous lists for Ontario” 
although of some help related too much to the 
ichthyologist’s boundary paradises and _ reservoirs, 
namely: Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior, 
to be of particular service in the study of the far 
inland lakes of the province. 

Ameiurus nebulosus (Le Sueur). Catfish. 

Common in the weedy edges of Otter lake where 
pickerel-weed, pipe-wort, watershield and_ other 
water plants abound. Also found in outlet of the 
- Peat bog. We found no catfish in Fletcher lake. 

Catostomus commersonii (Lacepede). Sucker. 

Reported as common throughout the region. I se- 
cured it at Otter lake. Meek secured it at Graven- 
hurst and Trout creek. 

Chrosomus erythrogaster Rafinesque. Red-bellied 
Dace. 

The most common minnow of all these lakes. It 
is especially a minnow of quiet clear water, both 
Jakes and streams. Every lake or pond visited if it 
had minnows at all harbored mainly red-bellied 
dace. Meek secured it at Muskoka lake and Trout 
creek. Also taken by Professor Macoun in Al- 
gonquin Park. 

Pimephales promelas Rafinesque. Fat-head. 

On August I1, 1913, we seined several “‘fat- 
heads” in a marshy place of Otter lake. Meek 
secured it at Trout Creek. 

Notropis cayuga Meek. Cayuga Minnow. 

In weedy shallows of Otter lake and its peat bog 
pond we found this species. I believe this the same 
as Meek’s N. muskoka taken by him at Graven- 
hurst and other places. 

Notropis cornutus (Mitchill). Shiner. 

The shiner or redfin occurs in many of the lakes 
of the region. Taken by us in Otter, Harvey Jr., 
and other lakes. 

Semotilus atromaculatus 
Dact. Creek Chub. 

Widely distributed. It was found in Otter, 
Harvey Jr., Fletcher and other lakes. Meek had 
it from Gravenhurst and Trout Creek. 

Leuciscus neogaeus (Cope). - Cope’s Minnow. 

In weedy shallows of Otter Lake, we secured 
representatives of this form on July 29 and August 
11, 1913, associated with red-bellied dace. 

Esox lucius (Linnaeus). Pike. 

So far as we could determine there are no native 
pike (E. lucius), pickerel (E. tridecemlineatus ) 
and lunge (E. masquinongy) in Lake of Bays, Hol- 
low Lake, Fletcher Lake and other lakes of this 


(Mitchill). | Horned 


(2) Nash, C. W., Checklist of the Fish of Ontario. 
Dept. of Education, Toronto, 1908. Also, ‘Fishes 
of Toronto” in “The Natural History of Toronto 
Region, Ontario, Canada, pp. 249-371. 


THE CANADIAN FiIELD-NATURALIST 143 


region, and no one was found to report introduced 
fish of these three species. Meek reports the pike 
and lunge from Muskoka Lake. 

Eupomotis gibbosus (Linnaeus). 
Seed.” 

Common from Lake of Bays to Algonquin Park. 
The boys of camp brought us sunfish from Harvey 
Jr., Hardwood, Fletcher and other lakes and they 
were net uncommon in Otter Lake. Rock bass are 
not in these lakes but held by local! fishermen to 
be in lower lakes although Meek stated there were 
no rock bass in the lakes of the Highlands of On- 
tario. 

Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede: Small-mouthed 
Black Bass. 

Not reported from Lake of Bays eastward or 
northward. Meek secured it on Muskoka Lake. 

Perca flavescens (Mitchill). Perch. 

Taken in several lakes in 1913. Common in 
Fletcher, Skin and Porridge lakes, but not very 
large. Held to be put in these lakes by the Do- 
minion government twenty or more years before. 
The stock is supposed to have come from Orillia. 
Also taken in Lake of Bays. Meek secured them 
at Gravenhurst. 

Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum). 

Common in many of the lakes of the region. Held 
by many residents to be native of Hollow, Kimball, 
Bear and some other lakes. In others like Hard- 
wood they were held to be introduced about June, 
1889. About Hollow Lake, Lake of Bays, and 
other lakes of the region they allude to larger gray 
trout with white flesh and smaller salmon trout with 
reddish flesh. 

Salvelinus  fontinalis 
Trout.” Brook Trout. 

Common in lakes of the region. Taken in Otter, 
Fletcher and Harvey lakes and others more remote. 

Coregonus clupeiformis (Mitchill). Whitefish. 

We saw no whitefish. One informant said there 
was a whitefish caught in the shallows of Hollow 
lake during the fall and winter. Others state that 
there is a whitefish in Lake of Bays. Whether these 
are true whitefishes or ciscos remains to be dis- 
covered. Some of the rangers assert there are white- 
fish lower down at Orillia, Peterboro, etc., but not 
here. 

Lota maculosa (LeSueur). Ling. 

This species is reported as very common in Lake 
of Bays, and Hollow lake where they are caught 
on night lines. 


Ill.—THE BATRACHIANS AND THE 
REPTILES. 


By A. H. Wricut aANp S. E. R. Simpson. 
THE SALAMANDERS. 


. “Pumpkin 


(Mitchill.) “Speckled 


Nash (1908) gives ten species of salamanders 


144 


for Ontario; Piersol (1913) seven for the Toronto 
region; and Patch (1918) six: from Ottawa. Our 
list should include Ambystoma maculatum, Eury- 
cea bislineata, Notophthalmus v. viridescens, Am- 
bysioma jeffersonianum, and Plethodon cinereus. 
As yet we have recorded at Otter Lake or in its 
environs (within 10 miles) only the last three, the 
same species which Meck (1899, 1900) took in 
Gravenhurst or Trout Creek. Little effort has 
been made for their search except in the summer of 
1913. 

Notophihalmus  v. 
Common Newt. 

Two or three records of this form were made in 


(Rafinesque). 


viridescens 


the summer of 1913. It is, however, rare. Meek 
took one near Gravenhurst, September, 1899. 
Ambystoma jeffersonianum (Green). — Jeffer- 


son’s Salamander. 

Recorded only once in 1913 at Otter Lake. 
Meek and Clark (1900) secured two specimens 
from Trout Creek to the northward. 


Plethodon cinereus (Green): Red-backed Sala- 


mander. 


Rather uncommon about Otter Lake. Taken at 
three different times in 1913 by Messrs. C. V. P. 
Young and E. Bennett. All the material was of 
the red-backed phase. Inasmuch as these records 
were within the species’ breeding season, all were 
found in rotting logs. 


THE FRrocs. 


Bufo americanus Holbrook. American Tcad. 

Abundant. Between June 29-July 3, 1913, we 
found numerous transforming and transformed 
toads in the trails and roads. In August, 1919, 
they were found just transformed in some places. 
Most of the adults are much spotted below. 

Hyla crucifer Wied. Spring Peeper. 

Meek found this form common in September, 
1899, near Gravenhurst but scarce in June 1900. 
It is solely a question of voice records. In 1913 
lone peepers were heard from June 28-July 6. 
Throughout most of July they were quiet, except 
for a few at the very end of the month. By Aug- 
ust 10, 1913, stray peepers began to call and from 
then onward into September they were not uncom- 


monly heard. We recorded them at Lake of 
Bays, Gem, Hardwood, Crozier, Fletcher and 
Otter lakes. We took them in midsummer in the 


woods, in dried up swampy areas, and around the 
edges of the lakes. 

Hyla v. versicolor Le Conte. Tree Toad. 

Not commonly found during midsummer after 
the breeding seasons of late May-July. Heard in 
late June or early July (9th) in 1913. In 1919 


heard occasionally throughout the summer. Some- 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


times in midsummer we find them amongst the moist 
leaves around the lakes or in swampy areas. 


Rana catesbeiana Shaw. Bullfrog. 


Meek found it abundant at Gravenhurst and 
Bala and so it is at Otter Lake. The boys of this 
camp frequently catch them for food. By day they 
often club them with a paddle or with a stick, catch 
them by hand or with red flannel and hook. In 
the last of June and early July the bullfrog chorus 
is quite pronounced. After the middle of July, or 
July 20th, a few males are heard at night. Egg 
laying may rarely extend to August 1, some females . 
taken on July 25, 1913, being unspent. 


Rana clamitans Latreille. Green Frog. 


Meek found it very abundant at Gravenhurst 
and at Bala. Very common in the Otter lake 
region. This species normally transforms in June 
and: July but in August 25, 1919, newly trans- 
formed specimens were found. 


Rana palustris Le Conte. aR: 

Scarce. In the summer cf 1913 all of our re- 
cords of this species came between July 14 and 25. 
Then only isolated specimens were discovered. 


Rana pipiens (Schreber.) Leopard Frog. © 
The most abundant frog of the region. 


Rana septentrionalis Baird. Mink Frog. 


Not uncommon in the Otter lake region. They 
were heard croaking from July 7-16, 1913, in a 
small peaty lake near Otter lake. Later on July 
24, 1913 (in Ten Mile creek) between’ Lake of 
Bays and Otter lake we found them common among 
lily pads, also at Porridge lake; July 28, 1913 and 
on Fletcher -lake, September 1, 1913. -In 1919 in 
the middle and last of August sixty or more were 
taken with a net from the lily pads. 

Rana sylvatica Le Conte. Wood Frog. 

In 1913, we secured only two newly transfermed 
specimens on July 8 and July 24, and three adults, 
July 25. All were lost and we are unable to 
identify them positively as R. sylvatica. It is a 
woodland form in midsummer, very seldom seen. 


THE SNAKES. 


Nash gives 17 species of snakes for Ontario. J. 
B. Williams finds 9 species in the Toronto region, 
Meek, 3 species in Muskoka country and Patch, 2 
species in the vicinity cf Ottawa. We have five 
species in our list. Three more may be later re- 
ported by subsequent writers. We found no clue 
to the riband snake at all. The natives described 
two other snakes, one apparently the mitk snake 
(Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) and another 
the spreading adder (Heterodon contortrix) from 
the region somewhat south of Lake of Bays. 


November, 1920] 


Diadophis 
sake. 

In the summer of 1913 we recorded six speci- 
mens of this species, mainly along the road to Dor- 
set and on the cliff to the west of camp. In 1919 
one was found in- mid-August between Otter: lake 
and Dorset. 

Liopeltis vernalis (Harlan.) Green Snake. 

Meek secured one at Gravenhurst and G. S. 
Miller, Jr., Aug. 6, 1896, saw a green snake at 
this same place. Several of the natives voluntarily 
déscribed a “grass green snake not very common.” 
We have not yet taken it. 

Natrix sipedon sipedon (Linné.) Water Snake. 

Meek took one specimen at Gravenhurst and the 
species is uncommon in the Lake of the Bays re 
gion. Many of the natives call it a “black snake.” 

Sioreria  occipito-maculata (Storer.) Red- 
bellied Snake. 

This and the ring-necked snake are of about 
equal occurrence in the region. Through 1913 
and in August, 1919 we recorded four specimens 


(Linné.) Ring-necked 


puctatus . 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 145 


of this species. 


Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (Linné.), Garter 
Snake. 
Abundant; the snake of the region. On August 


11, 1913 one of our captive garters gave birth to 
19 young. 
THE TurTLes. 

Chelydra serpentina (Linné.). Snapping Turtle. 

Uncommon. Found more in muddy creeks and 
ponds than in the open lake. We tcok one July 
23, 1913, in Fletcher lake with a carapace length 
of 18-20 inches. On the road to Dorset in the 
last of August, 1919, another specimen was taken 
with head width of three inches. - Sometimes called 
“Black-turtle” in this region. 

Chrysemys marginata —marginata 
Western Painted Turtle. 

We have not seen this form in this region but 
the natives describe a small mud turtle other than 
the snapper and the description accords well with 
this species. 


(Agassiz. ) 


(To be continued.) 


THE LARGER FRESHWATER-CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA AND ALASKA. 
By Frits JOHANSEN. 


(Continued from Vol. XXXIV, page 132) 


Il—ISOPODA. 


This order of crustacea has a great number of 
representatives in the sea, some of which live para- 
sitically on fishes, other crustacea, etc., and are 
correspondingly deformed, especially the females. 
- Three familtes-‘are-known~fromfreshwater--on this 
continent. 


They have the fcllowing characters in common 
with the amphipods; a many segmented body, no 
carapace, but the head and first thoracic segment 
united, and the eyes, when present, sessile. While 
the body of an amphipod is compressed that of an 
isoped is depressed thus making the latter a less 
capable swimmer, but admirably suited for dodg- 
ing under stones, etc., and attaching itself to moving 
animals. It is true that certain of the marine forms 
(Mesidothea sp.) are gcod swimmers (using their 
legs), and live almost a pelagic life when they are 
very young (just after leaving the brood-pouch), 
but they. soon-change.this-for crawling: over,or bur- 
rowing in the~sea bottom, the typical life-for most 
of the isopeds. The eggs are carried by the females 
on the underside of the body in a brood-pouch,* 


*Formed by lamellae from the thoracic legs. 


as in the amphipods, and the young ones also re- 
main inside the pouch some time after hatching. The 
newborn young are practically like their parents 
though different in color and the proportional size 
of the various parts of the body, and the embryonal 
development inside the egg is said to be not quite 
so complete as with the amphipods. A popular 
name for the isopods is “sow-bugs,” and it is well 
known that certain of them (Oniscus, etc.) live on 
land under bark or stones, etc. The marine and 
terrestrial forms are predacious, while those in 
freshwater feed upon decaying vegetable matter. 
Owing to their more hidden habit the freshwater 
forms are not quite so important an item in the 
food of fishes, birds, etc., though the marine or 
brackish water forms are decidedly so. Among the 
latter is the large interesting species Mesidothea 
entomon, which has a circumpolar distribution and 
also is found as a glacial marine relict in the large 
lakes cf Sweden and in the Baltic. In the arctic it 
is a littoral form and one cf the most characteristic 
and commenest invertebrates along the coast wes! 
of Hudson Bay. I have observed (arctic Alaska) 
how it will enter the cstuaries of rivers or smaller 
water ccurses at high tide, remain there in quie' 


146 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


poolsf and gradually ascend the streams so that it 
is even found in certain large freshwater lakes near 
the coast and serves as food for typical freshwater- 
fishes (lake-trout, etc.). 
the arctic becomes a freshwater species to the same 
extent as has other crustacea, Mysis relicta Lovén 
(see Rep. Canad., Arct. Exped., 1913-18, Vol. 
VII, Parts B. and D.). 

Of the three families of freshwater isopods oc- 
curring on this continent the one (Cirolanidae) is 
represented by a blind form in artesian wells and 
has so far only been found in the United States, 
and the other -is that of the parasitic Bopyridae 
found upen higher crustacea (Decapoda). Nor has 
this latter yet been recorded from Canada or Alas- 
ka; the females in the genus Probopyrus become, 
after attachment to their host, peculiarly deformed 
and unsymmetrical while the young individuals and 
males are more normal in habit and appearance. 
There is a great number of marine forms of this 
family. The third family of freshwater-isopods is 
the Asellidae, which is represented by three genera 
of which one has so far only been recorded from 
the United States, and as with the species of the 
two preceding families is apparently missing from 
Canada and Alaska. It is found in underground 
caves or artesian wells. The Asellidae are dis- 
tinguished from the Cirolanidae by the fact that the 
last pair of tail feet (uropods) are not inserted lat- 
erally on the telson so as to form a tail-fan, but at 
the posterior end. As mentioned above the family 
is represented in Canada by two genera. The first 
(Mancasellus) of these has only one species M. 
tenax Smith, in Canada and probably does not oc- 
cur in Alaska. It is easily separated (see Hunts- 
man’s figures) from the one species of the 
other genus Assellus communis Say also occurring 
in Canada by the extended, truncate epimera (seg- 
mental processes) and by the head being much 
broader than long and with a deep incision on each 
sid2, characters which can be ascertained even in 
very young individuals. It has thus a much greater 
transverse diameter than has Assellus communis’ and 
is superficially not unlike its terrestrial relatives 
though lacking the latter’s ability to roll itself up in- 
to a ball. It is far less abundant than Assellus, and 
seems to be still more retiring with mode of life, 
being mainly found under stones, etc., nor is it found 
in temporary pools and streams where the other 
is often found. Its distribution in Canada seems 
to be somewhat like that of Eucrangonyx gracilis, 
and limited to the Great Lakes area (Superior, 
Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Ontario, upper St. 
Lawrence river, the Ottawa valley and southern 
Ontario) ; in the United States it has been recorded 


It has not, however, in 


7Perhaps for breeding purposes (See C.A.E. re- 
port). 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


from Lake Superior to the Detroit river. Its maxi- 
mum length is nat quite 1% cm. About its life-his- 
tory little has been known, but I am able to give 
some interesting data recently acquired. Thus among 
the specimens sent me by Prof. E. M. Walker of 
Toronto and collected near Lake Simcoe, Ont., on 
May 30, 1917, some of the females had eggs in the 
brood-pouch. I secured a great number of very 
young (3-4 mm. long) individuals of this species 
under stones in a bight of the Oitawa river on 
July 6, 1919. 

The same day I found young Asellus communis 
of a corresponding size, and could thus compare 
them. The young Mancasellus could be dis- 
tinguished from the young Asellus not only by the 
characters given above (greater width, lateral in- 
cision in head, etc.), but also by a very characteris- 
tic pattern of four dark brown, longitudinal stripes 
upon their dorsal side quite lacking on the paler 
young of Asellus. ‘There was some variation among 
the different young Mancasellus in the intensity and 
distribution of the longitudinal, dorsal stripes, but the 
pattern was always the same, and J found it to hold 
good also for the young (below 5 mm.) Mancasel- 
lus which I secured at Alexandria Bay, N.Y., on 
September |, 1919 (see below). The full-grown 
Mancasellus J collected, also, show some traces of 
this pattern (the animals were dusky dorsally), so 
it seems to be a characteristic of the young individu- 
als. It was interesting to note, that the average size 
of the young Mancasellus collected on July 6th 
was larger (3-4 mm.), than that of the young Asel- 
lus (3 mm.) on the same date; the breeds of Man- 
casellus are probably born somewhat earlier or 
grow faster than is the case with Asellus. From 
observations I have made regarding the birth of the 
young Asellus and the rather slow growth of both 
species I can say almost with certainty, that these 
young ones of both species taken on July 6th are 
about two months old. Their habits were quite the 
same as those of the adults. 


New records of Mancasellus tenax for Canada 
are as follows: 


Several young ones (below 5 mm.) from under 
stones in bight canal at Alexandria Bay, Thousand 
Islands, N.Y., Sept. 1, 1919, (F. Johansen). 


One full grown (13 mm.) male from among 
stones; Fairy Lake, near Hull, P.Q., May 5, 1918, 
(F. Johansen). 

One adult, Fairy Lake, P.Q., April 25, 1920, 
(F. Johansen). 

Many specimens (various sizes) from Bridg- 
man’s Creek, Chelsea Road, Hull, P.Q., May 9, 
1920, (F. Johansen). 

One adult (about 12 mm.) and many young 
(3-4 mm. ones from underside of stones; bight in 


Ce ww 


November, 1920] 


Ottawa river, Hull Park, P.Q., July 6, 1919, see 
above, (F. Johansen). 

A dozen adults (abcut 12-14 mm. some of the 
females with eggs in broodpouch), from upper part 
of Wilson’s Creek, De Grassi Point, Lake Simcoe, 
Ont., May 30, 1917, (E. M. Walker). 

It is greatly to be desired that additional data 
concerning the distribution of this conspicuous and 
interesting species should be secured from locali- 
ties north, east and west of the present records. 

Far more common than Mancasellus tenax is the 
other species of freshwater isopod, Asellus com- 
munis Say. It has been known from Georgian Bay 
and Toronto, Ont., and in the United States from 
Massachusetts to Michigan. It will be seen from 
the new records given below that it has a much 
wider distributicn in Canada than formerly known, 
though we have no definite records of it from the 
Maritime* and the western provinces. Nothing is 
known about its northern limit on this continent, ex- 
cept that it is very common around Ottawa, both 
on the Ontario and Quebec side. Its distribution 
is prcbably very much the same as that of Hyalella 
knickerbockeri, which means that it may occur in 
scuthern Alaska, but that it probably does not ap- 
proach the barren grounds of this continentf. To 
a still larger extent than Hyalella, and in the same 
way as Mancasellus it appears to be a woodland 
species, and is therefore perhaps not found on the 
plains of the Canadian west. Where it cccurs it 
is very common, and is found in great numbers both 
in rivers and large lakes and also in ponds and tem- 
porary pools and streams, both on clean bottom and 
also among much vegetation, dead leaves, etc. 

In northern Europe this genus is represented by a 
closely allied species the well-known Asellus 
aquaiicus Linn., which has been recorded by Pack- 
ard from Labrador and may occur in Newfound- 
land. Not much has been recorded hitherto regard- 
ing the development (life-history) of Asellus com- 
munis. I am, therefore, glad to be able to add some 
original observations which I have made recently 
during my ccllecting trips to various localities in 
Canada. On April 20, 1919, I collected in a 
pool stream in swamp at Deschénes, P.Q., near 
Ottawa, some females, | cm. long, which had many 
white eggs in the brocdpouch,{ as well as some 
males, 1% cm. long. These crustacea were placed 
in a jar for rearing, and two weeks later young 
ones that emerged were noticed. ‘These latter were 
carried in the broodpeuch of the mother-animal as 


late as May 6, (until the end of May in 1920), 


*See additional notes. 

7I found neither it nor Mancasellus along the 
arctic coast of Alaska and western Canada. 

In 1920 the females first carried eggs in the be- 
ginning of May. 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NATURALIST 147 


moving freely around inside their cage, and when 
the mother-animal was touched some of the young 
ones would emerge and swim or crawl around.** 
These new born Asellus communis are from | to 
1 mm. long; they have practically the appear- 
ance of their parents (well-developed appendages, 
etc.), though the head is rounded and of the sam-< 
width as the succeeding segments and the terminal 
plate (telson) correspondingly large. In color they 
were pale white, with dark eyes and the brownish 
intestinal canal and pale-pink “gills” (abdominal 
feet) shining through the cuticula. While sinking 
to the bottom or crawling over the latter the an- 
tennae, legs and “gills” move continuously, each 
kind of appendage performing its particular func- 
tion (feeling, crawling, respiration). I kept these 
young isopods for several months and could easily 
have kept them longer, if I had had time to con- 
tinue. my observations. The energy with which 
they crawled around lcoking for food or scught to 
escape when I tried to catch them was certainly 
wonderful, all the appendages going in one whirl 
and the body twisting as well. When about a 
month old they were not much larger (about 2 mm.) 
than when first born; they were now becoming 
brownish. I preserved samples of them (June 
2). It will thus be seen, that the first brood of the 
summer is born in the beginning of May (near 
Ottawa), and that their growth is rather slow. It 
is interesting to note that even egg (brood)-carrying 
females of this species are considerably shorter than 
the males (maximum size of females noticed | cm.), 
sometimes even only half the size (8 mm.), of the 
maximum size of the latter ones. Females secured 
at Gatineau Point, P.Q., near Ottawa on June 
14, 1919, had the brood pouches empty; on the 
other hand females secured on July 6, 1919, in Hull 
Park, P.Q., had the eggs (second summer-brood) 
in the brood pouch. The same day (July 6) and 
place I secured also as has already been mentioned 
a 3 mm. long young Asellus communis, probably 
of the first summer-brcod and now about two 
months old. It had already the grayish dorsal 
color of the full grown females (the color of the lat- 
ter ones is less “spotted’’ and brown than that of the 
males), and could thus by its color alone be easily 
distinguished from the young Mancasellus of a cor- 
responding (I mm. larger) size also found on this 
date. Other female Asellus communis secured at 
Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, N.Y., on Sep- 
tember Ist, 1919, had also eggs in the brood pouch, 
thus carrying what would probably be the third 
brood of the summer. Females from a pocl near a 
quarry cutside of Hull city, P.Q., collected on 


**[T have observed the same in the case of Mesi- 
dothea entomon in the arctic. 


148 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


October 5th, 1919, had unripe eggs in the brood 
pouch. 

New records from Canada which I have for this 
isopod are: 

Many specimens (about 5 mm. long and less) 
from stream pools at foot of Diamond Hill, Que- 
bec City, September 19, 1919, (F. Johansen). 


Viany specimens (up to 7 mm. long) from bighi 
in canal at Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, 
N.Y., September 1, 1919, (F. Johansen). 


Many (younger) specimens from Montreal 
West, P.Q., October 19, 1918, (A. Willey coll.). 

A great number of specimens from pools, streams, 
lakes and the river near and at Ottawa, April to 
Cctcber, 1917-1919, (F. Johansen). 


I thus have it from the Gatineau river, Gat- 
ineau Point, Hull Park and outside of Hull 
city, Bridgman’s Creek, Chelsea Road, Catfish 
Bay, Fairy Lake, foothills of Kings Mountain, 
Deschénes, etc., on the Quebec side of Ottawa 
district and from McKay Lake, Reckcliffe, etc., on 
the Ontario side. 


It is exceedingly desirable that further data re- 
garding the distribution of this common and im- 
portant food for fishes and birds in Canada, both 
north, east and west of the records from Canada 
Fnown so far (Quebec City to Georgian Bay), 
should be secured. 


One of the two freshwater isopods occurring in 
Canada, (Mancasellus) is thus to be considered a 
more southern form with a limited distribution; 
the other (Asellus) has a much wider distribution 
from east to west, though its records from the 
United States seem to indicate, that it may not be 
feund in the western provinces of Canada, nor in 


Alaska. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR CANADIAN FRESHWATER 
ISOPODS. 
Boone. P. L. Isopods. Report of Canadian 
Arctic Expedition 1913-18, Vol. VII, Part D. 
Ottawa, 1920. 


Hay, O. P. Notes on some Freshwater Crustacea 
1882, (see under Amphipcds). 


Huntsman, A. G. Freshwater Malacostraca of 
Ontario, Contrib. to Canad. Biclogy, Fasc. II, 
p. 146-49. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 

Ortman, A. E.  Malacostraca, in Freshwater 

Biolegy, 1918, p. 828-50. (see under Amphi- 
pods). 


Richardson, H. Monsgraph on the Isopods of 
N.A., Bull, U.S.N. M. No. 54, Washington, 
1905, p. 415, 420-421. 


Smith, S. I. Crustacea Freshwater, U.S.A., Rep. 
U.S. Comm. Fish. Pt. 2; (1872273); ste. (see 
under Amphipcds). 


Smith, S. I. and A. E. Verrill. Invert. dredg. in 
Lake Superior in 1871, (U.S. Lake Survey), 
etc., (see under Amphipcds). 


Smith, S. I. Prelim. Rep. Dredg., Lake Super- 
ior, 1871, (see under Amphipcds). 

Underwood, L. M. List of Freshwater Crustacea 
of North America (see under Amphipods). 


Hunsman, A. G. Invertebrates, Nat. Hist. Toron- 
to, Reg. 1913, p. 273-74, (see under Amphipeds). 


ADDITIONAL NOTES. 


So little is known about the occurrence and rer” 
its of the freshwater-crustacea during the winter, 
that the following note in THE Ottawa NaTurRAL- 
Ist for September, 1907, p. 102, is of interest: 


“Mr. W. S. Odell reports an abnormal abun- 
dance (during the winter 1906-7) of certain 
crustacea observed under the following circum- 
stances. At the openings cut threugh the ice on 
the clay ponds or pits near the Rideau River, 
crowded masses of Canthocampus, Cyclops and 
Asellus aquaticus* came to the surface of the 
The ice was about a foot in thick- 

ness, and the ccld was intense, yet these water 

animals had not been so thick for many years. 

They decreased most markedly on the first mild 

days, 2? 

In January, 1921, I received from Dr. A. G. 
Huntsman of Toronto, three Asellus communis Say, 
collected on October 31, 1920, near Milton, 
Yarmouth County, in southern Nova Scotia. Dr. 
Huntsman has kindly identified them as Asellus 
communis Say (same as A. intermedius Forbes). 
The specimens are in a poor condition; but as this 
is the first record of freshwater isopods from the 
Maritime provinces it should ke included in this 
article. 


Wialele ss 


*Probably A. communis Say (F.J.). 


(To be continued.) 


Saree 


—S7 


November, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


149 


ARGULIDAE FROM THE SHUBEN ACADIE RIVER, NOVA SCOTIA. 


By CHarLes BraNcH WiIison, Pu. D., State NorMAL ScHooL, WeEsTFIELD, Mass., U.S.A. 


A survey of the Shubenacadie which 
empties into the Basin of Minas, Nova Scotia, was 
recently made by Mr. A. H. Leim in connection 
with the Canadian shad fisheries. During this sur- 
vey many specimens of both young and_ adult 
argulids were obtained at Shubenacadie with the 
tcw-net in tidal water which seemed to be fresh 
rather than salt. 


river, 


These specimens were sent to the present author 
for identification, and they proved to contain an 
abundance of both sexes of two species of Argulus, 
one of which had previously been found in many 
localities on the Atlantic coast farther south, while 
the other was new to science. The following record 
of these two species is herewith submitted. 


AARGULUS ALOSAE Gould. 


Argulus alosae Gould, Invertebrata of Massa- 
chusetts, 1841, p. 340, text figure: S. I. Smith, 
Report U. S. Com. Fish and Fisheries, 1872, p. 
575 (281): R. Rathbun, Proc. U. S. National 
Museum, vol. 7, 1884, p. 485: J. F. Whiteaves, 
Cat. Marine Invertebrata of Eastern Canada, 1901, 
p. 216: C. B. Wilson, Proc. U. S. National 
Museum, vol. 25, 1902, p. 707, pl. 12; pl. 26, 
fig. 80. 


Record of specimens. Ten specimens, including * 


both sexes, were obtained August 1, 1919, at 8.45 
p.m.: two males were obtained on the same date 
at 9.10 p.m.: a single male was obtained July 21, 
at 6.15 p.m. 


Remarks. This species was doubtfully recorded 
by Mr. J. F. Whiteaves in the reference given above 
as attached to Gasterosteus biaculeatus Shaw, and 
other small fishes taken off Pictou island in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. A\ll the other recorded lo- 
calities are much farther south. The present record 
substantiates that of Whiteaves and fully establishes 
the species in Canadian waters. Again it has 
hitherto been found only upon fish hosts in salt 
water; the present specimens were captured in a 
tow-net in fresh water. Their presence in the tow 
makes it certain that they infest fish in the immediate 
vicinity, and it may be that they will be found some 
day upon the shad whose name they bear. 


ARGULUS PIPERATUS, new. species. 


Record of specimens. Twenty-two specimens, 
of which six were females and the rest males, were 
ebtained August 1, 1919, at 8.45 p.m. in company 


with the first lot of Argulus alosae. Another lot 
of ten specimens, including both sexes, were caught 
in the second towing, August | at 9.15 p.m. Five 
males were cbtained July 31 at 9.50 p.m., and two 
males on the same date at 10.10 p.m. The majority 
of all these specimens were of small size although 
sexually mature. But a few of them were large 
enough to be regarded as fully developed adults, 
and from these the following description has been 
taken. 


Fig. 1. Dorsal view of Argulus piperatus, female. 


The line represents a length of 1 mm. 

Specific characters of female. General - shape 
of the carapace elliptical, one-fourth longer than 
wide, with shallow lateral sinuses and broad, well 
rounded posterior lobes. Posterior sinus, one-third 
the length of the carapace, with parallel sides; pos- 
terior lobes just reaching the base of the abdomen. 
Eyes far forward and well separated. 


Abdomen elliptical, one-fourth the length of the 
carapace, the longitudinal and transverse diameters 
in the proportion of 11 to 9; its posterior lobes 
well rounded and inclined inward so that their 
inner margins are in contact. Anal sinus 27.50°% 
of the abdomen length; anal laminae basal, minute 
and unarmed; sperm receptacles small, circular 

and rather widely separated. 


THE 


Fig. 2. Argulus piperatus; first and second 
antennae of male, much enlarged. 


Lateral claw of basal joint of first antenna long 
and slender and curved into a half circle; anterior 
claw shert and weak. Second joint slender, three 
times the length of the terminal joint, and armed at 
the distal anterior corner with a short spine; ter- 
minal joint tipped with two spines. Second anten- 
na of the usual pattern, the basal joint one-half 
wider than the succeeding joints and tipped with a 
long spine; second joint with two spines, third and 
fourth joints with one spine each. 


piperatus; supporting rods in 


much enlarged. 


Fig. 3. Argulus 
sucking disks; 


Sucking disks of second maxillae far forward 
and well separated, each about 15% of the width 
cf the carapace; the supporting rods slender and 
far apart, each made up of four cylindrical joints 
which diminish regularly in size from the base out- 
wardly, and which do not quite reach the margin. 
The latter has a fringe of flattened fleshy setae, at- 
tached side by side in a single row. 


Fig. 4. Argulus maxilliped of male; 


piperatus; 
much enlarged. 


The maxillipeds are rather short but stout; the 
triangular plate on their base is wide posteriorly 
and much narrowed anteriorly, but extends to the 
anterior margin of the appendage; the teeth are 
long and wide and bluntly rounded. Inside of the 
base of the appendage, on the ventral surface of 
the head, is an accessory tooth of the same pattern 


as those on the plate itself. 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


The rami of the swimming legs reach consider- 
ably beyond the margin of the carapace. The 
lobes cn the basal joints of the fourth legs are 
small and not very prominent. 

Color a light cartilage gray, the dorsal surface 
covered with small black dots, as though it had 
been sprinkled with pepper. These dots are not 
evenly distributed but are massed as shown in the 


figure. 
Total length 5 mm. Carapace 4 mm. long, 3.25 
Abdomen | mm. long, 0.90 mm. wide. 


mm. wide. 


Fig. 5. Dorsal view of Argulus piperatus, male. 
The line represents a length of 1 mm. 


Specific characters of male. Carapace relative- 
ly the same size and shape as in the female; abdo- 
men longer, cne-third the length of the carapace, 
the longitudinal and transverse diameters in the 
proportion of 15 to Il. Anal sinus not as deep, 
only 14%. of the length of the abdomen and never 
closed by the approximation of the posterior lobes. 


are 


Argulus piperatus; third legs of male, much 
enlarged. 


Fig. 6. 


Of the accesscry sexual characters the peg on 
the anterior margin of the basal joint of the fourth 
legs is a broad cone, inclined strongly outwards and 
bluntly rounded at the tip, with a tiny spine on its 


November, 1920] 


anterior margin. On the ventral surface of the basal 
joint of the third legs is a broad flap, projecting 
backwards, and on the anterior margin a rounded 
knob armed with minute setae. 


aes 


Fig. 7. Argulus piperatus; fourth legs of male; 


much enlarged. 


THE Canapian Fietp-NaTURALIST 151 


Color the same as in the female except that the 
black spots on the dorsal surface are larger and 
more scattered. 


Total length 4 mm. Carapace 3 mm. long, 2.65 
mm. wide. Abdomen | mm. long, 0.80 mm. wide. 
(piperatus, sprinkled with pepper, alluding to the 
black spots). 


The types of this species are depcsited in the 
Museum of the Atlantic Biological Station, St. 
Andrews, N.B. 


BIRDS IN RELATION TO INSECT CONTROL. 
By NorMAN CripDLeE, ENTomoLocicaL LaporaTory, TREESBANK, Man. 


The value of birds to mankind has unfortunately 
been brought down to the level from which we 
guage most things nowadays, namely, dollars and 
cents. We might in the past, have classed them with 
art, poetry and music, but to-day the aesthetic side 
is lost in the mad rush for wealth and those of us 
who still value wild life for what it is, rather than 
for its econcmic significance, are obliged to weigh 
its qualities by the standard which modern thought 
demands. 


The value of birds in relation to agriculture is a 
question that has frequently been discussed. The 
value of birds as destroyers of noxious insects is 
usually linked with the preceding problem though 
experts are not as unanimous in their conclusions 
regarding this part of the question, adverse conten- 
tions being especially strong among Italian ento- 
mologists who are apt to disclaim any assistance 
from birds to agriculture or kindred sciences. The 
Italians have their school of followers in North 
America but they are fewer. Since, however, 
they are men of ability it seems well to look rather 
more fully into the reasons for these differences of 
opinion. ae 

Probably the first obstacle to unanimity lies in 
the fact that two sciences are involved namely 
ernithology and entomology whose voteries, on the 
whole, have but a superficial knowledge of each 
other’s work. For instance, the ornithologist may 
be well aware that birds eat insects but he does not 
always. know that the insects consumed may ccn- 
tain within them those that are useful. The entom- 
ologist on the other hand, knows little of the habits 
of birds and is, therefore, apt to view the question 
wholly as an insect one and to depend upon insects 
for insect control arguing that birds in eating a 
single noxious insect may destroy half a hundred 
useful ones, and so prevent the spread of allies that 


would centrel a pest far more quickly than birds 
could, even supposing the latter were able to ac- 
complish the task at all. 


The first point to accept in this discussion is that 
insect extermination is cut of the question. The 
preblem is not how to exterminate a pest but it is 
rather to secure the best means of keeping it within 
bounds. 

I believe we shall eventually reach the conclusion 
that insect parasites are of most value in controlling 
serious outbreaks while birds reach their greatest 
usefulness by destroying the surplus under normal 
conditicns and so prevent outbreaks. Neither of 
these differences in value are clearly defined, how- 
ever, as a great many minor issues are involved in 
the whole question some of which I give below. 

The rapid increase of an insect pest is due to 
several causes among which the absence of parasites 
is an important one. Under these circumstances the 
chances of birds destroying useful parasites in feed- 
ing upon the hest at that time, is small, while by 
devouring the increasing pest they are playing an 
important part in keeping it within bounds. Occa- 
sionally, however, the pest increases beyond the 
rate at which birds can check it, this being due 
At such times 
neither parasites nor birds are of much value and 
the pest spreads over wide areas as was exemplified 
in the grasshopper outbreak of the last two years in 
the Prairie Provinces. It is at this point that birds 
fall behind and parasites usually come to the fore 
and as these last have now unlimited food available 
they multiply with great rapidity. It matters little 
under these circumstances, whether birds devour 
parasites or not as the latter are too widely spread 
to be affected. Indeed the ultimate result is for the 
parasites to become over abundant in which case 
they are reduced to insignificance by starvation due 


largely to meteorological conditions. 


152 THE CanapbiAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


to the destruction of hosts. In eating the pest at 
this time birds are almost sure to devour even more 
parasites than hosts and by doing so they will 
actually help to preserve the latter by keeping down 
the surplus and so make rcom for those that remain. 

One cther pcint must be taken into consideration 
in connection with the part birds play in suppress- 
ing insect pests and that is while they may destroy 
numbers of parasites in eating the hosts they must 
necessarily prevent many of the hosts from deposit- 
ing eggs thus enabling egg parasites and other egg 
enemies to concentrate upon those remaining. It 
might be contended on the other side, that birds aye 
equally apt to destroy parasites in consuming inseci 
eggs such blame being especially aimed at the 
Chickadce but I doubt very much whether the few 
useful insects destroyed in this way could compare 
with the value done by the birds in destroying 
thousands of insect eggs. Further, we must r<- 
member that many insect eggs are placed in the 
ground or in crevices, etc., where birds cannot get 
at them but where parasites can. 

As a further point in the birds favour it may be 
pointed cut that parasites are only present within 
the bodies of their hcsts for a limited period of the 
hests’ life and, therefore, by eating the host before 
the latter becomes infested, birds are of unquestion- 
able value to man; moreover, by this means they 
provide fer a concentration of parasites upon the 
hosts that survive. 

It will be noted that I have written nothing about 
hyperparasites in this paper, that is parasites which 
These complicate the whole ques- 


I think, show 


infest parasites. 
ticn but to include them would not, 
birds in an unfavourable light. 

Turning now to the part which birds play in ac- 
tually devouring useful insects such as tachinid 
flies, syrphid flies, lady-beetles and other insects, 
we find that the birds by this habit ‘actually reverse 
the arguments that have been used above but there 
is this in extenuation. With the exception of those 
I have mentioned and a few more, most of the 
useful insects (especially parasites) are small while 
the noxicus ones are more often large and so easily 
detected. It would seen therefore, that far fewer 
useful insects are taken than harmful ones and this 
point is amply borne out by the examination of 
bird stomachs, as a paver through the bulletins of 
the U.S. Biological Survey will show. 

One of the 
trine of insects controlling insects is illustrated in 
euch pesis 


strong points in favour of the doc- 


as the hessian fly and western wheat- 
s‘em sawfly which are small and consequently little 
eflectcd by birds. Naturally if these are kept in 
check by parasites there is not much reason why 
larger ones shcu'd not be. But the evidence is by 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


po means conclusive that they are. With the 
hessian fly meteorological factors are of importance 
at least in some parts of the insects’ range and this 
probably applies to the sawfly also. The relation 
of humidity te insect prevalence is, indeed, a very 
important question which, however, requires a sepa- 
rate article to do it justice. 


There are unquestionably times when even 
severe insect outbreaks are controlled locally 
through the actions of birds, a well known example 
of which occurred in Utah many years ago when 
a locust infestation was cleaned up by gulls. We 
need not, however, go so far afield for similar evi- 
dence of the usefulness of gulls. 


During the years 1919 and 1920, a serious out- 
break of grasshoppers, formerly called locusts, oc- 
curred in scuth-west Maniteba which threatened 
large areas cf growing grain and required the 
united efforts of government officials and farmers 
to keep it in check. This outbreak extended from 
Saskatchewan far to the eastward but in this ex- 
tension there was a notable gap most marked in 
the districts in which Boissevaine, Whitewater 
and Ninga were situated. Since the soil is very 
similar over all this territory and offers equal in- 
ducements for grasshopper breeding the absence of 
the insects cver it in destructive numbers might 
seem rather extraordinary, but I believe can be ex- 
planed as follows: North of the villages mentioned 
above is a large marshy lake upon which a great 
many gulls and terns congregate and doubtless 
breed. In any case the birds make this lake their 
resting place and from it issue forth each day in 
quest of food. In the spring time before the small 
heppers appear, the gulls may be seen in close at- 
tendance of the ploughman when they are often 
accompanied by black terns and frequently by 
crows and blackbirds all cf which vie with each 
other in picking up the grubs and other insect life 
exposed by the plough. Later, when summerfallow- 
ing is under way and hoppers have attained sufh- 
cient size to be seen easily the gulls again devote 
much of their time to following the plough only now 
they spread out further afield and obtain a glorious 
feast of the grasshoppers which are endeavouring 
to make their way from the ploughed land to new 
feeding grounds. 

At a still later date when harvest is beginning, 
the gulls and their allies take to the grain, fields and 
roadways wandering up and down as if they im- 
agined the waving grain were water and the grass- 
hoppers the small fry swimming near the surface. 
But be that as it may the results are much the 
same. Many millions of grasshoppers have been 
eaten by the time the gulls take their departure and 
incidentally the farmer has reaped a far larger 


November, 1920] 


crop than he would have done had the birds been 
absent. This, I think explains the absence of 
severe grasshopper cutbreaks in the districts re- 
ferred to. 


There are very few birds that do not take advan- 
tage of a locust outbreak. Grouse find the insects 
especially palatable and several people are now 
learning to associate abundance of grasshoppers 
with the rearing of large families of grouse and this 
undoubtedly applies to several other birds. 


It is, however, to those birds which congregate 
into flocks that we must look to most for help. I 
have already mentioned gulls in this respect, another 
is found in the crew. The crow is very fond of 
grasshoppers at any time and as the evidence shows, 
feeds its young largely upon them when they are 
sufficiently numerous. Indeed it is no exaggeration 
to state that a family of six crows would consume 
at least three bushels of grasshoppers in a season 
which would mean preventing about 9,000,000 of 
the insects’ eggs from being laid. 


In our grasshopper campaign of 1920 we ran 
across many instances of crows gathering in locust 
areas for feeding purposes. They were especially 
noticeable along roadways where fence or telephone 
poles afforded convenient resting places for their 
sentries. [here is probably ancther reason for the 
crows gathering along roadways which is explained 
as follows: The outbreak of locusts referred to 
was made up of several species of which two were 
of special importance. These interestingly enough, 
have a marked difference in their choice of breed- 
ing sites, the one known as the Lesser-migratory 
locust choosing stubble fields or areas of semi- 
cultivation for egg-laying while the other, known 
as the Road-side locust, (Camnula pellucida) pre- 
fers the grassy road-sides for breeding purposes. 
Ou. account of this habit the last-named insect is 
naturally massed within a comparatively small 
space which the crows have learnt to take advan- 
tage of. 


Returning to the contention that birds frequently 
neutralize their usefulness in destroying noxious in- 
sects by eating the parasites at the same time, we 
have here at least a case where that was not so to 
any marked extent. Parasites of adult grasshop- 
pers have been of small importance owing to their 
scarcity. Egg parasites, however, give far greater 
premise of eventually bringing the insects under 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 153 


control. Here then we have a case where the des- 
truction of adult locusts by birds will reduce the 
pessible egg supply and oblige the insect feeding 
upon them to gather upon what remain, thus giving 
a far greater assurance of reducing the pest quickly. 


I will conclude with one more example which, 
though not conclusive, provides at least strong cir- 
cumstantial evidence in favour of the birds involved. 
Some twelve miles from my home at Treesbank, 
Man., is a pretty little village surrounded by hills 
and trees, where crows have bred rather freely in 
the past. A few years ago, however, prominent 
citizens of this place came to the conclusion that 
the crows were greatly reducing the bird life, es- 
pecially game birds, which the citizens looked upon 
as their own special privilege to kill. In conse- 
quence of this belief, these people inaugurated 
crow-destroying competitions in which they formed 
sides of equal number, those bringing in the great- 
est number of crows and their eggs winning a prize, 
which the losers had to pay. The result cf this 
annual competition in crow destruction has had a 
marked effect upon crow life in the vicinity without 
apparently preducing very noticeable results in the 
direction expected. What interests us here, how- 
ever, is this. The district, which is a grain-growing 
one, was infested by a severe and isolated outbreak 
of grasshoppers last year, while surrounded areas 
where crows had been protected escaped. As I 
said above, this may be a coincidence, but since the 
region is no more suitable for grasshoppers than 
others nearby, such weuld hardly seem to be the 
case. 


In the preceding remarks no effort has been made 
to plead the cause of birds, the evidence has merely 
been given as it was presented to me in the feld. 
I have said nothing of the aesthetic side, yet few 
can depict anything more beautiful than a flock of 
gulls following a ploughman, flying with their grace- 
ful curves within a few inches of his head and 
darting down with a characteristic little flutter to 
pick up the insect newly exposed. To see them 
flying over the lakes is equally pleasing, and we 
ought surely to be thankful in realizing that such 
perfect creatures are our friends. This can be said 
with almost equal justice of many other birds, 
which, if they are not as pleasing to look upon, 
make up for that by a sweeter song or some other 
characteristic which should endear them to us. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


ADDITIONS TO THE BIRDS OF SHOAL LAKE, MANITOBA. 


By Ernest S. NormMan. 


The following species of birds have been observed 
by me at Kalevala, Man., which is situated approxi- 
mately about 25 miles north of the north end of 
Shoal Lake. 


RED-THROATED LOON, Gavia lumme. This bird 
is seen on Birch Lake, near Kalevala P.O., nearly 
every fall just before freeze-up. It arrives here 
generally several weeks after the common Loon 


and the Holboell’s Grebe have left for the south. 


Only one or two seen at a time. 


AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK, Aythya marila. Regu- 
lar summer visitor, though perhaps less numerous 
than the Lesser Scaup. I have never found its nest 
though the Lesser Scaup’s nests are often discovered. 


TURKEY VULTURE, Cathartes One _in- 
dividual of this species was seen several times in the 
spring of 1919. It came every day for two or 
three weeks to feed on a horse carcass, at which | 
had set some wolf traps on the winter previous. It 
was very tame and I had many chances of seeing it 
at very close range, being thereby able to establish 
the identity beyond any dcubt. 


aura. 


This hawk 


Never- 


COOPER’S HAWK, Accipter cooperi. 
is only an accidental summer visitor here. 
theless, I have seen it several times during the last 
six years. 

GOLDEN EAGLE, Aguila chrysaéios. One adult 
in a beautiful plumage was shot by Mr. G. Carlson, 
of Mulvihill, Man., in the summer of 1916. Mr. 
Carlson breught this bird to me for identification 
and later cn sent it to Mr. W. Darby, the taxi- 
dermist, in Winnipeg, for mounting. 

GREAT GRAY OWL, Scotiaptex nebulosa. One 
morning in February, 1918, I noticed an unusually 
long and fluffy feather hanging in a willow bush 
near my barn. I at once knew that it was that of 
an owl, but had never met here any species of owls 
with such tremendously long feathers. Several days 
later the puzzle was solved, when, in broad day- 
light a Great Gray Owl (the first one and only one 
that I have seen) flew to a shade tree in front of 


our house. It stayed around for several weeks 


after that. 
RICHARDSON’S OWL, Cryptoglaux tengmalmi 
richardsoni. In the winter of 1914-15, several birds 


of this species were seen. They were very tame, 
coming sometimes in broad daylight into the barnyard 
where they could have been knocked down with a 


stick. None have been seen since. 


SAW-WHET OWL, -Cryptoglaux acadica. I saw 
one specimen cf this little owl in June, 1918. I 
saw it on several occasions in one particular spot 
in a poplar bush. WHunted for the nest high and 
low, but it could not be found. 


AMERICAN HAWK OWL, Surnia ulula caparoch. 
In the winters of 1914-15 and 1915-16 this 
was by far the most common of all the owls. It is 
possible that they were breeding, as few were met 
with right in the breeding season, in 1915. Not a 
single one has been observed here in the last three 
years. 


ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER,  Picoides 
arcticus. Regular, though rare, winter visitor at 
Kalevala, Man. One or two can be seen in the 
poplar forests north of our post office almost any 
day during the cold weather. 


NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER, Ceophlacus 
pileatus abieticola. This largest of our northern 
woodpeckers was very common here six and seven 
years ago, when the first settlers arrived. On ac- 
count of their unwary habits many of them fell 
easy victims to the Sunday hunter and the boy 
with “the 22.’’ It has been entirely absent for two 
or three years, but last autumn (1919) a pair came 
into our poplar woods (where they are protected) 
and have stayed there all winter. They were 
seen nearly every day hammering at a large poplar 
stub just a short distance from our barn. As 
many of the largest poplars in our bush have very 
large holes excavated into them, it is almost certain 
that these birds used to breed here regularly not 
so very many years ago. 


PINE GROSBEAK, /J?inicola enucleator leucura. 
Common winter visitor at Kalevala, Man. General- 
ly appears in small flocks from 4 or 5 to a dozen 
birds of both sexes. They are very tame and feed 
mostly on frozen high-bush cranberries. 


REDPOLL, Acanthis linaria. Common _ winter 
visitor. Sometimes large flocks of several dozens of 
birds are seen. They feed on weed seeds and are 
far too tame for their own safety. The ordinary 
house cat generally catches more than its share of 
them. 


WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, Sitla carolinensis. 


Resident. Can be seen here any day both summer 
and winter. 


November, 1920] THE CANADIAN FieLp-NaTURALIST 


THE DUCK SPECIMENS RECORDED AS LABRADOR DUCKS (CAMPTO 
RHYNCHUS LABRADORIUS) IN DALHOUSIE. COLLEGE, 
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA. 


By Hoyes Ltoyp. 


ae a 
AE ars VACHS fobroaortus 
- Ke) 


r, <S “Amer Mus. Nathtysl- 
UNE SSR Sa #LZSB0R 
eae : i 
bees eins 
Sees 
I hie, Clue . 
a : 
Feriale of ali fax Groap . 


Yyom shock k MICOS APE/ICMILS 
W772 WC Sy eatAor. 


=. 


OWen7/a QMECK/CAIQAG . 


6 200. Survey, Conada. 


1- Laced from original dravwir 
by Lotiss Agass!5 Fuerres. 


Aka - bY fA. averner. 


156 THE CANADIAN FieELD-NATURALIST 


William Dutcher’ revised the list of extant speci- 
mens of this extinct species in the collections and 
museums of the world. His totals were Canada 2; 
United States 25; Europe 11; amounting to 38 in 
all. 

Subsequently A. B. Meyer? recorded a specimen 
in the Dresden Museum, Saxony, and Dr. Witmer 
Stone® recorded ene from an old collection which 
brings the list of total known specimens to 40, dis- 
tributed as follows: Canada 2; United States 26: 
Europe 12. 

It may not be generally known that two of the 28 
North American specimens a male and a female 
were reported by Dutcher on the authority of 
Thomas I. Egan and Andrew Downs as being in 
the collecticn of Dalhecusie College at Halifax, 
Nova Scotia. 

In April, 1919, I had the pleasure of visiting 
Dalhousie College and through the courtesy cf Pro- 
fessor Moore was allowed to examine these speci- 
mens, both ef which are mounted and carefully pre- 
served under glass. 

One is a male Labrador Duck (Camptorhychus 


labradorius) in full plumage and the other is an 


1. The Auk, Vol. VIII, 1891; p. 201. 
2. Ibid, “Vol-- Ex, 1892,;. p.- 389. 
2. Ibid, Vol. XX, 1893, p.. 363. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


American Sccter (Oidemia americana) in the 
plumage of the female. 


At the time, I neglected to notice the speculum 
of the bird in question, but Mr. R. W. Tufts, of 
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has since examined the 
specimens to make sure of this point, and he reports 
that the supposed female Labrador Duck is so 
mounted that the characteristic speculum of that 
species would not be shown if it were present, but 
clcse examination of this. specimen shows the ab- 
sence of the special wing marking of the Labrador 
Duck. 

Aside from this, the bill of the supposed female 
Labrador Duck shows it to be an American Scoter. 
To emphasize this point a sketch showing the upper 
aspect of the beaks of these two birds was drawn 
to scale and a comparative sketch showing the bill 
of a female Labrador Duck has been kindly pre- 
pared for me by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. These- are 
shown in the figure. 

It is stated with much regret that only one speci- 
men of the Labrador Duck is known to exist in 
Canada today, and not two as has been supposed. 

Nete.—Fleming saw one in Montreal some years 
ago, which was nct the specimen purchased by 
Dutcher, but its present condition, if still in exis- 
tence is unknown. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER AT LONDON. On 
May 30, 1920, at 5.25 a.m., my attention was at- 
tracted by the netes of a Swamp Sparrow which 


was singing in a large elm tree. For the reason 


that Swamp Sparrows do not go up into large elms 
to sing, I set about locating this one to make sure 
cf the identificaticn, but before I could locate him 
in the tree, he flew into some willows cnly ten or 


fifteen yards away, and again started singing. [| 
saw at once that he was no Swamp, but a warbler, 
and the glass showed pure yellow beneath, and 
pure yellow on top of the head, coupled with a tail 
that appeared very short and a bill larger in pro- 
portion than I remember on any other warbler. A 
Prothonotary, without the shadow of a doubt! 
Further study of his song indicated that while a 
Swamp Sparrow sings from four to six notes per 
second, the warbler was much more deliberate and 
used two seconds for his song which was invariably 
of six notes on the same pitch, and almost identical 
with the Swamp in tone. This is my first Protho- 
notary, and the second one this century in Ontario, 


the other being a specimen taken at Pelee by Tav- 
erner about 1915. Macoun’s Catalogue quotes one 
specimen taken at Hamilton, and sight records, in- 
definite at that, from Toronto. (Fleming)-and-N.B. 
(Chamberlain). Apparently there are two Cana- 
dian specimens in existence. 

An eager party hunted my bird that Sunday 
afternoon, and I was after him with a gun on Mon- 
day, but when he left me, as he did in a few min- 
utes, he flew east beyond hearing, and has not been 
heard from since.—W. E. SAUNDERS.” 


EPICUREAN TASTE IN SWALLOws.—Near the 
village of Shazy, New York, lies Hearts Delight 
Farm, the property of W. H. Miner, who is not 
only a farmer at heart and in fact, but a lover of 
nature and of all things elevating and good. 

Given such a man and a-farm of. 12,000 acres, 
with sufficient desire and oppertunity for improve- 
ment along aesthetic as well as economic grounds, 
the ultimate achievement can hardly be forecasted. 

At Hearts Delight, achievement is magnificent, 
but one phase only is to be noted here. 


November, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


Protection of wild life, animate and inanimate, 
holds a prominent place in the owner’s plans, and 
there the wild things may find home locaticns suit- 
ed to their varied needs, and the wocds and fields 
are everywhere vocal with bird song. Among oth- 
ers, Swallows are abundant, and the great feature 
of the splendid farm is the group of three enormous 
Martin houses on cne of the large lawns. Two of 
these houses are nearly equal in size, about 4 by 7 
feet, with perhaps 200 domiciles in each. The large 
one is 8 by 12 feet and contains about 400 domi- 
ciles. As nearly as one can see, every cavity is 
occupied, a very few of them with House Sparrows, 
but practically every one with Martins; which 
would mean in the neighbourhocd of 800 pairs of 
these useful birds. At the rate of only four young 
to each nest, 5,000 birds would need to be fed 
everyday from June 10 to August 20. Surely the 
unfortunate insects that form the focd of these birds, 
ought to become scarce, compelling long flights on 
the part of the parents to supply their young. 


One seems to have an instinctive feeling that 
Swallows, catching their food on the wing, feed cn 
almost everything that comes alcng, and that they 
hunt the whole air in general. Perhaps that is be- 
cause we have an idea that we would act that way 


if we had the ability. 

My experience at Chazy, on July 7, 1919, gives 
me a hint that this rule (of my own imagination) 
does not invariably apply. Here is a place where 
Martins are living in vast numbers, and yet, hawk- 
ing over the lawn by the house, all day lcng, were 
Barn Swallows, and Barn Swallows only! 


Why no Martins, and why the Swallows, if no 
Martins ? 

Questions are easier to ask than to answer. 

All one can say in reply is that the Swallows 
were there, and that the Martins, though nesting 
absolutely in thousands within a quarter of a mile, 
were absent. Investigaticn showed that the grass 
of the lawn was infested by an insect, less than '/7 
inch long. Passing the hand over two or three 
feet of the grass would invariably cause one or 
more of these insects to rise from the grass, and 
after flying never more than eighteen inches high, 
and four feet in distance, they settled again. This 
low, short flight accounted for the motions of the 
Swallows, who were hawking back and forth at 
from one to two feet over the surface, swerving in 
their flight at intervals when an insect was to be 
caught. 

The reasonable explanation is that these insects 
were very palatable to the Swallows, and unat- 
tractive to the Martins, but why this should be the 
case is a puzzle. There can be no doubt that the 
Martins knew of this source of food, because birds 


oe | 


FiELD-NATURALIST 15 


find out such things with marvellous facility when 
the facts are of sufficient interest, but why should 
an insect be so attractive to one species of bird, and 
so lacking in interest to ancther species, when so 
closely allied2—W. E. SauNDERS 


ProsECUTIONS—MicraTory Birps CoNveN- 
‘TION AcT AND NortHwest GAME AcT BY 
OFFICERS OF THE DoMiNion Parks BRANCH AND 
RoyaL CanapiAN MountTep POotice. 


Micratory Birps CoNvENTION AcT. 
Francois Mandeville, Fort Smith, Northwes: 


Territories, interfering with a game officer in the 


discharge of his duties. Fine $10.00 and costs. 
William Goss, Kensington, Prince Edward 
Island, buying Canada Geese in closed season. 
Fine $10.00 <-nd ccsts. 
Austin Fluke, Gaspereau, Nova Scotia, posses- 
sion of Black Ducks in closed season. Fine $10.00 


and costs. 


Fred B. Cex, Labrador Coast, Quebec, posses- 
sion of Ducks in closed season. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

John P. Cex, Halifax, Nova Scotia, possession 
of Eider Ducks in closed season. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

John Chapman, Mossbank, Saskatchewan, shcot- 
ing at Wild Ducks in clesed season. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Charles Elder, Mossbank, Saskatchewan, hunt- 
ing Wild Ducks in closed seascn. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

William Pace, Meadowvale, Colchester Co., 
Neva Scotia, possession of a Downy Weodpecker. 
Fine $10.00. 

W. L. Hendsbee, Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, 
possession of Gull. Fine $10.00. 

Nicholas Eull, Minnesota, U.S.A., shooting at 
Ducks in clcse season near Cudworth, Sask. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

Tilman Landry, 7 Highfield Street, Amherst, 
Nova Scotia, possessicn of a Great Blue Heron. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Lucien Tinant, Cban, Saskatchewan, possession 
of nine Ducks in closed season. Fine $15.90 and 
costs. 

Leuis Blean, Montcalm Market, Quebec, P.Q., 
pessession of Semipalmated Sandpiper. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Frank Pattenden, Bayfield, Westmoreland Co., 
New Brunswick, shocting Semipalmated Sandpiper. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Fern McMorris, Bayfield, New Brunswick, pos- 
session of three Semipalmated Sandpipers. Dis- 
missed. 


158 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Charles Bent, Bayfield, New Brunswick, pos- 
session of Sandpiper. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

James E. McDonald, Mira, Cape Breton Co., 
Nova Scotia, killing Scoters from a power-boat. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Frank Wheeler, Dominion, Cape Breton Co., 
Nova Scotia, possession one “Ring-necked Plover.” 
Fine $10.00. 

Robert Weaver, Doaktown, New Brunswick, in 
possession Pileated Woodpecker. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

Charles Grotto, Trenton, Nova Scotia, attempt- 
ing to kill Greater Scaup Duck by use of power- 
boat. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Daniel Levy, Little Tancook, Lunenburg Co., 
Neva Scotia, attempting to kill Black Duck by 
the use of a motor-boat. Fine $20.00 and costs. 

Harvey Cross, Big Tancook Island, Lunenburg 
Co., Nova Scotia, attempting to kill Black Ducks 
by the use of a “Sunken Boat.” Fine $20.00 and 
costs. 

William Heizler, Oakland, Lunenburg Ccunty, 
Nova Scotia, attempting to kill Ducks by the use 
of a power-boat. Fine $20.00 and costs. 

William Murdock, New Glasgow, Nova Sestia, 
attempting to kill Greater Scaup Duck by use of 
pewer-boat. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Walter Winsloe, Trenton, Nova Scotiz, attempt- 
ing to kill Greater Scaup Duck by use cf power- 
boat. Dismissed. 

Alexander Grotto, Trenton, Nova Scotia, at- 
tempting to kill Greater Scaup Duck from a 
power-boat. Dismissed. 

NortTHwest Game AcT PRosEcutTIONs. 

W. F. Dow, Fort Rae, Northwest Territories, 
possession two Musk Ox skins. Seizure. 

D’Arcy Arden, Dease River, Great Bear Lake, 
Northwest Territories, possession Musk Ox skins. 
Seizure. 


BirD BANDING WORK BEING TAKEN OVER BY THE 
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY.— 


The Bureau of Biological Survey at Washington, 
D.C., has taken over the work formelly carried on 
under the auspices of the Linnaean Society of New 
York by the American Bird Banding Association. 
In taking over this work the Bureau feels that it 
should express the debt that students of ornithology 
in this country owe to Mr. Howard H. Cleaves for 
the devotion and success with which he has con- 
ducted this investigation up to a point where it has 
outgrown the possibilities of his personal supervision. 

Under plans now being formulated this work will 
give a great amount of invaluable information con- 
cerning the migration and distribution of North 
American birds which will be of direct service in 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


the administration of the Migratory Bird Treaiy 
Act, as well as of much general scientific interest. 

It is desired to develop this work along two prin- 
cipal lines;—first, the trapping and banding of 
waterfowl, especially ducks and geese, on both their 
breeding and winter grounds; and secondly, the 
systematic trapping of land birds as initiated by 
Mr. S. Prentiss Baldwin, the early results of which 
have been published by him in the Proceedings of 
the Linnaean Society of New York, No. 31, 1919, 
pp. 23-55. It is planned to enlist the interest and 
services of volunteer workers, who will undertake 
to operate and maintain trapping stations through- 
out the year, banding new birds and recording the 
data from those previously banded. The results 
from a series of stations thus operated will un- 
doubtedly give new insight into migration routes; 
speed of travel during migration; longevity of 
species; affinity for the same nesting-site year after 
year; and, in addition, furnish a wealth of infor- 
mation relative to the behavior of the individual, 
heretefcre impossible because of the difficulty of 
keep'ng one particular bird under observation. 

The details of operation are now receiving close 
attention, and as soon as possible the issue of bands 
will be announced, with full infermation regarding 
the methods to be followed and the results expected. 
In the meantime, the Biological Survey will be glad 
to receive communications from those sufficiently in- 
terested and satisfactorily located to engage in this 
work during their leisure time, for it is obvious that 
a considerable part must be done by volunteer op- 
erators. It is hoped that a sufficient number will 
take this up to insure the complete success of the 
project—E.. W. NExson, Chief of Bureau. 

MIGRATION STUDIES BY BIRD BANDING.—The 
work of bird-banding referred to above by Dr. E. 
W. Nelson, which is now being taken over by the 
U.S. Biological Survey, is a system of placing 
registered numbered aluminum bands on the legs 
of birds which are then liberated so if again taken 
information may be derived on their lives, habits 
and movements. The amount of exact informa- 
tion that might be obtained in this and in no other 
practical manner is very great indeed. For years 
we have each had ideas as to whether birds re- 
turned to their old haunts year after year, the 
permanency of their matings, ages, routes of travel, 
etc., but it was mostly guesswork and authorities 
disagreed. Under the bird-banding association or- 
ganized under Mr. Harold Cleves and others some 
of these questions are in a fair way of exact solu- 
tion. 

Our own Jack Miner, of wild goose fame, whilst 
working independently of the bird-banding associ- 
ation has done considerable in this direction with 
the wild fowl. His geese banded at Kingsville, 


November, 1920] 


near Lake Erie, Essex Co., Ontario, have been 
taken on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to 
North Carolina and along the east shore of James 
and Hudson Bay. He has had returns also from 
ducks from Louisiana and the Gulf States, north to 
Sault Ste. Marie and west as far as Alberta. These 
irregular (2) migration routes are of special inter- 
est in confirmation of the soundness of the view that 
proper protection of migratory game is an inter- 
provincial problem more than a local one and well 
within the logical field of federal authority. 


The systematic trapping done by Mr. S. Prentis 
Baldwin mentioned by Dr. Nelson is a development 
of these activities and has opened up unlimited pos- 
sibilities to the work. Normally but very few land 
birds banded are ever heard of again. In the work 
cited some surprising and valuable results have re- 
sulted from constant and systematic trapping of 
small birds within a limited area. A box trap made 
of fine meshed poultry wire is used which captures 
the birds without injury and from which they can 
be removed, banded and released, without other 
damage than a little passing fright. To show how 
evanescent this is Mr. Baldwin says that many in- 
dividuals acquire what he calls “the trap habit” 
and return again and again, even many times a day, 
to the annoyance of the trapper, for the easily se- 
cured food supplies offered by the bait and they 
even wait patiently for the apparently expected 
liberation. All told he has so handled some five 
thousand birds in this manner and amongst the most 
interesting facts that the work has brought out are 
the following,— 


Many birds do return to the same locality year 
after year but not always to the same spot. ‘The 
chances seem to be about one in five, that at least 
one of a pair will return to the previous year’s 
nesting site and about one in twenty-five that both 
will. In some cases birds that seemed to be the 
same as last season’s friends proved to be entire 
strangers whilst the old marked ones were found 
nesting at some little distance. 


The martial tie is somewhat looser in some cases 
than had been expected and not only do some birds 
often change mates from season to season but even 
for successive broods during the same season. A 
second brood in a nesting box was found to have 
one new parent whilst the jilted one was discovered 
helping to care for another family nearby. 


It is also shown that as soon as the young are out 
of the nest they are usually taken immediately quite 
away from the vicinity. A family of young Wrens 
were found at the end of the first day some three 
hundred yards distant from their natal home. 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 159 


The average daily range of many birds is sur- 
prisingly restricted. With traps set one hundred 
yards apart “repeaters,” birds returning again and 
again to the trap, were rarely taken more than one 
trap away from their usual station. 


Not only do birds return annually to their summer 
homes but to their winter ones as well and even 
along the way between follow the same locality 
stations year after year. Migrants merely passing 
through, have been taken on successive years, up to 


three, under the same bush. 

Another bit of interesting evidence is on the ac- 
tual mechanics of migration. It seems that the 
species studied do not pass along on their vernal 
and autumnal passages doing daily stints of travel, 
but pause for a while here and there where food is 
good and while the weather is fine, to pass on with, 
or just before, the storm that brings others of their 
kinds along. 

All this is most interesting and valuable work 
and is such that many of otherwise limited oppor- 
tunity can follow and, whilst indulging in a pur- 
suit, fascinating in itself, amass a large amount of 
information of great popular, economic and scien- 
tific value. It is well that such important work is 
being directed by the experienced Bureau of the 
Biological Survey and that steps will be taken to 
extend its scope and correlate its results. 


P. A. TAVERNER. 


THE JAEGER AT SYLVAN LAKE, ALTA.—While 
living at Sylvan Lake, Alberta, this summer, I was 
fortunate enough in September, to observe a fine 
Jaeger attacking a Common Tern. This gave me 
a splendid opportunity to observe this unusual visi- 
tor. When finally the Tern escaped, the Jaeger 
settled on the water, and with my prism binoculars 
I was able to note its every feature. The upper 
parts were very dark while the throat underparts 
appeared to be a creamy white. 


This is the second time I have seen this species 
at Sylvan Lake. In June, 1916, hearing an unusual 
note above the din of a large flock of Franklin 
gulls feeding in the bay, I saw what for the 
moment I took to be a fish hawk swooping about 
amongst the gulls, but as it poised above them for 
a second I was amazed to see the long middle tail 
feathers. Shortly after it settled on the water, and 
I watched it for a long time with my binoculars. I 
did not report this occurrence outside my own circle 
of friends, thinking I would not be believed, but, 
now with the advent of the second one I am glad 
to report this record for Alberta——E sie CassELs. 


160 THE 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


BOOK NOTICE. 


Birps OF EASTERN CANADA, Memoir 104, No. 3, 
Biological Series, Geological Survey of Canada, by 
P. A. Taverner: King’s Printer, Ottawa, 1919. 
297 pages, octavo with 50 colored plates, illustrat- 
ing 105 species and varieties; price 50 cents. 


The introduction to this work is unusually attrac- 
tive, and will be found both interesting and instruc- 
tive to the student of Birds. It deals with classifi- 
cation, distribution and other problems and even 
has a chapter on Attracting Birds about the home. 

The index appears very complete and comprises 
English, French, and scientific names. 


A most useful feature, that might well be copied 
in similar works is the description of the different 
classes, orders and families. Too often the young 
student is left to surmise as to the scope of these 
divisions of the science. 

One of the most attractive features of the book 
is the inclusion of the section “Field Marks.” No 
other part of the work will receive as earnest study 
from puzzled nature students, to whom unidentified 
birds are a frequent experience. After one has 
pursued birds long enough to have identified 75 
species, he is apt to make a good guess at the iden- 
tity of any unknown, and needs only confirmation 
from a book to change surmise into certainty, and 
the section under consideration provides easy refer- 
ence for such a puzzle. 

The key is good, but if a key is worth providing, 
it is worth while to carry it out to the limit, and not 
abandon the seeker after knowledge at the broad 
heading “Sparrows,” and leave him to grope through 
34 different species, when a color key could easily 
have been given on a few added pages. 


The colored plates, by Frank Hennessey, are on 
the whole, very creditable. Indeed, the colors are 
exceptionally true to nature. It would seem to the 
writer that this book illustrates well a missed oppor- 
tunity. To certain of a large circle of readers, it is 
regrettable that the contents of the book are limited 
so nearly to bare outlines. It has come out as very 
little more than a book of reference, wasting a splen- 
did opportunity to change casual readers into bird- 
loving enthusiasts. There are so many interesting 
details of bird life that could be added to such work, 


and the author is so competent to add them, that 


one is almost tempted to regret that the book was 
sent out ill equipped for what might have been a 
greater accomplishment. 


It happens to come within the scope of the review- 
ers knowledge that the added touches, without 
which the book makes comparatively uninteresting 
reading, were actually provided by the author, and 
were eliminated by a mistaken editorial policy. The 
reason, for the elimination is unknown, but could 
hardly have been aught than either poor judgment 
or economy. For the sake of the future, it is to 
hoped that it was not the former, and if ‘the reason 
were economy, it was a most erroneous application 
of the term. True economy lies in the production 
of the greaest and best results at a reasonable cost. 
In the case of a train from Toronto to Ottawa, 
there might be an economy of coal in stopping the 
train 10 miles before its destination, but no one 
would be so deluded as to claim real economy in 
throwing the passengers on their own resources for 
the last ten miles, when the equipment was ready 
to complete the journey. The present instance is a 
parallel. The names of the birds have been pub- 
lished, descriptions added, field marks, nesting, dis- 
tribution, all of the skeleton on which to hang vital 
and interesting facts, clothed in language that would 
attract the casual reader and open many eyes to the 
charm that lies in this as in every other department 
of natural science, but the opportunity has been 
lost through no fault of the author. 


It is so unusual, in such a work to omit all de- 
tails of the capture of rarities, that the reviewer can- 
not become sufficiently accustomed to the change 
to consider it other than an error of omission. Take 
for instance, Blue-wing Warbler. ‘““Though taken 
only once in Canada,” how much better to have 
said, “One taken at Point Pelee on September 2nd, 
1906, is the only Canadian specimen.” The infor- 
mation might just as well have been given definitely 
while the writer was at it, and the book would have 
been worth just that much more as a reference. 


Perhaps one may be judged meticulous for such 
fault finding, but the duty of the reviewer is to state 


the case as he sees it, in the hope that his opinion 


may have a favorable influence in the future. 


W. E. SaunpDERsS, London, Ont. 


THE CANADIAN 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXIV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., 


DECEMBER, 1920 No. 9 


THE VERTEBRATES OF THE OTTER LAKE REGION, DORSET, ONTARIO. 
By A. H. Wricut anp S. E. R. Simpson. 
(Continued from Vol. XXXIV, page 145). 


IV.—THE BIRDS. 
By A .H. WricHT anp S. E. R. SIMpson. 


The birds of this region have received attention 
through all the years of this camp’s establishment. 
Each year either at the beginning of camp or in 
the later portion, bird contests have been held and 
almost every year of its ten years’ existence the 
camp has had a naturalist among the councillors 
in residence from June 28 or July | to September 
1 or 10. This list is based mainly on the records of 
the two authors for the seasons of 1913 and 1919, 
and is now put in form to stimulate recording of 
subsequent finds. We are sure there are forms 
omitted but some of the naturalists did not keep 
notes and prefer to leave almost certain observa- 
tions unrecorded because of memory’s tricks. Our 
list then is almost solely a summer list with several 
additions in prospect. It numbers 122 species. 
Comparable notes are those of Messrs. W. E. 
Saunders! and John M. Cooper? on birds observed 
in Algonquin Park. 

Our greatest thanks are due to Mr. J. H. Flem- 
ming® for his courtesies previous to our trip. In 
many ways the most useful list in the field was his 
“List of the Birds of the Districts of Parry Sound 
and Muskoka, Ontario,” also his “Birds of 
Toronto.’ 

The authors have found very helpful Macoun’s 
and Macoun’s Cat. of Canadian Birds; the works 
of C. W. Nash and Thomas Mcllwraith; and the 
subsequent work on “Birds of Eastern Canada, 
1919,” by P. A. Taverner to whom they owe 
favors for assistance in 1913. Of assistance were 
the three lists of “Birds of Ottawa” in this jour- 
nal (1881, 1891, 1910-11). Subsequent work can 


well center on fall migration, breeding data, more 


(1) Saunders, W. E., 
Ottawa Naturalist, 
No. 11, pp. 145-150. 

(2) Cooper, J. M., Ot:awa Naturalist, XXX., No. 
10, Jan., 1917, pp. 125-129. 


Birds of Algonquin Park. 
Vol. XXDIX., Feb.,- 1916, 


(3) Auk., Vol. XVIII, pp. 33-45. 
(4) Auk., Vol. XXIII., pp. 437-453; XXIV*, 71-89. 
Also ‘Birds’. in ‘‘Natural History of the Toronto 


Region, 1913,’’ pp. 212-237. 


records of waterfowl, shore-birds and birds-of-prey. 
There are twenty or more species yet to be sought 
in summer or previous records which need verifica- 
tion. 

1. Colymbus auritus Linn. Horned Grebe. 

One reported from Lake of Bays, August 22, 
1911, by Mrs. J. M. Haber. 

2. Podilymbus podiceps 
Grebe. 

Present in summer but scarce in this region. Mr. 
G. M. O’Connell reports them from Lower Fletch- 
er lake where the residents claim they were more 
common in earlier days. 

3. Gavia immer (Brunn.). Loon. 

Common on all the lakes and one of the most 
distinctive birds of the Lake of Bays country. A 
nest with two eggs found on an island in Otter 
lake the last week of June, 1919. Later, July 7, 
two young were seen on Otter lake. In 1913, the 
newly hatched egg shells were found on an island 
on Otter lake. Young not infrequently observed 
throughout the region. 


(Linn.). Pied-billed 


Several nests have been 
found on Otter lake since the camp was estab- 
lished. 

4. Larus argentatus Pont. Herring Gull. 

Common on Lake of Bays; less frequent in the 
smaller lakes to the northward. 

5. Mergus americanus Cass. 
ganser. 

The most common duck of the lakes of this re- 
gion. Every lake has a pair or more and one of 
the most spirited sights is a parent bird with its 
young. They either swim away or frequently half 
swim and half fly along the surface to a safe dis- 
tance. These broods are frequently recorded in 
the first weeks of July and even later. 

6. Lophodyies cucullatus (Linn.). Hooded Mer- 
ganser. 

Mr. L. A. Fuertes observed a female with a 
flock of four to five young. 

7. Anas rubripes Brewster. Black Duck. 

In 1919 common on all the lakes in August and 
present every season. 


American Mer- 


162 THE CANADIAN 


8. Aix sponsa (Linn.). Wood Duck. 
One female was seen at outlet of Otter lake, 


August 21, 1919, the same locality in which it was 
reported in 1913. Also reported by G. M. 
O’Connell, Mrs. A. T. Kerr, and others. 


9. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montag.) American 
Bittern. “Plum Gudgeons,” “Stake Drivers,” 
“Bill Gudgeons.” 

Scarce. One seen August 16, 1919 in a marsh 


at Hardwood lake.. One recorded at North Bay 
in August, 1911, by Mrs. Julia Moesel Haber. 

10. Ardea herodias Linn. Great Blue Heron. 

Common. Capt. Jones, fire ranger reports them 
as nesting at Crain lake. 

11. Nycticorax nvycticorax 
Black-crowned Night Heron. 

One in immature plumage recorded on August 
27, 1913 at Camp lake. 

12. Gallinago delicata (Ord.). Wilson’s Snipe. 

The natives report a few in thesé lakes in the 
summer, but we have not seen this species as yet. 

13. Ereuneies pusillus (Linn.). Semipalmated 
Sandpiper. 

Reported August 16, 1919, in lower Algonquin 
Park. 

14. Totanus flavipes (Gmel.). Yellow-legs. 

Three were seen August 26, 1913, at Flecher 
Lake by G. O. McConnell. One reposted from 
Algonquin Park by C. Huber, August 16, 1919. 

15. Helodromas solitarius (Wils.). Solitary 
Sandpiper. 

One was seen at a marsh near Cttei lake, July 
12. 1919. On August 24, two were seen at the 
same place with young. 

16. Actitis macularia (Linn.). 
piper. 

Common. 

17. Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.). Killdeer. 

One was heard August 2, 1913 near Dorset, 
also another August, 1919 at Crozier lake. A fe- 
male with three young were seen August 21, 1911, 
by Mrs. Haber at North Bay. 

18. Aegialitis _semipalmata 
neck Plover. 

One reported at Otter lake, August 19, 1913. 

19. Canachites canadensis (Linn.). “Spruce 
Partridge.” 

Dr. Abram T. Kerr reports a specimen brought 
to him in camp several years ago. ‘The natives re- 
port quite a few. G. M. O’Connell reports that 
he killed one Spruce Grouse near Otter lake. 

20. Bonasa umbellus togata (Linn.). Canadian 
Ruffed Grouse. 

Common. Many adults and young recorded 
about camp every year. 

21. Pedioecetes phasianellus 
tailed Grouse. 


naevius 


(Bodd.). 


Spotted Sand- 


(Bonap.). __Ring- 


(Linn.). Sharp- 


FiELD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


On July 20, 1913, near Hardwood lake we saw 
what we took to be a sharp-tailed grouse though 
never familiar with it before in the field. This 
rather negative note is introduced because of the 
reported spread of this form into this region. 

22. Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Marsh Hawk. 

Two recorded August 2, 1913 and two during 
the summer of 1919. At Point Lumini, Mrs. Haber 
recorded one August 20, 1911. 

23. Accipiter (Wils.). 
Hawk. 

One reported August 26, 1919 at Hardwood 
lake ky Mr. G. Wilson. 

24. Accipiter cooperi (Bonap.). Cooper’s Hawk. 

Rare. One was observed July 28, 1913 at the 
camp. 

25. Buteo borealis (Gmel.). Red-tailed Hawk. 

Mrs. J. M. Haber saw it August 24, 1911 at 


velox 


Sharp-shinned 


Fox Point. Three seen in 1913 and one in 1919. 
26. Buteo lineatus (Gmel.). Red-shouldered 
Hawk. 


Cne reported by Mr. C. Huber, August, 1919, 
and another at Hollow lake, August 11, 1913. 

27. Buteo platyperus (Vieill.). Broad-winged 
Hawk. 

Most common of all the hawks in the region. 
In 1919 it nested at the camp. 

28. Haliaeetus leucocephalus 
Eagle. 

One recorded July 7, 1913 at Otter lake. In 
1919 one immature recorded at Harvey Jr. lake, 
August 9 and one adult in Algonquin Park, Aug 
ust 15. 

29. Falco sparverius (Linn.). Sparrow Hawk. 

One was seen August 29, 1919 at Huntsville and 
another August 12, 1913 at Hollow lake. 

30. Pandion haliaétus carolinensis (Gmel.). Os- 
prey. 

In 1913 one was seen (August 4) over the Peat 
Bog, Otter lake. In 1919 one was reported over 
Hollow lake, August 12, 

31. Strix varia Barton. Barred Owl. 

Three were recorded in 1913 and one in 1919. 
Others heard in each year. 

32. Cryptoglaux acadica (Gmel.). 
Owl. 

Two heard in July, 1913. One seen on Aug- 
ust 8, 1919, near the camp. 

33. Bubo virginianus (Gmel.). Horned Owl. 

In a deserted lumber cabin, the dried skin and 
skeleton of a horned owl was found (July 14, 
1919) filled with porcupine quills. 

34. Coccyzus erythropthalmus (Wils.). 
billed Cuckoo. 

Common. Frequently heard at night. 

35. Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). Belted Kingfisher. 


Common on all the lakes. 


(Linn.). Bald 


Saw-whet 


Black- 


December, 1920] 


36. Drvyobates villosus (Linn.). 
pecker. 

Common. 

37. Dryobates pubescens medianus 
Downy Woodpecker. 

Much less common than the preceding species. 
In 1919 apparently more common in August than 
July. 

38. Picoides articus (Swain.) Arctic Three- 
toed Woodpecker. 

On August 24, 1911, two males were seen at 
Fox Point (Mrs. J. M. Haber). On August 4, 
1913, at camp a female was observed feeding its 
young and later the species was recorded on Aug- 
ust 27. In 1919, (Aug. 16) one was shot on a 
trip to Algonquin Park. Also recorded by Fu- 
ertes, Kilburn, Palmer, O’Connell and others. 

39. Sphyrapicus varius (Linn.). Yellow-bellied 
Sapsucker. 

Easily the most common woodpecker of the re- 


Hairy Wood- 


(Swains.). 


gion. Many nests and young recorded. 

40. Phloeotomus pileatus abieticola (Bangs.) 
Pileated Woodpecker. ‘“Wood cock.” 

Not common. On August 24, and 26, 1911, 


Mrs. J. M. Haber recorded it at Fox Point. On 
August 25, 1913, we saw a “cock of the woods” 
at Fletcher lake and another at camp August 31. 
On August 31, behind the camp we found a sound 
maple stump with typical holes of the species. In 
1919 three were recorded at Hardwood lake. The 
natives hold this and the Spruce Grouse the two 
handsomest birds of the region. 

41. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.). Red- 
headed Woodpecker. 

Uncommon. One was heard back of camp 
July 5, 1913 and one seen August 11, 1913 at the 
same place. In 1919 two more were recorded in 
same locality. Mr. G. M. O’Connell also reports 
one from Dorset. 

42. Colaptes aureus luteus Bangs. 
Flicker. 

Common. 

43. Antrostomus vociferus (Wils.). Whip-poor- 


will. 


Northern 


A few recorded each season. The natives say 
they are very common in the spring. 

44. Chordeiles virginianus (Gmel.) Nighthawk. 

Common summer resident. Seen every evening 
on the wing. Nest with two eggs found in a po- 
tato patch near the camp July 2, 1919. 

45. Chaetura pelagica (Linn.). Chimney Swift. 

Very common summer resident. Nest with four 
young found in an old barn at Hollow lake, July 
26, 1919. 

46. Archilochus colubris (Linn.). Ruby-throated 
Hummingbird. 

Common in all parts of the woods. 


They are 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 163 


very partial to sapsucker borings and quarrel with 
this species for possession of such trees. 

47. Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn.). Kingbird. 

Common summer resident. 

48. Mvyiarchus crinitus (Linn.). 
catcher. 

Quite common summer resident. 

49. Savyornis phoebe (Lath.). Phoebe. 

Quite common summer resident. Nests each 
year about the camp. 

50. Nuttallornis borealis (Swains.) Olive-sided 
Flycatcher. 

Common in all the more open woods and in the 
swamps. Very quiet in August. 

51. Myjiochanes virens (Linn.) Wood Pewee. 

Common. 

52. Empidonax flaviveniris (Baird). 
bellied Flycatcher. 

Recorded in 1919 on two occasions, August 10 
at Harvey Jr. lake trail and August 13 back of 
camp. In 1913 two or three records were made. 

53. Empidonax traillii alnorum (Brewst.). Alder 
Flycatcher. 

On July 28, 1919, M. C. Huber found a nest 
with four young in the crotch of a young tree. 
Later the junior author saw the young and one 
parent in the thickets. 

54. Empidonax minimus (W. M. and S. F. 
Baird.) _ Least Flycatcher. 

Common summer resident. 

55. Cyanocitla cristata (Linn.) Blue Jay. 

Very common. Large flocks were seen assemb- 
ling for migration after the middle of August. 

56. Perisoreus canadensis (Linn.). Canada Jay. 
“Meat Hawk.” 

Reported more common in fall and winter. Re- 
corded by L. A. Fuertes. Several seen by Carl 
Huber in Algonquin Park, August 12-16, 1919. 

57. Corvus corax principalis Ridgw. Raven. 

Rare in summer. More in winter... In the more 
densely wooded portions. In times past they were 
abundant. Some of the natives attribute its re- 
duction in numbers in this region to their being 
killed off by poisoned-bait set for foxes, etc. One 
recorded at Otter lake, August 31, 1913. 

58. Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm. Crow 

A few observed at camp and around Dorset in 
1919. In 1913 and 1911 a few recorded on Lake 
of Bays. Considered more common in early spring 
and very scarce in winter. 

59. Agelaius phoeniceus (Linn.). 
Blackbird. 

Not common. One reported August 7, 1913 at 
Otter Lake; five females at Peat Bog, August 1, 
1919, several at Dorset during summer of 1919 and 
also in August, 1911 at Point Lumini. 

60. Sturnella magna (Linn.). Meadowlark. 


Crested Fly- 


Yellow- 


Red-winged 


164 THE 

In 1913 one member of the camp reported a 
meadowlark near Hardwood lake but the natives 
say they occur in cultivated fields of the region but 
not at Dorset. Mr. G. M. O’Connell reports one 
nest found during his seven years at camp. 

61. Icterus galbula (Linn.). Baltimore Oriole. 

Rare. The only definite record we have is at 
Huntsville, July 1, 1919, but not at camp or sur- 
rounding territory as yet. 

62. Euphagus carolinus (Mull.). Rusty Grackle. 

On August 26, 1919 a flock of ten seen at Dor- 
set. In 1913 three were observed at Otter Lake, 
August 9. 


63. Quiscalus quiscula aeneus Ridgw. Bronzed 
Grackle. 

Common summer resident 

64. Carpodacus purpureus (Gmel.). Purple 


Finch. 

Common summer resident throughout the region. 
Its song is one of the most startling of the woods 
and is heard through July and most of August. 

65. Passer domesticus (Linn.). House Sparrow. 

In 1913 several were seen at Dorset where in 
1919 they were quite common. One recorded at 
camp July 4, 1919. 

66. Loxia curvirostra minor 
Crossbill. 

Not common resident. Several flocks around Ot- 
ter lake in August, 1913. 
spring for the residents to note it. 

67. Loxia leucopiera Gmel. 
Crossbill. 

One fall (September) a flock were around camp 
for two or three days. (G. M. O’Connell). 

68. Astragalinus tristis (Linn.). American Gold- 
finch. 

Common summer resident. 

69. Spinus pinus (Wils.). Pine Siskin. 

Several seen at Camp Otter cn August 3 and 7 
1913. 

70. Pooecetes gramineus (Gmel.). Vesper Spar- 
row. 

Common in the fields around Dorset and in Lake 
of Bays region. Nest with three eggs found at 
Otter Lake, August 3, 1919. 

71. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wils.). 
Savannah Sparrow. 

Rare. ‘Iwo heard at Dorset July 6, 1913 and 
one near Hollow lake, July 28, 1919. Several re- 
corded at Huntsville. 

72. Zonotrichia 


throated Sparrow. 


(Brehm.). Am. 


Common enough in 


White-winged 


albicollis (Gmel.). White 
A nest with four eggs 
was found July 22, 1913, in a a carpet of Lyco- 
podium undulatum. 

73. Spizella passerina (Bech.) Chipping Spar- 


row. 


Very common species. 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Common summer resident. 

74. Junco hyemalis (Linn.). Junco. 

Common summer resident. A nest was found 
August 2, 1919 in a huckleberry and blueberry 
patch at Rock Point, Otter lake, and young were 
on the wing July 10, 1913. 

75. Melospiza melodia (Wils.). Song Sparrow. 

Not uncommon summer resident especially in 
swampy places. 

76. Melospiza georgiana (Lath.). Swamp Spar- 
row. 

Fairly common around camp, e.g. Gem Lake, 
the Peat Bog and other marshy places. 

77. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linn.). Towhee. 

Reported July 14, 1913, between camp and Dor- 
set. Seen in 1911 near Dorset by G. M. O’Con- 


nell. 


78. Zamelodia ludoviciana (Linn.).  Rose- 
breasted Grosbeak. 
Common in all parts of the woods. One of the 


most striking birds of the region. 

79. Passerina cyanea (Linn.). Indigo Bunting. 

In 1911 it was reported at Point Lumini (Mrs. 
J. M. Haber). In July, 1913, several were heard 
and seen about Otter and Hardwood lakes, also at 
Dorset, and in August, 1919, Mrs. A. T. Kerr 
reported it. 

80. Piranga erythromelas Vieill. 
ager. 

Quite common summer resident. Not as com- 
mon as the the rose-breasted grosbeak. 

81. Progne subis (Linn.). Purple Martin. 

One recorded July 26, 1931 at Otter lake. 

82. Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons (Say.). 
Cliff Swallow. 

On August 2, 1913, a flock of forty was seen 
at McaEachern landing of Otter lake, others along 
road to Dorset and also at Dorset. One record for 
1919. 

83. Hirundo erythrogaster Bodd. Barn Swal- 
low. 

Nearly as common as the Chimney Swift. Young 
about to leave nest when camp begins. 

84. Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieill.). Tree swallow. 

Not common. 

85. Riparia riparia (Linn.) Bank Swallow. 

Several recorded both in 1913 and in 1919. A 
colony is said to inhabit a sand-bank on the Dorset- 
Hollow lake road. 

86. Bombycilla cedrorum Vieill. 
wing. 

Common summer resident. Two nests found in 
1919: one with five eggs in a balsam fir in front 
of camp, and hatched August 18; another at Hard- 
wood lake, eggs hatching August 16. 

87. Vireosylva_ olivacea_ (Linn.). 
Vireo. 


Scarlet Tan- 


Cedar Wax- 


Red-eyed 


December, 1920] 


The only common vireo of the region. Several 
nests of eggs or young found during the summer of 
1919. 

88. Vireosylva philadelphia Cass. 
phia Vireo. 

On June 29 and July 1, 1913, one was seen near 
the camp. 

89. Vireosylva gilva (Vieill.). Warbling Vireo. 

One recorded July 2, 1919, in American elms at 
Dorset. 

90. Lanivireo flavifrons (Vieill.). Yellow-throat- 
ed Vireo. 

Two seen at camp, July 28, 1919. 


(Wils.). 


Philadel- 


Blueheaded 


91. Lanivireo | solitarius 


Vireo. 
One recorded July 28, 1913, at portage between 
Skin and Porridge lakes. 


92. Mniotilta varia (Linn.). Black and White 
Warbler. 

Common resident. In August numbers apparent- 
ly much increased from migrations. 
corded on wing July 9, 1913. 

93. Vermivora rubricapilla (Wils.). Nashville 
Warbler. 

Quite common. 
in 1919. 

94. Compsothlypis americana usneae 
Northern Parula Warbler. 

In 1913, a beautiful male was singing near our 
tent on June 29. Later saw another on Hardwood 
road. In 1919 in August two more records were 
made. 


95. Dendroica aestiva (Gmel.). Yellow Warb- 
ler. 

Uncommon. In 1913 recorded at portage rail- 
road of Lake of Bays, at Dorset and one or two at 
east end of Otter lake. In 1911, August 20, Mrs. 
J. M. Haber found a male and female and their 
previous nest at Point Lumini. In 1919, Mr. G. 
Wilson saw it the last week in August. 


96. Dendroica caerulescens (Gmel.). 
throated Blue Warbler. 

One of the most common warblers of the region. 
This like the ruby-throated humming-bird likes the 
yellow-bellied sapsucker’s borings. 

97. Dendroica coronata (Linn.). Myrtle Warb- 
ler. : 

Fairly common about camp in 1913 and 1919, 
also recorded at Point Lumini in 1911. 

98. Dendroica (Wils.). 
Warbler. 


Quite common summer resident. 


recorded July 14, 1913. 


99. Dendroica penrsylvanica (Linn.). Chestnut- 
sided Warbler. 


Young re- 


Several seen in 1913 and also 


Brewst. 


Black- 


magnolia Magnolia 


Young on wing 


THE CANADIAN FiELD-NaTURALIST 165 


Common. Two nests found July 30, 1913 and 
July 27, 1919 in small bushes not three feet from 
the ground. 

100. Dendroica castanea (Wils.). Bay-breasted 
Warbler. 

Several, apparently migrants, reported from Aug- 
ust 26, 1919 onwards. 

101. Dendroica 
Warbler. 

Not uncommon in the latter part of August when 
both young and adults are seen. Recorded in 1911, 
1913, 1919, 

102. Dendroica virens (Gmel.). Black-throated 
Green Warbler. 

Common summer resident. In the middle of 
July, 1913 several families of this species were seen 
on the wing near camp, on Hardwood road. In 
1911, Mrs. Haber found it August 24, at Fox 
Point. In 1919 it was only once recorded August 
7, on Hardwood road. 

103. Seiurus aurocapillus (Linn.) Ovenbird. 

Common summer resident. 

104. Seiurus noveboracensis (Gmel.). Northern 
Water-thrush. 

Recorded July 7, 1913, at Hardwood lake and 
later July 20, in an alder near camp. In same 
place in 1919 a pair recorded most of the summer. 

105. Oporornis philadelphia (Wils.). Mourning 
Warbler. 

In 1913 quite commonly heard from June 28- 
July 20. Last record for the season was August 9. 

106. Geothlypis trichas (Linn.). Maryland Yel- 
low-throat. 

Common summer resident in every marshy thicket. 

107. Wilsonia (Linn.). Canada 
Warbler. 

A common summer resident. 

108. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.) American Red- 
start. 

Common summer resident. 

109. Troglodytes aédon (Vieill.). House Wren. 

Common on road to Dorset. Recorded at Glen- 
mount, portage railroad of Lake of Bays, at Point 
Lumini. 

110. Nannus hiemalis (Vieill.). Winter Wren. 

Common resident. No bird song do we more as- 
sociate with the wild north woods than the fine 
notes of this songster. 

111. Certhia  familiaris 
Brown Creeper. 

Common summer resident. 

112. Sitta carolinensis (Lath.). White-breasted 
Nuthatch. 

A few recorded each season. 
frequent than our records show. 

113. Sitta canadensis (Linn.). 
Nuthatch. 


(Mull.). Blackburnian 


fusca 


canadensis 


(Bonap.). 


americana 


Probably more 


Red-breasted 


166 


Several seen each season during the summer. 

114. Penthestes atricapillus (Linn.). Chickadee. 

Common summer resident. Most in evidence in 
August. 

115. Penthestes hudsonicus (Forst.). Hudsonian 
Chickadee. 

Mr. L. A. Fuertes once recorded it on Little 
Trout lake, in the summer of 1912. 

116. Regulus satrapa (Licht.). Golden-crowned 
Kinglet. 

Occasionally recorded in September by those who 
remain after camp closes (September 1). 

117. Regulus calendula (Linn.). Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet. 

Recorded several times in first weeks of Septem- 
ber. 

118. Hylocichla 
Thrush. 

Several heard or seen each season. Also record- 
ed by Mrs. J. M. Haber in 1911 at Fox Point and 


Point Lumini. 


119. Hylocichla fuscescens (Steph.). 
Thrush. 

One heard July 11, 1913 on hill to west of road 
from camp to Dorset. In 1919 on July 22 another 
record in a deep ravine to left of above road. Also 
recorded at Huntsville July 1, 1919. 

120. Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni (Tschudi). 
Olive-backed Thrush. 

Fairly common in 1913 and 1919. 

121. Hvlocichla guttata pallasi (Cab.). 
mit Thrush. 

Fairly common summer resident. 
monly heard in July. Apparently more common 
in August. Also recorded August 24, 1911 at 
Point Lumini and Fox Point (Mrs. J. M. Haber). 

124. Planesticus migratorius (Linn.). American 
Robin. 

A few around camp. More about Dorset, Glen- 
mount, Point Lumini, Fox Point, Huntsville and 
more open and populated areas. 

122. Sialla sialis (Linn.). 


Not common. 


(Gmel.). | Wood 


mustelina 


Wilson’s 


Her- 


Not so com- 


Bluebird. 


One or two pairs usually recorded 
nesting near Dorset. Also a few individuals are 
usually seen in the meadows south of Hardwood 


lake. 


V.—THE MAMMALS. 
By A. H. WricHT. 


These observations are based mainly on the data 
secured by the author in 1913 when a few small 
mammals were trapped in spare moments.  Inter- 
woven are the accounts of several trustworthy resi- 
dents, rangers and guides of the region. In this 


list are thirty-five species, several less than G. S. 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vel. XXXIV. 


Miller, Jr.1 found at North Bay, Lake Nipissing, 
where he systematically trapped for a month. He 
found a slight eastward extension of western forms 
to North Bay, e.g. Putorius longicauda spadix 
Bangs, Tamias quadrivittatus neglectus J. A. Allen. 
Other forms like Napaeozapus insignis (Woodland 
Jumping mouse), Synaptomys fatuus (Bang’s Lem- 
ming), Sorex fumeus (Smoky Shrew), Microsorex 
hoyi (Hoy’s Shrew), Neosorex albibarbis (Marsh 
Shrew) are yet missing from our list but might well 
be expected with future systematic collecting. Of 
use to the author were J. H. Fleming’s “The Mam- 
mals of Toronto, Ontario”? in which are recorded 
forty-one species and the Manual of Vertebrates 
by C. W. Nash® wherein he records fifty-one species. 
The new records are to be expected in the shrews, 
bats and mice. 

Condvlura cristata (Linnaeus). Star-nosed Mole. 
“Mole.” 

The residents report “‘lcts of them in damp soil” 
and these “dark in color.” One was taken about 
August 1, 1913 on Fletcher’s lake but not observed 
by the authors. 

Sorex personatus I. Geoffroy. Masked Shrew. 

Common. Several were found dead on the road 
to Dorset by the authors, G. M. O’Connell and 
others. Trapped them around Peat Bog, under 
mossy banks with plenty of roots, under mossy- 
covered stumps near the roads and trails, in a dark 
underground cellar under bark, under logs among 
manure and rotting saw-dust between old lumber 
buildings. 

Blarina brevicauda talpoides (Gapper). 
Shrew. 


Common. 


Mole 


Like the preceding not uncommon 
about buildings where cats bring them without eat- 
ing them. Trapped around the Peat Bog in tam- 
arack and spruce areas under decaying stumps, and 
under mossy logs; amongst carpets of Lycopodium 
in less moist woods. Also taken along the trails 
and roads. 

Myotis subulatus (Say). Say’s Bat. 

One specimen (C.U. 6700) of this species was 
taken in the summer of 1913. Only infrequently 
they were recorded feeding over the Peat Bog from 
8 p.m. onwards. 

Mvotis lucifugus (LeConte). Little Brown Bat. 

Not yet taken at Camp Otter, but must be here 
because of Mr. Miller’s record’ which is “‘a speci- 
men of this bat (caught) on the platform of the 


(1) Miller, G. S., Jr. Notes on the Mammals of 


Ontario. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1897, Vol. 28, 
No. 1, pp. 1-44. 

(2) Faull, J. H. The Natural History of the 
Toronto Region, Ontario, Canada. ‘Toronto, 1913, 
pp. 206-211. 

(3) Nash, C. W. Vertebrates of Ontario. Toron- 
to, 1908., pp. 83-96. 


(4) Miller, G. S. loc. cit., p. 39. 


December, 1920] 


railroad station at Gravenhurst on the evening of 
August 16. Many others were seen.” 

Ursus americanus Pallas. Bear. 

Some report the “Brown nosed Bear” as not very 
common. Hardly a season passes but some of the 
camp encounters the work, tracks or signs of bear. 
One resident since 1873 said he had seen only one, 
but that there were quite a few bears in the region. 
Occasionally some of the parties from camp frighten 
them from blueberry, huckleberry or blackberry 
patches, but rarely ever see them. 

Canis lycaon Schreber. “Timber 
“Gray Wolf.” 

Every winter a few packs are reported in this 
region. At least two killed west of road to Dorset 
in the winter of 1918-1919. In winter of 1911- 
1912 a pack of seven were seen on Fletcher lake 
and a few years before a pack reported east of Ot- 
ter lake where many deer were more or less snow 
bound. 

Vulpes fulva (Desmarest). Red Fox. 

Common. Dnring the summer their signs are 
frequently found. Many killed with poisoned bait. 
The red phase predominates in this region though 
silver grays are reported. Quite a few cross foxes 
are taken. Some residents doubt local reports of 
black foxes. 

Procyon lotor (Linnaeus). Raccoon. 

Not common. Mr. Joseph Allen who had re- 
sided at Fletcher lake since 1873 said in 1913 that 
raccoons were not plentiful. Never knew they were 
there until five or six years ago.”” Toward Lake of 
Bays and southward they report quite a few. They 
are held to eat berries, fish, nuts, etc. 

Martes americana (Turton). Marten. 
Martin. 

A few in the Dorset region. Allen McEachern 
of Otter lake reports (1913) them “‘very scarce. 
Never caught but one. Have seen more signs.” 
Some hold them quite plentiful where timber is 
heaviest. On Fletcher lake there are*quite a few. 

Martes pennanti (Erxleben). Fisher. 

There are a few in the Dorset region. Fishers 
are not plentiful about Otter lake. There are more 
from Hollow lake to and into Algonquin Park. In 
Fletcher lake region there are far more martens than 
fishers, and the latter are hard to secure. Arthur 
Allen, son of Joseph Allen of Fletcher lake took 
one fisher in the winter of 1911-1912 and another 
in winter of 1912-1913. 


Wolf,” 


Pine 


Mustela cicognanii Bonaparte. — Bonaparte’s 
Weasel. 
Common. This is included by the author on the 


report of several residents who describe two weasels 
one quite small and another as large as a small 
mink. Both are reported great mousers. Some en- 
courage them about the premise for mousing, and 


THE CANADIAN’ FIELD-NATURALISi 167 


maintain they do no damage. One resident said 
he always had at least one family around his barn 
and every winter they turned white as do the larger 
ones also. 

Mustela noveboracensis (Emmons) New York 
Weasel. 

Fairly common. I have the head of this species. 
It was brought in by a cat. 

Mustela vison Schreber. Mink. 

Common at Otter lake. Have been very plentiful 
from Dorset to the Park but have been hunted so 
much they are becoming very shy. They will at- 
tempt to capture anything. One day, near camp a 
mink tried to catch a bathing cedar waxwing. 

Mephitis mephitis (Schreber). Skunk. 

Common. One or two have been taken at camp. 

Lutra canadensis (Schreber). Otter. 

There are quite a few throughout this region. In 
the winter of 1908-1909 two were taken at Otter 
lake, one 42 inches and another 47 inches in length. 
Rarely they are seen in winter at the outlet of Ot- 
ter lake. 

Lynx canadensis Kerr. 


Lynx. “Bobcat.” 


= “Lynks 


“There are a few lynx here, these very shy and 
more of them toward Timagimi country.” Another 
resident speaks of them as “not extra common” and 
says that “some are caught every year.” 

Lynx ruffus (Giildenstaedt). “Wild Cat.” Bay 
Lynx. 

These are “very scarce, odd.” Another reports 
that he “has seen only one in several years.” A 
wild cat was reported to have been taken in the 
winter of 1910-1911 at Hollow lake. As yet I 
can find no certain evidence that both species are 
present or that the residents really know the two 
species apart. 


Peromyscus’ maniculatus gracilis (LeConte). 
Canadian White-footed Mouse. 
Common. This is the common mouse of the 


Trapped most 
It is generally dis- 


lumber camps, houses, barns, etc. 
of our specimens under logs. 
tributed through the woods. 


Evotomys gapperi (Vigers). Red-backed 
Mouse. 
Abundant. Trapped them under and _ between 


mossy logs, stumps, in holes at bases of live trees, 
amongst Lycopodium carpets and occasionally in 
old abandoned lumber camp buildings. Were par- 
ticularly plentiful among hemlocks, arbor vitae, and 
other conifers, yellow birches, etc. 

Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord.). 
Mouse. Meadow Vole. 

Presumably common in the open fields but very 
few were taken at Otter lake. Usually found them 
in the fields around old lumber camps, beneath 
boards and logs. 


Meadow 


168 THE CANADIAN 


Ondatra zibethica (Linnaeus). Muskrat. 
The residents hold them plentiful but in mid- 


summer they are not so frequently seen. Each sum- 
mer a few are observed at Otter lake. 
Epimys norvegicus (Erxleben). House Rat. 


They are reported to be present in the lower 
country at Bracebridge. A\ll residents agree they 
have not seen them about Otter lake or northward 
and in the years of camp none have been taken 
around it. 

Mus musculus Linnaeus. House Mouse. 

We have no records of it at camp nor in its vicin- 
ity. Some residents in the Fletcher lake region did 
not know of them. A few people about Dorset 
assert they occasionally occur there. 

Zapus hudsonius (Zinnermann). 
Mouse.” 

The jumping mouse is not often taken about the 
On June 30, 1913, we captured two alive 
in large pits. Most of the residents either do not 
know them or hold them not very plentiful. Just 
as in more cultivated regions some of the residents 
note their particular abundance in hayfields at cut- 


“Kangaroo 


camp. 


ting time. 

Erethizon dorsatum (Linnaeus). Porcupine. 

Very common. According to some a great nuis- 
ance in lumber camps and rangers cabins. They 
gnaw the tables, leather seats, chairs, wagon seats, 
belting, etc., yet we believe them persecuted unduly 
and would hate to see them lost to the north woods. 

Marmota monax canadensis (Erxleben). Wood 
chuck. 

Common everywhere. Some of the fire rangers 
eat the half grown ground hogs. They were about 
the camp where one semi-tame one near our tent 
was fed raspberries, bread, and leaves of the bass- 
wood, wintergreen, sorrel, and raspberries. 

Tamias striatus lysteri Richardson. Chipmunk. 

Common about camp, along road to Dorset, in 
Jumber camps, on rocky cliffs, about sphagnum bogs, 
and in almost any habitat not aquatic. 

Sciurus hudsonicus (Erxleben). Red Squirrel. 

Common. A great nuisance around lumber camp 
One ranger tried to frighten them away 
with a stuffed porcupine, but it didn’t work. Occa- 
sionally a wild red squirrel will leap for a person. 
On road to Dorset one of the authors heard a chase 
in the thicket beside the road and was surprised to 
have a red squirrel run for him and leap at his 
knee. ‘This form is held by all the residents as res- 
ponsible for the scarcity of black squirrels. 

Sciurus carolinensis leucotis (Gapper). 
Squirrel. 


supplies. 


Black 


FieLp-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXIV. 


Scarce. Once more common in this_ region 
around Lake of Bays and southward. Some re- 
port it too cold for them while others maintain the 
species has lost its hold jn its struggles with the 
red squirrels. None of the residents have seen the 
gray phase. The last black squirrel taken near 
Otter lake was in October, 1909. 


Sciuropterus sabrinus (Shaw). Northern Flying 
Squirrel. 


Reported not uncommon in old stubs. We did 
not see any alive or skins. On September, 1913, I 
found the tail of one near a residence and on in- 
quiry the owner said the cats frequently catch them 
and leave only the tails around the house. The tail 
vertebrae of the tail I picked up measured 24 mm. 
or in accord with the measurement for S. s. macrotis. 


Castor canadensis (Kuhl.). 


Quite common. The tracks, dams, signs and 
work of beavers are not infrequent in the outlet of 
Otter lake, along Ten Mile creek, at Hardwood 
lake, and throughout the region. One of the most 
interesting experiences of the camp is to spend a 
night beside a dam of a beaver colony. 


Beaver. 


JLepus americanus virginianus (Harlan). South- 
ern Varying Hare. 


Very common throughout this region. About 
the beginning of camp (July 1) the young half 
grown hares are common about the camp quarters. 
In one garbage hole 4 feet deep we caught them 
early in the season (July 2, 1913). Others smaller 
were caught occasionally by hand. When the last 
of the councillors leave camp September 15 or 
earlier these hares have no perceptible change in 
pelage. Later in late October and early November 
they get the new white coat. There are no cotton- 
tails at Dorset, Otter lake or northward. 


Odocoileus (Erxleben). 
Deer. 


Common. 


americanus Virginia 


Alces americanus Jardine. Moose. 


Not common. The first year Professor C. V. P. 
Young began his camp he saw one and every year 
some one of the camp reports tracks or signs of 
moose. A resident of Fletcher lake for 40 years 
said he had shot three or four during that period 
and that there were a few stray moose in the re- 
gion. Another reports ‘odd Moose here and there 
between the head of Hollow lake and Algonquin 
Park. All agree there are no caribou (JRangifer 
caribou.) 


December, 1920] 


FURTHER NOTES ON 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


169 


THE ORCHIDS OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD 


COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1920. 
By H. MousL_ey. 


Writing to me last year a correspondent spoke of 
having had an “orgy” of orchids, and I think the 
same remark might apply equally well to my experi- 
ence here at Hatley during the present season, as 
not content with observing some thirty species or 
rather more in their native haunts, I have grown 
most of them successfully indoors, thereby enabling 
me to more thoroughly examine their wonderful con- 
trivancies for the perpetuation of their species by 
means of cross fertilization. In passing it may be 
remembered that it took the scientific world just over 
one hundred and seventy-five years before this in- 
teresting problem of cross fertilization was fully 
understood cr known. It was Nehemias Grew who 
first announced to the world in 1682 that it was 
necessary for the pollen of a flower to reach the 
stigma in order to insure the fruit. After this an- 
nouncement came a period of over fifty years of 
discussion and scepticism amongst the leading lights 
of the botanical world, until Linnaeus in 1735 re- 
affirmed the fact and proved beyond further doubt 
that Grew was right. But this was only part of 
the secret, and it took another fifty years or more, 
or until 1787, before Christian Conrad Sprengel a 
German botanist and school-master essayed to ex- 
plain how certain plants whose particular construc- 
tion prevented their pollen from reaching the stigma 
in the usual way were fertilized. He announced the 
startling fact that they were fertilized by means of 
insects, but here again like his predecessors he had 
seen but half the secret, and it remained for Charles 
Darwin in 1857-58 to read the riddle aright. 

Sprengel started out to prove that insects fertil- 
ized a flower by brushing the pollen from the anthers 
by various hairy parts of their bodies, and in their 
motions conveyed it to the stigma. Difficulties, how- 
ever, soon confronted him, in the shape of certain 
plants whose pollen and stigma matured at different 
periods, and therefore could not be fertilized in the 
manner he had declared, and thus unknowingly, 
within an ace of the goal, his theory broke down, 
and it took a further period of seventy years of 
controversy and investigation, before Darwin was 
able to show, that cross fertilization by insects, and 
not insect fertilization alone, was the fundamental! 
plan involved in floral construction. 

To return, however, it will no doubt be remem- 
bered that it has always been my ambition to place 
Hatley in the very first rank as an ornithological, 
entomological and botanical E] Dorado, and I now 
think in so far as regards the latter, there is no place 


in Eastern North America, with the exception of 
one, that can show such a list of the family Orchi- 
daceae as Hatley. In my last paper on the subject 


“The Canadian Field-Naturalist,” Wol. XXXIV, 
1920, No. 3, pp. 44-47, I pointed out that so far 
as I was aware my only rival was Fairlee in the 
State of Vermont, with a list of thirty-three species 
and varieties, against mine of thirty, thus leaving 
me three behind, which I was determined to try and 
make up this year by covering further new ground. 
In this I have been successful, Hatley thus tieing with 
Fairlee for first honours, i.e. unless Dr. Denslow 
has discovered any fresh species also. My addi- 
tions are the Small Round-leaved Orchis, Orchis 
rotundifolia, Hooker’s Orchid, Habenaria Hooberi, 
and the Rose Pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides, 
the adding of the first and last named, however, 
necessitating my going cutside the four square miles 
radius, both of them having been found at a dis- 
tance of fifteen miles from my house. As an offset 
against this I have discovered many new stations 
for most of the other species, all of which I think 
with the possible exception of Calypso bulbosa 
could now be found within a radius of three square 
miles. Even as recently as September 9 I found 
two new stations for Habenaria macrophylla within 
fifteen minutes walk of my house. Three of the 
plants had flowered and were in fruit, their res- 
pective heights being 59, 52 and 50 cm., whilst 
their withered spurs with bends even then measured 
3.5 cm. in length and over, with leaves from 17.20 
to 19.75 cm. in width. Thoreau in his “The 
Maine Woods,” p. 297, speaks of a large plant he 
specially measured on July 27, 1857, as being 61 
cm. in height, with leaves 24.25 cm. long and 22.80 
cm. wide, which by its size was possibly referable 
to this species and not orbiculata. As already indi- 
cated it has indeed been an exceptionally interesting 
season, for not only have the three new species men- 
tioned been added to the list given in my last paper, 
but much further valuable information has been 
gained with regard to the distribution of most of 
the other species. The lovely little Calypso (of 
which I was fortunate in finding one plant with 
white petals and sepals, and another with cream 
coloured ditto) as usual was the first to appear, 
being in full bloom on May 235, followed quickly 
by the Smaller Yellow Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium 
parviflorum, on May 30, and the Showy Orchis, 
Orchis spectabilis, on June 3. The last named has 
never been an abundant species, and only two or 


170 


three plants have ever been found together, al- 
though scattered over a wide area, but this year a 
new station was discovered on the eastern shore of 
Lake Massawippi, where clusters of from ten to 
twenty plants were found in full bloom, thus mak- 
ing a most charming picture. The other much rarer 
member of this family the Small Round-leaved 
Orchis, Orchis rotundifolia, and one of the three 
new species discovered this season will be dealt 
with hereafter in an annotated list as before. The 
opinion expressed in my first paper “The Ottawa 
Naturalist,” Vol. XXXII, 1919, No. 8, p. 145, re- 
garding the Large Yellow Lady’s Slipper, C. par- 
viflorum var. pubescens, has not matured, and I] can 
now safely say that over the ground I have ranged, 
it is by far the rarest of the two Yellow Lady’s 
Slippers. Two new stations were discovered for the 
Showy Lady’s Slipper, C. hirsutum, and on its old 
ground it was just as abundant as last year, but 
only one plant was seen having three blooms. Per- 
haps one of the pleasantest thrills experienced, was 
the finding on June 26 of a new station near Barns- 
ton for the Pink Lady’s Slipper or Mocassin Flower, 
C. acaule, where the species was in great profusion, 
and amongst the lovely pink blooms were innumer- 
able snowy white ones forming a delicious contrast. 

Of the Habenarias one new station was found 
for the Northern White Orchis, H. dilatata, where 
the plants were exceptionally fine, but no examples 
of the var. media were met with, although a special 
search was made for them. ‘Three plants only of 
the Large Round-leaved Orchis, Habenaria orbicu- 
lata, were found in bloom, the height of these res- 
pectively being 38, 33, and 25.50 cm., much below 
those of macrophylla already given, whilst the length 
of the spurs did not exceed 2.50 cm. Of the two 
species orbiculata seems to be the rarer, although 
only five plants of macrophylla were actually found 
in bloom, still the number of flowerless ones of the 
latter, greatly exceeded those of the former. H. 
Hookeri one of the new species will be dealt with 
hereafter in the same manner as O. rotundifolia. 
The most interesting member of the family, however, 
was x H. Andrewsii, which was discovered here 
Jast year, and of which I have had the good fortune 
to find several more examples this season, but these 
it is hoped to make the subject of a separate paper 
Jater on. The ground on which I found my Large 
Purple Fringed Orchis, Habenaria fimbriata, last 
year, has since been trampled out of all recognition 
by a herd of young stock, and not a single plant 
could be found, but I located a few elsewhere. 
With regard to this species and H. psycodes much 
uncertainty appears to exist regarding the precise 
point where the one leaves off, and the other begins. 
In this connection I have seen plants with lips 1.8 
c.m. in width, whose height and size of leaves, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


however, would hardly come up to some people’s 
idea of fimbriata. The Grass Pink, Calopogon pul- 
chellus, of which only four examples were found 
last year, was I am glad to say much more in evi- 
dence this season, the little station producing twenty- 
two plants which were still in bloom when I visited 
it on August |. I had previously, however, on 
July 10, found a much larger station for it near 
Beebe, some fifteen miles away. It was at this 
station that I also came across the Rose Pogonia, 
Pogonia ophioglossoides, growing in company with 
Calopogon, but as this forms one of the three new 
species, it will be dealt with hereafter in the same 
manner as the others. In the Magdalen Islands 
Calopogon grows as thickly as grass so Bro. Marie 
Victorin tells me, but only attains a height of five 
inches!, an instance no doubt of habitat and en- 
vironment similar to that of Spiranthes Romanzoff- 
iana to be mentioned later on. 

Arethusa or the Indian Pink, Arethusa bulbosa, 
may be said to have been one of the surprises of the 
season, two new stations having been found for it, 
in one of which it was in the utmost profusion, one 
almost white bloom appearing very conspicuous 
amongst the rest. 

The Wide-leaved Ladies’ Tresses, Spiranthes 
lucida, still holds its own as the rarest member of 
this family in these parts, in fact it is the rarest 
orchid here, only the one specimen mentioned in 
my first paper having so far been found, and out of 
the 33 species enumerated it is the only one I have 
failed to find again this season. In point of num- 
bers the Slender Ladies’ Tresses, S. gracilis, ran it 
very fine last season, for only three plants of that 
species could be found but this year I am glad to 
say some half-dozen more were located on the 
same ground. As illustrating the difference that 
environment can make in the growth of a species, 
a colony of the Hooded Ladies’ Tresses, Spiranthes 
Romanzoffiana, growing on very dry ground could 
only attain an average height of 8 cm., as against 
29 cm., the average of that of another colony grow- 
ing on very wet ground. Of the Rattlesnake Plan- 
tains it is just possible that four plants I came 
across in fruit on September 3 may eventually turn 
out to be Menzies Rattlesnake Plantain, Epipactis 
decipiens. Certainly their spikes seemed more one- 
sided and denser than is usual with tesselata, and 
the locality was a new one, but outward appear- 
ances are often deceptive, and I think for this rea- 
son it will be best to leave the matter in abeyance 
for the present, and wait until next year, when it is 
hoped the plants may still be in existence, and will 
flower again. The Lesser Rattlesnake Plantain, 
E. repens var. ophioides, and E. tesselata were 
scarcer I thought than usual. In “Rhodora,” Vol. 
XIX, 1917, p. 38, there is a short note by Mr. H. 


December, 1920] 


W. Child, entitled “Some Traits of Epipactis in 
Vermont,” in which the author draws attention to 
the fact, that in Vermont when examined in living 
specimens, the sepals both lateral and dorsal of E. 
pubescens as it comes into flower, are definitely 
tinged in the centre with a green colour, those of E. 
tesselata with a rose colour, whilst those of E. repens 
var. ophioides are pure white. As regards the two 
last named I can fully bear out Mr. Child’s findings 
in Vermont, for the same thing occurs here at Hat- 
ley, and in the case of tesselata, so much so, that 
many of the racemes might be described as rose 
pink. Those of repens var. ophiodes on the other 
hand I have never found to be anything but pure 
white. Of the Coral Roots the Early one, Coral- 
lorrhiza trifida, was everywhere, but the Large one, 
C. maculata, is far more restricted. The only sta- 
tion I discovered for it last year produced very few 
examples this season owing to the ground being 
covered with spruce trees which had been cut down 
for pulpwood, and although another station was 
found near my house, it contained only two plants, 
and none could be found on the ground at the 
roadside to the northeast of the village shown to me 
late in August of last year. Although the Green 
Adder’s Mouth, Microstylis unifolia, has been des- 
cribed to me as a weed in New Brunswick, I can 
hardly say the same of it at Hatley, nevertheless 
my experience this year warrants the statement that 
it is a very generally distributed plant growing al- 
most everywhere, but usually only in comparatively 
small numbers. Its cousin the White Adder’s 
Mouth, M. monophyllos, still holds its own as a 
rarity, for although two more stations have been 
located, making a total in all of four, three of them 
can only boast of holding some two or three plants 
each, whilst on the remaining or fourth one, it 
would probably be hard to find more than a dozen 
or so. Loesel’s Twayblade, Liparis Loeselii,-I find 
is quite generally distributed, especially wherever 
wet places occur on the sides, or at the foot of hills, 
and here several new stations for it have been found. 

And now I must say a few words regarding the 
great Brulé Bog, near Waterville, of which mention 
was made in my last paper, and to which a trip in 
company with my friend, Mr. Ludlow Griscom was 
contemplated this season. This trip eventually came 
off on June 23, with results anything but what we 
had expected. No new orchids were discovered, 
and had it not been for some interesting species of 
Carex, the trip might almost be said to have been a 
blank. The cause of this disappointment seems en- 
tirely due to a fact we had overlooked in the fall of 
last year, i.e. the digging of some deep drains, which 
are no doubt sapping the life out of this bog, in fact 
it can no longer be considered a bog in the true 
sense, for on the day we visited it, the fact of gett- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 171 


ing one’s boots thoroughly wet seemed somewhat re- 
mote. All one did was to walk on a springy bed 
of dry sphagnum and low shrubs, which was tiring 
in the extreme. In the woods surrounding the bog, 
however, damper conditions prevailed, and here 
the following orchids were found during our two 
visits, viz.: Cypripedium acaule, Habenaria hyper- 
borea, H. obtusata, Spiranthes Romanzoffiana, 
Epipactis repens var. ophiodes, Listera cordata and 
Corrallorrhiza trifida. 

Fortunately for our dejected spirits, | had heard 
of another famous bog and swamp situated near 
Beebe, a village some fifteen miles to the southwest 
of Hatley as the crow flies, and thither we resolved 
to go on the following day, as I already possessed 


‘a pressed specimen of the Rose Pogonia, Pogonia 


ophioglossoides, which had come from there, and 
this alone was an inducement to me to visit the 
place, as the species was new to my list. Rising 
early the next morning (June 24), we made a start 
by car in anything but propitious weather. How- 
ever, this gradually improved, and shortly after 
passing Burrough’s Falls, we were cheered by the 
sight of a Bartramian Sandpiper, Bartramia longi- 
cauda, standing prominently on a large stone in the 
centre of a field adjoining the road. This bird I 
had not seen for seven years and I remarked to my 
friend that it must be a good omen, and so it proved 
to be as will be seen hereafter. Fortunately I was 
acquainted with the owner of the land on which 
the swamp was situated, and after calling on him 
and obtaining all particulars as to its exact location, 
we were able to enter it at the most convenient place, 
and without loss of time. Almost at once it be- 
came evident that this time we had indeed struck a 
veritable E] Dorado, and neither of us I think are 
likely to soon forget that pleasant damp swamp, 
with the treacherous little bog at the end of it. The 
ground was covered with a growth of cedar, spruce 
and tamarack, with nice open spaces scattered about 
and everywhere was the wet cool sphagnum moss, 
amongst which no less than ten different orchids 
were found at this date, and later in July another 
was added to the list. Now as already stated the 
primary object of the visit was to take Pogonia 
ophioglossoides but this could nowhere be found, 
and I came to the conclusion that we were too early 
for it which seemed to be borne out when later in 
the day two solitary plants of Calopogon pulchellus 
were found in bud only, this species usually ap- 
pearing about the same time and in the company of 
Pogonia. Now late in the afternoon we had wan- 
dered down to the small bog at the southwest end 
of the swamp, and it was whilst returning from 
there that we decided to work another piece of 
ground hitherto unexplored before finally leaving for 
home. Hardly had we commenced a systematic 


172 


search, before Mr. Griscom who was slightly in 
advance, quite casually called my attention, by 
saying, look at this small orchid. Now this seeming 
sang froid on the part of my friend, was nothing 
more or less than a well-feigned piece of acting, 
for there before me was a specimen of that little 
gem the Small Round-leaved Orchid, Orchis ro- 
tundifolia, which neither of us had seen before in 
nature, and the sight of which had elated him quite 
as much as it did me. Of course the usual congratu- 
lations ensued, and as the Bartramian Sandpiper 
had been the beginning, so this rare little orchid was 
the ending of a perfect day. Of the other species 
found the following is a list, viz.: Cypripedium par- 
viflorum, C. hirsutum, C. acaule, Habenaria hyper- 
borea, H. obtusata, Calopogon pulchellus, Arethusa 
bulbosa, Listera cordata, Corallorrhiza trifida, and 
later on in July Pogonia ophioglossoides. Although 
many of them were nearly over or on the wane at 
Hatley at this date, here in this delightful cool 
swamp lying at an elevation of about 700 feet or 
rather more above sea level, they were in the pink 
of condition. The first named as well as Arethusa 
were in the utmost profusion the perfume from 
them being delicious, and it is unlikely we shall ever 
see the sight equalled again, unless it is in this 
same swamp. The Showy Lady’s Slipper, C. hir- 
sutum, was not out at this date, but I have been 
told that it used to be very plentiful at one time, 
but vandalism of the worst kind has much depleted 
its ranks. However, it still seemed to be in fair 
numbers on July 10, the date of my second visit. 
Other flowers that could hardly escape attention, 
as they were all over the place, were, Buckbean, 
Menvanthes trifoliata, and False Solomon’s Seal, 
Smilacina stellata, and that curious little insectivor- 
ous plant the Round-leaved Sundew, Drosera ro- 
tundifolia, was found in a few places whilst gather- 
ing specimens of Carex tenuiflora, a somewhat un- 
common sedge. What this swamp with the higher 
woods immediately surrounding it will eventually 
produce none can say. The latter we were entirely 
unable to explore, and work has yet to be done 
during May, early June, late July, August and Sep- 
tember, before any adequate opinion can be formed. 
Under the cedars where I found Listera cordata 
seemed a likely enough place for Calypso bulbosa, 
and who knows but what Cypripedium arietinum 
might not be there also. The higher woods should 
produce some more of the Habenarias, perhaps 
Hookeri and orbiculata, but there, further speculat- 
ing must not be indulged in, time alone will show. 
The birds were not entirely forgotten, the Northern 
Parula Warbler, Compsothlypis americana usnea, 
and the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa 
satrapa, being noted, both of which were evidently 
breeding, as well as the Brown Creeper, Certhia 


THe CanapiAN’ FieELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


familiaris americana, and the Olive-sided Fly- 
catcher, Nuttallornis borealis. 

Amongst all this galaxy of beauty and profusion, 
a vein of regret was struck, when I came to realize 
that my conquests were fast drawing to a close, ana 
that ere long it would be well nigh impossible to 
add another new species to my list. Certainly there 
is still a possibility of finding any of the following, 
viz.: Cypripedium arietinum, Habenaria dilatata 
var. media, H. clavellata, H. blephariglottis, H. 
lacera, Serapias helleborine, Epipactis decipiens and 
Listera auriculata, a total of eight only, but out of 
these C. arietinum and Serapias Helleborine are very 
rare indeed, and are hardly likely to fall to my lot. 
Still there is plenty of ground to cover yet, and one 
never knows what a turn in the road may mean, per- 
haps some overlocked little wood, swamp, or bog, 
where hidden away lies some- rarity, and herein lies 
the charm of orchid hunting. 

In conclusion the following is an annotated list of 
the three new species found this season, viz: 

Small Round-leaved Orchis, Orchis rotundifolia, 
Banks. This rare little orchid which was once 
aptly described to me by a lady friend as a beauti- 
ful little spike of tiny opalled flowers, was first dis- 
covered on June 24 near Beebe, a village lying to 
the south east of Hatley, and distant about fifteen 
miles as the crow flies. The colony was a very 
small one, consisting of some half dozen plants 
only, but when visited again on July 10, three or 
four more (one in perfect bloom even at this late 
date) were found in the immediate neighbourhood 
of the others. With more time at one’s disposal to 
enable a thorough systematic search to be made 
(the area of the swamp being considerable) it is 
hoped to find it in greater abundance another 
year. The location was an old and somewhat 
grown up logging road, in the centre of which, 
and at the sides, the plants were growing. 

Hooker’s Orchid, Habenaria Hookeri Torr. The 
home of this orchid lies on the eastern shore of Lake 
Massawippi, between the railway station of that 
name, and Perkin’s Point. There I found several 
small colonies of it in bloom from as early as May 
30 to as late as June 25, when it was beginning to 
get over. It is a fallacy to suppose (as many of the 
books would have us believe) that the leaves of this 
orchid in contra distinction to those of H. orbicu- 
lata are always raised above the ground, and for 
this reason the plants when not in flower can be dis- 
tinguished from the latter. There is really no abso- 
lute means of distinguishing Hookeri, orbiculata, or 
macrophylla from one another when in leaf only, 
as I have found all three of them at one time or 
another, with leaves raised above, and also lying 
flat on the ground. Even when the scape is partly 
developed one may be deceived, but Hookeri is 


December, 1920] 


usually ebracteate, and so can be distinguished with 
tolerable certainty from the other two, on whose 
scapes there are always bracts. 

Rose Pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides (L.) Ker. 
This delicately coloured orchid although known to 
have been found in the large swamp near Beebe as 
already mentioned, was not in bloom when we visited 
it on June 24, but I was fortunate to secure it on 
my second visit on July 10, although even then it 
could hardly be said to be fully out, although its 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


173 


companion Calopogon pulchellus apparently was. 
Both these species were found principally on the 
outskirts of the little bog at the far end of the 
swamp where the Small Cranberry, Vaccinium Oxy- 
Of Pogonia, only about 


coccos, grew in profusion. 


a dozen or more plants were in bloom, whilst of 
Calopogon, there were probably about three times 
as many, so the station apparently is not a large one 
for either species. 


FURTHER NOTES ON THE RHOPALOCERA OR BUTTERFLIES OF 
HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1920. 


By H. MousL-ey. 


After a storm there usually comes a calm, and so 
after a year of plenty there usually follows one of 
scarcity, at least I have generally found it so with 
the butterflies, and this year has certainly proved 
no exception to the rule. 

Reverting for a moment to my previous paper 
in “THe CanapiaN FieLp-Naturauist,” Vol. 
XXXIV, 1920, No. 1, pp. 7-10, it will be found 
that the species there recorded for Hatley numbered 
forty-five. To this total can now be added another 
three, the Mountain Silver-spot (Argynnis atlantis), 
the Brown Elfin (/ncisalia augustus), and the Coral 
Hairstreak (Sitrymon titus) which latter I find has 
been taken by Mr. George A. Moore at North 
Hatley. See “A Preliminary List of the Insects of 
the Province of Quebec,” A. F. Winn, 1912, p. 15. 

At first sight this result may appear a very poor 
one, but in reality it is about as much as can now 
be expected in any one season, the time having ar- 
rived (the same as with the orchids) when it is going 
to be a matter of much difficulty to add to one’s 
laurels, the final goal having been about reached in 
both cases. As regards the Mountain Silver-spot it 
could without doubt have been added to my list long 
ago had not other interests taken up all my time, and 
prevented me from paying more attention to the 
genus Argynnis, a difficult one, and of which atlan- 
lis is a member. It occurred in some numbers near 
Mount Orford about eighteen miles to the northwest 
of Hatley during the present season (1920) so Mr. 
Winn tells me, and to whom I am indebted for speci- 
mens, which enabled me to see that a few examples 
I had placed on one side as doubtful aphrodite were 
in reality atlantis. The little Brown Elfin I first 
came across on June 8, when visiting the great 
Brulé Bog near Waterville, some thousand acres in 
extent, and judging from its worn condition on that 


date, it must have been on the wing for about a 
fortnight. The next time it was met with was on 
June 20, when visiting another small bog (for the 
first time) two miles to the north of the village, and 
then again four days later it was found in a large 
swamp near Beebe, a village some fifteen miles to 
the southwest of Hatley, so that this little Hairstreak 
seems fairly well distributed wherever bogs are in 
evidence, its larvae feeding on sheep laurel and 
blueberry, which are usually found in such places. 
In the first named locality it was in great profusion 
principally on the edges cf the woods bordering the 
bog, but in the other two it was not nearly so plenti- 
ful, probably owing to the much later date and its 
being nearly over. 

Returning to the subject of the general scarcity of 
butterflies, the only species that could compare in 
point of numbers with former years were the two 
large Fritillaries, Argynnis cybele and A. aphrodite, 
and these literally swarmed again, in fact, I have 
never known a season in which they did not. Several 
of the small skippers were in goodly numbers as well 
as the Spring Azure, more examples of the form 
lucia being seen than previously. The Arctic skip- 
per, Carterocephalus palaemon, was located again 
in small numbers, not only at Hatley, but also in the 
large swamp near Beebe already referred to. The 
Black Swallow-tail, Papilio polyxenes, regained its 
normal position, but the Monarch, Danaus archip- 
pus, again failed to put in an appearance, although 
ten examples of its counterpart the Viceroy, Basil- 
archia archippus, were seen at various times between 
June 12 and August 28, quite an unprecedented 
number. The little Wanderer, Feniseca tarquinius, 
kept up its apparent record for rareness, only one 
example being seen on June 14. Of the genus Poly- 
gonia which was so plentiful last year, very few ex 


174 THe CanapiAN FieLtp-NaTuRALIST 


amples were seen, in fact, not one of the handsomest 
the Violet Tip, Polvgonia interrogationis, and of the 
Green Comma, P. faunus, recorded by Gosse in 
1835-38 it still remains unchecked, although I see 
it has been taken at East Bolton eighteen miles to 
the west of Hatley see (“A Preliminary List of the 
Insects of the Province of Quebec,” A. F. Winn, 
1912, p. 13.) 

Of the smaller Fritillaries, Nyciteis was better 
represented and seems more generally distributed 
than I had hitherto imagined. Harris’ Checker- 
spot, Melitaea harrisi, cn the other hand appears to 
have entirely died out from the one meadow where 
I used to find it, as repeated visits again this season 
failed to reveal its presence. The’ Pearly Eye, 
Enodia portlandia, as in the days of Gosse kept up 
its reputation for rareness, as I only saw four ex- 
amples of it during the month of July. The two 
Hair-streaks, the Acadian, Strymon acadica, and 
Striped, Sirymon liparops, were found in their usual 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


haunts on the roadside, but since then all the 
shrubs have been cut down and burnt, so that next 
year may witness a great scarcity, if not total ex- 
termination of these two species. Hunter’s butter- 
fly, Vanessa virginiensis, which during the past two 
years has been unusually plentiful has not been seen 
at all during the present season, and the same re- 
mark applies almost equally well to the Painted 
Lady, Vanessa cardui, although I did see one fresh 
example on October 7. Of the American Tortoise- 
shell, Aglais milberti, only a few examples have 
been noted, although at one time a season never went 
by without its larvae being found on a bed of nettles 
near my house, but of late years none have been seen. 

In conclusion as last year went down to poster- 
ity in these parts at all events as a record ento- 
mological one, so will this one equally do so, but 
not for abundance, and it is a matter of congratula- 
tion to think that I had other researches in hand 
which kept my time fully occupied. 


OBITUARY 


CHARLES GORDON HEWITT 


Science has lost several able men during the last 
few years and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club 
has been deprived of more than one leader of 
international reputation. Such were the two 
Macouns and Lawrence M. Lambe and now to 
these is added C. Gordon Hewitt, late Dominion 
Entomologist and Consulting Zoologist. 


Dr. Hewitt was born and educated in England 
and before coming to Canada had taught zoology 
in the University of Manchester. Accepting the 
position of Dominion Entomologist soon after the 
death of Dr. James Fletcher, he came to Canada 
in the fall of 1909 to take over the new work. 
His task, at that time, was by no means an easy 
one as his predecessor had set a very high standard 
and had, moreover, been highly esteemed by all 
who knew him. To follow successfully in such 
footsteps required unusual ability which the new 
chief was soon found to possess. Fletcher had 
been hampered by holding the dual position of 
Entomologist and Botanist, through lack of assis- 
tants and inadequate quarters. Under the new 
arrangements the departments were separated and 
slightly more space became available. 


Dr. Hewitt proved to possess marked executive 
ability with which he combined a diplomacy that 
awakened friendly envy among his colleagues of 


other departments. Within a few years the Divi- 


sion of Entomology had been developed into a 
separate branch of the Department of Agriculture 
with a network of field laboratories extending from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. Thus at the time of 
Dr. Hewitt’s death some ten years after he took 
office, the Entomological Branch contained no less 
than 63 members, four divisions and maintained 
twelve field laboratories, with trained officers in 
charge whose business was to study local insect 
problems. In addition an efficient quarantine had 
been inaugurated against the importation of foreign 
pests. Such is a brief summary of the advance- 
ment achieved under Dr. Hewitt’s direction. 

In addition to Entomology, Dr. Hewitt took a 
keen interest in kindred sciences, more particularly 
ornithology, a practical demonstration of which 
may be recalled in the important Migratory Bird 
Treaty between the United States and Canada in 
which Dr. Hewitt, as Consulting Zoologist took 
a leading part for the Canadian Government. He 
also entered enthusiastically into the question of 
establishing bird sanctuaries and did much to 
create an interest in the erection of bird nesting 
boxes in the vicinity of Ottawa. 

Towards the last he had turned his attention to 
studying means for the control of predatory mam- 
mals and at the time of his death had accumulated 
a mass of evidence to favor a scheme for sup- 
pressing such pests. 


December, 1920] 


THE CANADIAN FieLp-NaATURALIST 


Vi 


176 THE CanapiIAN- Fie_p-NATURALIST 


Dr. Hewitt was the recipient of many honors 
from scientific societies; he was a past president 
of the American Association of Economic Ento- 
mologists, of the Entomological Society of Ontario 
and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club; a Fellow 
and Treasurer of the Royal Society of Canada, 
The gold medal of the Royal Society 
for the Protection of Birds was presented to Dr. 
Hewitt in March, 1918, in recognition of his ser- 
vices in furthering the Migratory Bird Treaty be- 
tween the United States and Canada. He wrote 
more than a hundred papers on scientific subjects, 
the best known being his book on the House-fly. 
A book on Wild Life in Canada is in course of 
publication at the present time. 

Dr. Hewitt was married to Elizabeth Borden, 
daughter of late Surgeon General Sir Frederick 


etc., etc. 


[Vol. XXXIV. 


Borden, of Canning, Nova Scotia, in whom he 
found a ready helpmate and an inspiration for 
the work he had so much at heart. 


His untimely death, on February 29th, 1920, at 
the age of 35, closed a career of marked achieve- 
ment and one of great future promise. The loss 
to the Entomological Branch is one that only 
those in close touch with the work can estimate, 
but the foundation for future progress has been well 
laid so that those who follow can confidently 
build upon the structure so ably begun. 


NorRMAN CRIDDLE. 


A more detailed obituary notice prepared by 
Arthur Gibson and J. M. Swaine, was published in 
the May, 1920, issue of the Canadian Hntomologist, 
together with a list of the writings of the late Dr. 
Hewitt, compiled by C. B. Hutchings. 


JOHN MACOUN MEMORIAL. 


At the request of naturalists generally through- 
out Canada, the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club 
has decided to receive subscriptions for a perma- 
nent memorial in honour of the late Prof. John 
Macoun, Naturalist of the Geological Survey of 
Canada, who died at Sidney, B.C., on July 18, 
1920. , 

The wide field of natural history work to which 
John Macoun devoted his life is well known, not 
only throughout Canada but in other countries as 
well. He specialized particularly in botany and 
was the founder of the Canadian National herbani- 
um. Other sciences, however, specially zoology, 
were also greatly enriched by him; he will always 
be remembered as a great pioneer in Canadian 
natural history. 

Many friends of the late John Macoun, particu- 


larly in Toronto and Ottawa have thought that the 
memorial should take the form of a painted portrait 
to be hung in the Victoria Memorial Museum. Such 
a memorial has now been decided upon and a paint- 
ing will be made by Mr. Franklin Brownell of 
Ottawa, the well-known portrait painter. Expen- 
ses in connection therewith will be about $700. 

Subscriptions to this fund should be forwarded to 
Mr. Arthur Gibson, Dominion Entomologist, 
Ottawa. 

Should the list be oversubscribed arrangements 
may be made whereby those subscribing above a 
certain sum, which now cannot be defined, will re- 
ceive a reproduction of the painting. A list of 
those who subscribe will be published in the Can- 
adian Field-Naturalist. 

A.G. 


REVIEWS. 


THE AUK For 1920, voL. XX XVII. 


During the year 1920 the following titles of in- 
terest to Canadian ornithologists, either for: author- 
ship or subject matter, have appeared :— 


NO. |. JANUARY. 

In Memoriam: William Brewster, born July 5, 
1851, died July 11, 1919. By Henry Witherbee 
Henshaw, 2 plates, pp. 1-23; 

William Brewster—An Appreciation. 
George Gehring, pp. 24-28. 

Wm. Brewster, the Dean of American ornithol- 
ogy was probably better known personally to the 


By John 


past than to the present generation of Canadian 


naturalists. He largely influenced Canadian orni- 
tholegy through Vennor, Chamberlain, Boardman, 
Mcllwraith, &c., even to the present generation of 
those fortunate enough to know him. The rest of 
us know his writings and the affection with which 
he was generally regarded through which he still 
lives. Funds for a Brewster Memorial have been 
raised by subscriptions from both sides of the line. 
This is to take the form of a gold medal to be 
awarded semi-annually for outstanding work on 
birds of the Western Hemisphere. It is in keeping 
that the medal has been designed by Brewster’s 
life-long friend, Daniel C. French, the sculptor. 


December, 1920] THE CANADIAN 


The Status of the Subspecific Races ef Branta 
canadensis, by J. D. Figgins, pp. 94-102. 

This paper was suggested by H. Swarth’s mono- 
graph on the subject (Cont. from Mus. Vert. Zool. 
Univ. of Cal.) It is proposed that huchinsi and 
occidentalis be dropped as recognized sub-specific 
races of the Canada Goose and be regarded as hy- 
brids between canadensis and minima, the latter 
being raised to full specific status. Remarks on 
this proposal will be found farther along in these 
reviews. 

The 
American Ornitholegists’ Union. 
er, pp. 110-125. 

This was held Nov. 10-13, 1919, at the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York. Canada 
was well represented by three Fellows, one Mem- 
ber and two Associates. 247 Associates were 
elected, 14 of them from Canada. 

In General Notes, p. 145, Jonathan Dwight un- 
der the heading, Nomenclatural Casuistry, takes ex- 
ception to H. C. Oberholser’s (Can. Field Nat., 
XXXIII, pp. 48-50) founding the name of his new 
race of Red-headed Woodpecker on an 
knowledged lapsus calami. The use of the specific 
term erythropthalmus instead of erythrocephalus in 
the original citation upon which Mr. Oberholser 
bases his name is plainly an error missed by the 
proof-reader. It is absurd to regard it as a serious 
nomenclatural fact. Such pedantic adherence to 
the letter of the law of priority should be discour- 
aged. 


Thirty-seventh Stated Meeting of the 
By T. S. Palm- 


ac- 


Under Recent Literature,— 
The Birds of Eastern Canada, by P. A. Tav- 


erner, is reviewed, pp. 147-149. As much com- 
mendation as the work is entitled to is given. 
Amongst the minor criticisms made by W. S. is but 
one on which the present writer would like some 
light. Mr. S. objects to the author’s use of the term 
“type form, race or subspecies” as applied to the 
first described group of a given species. It would 


be gratifying to know how better to express the 


idea. Whilst first described races have no taxono- 
mic superiority over those discovered later they have 
nomenclatural priority and as such are often to be 
referred to. It is unfortunate that the word “type” 
and “typical” have been given restricted and special- 
ized meanings in zoology. The development of 
scientific concepts has twisted them from their ob- 
vious meaning and deprived us of very valuable 
words in their ordinary sense. 

The Status of Larus hyperboreus barrovianus, 
by H. C. Oberholser. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 
Vol. 32, pp. 173-174, reviewed p. 166. 

It may be remembered that this author lately ad- 
vocated the revival of the Point Barrow Gull as a 


FieELD- NATURALIST 17 


a | 


recognizable subspecies of the Glaucuos Gull and 
that Dr. Dwight in a paper referred to in the pre- 
vious volume of this journal advanced strong evi- 
dence to the contrary. 
argument. 


This paper continues the 
It resolves itself into the old question 
of what is a subspecies nad upon how fine distinc- 
tions it can be founded. The writer has examined 
a considerable number of these north-western birds 
and recognizes that they do average smaller, though 
with so much individual variation and so many ex- 
ceptions that few birds can be recognized with cer- 
tainty without a knowledge of their geographical 
crigin. It is a matter of opinion whether such races 
are worthy of nomenclatural recognition. 


Under Notes and News,— 


P. 186 is a brief report on the size and scope of 
the bird collections of the Victoria Memorial Mu- 
seum, Ottawa. 

P. 187 is a note on the progress of the Reports of 
the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18. As 
far as birds are concerned only a part on bird 
parasites (Mallophaga) and a few scattered iden- 
tifications of invertebrate forms in bird stomachs 
have appeared, but Dr. R. M. Anderson expects 
to get the reports on Birds and Mammals out as 
soon as the pressure of his duties as editor of the 
whole series permits. 

P. 188 informs us that the Museum of Vertebrate 
Zoology of the University of California has re- 
ceived from Miss Annie Alexander an endowment 
of $200,000 for its maintenance. This institution 
has done in the past, and will do in the future, much 
valuable work within our borders in the course of 
its survey of west coast conditions. It is a matter 
of satisfaction on both sides of the line that the fu- 
ture usefulness of this able institution is assured. 


No. 2. APRIL. 


Additions to the Avifauna of the Priblof Islands, 
Alaska, including Four Species New to North 
America, by G. Dallas Hanna, pp. 248-254. Mr. 
Hanna’s residence upon these lonely oceanic islands 
has given him unusual opportunities for studying 
their bird life. Close to the dividing line between 
America and Asia, where the New and the Old 
Worlds come most nearly into contact, he has col- 
lected and observed many Old World stragglers 
and probably has added more species to our Check 
List than any other living man. The greatest im- 
portance of these technical additions to our avi- 
fauna lies in the possibility of their occurrence 
south along the continental coast and in suggesting 
species to be looked for there. 

The Subspecies of Branta canadensis by H. S. 
Swarth, pp. 268-272. In this paper the perplexing 
subject of the Canada Goose and its races comes 


178 THe CanapiAN_ FIELD-hATURALIST 


up again. Mr. Swarth akes exception to Mr. Fig- 
gin’s article, mentioned previously in these reviews, 
both in treatment and substance. He does not agree 
to the proposal for regarding hutchinsi and occi- 
denialis as hybrids between two species, B. canaden- 
sis and B. minima, and, basing his study on fuller 
breeding data, seems to have the best of the argu- 
ment. With Mr. Swarth we agree that there is a 
north-west coast form with well-marked color 
characteristics. Whether occidentalis can be ap- 
plied to it is not perfectly clear. Unfortunately, as 
Mr. Swarth states, the type specimen on which that 
name is founded is one of those puzzling nonde- 
script, perhaps abnormal, birds that are not easy to 
fit into present recognized divisions. This is a 
good example of the founding of supposed new 
races on too few specimens, and the danger of set- 
ting up freaks or intermediates as types. In spite of 
all this discussion the relatcinships of the various 
forms of the Canada Goose can hardly be said to be 
settled, nor is it likely that they will be until we 
can establish the essential characters of the various 
geographical breeding groups. We will then have 
definite standards for the comparison of the hetero- 
geneous flocks that are met with in migration. In 
the meantime, species and subspecies derived from 
mixed migrants are as likely to be arbitrary group- 
ings of characters as racial divisions. 


Plumages of Gulls in Relation to Age as IIlus- 
trated by the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and 
Other Species. By Jonathan Dwight, 5 plates, 
pp. 262-268. 


If the geese of the genus Branta are in confusion 
still worse is the state of the gulls of the genus 
Larus. This paper traces out the age sequence of 
the gulls, taking the Herring Gull as an example, 
and details the successive plumage characters from 
birth to maturity, with plates of wing and tail de- 
tails of each stage. Dr. Dwight concludes that it 
is not until the fourth winter plumage that all traces 
of juvenility are lost, making a four year plumage 
cycle. He closes his paper with lists of all Ameri- 
can gulls in two, three and four year plumage 
cycle groups. This is a most valuable paper, and 
one that prepares for the foundation of a proper 
understanding of these puzzling birds. 


Fifth Annual List of Proposed Changes in the 
A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds. By 
Harry C. Oberholser, pp. 274-285. 


Perhaps it is well for Mr. Oberholser’s repu- 
tation with the general public to state that these 
are compilations of suggestions by all authors, and 
that he is not quite the iconoclast that the title 
might suggest. The list is a staggering threat 
against our stable (?) scientific nomenclature. 
There are about a hundred proposed changes and 


[Vol. XXXIV 


twenty rejections and eliminations. We cannot 
expect that finality can ever be reached in any 
scientific subject, philological or zoological, but 
our greatest comfort in inspecting this one year’s 
record of changes is that it is only proposed and 
not an accepted fact. 


Under General Notes,— 


Dr. J. C. Phillips, pp. 289-291, describes Hab- 
its of the Two Black Ducks, and records differ- 
ences in the winter distribution and habits of the 
two much debated subspecies of Black Duck, 
rubripes and tristis, that go far to substantiate the 
validity of the distinction we make between them. 


Geo. H. Stuart, p. 292, records the breeding cf 
the Greater Yellow-legs in the vicinity of Grand 
Lake, Newfoundland, June 20, 1919. 


W. E. Saunders, pp. 304-306, gives us Addi- 
tional Notes on the Birds of Red Deer, Alberta. 
This constitutes an addenda to the writer’s Birds 
of the Red Deer River, Alta. (Auk, 1919). It 
gives observations cn 31 species, and adds seven to 
the list of that section. 


Under Recent Literature is noted a paper On 
the Protection of Birds in the Province of Quebec, 
by F. Gaguin, Reveue Francaise d’Ornithologie, 
XII, Dec., 1919. 


In Notes and News, p. 346, appears the notice 
of the death of the late J. M. Macoun, whose obitu- 


ary appeared in a previous number of this journal. 


Pp. 348-352 contain an interesting survey of the 
location and distribution of complete sets of the 
Auk. As this journal is the most important bird 
publication in the New World but little work in 
the field can be accomplished without reference to 
its files. It is therefore somewhat alarming to note 
that, so far, only about 150 complete sets have been 
located in public or private libraries. As those in 
private hands are steadily being absorbed by insti- 
tutions where they remain, and there is a constant 
loss through fire and accident, the question is natur- 
ally raised as to what the future student, not situ- 
ated near any of a certain limited number of insti- 
tutions, will do for this important literature. It is 
worth noting both for information and as a warning 
that but eight complete sets exist in Canada. Two 
are to be found in each of the following cities, 
Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, and one each in 
London and Quebec. It will be noted that there 
is not a single complete file west of southern On- 
tario. Unless this is corrected whilst the oppor- 
tunity for correction exists it will place future orni- 
thologists in western Canada at a great disadvan- 
tage. 


P. A. TAVERNER. 


ewes 


December, 1920] 


PAGE 


Acanthis linaria____~ 24, 51, 154 
Accessions to Geological 

Survey Museum_____ 117 
Accipiter velox 


249, 91, 123, 162 


“ee 


cooperi 
22, 49, 123, 154, 162 
Acipenser rubicundus____ 125 


Actitis macularia 
22; 49, 91, 123, 162 
Aegialitis semipalmaia 


27,49) 91-123, 162 


Agaric, Deadly_______-_ 75 
AC 74 
Agaricus campestris _____ 13 
Asgelaius phoeniceus_23, 51, 163 
Aglais j-album ________ 8 
SO 126 
Paperapansd. 2" = 48, 91, 162 
Alberta Nat. His. Soc... 18 
Wilpaviondd.. 2 =~ ~ 80 
Alces americanus__68, 125, 168 
Amanita muscaria _____~ 74 
o phalloides _____ FNS. 
1 je 76 
Ambystoma jeffersonianum 144 
Ameiurus nebulosus ____ 143 
Ammodramus savannarum 51 
Ampelis cedrorum _____- 25 
miias-Opscnra <=. >. 22 
“ platyrhynchos ____ 47 
erapyipes=- = 47, 123, 16l 
my ntnIstise == a 9) 
Anderson, R.M., articles 
_) 22 |e eso al FA, 
Angel, the Destroying___ 76 
Archilochus colubris 50, 92, 163 
Anthus pennsylvanicus___ 25 
i gibescens|——_ == - 53 
Aquila chrysaetos _____~- 154 
Archibuteo lagopus_____ 49 
“—L. sancti-johannis 92 
“status of genus__ 20 
Archilohcus colubris 50, 92, 163 
Arctonetta fischeri _____~ 43 


Ardea herodias 
22, 48, 91, 123, 162 


Arenaria morinella ____ 22, 91 
Argulidae from Nova 
1 a 149 
Argulus alosae _______- 149 
ie piperatus\______ 149 
Asio wilsonianus _______ 49 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIV. 


PAGE 


WAisto flammeus 222 == 50 
Astragalinus tristis 


24, 51, 93, 124, 164 


Astur atricapillus ______- 49 
Athyrium angustifolium__ 138 
Auk, Razor-billed______ 80 
Aythya marila _______ 22, 154 
Azure; ‘Spring 2222222. = 9 
Baldpate #22555... Dees 22 
Bartramia longicauda____22, 48 
Basilarchia arthemis____~ 8 

bs archippus____ 8 


Bass, Small-mouthed black 143 
Batrachians of Otter lake 


regats, “Ont. 56 os ny 143 
Beckmannia erucaeformis 28 
Bear Black______ 635 125) 166" - 
Bakct es 5 cee = ue eas 166 


Beaver, Canadian__68, 125, 168 
Billings, W. R., obituary, 
wobiee af 22002 ast 57 
Burd Banding 22 = 2.5 158 
Bird, Christmas census__ 98 
Bird, Rusty black__ 23, 97, 119 
Birds, changes in status in 
vicinity of Quebec ____ 132 
Birds of Coldstream, Ont. 47 


Birds, how to attract them 


abott homes == ~~... 8! 
Birds, Lake Shore Migra- 

tion, Beamsville, Ont.__ 21 
Bird Migration ___2____ 119 


Birds of Shoal Lake, Man. 15-4 
Birds, of Eastern Canada, 


NOLICe™ Gao Sok. Ae eet 160 
Birds of Otter Lake re- 
siete s Ont eA 161 
Birds in relation to Insect 
Combe ore ee 15} 
Birds, Summer of Gaspe, 
Orie eee 78, 87 
Birds of Red Deer river, 
Fn ie eh eee A RE ee 19 
Birds of wilderness of 
Nova Scotia __..___ 36, 117 
Bittern, American__48, 91, 162 
4 Beast Cs Sas 48 


Black birds 23, 51, 97, 119, 163 
Blarina brevicauda____63, 166 
Binepird 26, 53, 166 
urate hy - 


179 


PAGE 


Bombycilla cedrorum 
52, 93, 125, 164 
garrula _____ 134 
Bonasa umbellus _____ 49, 123 
u. togata____22, 91, 162 
Book Notices ____-___- 
19, 37, 58, 115, 160, 176 
Botaurus lentiginosus 48, 91, 162 


“ec 


Botrychium Lunaria ____ 139 
2 obliquum ____ 139 
ae ramosum ____ 139 
zs ternatum ____ 139 
¥ virginianum __ 139 


Branta canadensis 22, 48, 123 
Bubo virginianus 50, 124, 162 


Bufflehead —_-______- 22, 43 
Bufo americanus________ 144 
“ lentiginosus ________ Wa 
Bunting, Indigo _______ 51, 164 
wt EME ae eta ee 51 


Buteo borealis 

23, 49, 91,..123,. 162 
sWainsonii _______ 23 
lineatus = = 3 49, 162 
platupterus__49, 92, 162 


“<< 


Butorides virescens ____ 22, 48 
Butt: rfly, Cabbage _____ 8 
- Hunter’s______ 8 

7 Mourning cloak 126 
Butterfly, a doped ______ 119 
Calcarius lapponicus____~ 24 
Calidris arenaria ______~ 22 
= leucophaea ____ YI 
Calopogon pulchellus____ 45 


Calvert E. W., article by 109 
Camptorhynchus labrador- 


LS ee EA 155 
Canis occidentalis _____ 63, 125 
fycaéne = 2-2 ae 
Canthartes aura ________ 154 
a | had eS 51, 97 
Cardinalis cardinalis ____ 51 
Caribou, Woodland_____ 69 


Carpodacus purpureus 

24, 51, 93, 164 
Carterocephalus palaemon 9 
Cassels, Elsie, articles by 99, 159 
Castor canadensis 68, 125, 168 


Cathirdl see ie se: 25, 33 
Catostomus richardsoni__ 19 

Fs commersonii _. 143 
Cathartes aura _____~ 49, 154 


180 

PAGE 
Ca to ee ee 143 
Cayuga minnow_______- 143 
Centurus carolinus______ 50 
Ceophlacus pileatus abieti- 

COLA ent ee eee ee 15-4 
Cepphus grylle ________ Ri) 
Certhia f. americana___95, 165 

Sp PATIPIVETTS © re 3, 
Cercyonis alope nephele __ 8 


Cervle alcyon 
23, 50, 92, 124, 162 
Chaetura pelagica 


7355-50592.) 63 


Charadrius dominicus ___ 49 
Charitonetta albeola____22, 48 
Chat, Yellow-breasted___ 52 
Checker-Spot, Harris’____ 8 
Chelydra serpentina _____ 145 
Chickadees 

252 53; 95--97. 99. 125, 166 
Chrosomus erythrogaster__ 143 


Chipmunks____66, 67, 125, 168 
Chordeiles virginianus____ 

23, 50, 92, 124, 163 
Chrysemys marginatla____ 145 


Circus hudsonius 


ZIAD he 123; GZ 


Cistothorus stellaris______ 53 
Clangula clangula ____ 48, 123 
vs islandica ______ 48 

sg c. americana 22, 91 
Clitocybe illudens ______ 77 
Coccyzus americanus ____ 50 

erythropthalmus 
23, 50;° 162 


Coffin-carriers, among the 101 
Colaptes auratus luteus 


23592; 163 

GUY AIUNS. ee 50, 124 
Colinus virginianus _____~ 49 
Colymbus auritus___21, 47, 161 
* holboelli ______ 47 
Comma, Green —_.-2.- 8 
Compsothlypis americana 52 
4 a. usneae ____95, 164 
Condylura cristata_______- 166 
Contopus virens ________ 23 
ey ae ey Se 48 
Cope’s Minnow __- ~ Aa 
Corallorrhiza maculata _- 46 
Coregonus preblei _____- 19 
clupeiformis_ 143 


Cormorant, Double-crested 


21, 88 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 
PAGE 


Corvus americanus_____~_ 23 
brachyrnchos 

50, 92, 124, 163 
corax principalis 92, 163 


ix CO TUX: en eee 124 
Cowbid === 23 ale O2 
Grane w= te cere 123 


Criddle, Norman, articles of 


14, 151, 174 
Cristivomer namaycush __ 143 
Crossbills______ 51, 93, 97, 164 
Crows= soo 23550; 92) 1245165 


Crustacea, Larger Fresh- 
water, of Canada and 


MVaska= ee eee 126, 145 
Crytoglaux acadia__50, 154, 162 
* tengmalmi______ 154 
Cuckoos, Black-billed__ 23, 50 
(Cnilewaels cimn0=e 133 
Sow Skludsonian.2-=* 22,- 9 
Cvanocitta cristata 
23 3092165 
Cystopteris bulbifera_____ 139 
Dace, Red-bellied ______ 143 
* Elomed = eae 143 
Dafilamaciiaa= == === 22 


Dale, E.M.S., article by 97 
Deer, Northern Virginia 68, 168 


Dendroica aestiva 


25; 252; 9d; 165 


cacrulescens_____ 
2 9268 993 65 
 Weastapca=s eee 
52, 9530135; 165 
fm MECH eG mee ee 52 
BecononGia= 
25, 52,95; (25ea555 1165 
Vine CHSCOLD Tae 52 
“ sfusca== 32.299. SO oD 
‘ate ATTACH OSU es oe 25 
magnolia__52, 95, 165 
palmarum_____- 52, 95 
pennsylvanica____ 52 


: striata 25, 52, 95, 135 
€* triprina 25, 52; 99,-1355 
5 virens__25, 52, 95, 165 


Diadophis punctatus _--_ 145 
Dolichonyx oryzivorus__23, 51 
Dove, Mourning ______- 22, 49 
Drapetisca socialis _____- 109 


Drvobates pubescens me- 


dianus_23, 50, 92, 163 


[Vol. XXXIV 
PAGE 
villosus 23, 50, 163 


Ducks, 22, 47, 48, 91, 97, 
123, 154, 155, 161, 162 
Dumetella carolinensis___ 53 


Dyer, G. M., note by_--_ 60 


Eagles___49, 92, 123, 154, 162 

Eiders} 43, 44, 48 

Emerton, J. H., article by 106 
Empidonax flaviventris 

23, 507-92. ane 

“«  minimus___23, 50, 163 


“ ral SS 50 

“  trailli alnorum__92, 163 
Enodia portlandia _-~--- 8 
Entomological, a unique 

experience 22-2422 129 
Epimys novegicus ~~~--~- 168 
Epipactis tesselata _~~-~~- 46 


Erethizon dorsatum___ 66, 168 


Ereunetes pusillus 


48, 91, 123, 162 


Erignathus barbatus _--_ 123 
Erismatura jamaicensis __ 48 
Esox luctas 2232223 143 
Euphagus carolinus___ 51, 164 
Eupomotis gibbosus _--- 143 
Euphyes vestris ~------- 9 
Euotomys gapperi —----- 66 
Eutamias quadrivittatus bo- 

realis = Se 125 
Eutamias quadrivittatus ne- 

glectus' =i232-225 3s 66 
Eurymus philodice ~~~ ~~~ 8 
Evotomys gapperi______~ 167 
Fable of ta-day==-22 === 13 


Falco sparverius 


23, 49, 92, -1Za;a162 


““ peregrinus anatum__ 92. 
“ _columbarius 222222 92 
Fall Migrants _____----- | 
Farley, F. L., article by 119 
Fat-head @:5 322s 143 


Fauna and Flora of East 
and Middle Sister and 
North Harbor Islands, 


Lake. Ene: 2.523505 109 
Fauna of Moose river_____ 121 
Ferns of Hatley, Que..__ 137 
Finch, Purple__24, 51, 93, 164 
Feniseca tarquinius ~~-~- 2 
Fish of Otter Lake region 142 
Fishers22= 2-95-22 64, 167 


December, 1920] 


PAGE 


Fishes, six new, from Nerth- 
western Canada ______ 19 
Flickers__ 23, 50, 92, 124, 162 
Flora of Warren’s Landing, 
Ol Se 26 
Flycatchers 23, 50, 92, 134, 163 
Fox, Common Red____63, 166 


Fratercula arctica ______ 80 
Popa. ae a 125, 144 
Fulica americana _____- 48 
Galeoscoptes carolinensis. 25 
Gallinago delicata 48, 123, 162 
Gallinule, Florida______ 91 
on 20, 87 


Gavia immer 


21, 47, 80, 121, 161 


SLC a 154 
Geothlypis trichas brachi- 
Bame ey a 28 a 25 


Geothlypis trichas 
a2, 95, 125, 165 
Gervillia stantoni _____~ 55 
Gibson, A., article by 38, 176 
Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray 53, 136 
Golden-eyes___ 22, 48, 91, 123 
Gold finches 
24, 51, 93, 124, 164 
Goose, Canada____ 22, 48, 123 


Grackles______ 25> 51: 92) 164 
4 OR 21, 47, 161 
Grey-veined white ______ 9 


Groh, Herbert, article by 15 
Grosbeaks 51, 93, 97, 134, 154 
Grouse 20, 22, 49, 91, 123, 162 
Grus canadensis ________ 123 
Guillemot, Black ______ 80 
Gulls__21, 47, 80, 87, 121, 161 
Gussow, H. T., article by 119 


Habenaria (x) andrewsii 45 


Pee ronpriaia © 5 5 45 
Breer oprert. 0-2-2 172 
“macrophylla __ 45 
a =r biculata,..-... . “45 
Haliaeetus leucocephalus 


49, 123, 162 


alascanus 92 


Pfares-) 22-2 68, 125, 168 
Harelda hyemalis__ 22, 48, 91 
Hawks____ 22, 23, 49, 91 

92, 116, 123,'124, 154, 162 
Helodromas solitarius__48, 162 


THE CANADIAN’ FiIELD-NaTU .ALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


PAGE 


Helminthopila peregrina__ 25 
Herons__._ 22, 48, 91, 123, 162 
Hesperiphona vespertina__ 134 
Hewitt, C. G., obituary 
notice of 2222. Fe 174 
Histrionicus histrionicus.. 9} 
Hirundo erythrogaster 
24, 51, 93, 164 
Ebouse ‘Rates 24,690: 168 
Humming birds 23, 50, 92, 163 
Hvdrochelidon nigra surin- 
GMETISS. oP es Ake 47, 87 
HA ylocichla aliciae ______ 
26, 53;°95, 136 
“ fuscescens 53, 95, 166 
mustelina______ 53, 166 
© << ustulata.._ 53,95, 166 
~~ gaittata 53,95, 125, 166 
“ guttata pallasii__ 26, 95 


ia AEG ae) bay] 
“—ustulata swainsoni 26, 45 

° pt tas Sak 53 
Hela® ericiferes 2252-2 144 
= 9, ‘Per sicolor aes 144 


Icterus galbula____23, 51, 164 
rm SPNYIUS) ee SS 5] 
ines: = 5222S 52 
Tridoprocne bicolor ____- 
2, 51-93, 124,164 
Isopoda from Canada and 


Masha heer 225 eee 145 
Ixobrychus exilis _______ 48 
Jack-O-Lantern. 22.2 /7 


Jaeger at Sylvan Lake Alta. 159 
Jays=— 23,5092.” 124, 163 
Johansen, F. articles by 126, 145 
Junco hyemalis ___.___~ 


24, 51, 93, 124, 134, 164 


Kalldéers "+23 2a 22, 49; 162 
Kindle, E. M., articles by 56, 37 
Kingbird______ 23550; 92, 163 


Kingfisher, Belted ______ 

23, 50, 92, 124 
Kinglets____25, 53, 72, 95, 166 
Forthiwae (220s Ste 2 80 
Klugh, A. B., articles by 

100, 119, 120 


Mady,: Paitied <2 a5 8 
Laing, Hamilton M., article 
he ea ae Cee Pete ae 21 


18] 
PAGE 
Latchford, F. M., articles 
5 oa a 30, 69 
Lambe, L. M., obituary 
notice. Che = ee 56 


Lanius borealis_____ 25; 52-93 


“ 


ludovicianus migrans 


25; 135 

- . 52 
Lanivireo flavifrons____52, 165 
solitarius 52, 93, 135, 165 
Lapland Longspur ______ 24 
Larks 42.5" 03) oeeu 14; 23-50 


Larus argentatus 
21, 47, 80, 121, 161 
delewarensis ______ 21 
Nps se &0 
philadelphia__ 21, 47, 8/ 
Lead poisoning in water- 
fowl 


Lepus americanus 68, 125, 168 


“cc 


Leuciscus neogaeus _____ 143 
Leucichthys athabascae __ 19 
- entomophagus 19 
a macronathus__ 19 
Lewis, H. F., articles by 
101, 117, 132 
Eame, <2. at eee 143 
Liopeltis vernalis__-_____ 145 
Liparis Loeselii _-_._._2. 46 
Listera cordata_________ 46 
Lloyd, H., articles by. __ 
98, 116, 155 
Lobipes lobatus __. ____ 9| 
Loons 21, 47, 80, 121 154, 161 
Lota maculosa _...___- 143 


Lophodytes cucullatus 47, 161 
Lowe. C. W., article by 26 
Loxia curvirostra__51, 93, 164 

leucoptera__51, 93, 164 


Lucias-lactis: -.° => 52" 125 
Luira canadensis _____- 64 
Lycaenopsis pseudargiolus 
marginala ______~ ze > 
Lynx, Canada _______64, 167 
Lynx canadensis_______~ 167 
THUS === ee 167 
Macoun, James M., obitu- 
ary. notice af. - == 38 
Macoun, John, obituary 
BRICE he So ee 110 


Macoun, John, Memorial 176 
Macoun, W. T., article by 110 
Macrclepidoptera of Alta. 37 


182 


Iiallardie tee a 47 
Malte, M. O., article by 38 
Mammal, new for Canada _'!/ 


Mammals of Ridout dist- 


Tice - Ont a eee 61 
Mammals of Okxter Lake, 

CO) nitee te a ee 166 
Mareca americana ____-- 22 
Marmota monax canaden- 

sis = 66, 168 
Manila afints22s— = 48 

yi americana ___-- 48 
muriia #05 48 
Maries americana_____- 63, 167 

een penal: = Oooo 64, 167 

Witwer eee 63 


Martin, Purple 25, 51, 134, 164 
McLearn, F.H., articleby 93 
Meadowlark 

24, 51, 92, 134, 163 

Megascops asio __------ 23 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus 

23, 50, 163 

Melitaea harrisi _------- 8 
Melospiza georgiana _~-- 

51, 124, 134 

“ — lincolni__ 51, 93, 134 

“ melodia____ 24, 51, 93 


Mephiti_ mephitis___-_-- 64, 167 
Mergansers_____------- 16] 
Mergus americanus_____- 161 
Merula migratoria ____~-- 26 
Mice, Jumping -------- 65, 09 
Microtus fontigenus ___- 66 
pennsylvanicus__ 167 
Micropterus dolomieu____ 143 
Microstylis monophyllos__ 46 
“ Wnifolud) 22 46 


Middleton, J. C., article by 6&1 
Migratory Birds Conven- 
tion Act, prosecutions__ 

SG, P17, hod 

aris Pe ee | eh 64 

Mniotilta varia 

2, 52,95; 135,. 165 

Pe SS ENS ee ART aaa 166 

Molothrus ater____ 23, 51, 92 


Mousley, H., articles by 
7, 44, 96, 137, 169, 173 


Wisse. 2-3 68, 125, 168 
Morchella bispora____ 11, 119 
esculenta _____- 1] 


Morris, Frank, article by 34 


THe Canapian Fietp-NaTuRALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


PAGE 

Motion pictures teaching 
bird protection _ _____ 98 
Mirre=- 2 eee 80 
Mus musculus22—22 2 168 
Musculium transversum__ 70 
E fruncatum____ 7 | 
NMirskrate= ses e- ee = 66, 168 
Mustela cigognantiL 64, 167 
ISO Teen eee 64, 167 
“ noveboracensis __ 167 
Mushrooms, Poisonous___ 74 


Myjiarchus crinitus 
23% 50; 134; -163 
Myjiochanes virens____- 50, 163 


Myotis subulatus_____-_- 166 

- wlaciusass == 166 
Nannus hiemalis____52, 95, 165 
Natrix s. sipedon ___--- 145 
Nesorax albibarbis ____~- 62 
Nelson, E. W., article by 158 
Nettion carolinense____- 47 
Nightawk____50, 92, 124, 163 
Newt, Common ______-- 144 
Notropis cayuga —_---- 143 

- cornulus 22s * 143 


Norman, E. S., article by 154 
Notes and observations__ 

17, 36, 60, 116, 157 
Notophthalmus viridescens 144 
Norwegian Arctic Expedi- 

tions repoit— 2 2o = 115 
Numenius borealis _____- 133 
hudsonicus__ 22, 91 
Nuthatches 25, 53, 95, 154, 165 
Nuttallornis borealis 


50, 134, 163 


Nyctea nyctea __------- 59 
Nycticorax nycticorax 
Aaeviusaus = 22, 91, 162 


Obituary notices 

38, 56, 57, 109, 174 
Oceanodroma lencorhoa__ 87 
Odell, W. S., article by_- 10 

Odocoileus americanus bo- 
Fengy 28h S35 ee 68, 168 
Oidemia americana 42, 91, 155 
“  deglandi 22, 42, 48, 91 
“ perspicillata____ 42, 91 
Old Sanaw-2.22-=3 22, 48, 31 
Olbiorchilus hiemalis _-.. 25 
Ondatra zibethica____- 66, 168 
Ophioglossum vulgatum __ 139 


[Vol. XXXIV 


Oporornis agilis _______~ 52 
“philadelphia 
52, 95, 136; 163 


Opsopoeodus borealis __-__ 19 
Orchids=_ === 44, 45, 46, 169 
Orchis rotundifolia______ We 
Onoles2—_ ts 23, 51, 164 
Osmunda regalis _____- 139 
* cinnamomea ___ 139 
Ospréys.___22, 49, 925 123, 162 
Otter:_2 = 2 eee 167 
Ols aio 2 SSS 50 

Otocoris alpestris praticola 
23, 50 

Ottawa Field-Nat. Club 
Report: 2 eee 16 
Ottawa Field Nat. outings 38 
Otter, Canada. _- saa 64 
Ovenbird________- 5295" os 


Owls, 23, 49, 50, 124, 154, 162 
Oxyechus vociferus 22, 49, 162 


Pandion haliaetus caroli- 


nensis=-— = 22. 92-21 23-62 
Pandion haliaetus ____-- 49 
Papilio polyxenes ____-- 7 
Parus atricapillus_______ 25 


Passer domesticus__24, 124, 164 

Passerculus sand wichensis 
savanna 24, 51, 93, 124, 164 

Passerella iliaca____ 24, 51, 93 


Passerina cyanea_____~ 51, 164 

* nivalis. 5. =e 24 
Pearly Eye = ae 8 
Pedioeceies phasianellus__ 162 
Peeper, Spring —--_---- 144 


Pelecypods, new, from 
Coloradoan of the 
Peace and Smoky Val- 
leys, “Atlberta_=_2eeae 53 

Pelidna alpina —2~-2 === 48 

Penthestes atricapillus___ 

53, 95, 125, 166 


hudsonica _littoralis 


“ 


95, 166 
Perea flavescens_______~ 143 
Perch 22222323 143 


Perisoreus canadensis 
92, 124, 163 
Peromyscus maniculatus 65, 167 
Petrochelidon lunifrons_ - 
24, 51, 93, 164 
Petrel, Leach’s): 2oaae8 37 
Pewee, Wood ______-_- 23°50 
Phalacrocorax dilophus__ 21 


December, 1920] 


PAGE 
Phalacrocorax auritus__ 88 
Pepaidrones 2 9: 
Phenacomys intermedius__ i 
Philohela minor _____- 48, 91 
pene. 23, 50, 163 


Phloeotomus pileatus____ 

50, 124, 163 
Phyciodes nycteis ____-_- 8 
Picoides arcticus 


50, 124, 154, 163 


ioievernapae | 8 
= Thre! Sieh 125 
See 25, 143 
Pimephales promelas ____ 143 
Pinicola enucleator leucu- 
oe 93, [54 
Pinicola enucleator __-_ 51] 
[| aE a a 2B 
‘a 255 98 
Pipilo erythrophthalmus 
24, 51, 164 
Pipistrellus subflavus __-_ 17 
Piranga erythromelas__51, 164 
Pisobia maculata _____~ 18 
emAauniia. 2. — 48, 91 


Planesticus migratorius___ 
52,.95, 125, 166 
Plectrophenax nivalis____ 5} 
Plethodon cinereus ____~ 144 
Plovers 22, 48, 49, 91, 123, 162 
Podilymbus podiceps__47, 161 
Pogonia ophioglossoides__ 175 
Polioptila caerulea____ 53, 136 


iealites mystic -a.._ 2 _ 9 
Polygonia interrogationis 8 

a Fauinus) 2 = - 8 
Polysticta stelleri _____~ Ad 
Polystichum acrostichoides 138 

4 Braunti ____ 138 
Polypody, Common ____ 138 
Polypodium vulgare ____ 138 
Porcupine, Canada____66, 168 
Porzana_ carolina_______ 48 


Fooecetes gramineus 


24, 51, 134, 164 


Preevon. lofor....__.___ 166 
Progne subis__25, 51, 134, 164 
Pteretis nodulosa ______ 139 
aie eS 80 
Puppy, avoiding starvation 100 
Purple Banded, the _____ 8 
Puss in Sparrow chase _. 18 


Quebec Soc. Prot. Birds 60 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


PAGE 

Querquedula discors _-.. 47 
Quiscalus quiscalus aeneus 

23, 92, 164 

S uyt QUiscaluss 51 

Raccoon 2224 22 167 

|e pele Ee 4S eM 48 

Rana catesbeiana ____- 144 

DO RIGGS 2-5. 2. 144 

rid GUC URES * Lf 2h >, s 1+ 

Sr Se PIONS 2% iin eet 144 

septentrionalis__ 125, 144 

5 epIVaHGe =e 144 

Rallus virginianus ___ ~~~ 48 

Rangifer caribou _______ a9 

FNavenge. 2555-5 92, 124, 163 

Redpolls______ 24, 51, 97, 154 


Redstarts 25, 52, 95, 125, 165 
Regulus calendula 

25... 5325, 95, ROD 

2 satrapa, 25; 53;, 95,166 


Reptiles of Otter lake 
region, Ont. 8! 2.22 143 
Rhopalocera of Hatley, 
Ghiier* 32 Ten ies eee es FEA Wee, 


Riparia riparia 


yp es | tae: ae Waa a Se 


Rissa tridactyla _______~ SO 
Robins____26, 53, 95, 125, 166 
Russula emetica _______~ 76 
Sable, Amencan _______ 63 
Salamanders——- =. | = 144 
Salvelinus fontinalis _.._ 143 
Sandetlings, 22222 oF st 22 
Sandpiperstec | Se 


22, 48, 49, 91, 96, 123, 162 
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied 
23, 50, 92,97, 124 
Saunders, W. E., articles 


Bis eee 17, 19, 156, 160 
Sayornis phoebe____23, 50, 163 
Scarlet) Caps 2m oho ok 76 
Sciuropterus sabrinus_____- 168 


Sciurus hudsonicus 68, 125, 168 
**  carolinensis____59, 168 
aurocapillus 52, 95, 165 


“ noveboracensis 
52, 95, 165 
Scolecophagus carolineus_ 23 
Scoters_____ 22, 41, 42, 48, ‘1 
Scotiaptex nebulosa ____ 154 
Seal. Inearted 0.2 125 
Semotilus atromaculatus__ 143 


183 


PAGE 


Setophaga ruticilla ____- 
25, 32, 95, 125,102 


Shines 2 ee ee 143 
Shoveller_2_ 225s 2. 22, 44,9) 
Shrewsi.: 42-25 “62. 63, 125, 166 
Shrikes______ 25, 52°93, AB 
Sialia sialis________ 26, 53, 166 
Simpson, S. E. R., article 

BY 3 mee la ae 141, 161 


Sidking OSE: 93, 97, 134, 164 
Siita canadensis 25, 53, 95, 165 
“  carolinensis__ 25, 53, 154 


Skippers, 272/52 ee 9 
Skunk; Ganada: == >=5 64 
Smith, H. A. P., article 
hy oe ee ee 36 
Snakes: 2.2. 125, 145 
Snipe, Wilson’s____48, 123, 162 
Snowilake 322) hae 24 
Somateria spectabilis __ 43, 48 
Sy mollissima __ 43 
Fe vy. figra ...5 AS 
Scper, J. D., articles by 61, 72 
Sorexofiineuse se 62 
* “Spersondiug at 225—5" 62 
richardsoni. ___---~ 62 


Sparrows 17, 24, 51, 93, 

97, 117, 124, 134, 164 
Spatula clypeata____ 22, 47, 91 
Sphaeridae, Canadian__ 30, 09 


Sphaerium crassum _____ 30 
acuminatum __ 33 

= flavunie 3! 
occidentale __. 3 
emarginatum __ 33 

2 striatinum ____ 34 
modestum ____ 69 

rs Datella-~— o== 7) 
= thomboideum__ 32 
. solidutum _.___ 70 
a stamineum ____ 33 
. spokani ____- 69 
i jie > 7 I 2 = 70 
- forstine 2 S22 $3 
* tumidum ____~ 69 
I vermontanum _ 70 


Sphyrapicus varius ~~~ _- 
23, 50, 92, 124, 163 
Spider, a new to Canada _ 100 


Spiders of Canada _____~ 106 
Spinus pinus__51, 93, 134, 164 
Spiranthes gracilis ___ ~~~ 45 
Spizella monticola__-__- 24, 51 


“ee 


passerina___51, 93, 164 


184 


PAGE. 


Spizella pusilla ________ 5] 
Squirrels______ 59, 68, 125, 168 
Spleenwort, Narrow-leaved 138 
Squatarola squatarola 22, 49, 9} 
Starlmg in Canada_ >." - 99 
Stelgidopteryx serripennis 52 
Siennagucaspia 2. = Qi} 


hirundo 21, 47, 87, 12! 


Stizosiedion vitreum __-_ 125 
Storeria occipito-maculata 145 
Sorex personatus________ 166 
Stene, R. E., article by__ 74 
ia earn 2 a 162 
Strymon acadica_______~ 9 

lianops 22 -— 9 
Sturceon, Lake 2 ~_____- 125 


Siurnella magna 
24> 315925154, 163 
Swallow-tail, 
Swallows____ 24, 25, A 
52, 93, 124, 125, 156, 164 


Swift, Chimney____ 23, 50, 92 
SUCKer eam We ays hZ5eal4e 
nla Bassana << tee 87 
Sulphur, Clouded_______ 8 
Surnia ulula caparoch____ 154 

a Pe se a ore a 124 
Sinaptomys factuus ____ 65 


Tamias striatus lysteri__67, 168 
Tanager, Scarlet______ 51, 164 
Taverner , P. A., articles 
by 20, 37, 41, 59, 99, 100, 117 
118, 158, 176. 


Ee SIS SS ae oo 47 
Tellina dunveganensis____ 555 

peaceriverensis_ 55 
Germs = 2": 2A 47, 87, 121 
Ternill, L. Mcl., article by l 


Thamnophis sirtalis__ 125, 145 
T helypteris hexagonoptera 138 


marginalis____ - 138 
Goldiana______ 138 
Bootus =. 138 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued. 


PAGE 
Thelvypteris cristata______ 138 
% spinulosa____ 138 
Thrasher, Brown______ 2553 
‘Thrushes 
26,52, 53; 95,125, 126; 166 
Thryothorus ludovicianus_ 93 
Higads eee ee 125, 144 
Tortcise, Compton _____ 8 


T otanus melanoleucus____ 


22 AS. Ol, Zo 


flavipess—- =. >- 43, 162 

Now hee eat kaa Sele 24, 51 
Townsend C. W., article by 

78, 87 

T oxostoma rufum______ D5) 33, 

Tragopogon pratensis ____ 116 

Dringascanulus 2S =" 48 

Trochilus colubris ______ 2B 


Troglodvies aedon 
295995156, 165 


iirouteprcokes= eee eee 143 
Turkey Vulture______ 49, 154 
Turnstone, Ruddy______ 22, YI 
tara bles sx ae eee oe 145 


Tyrannus tvyrannus 


25; Up O2,0 Os 


Wirattroille* = = = See &0 
Ursus americanus__63, 125, 166 
Vanessa cardui ________ 8 
5 virginiensis_____ 8 
Weary 2253 eae ee 3 Peo) 
V ermivora peregrina 52, 95, 135 
e celatas= eee 52 
“ chrysoptera_____ 52 
rubricapilla 
52> 1352" 1165 
Viceroy. <2 eo ee 8 
Violet Tipsiee = ae eee 3 
Vaneor flavifrons 2252 ese= 25 
olivacetis-ec see 25 


Vireosylva olivacae 


D2, 93, W125; sl64 


[Vol. XXXIV 


PAGE 


Vireosylva_ philadelphica 
52, 93, 135g 


pilva. 23 ee 52,5, 165 
Vertebrates of Otter Lake 
region, Ont. =-2— ia iggien 
Vulpes fulva=22== 63, 166 
Wanderer) 2 9 


Warblers, 25, 52, 95, 125, 
135, 136, 156, 165 


W ater-thrush=. 2 ssa 165 
Waxwings, 25, 52, 93, 125, 134 
Weasel, Short-tailed ____ 64 
Whip-poor-will______ 50, 163 
Whitefish. =e 143 


Whittaker, E. J. article by 100 
Williams, M. Y. article by 121 
Wilson, C. B., article by 149 
Wilsonia canadensis 
25; 52,5 130,Aenoo 
x pusilla =. 25592, 85 
Winter bird list from Lon- 


dor'2282. ee 97. 


Wolf) Gray_222 = 63, 125, 166 
Wood, A. A., article by 47 
Woodchuck, Canada__66, 168 


Woodcock! =~ == nas 48, 91 

W ood-nymph,Clouded___ 8 
Weedpeckers =.= === 

23, 50, 92, 124, 154, 163 

W oodsia glabella _____- 139 

Wrens__.-25, 53, 95,130,010 
Wright, A. H., articles 

bys sce 141, 161, 166 


Yellow-legs 22, 48, 91, 123, 162 
Y ellow-throats 
25. 52-95 25s Gn 


Zamelodia ludoviciana, 51, 164 
Zapus hudsonius______ ~~ 168 
Zenaidura macroura___~ 22, 49 
Zonatrichia albicollis ____ 
24, 51, 93, 124, 164 
leucophrys___. 51, 93 


. Simnen o . 


CANADIAN FIELD -NATURALIST 
INDEX TO VOLUME XXXV 


ISSUED JULY, 1922 


Page 
Abies grandis 84 
Acanthis linaria. . Po aoe 
Acanthosicyos horrida... 75 
Acanthocephala. . .. 40 
Accipiter atricapillus.... 96 
Accipiter cooperi.. « 96 
Accipenser rubicundus.. 98 
Actinosphaerium eichhornii 
101 
Actitis macularia.... 96, 127 
Aegialitis meloda.. 127 
Aegialitis semipalmata.. 96 
Aequorea forscalea .. 50 
Africa, German South- 
NWVG5Gs:. . So * Geen E: 
Agelaius phoeniceus.. 97, 127 
Alces americanus....... 98 
Algae of Okanagan...... 112 
Alona guttata........... 73 
Ampelis cedrorum...... 97 
Amorostoma marginata.. 130 
Anabaena flosaquae..... 112 
Anabaena inaequalis.... 112 
Amacardiacese ........% 124 
AAR MUGBCNAS . ii(.'6 40s 95 
Anas obscura........... 95 
Anas platyrhynchos... 51, 127 
Ankistvodesmus setigurus 113 
Anthus pennsylvanicus.. 97 
Anthus rubescens....... 53 
Aphrocallistes whiteave- 

RUMRUERMD cists Shs alaae 49 
Appointments 60 
Apus longicaudatus..... AT 
Arachnida 131 
Artemia salina.......... 27 
Artemiopsis bungei...... 29 
Artemiopsis stefanssonii 

29 
PUCUIAMIS ON crease sree «oe 49 
Ascidiopsis paratropa... 49 
Asellus communis....... 89 
Asio accipitrinus........ 96 
Association among Ma- 

Mie AMNINAIS, 0.66. 48 
Astragalinus tristis.... 53, 97 
Astur atricapillus....... 52 
Avian Fauna of Islay.... 50 
ISAGUIATIERE® wis cQ cs... = 112 
Badgers 105, 107 
Bathydorus dawsoni..... 49 
MEME Slag <x oe bc x 0 noe «'s 97 
IIEAVGEST digs e's ' cic. 23 00 «3 108 
PACUMUE © QLOG Soc eves «voc a's 104 
Bicidium aequoreae..... 50 
Biota of a Sand Spit... 121 
Dird Banding........... 78 
Bird Census from London 119 
Bird Migration......... 5A 
Bird Notes in Maritime 

PROWUICES. os oe» si'sie's d016 11 
Bird Sanctuaries........ 35 
Birds of Prince Edward 

USL OSC COS e te eee 58 
Birds, Check List of.... 36 
Birds as Foster Parents 142 

133 


Birds of Manitoba...... 


INDEX TO VOLUME XXXV 


Page 
Bittern, American....... 51 
Blackbirds.... 53, 97, 120, 127 
MRIOUIILY cs 2 o1p och Wapere oy bie\oie 48 
MITTENS tise sie fe ete tre 54, 135 
Bombycilla cedrorum.... 127 
Bombycilla garrula...... 100 
Bonasa umbellus...... 52, 96 
Bone Beds, Formationof 33 
Bosmina longirostris..... 73 
Bosmina longispina...... 73 
Botaurus lentiginosus.... 51 
Botrydium granulatum.. 114 
Botryococeus braunii.... 114 
Branchinecta coloradensis 27 
Branchinecta gainii...... 25 
Branchinecta paludosa.... 25 
Branchipus stagnalis.. 25, 27 
Biravity. (DlAGk. oo sis <3sies- 51 
Branta canadensis.... 51, 95 
Branta~ nigrescans...... 51 
bitte GANS: teue cates 2 und 48 
Brown, W. V., article by- 80 
Bubo virginianus...... 52, 96 
Buccinum undatum...... 3 
Bufo hemiophrys........ 128 
Bufo lentiginosus....... 98 
Buntings, Snow........ 11, 53 
Buteo boreas.....% s.02s 96 
Buteo platypterus....... 96 
Buteo swainsoni......... 52 
Buzzard, Turkey........ 52 
Calcarius pictus......... 53 
Calianessa californiensis.. 50 
Caluatia craniformis.... 104 
Caluatia gigantica....... 104 
Cancer borealis......... 
Cancer itrroratus........ 3 
Cancer productus....... 49 
Camis Udbrans.....< 02 «+245 «1: 108 
Canis occidentalis.... 97, 126 
(CAN GIMAl ears erste: Soles eneie ems ° 120 
Caryophyllaceae ........ 124 
Castor canadensis....... 108 
Cathartes aura.....<...- 52 
Caularchus meandrinus.. 50 
Ceriodaphnia megalops.. 73 
Ceryle aleyon........ 96, 127 
Chaetophora elegans.... 118 
Chaetophora pisiformis.. 118 
Chasmosaurus belli...... 64 
Chen hyperboreus....... 35 
Chenopodiaceae .......- 124 
Chickadees 
12, 54, 59, 97, 100, 120, 128 
Chipmunks....... 18, 98, 107 
Chlamydomonadeae ..... 112 
Chordeiles virginianus 96, 127 
Chydorus sphaericus... 72, 73 
Ciona intestinalis........ 49 
Circus hudsonicus.. 52, 96, 126 
Citellus franklinii.... 106, 125 
Citellus richardsonii..... 105 
Citellus tridecemlineatus. 107 
Cladophora crispata..... ll: 
Glamis. ees So. aitemey.e's 48 
Clam Shrimps 88 


Page 
Clangula clangula....... 95 
Ciiig= Bish © 2s asides te 48 
COU NOOR) Lobe ts ue vis0 48 
Colaptes auratus...... 53, 96 
Coleoptera. cee so 505s 130 
Columba “WvIia. . 2.2 io 0'e0' 98 
Colymbus auritus....... 51 
Commensalism in Marine 
Animas’ otros eka 49 
Compositae .........-.- 124 
Conesius plumbeus...... 66 
Conifers, Overgrowth of — 
Stumps of... 1.66 Fee 0s 81 
Cormorants. sin.'. « se's' 127 
Cormacenen iis), F208 ve 124 


Corvus brachyrhynchos 53, 127 


Corvus COTAD....6.ccceee 97 
Corylus rostrata........ 19 
Cox, P., article by...... 66 
Coyote: Frere. he ae teas 108 
GraneRee cles coin Be nates 51, 52 
Creeper, Brown......... 120 
Criddle, N., article by.. 123 


Crossbills.. 53, 57, 97, 120, 140 
Crows.... 11, 53, 58, 120, 127 
Crustacea, Freshwater 
_ 21, 45, 88, 99 
Cryptacanthodes macula- 
GB Store pte alert os, 50 wren, 0 + 
Cyanea artica..........- 50 
Cyanea capillata........ 2 


Cyanocitta cristata...... 53 
Cyclocypris laevis....... 73 
Cyclops americanus..... 73 
Cyclops biscupidatus.... 73 
Cyclops fimbriatus...... 73 
Cyclops parens........++- 73 
Cyclops quadricornis.... 72 
Cyclops viridis.......... 73 
Cyperaceae ..........--- 124 
Cypridopsis vidua....... 73 
Cyprinid, new........---- 66 
Cypris dentata........-.- 73 
Cypris testudinaria...... 73 
Cyzicus mewicanus.....- 91 


Dactylococcopsis montana 112 
Dale, E. M. S., articles by 


100, 119 
Daphnia longispina.... 72, 73 
Daphnia pulex........ 72, 73 
Deer cee eae 98, lll 
Dendroica aestiva......- 128 
Dendroica castanea..... 128 
Dendroica coronata..... 53 
Dendroica discolor...... 59 
Dendroica fusca........- 128 
Dendroica magnolia..... 128 
Dendroica vigorsi....... 100 
Desmidiaceae ........-- 114 
DeVany, J. L., article by 16 
Diaptomus oregonensis.. 73 
Dickcissel .:............ 135 
Dinobryon cylindricum.. 14 
Dinosaurs ...<..evvrse« 61 
Diptera .......-++--++e- 129 
Distomum apodis........ 47 


Dragon-Flies .... 129 
Draparnaldia glomerata. 113 
Draparnaldia plumosa. . 113 
Dryobates villosus .... 96 
Ducks 

12, 36, 51, 95, 120, 126, 141 
Ectopistes partrawe nase ie: 98 
MI es: es sae ee 
Empidonax virescens . . 100 
Emys blandingiti . . . . 17 
Endocrypta huntsmani.. 49 
Entomostraca, Canadian 72 
Entosphenus tridentatus. 50 
Equisetaceae . . . so BA 
Erethizon dorsatwm sa try LOS 
Ereunetes pusillus . . . 95 
Esperella adhaerens . . 49 


Estheria caldwelli . . 89, 91 
Eubranchipus gelidus 
23, 27, 89, 132 


Eubranchipus vernalis 


Eudorina elegans .... 118 
Euphagus carolinus... 53, 97 
Eupogebia pugettensis... 50 
Eutamias quadrivittatus 

98, 107 
Evasterias troschelii . . 49 
Evotomys gapperi . . . 104 
Fairy-Shrimps . . . 21, 132 
Falco columbarius 52, 96 


Falco sparverius : 
Farley, F. L., article by. 141 


Fauna of Lower Pag- 

wachuan River. . . 94 
Faunal Notes from the 

Atlantic De ete Sta- 

Hens ¢) 32: 1 
Finches . "58, 120, 140 
ir, Douglas’ 0.) 3. 08 
Rar (Grand: . 2 \.)-.. : 84 
Mliekersi. “;7../.; 13, 53, 58, 96 
Florometra serratissima. 50 
Flycatchers . . 13, 58, 96, 100 
Foran, P., article by . . 143 
Fox, Gray; in Ontario.. 19 
Fraser, C. McLean, arti- 

Clowns a sao. ate aio) FA 48 
Fucellia maritima... . 130 
Galigus gurnardi . . . 50 
Gallinago delicata.... 52, 95 
Gammarus limnaeus . . 99 
Gammarus locusta . . . 6 
Gavta iniber 05. Te. 3 95 
Geese . 12, 35, 51, 95, 140 
Gellius arcoferus . . . 1 
Gibson, A., an Apprecia- 

Gon iin) ans Ope 16 
Gilmour, A., article we 6 160 
Gnate atcher eg , 37 
Golden-eyes..... Fhe 95, 120 
Goldfinches . 12, 538, 97, 120 
Gonium pectorale . . . 118 
Grackles 11, 58, 127 
Gsraminese *, 3 4.0.3) ws (eee 
Graves, Indian hn. pate LE 
Gravity, Deformation due 

St, a, bes fa, oC ixtesaen Ca aD 


Page 
Grebe, Horned 51, 120 
Grosbeaks 
41, 100, 120, 134, 141 
Grouse =<. . . 12, 525796; 120 
Grus americana . . . 51, 52 
Gulls 
12, 35, 51, 58, 95, 120, 126, 140 


Gussow, H. T., article by 116 


Haloragidaceae . .... 124 
Hares . oS nibas hs Sy LOW 
Hawks 
11, 13, 52, 80, 96, 120, 133, 135 
Heart-Urchin . . . . eee AO 
Heliozoon, new . ... . 101 
Helodromas solitarius 96, 127 
Hemiptera. . . BL PAL 
Hemlock, Western. . . 86 
BPOPONG 0s so ohne eV o cet 118 
Merringy pas slewht 4 A aS 
Hesperiphona vespertina 

41, 100 
Holopedium gibberum .. 73 
Hummingbirds 13, 58 
Hydra oridis cee LOL 
Hydractinia . A 3, 49 
Hydrophorus agalma . . 129 
Hylocichla ustulata . . 54 
Elymenopterascpcese) ca ep Lo 
Idothea metallica... . 3 
Iridoprocne bicolor . . . 97 
Jellyfish)... .9< 4. 50 
WAYS: =. oa. Meee 13, 40, 53, 97 


Johansen, F., articles by 

21, 36, 45, 88, 99, 132 
Juncaceae .. . : 124 
Juncos 

12, 53, 59, 97, 120, 140 


Kindle, E. M., articles by 


* 882 0 


Kingbirds . . . 18, 53, 58, 134 
Kingfishers 13, 30, 58, 96, 120 
Fiymenoptera v2. Ua ee ed 
Kirkconnell, We article 
fa 142 


Klugh, A. Be articles ‘by 
18, 34, 58, 72 


Ljapiathe: : <2 -<25 ec Bea Pele 
Lanius borealis... . . 53 
Lanivireo solitarius. . . 53 
Larix caricena . . . 104 
arksi.. ..- 2 “VIEN53; 58, 96, 135 
Larus argentatus . . 35, 51, 95 
Larus delawarensis . . . 35 
Latchford, Hon. Justice, 
article by, 2.) % ic cer eos 
fommes |... ka Gana 
Leguminosae.... .... ... 124 
PCMNACRAE «oats wees eee 
epas (nilint © c0isn ewes 3 
Lepidoptera). “sa. iced «BO 
Lepidurus apus ... . AT 
Lepidurus arcticus . . . 47 
Lepidurus couesii 46, 90 
Lepiota naucinoides . . 104 
Leptow rude... «+ » 50 
Lepus americanus 98, 107 


Lepus campestris . . . 107 


Page 
Leuciscus carletoni . 67 
Leuciscus  rubrilateralis. 66 
Lewis, H. F.,..article by.° )@b 
Liard River Flood . 7 
Limnadia lenticularis 91 
Limnadia americana 91 
Limnetis brachyurus 90 
Limnetis gouldii 89 
Limnetis mucronatus 89 
Lloyd H., articles by 
11, 36, 98 
Longspurs. . VCR EDS 
Lioons) 23. oie eS 
Loxia leucoptera Me i eekas OT 
Lynceus brachyurus sa gl 
Lynxes -..‘.*). 95 eee 
Maclurea manitobaensis. 125 
Macnamara, C., article by 70 
Mallard . rE a's Sate eOD 
Mammalian Fauna of 
Islay) <.. 0. ees 102 
Marila affinis . . . 197 
Marmota ™monax  cana- 
densis. 0 ee 107 
Martin, Purple . . 13 
Melanogrammus 2 
Melospiza cinerea 97 
Melospiza georgiana . . 128 
Melospiza melodia 39, 53, 128 
Mephitis hudsonica . - 108 
Merganser, American 95, 120 
Merismopodia elegans... 112 
Merriman, R. O. article 
by ae ie. 59 
Mesocarpeae : Spee te fe 1G) 
Mice-. ake : ill 
Microspora stagnorum.. 115 
Microspora tumidula 113 
Microthamnion kutzingia- 
num . eet ich 113 
Microtus drummondii 
97, 105, 109 
Microtus minor ety WELO 
Migratory Birds et, 
prosecutions.... 13, 32, 56 
Mink . : , 108 
Mniotilta varia : 37 
Molluses . : 131 
Molothrus ater . Sg ew larg 
Moose 98, 101 
Mousley, H., article by... 64 
Mosses_ from Boskung... 142 
Muskratsies see ; 98, 108 
Mustela longicauda ; 109 
Mustela vison . . 108 
Musculium columbianum. 70 
Musculium declive 69 
Musculium jayense . 68 
Musculium lacustre . 70 
Musculium lenticula . 70 
Musculium partumeium.. 68 
Musculium parvum . 68 
Musculium raymondi 70 
Musculium rosaceum 69 
Musculium securis 68 
Musculium winkleyi. 68 
Mysis relicta . 99 
Myzxilla parasitica 49 
Myxonema tenue . 113 


Page 


Najadaceae . . 124 
Nephrocytium aghardia- 
num. . AM eel Ie 
Nettion carolinense sl eaten | 
MeUNODLETA, Na tah. 6c 4. 129 
Nicotiana glauca... . 75 
Nodularia harveyana . . 112 
Nodularia spumigena . . 112 
Nomenclature, Popular... 38 
Nostoc depressum . .. 112 
Nostoc microscopicum... 112 
Nuthatches . 97, 120, 128 
Nuttalornis borealis. . . 96 
Wyetea nyctea . .... &2 
Odocoileus americanus bo- 
Teas: . . 98 
O'Donoghue, C. HL articles 
| SSE Oe 
Oedogoniales eect = sp. c LEA 
Onagraceae . . phe as y ee 
Ondatra zibethica 98, 108 
oeyare crassa. . . . . 118 
Oocystis solitaria . . . . 113 
Oscillatoria aghardii . . . 112 
Oscillatoria formosa . . 112 
Oscillatoria geminata . . 112 
Oscillatoria limosa . . . 112 
Oscillatoria princeps . . 112 
Osprey, American. . . 96 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ 
(Chil >. Ale 15 
Otocoris alpestris . , . . 96 
Otocoris leucolaema . . . 53 
Ovenmgird =... . 97 
Owls . 52, 96, 120, 134 
Oxyechus vociferus oO) 127 
Pagurus acadianus . . . 6 
Pagurus brandti. . .. 50 
Pagurus ochotensis . . . 49 
Pagurus splendescens . . 49 
Pandion haliaetus . . . 96 
Pandorina morum. . . . 113 
Parasitism among Ma- 
THe IS i. BO 
Passerculus sandwichen- 
Sn eee awit... ss... 128 
Passerculus sandwichen- 
sis alaudensis . . . . 58 
Passerella iliaca 76, 97 
Peachia parasitica . . . 2 
Pedioecetes phasianellus. 52 
Pelicans! . feels 
Pelecanus erythrorhyn- 
COST Ee ts aern> 127 
Pemberton, C. C. abide 
by . 81 
Penthestes atricapillus 
54, 128 
Penthestes hudsonicus 
97, 100 
POs ae rte ese’) 48 
Peridmmlege. \. ce....< i.) «. 112 
Perisoreus canadensis . . 97 
Peromyscus borealis . . 104 
Peromyscus maniculatus 
GHIACHO gl ahs Mo LO 
Peromyscus maniculatus 
Borealis 5's wn 8G. canto Ll 


Page : 
Peromyscus maniculatus 
maniculatus ..... 97 
Fetrel, Flornby’s 2.03 .°° 18 
Phacoteae alt vie 218 
Phalacrocorax auritus Ser lZt 
Phallusia ceratodes . . . 49 
Phormidium autumnale.. 112 
Phyllodorus abdominalis. 50 
Picea canadensis.... 102, 104 
Picoides americanus. . . 96 
Picoides arcticus . .. . 96 
CONG, 5 es, tain > 98 
Pines . é ta aes asks 3 OB 
Pinus banketana Peis take ALOD 
Pinus heterophylla . . . 83 
Pinus palustris... . 83 
Pipit, American 53, 97 
Pisobia maculata . . 52, 127 
Pisobia bairdi ... ... 52 
Planesticus migratorius 
39, 54, 97 
Plectrophenax nivalis . . 53 
Plovers 13, 52, 58, 96, 148 
Poecetes gramineus . . . 53 
PANSONAAN YS’) © 12-51% 2 ee LAO 
Polyartemiella hazeni . . 25 


Polyartemiella judayi.. 24, 25 
Polydora agassizii : 3 


Polydora ciliata . . . . 3 
Polydora hoplura . . . . 3 
Polydora littorea. . . . 3 
Polygonaceae . . a PZ! 
Polyphemus pediculus sa aate ak 
Pontoporeia affinis . . . 99 


Populus balsamifera 102, 104 


Populus tremuloides.. 102, 105 
Porcupines . . 70, 108 
Porzana carolina . . . . 126 
Prosecutions 13, 32, 56 


Psathyrella disseminata.. 104 
Pseudacris septentrionalis 127 
Pseudopleuronectes ame- 


ricanus . . Rei 6 
Pseudotsuga tawifolia ae ee 
Querquedula discors . . 127 
Quiscalus quiscalus aeneus 127 
Rabbits: 2.6.0. : CeO’ 
Racey, K., article by fa LIS 
Rana pipiens . . . + 2 lee 
Ranunculaceae .... . I24 
Raphidiophrys magna . . 101 
Raphidiophrys viridis . . 101 
Mavens); x0 see 97 
Redpolls . . : . 58, 120, 140 
Redstarts, American.. 53, 97 
Redwoods 2 <).~a-. fe 88 
Relics, Indian . . . 104 


Rhadocalyptus dowlingii. 49 


Rhizoclonium hog bo 
phicum .. . SS Serene WE 
Rivularia pisum . . . . 112 
Robins 
12, 39, 54, 59, 97, 120, 140 
Rosaceae . . . 124 
Rowan, W., article by . : 30 
Salicaceae . . . 124 
Sandpipers 13, ‘52, 95, 96 
Sapsuckers . . . ce tS 


Scenedesmus bijugatus.. 113 


Page 
Scenedesmus quadricauda 113 
Sciuropterus sabrinus... 107 
Sciurus hudsonicus... 98, 126 
Seiurus noveboracensis.. 128 
Scoters,, 9-2": Mi 12 
Scytonema myochros ah PES 
Seiurus aurocapillus . . 97 
Seiurus motacilla . . . . 100 
Sequoia gigantea . . . . 83 
Sequoia sempervirens.... 85 
Setophaga ruticilla 53, 97, 128 
Shrews .. . ee ha |. 
Shrikestce 7. | oe: 53, 120, 141 
Sialia ecurrucoides . . . 54 
Simocephalus vetulus . . 73 
Biiging-Cine 24... eee 
TMKAMIB ia 7, «sp AM SO 
Sismey, E. D., articles by 112 
Sitta carolinensis . . 97, 128 
Beier se). oe: Oe 
Snakes. <= 7. . dS slae Fay eee 
Snipe, Wilson ‘ a 95 
Snowbirds . . . 120 
Snyder, L. L., article by. 17 
Solaster stimpsoni ite pO 


Soper, J. D., articles by 50, 102 
Sorex personatus haydeni 110 
Sparrows 

12, 39, 53, 59, 76, 97, 120 


Spathiophora fascipes... 130 


Spatula cyanoptera ... 651 
Sphaeriidae, Canadian . . 68 
Spirogyra inflata... . 113 
Spirogyra nitada . . . . 118 
Spirogyra tenuissima . . 113 
Spirulina major... . 112 
Spirulina meneghiniana.. 112 
Spizella munticola . . . 538 
Spizella passerina . . . . 128 
PRE i ee 
MOMMETCIS. .° 5) 2 5 ns Oy AO 
Starlings. 4. ys, ee 
Staurophora mertensii... 2 
Sterna hirundo . . 95 
Sternberg, C. M., article 

RT a ie meer i 
iijsitonpades ecdauees: 114 
slice as cas colora- 

densis . : . 29, 90 
Sturgeon . . ‘iy tahake ees 
Sturnella neglecta Perna 10 53 
Suberites latus . . ... 50 
Suckers wees es a, 
Swallows 12, 59, 97 
Synura uvella . . . . . 114 
Taverner, P. A., articles 

_ bee ee See 
Taxidea tarus . . . . . 107 
J CS ee ae 
Uo See 3 
Terns 13, 38, 58, 95, 126 
Terrill, L. Mel., articles 

BS meee 
Tethyum aura antiu Mm <. « e4o 
Tethyum igaboji . . .. 49 
Tetracoceus botryoides.. 113 
Tetraspora lubrica . . . 113 
Thaumantias cellularia.. 50 


Thompson, W. P., article 


Naa. ee : 74 
Thrushes . : 54, 59, 100 
Toads . : ; 98 
Totanus flavipes : + ib2 
Totanus melanoleucus 95, 127 
Trafford, O., article by.. 142 
Tribonema bombycinum. 114 
Trochiscia aspera . 113 
Tsuga heterophylla. 86 
Tumboa mirabilis . 74 
Turtle, Blanding’s 17 
Tyrannus tyrannus . 53 
Ulothrix subtilis 113 
Ulothrix zonata . 113 
Umbelliferae . 124 
Urocyon . 19 
Uroglena volvor 114 
Ursus americanus . 97 


Page 
Urtiacese yf, -ioab eo les 
Vancouver Natural His- 
Lory Society «cree eae 9 
Vaucheria geminata . . 113 
Vespula diabolica 19, 34 
Vireos . p 13, 53 
Vireosylva olicacea.. . . 128 
Voles . . 97, 105, 109 
Volooe aureas ain Son. 2s 
Waderstr® sce ste Se oo 
Warblers 


12, 37, 53, 59, 97, 100, 135 


Waxwings . . 60, 97, 100, 128 
Weasels". 5°. 2 2.105. 108 
Whittaker, E. J., article 
Dyce ee pe cena er 7 
Williams, M. Y., article 

DY) = si (eke ep ad od anoe 


Page 

Wallets! .":. 3. ip. os = 5 ae 
Willey, A. and Hunts- 

man, A. G., article by 1 
Wintemberg, W. J., arti- 


clecby. =i. sae 19 
Wolt, Grey oa 97 
Wood, A. A,, article ‘by 100 
Woodchucks .. 45. >. eee 
Woodpeckers 13, 96, 120, 140 
Wins)... sia pede 
Xanthocephalus zanthoce- 

phalus.. . 2°. eee 126 
Yellow-Legs, Greater . . 95 
Yellow-Legs, Lesser . . 52 
Yellowthroats. 13, 59 
Zapus hudsonicus oF, Lil 
Zoarces anguillaris . . . 6G 
Zonotrichia albicollis . . 97 
Zygnemaceae ~ yee 


‘ -- 
. . 
yo - 
: f 
weg 
> ' 
ww y “~~ »¢ 
. ' - tt, 
fe 
< 7 
i * h . 7 
¢ oe 2 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. 


_FAUNAL NOTES FROM THE ATLANTIC BIOLOGICAL STATION 


By A. Wiuuey and A. G. HUNTSMAN. 


Owing to its geographical situation, Pas- 
samaquoddy bay occupies a critical posi- 
tion between the Gulf of Maine and the 
Bay of Fundy; its herring and_ pollock 
fisheries give it a definite standing as a 
fishing ground; and the Biological Station 
makes it a centre of research, In view of 
these circumstances and for other reasons 
which could be but need not be merttioned 
here, we thought it desirable to put on 
record some of the more salient of the oc- 
casional observations, having no relation 
to the main business of the station, which 
came to our notice during the summer of 
1920. We found for example indications 
that when a group of animals has been 
treated monographically, members of that 
group that have not been mentioned in the 
monographs will nevertheless make their 
appearance in the bay. And their presence 
in the bay is at least as interesting as is 
their mention in a monograph. 

Not all the records which follow are 
those of fugitive species, but great im- 
portance should be assigned to the latter 
because of their relation to the prevailing 
currents. It is sometimes assumed that 
permanent residents are more valuable 
than transitory vagrants. This is true for 
commercial exploitation but not for scien- 
tific interpretation. And the Biological 
Station. may be said to exist for the pur- 
_pose of effecting the reconciliation between 
science and commerce in fishery matters. 
In such a sense we believe that these notes 
are worth the trouble that has been in- 
volved in making the identifications, 

Every bay has something out of the 
ordinary to offer every year, but it is 
rarely that the opportunity arises for the 
exceptional events to be authenticated. 


Gellius arcoferus Vosmaer (Figure 1). 


An example of this siliceous sponge, two 
feet in diameter, was obtained in the 


‘of the season. 


OTTAWA, ONT., JANUARY, 1921 No. 1. 
( 1920.) 
shrimp trawl on June 23rd, 1920, at 


‘*Prince’’ station No. 4, in Passamaquoddy 
bay, at a depth of 25 metres on a muddy 
bottom. From the standpoint of system- 
atic zoology it was the most notable trophy 
It is a circular mat-like. 
sponge and it is proposed to call it the 
‘‘mat-sponge’’; only about half of the 
circle was secured. It is one of Vosmaer’s 
Arctic sponges, named by him in 1885 
from material obtained by the Willem 


Barents Expedition (1880-1881) in the 
Barents Sea between 72° and 77° north 
latitude and between 24° and 50° east 


longitude, from depths of 140 to 170 
fathoms. All the specimens at his dis- 
posal were fragments, flat pieces indicat- 
ing, as he thought, that the original shape 
was probably that of a fan. Two exam- 
ples of the same species were dredged up 
by the Swedish (Vega) Arctic expedi- 
tions, one of which was cake-like and cir- 
cular, 90 mm. in diameter. These were 
described by Fristedt in 1887; one from 
Lat. 76° 52’ N., Long. 116° E., 36 fathoms; 
the other from Lat. 59° 33’ N., Long. 43° 
28’ W., south of Greenland, 120 fathoms. 
Lastly a few examples, dredged by Mr. 
J. F. Whiteaves in 1872 in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence off Cape Gaspé and Cap des 
Rosiers, 75 to 80 fathoms, were described 
by Lawrence M. Lambe in 1896 in the 
Transactions of the Royal Society of Can- 
ada for that year. These were all flat, 
about 18 mm. thick, and as much as 120 
mm. across. Thus the sponge obtained 
last year at the Biological Station was 
much larger than any previously recorded 
in that species, and illustrates very well 
the pronounced Arctic element in the 
fauna of Passamaquoddy bay. Such an 
expanse of canal-system as this species 
presents must exert a profound influence 
upon the circulating pabulum of its en- 
vironment and so play an economic role 
not less important because unperceived. 


Staurophora mertensii Branat. 

This is the only large Hydromedusan of 
the bay. It attains a diameter of as much 
as 20 centimetres, and is a conspicuous 
object with a very distinet cross, formed. 


by the extension of the lobes of the mouth . 


from the centre of the animal along the 
four radial canals well toward the margin. 
In the summer of 1910 it was- observed 
commonly in the channels leading into the 
bay as well as elsewhere in the vicinity. In 
1912 it was observed floating in the bay 
and stranded on the shore at St. Andrews. 


2 THE: CANADIAN FTELD-NATURALIST. 


teres, Bibel eat 


[Vol. XXXV. 
bay, appearing regularly every spring and 
being so abundant during the simmer as 


to clog the plankton nets. Cyanea, on the ~ 


other hand, is rare and comes into the bay 
only periodically.- For several years it has 
been very rare or absent altogether, but 
during this past summer (1920) it has 
been fairly common. It did not make its 
appearance, however, before July, and it 
had quite evidently been brought in by 
currents frem its home in outer waters. 
The sea anemone, Peachia parasitica Verr., 


that lives fastened to it, was found this 


‘ 


Fig. 1.—Gellius arcoferus, the mat-sponge, from a photograph (A.G.H.). 


Since then it has not been seen until July 
and August of this vear (1920), when it 
was found very generally in the passages 
leading to the bay, in the bav itself, and 
also in the tributary waters of the Maga- 
guadavie and St. Croix rivers and St. 
Andrews harbour. 


(Cyanea capilata, var. arctica Per. et Les. 


This arctic form is the large red jelly- 
fish that occurs commonly in the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence. Aurelia flavidula Per. et 
Les., our other Seyphozoan medusa, is a 
constant inhabitant of Passamaquoddy 


vear attached to large specimens just as 


when Cyanea was abundant a number of 


years ago. In that year (1913) young 
haddock (Melanogrammus) about 5 em. 
long were found living commensally with 
the Cyanea, one or two of the fishes being 
taken from each large jellyfish. 


Polydora ciliata (Johnston 1838). 


This tubieulous annelid worm is no 
rarity, but its zoogeographical value is 
great, being almost cosmopolitan in dis- 
tribution. It oeeurs all round the British 
islands; Spitsbergen; Seandinavia; coast 


January, 1921} 

of France; Mediterranean and Black Sea; 
Atlantic coast of the United States, in- 
eluding the Woods Hole region; Australia 
and the Philippine islands. Its important 
synonyms are P. agassizii Claparede 1868, 
- and P. littorea Verrill 1878. 

On the shore between the Biological Sta- 
tion and Joe’s point at low tide it is very 
abundant on the shells of the living whelk, 
Buccinum undatum. The free-swimming 
larvae are quite common in the bay, thus 
swelling the nutritive value of the plank- 
ton. The mud-tubes of the worms project 
from openings in the surface of the shell 
and when they are cleaned away the latter 
is found to be eroded with vermiform 
grooves. Often the worms are not buried 
in the shell but lie in its furrows, and they 
oceur also elsewhere in the muddy crevi- 
ces of rocks. They are not found at or 
near the mouth of the shell. The same spe- 
cies causes the so-called ‘‘worm-disease of 
oysters’? in New South Wales (White- 
legge) and in the Mediterranean (Carraz- 
zi), but when it infests oyster beds it at- 
taches itself at the margin of the valves 
where it causes eventually a fatal aceu- 
mulation of mud. Another species has 
been found in company with P. ciliata, 
namely, P. hoplura, which actually excava- 
tes galleries in the shell of oysters, but it 
is not certain whether this is effected by 
mechanical or chemical means. It is pos- 
sible that P. hoplura may also occur at St. 
Andrews but it has not been recorded yet. 


In frequenting the shell of such an act- 
tive gastropod as the whelk, the Polydora 
derives advantage from its mobility, like 
Hydractinia which commonly selects shells 
occupied by Hermit Crabs but has been 
found upon the shell of a living Buccinum 
undatum at Woods Hole, as well as upon 
rocks and piles. The frequency of the oc- 
eurrence of Polydora upon Buccinum at 
St. Andrews entitles it to the local appella- 
tion of ‘‘whelk-worm.’’ 


Lepas hillii Leach. 


No Lepadidae are native to the bay, such 
as do occur being found only on drifting 
wood that has been brought in more or less 
casually from the warm waters of the Gulf 
Stream, where the genus Lepas occurs com- 
monly in several species. There is no re- 
gularity in their entrance into the bay. In 


THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 3 


1912 a block of wood with a large number 
of Lepas hillii attached and well perforat- 
ed by the shipworm, Teredo, which is also 
an alien here, was brought to the Station 
by fishermen, who had found it floating 
beside a weir near St. Andrews. On 
August 17th of the present year there were 
sent to the Station specimens of the same 
species that had been taken by a fisher- 
man from a floating lobster pot near the 
mouth of Kitty Cove. In both cases the 
fishermen considered these animals as 
something quite new and unheard of. 
which indicates their great rarity here. 


Idothea metallica Bose. 


When the late Mr. N. <A. Wallace was 
making his study of the Isopods of the Bay 
of Fundy (recently published) in the years 
1912 and 1913, he did not find this species. 
Last summer (1919) during the investi- 
gation of St. Mary bay on the coast of Nova 
Scotia by the Biological Vessel ‘‘Prince’’, 
Dr. Philip Cox found a single specimen of 
this form in the bay. Subsequently we ob- 
tained a number of individuals from float- 
ing seaweed on our way across the Bay of 
Fundy. A large individual was taken in 
the St. Croix river from the wharf of the 
Biological Station by Dr. F. S. Jackson in 
July of the present year. This species is 
an inhabitant of the Gulf Stream, where 
it occurs on floating Sargasso weed. It 
does not properly belong to our coast, its 
presence indicating some drift in to the 
coast from the waters of the Gulf Stream. 


Cancer borealis Stimpson. 


The common crab of the bay is Cancer 
irroratus Say, the rock crab, which is to be 
found nearly everywhere on sandy and 
gravelly or stony bottoms from low-water 
mark out into deep water. At the mouth 
of the bay on rocky shores exposed to the 
waves of the Bay of Fundy the Jonah crab, 
Cancer borealis, is to be found quite reg- 
ularly in small rock pools and in erevices. 
This latter species is about the same size 
as the rock crab (up to 12 or 13 em.) but 
is rougher and more strongly built. In the 
St. Croix river in the vicinity of the Sta- 
tion dead individuals have been found on 
two occasions, namely in 1913 and again 
during the present summer. It was a 
matter, therefore, of considerable interest 


4 Tuer CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


to find ameng the crabs brought in during 
“August from the lobster traps that were 
being fished in about five fathoms of 
water near the Station, two fine living spe- 
eimens of the Jonah crab. These were 
easily kept for some time in an aquarium 
in the laboratory. Both were abnormal 
in having dark markings on the carapace, 
the black colour being like that of a metal- 
lic sulphide. The mud of the beach exhi- 
bits this colour where decomposition of 
much organic matters is going on. When 
one of the crabs was opened part of the 
digestive gland on the right side was 
found to be much altered, some of the tub- 


Fig. 2.— The system of burrows of a wrymouth. 


ules being black and hardened, and of a 
horny consistency. It would seem that 
such individuals of the Jonah crab as come 
so far into the estuary as the St. Croix 
river are affected’ unfavorably, become 
diseased and die; also that they keep to 
deep water rather than entering the inter- 
tidal zone. 


Cryptacanthodes maculatus, Storer. 


Advantage was taken of an opportunity 
for making observations on this curious 
and little known fish, that has been given 
in English the names of Wrymouth and 
Ghostfish. The former name seems the 


[Vol. XXXV. 


more appropriate one, as it describes the 
unusual shape .of the jaws that makes the 
mouth open dorsally. In 1910 when col- 
lecting at low tide on certain muddy flats 
near the mouth of the Magaguadavie river 
on the east side of the bay, holes an inch 
or more in diameter were noticed in the 
mud. Digging yielded no quarry from 
these retreats, but while we were tramping 
about in the mud a wrymouth suddenly ap- 
peared. Similar action at another set of 
holes yielded the same result. On June 21, 
1920, while at the Magaguadavie river to 
study the success of the smelt spawning, 
the flats were visited at low tide, and four 


From a sketch (A.G.H.). 


wrymouth secured, all more than 40 cm. 
long, that is, nearly full grown. 

The burrows in which the fishes were 
living were found in very soft mud from 
the lower part of the Fucus zone down- 
ward, that is as far up as four feet above 
low water mark. Those at the highest level 
were in shallow tide-pools and the others 
in such flat situations as prevented them 
from ever being drained of water. Each 
system of burrows, inhabited by only one 
fish, consisted of branching tunnels about 
5 em. in diameter, and from 3 to 8 em. 
below the surface. These tunnels to a cer- 
tain extent radiated from a somewhat cen- 


January, 1921] 


trally placed low mound about 60 cm. in 
diameter and 5 em. high. In the centre of 
this mound was a broad funnel-shaped de- 
pression leading into the main entrance of 
the system of burrows. Scattered for some 
distance around the mound, within a circle 
with a radius of from three to five feet or 
even more, and opening from the burrows, 
were a number of holes of the same dia- 
meter, their margins being flush with the 
surface of the mud. One system was 
traced out by opening up all the burrows. 
It is represented in figure 2. It will be 
seen that this system is not very regular, 
and shows a development of the burrows 
almost wholly on one side of the mound. 


Most of the branches open to the surface, 
The openings are 
at the ends of the 


but some end blindly. 
to be found not only 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 5 


the laboratory, in a flat, shallow tank pro- 
vided with running salt water. They were 
heard making a very considerable com 
motion in the late afternoon and evening, 
and on the next morning one was found 
dead on the floor. On the following morn 
ing another was found dead. Boards were 
then fastened around the edge of the tank, 
and the remaining fish was kept without 
difficulty through the season. 

This individual, which was about 45 
em. in length, was a male, judging from 
the examination made of the others. On 
June 24th, a piece of black, hard rubber 
pipe, 1% inches outside diameter, 134 
inches inside diameter, and 8 inches long, 
was placed in the tank. After a time the 
fish entered the pipe and took up a rest- 
ing position with both ends protruding, 


Fig. 3.— Wrymouth reclining 


photograph 
branches, but also at the junctions and 
along the course of the branches. 

The fish were found to emerge, not from 
the main opening in the mound, but from 
one of the other openings, which shows that 
they were pointing away from the mound. 
We suppose that the mound opening is the 
point from which the burrows were form- 
ed, that the mode of formation was the 
thrusting of the animal’s head through the 
soft mud, and that the other openings are 
necessary for the indraught of fresh water 
in breathing. Its method of bringing 
fresh water into its burrow, to be des- 
eribed later, is such as to cause a current 
to flow from the peripheral openings to- 
ward the centrally placed entrance, and 
from this current is doubtless deposited 
_the material that forms the mound. 

Three of the wrymouths were placed in 


in a tube 


in the aquarium. Sketched from a 


CA. |G aA) 


but with more of the head than of the tail 
exposed (Figure 3). Later the head was 
drawn back until just concealed. The pipe 
rolled somewhat when the fish moved, and 
finally the fish left the pipe. The latter 
was then steadied with stones, and, when 
the fish again entered, it was not readily 
abandoned. 

Locomotion.—Forward movements were 
accomplished by means of undulatory lat- 
eral motions of the tail and posterior part 
of the trunk well forward to the head, the 
dorsal fin of that part being kept erect. 
Backward movements were accomplished 
by pressing the tail or part of the trunk 
forward against objects, and by placing 
the pectoral fins on the bottom and turn- 
ing them forwards., In forward and back- 
ward movements the median (dorsal and 
anal) fins were kept flexed except as men- 


6 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


tioned above. <A stimulation of the skin 
of the side by touch caused the animal to 
move forward when applied near the tail, 
and to move backward when appled 
farther forward. 

Respiration —Oceasionally the fish re- 
treated to a position with about one quar- 
ter of the anterior end protruding, and 
with the ventral parts of the pectoral fins 
bent back and applied to the bottom. The 
head and pectoral fins remained stationary, 
and the remainder of the body performed 
undulatory motions, two complete waves 
being observed on the fish at any one mo- 
ment. The dorsal fin preceded the body 
slightly in the lateral movement. That a 
eurrent was made to flow through the pipe 
was demonstrated by dropping some ¢ar- 
mine, suspended in water, near the head 
of the fish. The carmine particles were 
drawn into the pipe. Other particles were 
carried alongside the pipe and past the 
other end. No carmine particles were ob- 
served to issue from that end, probably 
because of dispersion of the particles into 
a larger volume of water, and because the 
movement soon ceased. The fish seemed 
to be irritated to some extent by the part- 
icles. The movement lasted for from one 
to two minutes. On one occasion the move- 
ment was observed bemg earried out by 
the fish) when it was not in the tube, but 
in a corner of the tank with its head 
against the end wall. 


The respirations numbered from 12 to 
20 per minute. When the animal was ap- 
proached it ceased breathing for from one 
to two minutes. At the conclusion of this 
period of rest, it would either give two or 
three deep inspiratory gasps, opening its 
mouth widely, or would merely resume 
breathing at a somewhat more rapid rate 
than usual. Occasionally on resumption of 
breathing the lateral undulatory move- 
ments would be commenced, the anterior 
part of the body remaining stationary. 
There can be little doubt that these move- 
ments are initiated by dyspnoeie condi- 
tions, and that they are for the purpose 
of renewing the water in the burrows in 
which the fish lives. 

Feeding —The stomachs of specimens 
that were opened shortly after being 
caught contained beach fleas, or scuds, 
(Gammarus locusta), sand shrimp, ((' ago 


septemspinosus), and fragments of 
flounder, (Pseudopleuronectes america- 
nus). The specimen kept in the tank took 
food freely. It usually left its tube in the 
late afternoon, and could be heard at dusk 
thrashing- around in the water. Seuds 
placed in the tank disappeared, as did also 
hermit crabs (Pagurus acadianus). It 
also took, when offered, small herring or 
sardines, limpets, periwinkles, whelks, 
clams, and mussels. These it would take 
from the hand, even reaching out of the 
water to seize them, and approaching from 
a distance of as much as a foot. Sight seem- 
ed to be as important as smell in determin- 
ing its feeding, as it would show excitement 
by moving its tail and lifting its head, and 


finally move forward and snap with its | 


jaws when the finger was held just above 
the surface of the water in front of it. Not 
only was the food seized, but also there 
was a strong indraught of water into the 
mouth that carried the food along. When 
the feeding was done at the surface of the 
water, air also was drawn in, producing 
the sound so characteristic of the last 
stages in pumping the bilge water out of a 
boat, when the water is mixed with air. 
The dorsal position of the mouth is favour- 
able to the taking of food from above, 
which is perhaps the normal method with 
this fish. At times, however, it was seen 
to turn on its side in order to seize food 
lying. on the bottom of the tank. Food 
taken into the mouth was either rejected 
or swallowed by a series of vigorous perist- 
altic movements of the mouth and throat. 
To swallow a very large piece might re- 
quire considerable time, and might even 
result in the fish coming out of its tube 


for more freedom, and turning all the way — 


over once or twice in its swallowing efforts. 
Zoarces anguillaris (Peck). 


A muttonfish 45 em. in length was kept 
in one of the flat tanks of the laboratory 
during the latter half of the season and 
proved to be quite hardy. It fed regularly 
on the fish and shell-fish given it, ap- 
proaching from a distance of more than a 
foot to take food from the hand. The 
enormous thick lips were used more than 
the teeth for taking hold of the morsels 
and a strong inspiration of water carried 
the food in. Swallowing did not immed- 
iately follow the taking of food, but was 


[Vol. XXXV. 


Delis ae 


‘ 


January, 1921) 


preceded by a rather prolonged series of 
masticatory movements involving both 
mouth and throat, and in which the head 
was nodded vigorously by movements in 
the vertical plane, the downward ones being 
the more vigorous. 

The enormous pectoral fins were used 
in slow backward and ferward locomotion, 
each fin being kept in a vertical position 
and slightly folded with the convex side 
in the direction of movement. At rest 
each fin is held out from the body almost 
in the horizontal plane and against the 
bottom, with the dorsal part posteriorly 
placed and scmewhat raised. Rapid swim- 


THE 


Tue CANADIAN Frevp-NATURALIST. 7 


ming is accomplished by undulatory move- 
ments of the posterior part of the trunk 
and tail; the pectoral fins being extended 
to the fullest extent and held horizontally 
with the dorsal edge in front, while the 
dorsal and anal fins are kept close to the 
body, at least anteriorly. 

Touching the side of the trunk or tail 
resulted in the erection of the dorsal fin. 
After repeated stimulation the response 
became rather local, extending both for- 
ward and backward from the level of the 
point touched, but. chiefly backward. At 
the same time the fin was bent toward the 
side stimulated. 


LIARD RIVER FLOOD OF JULY 1919. ! 


By E. J. WHITTAKER. 


In a recent issue of the Geographical 
Review? Dr. E. M. Kindle states that the 
Liard is the main source of supply of drift- 
wood for the Mackenzie River, and that 
“‘the unusually high stage which the Liard 
reached in 1919 set afloat a vast quantity 
of stranded logs, many of which had start- 
- ed their northern journey in previous 
years.’’ In view of the fact that this flood 
was unprecedented within the memories of 
the present inhabitants of the region, and 
also that the writer was ascending the Liard 
during the period of maximum flood con- 
ditions, the following observations are pre- 
sented which may be of interest to readers 
of this publication. 

After a quick trip from Edmonton the 
Geological Survey party to which the 
writer was attached reached Fort Simp- 
son, N.W.T., on July 1st, 1919. This fort 
is situated on an island at the junction of 
the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, and at no 
other point is there a more striking view 
of the width and volume of this northern 
waterway. Upon enquiry we were told 
that the flood stage of the river had reach- 
ed its maximum about three days before, 
and had now fallen four feet below the 
high water mark. The following day, 
Wednesday, July 2, we commenced track- 


1Published by permission of the Director of 
the Geological Survey of Canada. 

2Kindle, E. M., “Mackenzie _River  Drift- 
wood”, Geographical Review, Vol. XI, January, 
1921, No. 1, pp. 50-53. 


ing up the Liard. Owing to the high 
water, travel was not easy, yet we hoped 
it would steadily improve as the river level 
lowered. It did actually lower until Sat- 
urday afternoon, July 5th, during which 
time we reached and passed the long series 
of rapids about thirty miles above Fort 
Simpson. We camped that evening on the 
shore opposite the lower end of Gros Cap 
Island, at the upper end of the canyon. 
During the afternoon a slight increase in 
the quantity of driftwood warned us that 
the river was once more rising. All day 
Sunday it rose slowly but steadily, ten 
inches in the twenty-four hours. 


About midnight of the 6th, the noise of 
the water and the grinding and breaking 
of trees increased perceptibly. The river 
became quickly covered with driftwood 
from bank to bank and encroached rapidly 
upon our camp site, which had been se- 
lected for convenience rather than with an 
eye to floods. This site had to be abandon- 
ed. As high ground was a long distance 
back through a dense forest and it was 
now impossible to go upstream against the 
driftwood laden waters, which were already 
undermining and dropping trees into the 
viver, we went carefully downstream three 
miles to Poplar river, where a bank 250 ft. 
high made certain that we could retreat as 
high as necessary, and the dead water at 
the mouth of the smaller stream made a 
secure harbour for the canoe. 

We remained at this camp 4 davs, dur- 


8 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALISY. 


ing which the rapids on the Poplar River 
above its mouth were drowned out one by 
one as the rising Liard backed its waters 
higher up. By this time the larger river 
was full of sediment and for drinking 
water we had to go farther up the Poplar, 
whose clear reddish waters were much more 
palatable. A large boulder which had 
been noted on the upward journey was se- 
lected as a gauge and then corresponding 
marks were cut on the bank. The waters 
rose at this point over seventeen feet in 
sixty hours. Unfortunately some pictures 
which were taken of the changed appear- 
ance of the banks were ruined by the damp 
weather, as the moisture penetrated even 
so-called waterproof tins. A conspicuous 
flat island at the mouth of the Poplar with 
a steep bank about ten feet high was com- 
pletely submerged and at the height of the 
flood only the tops of its small spruces 
were to be seen. In traversing the neigh- 
bourhood, the sound of rushing river water 
was heard in some places a quarter of a 
mile and more from the river bank, while 
the forest was being denuded of its fallen 
trees and its underbrush was being flat- 
tened. On the opposite side of the river 
where the shore was a cut bank of till, 
vreat cracks appeared in the cliff resulting 
in huge long masses weighing hundreds of 
tons becoming undereut and detached; 
these fell into the river from time to time 
with a noise that rose even above that of 
the water and caused great waves which 
came, in spite of the driftwood, across the 
river to our camp. 

The high water mark of the flood was 
reached at 3 p.m., Thursday, July 10th, 
and after remaining at this level for four 
hours, began to recede. At this time the 
waters were eighteen feet above ordinary 
high water mark. This part of the river, 
however, was narrow, and the waters piled 
up more than in the wider sections. 

As soon as we were able to travel we start- 
ed upstream once more and found that the 
banks had suffered considerably. Every- 
where they had been cut back for many 
vards and were a mass of twisted and 
gnarled trees. Out in the current hun- 
dreds of trees which still were fastened to 
the land by their roots, swaying and twist- 
ing, were given, where possible, a wide 
berth by the canoe. Their numbers were 


increased at intervals by other trees fall- 
ing into the river. Camp spots were dif- 
fieult to find as the shore could only be 
gained at intervals owing to the above con- 
ditions, and even when we were ashore 
everything was covered with about six 
inches of soft black mud, newly deposited 
by the river. This latter condition was 
most noticeable in the ‘‘Long Reach’’, 
where the river is over a mile wide with 
low banks of sand and clay. There was 
one small point where over eight feet of 
sand had been deposited. Trees were 


dragging by their roots one hundred feet - 


out from the eut bank, which had thus 
been cut back for at least that distance. 
At one spot at the junction of the Liard 
and Nahanni Rivers where there were se- 
veral old Indian eabins, erosion had ex- 
posed what was apparently the ancient re- 
mains of a rude coffin. It may be said 
that although the river dropped slowly, it 
remained very high all summer, and had 
the Forts Liard and Nelson been obliged 
to depend for provisions, as in previous 
years, on scows brought up by trackers, 
they would have been late in receiving 
them. It was not till September, when 


the sandbars began to be exposed, that such : 


transportation could have been attempted. 
Fortunately the new steamer of the Hud- 
son’s Bay Company was able to reach 
these forts in the latter half of July. 


That the flood of the Liard in 1919 was 
unusual the following facts will show. The 
Hudsons’ Bay Company had cut wood the 
previous winter all along the river for 
their new steamer. According to Captain 
Mills not a single wood pile remained, and 
the crew had to cut their own fuel at all 
times. Several buildings at Fort Liard 
which were almost as old as the fort 
itself were undercut and destroyed. <An- 
cient log jams which had withstood the ice 
and floods of many previous years were 
entirely removed. At the junction of the 
Liard and Nahanni, and also up the latter 
stream, were two gardens and cabins of a 
trapper called LaFleur. Both his pota- 
toes and house were submerged. In many 
cases the shore, which had been of a mat- 
ure type with grass-covered gentle slopes 
on which were very old Indian camp sites, 
was converted into high steep cut banks. 


Dr. Kindle in the article previously 


[Vol. XXXV. 


January, 1921] 


qucted states **The vanguard of the main 
volume of the Liard driftwood reached Old 
Fort Good Hope on the Lower Mackenzie 
about July 13th’’. This vanguard reached 
our camp on the Liard at Gros Cap Island 
about midnight of July 6th. The drift- 
wood therefore required at most about 
seven days to travel the distance between 
these two points, which is approximately 
620 miles. This means that it was trans- 
ported at an average rate of at least three 
and three-quarters miles an hour, and 
gives a good idea of the swift current of 
the Mackenzie. 

The flood was caused by unusually warm 
and abundant rains throughout the basin 


VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY 


THE CANADIAN Frevp-NATURALIST. 9 


of the Liard. This river’ rises in and 
drains a large area west of the main range 
of the Rockies between latitudes 58 deg. and 
61 deg. 30 min. N. and then cuts through 
this range to the eastward. The warm 
rains not only caused the rivers to rise by 
their own precipitation, but also rapidly 
melted the mountain. snows. That the 
flood extended to its headwaters was shown 
by the large number of huge trees in the 
driftwood common in Northern British 
Columbia, but entirely unknown in the 
lower reaches of the river. We had only 
six dry days out of six weeks on our trip, 
which accounts for the continued high 
water all summer. 


SOCIETY. 


NATURALISTS StuDY ALPINE FLORA. 


The ninth of a series of excursions held 
this summer by the Vancouver Natural 
History Society took place last week end 
when a party of 22 ladies and gentlemen 
left on Saturday to study the flora of 
Grouse, Dam and Goat Mountains. 
Amongst those present were several mem- 
bers of the University Summer School Bot- 
any Class which finished work the previous 
day, and this outing proved a fitting 
climax to a strenuous term of indoor lect- 
ures. 

Under the leadership of the President, 
John Davidson, F.L.8., the party proceed- 
ed via Lonsdale, Mosquito Creek, where at- 
tention was directed to the devastating ef- 
fect of erosion, which the President several 
years ago foretold would result if logging 
operations were carried on in that vicinity. 
It was pointed out that the people of N. 
Vancouver in future years will have to pay 
for the folly of the present generation in 
allowing erosion to commence through per- 
mitting a logging company to obtain a few 
thousand dollars worth of. timber. 
ready trees, houses and bridges had been 
destroyed at this point and greater havoc 
is likely to take place within the next few 
years. Continuing, the party travelled via 
the B. C. Mountaineering Club’s trail to 
the Club’s Cabin, use of which had been 
kindly granted for the oceasion. During 
this part of the journey attention was 
drawn to the changes in vegetation corres- 
ponding with the change in altitude. The 
trees and undergrowth at first were sim- 


Al-. 


ilar to those found around Vancouver, the 
Giant Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock, and 
Douglas Fir, with undergrowth of Salal, 
Huckleberries (which are more abundant 
than usual this year), and False Azalea, 
while here and there were found patches 
of Pipsissewa, a native plant used for medi- 
cinal purposes. Higher up, near the 2,000 ft. 
altitude, Western White Pine with its long 
cones and leaves in clusters of five became 
frequent, and occasional trees of Yellow 
Cedar and Western Yew were observed, 
the latter with its beautiful red berry-like 
fruits in evidence. 

Dinner past, the evening was spent in- 
specting a collection of pressed plants pre- 
pared by one of the members who had re- 
cently returned from a trip through the 
drybelt: By this time, in spite of the light 
smoke screen which hung over the inlet, 
the lights of Vancouver were in evidence 
and the party spent half an hour picking 
out the various sections and streets of the 
eity; motor cars and inter-urban trains 
were discernible by their strong head 
lights. 

By half past six the following morning 
the cabin was astir, some getting break- 
fast ready, others packing supplies for 
lunch, while novices looked on with interest 
at how things were done by mountaineers. 
Breakfast past the party was divided into 
two sections, one, under the leadership of 
the Society’s treasurer, Mr. Jas. Lyall, 
taking the direct trail from the eabin to 
the Plateau of Grouse; the other, under the 


10 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


leadership of the President, taking the 
longer and more arduous route up the 
bluffs via Larsen’s trail, both parties to 
meet again at the summit of Grouse 
Mountain. 

Soon after starting on the trail, no less 

than three different species of Club-mosses 
were found on the southern slopes at 2,300 
ft. elevation. Descending to-a valley 1,900 
feet above sea level, the party found a 
great variety of ferns and flowering plants, 
the Cliff-brake Fern — often erroneously 
called Parsley Fern—the Oak Fern, Sword 
Fern, Deer Fern, or Rock Fern; the Goats- 
Beard, Ocean-Spray, several Saxifrages, 
two species of Pentstemon with beautiful 
-purple flowers, Dwarf Salal and numer- 
ous other species which had flowered ear- 
lier in the season and were now in fruit. 
The trail zig-zags onward and upward 
over the ledges known as Eagle Bluffs, 
and on these ledges sufficient soil has ac- 
cumulated to support a great variety of 
trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Wild 
Roses, Black-Caps, Huckleberries, Blue- 
berries, and Blackberries were much in 
evidence, and here one noticed the gradual 
change from lowland trees to alpine spe- 
cies; the Western Hemlock and Giant 
Cedar of lower altitudes gave place to the 
Mountain Hemlock and Yellow Cedar, 
while the Western White Pine became 
common, the abundance of shed needles on 
the trail causing some anxiety to one or 
two members who had omitted to provide 
themselves with proper foot-wear. On 
reaching the plateau the party inspected 
the area affected by fire, and, satisfied 
that it was safe to proceed, continued the 
journey which had Goat Mountain as the 
objective. Here they were joined by three 
members who missed the ferry the previous 
day and who, not knowing the right trail, 
arrived at the plateau with a limited sup- 
ply of provisions and utensils and spent 
the night in the open. 

On the plateau and regions above the 
forest is chiefly Mountain Hemlock, Yel- 
low Cedar, and Lovely Fir, the latter being 
often mistaken and cut for White Fir, 
which in this part of Canada is really the 
Grand Fir. The underbrush consists lar- 
gely of White Rhodedendron which was 
past its best, and the beautiful Copper- 
bush, while the ground is carpetted by the 


[Vol. XXXV. 
so-called Heather, a very different plant. 
from any of the Scotch species. 


No time was spent on Grouse summit, 
the party continuing to the valley between 
Grouse and Dam Mountains where both 
parties joined and started the ascent of 
Dam together. Here on the east slopes 
were found many additional alpine species. 
some in flower, others in fruit, the Arnica, 
Mountain Flea-Bane, Grass of Parnassus, 
Mountain Dewberry, Rosy Twisted Stalk. 
and mountain Mare’s Tail were found in 
flower, while False Hellebore, Marsh Mari- 
gold, the leathery Saxifrage, and other 
alpine plants were found in fruit. 


In the midst of these flowers the com- 
pany halted by a streamlet for lunch, and 
in a short time the ‘‘billies’’ were boiling 
and tea served to the members, who by 
this time were ready to forego their higher 
education in order to satisfy what seemed 
to be insatiable appetites. This done, all 
were ready to proceed to the summit of 
Dam mountain, 4,500 feet above sea level, 
where a photograph was taken of the party 
in order to have a record of the largest 
Natural History excursion to this point. 


Thereafter eleven of the members pro- 
ceeded to Goat Mountain. In former years 
the intervening ridge proved a profitable 
region for the botanist, but this year on 
account of the lightness of the . winter’s 
snowfall everything had so dried up that 
nothing was added to what had already 
been found. Even on Goat Mountain, 
where at this time of the year on former 
oceasions large patches of snow were found, 
this year the snow had completely gone 
and the summit was as dry as the summit 
of Grouse. This year, however, the com- 
paratively rare and interesting little Saxi- 
frage known as Tolmie’s Saxifrage was 
found in flower, whereas in previous years 
it was seen just emerging near the margin 
of the snow patches. 


At three fifteen the party retraced their 
steps to the Plateau and returned by the 
direct trail to the. B.C.M.C. Cabin where 
supper was served. All were unanimous 
in the opinion that this exeursion had 
proved the most pleasant and profitable 
outing held this season, though some had 
forebodings of aching muscles for a day 
or two after the trip. The party was 


January, 1921} 


composed of Mrs. Douglas MeIntosh, 
Misses Kirk, M. Bain, N. Bain, Hyndman, 
I, Clemens, Aish, M. Armstrong, E. Suther- 
land, G. Rogers (Victoria), R. Stewart, 


Toe CANADIAN FIeELD-NATURALIST. 11 


(Victoria), Thyne, and Messrs. J. David- 
son, J. Lyall, F. Perry, McNair, Kirk, J. 
D. Turnbull, J.. W. Turnbull, Wickson 
(Victoria), D. Nelson, R. R. Earle. 


BIRD NOTES BY THE WAY IN THE MARITIME PROVINCES, 


By Hoyrs Luoyp. 


From March to October 1919 I spent 
about three months in the Maritime Prov- 
inces of Canada. There were three dif- 
ferent trips as follows: March 16—May 7; 
July 15—August 10; and October; the 
last of which may be neglected here. 

Those Canadians who do not know the 
Maritime Provinces have not seen one of 
the loveliest parts -of their country. 
Although oceupied with other things, 
_ every opportunity was taken to study the 
birds of this territory which was new to 
me. Dependence upon field glasses instead 
of specimens for identification of some 
birds seen was unsatisfactory, and should 
anyone care to question this species or 
that, I must advise him to go where the 
spruces fringe the roadside, where the 
muddy tidal flats shine in the summer 
sunshine, and see for himself. 


Leaving Ottawa on March 14th, the only 
common birds to be seen from the train 
were Crows and a single straggling flock 
of Horned Larks. The Crows were already 
common in Quebec and New Brunswick 
along the Intercolonial Railway on the 
15th. At Dalhousie Junction, an early 
Grackle was seen on the top of a pine. The 
icy expanse of Chaleur Bay with its pat- 
ches of open blue sea gave little promise 
of Spring, but there was the Grackle in 
defiance of Winter. 

On March 16th I walked across the 
frozen St. John River from Fredericton, 
New Brunswick, reaching the point where 
a small stream flows into the St. John. A 
flock of 18 Snow Buntings were found and 
many of them were singing in chorus. They 
had chosen a large elm for this rather un- 
usual performance and all perched in the 
branches to enjoy or participate in it. This 
tree was evidently used solely for this 
vocal performance by the flock, for they 
flew off but returned shortly and resumed 
their singing. 

The song was canary-like, interrupted 


with twitters as in the Goldfinch and with 
the regular whirring flight note of the 
Snow Bunting. It was sweet and bub- 
bling, being particularly attractive in a 
season when songs are scarce. 

The historic Boardman Collection of 
birds is well cared for in the University 
of New Brunswick. Unfortunately the 
labels in this collection give only the names 
of the species and the number in Baird’s 
check list. I examined the stands of a few 
of the mounted birds in a search for the 
usual data, but without success. Many of 
the mounted birds are crowded into large 
cases so that all but the outside birds are 
indistinguishable, and the cases do not ° 
open readily. For this reason it was im- 
possible to study the collection carefully. 
as this could not be done without taking 
considerable time and putting the Uni- 
versity authorities to a great deal of trou- 
ble. 

On the 19th of March, after two days’ 
rain which turned the snow-laden coun- 
tryside into a veritable morass of snow, 
slush, and. water, a short walk along the 
river road at Fredericton was taken in 
search of early migrants. Half a dozen 
Pine Siskins were found, and on the 29th 
others were noticed at MeGivney Junction. 

On that day I left Fredericton for 
Moncton. The ice had just left the Nash- 
waak River, although it still held in the 
swollen St. John. The American Golden- 
eyes-had not been slow to take advantage 
of the open water and made pretty groups 
as they swam along the icy edges of the 
Nashwaak. Several large flocks of Grack- 
les were travelling north up the river val- 
ley and I believe one Song Sparrow was 
seen. 

East of MeGivney Junction a Red-tailed 
Hawk (?) was coursing over the open 
barrens. At Moncton there was a dual 
attraction in the Petitecodiae River, the 
numerous Gulls and the bore, which stop- 


1 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


ped the floating ice in its downward cour- 
se and hurried it back upstream again. 
Most of the gulls were Herring Gulls, but 
an Iceland Gull spent April Ist and 2nd 
with them. This bird was smaller than 
the Herring Gull with distinctive white 
wing tips. 

The first Robin arrived on the 2nd, but 
he must have been an optimist. 

Then IT resumed my journey, this time 


going to Halifax. There, at Dalhousie 
College, I was much delighted to see what 
I believe to be the only Canadian speci- 
men of the Labrador Duck. It is well cared 
for, being kept in the vault, and is a beau- 
tiful specimen in an excellent state of pre- 
servation. This specimen, if Dalhousie 
would ever part with it, should be in the 
National Museum—perhaps the only Can- 
adian specimen still in Canada of an ex- 
tinct Canadian bird. However, I have re- 
corded the result of my examination of 
this speciment elsewhere (*) and regret 
that its alleged mate is an American 
Scoter. 

On the night of April 6th a flock of 
Canada Geese passed over Halifax in a 
fog. 

The land of Evangeline is tceo well- 
known to need any description of its 
beauties on my part. Toward evening on 
April 8th I saw the well, the monument 
and the willows in the little village of 
Grand Pré. Before the train passed two 
Black Ducks were seen to rise from the 
meadows and sweep out over the basin of 
Minas. For me, the remance and tragedy 
of the great poem seemed very vivid when- 
ever I visited this locality. 

As I journeyed to the south-west, Song 
Sparrows and Robins became common. The 
latter were flying up the Annapolis River 
in flocks. Many of the birds reaching 
south-western Nova Scotia must cross some 
30 miles of open sea at the mouth of the 
Bay of Fundy. Study of the migration 
with respect to this crossing would seem 
to offer attractive possibilities. 

At Digby, on the 9th, Juncos, 
adees and a pair of Goldfinches 


Chick- 
were 


1 Fleming saw one in Montreal some years 
ago which was not the syecimen 7:*-s8ased by 
Dutcher, but its present condition, if still 


in existence, fs unknown, 


[Vol. XXXV. 


noted. <A pretty flock of eight Long-tail- 
ed Ducks was enjoying the spring sun- 
shine on the waters of Annapolis Basin. 

During a short stroll in the woods at 
Barrington Passage a single Ruffed Grou- 
se was found. I had not enough time in 
the woods this trip to be able to say any- 
‘thing concerning their abundance; but they 
were reported as abundant in New Bruns- 
wick in October. Cape Sable Island, at 
the south-western extremity of Nova Sco- 
tia, was disappointing at this season. _ 

Black-backed Gulls—half a dozen of 
them at least — on the waters of the 
Atlantic near Halifax, made an interest- 
ing sight, for I fear I had grown rather 
blasé toward common and more inland 
species. 

At Halifax onthe 14th of April Juncos 
and Siskins were noted in number, but the 
24th brought a real little wave of migra- 
tion to the shores of the north-west arm. 
The first Warbler of the year, a Myrtle, 
was encountered then, the Juncos were 
still present, but the real event was a 
flock of twelve Brown-capped Chickadees, 
For fear I would mistake their very dif- 
ferent notes and habiliments a Black-eap 
was travelling with them to show how dif- 
ferent he really was. If similar species 
of birds would do this regularly it would 
save much trouble for the student of birds. 

On May 3rd at Amherst, Nova Scotia, 
a bright afternoon found me on the dyked 
meadows worrying—if one could really 
worry on a bright warm day of Spring— 
about Sparrows. Savannah and Song Spar-. 
rows greeted the sunshine with song, and 
Vespers were noted; Robins had become 
numerous. 

Northumberland Strait between Pointe du 
Chéne, N.B., and Summerside, P.E.I., was 
clear of ice on May* 5th, and abundant 
bird-life made the crossing of interest. 
Flocks of Seoters flushed ahead of the 
steamer continuously — the identified 
ones indicating the proportion of each spe- 
cies present. My estimate of these was 
30 American, 30 Surf and 20 Whité-wing- 
ed Scoters. One Red-throated Loon was 
noted in the dozen Loons seen, while 550 
Herring Gulls and a single Great Black- 
backed Gull completed the Gull list. 

Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Grackles, 
Robins and Juncos had already reached 
Prince Edward Island when I left on the 


January, 1921] 


7th although snow-banks still persisted. 
The return crossing of the straits brought 
nothing new and I left the Maritime Proy- 
inces, returning at mid-summer. 

Many birds which occur in the interior 
of New Brunswick shun the vicinity of St. 
John, or are rare. The Bluebird is prob- 
ably an example of this. On July 20th 
birds seen on a trip to Seaside Park were: 
Herring gull 25; Nighthawk 6; Kingbird 
2; Grackle 4; Song Sparrow 6; Purple 
Martin 2; Barn Swallow 6; Crow 12; Yel- 
low Warbler 1; Maryland Yellowthroat 1; 
Robin 1. 

A young Nighthawk brought to me in 
the flesh seemed very dark and was duly 
prepared into a birdskin. The trials of 
travelling were brought home to me when 
skin, wrapping, and all were dragged 
away to make a cosy nest for the mouse 
who lived behind the hotel wash-stand. 

Bird life was abundant at Digby on the 
22nd. Among the shore-birds were the 
ever-present Spotted Sandpiper and flocks 
of Leasts or Semipalmated, or both, moved 
up and down the broad mud flats in com- 
pact batallions. Novelties to me among 
the land birds were a flock of Purple 
Finches at midsummer, and a Blue-head- 
ed Vireo in full song. 


July 24th was an eventful day. The 
morning was misty and hot — the kind of 
morning that fits the song of the Black- 
throated Green Warbler. The breeding 
ground of the Willet was our destiny, and 
onee reaching it the birds fairly thrust 
themselves upon us. The air was filled 
with their cries and their beautiful poise 


THe CANADIAN Frenp-NATURALIST. 13 


in alighting would charm any nature- 
lover. Almost 40 were seen. 

Semipalmated Plovers had now ap- 
peared among the migrant shore-birds, and 
a single Piping Plover was noted in the 
crowd. A flock of Black Ducks rose from 
the salt marshes and young Acadian Sharp- 
tailed Sparrows were just able to fly. 

A summer evening near Digby is made 
beautiful by the song of the Hermit 
Thrush in the Spruces, the last calls for 
the day of the Alder Flycatcher in the 
thicket and of the Olive-sided standing 
sentinal on a tree-top, while overhead the 
Nighthawk booms in the twilight. 

In Charlottetown from August 2nd-6th, 
the southern migration of land birds ap- 
peared to be under way in spite of delight- 
ful summer weather. Some common birds 
noted were: Kingfishers, Downy Wood- 
peckers, Flickers, Nighthawks, Humming- 
birds, Kingbirds, Olive-sided Flycatcher, 
Blue Jay, Crows, Goldfinch, Siskins, Red- 
eyed Vireos, Myrtle Warblers, Chickadees 
and Robins. : 

The Gulls and Terns frequenting 


the 
harbour puzzled me, I must admit. The 
Kittiwake I am fairly certain of, and 


Common Terns were doubtless present. 

The Black-backed Gulls were now ac- 
companied by young of the year, and a 
eraceful group they made on the stone 
breakwater near Borden. 

But ever-pressing work drove me from 
contemplation of the beautiful sea-scape 
and land-scape of our Eastern Provinces, 
which have distinctive charms all their 


own. 


PROSECUTIONS. 


Migratory Birps Convention Act AND NortH-West GAME ACT By OFFICERS 


OF THE DOMINION PARKS BRANCH AND 


RoyaL CANADIAN 


MounrtveED POLICE. 


Migratory Birds Convention Act. Nov. 1, 
1920 and Feb. 1, 1921. 


Placide Normand, Bonaventure Is., Per- 
eé, Gaspé Co., P.Q., possession of four 
young live Gulls. Birds seized and released. 
Suspended sentence. « 

Uldérie Drouin, Ste. Famille, Montmo- 
rency Co., P.Q., offering Herring Gull for 
sale; refusing information, forcibly resist- 


ing arrest. Bird forfeited. Fine $15.00 and 
costs. 

Russel C. Clark, Mount Stewart, Queens 
Co., P.E.I., possession of two Canada 
Geese. Forfeited Canada Geese and one 
shot gun. Fine $10.00 and costs of Magis- 
trate’s Court and Supreme Court of Prin- 
ee Edward Island. 

W. Boyle, 41 Marlboro St., Toronto, pos- 
session of one mounted Pileated Wood- 


14 THE CANADIAN -FIELD-NATURALIST. 


pecker. Specimen forfeited. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Jno. Gray, 59 Marmaduke St., Toronto. 
possession of one mounted Pileated Wood- 
pecker. Specimen forfeited. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

W.: Raine, 50 Waverley Rd., Toronto, 
possession of eggs of migratory birds. Ad- 
journed till called. 

Geo. MeNair, River Charlo, Restigouche 
Co., N.B., possession of one mounted 
Pileated Woodpecker. Specimen forfeited. 
Case dismissed. 

Frank Woodworth, Campbellton, N.B., 
possession of one common Loon. Specimen 
forfeited. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

O’Neill Bros., St. John, N.B., selling 
Black Ducks. Fine $100.00. 

O. Trafford, St. Eugene, Ontario, pos- 
session of one Great Blue Heron, one Pil- 
eated Woodpecker, and one American 
Golden-eye. Specimens forfeited. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

G. F. Cunningham & Co., St. John, N. 
B., selling Black Ducks. Fine $100.00. 

Napoléon Pineau, North Rustico, Queens 
Co., P.E.1., attempting to kill a migratory 
game bird between the hours of sunset and 
sunrise. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

James Grant, Oulton’s Post Office, 
Westmorland Co., N. B., killing a Great 
Blue Heron. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

In addition to above the following bird 
specimens have been forfeited : 


Description of Offence 


Possession of Ducks during the close season 
Possession of Ducks over bag limit .. 
Killing Ducks during close season 
Hunting Ducks from Power Boat 
Possession of Geese during close season .. 
Possession of Wild Pigeons during close 
NOD hae Ps 05 
Killing Sea-Gull .. 


Total .. 


[Vol. XXXV. 

Lang & Gilchrist, Owen Sound, Ontario, 
Great Blue Heron. 

H. G. Morley, 162 Queen St., Toronto, 
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. : 

W. Martin, Hanover, Ontario, Mourn- 
ing Dove. 

G. D. Brown, 26 Holgate St., Allandale, 
Ontario, Mourning Dove. : 

E. A. Laughter, Pakesley, Ontario, Pil- 
eated Woodpecker. 

W. J. Mowers, Parry Sound, Ontario, 
(2), Rose-breasted Grosbreaks, Catbird, 
Searlet Tanager. 

G. F. Richman, Toronto, Ontario, Her- 
ring Gull. 

Mr. Lepage, St. Eugene, Ontario, Hairy 
Woodpecker. 

Dr. Munroe, St. Eugene, Ontario, Pil- 
eated Woodpecker. 

W. Lacombe, St. Eugene, Ontario, Pil- 
eated Woodpecker. 

O. Beeeraft, Hamilton, Ontario, Pileat- 
ed Woodpecker. 

G. A. Doan, Hamilton, Ontario, Leon. 

A. L. & S. M. Clarke, Darling’s Is., N.B., - 
American Merganser. 

The Game Conservation Board of Bri- 
tish Columbia has furnished the Dominion 
Parks Branch with a summary of 1920 
prosecutions under the British Columbia 
Game Act, which amount to violations of 
the Migratory Birds Convention Act. This 
summary is given below :— : 


; = 
= Re} 3 
2 3 E & uo 
g mere 2% y 
2 5 2 
£ > x 
eee aaa ooo ee 
A NW oO Ho [cae 
1 1 4 6 $500.00 
2 2 85.00 
8 8 125.00 
6 6 285.00 
1 2 3 75.00 
3 3 110.00 
] if 10.00 
2 1 26 29 $1,190.00 


January, 1921] 


BRIEF REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-N 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 15 


NATURALISTS’ CLUB 


FOR THE YEAR 1920. 


During the 42nd year of its existence 
the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club act- 
ivities, which include lectures, iield ex- 
cursions and the publication ot tne Can- 
_adian Field-Naturalist, have been duirect- 
ed toward the popularizing and ditfus.ng 
of knowledge of the natural sciences. 

The club membership now numbers ap- 
proximately 600.  — 

A list of thirty-six lectures to be given 
by club members was sent to local socie- 
ties, clubs, churches and schools from wiich 
they might select and request desirable 
talks, and as a result over 60 lectures cn 
the following subjects were delivered: A 
Survey of a Prehistoric Indian Viilage, 
The Iroquois Indian, Folk Balladry of 
Quebec, Ranch Life, Bird Sanctuaries, A 
Trip Through the Peace and Mackenzie 
River Region, ‘The Birds or Bonaventure 
Island, Birds of Eastern Canada, Bird 
Protection in Canada, Winter Birds and 
Mammals, The Migratory Birds’ Conven- 
tion Act, The Copper Eskimo, The Indians 
of Canada, Instances of the Influences of 
Physical Environment on the Indians, Am- 
phibians and Reptiles, Canadian Birds, 
How and Where We get Dinosaurs, Can- 
ada’s Natural Resources, Some Phases of 
Life and Scientific Work in the Canadian 
Arctic, Meteorites, Nautral History of Lac 
Seul. The feature lecture of the year was 
delivered by Dr. Otto Klotz, Dominion 
Astronomer, at the Peoples’ Forum under 
the auspices of the Ottawa Field-Natura- 
lists’ Club. 

Five field excursions were held as fol- 
lows:—May 1, Geology, Rockcliffe Park; 
May 15, General Natural History, Catfish 
Bay; May 29, Botany and Ornithology, 
Fairy Lake; June 12, Entomology, Ayl- 
mer; June 26, Horticulture, Central Ex- 
perimental Farm. Scientific men attend 
the excursions to direct interest and answer 
questions. 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist, the of- 


ficial organ of the club, is now being used 
as a medium of publication by five affiliat- 
ed societies as shown on the back cover. 

The officers and committees for the year 
1921 are as follows: © 

President, R. M. Anderson; Vice-Presi- 
dents, Hoyes Lloyd, G. A. Millar; Seeret- 
ary, Clyde L. Patch; Treasurer, C. B. Hut- 
chings; Editor, D. Jenness; Past-Presi- 
dent, M. Y. Williams. 

Additional -members of Council: W. T. 
Macoun, Miss M. E. Cowan, P. A. Taver- 
ner, H. I. Smith, C. M. Sternberg, E. Sa- 
pir, E. M. Kindle, F. W. Waugh, W. J. 
Wintemberg, R. E. Delury, Arthur Gib- 
son, Norman Criddle. 

Standing Committees of Couneil. 

Publications: Hoyes Lloyd, W. T. Ma- 
coun, Harlan I. Smith. 

Excursions: F. W. Waugh, C. M. Stern- 
berg, G. A. Millar, Miss M. E. Cowan, C. 
L. Patch, C. B. Hutchings, W. T. Macoun, 
H. Lloyd. 

Lectures: Harlan I. Smith, P. A. Taver- 
ner, W. T. Macoun, G. A. Millar. 

Trust Funds: W. T. Macoun. 
Auditors: J. Ballantyne, E. C. Wight. 
Leaders at Excursions. 

Archaeology—Harlan I. Smith, F. W. 


Waugh, W. J. Wintemberg, C. M. Bar- 
beau, Dr. E. Sapir. 
Botany—G. A. Millar, W. T. Macoun, 


Mrs. A. F. Brown, Dr. M. O. Malte, E. C. 
Wight, Miss M. E. Cowan. 

Entomology—C. B. Hutchings, Arthur 
Gibson, J. M. Swaine, F. W. L. Sladen. 

Geology—Dr. E. M. Kindle, Dr. M. Y. 
Williams, H. McGillivray, E. Poitevin, Dr. 
M. E. Wilson. 

Ornithology—P. A. Taverner, ©. L. 
Patch, Dr. M. Y. Williams, A. G. Kingston, 
Hoyes Lloyd, R. E. Delury. 

Zoology—Dr. R. M. Anderson, A. Hal- 
kett, C. L. Patch, E. A. LeSueur, C. H. 
Young, C. E. Johnson, E. J. Whittaker. 

Photography—W. S. Hutton. 


a & 


16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXYV. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 
Mr. ARTHUR GIBSON — AN APPRECIATION. 


With the last number of the CANADIAN 
Frevp-Naturauist, Mr. Arthur Gibson, 
who has been the editor since 1910, 
ceased to fill that position, his increasing 
official duties having made it necessary 
for him to send in his.resignation. 

Seldom has an editor of a periodical 
which depends for its success on voluntary 
contributions, and has but slender means 
of support, served so long and faithfully 
and satisfactorily as has Mr. Gibson. His 
work must surely have been a labour of 
love or he could not have continued to edit 
the Naturalist for all these years. Only 
those in close touch with the work of the 
Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club and its 
organ know the tact and skill necessary to 
obtain matter for the Naturalist, and the 
popularity of Mr. Gibson among the con- 
tributors and the members of the Ottawa 
Field Naturalists’ Club is a_ sufficient 
tribute to the manner in which he conduct- 
ed the editorial work. Mr. Gibson by his 
many personal contributions also showed 
himself to be deeply interested in the suc- 
cess of the Naturalist, as often in a per- 
iodical of this kind the extra matter which 
the editor contributes from his own pen 
assures the publication of a satisfactory 
number. 

Beginning with Volume XXXII, the 
Ottawa Naturalist, which had been pub- 
lished since 1887, was issued in the larger 
and more attractive form in which it ap- 
pears to-day and the title changed to the 
Canadian Field-Natu:alist to give it a 
wider field. This larger edition meant an 
increase in the editor’s work, which Mr. 
Gibson cheerfully assumed. 

We feel that all members of the Ottawa 
Field Naturalists’ Club and subscribers to 
the Canadian Field-Naturalist must deeply 
regret the resignation of Mr. Gibson as 
editor, but at the same time appreciate his 
many years of unselfish devotion, and, in 
releasing him from his duties as editor, 
wish him much success as Dominion Ento- 
mologist—W. T. M. 


Tue Spruce DrumMer.—lIn spite of the 
fact that the Canada Grouse, or Spruce 
Partridge, has for many years enjoyed 
continuous protection, its numbers appear 


to be slowly diminishing. In view of the 
characteristic stupidity of the species, this 
is not surprising. It is now seldom® found 
except in the more remote woods and 
swamps. Here on a fine morning Or even- 
ing in the autumn the moose hunter listen- 
ing for antlered game may often be dis- 
tracted by repeated flutterings as if a 
large flock of birds were feeding in some 
nearby grove. If he takes the trouble to 
investigate he is probably surprised to find 
that all the fuss is made by one bird, a 
spruce drummer (Spruce Partridge) whe 
is ardently engaged in his exercise, or pas- 
time, of drumming. He no doubt goes 
through this performance for the same 
reasons that the cock crows, or the cock 
robin sings. It is an assurance to his 
mate and a challenge to his rivals. The 
methods of this performance, however. 
seem further to justify the name of ‘‘fool 
hen’’ by which his species is sometimes 
known. His favorite location at such a 
time is between two trees standing apart 
some twenty or thirty feet, and with their 
lower branches large and _ horizontal. 
Perched on one of these branches he pit- 
ches downward, pausing midway to beat 
and flutter his wings, and ascends to a 
branch of the opposite tree. After a short 
interval this manoeuvre is repeated and so 
continued by the hour, swinging back and 
forth from tree to tree, the time between 
each swing being as exact as if measured 
by a watch. If such an ideal situation is 
not at hand the fact does not prevent the 
‘fool hen’’ from giving vent to his’ ex- 
uberance. Selecting a small open space 
among the bushes, he takes his stand in 
the centre and like a jack in the box pops 
up a few feet in the air and giving his 
triumphant flutter drops again to earth. 
This method lacks the grace of the former, 
and when thus engaged the bird seems to 
justly merit the title of ‘‘Fool Hen’’. The 
sound produced by the drumming of the 
Canada Grouse can in no-wise compare 
with that of the ruffed grouse; it has 
neither the roll nor the volume. It is in 
fact little more than a flutter, such as 
might be made by birds forcing their way 
through thick branches after buds or ber- 
ries. Unlike the Ruffed Grouse, however, 


January, 1921} 


he seems to have no very strong objec- 
tions to an audience. The performance of 
the birch drummer (Ruffed Grouse), can 
only be witnessed by the exercise of 
stealth and caution, Our little Spruce 
Partridge on the other hand will peer and 
look at the intruder and then, as if sud- 
denly remembering, go through his evolu- 
tions with a gusto that excites our startled 
amusement. Though the drumming of the 
grouse is peculiar to the male its practice 
is not confined to the nesting season alone, 
but may be heard in any month of the 
year and occasionally at any hour of the 
day or night. 
J. L. DEVANY. 


SomE OBSERVATIONS ON BLANDING’S 
TurtTLeE—During the summer of 1920 I 
spent several weeks at Point Pelée, Ont- 
ario, with a collecting party from the 
Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. The 


first Blanding’s Turtle (Emys Blandin-- 


git) was taken on June 15th, and from 
then until I left — July 23rd — it was 
much in evidence. The Point, having but 
a slight elevation above Lake Erie, per- 
mits many temporary rain pools apart 
from the main marsh, and it was in these 
pools, and along the sandy east beach, that 
most of the turtles were seen. At this 
season their terrestrial wanderings may 
mean a search for suitable sites to deposit 
their eggs, although it is known that this 
species is not strictly aquatic. However, I 
believe the majority of those seen on land 
were females — at least, those collected 
show this to be true. 

At 6.30 p.m. on the 22nd of June I 
found two turtles preparing to deposit 
their eggs. Being determined to watch the 
process in spite of an empty stomach, and 
the hour for the attack of Point Pelée’s 
mosquitoes drawing near, I kept one spe- 
cimen under observation until excavation 
was fairly under way. Then, crawling 
within ten feet of the turtle, I watched 
the procedure without its showing any 
signs of fear. 

Bracing itself up with its front feet, it 
dug with the hind feet, slowly carrying 
the sand to the surface on the upturned sole. 
In digging, the hind feet were always used 
alternately, the sand being placed first to 
the right and then to the left of the hole. 


- 


THe CANADIAN FYeLD-NATURALIST. 17 


While using one hind foot in scooping from 
the bottom, the other was rested against 
the side of the hole, helping the turtle to 
raise itself in order to lift the sand to the 
surface. After the hole was two or three 
inches deep, the turtle settled back so that 
the edge of the carapace rested on the rim 
of the hole. In this position, and by ex- 
tending the hind legs, quite a depth was 
attained. After three quarters of an hour 
this operation was completed. My pre- 
sence, however, may have retarded the 
work. 

I estimated the hole to be seven inches 
deep with a surface opening of three and 
one-half to four inches in diameter. This 
broadened out below the surface, making 
a flask-shaped chamber about seven inches 
in diameter. After one egg had been 
dropped, I returned to camp. 

Later, I returned with another member 
of the party and found the location. There 
was not the slightest sign of depression or 
mound, and upon digging for the eggs we 
found the sand well packed. The eleven 
eggs were transferred to a box ef sand in 
camp, where they were left exposed to 
the weather. We expected to hatch them 
and learn the time required for ineuba- 
tion, but an unfortunate accident happened 
to them on August 26th. Another mem- 
ber of the party was able to examine the 
broken eggs and preserve several fully 
formed young turtles. They would 
evidently have emerged in a short time, 
but the exact period of incubation was im- 
possible to determine. However, it would 
have been sOmething over sixty-five days. 


BEHAVIOR OF CAPTIVES. 


The party carried back a number of 
adult live specimens of Blanding’s turtle 
which were easily kept alive in eaptivity. 
They fed upon earth-worms, dead fish and 
meat scraps, taking food readily, both 
under and out of the water. After a few 
days they showed no signs of fear, and 
were frequently handled without their 
closing the hinged plastron. 

Without a suitable place to deposit their 
eggs, Blanding’s will retain them for a 
considerable time. One specimen collect- 
ed when digging the hole, retained the 
eggs for at least thirty days. I believe this 
to be injurious to the turtle if postponed 
too long. One specimen that died in mid- 


fond 
(o'6) 


winter had a number of fully formed eggs 
taken from it. Other individuals relieved 
this condition by depositing their eggs in 
the water in the tub which confined them. 
Unnatural surroundings are almost sure to 
produce unnatural behavior. 
L. L. SNYDER, 
Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, 
Toronto, Ont. 


Hornsy’s Perreyt.—Through the gen- 
erosity of Dr. L. C. Sanford, of New Haven 
Conn., the Victoria Memorial Museum has 
lately come into the possession of a spe- 
cimen of Hornby’s Petrel, Oceanodroma 
hornbyi. 

For many years it has only been known 
frem the type specimen in the British 
Museum obtained by Admiral Hornby, 
previous to 1853, and has for long appear- 
ed on the Hypothetical List of the Amer- 
ican Ornithologists Union on the basis of 


its vague locality, ‘‘N. W. America’’, as. 


given in the Catalogue of Birds of the 
British Museum. 

In the Auk, XXXIV, 1917, p. 466, H. C. 
Oberholser advocates its installation as a 
fully accredited American bird on the 
srounds that at the time of its capture 
Admiral Hornby had his headquarters on 
Vancouver Island and there is little doubt 
that it was obtained in adjacent waters. It 
is seen that the probability of its being a 
Canadian species is suggested by the same 
evidence. It should likely be placed on our 
hypothetical list until further substantiated 
by specimens. 

There are few North American birds of 
which we know so little as we do of the 
Petrels and their allies. Many nest in the 
southern hemisphere on lonely rocky 
islets lost in the vast oceanic wastes. With 
such limited breeding areas the total num- 
ber of some of them must be very small 
and subject to accidental vicissitudes. The 
introduction say of rats from a wrecked 
ship might and probably has before now 
wiped out entire species or left them on 
the verge of extinction. Pigs, goats and 
cats have had such effects on many such 
insular habitats. Few of these stations are 
ports of call, some are inaccessible except 
in the calmest weather, and their dangerous 
possibilities and lack of resources cause 
mariners to give them a wide berth; hence 
their bicta has seldom been investigated. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


Petrels are purely pelagic and spend 
their lives far at sea in vast irregular 
wanderings, making no regular migration 
except at such times as the duties of re- 
production call them to these out-of-the- 
way shores. They flit across the pathway 
of shipping and are seen in passing by the 


deep-water sailor; but by the coaster or - 


the long-shoreman they are seldom noted. 
The former has no time to stop, investigate 
or collect, and the latter no opportunity. 
Of many species it is only the accidental 
straggler that normally comes to the eye 
of science, and probably a greater propor- 
tion of species are known by individual 
specimens in this group than in any other 
class ef birds. 

So it remained with Hornby’s Petrel 
until R. H. Beck, collecting for Dr. San- 
ford eighty miles off the Peruvian coast 
in 1913, happened to come upon a number 
and obtained a series of them, of which 
this specimen is one. o 

The generosity of this donation to our 
National collections indicates that Dr. 
Sanford regards ornithology as more than 
the amassing of specimens; he refused to 
take advantage of his opportunity to re- 
tain the material and make his cellection 
unique in the possession of this rare spe- 
cies. Whilst this spirit is not rare eriough 
amongst naturalists to excite remark it is 
none the less worthy of approbation, es- 
pecially as there are instances where less 
breadth of view and generosity have been 
evident. 

P. A. TAVERNER. 


NOTES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CHIP- 
MUNK—No. 2.—While in camp at Lake Mis- 
sanag, Frontenac County, Ontario, during 
part of August and September 1920, I was 
able to add a few notes to my record of the 
behaviour of the Chipmunk (Tamas stria- 
tus lyster’). The Chipmunk with the very 
shert tail, upon which I made the observa- 
tions recorded last year (Can. F.-Nat., Vol. 
XXXII, p. 92), had disappeared from 
her haunts of last year, nor was she to be 
found anywhere in the vicinity. This was 
a decided disappointment, as I had hoped 
to find out something in regard to the 
duration of memory in this species. The 
burrow in which another individual had 
lived the previous fall was also deserted. 
However, seeing a Chipmunk about a large 


January, 1921 | 


Hemlock stump at the edge of the woods 
near. my camp I placed kernels of corn 
and raisins on top of the stump, and was 
rewarded not only by one Chipmunk com- 
ing to carry off the food but three, and this 
gave me an opportunity to make a few ob- 
servations on the social behaviour of this 
species. Two of these Chipmunks.- were 
yery similar in size and coloration, the 
only difference being that the stripes on 
the side of the head of one were slightly 
more distinct than those of the other, but 
the third was easily distinguishable by its 
duller coloration, slightly larger size and 
the obsecureness of the stripes on the-side of 
the head. 
3, in the order named above. 

_~ No. 1 arid No. 2 were very friendly and 
on one occasion I saw them rub noses. No. 
3 was not amiably disposed towards the 
others and if either of them were on the 
stump when it arrived it chased them away. 
Sometimes pursued and pursuer would go 
round and round the stump like a flash of 
light;~ exhibiting marvellous agility in 
racing about on its smooth sides. In their 
general manner Nos. 1 and 2 were much 
alike, and neither of them paid much at- 
tention to me, even when quite close at 
hand, once they had overcome their first 
shyness; but No.3 was always ‘‘jumpy”’ 
and was not noticeably tamer at the end ‘of 
the period of observation than at the be- 
ginning. No. 1 was the most confiding of 
the three, and on the third day allowed me 
to approach within a foot of it, while on 
the ninth day it took food from my hand. 

Yellow-jackets (Vespula diabolica) were 
extremely. abundant, and many came_ to 
feed on the raisins and boiled corn that I 
placed on the stump for the Chipmunks. 
One day No. 2 was stung on the front paw 
and shook it violently, then licked it. 


I have seen it asserted that the Chip- 
munk is a poor climber, and that it rarely 
ascends trees. Though from past observa- 
tions I knew this to be untrue, I determined 
to put the climbing ability of this species 
to a fairly severe test. Making a stake 
from a very smooth pole of Paper Bireh 
five inches in diameter, I drove the stake 
into the top of the stump, then fastened 
kernels of corn at intervals up the stake 
and placed some corn on the top of the 
stake. No. 1 came along, climbed the stake, 


I shall call them Nos. 1, 2 and— 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 19 


taking the kernels on its side as it went 
up, and sitting up on the top filled its 
pouches with the-corn it found there. Next 
time it came it htinted over the top of the 
stump, and finding no corn there, climbed 
the stake and took the supply I had placed 
there. Thus this little experiment not only 
showed the climbing ability of this species, 
and enabled me to take a photograph of it 
in the act of climbing, but also gave another 
example, in addition to that reported last 
year, of the rapidity with which the Chip- 
munk forms associations. 

Do Chipmunks habitually climb to  se- 
cure any of their items of food? In the 
ease of Hazel-nuts (Corylus rostrata) they 
certainly do, as the Chipmunks I had‘under 
observation climbed these :shrubs, cut off 
the nuts and carried them away. _More- 
over they do not appear to waste any time 
cutting off bad nuts, as all the nuts left on 
these bushes after the Chipmunks had 
visited them proved on examination to be 
bad. How they distinguish good from bad 
nuts, and how they deal with these nuts 
in removing the hulls which are beset so 
thickly with irritating bristles which stick 
tenaciously in the human skin, are among 
the few thousand things we do not know 
about our*common wild mammals. 


- 


A. Brooker KLuGH. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE CONCERNING 
THE PRESENCE OF THE GRAY Fox (Urocyon 
sp.) IN OnTARIO.—Among the animal re- 
mains found during my exploration last 
summer of the Uren village site in South 
Norwich township, Oxford county, Ont- 
ario, are several lower jaws and part of a 
skull which Dr. Gerritt S. Miller, curator ~ 
of the Division of Mammals, U. S. National 
Museum, has identified as those of the Gray 
Fox (Urocyon). While bones of this ani- 
mal have been found by archeologists in 
Ohio, ' Pennsylvania, ? and Connecticut, * 
this discovery in Oxford county is prob- 
ably the only record of its presence in Ont- 
ario, beyond the vague statement by Au- 
dubon and Bachman that ‘“‘in Canada we 
have heard of its occasional, but rare ap- 
pearance.’”* 

The Gray Fox seems to have been as 
common as the Red Fox, of which we also 
found several bones, but it probably never 


20 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


was as abundant in this part of Ontario as 
in southern Ohio, where the Baum village 
site, explored by W. C. Mills, alone yielded 
‘‘over two hundred lower jaws and twenty 
fragmentary skulls.”’ 


W. J. WINTEMBERG. 


1 See Mills, William C., Explorations of the 
Gartner Mound and Village Site, Reprint from 
the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quar- 
terly (Columbus, 1904), Vol. XIII, p. 32; Ex- 
plorations of the Baum village Site, Reprint, 
idem, 1906), Vol. XV, p. 29; and Archaeolog- 
ical Remains of Jackson County, Certain 


’ 


[Vol. XXXV. 


Mounds and Village Sites in Ohio (Columbus, 
1912), Vol. 2, Part 2, p. 80. See also Langdon, 
Frank W., The Mammalia of the Vicinity of 
Cincinnati Journal Cincinnati Natural Society 
(1880), Vol- II, p. 297 


2 See Mercer Henry C, An Exploration of 
Durham Cave in 1893, Reprint from FPubli- 
cations of the University of Pennsylvania, 
(Boston, 1897), pp. 156, 159, 161, 171 and 
173 (footnote). 


3 See MacCurdy, G. G., The Passing of a 
Connecticut Rockshelter, The Am. Journ. of 


Science (1914), Vol. XXXVIII, p. 517. 
4 Audubon, J. J., and Bachman, Rev. J., 
Quadrupeds of North America, (New York, 


1849), Vol. I, p. 172. 


EDITORIAL NOTE. 


Owing to a variety of causes it has been 
impossible to start the new volume of the 
Canadian Field-Naturalist at the begin- 
ning of the calendar year. The last num- 
ber of Volume XXXIV was nearly five 
months overdue on account of the difficulty 
the publishers experienced with their paper 
supply. Our new publishers promise us 
steady production, so, if our numerous con- 
tributors will co-operate by furnishing 
clean type-written material, the editor 
hopes to overtake his arrears and finish up 
the present volume at the proper time. 

Subscribers to the magazine will wel- 
come a brief statement of the financial dif- 
ficulties with which the club has to con- 


tend. The total number of subscribers on 
the books at the end of 1920 was 560. The 
annual subscription, formerly $1, was 
raised to $1.50 to meet the increased cost 
of publication; but there were 403 sub- 
scriptions overdue, representing an amount 
of $564. The actual cost of publication is 
slightly greater than the amount obtained 
from subscriptions if every member pays 
his dues, the balance being made up from 
advertisements and the sale of extra copies. 
The finances of the club are therefore very 
restricted, and every member is urgently 
requested to assist the treasurer by send- 
ing in his subscription as soon as it falls 
due.—D. J. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. 


OTTAWA, ONT., FEBRUARY, 1921 . No. 2 


THE LARGER FRESHWATER — CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA AND 
ALASKA. , 


By Frits JOHANSEN. 
(Continued from Vol. XXXIV, p. 148.) 


III. EupHyitopopa (BRANCHIOPODA). 


The crustacea belonging to this order 
comprise the three super-families ot the 
“‘fairy shrimps’’ (Anostraca or Branchi- 
pididae) the ‘“‘tadpole-shrimps’’ (Notostra- 
ca or Apodidae), and the ‘*clam-shrimps”’ 
(Conchostraca or Limnadidae  (Estherii- 
dae). Most of the species are of a fair size 
and easily observed at the right time of the 
year by any one interested in freshwater 

- life. 

They derive their name from the fact 
that most of the appendages (‘‘feet’’) 
behind the mouth parts are peculiarly 

* formed so as to serve as respiratory or lo- 
comotory organs, being divided up into 
many hairy leaves or flagella. When pre- 
sent the tail has no appendages, with the 
exception of its last joint, and the body is 
composed of a great number of segments. 

From olden time, these interesting crus- 
tacea have attracted both laymen and 
scientists, not only because of their pecu- 
liar biology (seasonal occurrence, etc.), 
but also because they have been considered 
as representing a very ancient type of 
crustacea, if not the origin of that numer- 
ous and widely distributed class. At any 
rate, fossil remains of these crustacea or 
similar forms have been found in deposits 
of great age; viz. Conchostraca from’ the 
Devonian, Notostraca from the Trias, and 

. the Anostraca from the Oligocene (Ter- 
tiary) on. 


The first important works on these crus- 
tacea were published by the Danish Zoo- 
logist O. F. Muller in the latter part of the 
18th century ; since then a great number of 
workers.in different countries have studied 
‘them very carefully, of whom G. Q. Sars 


- kett) and April, 


in Norway, W. Baird in England, C. C. 
Claus in Germany, E. Daday de Dées in 
France, and A. 8. Packard in the United 
States, have probably contributed most 
(see bibliography ). 


A. FAIRY-SHRIMPS. 


The first sub-order (super-family ) Anos- 
traca is easily distinguished from the two 
others by the lack of a shell (carapace) 
and by the elongated shape of the body, in 
which the head is distinctly marked off. 

The general form of these ‘‘fairy- 
shrimps’’ has been often described and 
may be assumed to be fairly well known, * 
so that only the essential -points need be 
referred to here. The head carries two 
pairs of feelers (antenne) of which the 
first pair is short and slender, but the se- 
cond pair much longer and stouter and is 
in the males extraordinarily developed as 
clasping organs (for use during copula- 
tion), and of greatly varied form often 
with accessory appendages, etc. On the 
front end of the head‘is situated a simple 
unpaired, median eye, remnant of the large 
nauplius-eye of the larval stage. More 
conspicuous, however, are the two large, 
composite eyes on short peduncles which 
are very movable and have brilliant, metal- 
lic colours. The mouth (on the under side) 
is supplied with various masticatory parts 
(maxille, mandibles, ete.), and behind 
them follows a greater (11 or 17-19) num- 
ber of ambulatory trunk-limbs, the foli- 
aceous, hairy legs, of which the first and 
last pairs are the shortest. They are admir- 


1 See Ottawa Naturalist, July, 1895 (A Hal- 
1890 (E. E. Prince). 


22 THE CANADIAN 


ably suited for propelling the animal, mov- 
ing consecutively, as grain stalks before the 
wind, but they have also respiratory im- 
portance, being subdivided into inner and 
outer parts, and even those far from the 
mouth have ‘‘gnatho-bases’’ (chewing 
parts), and pass along by their movements 
any food that is secured. The last pair is 
modified for reproductive purposes. The 
conspicuous genital organs mark the bound- 
ary between the prae- and the post- 
genital regions, both mostly of about the 
same length. With the ripe males the 
copulatory organ presents a mostly bifid, 
smaller bag; while with the females it is 
an oblong or more rounded (elliptical) 
sack containing, at the right time of the 
year, the eggs. The tail is mostly long and 


slender and consists of 8-9 joints; it ends’ 


in two fureal rami (cercopods), only ex- 
ceptionally united (Zhamnocephalus). 

Except when strongly colored the ani- 
mals are so transparent that the internal 
parts are to be seen plainly with a mag- 
nifying glass; most conspicuous is the long 
slender ‘‘heart’’ extending through nearly 
all the trunk-segments (somites) dorsally 
and with a pair of openings (ostia) on 
each of these. The alimentary canal is 
also conspicuous, owing to the food filling 
it out; it is seen stretching as an almost 
uniform tube to the end of the last tail 
segment, where it opens. The maxillary 
gland (excretion organ) is also conspi- 
cuous on the underside of the head (it is 
especially large in the younger stages) ; and 
in the males the white testes and their auxil- 
lary organs (vasa deferentia) are plainly 
seen in living individuals, though not so 
conspicuous as the female’s unripe (ovar- 
ial) or ripe eggs. Less conspicuous are 
the ladder-like nervous system (though the 
brain is large and well defined) and the 
little differentiated blood vessels. 


The fairy-shrimps have this in common 
with most of the crustacea, that their 
young stages are quite unlike the full- 
grown animals. The egg hatches into a 
larva, the so-called nauplius or metanau- 
plius. It is often only the size of a pin- 
head, but usually of a vivid, red color, and 
of an oval or pear-shape. The first pair 
of antenne is longer than in the full- 
grown individuals and pointed directly 
ahead ; they are probably used as balancing 


FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXV. 


more than as locomotory organs. Between 
them is the large median eye. There fol- 
lows the second pair of antenne greatly 
developed as the principal swimming or- 
gans and divided up into several long, 
spined branches. Of the mouth parts the 
mandibular-palps are the most developed 
and leg-like; they also help in swimming, 
having long hairs. The somites carrying 
the foliaceous legs are little differentiated, 
and the more posterior ones as yet only 
represented by hairy serrations on the 
under side of the ‘‘abdomen’’. No tail is 
yet present, the hind-end of the larva being 
rounded-tapering. These nauplii make up 
for their inconspicuous size by their vio- 
lent movements; they probably — subsist 
right after hatching for a time on the yolk 
they contain. 


The nauplius grows rapidly both in 
length and in the development of the ap- 
pendages and soon reaches the metanau-- 
plius stage, which is so-termed owing to the 
presence of larval and adult characters. 
Thus the second pair of antenne and the 
mandibular palps are still large and the 
principal swimming organs, and of the 
foliaceous legs and abdominal segments 
only the foremost are developed to any ex- 
tent and well marked off from the suc- 
ceeding ones The tail is short and clumsy 
and little differentiated from the abdomen, 
merely tapering from the latter. On the 
other hand there are now besides the me- 
dian nauplius eye two large composite 
eyes, though their peduncles are less pro- 
nounced than in the fullgrown individuals ; 
and the maxillary gland seems to reach its 
highest development (size) in the meta- 
nauplius stage. The more oblong shape of 
the whole body, the beginning differentia- 
tion and development of somites and foli- 
aceous legs and tail, and the proportions 
of the various appendages compared with 
the length of the whole animal, also make 
this stage very distinct from that of the 
nauplius. 


Gradually the metanauplii grow in 
length and take on the appearance of the 
adults. The foliaceous legs all become 
fully developed and assume their loco- 
motory duties, and simultaneously the 
second pair of antenne becomes more rudi- 
mentary (females) or transformed into the 
claspers (plus accessories) of the males. 


February, 1921.| THE CANADIAN 
The mouth-parts lose their former loco- 
motory functions and become limited to 
masticatory processes. The genital organs 
begin to appear and the tail grows rapidly 
in length, so that soon the shape of the 
adult is reached, and only the particular 
development of the claspers and the gen- 
ital organs remain. The eggs of the fairy 
shrimps apparently do not all hatch at the 
same time (day). I have observed how nau- 
plii and metanauplii or young and full- 
- grown individuals are present together in 
the same pond, though the great majority 
of the individuals are either in one stage 
or the other. 


The fairy-shrimps are of a transparent 
reddish, yellowish, blueish or greenish 
color, more pronounced on some parts 
of the animal than on others. Besides, cer- 
tain species, especially the females, have 
additional strong purple, violet, brownish 
or black colors in patterns characteristic 
for each species, though there is great 
variety in the intensity in the various indi- 
viduals. In the males the most strongly 
colored parts of the body are generally 
the claspers (second pair of antennz) and 
in the females the parts near the ovarium ; 
also the underside of the head, the foli- 
aceous legs and the tip of the tail in both 
sexes. The ripe.eggs have a strongly yel- 
low, orange or light brown color. 

The fairy-shrimps swim in the water with 
equal facility upon the belly or upon the 
back, according to whether their food is 
above or below them in the water. Loco- 
motion is accomplished by means of the 
foliaceous legs and by the long tail serving 
as a rudder; when disturbed they will 
make a sudden jerk with the tail and dart 
in one or the other direction. Where there 
is a strong current in the pond (lake) in 
which they live they will go with it though 
moving their foliaceous legs all the time; 
in quieter pools, the younger individuals es- 
pecially (metanauplii and slightly older 
ones) will float in the water belly down- 
wards with little apparent movement from 
place to place, if left undisturbed. Their 
food consists of smaller, aquatic inverte- 
brates (Cladocera, ete.), and I have often 
observed them ‘‘browsing’’ in the mud- 
bottom of the pond or among the green 
algae there. In return they form an im- 
portant item in the diet of certain aquatic 


I’ veELD-NATURALIST. 23 


insect larve (beetles, caddis-flies, ete.) or 
young fishes, against which they haye lit- 
tle other protection than their trans- 
parency. Just prior to and during the 
time the eggs are becoming ripe the fe- 
males generally carry the males around; 
the latter seize their mates around the 
genital somites dorsally with their claspers 
and retain their hold until the time of co- 
pulation is over. Then the males leave 
their ‘‘victim’’ for another female and 
repeat the process, which is perhaps a ne- 
cessary procedure as there are generally 
far more females than males of a certain 
species in the same pond. When the eggs 
have been laid they, so far as has been ob- 
served, rise to the surface of the water and 
float there until hatched, or if the pond 
dries up or freezes to the bottom they re- 
main (hibernate) in the mud until hatch- 
ing is possible, when the pond is again 
filled with water or its ice melts. As a 
matter of fact this desiccation or freezing 
(hibernation) of the eggs seems to be ne- 
cessary for their development (see Oftawa 
Naturalist, April, 1896, Prince). 

The sudden appearance of the fairy- 
shrimps is truly wonderful and has long 
puzzled students. Outside of the arctic 
they are generally found only in temporary 
pools or ponds, being hatched there in 
thousands as soon as the ice in the latter 
melts or when they are again filled with 
water. In the arctic and probably in 
mountain-lakes (ponds) at high elevation, 
say about 10,000 feet, where the conditions 
are similar, nauplii appear (hatch) im- 
mediately after the ponds melt (June), 
and the animals have thus a period of 3-4 
months in which to grow to maturity and 
deposit their eggs in-case the pond they 
are found in does not dry up before the 
water freezes and all, except the hibernat- 
ing eggs, are killed off by being frozen into 
the ice, or die a natural death. At more 
southern latitudes, however, and at lower 
elevations, the ponds in which they occur 
are far more likely to dry up; thus near 
Ottawa, Ontario, I have found the first 
ones in the middle of April*, when they 
(Eubranchipus gelidus) were about 1 em. 
long, thus young individuals probably 
hatched a couple of weéks before; the full- 


“= -See also Halkett’s observation, Ottawa 
Naturalist; July, 1895,-p. 89. mans 7953 


24 THE CANADIAN 
grown ripe individuals collected by A. G. 
Huntsman near Toronto, Ontario, in June 
1908, probably represent their last . ap- 
pearance in the summer. Young ones (3- 
10 mm.) were collected on April 10, 1920, 
near Toronto, Ontario; they therefore 
probably hatch earlier near Toronto than 
at Ottawa. Near Ottawa I have not ob- 
served them later than the month of May, 
and in all cases they were found only in 
temporary pools or canals caused by snow 
melting and the overflow of the Ottawa, 
Gatineau or Rideau Rivers in the spring. 
As to their occurrence in the United States 
I refer the reader to Packard’s and Ver- 
rill’s articles about them; it is sufficient 
here to state, that while certain species 
occur only in the winter and early spring, 
others are present both in the spring and 
in the fall, but not in the summer; while 
again others (Artemia) are found when 
the water is very warm. 

According to my own field observations 
during a period of three years along the 
arctic coast of north-western America I 
may safely state that there is only one 
‘“brood’’ (generation) per year in the arc- 
tic; the same is probably true of the sub- 
arctic zone of this continent; while in 
southern Canada and the United States 
two or more broods (generations) per year 
may occur; though the long time during 
which the ponds are dried up during the 
summer here probably restricts the num- 
ber of generations considerably. 

Apart from the enemies in (insects, 
fishes) and outside (birds) the water a 
great number of fairy-shrimps (and Notos- 
traca as well) are killed off prematurely 
in the summer or autumn by the drying up 
of (at least in the arctic) the particular 
small pond in which they live or by being 
thrown up along the margin of the part- 
icular lake by waves in windy weather, as 
I have repeatedly .observed in the arctic 
parts of America and Greenland. I have 
also observed how a great number of phy]l- 
lopods in the fall freeze into the ice as the 
latter begins to form and grows in thick- 
ness, though a number of individuals were 
living in the water right under the ice, 
even if there were only a few inches of free 
water. It will, therefore, be realized how 
important it is for the propagation of these 
animals, that they oceur in such vast num- 


Fretp-NATURALIST. 


. 


[Vol. XXY. 


bers and that the hatching of the eggs takes 
place almost immediately after the melt- 
ing of the pond or lake-ice in the spring, 
or after the autumn rains (absent in the 
arctic) have filled the dried up reservoirs 
in which the eggs are lying. - 

The fairy shrimps on this continent are 
divided into two groups (super-families) 
according to the number of their pre- 
genital, foliaceous body-legs. The one 
group (Polyartemiide) has 17 to 19 pairs 
of these while the other group (comprising 
the great majority of fairy-shrimps spe- 
cies) has only 11 pairs. 

To the first group belong two genera, of 
which one (Polyartemia, 19 pairs of foli- 
aceous legs) is not found in America, but 
a species (P. forcipata Fisch.), occurs in 
the aretic parts of Europe and Asia, both 
in Seandinavia and Siberia and probably 
also in the intervening arctic part of Rus- 
sia*. Its biology, structure and develop- 
ment have been given in detail by G. O. 
Sars, in Fauna Norwegiae, 1896, pp. 59-65. 

The genus found in America is Polyar- 
temtella, so-called owing to its similarity to 
Polyartenia, from which it, however, is 
distinguished by having two pairs less of 
foliaceous legs. Curiously enough the 
genus Polyartemiella seems to be limited 
to the arctic and subarctic parts of Alaska 
and Yukon Territory, and thus resembles 
somewhat the freshwater Amphipod Synu- 
rella. In the same way as S. johanseni has 
its nearest relatives in Europe and Asia, 
so have also the two known species of 
Polyartemiella their nearest relative in the 
Eurasian form Polyartemia mentioned 
above. Considering their respective dis- 
tribution we may perhaps assume, that 
both Synurella and Polyartemia have their 
original home in Eurasia, and have spread 
from there to the northwest corner of 
America, where then the latter genus be- 
came transformed in the course of time to 
the only slightly different genus Polyarte- 
miella. This invasion of America took 
place perhaps via a former land-connection 
between Siberia and Alaska, a view which 
is supported by the fact, that one of the 
Polyartemiella species (P. judayi) has been 
found upon at least some of the islands in 
the Bering Sea (De Dées). 


3. Recorded from Novaja Semlja (Hansen), 


February, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 

The males of the two Polyartemiella 
species are easily distinguished by their 
claspers. In one (P. hazeni Murdoch) the 
claspers are big, antler-like processes with 
four branches: in the other (P. judayi, De 
Dées), they are more like fish-hooks (or 
sickles) and three branched, thus more like 
those of Polyartemia. 

The first named species, about 1 cm. long, 
was originally discovered by Murdoch of 
the International Polar Expedition in 
tundra pools at Point Barrow, Alaska, in 
the middle of July, 1882, and described and 
figured by him in the reports of the said 
expedition p. 150. A better description 
and figure of it has later been given by De 
Dées, p. 106-07, (1910); according to 
Pearse * it also occurs at other places along 
the arctic coasts of Alaska and Yukon Ter- 
ritory. It has hitherto not been found east 
of the Mackenzie River. During the Can- 
adian Arctic Expedition I secured in tundra 
ponds at Teller (Port Clarence), Alaska, 
a couple of males and half a dozen females 
of apparently the same species in the be- 
ginning of August, 1913. .They differ in 
various points from Murdoch’s deserip- 
tion, but a full account and figures of them 
will be given in the reports of the Can- 
adian Arctic Expedition (Vol. VII, Part 
G.) to which I refer. 


Polyartemiella judayi (about 12 mm.) 
was originally described by De Dées in An- 
nales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris, 9th 
series, Vol. XI, 1910, p. 108-11, from spe- 
cimens collected by Dr. Juday on the Pri- 
bilof Islands in Bering Sea. I did not 
myself find this species in Alaskay and as 
is the case with the other species (P. ha- 
zent) little is known about the life history, 
the young stages not having been secured 
as yet, though both sexes are known. ° 

The genus Polyartemiella thus seems to 
be limited to the arctic and subarctic parts 
of northwest America, west of Mackenzie 
River. 

To the second group of fairy-shrimps 
(those with 11 pairs of foliaceous legs) 


4 Polyartemiella hanseni (Murdoch) coll. by 
J. M. Jessup at Muskeg Lake, lat. 69° 40’ N., 
long. 141° W., July 25, 1912, and at Muskeg 
pools on flood plain of Firth River, lat. 69°20’ 
N., long. 141° W., June 23, 1912 (Pearse, 
1918). ° ; 


5 The females are a few millimeters longer 
than the males. 


FreLtp-NATURALIST. 29 


belong three or four families, of which 
only two have been recorded from Canada 
and one of these latter also from Alaska. 
The characters separating the families are 
not very good, because they are mainly the 
appendages (claspers and accessories) on 
the head of the ripe males, and even two 
species belonging to the same genus are ex- 
tremely different in this respect. I, there- 
fore, do not find it necessary to give the 
distinctions between the families here, be- 
yond mentioning, that the genus Thamno- 
cephalus, which occurs in the middle parts 
of the United States (Kansas, Colorado, 
ete.), is very distinct from “all the other 
fairy-shrimps belonging to this group,* by 
reason of the fusion of the post-genital 
segments and the cereopods. 

Probably the most widely distributed of 
all fairy-shrimps is the circumpolar form 
Branchinecta paludosa O. F. Miiller. It 
reaches a length of 2 em., and the male 
claspers are fairly simple (though when 
the animals are ripe, well developed), con- 
sisting of a stout and long, cylindrical 
basal part with a row of short spines on 
their inner margin, and when fully deve- 
loped, a little longer, more slender, triang- 


ular and falciform, apical part (joint). 
The protruding parts of the male genita- 


lia are thick, arcuated and paired (bifid), 
while the ovisae of the female is very long, 
slender and thickest near its free rounded 
end. 

This species was first described by Otto 
Fabricius from West Greenland as Cancer 
stagnalis (Fauna Groenlandica, p. 247, 
1780), and much confusion was caused by 
his thinking it was the same as Linnaeus’ 
species of the same name from Europe, and 
by O. F. Miller in his Zoologia Danica II, 
ealling it Cancer paludosus, in the belief 
that it was the same genus as the species 
(Branchipus stagnalis), occurring upon the 
continent of Europe and first recorded by 
Linnaeus as Cancer stagnalis. It was 
finally established as being the cireumpo- 
lar, arctic form Branchinecta paludosa by 
Verrill. It is distributed from Alaska to 
Greenland in the new world, and in Eura- 
sia it has been recorded from northern 
Seandinavia, Spitsbergen, Novaja Semlja 
and Siberia. Curiously enough it has not 
yet been found in East Greenland. Another 
species (B. gainit) of the same genus was 
found by Charcot in the Antarctic. 


26 

As to the southern boundary of the dis- 
tribution of B. paludosa on this continent 
little is known; but the records of it from 
Commander Islands, Siberia (Lilljeborg, 
and the Pribilofs (U.S.N.M.) indicate that 
it is found at least upon some (western?) 
of the Aleutian Islands). Also, some young 
ones were collected by J. M. Jessup in a 
puddle at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, 
June 7, 1912 (Pearse, 1918). I did not 
observe it at Nome or Teller, Alaska, but 
it was found by Murdoch at Pomt Barrow 
in the same pools as Polyartemiella hazem. 
I found it very common along the coast 
from Camden Bay to Demareation Point, 
Alaska, and-also on Herschel Island, Yukon 
Territory, in the summer (June-August) 
of 1914. It was also collected by J. M. 
Jessup in Muskeg Lake (lat. 69°40’°N. long. 
141°W) on July 25, 1912 (Pearse, 1913). 
We mary, therefore, perhaps assume that 1t 
occurs over the whole of Alaska and the 
Yukon Territory, except the southern part 
of the former, at a certain time of the year, 
and where suitable ponds or lakes are pre- 
sent. Dr. J. Rae brought back from Cape 
Krusenstern, Dolphin and Union Strait, 
Northwest Territory, some fragments of 
both sexes collected in August, 1849; they 
were referred by W. Baird to this species. 
According to the great number of observa- 
tions and collections of this species by me 
in 1914-16 in this locality (Bernard Har- 
bour) there can hardly be any doubt about 
it, an opinion also expressed by Verrill and 
Packard. It was further secured (Sars) 
by the ‘‘Gjoea’’ Expedition (Amundsen) 
on the south side of King William Land, 
in 1904 and 1905; by the ‘‘Neptune’’ Ex- 
pedition at Fullerton on the west side of 
Hudson Bay in 1903-04; by Turner in pools 
on rocks at Fort Chimo, Ungava; by Pac- 
kard in August, 1864, and by Bryant in 
1908. at Hamilton Inlet in Labrador; by 
the Second Norwegian Arctic Expedition 
on Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Land, in 
1898-99: by Hart at Discovery Bay (lat. 
81°41’N.) and by the Princeton Expedi- 
tion, 1899, at Cape Sabine, on the west 
side of Grinnell Land. In west Greenland 
it has furthermore been recorded from a 
number of places up to Polaris Bay (about 
lat. 82°N.), where it was taken by Bessels 
in August 1872, (Packard), and on Nor- 
thumberland Island, (Ortman). There 
can therefore be little doubt that it occurs 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. KXV. 


upon all the islands composing the Can- 
adian Arctic Archipelago. 

The structure and biology of this species 
has been so well treated and figured by G. 
O. Sars in his monumental work (1896) 
that I need only refer briefly to the life- 
history. The additional observations I was ° 
fortunate to make during my stay along 
the arctic coast of northwest America with 
the southern party of the Canadian Arctic 
Expedition 1913-16, will be found in the 
reports of the said expedition (Volume 
VII, Part G). Suffice it to say that its 
whole life-history is now known, because I 
secured in the north still earler stages than 
Sars’ metanauplii (see his Tab. VIII) and 
actually succeeded in rearing in the spring 
the nauplii from hibernating eggs kept all 
through the winter. Its life-history ‘ is, 
therefore, the following, at least in the 
arctic part of northwest America. The 
hibernating eggs frozen in the ice, hatch 
out a little after the latter melts in the 
spring or early summer (June), and the 
nauplii and metanauplii continue to grow 
until at the end of July or beginning of 
August they are sexually ripe. The copu- 
lation and laying of the eggs then takes 
place during August and part of September, 
until the water freezes and kills them all 
except the eggs. Apparently, however, a 
great number of the adults die a natural 
death from the middle of August on, pre- 
sumably when copulation and egg-laying 
is over. That they are also killed off by 
other causes (enemies, waves, drying up 
of the ponds) has already been referred 
to. The earliest records in the year I have 
from this coast is Chantry Island, June 
17, 1916, (a couple of nauplii and many 
metanauplii), and the latest record is adults 
of both sexes from Bernard Harbour, Aug- 
ust 28, 1915 (specimens kept). 

Mr. A. Halkett writes in his field-notes 
from the ‘‘Neptune’’ Expedition, that 
female phyllopods of this species (identi- 
fied by Prof. G. O. Sars of Christiania, 
and by me) were collected in ponds at Ful- 
lerton on the west side of Hudson Bay as 
late as the end of October and the begin- 
ning of November, 1903. The water-depth 
of one of the ponds was about seven feet, 
and they were then all covered by ice, | 
which in the last days of October was of a 
thickness of about one foot. The temper- 
ature of the air was about zero, and_that 


February, 1921. ] 


of the water around freezing-point. The 
_ water on testing showed to be slightly sa- 
line, though used for drinking-purposes. 
Since my return from the expedition I 
received from Professor A. Willey, of 
McGill University, Montreal, P.Q., six adult 
branchipods (4 females, 2 males) which so 
far as I can see belong to this species. They 
were collected in a pond eut off from the 
river at Point St. Charles, near Montreal 
in May-June about 20 years ago. Profes- 
sor Willey informs me that they have not 
been observed in that locality since. They 
were about 2 cm. long, and the females had 
_ripe eggs in the brood-pouch. This is cer- 


tainly a most extraordinary record, and ° 


quite at variance with what one should ex- 
pect—to find this circumpolar form at 
Montreal. The species has been recorded 
from the Carpathians (De Dées), so it 
would be far more natural to expect to 
find it in the Rocky Mountains than in the 
lowlands of the St. Lawrence River. How- 
ever, the shape of the male. claspers, their 
rows of spines, the oblong ovisac of the 
females, etc., makes me feel confident the 
specimens belong to B. paludosa. The 
eggs were perhaps brought with a ship 
returning from Labrador or other part of 
the eastern arctic and then developed when 
the snow melted in the spring. My identi- 
fication of these specimens from Montreal 
has been verified by Professor A. S. Pear- 
se, of Wisconsin University (letter to me 
of March 29, 1920). 

In Europe this species has been record- 
ed from high altitudes in the Carpathians, 
but the above record from Montreal, Que., 
is the only instance known of its occur- 
rence on this continent outside the arctic 
or sub-arctic regions. 

A couple of other Branchinecta species 
are found in the middle United States, but 
have so far not been recorded from Can- 
ada or Alaska, and are not likely to occur 
here, though one of them (B. coloradensis) 
is perhaps an arctic relict form, being 
found only in ponds and pools on the 
highest mountains (above 10,000 feet) in 

' Colorado. ° 

Nor has the interesting fairy-shrimp Ar- 
temia salina (A. fertilis, A. gracilis, A. mo- 
nica), known from many parts of Europe, 


6 The eggs of this species are unusually 
large. 


THE Canapian FrYevp-Naturauisv. PA | 


West Greenland and some of the States, 
(Connecticut, Utah, California), and in 
lower California, been found in Canada so 
far.’ Much has been written about this 
species as to its sudden occurrence in salt 
lakes, and in railway tubs filled with brine, 
where it can withstand more than 270 
grains of salt per litre, and where its red 
color increases in intensity with that of 
the salinity of the water. This is also the 
species to which the common European 
form Branchipus stagnalis (B. feroxr) trans- 
formed by degrees when the salinity of the 
water in which it occurred was increased, 
as also the reverse oceurred when the water 
was diluted, according to Schmankevitsch’s 
investigations. On this continent, how- 
ever, Branchipus stagnalis does not occur 
(the species mentioned in Ottawa Natura- 
list, July, 1895, and April, 1896, is almost 
certainly Eubranchipus gelidus Hay), 
and so far as I know the experiments re- 
ferred to above have not been successful 
over here, though there are apparently no 
generally accepted characters separating 
the genus Artemia from that of Branchi- 
necta or Branchipus. 

Of the genus Eubranchipus half a dozen 
species are known on this continent, the 
majority of them only from the United 
States, though all from the northern and 
middle States, and none from the west. 
Only one species (E. gelidus Hay) has so 
far been found in Canada and Alaska, but 
at least some of the others may well be 
found to occur in the Dominion, as they 
are known from New England to Wiscon- 
sin south of the boundary line, and one 
species (HE. vernalis Verr.) has a very wide 
distribution. Perhaps the most widely dis- 
tributed species is EF, gelidus, which has 
so far been recorded from Massachusetts, 
New York and Indiana in the States and 
from Ontario and Yukon Territory in Can- 
ada; it also occurs in Alaska. For records 
in Yukon Territory and Alaska see Pearse, 
1913. It is extremely common around Ot- 
tawa in the spring, and occurs on the Que- 
bee as well as on the Ontario side of the 
Ottawa River. There can be little doubt 
but that this is the species A. Halkett ob- 
served in 1893 and 1894 at New Edin- 
burgh, Ontario, (Ottawa Naturalist, July, 


7 It may occur in Southern Ontario or Que- 
bec, judging from its presence in Connecticut. 


28 THe CANADIAN 


1895). Apparently he did not preserve the 
specimens, but it is the only fairy-shrimp 
have found oceurring around here. The 
female .especially is easily distinguished 
from the other species belonging to this 
genus, having the ninth and tenth body 
segments produced into lateral, triangular 
processes dorsally, probably serving for 
copulatory purposes. The ovisae is broad 
and elliptical and contains about a dozen 
ripe, yellow-brown eggs. When the animal 
is swimming it is continually moving from 
side to side, so the eggs roll around inside. 
The clasping antenne of the male are some- 
what claw-shaped with a’ short swollen 
basal part supplied with two medio-ven- 
tral, short spines, and a more slender and 
longer terminal part with bifid tip. Twice 
as long, however, are a pair of accessory 
organs at the base of these antennex (clas- 
pers) dorsally, in the shape of broad, lob- 
ated appendages which we may suppose 
are used for ‘‘tickling’’, or twisted around 
the female’s body during copulation. The 
protruding male genitalia is a bifid sack 
ending in two pointed appendages. 


These fairy shrimps attain a size of 134 
em. in May-June, when they are ripe, and 
vary greatly in color, the females espe- 
cially having much rose-orange, blue and 
black-brown pigmentation; but my obser- 
vations regarding the colors of the many 
individuals I have examined are too de- 
tailed to be included here. The paired eyes 
are dark purple and the tips of the cer- 
copods white; the latter color shows up 
very conspicuously when the animals swim 
in the water. Of this species I have exa- 
mined specimens from the following Can- 
adian localities. 

Montreal West, P. Que., May 5, 1920, A. 
Willey, coll., adult male and female, the 
latter with eggs. 

De Grassi Point, Lake Simcoe, Ont., May 
10, 1915 and May 6, 1917, E. M. Walker, 
coll., 27 adults ,12 males, 15 females, 1-134 
em. long. 


Searborough Junction (Toronto), Ont., 
June, 1908, A. G. Huntsman, coll, 11 
adults (5 males, 6 females), 1144, 134 cm. 
long (see Natural History of Toronto Re- 
gion 1913, p. 275). 

Ponds near Bond Lake, Toronto, Ont., 
(York County), April 10, 1920, A. G. 


FIELD-NATURALIST. - 


[Vol. XXV. 


Huntsman, coll., (young stages, 3-10 mm. 
long, immature). 


Around Ottawa I have collected them in 
temporary pools or canals at various pla- 
ces, at Hull Park, near Fairy Lake, Des- 
chenes and Tenaga (Gatineau River), on 
the Quebec side, and at various points (Bil- 
lings Bridge and Hartwell Locks) along - 
the Rideau River on the Ontario side. 
Around Ottawa the nauplii hatch soon 
after the melting of the snow and the 
breaking up of the rivers, and the pools 
they occur in are literally teeming with 
them. They are found in pools on open 
fields or pastures as well as in the woods; 
already at the end of April they are % 
em. long and the females carry their light 
brown eggs in the sack. The smallest num- 
ber I have seen in one pool is % dozen, 
which were collected on April 20, 1919. I 
tried to keep a dozen,of them, (4 males, 9 
females) alive in a jar. The next day, 
however, two of the females and three of 
the males died; before the first of May 
the last male and a couple of the females 
died, during the beginning of May the rest 
of the females died except one which lived 
until May 7th. It will thus be seen, that 
these animals are more hardy than is gen- 
erally supposed, especially the females; no 
food was given them while they were kept 
in confinement. I observed, that one se- 
cond elapsed between two succeeding turn- 
ings-over of the egg-sack from right to 
left, or the reverse, when the female is 
swimming; the movement is apparently for 
the purpose of bathing the enclosed eggs 
in the water passing in and out of the egg- 
sack. May or June is probably the last 
month in which they are present in 
southern Ontario and Quebec; from July 
on all the pools in which I have observed 
them earlier in the summer are dried up 
and the deposited eggs remain in the bot- 
tom, probably hatching the following 
spring. ; 

Prof. O’Donoghue, of the University of 
Manitoba, tells me in a letter (June, 1920) 
that ‘‘a species of Branchipus, or more 
probably an Eubranchipus *) is fairly com- 
mon all around Winnipeg, on both sides of — 
the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, as a rule 


8 Probably E. Gelidus. (F. J.) 


February, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 


in the pools 
melts...”’ 
On June 1, 1920 Dr. A. G. Huntsman, 
of Toronto, collected twelve specimens of 
Eubranchipus gelidus in shallow sloughs 
near Wetaskiwin, Alberta (near Edmon- 
ton). One of these is an adult male, the 
others are females, mostly adults, and with 
ripe eggs. 

Together with the Streptocephalus col- 
oradensis (see below) these are the first 
records of fairy-shrimps from western Can- 
ada. 

On the Canadian Arctic Expedition I 
found in a large shallow pond on top of a 
ridge at Bernard Harbour, N.W.T., a num- 
ber of fairy shrimps (both sexes) of a pe- 
culiar species, (Artemiopsis Stefanssonic) 
not known before. Another species (A. 
bungei Sars) is known from Siberia and 
the New Siberian Islands. The new spe- 
cies will be described and figured in detail 
in the reports from the said expedition 
(Vol. VII, Part G), so I need only give a 
summary of my observations on it here. I 
first observed it on October 6, 1915, in a 
one foot deep pond which then had seven 
inches of ice covering it, but in spite of 
this the fairy shrimps were very active. In 
size they were from seven to eleven mm. 
long, the females being generally a little 
longer than the males, but all were appa- 
rently adult and ripe. They belong to the 
group of fairy shrimps with eleven pairs 
of progenital limbs, and the male had its 
claspers in the form of powerful, sickle- 
shaped, terminal parts (with two. spines 
projecting some distances from their tips), 
projecting from a swollen basal part, be- 
sides somewhat spiral shaped protruding 
genital organs, while the female had a very 
large elliptical egg-sack with olive-brown 
eggs and a couple of curved processes pro- 
jecting laterally from the dorsal side of the 
genital segments. Especially do these fe- 
male characters remind one decidedly of 
Embranchipus gelidus, but the shape of the 
male claspers and genitalia, together with 
the absence of accessory copulatory organs 
(frontal processes, ete.), distinguish them 
at a glance. In color the males were paler 
than the females, the latter were orange- 
red-brown and transparent posteriorly. 
When found these fairy shrimps were 
mostly in coitu, the males holding the fe- 


formed 


where the snow: 


Frevp-NATURALIST. 29 


males by their claspers dorsally just above 
the egg-sack and aiding them in locomo- 
tion.’ Males not in copula would soon at- 
tack one of the females, which were pre- 
sent in larger numbers than the males, 
and remain with her as long as copulation 
lasted. I kept these fairy’shrimps alive 
for some days in a jar, but finally they 
all died, nor did I have any success in try- 
ing to rear the eggs during the winter and 
next spring. What is apparently the ma- 
tanauplii (2-3mm.) of this species I found 
next summer (July 3, 1916) in the same 
pond; at that date the Branchinecta palu- 
dosa metanauplii were considerably larger, 
so apparently the new species is somewhat 
later (a couple of weeks) in its develop- 
ment (hatching). On the other hand it 
lasts longer in the fall, no Branchinecta 
being met with after the freshwater freezes 
in September on this coast, while the other 
fairy shrimp, as mentioned, was secured as 
late as the end of the first week of October. 
Owing to the shallowness of the pond, how- 
ever, they probably would not live many 
days longer, but be killed off when the 
water froze to the bottom before the middle 
of the month. I only found the new spe- 
cies in the pond mentioned, and the locality 
(Bernard Harbour) is the only one in 
which it has been met with so far. In this 
connection it is interesting to note that De 
Dées (1910) says in his account of the 
Siberian species (A. bungei) of the same 
genus, that it apparently can withstand a 
very cold water (about 1° Réamur), and 
at least some of the specimens were secured 
on October 10 (1886). This conforms re- 
markably well with my observations on the 
new Canadian arctic species (A. Stefans- 
soni. ) 

Dr. A. G. Huntsman of Toronto has re- 
cently sent me four adult (about 24% em. 
long) fairy-shrimps, one female, the rest 
males, which he collected on June 11, 1920, 
in shallow sloughs, three miles northeast of 
Medicine Hat, Alta. I have identified them 
as Streptocephalus coloradensis Dodds, and 
Prof. A. S. Pearse of the University of 
Wisconsin has verified my determination 
of this as of other uncommon Canadian 
Phyllopods. These Streptocephalus oe- 
curred together with Lepidurus couesii, 


9 Though the principal swimming was done 
by the female. “ 


30 THe CANADIAN FIeELD-NATURALIST. 


and the two ‘‘clam-shrimps’’, Estheria 
mexicana and Limnetis gouldu. The fem- 
ale had ripe eggs in its long, tapering *° 
ovisac, and the three males had the copula- 
tory organs well developed. This is the 
first record of this family in Canada; it 
is known in the United States only from 
Colorado, from which state it was origin- 
ally deseribed and figured by Dodds in 
1916. The family (and genus) is char- 
acterized by the male having very long, 
tortuous and three-jointed claspers (se- 
cond antenne), with partienlarly the .ter- 
minal joint subdivided into branches and 


10 Thus from the female B. 


paludosa. 


distinguished 


[Vol. XXV. 


appendages (see figure by Cockerell, 
1912). The male has the protruding geni- 
talia rather small and slender; while with 
the female the second pair of antenne 
hardly exceeds the first pair in length. 
This new Canadian record makes it very 
probable that the species also occurs in 
Wyoming and Montana.. In Colorado it 
occurs, according to Dodds (Proe. U. 8. N. 
M. Vol. 49), on. the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains (Eldorado and Fort Col- 
lins), up to an elevation of almost 9,000 
feet. The new record at Medicine Hat 
(which les at an elevation of about 2,135 
feet) apparently gives the lowest known 
altitude of the occurrence of the species. 
(To be concluded.) 


SOME NOTES ON THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 


By Pror. Wiuu1AM Rowan, UNIVERSITY oF ALBERTA, EDMONTON. 


The following notes were obtained at 
the new Biological Station of the Man- 
itoba University on the shores of Indian 
Bay, Shoal Lake, Lake of the Woods, Man., 
between the 15th of June and the 4th of 
August 1920. The Biological Station is 
placed in the wildest scenery right on the 
shores of the bay, 100 miles east of Win- 
nipeg. Most of the intervening country 
is muskeg and little of it is settled. The 
University buildings consist of two bunga- 
lows, and there are half a dozen other 
buildings inhabited by employees of the 
Greater Winnipeg Water District and 
hands connected with the little private 
railway which supplies them with food 
and weekly mail bag. The birds were 
therefore studied in a comparatively un- 
disturbed and natural environment. 

The shores of the lake are entirely rocky 
and thickly clothed with trees, mainly 
poplars. The scores of islands in Shoal 
Lake are similarly of solid rock, covered 
with extremely dense vegetation. On our 
arrival the nesting sites of the Kingfisher, 
one of the most abundant birds, was a 
problem, for even his colossal beak is use- 
less when it comes to working in rock. No 
amount of searching or watching from the 
canoe along the banks revealed a single 
nesting hole. The continual passage, how- 
ever, of Kingfishers from the shores of 
the lake to the banks of a large gravel pit 
—a relic of the water works operations— 


put us on the right track and on the third 
day we had found the first nest. The holes 
are so characteristic that, having found 
one, others were easy, and a half hour’s 
search revealed nearly a dozen nests in 
the two banks. The pit is about a quarter 
of a mile in length and some hundred yards 
across and the banks are mainly of soft 
sand. The only other birds nesting in 
holes here are Rough-Winged Swallows, 
and of these there is but one small colony 
with their little holes characteristically 
close to one another. The Kingfisher’s 
holes are much larger, being six or seven 


inches across, and all are at the tops of the 
banks. Some are old, others in use. The 
latter can immediately be detected by the 
curious double track of the two feet of the 
parents worn into the soft sand and run- 
ning from the entrance inwards. There is 
no offensive smell however, and no filth 
oozing out, two characteristics of some other 
species of Kingfisher. The burrow is as a 
rule between two and three feet in length, 
horizontal and straight. The terminal 
chamber is very roomy, as indeed it must 
be to hold the seven or eight large young. 
It is invariably sunk beneath the level of 
the run, and if dug out is found to have 
the wall dripping and reeking with filth. 
The young, when ready to fly, have an ex- 
tremely offensive smell, their breast and 
belly feathers being plastered together 
with caked sand. , 


February, 1921.]} 


One or two exceptions to the straight 
run were found in cases where the birds 
had struck a large root far in while bur- 
rowing. If this should happen early in the 
proceedings the hole is apparently aband- 
oned. Small roots are broken and cleared 
out. No fish bones were found in any of 
the chambers examined. 


This sand pit, a quarter of a mile from 
the lake, was the favourite nesting ground. 
One or two burrows were found in the soft 
humus and leaf mould covering the islands, 
but these were all comparatively short. In 
one case there were no less than three at- 
tempted and abandoned holes round the 
successful one, either big roots or rock 
having formed an impassible barrier. Other 
nests were found in small sand pits dug 
in various parts of the forest. Some of 
these were a mile from the lake and mea- 
sured but a few yards across with the 
banks only 18 inches high. Nearly all 
held a single Kingfisher family and each 
had one or two holes used in previous 
years. 

Most of the eggs had hatched by the 
time of our arrival. A full clutch appears 
to consist of eight, the average size being 
3.43 x 2.64 centimetres. It is hard to 
tell one end from the other. 

The fledging period is very long, prob- 
ably more than five weeks. The young are 
blind when first hatched and remain so 
for at least a week. At about a fortnight 
they are bristling with quills, which, dur- 
ing the third week, almost simultaneously 
‘‘burst into bloom’’. A family of seven 
was photographed at the end of about the 
fourth week. A week later they left the 
nest one by one, two days elapsing be- 
tween the departure of the first and the 
last. They were escorted almost at once 
to the lake. During the second week of 
July the lake’s edge was alive with single 
young, scattered here and there, sitting 
stupidly by themselves or chasing a parent 
for food. A week later each family was 
reuniting and the young beginning to fish 
for themselves. I have seen four young 
and an adult on a single perch, the young 
presumably taking fishing lessons. . 

In the nest the young ‘‘churr’’ when 
hungry. This resembles the adult rattle, 
except that it is very much faster and on a 
minute scale. The young can produce the 


THE CANADIAN Frevp-NATURALIST. 31 


adult edition at an early age if taken trom 
the nest and sufficiently aroused. As with 
the British Kingfisher, the hind toe is kept 
tightly pressed against the back of the leg 
during the fledging period. The legs are 
flesh coloured. 


The Belted Kingfisher is a decidedly 
noisy bird. No matter whether disturbed 
by human beings, other mammals or the 
larger raptors it always rattles loud and 
long. When the young have just left the nest 
and are being taught their trade, the old 
birds are at their noisiest. At the nest 
there are always one or two favourite per- 
ches on which the birds may settle before 
going to the hole. These are usually at 
the top of some tall tree. Nearly always the 
bird lands there to the accompaniment of 
a loud tattoo, whether there is danger in 
sight or not. Their attitudes in perching 
vary of course, but I should say the most 
characteristic is with the tail, which is 
often flicked up, held level, and the rag- 
ged crest partially erect. This ornament 
always looks patehy when raised. It is 
thicker, or seemingly so in the young, the 
feathers being shorter and stouter. The 
adult plumages are too well known to need 
description. The juvenile female has the 
flanks more freely sprinkled with brown 
then the young male. Both have the grey 
chest band tipped with brown. Some of 
the young males show decided indications 
of the brown lower chest band of the 
female, but this is a variable feature. The 
percentage of males per brood appears to 
be considerably higher than females. 

The food consists mainly of fish, though 
crayfish, abundant in the shallow edges, 
are extensively eaten and are also fed to 
the young. They are taken whole to the 
nest. Fish, if big, are held in the middle 
and slapped on a braneh till dead or stun- 
ned. Fishing is mainly done after the 
manner of Terns, the Kingfishers hovering 
in the air and then diving; but they also 
commonly dive from perches, though I 
have only seen erayfish obtained in this 
way. Owing to the rocky nature of the 
lake’s edge, suitable perches are few, and 
these are in continual use. Both birds hunt 
for the young (and I believe take turns at 
incubation), and I have seen the cock bring 
food for the hen when she was brooding 


the newly hatched young. 


* 


= 
* 


oe 
32 


THE CANADIAN 


Photographing the birds entering and 
leaving the nest was attempted but with 
scant success owing to the disappointing 
qualities of the only so-called fast plates 
available when we left Winnipeg. Despite 
the most brilliant sunshine a bird photo- 
grapher could wish for, an exposure of 
1/10th second at an aperture of F6 was 
the shortest possible to get a decently ex- 
posed negative. The movements of the 
bird were far too quick for such a time 
exposure. The heat of the little sandpit in 
the full glare ofthe July sun (shade tem- 
perature 90deg. odd) was almost unbear- 
able, perspiration dripping steadily off 


Frevp-NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 
every inch of one’s body during the whole 
of the timé in the blind. Ants were count- 
less, a hearty biting variety; ‘‘bulldogs’”’ 
and other flies took each their ounce of 
flesh at frequent intervals; mosquitoes in 
their batallions bit through shirt and trou- 
sers alike, yet movement was impossible. 
The birds proved good subjects, both male 
and female bringing food to the half- 
grown young at regular intervals of about 
half an hour, but owing to the poor plates 
the camera was given up in disgust and 
most of the three or four days spent in the 
hide were devoted to observation and 
sketching. 


THE KING versus RUSSEL C. CLARK. 


This case has attracted such wide at- 
tention among naturalists, sportsmen, and 
all who are interested in the conservation 
of the Wild Life of the continent that a 
summary of it is not out of place here. If 
any reader desires the full text of the de- 
cision it may be obtained from the Com- 
missioner, Canadian National 
Branch, Ottawa. 

On March 31, 1920, Russell C. Clark was 
apprehended near Mount Stewart, P.E.LI., 
by P. G. Rowe, a migratory Bird Warden. 
At the time Mr. Clark had in his posses- 
sion a boat, a shot-gun, and fourteen Can- 
ada Geese. He was tried before a local 
magistrate and the case dismissed. 

Then the case came before the Supreme 
Court of Prince Edward Island on an ap- 
peal from the dismissal. 

It was suggested by the defence that the 
Migratory Birds Convention Act was ultra 
vires the Federal Legislature as regards 
birds found in the province of Prince Ed- 
ward Island, they being the property of 
the Province, and the question being raised 
was considered. 

The judgment of the court states in part 
that this Act was passed to give effect to 
a Treaty for the Protection of Migratory 
sirds which traverse Canada and _ the 
('nited States, the title whereof is not con- 
sidered vested in any particular part of 
either country. 

The Treaty determines certain close sea- 
sons and it is by it agreed that appropriate 
legislation for insuring its execution should 
be enacted by the law-making bodies of the 
High Contracting Powers. This has been 


Parks - 


done by the Federal Parliament in the Act 
of 7, 8, George V, thus performing an obli- 
gation of this Dominion arising under a 
Treaty between the Empire and a foreign 
power. 


Under the British North America Act, 
1867, the Parliament of Canada is given 
exclusive power to make laws in this res- 
pect. 


It is pointed out in the judgment that 
similar legislation has been enacted by an 
Act of Congress of the United States of 
America, and in the case the State of Mis- 
souri, Appellant, and Ray P. Holland, 
United States Game Warden, the Supre- 
me Court of the United States held that 
the Migratory Birds named in the Act 
were only transitorily within any State, 
having no permanent habitat therein, and 
that they could be protected by national 
action in concert with that of another 
power. 


The judgment goes on to state that the 
Canada Goose is indisputably a migratory 
bird traversing the Continent of America 
from the frozen North to the Gulf of Mexi- 
co and that it is only at certain seasons 
to be found in any particular part thereof. 

Uniform protection for such birds is not 
possible for any Provincial Legislature 
although the killing and sale of such birds — 
as between the Province and its people may 
be regulated by the Provincial Legislature. 
Uniform protection for these birds ean 
only be accomplished ‘‘by national action — 
in concert with another power’’ and here 
the Supreme Court of Prince Edward 


February, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 
Island quotes from the decision of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. 

_ The decision is summed up with a state- 
ment to the effect that the Migratory Birds 
Convention Act is intra vires of the Dom- 
inion Parliament under the general power 
of the Federal Parliament to make laws for 
the order and good government of Canada 
as well as under its power to carry out 
Treaty obligations by legislation and any 
conflicting Provincial Legislation is abrog- 
ated by it. 


FieLp-NATURALIST. 


s* 
—~ 
ww 


The magistrate’s order for dismissal was 
set aside and the appeal allowed with costs. 
Under this decision Mr. Clark’s gun was 
forfeited, a fine of $10.00 imposed, and he 
had to pay the court costs. 

It will be of interest to those concerned 
in the protection of the birds of the Con- 
tinent to learn from this decision that the 
Federal Legislation for bird protection in 
Canada is legally sound. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AS A FACTOR 


The occurrence of fossil vertebrates 
massed together in considerable numbers 
‘in restricted areas is a familiar fact to ex- 
perienced collectors. These aggregations 
are usually spoken of as bone beds or quar- 
ries by collectors of fossils. Various theo- 
ries have been proposed to account for the 
surprising abundance of vertebrate remains 
in certain quarries and their absence or 
scarcity outside these limited areas. Dif- 
ferent kinds of bone beds* evidently re- 
quire different explanations. 

In the case of bone beds in which only 
a single species or closely associated spe- 
cles are present, the accumulation of the 
remains of numerous individuals may be 
explained by the peculiar behavior of some 
animals of the present time on the approach 
of death from starvation or freezing. Such 
bone beds appear to be common in the 
Cretaceous. Mr. C. M. Sternberg is ac- 
quainted with ‘‘no less than 7 bone beds in 
which only horned dinosaurs are repre- 
sented.’’ ? 

Darwin has described the curious ins- 
tinct of the guanaco of South America 
which leads it to ‘‘have favorite spots for 
lying down to die. On the banks of the 
St. Cruz in certain cireumscribed spaces 
which were generally bushy and all near 
the river the ground was actually white 


° 


with bones.’’ ” 


A western correspondent, Mr. R. A. 
Brooks, has given me in a letter a descrip- 


1 E. M. Kindle, Inequalities of Sedimenta- 
tion, Jour. of ,Geol., Vol. 27, p. 359; 1919. 

2 Chas. Darwin, The Voyage o? the Beagle, 
p 172. 


IN THE ForRMATION OF Bone BeEps. 


tion of the behavior of cattle and buffalo 
on the western plains under the stress of 
cold, starvation and fright, which clearly 
indicates how large masses of the bones of 
these animals have been accumulated. Mr. 
Brooks states that : ‘‘Durimg the hard 
winter of 1906-07 thousands of head of 
cattle perished from starvation and cold. 
I remember well how some of them died. 
The first cow to die usually felt it com- 
ing and left the bunch or herd and slow- 
ly made its way to a lonely place, gen- 
erally a clump of brush or a coulée, and 
lying down simply waited to «die. The 
next one feeling her time approaching 
followed in the tracks of the first one, 
and died close beside her and this was 
kept up until there were no more, or re- 
lief came. - At the U Raneh in the Hands- 
Hills, central Alberta, the owner show- 
ed me a coulée where 450 head of his 
cattle died. This pile of bones actually 
made a dam across the ravine. Within 
half a mile was another pile of bones, 
all that was left of 675 head. Everyone 
acted the same way. The owners told 
me that hardly half a dozen died sep- 
arately and these were on their way to 
the dying place. 

‘‘There is also another place on the 
Beaver Dam river where countless buf- 
falo died of thirst during a dry year. An 
old Indian told me that long ago there 
had been nearly three years of rain- 
less seasons. All the rivers were dry as 
well as most of the springs. But one 
kept flowing very freely on the banks 
of the Beaver Dam. When a herd of 


») 


buffalo would come near enough to scent 
this, there was a stampede for it and 
the ones behind would literally climb 
over the front ones and trample each 
other to death. Prairie fires also were 
the cause of many buffalo bones at the 
bottom of cliffs, and it is well known 
here that in the early days the Indians 
themselves used to stampede herds of 
buffalo over the cliffs. ”’ 

This account of the behavior of western 
cattle under the conditions described, and 
the mass destruction of the buffalo when 
acting under stampede excitement, gives 
an insight into phases of animal behavior 
which may have been a factor in the forma- 
tion of some fossil bone beds. It may be 
that the Alberta dinosaurs of Cretaceous 
times when famine came, like the Alberta 
cattle of today, sought a common dying 
ground. 


E. M. KInp.e. 


VespuLaA Drapotica.—During the past 
summer (1920) Vespula diabolica was ex- 
tremely abundant in northern Frontenac 
County, Ontario. In August and Septem- 
ber there were hundreds of this species 
about my camp at Lake Missanag, where 
during the last four years only a few in- 
dividuals had been present. Anything 
sweet which was exposed even for a few 
minutes became a rendez-vous for these 
wasps and was soon a mass of buzzing black 
and yellow. In the woods they were every- 
where in evidence. From various sources 
I have heard of the great abundance of 
‘‘hornets’’ in the northern districts af On- 
tario during the past summer, and in all 
probability these reports refer to the pre- 
sent species. 

The statements in the literature concern- 
ing the nest of this species are conflicting. 
According to Ashmead it nests in’ stumps. 
Lutz, after describing the nests of Vespa 
crabro and Vespula maculata, says: ** The 
remainder of our species, the Yellow-jack- 
ets, usually make smaller nests and place 
them either near or under the ground.”’ 
Plate 3 in ‘‘The Hymenoptera of Connec- 
ticut’’ shows a small paper nest of this 
species apparently attached to a beam. I 
came across several nests of this species 
and all were suspended from the limbs of 
trees; they are large paper structures, and 


34 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXVi 


seem to be almost identical with those of 
Vespula maculata. 

The larvae are 12 mm. long and 5 mm: in 
diameter at the widest part, whitish’ in 
colour, and hang head downwards, sus- 
pended by the sticky disc at the posterior 
end of the body. The pupae at first are 
white, with black eyes; later the thorax 


‘becomes: dark, and the black bands appear 


on the abdominal segments before the wings 
have developed beyond the wing-pad stage. 
Vespula diabolica exhibits a considerable 


variation in size and marking. Different 


individuals range from 13 to 16 mm. in 
length. In some individuals the black 
bands on the anterior portion of the ab- 


dominal segments are very wide, in others’ 


they are comparatively narrow. In some 
the black point on the first abdominal 
segment projects much further back than 
in others, sometimes almost cutting. the 
yellow postericr border of that segment in 
two. I found such a difference in respect 
to marking that I sent three specimens to 
Dr. L. O. Howard for confirmation of 
identification. Dr. Howard reports that 
Mr. Rohwer determines them all as V. 
diabolica. Two of these specimens were 
taken from the same nest. 


This species appears to feed very lar- 
gely, if not entirely, upon vegetable sub- 
stances. Sweetish sap of any kind is taken 
with avidity. Fruits are bitten into and 
the pulp devoured or carried off. Kernels 
of corn in the late milk stage are eut into 
and pieces about a millimetre square are 
earried off. The material carried off is 
probably food for the larvae, although I 
was not able to prove this point conelu- 
sively. : 

Vespula diabolica does not merit its spe- 
cific name by reason of its disposition, 
since it is not at all pugnacious as far as 
man is concerned. Unlike some of the 
other Vespoidea no amount of striking at 
it seems to arouse its ire, and one indivi- 
dual crawled up my sleeve and came out 
at the neck of my shirt without stinging. 
In fact only if seized or crushed does it 
sting. Its sting is not particularly severe, 
the burning sensation soon passing off and 


leaving an itching which persists for a 


couple of days. It is capable of stinging 
twice in rapid succession. They are rather 
quarrelsome among themselves, and when 


pe 


February, 1921.] 


many individuals are taking food from a 
common source they have frequent com- 
bats, two individuals grappling, rolling 
over and over, and using their mandibles 
but never their stings. 

This species finds its food by the sense 
of smell, as was shown by a few experi- 
ments which I performed. Food hidden 
from its sight was readily discovered, but 
similarly-coloured objects without odour 
were not visited. 


A. BrRooKeR KiLuGH. 


A Guuu In Niagara Rapips.—On the 
afternoon of February 16, 1921, at Niaga- 
ra Falls, Ontario, I was watching through 
binoculars (x3) Herring Gulls, (Larus ar- 
gentatus, Pont.) and Ring-billed Gulls 
(Larus delawarensis Ord.) which were 
picking bits of food out of the rapids of 
the Niagara River. So skilfully did they do 
their work that they seemed to receive on 
their plumage not even a drop of spray 
as they dipped repeatedly to the surface 
of the rough water. But one adult Gull, of 
which species I cannot say, must have made 
an error as he sought to obtain some object 
in the rapids just above the brink of the 
Canadian Falls, for, while I watched with 
my glasses focussed on him, he was sud- 
denly seized by the foaming river, and in 
a flash he disappeared beneath the sur- 
face. I concluded that his career was end- 
ed and that in a few moments more he 
would go over the falls. Hardly had I had 
time for the thought, however, when, several 
feet down-stream from the place where he 
had been submerged, the Gull reappeared 
and succeeded in taking flight. Appar- 
ently the rough handling which he must 
have received while beneath the surface of 
the rapids had forced water into his usualiy 
water-proof plumage, for, as he flew slow- 
ly away, he was seen to shake himself 
vigorously, as a dog will do on coming 
out of the water. 


Harrison F. Lewis. 


THE GREATER SNow Goose.—Most re- 
cent writers on the. water-fowl of north- 
eastern North America speak of the Greater 
Show Goose (Chen hyperboreus nivalis 
(Forst.)) as a rare bird in that area and 
vappear to pay little or no attention to the 
fact that Mr, C., Hy.Dionne, on pages 109- 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


—~ 
~ 


110 of his book, ‘‘Les Oiseaux de la Pro- 
vince de Québec’’ (1906), states of this 
subspecies that it ‘‘is very common and 
often occurs in considerable flocks in spring 
and fall in certain places on our shores, 
notably at St..Joachim, where I have seen 
flocks of three or four thousand individ- 
uals, on the Island of Orleans, and as far 
as the Sea-Wolves’ Batture’’. The. three 
points mentioned by Mr. Dionne are with- 
in sight of one another. In their vicinity 
probably all the Greater Snow Geese in 
existence in a wild state gather each spring 
and autumn. From the independent sta- 
tements of various careful observers, I 
should conclude that their number is now 
about five or six thousand. When I visit- 
ed St. Joachim on March 31, 1921, I saw 
about two thousand Greater Snow Goose 
there and was told that the maximum num 
ber would be present about ten days later. 
They are well protected by a resident 
warden maintained by the Cap Tourmente 
Fish and Game Club. 


Harrison F. Lewis. 


THE Town or YARMOUTH, N.S., Buys A 
Birp Sanctuary. 


The municipality of the Town of Yar- 
mouth has purchased a Bird Sanctuary. 
This was not an area suitable for a park 
or other similar purposes,but was the Island 
in Lake George where the colony of Great 
Black-backed Gulls nest. It is of use for 
Bird Sanctuary purposes only, and this 
colony of Gulls, so ably described by Mr. 
Harrison F. Lewis, will now be protected, 
and will serve as an additional attraction 
for bird-lovers in the Yarmouth vicinity. 

The publication of Mr. Lewis’! article 
in the ‘‘Naturalist’’ assisted in ecrystalliz- 
ing local public opinion on this question 
for it was extensively quoted in the Yar- 
mouth press at the time that the matter 
Was under consideration. 

The only step necessary to complete the 
Sanctuary will be the formal setting aside 
of the area by the provincial authorities. 

Large cities have. parks where land birds 
find refuge and may be studied by the 
student; these are bird sanctuaries with- 


1 Canadian*-Field-Naturalist) Sept.'.1920. 


36 . THe CANADIAN FrevD-NATURALIST. 


7 


out doubt; but the town of Yarmouth has 
pointed the way to other Canadian muni- 
cipalities by purchasing an area solely be- 
cause the birds found it suitable. What a 
splendid impetus would be given to bird 
protection if every town that had such a 
bird colony near it were to extend its in- 
fluence officially in the interest of its bird 
neighbours. In the West the care of a 
prairie slough suitable for wild fowl as 
the town bird sanctuary would be a worthy 
line of endeavour for any town or city. 
The idea could be combined with the pre- 
sent laudable desire of many municipali- 
ties in the Western Provinces to reserve 
park lands in their immediate vicinity. 


Hoyes Luoyp. 


[Vol. XXV. 

FRESHWATER CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA. 
— Since writing my articles on this subject 
(see Can. Field-Naturalist, October and 
November, 1920) I have had the opport- 
unity of examining some samples of fresh- 
water invertebrates collected by Dr, A. G. 
Huntsman in southern New Brunswick 
and Nova Scotia in the fall of 1920. They 
contained the following new records of 
Amphipods and Isopods :— 

Hyalella knickerbockern, Bate (H. Azte- 
ka Sauss): Several young ones from Lock 
Lomond, near St. John, N.B., October 7, 
1920, and from Solomon Lake, near ‘Yar- 
mouth, N.S., October 4, 1920. Asellus com- 
munis, Say: Several young ones from So- 
lomon Lake, N.S., October 4, 1920. 

Frits JOHANSEN. 


BOOK REVIEWS. 


Tue AvK, No. 


Notes on Some American Ducks, by Al- 
lan Brooks, 2 plates, pp. 353-367. 

Ornithologists are not as a rule sports- 
men, and undoubtedly their greatest weak- 
ness is a lack of personal familiarity with 
water-fowl. The difficulty of obtaining 
material for the study of these birds at the 
most interesting and illuminating time of 
the year (the close season) is somewhat to 
blame for this, but the feeling that birds 
so systematically hunted must already be 
well known has tended to turn the atten- 
tion of ornithologists towards fields that 
seem to present greater promise. The fact 
is, however, that the very few sportsmen 
and shooters, who know any more about 
ducks than is sufficient to make occasional 
bags at certain seasons of the year, are sel- 
dom fitted either by scientific training or 
inclination to present their observations in 
a proper manner. While many old hunt- 
ers are mines of valuable information, and 
our sporting magazines are filled with 
more or less accurate accounts of the habits 
and characters of wild fowl, but little of 
scientific worth has been made public from 
these sources in America and it takes the 
closest discrimination to separate that lit- 
tle from the fiction in which it is buried. 

This paper is therefore of great value as 
it comes from a man who knows his sub- 
ject from both the sportsman’s and the 
naturalist’s standpoint. It consists of var- 
ious notes on nine species of British Colum- 


3, JULY, 1920. 


bian ducks. They are too varied to be more 
than mentioned here, except a detailed 
analysis of the difference between the Am- 
erican and Barrow’s Golden-eye which is 
treated at length, with plates showing 
courtship attitudes of the latter. It is a 
coincidence that the author ealls atten- 
tion to the differential features of bill and 
wind-pipe that the present reviewer dis- 
cussed in a late number of this journal. 
Courtship in Birds, by Chs. W. Townsend, 
pp. 380-393. ° 

This is a philosophic study of the stran- 
ge courtship dances and actions that are in- 
dulged in by many birds. The author has 
made a special study of these and no one 
is better qualified to generalize upon them, 


Ontario Bird Notes, by J. H. Fleming 
and Hoyes Lloyd, pp. 429-439. 

A résumé of the ornithological develop- 
ments in Ontario since the publication of 
Fleming’s Birds of Toronto, Auk, XXIII 
and XXIV, (1906-1907). It ineludes notes 
on some 71 species. 


Seventeenth Supplement to the American 
Ornithologist’s Union Check List of North 
American Birds, by the Committee on No- 
menclature, consisting of Witmer Stone, 
H. G. Oberholser, Jonathan Dwight, T. 8. 
Palmer and Chas. W. Richmond, pp. 439- 
449. 

When the last Check-list was published 
in 1910 it was proposed to issue revised | 


February, 1921.] 


editions every decade, leaving the subject 
-of changes to rest from official action in 
the interim. This would give us ten year 
intervals of approximate stability instead 
of a constant and progressive series of 
change. 1920 was the year for the ae- 
cumulated proposals of change to be con- 
sidered and decided upon and a new Check- 

list published. However, one of the im- 
portant matters under consideration at the 
1919 annual meeting was the proposal 
from the British Ornithologist’s Union that 
the two associations should unite in a check- 
list of birds of the world in which we were 
to assume charge of the part covering 
America. 

_It was recognized that, however desir- 
able this might be, it brought to the fore 
the fundamental differences between Eu- 
ropean and American practice, but it was 
hoped that grounds of agreement could be 
arrived at. Harmonizing of opposed views 
and the mutual concessions necessary to 
agreement is a difficult matter, and though 
the publication of a check-list has been 
held up, that object of the negotiations has 
not yet been arrived at. The committee 
on Nomenclature has been busy, however, 
and has decided that the results of their 
findings should no longer’ be withheld. 
Considering that this supplement is ‘‘a 
considerable part’’ of ten years accumula- 
tions it is not as bad as the annual install- 
ments of possibilities led us to fear. The 
additions and changes number 32, the re- 
jections 35. Those affecting the names of 
Canadian birds are as follows: 


GENERIC CHANGES. 


Megalestris Bonaparte, Skut, becomes 
Catharacta Brunnich. 

Hydrocheledon Boie, Black Tern, beco- 
mes Chlidonias Rafinesque. 

Thalassidroma Vigors, Storm Petrel, be- 
eomes Hydrobates Boie. 


_ Aestrelata Bonaparte, Petrels, becomes 
Pterodroma Bonaparte. 
Clangula Oken, Goldeneye, 
Glaucionetta Bonaparte. 
Herelda Stephens, Harlequin, becomes 
Clangula Leach. 


Macrorhamphus Forster, Dowitcher, be- 
comes Limnodromus Wied. 

Calidris Illiger, Sanderling, 
Crocethia Billberg. 


becomes 


becomes 


THE CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST. 


Helodromas Kaup, Solitary Sandpiper, ~ 
becomes Tringa Linnaeus. 

Heteractitis Stejneger, Wandering Tat- 
ler, becomes Heteroscelus Baird. 

Charadrius Linneaeus, Golden 
becomes Pluvialis Brisson. 

Aegialitis Boie, Ring Plovers, 
Charadiius Linnaeus. 

Cathaiista Vieillot, Black Vulture, be- 
comes Coragyps Geoffroy. ; 

Aluco Fleming, Barn 
Tyto Billberg. 

Saricola Bechstein, Wheatears, becomes 
Oenanthe Vieillot. 
‘ The Gannet, Sula Bassana (Linnaeus), 
is placed in another genus and becomes 
Moris bassana (Linnaeus). 

SPECIFIC AND SUBSPECIFIC CHANGES. 


Plovers, 


becomes 


Owls, becomes 


Calidris leucophaea Pallas, Sander- 
ling, becomes Crocethia alba Pallas. 
Vermivora rubricapilla Wilson,  ash- 


ville Warbler, becomes Vermivora rufica- 
pilla Wilson. 

Compsothlypis americana usnea Brews- 
ter, Northern Parula Warbler, becomes 
Compsothlypis americana pusilla Wilson. 


It is evident from this that many of our 
oldest and most familiar names have gone 
into synonomy but it is also to be noted that 
the Committee have dropped diphthongs 
in the spelling which is an advance in the 
direction of simplicity and a relief to the 
printer who is without an unlimited font. 

A list of 35 rejections follows, which 
many of us may wish twice as long. 


Under ‘‘General Notes.”’ 

B. H. Swales,’p. 463, records a Hooded 
Warbler seen on Belle Isle in the Detroit 
River, Mich., May 6, 1920. This is only a 
fraction of a mile from the Canadian 
boundary and the record is of interest in 
connection with our few records of the 
species in south-western Ontario. 


Harrison F. Lewis, pp. 464-465, gives a 
very circumstantial account of a Blue- 
gray Gnatecatcher seen at Quebee City, May 
18, 1920. There is another old but poorly 
substantiated record for this species at 
Montreal. Mr. Lewis’ description of its 
characteristic tail twitching and repeated 
hoarse note is very convincing and places 
the oceurrence on as firm a basis as is 
possible for a sight record of so unusual 
an event. 


38 THE CANADIAN 
Under ** Recent Literature’’ is reviewed, 
pp. 479-480, On the Nest and Eggs of the 
Common Tern (S. fluviatilis), A Compa- 
rative Study, by Wm. Rowan, E. Wolf and 
P. L. Sulman, assisted by Messrs. Pearson, 
Isaaes, Elderton and Tildsley. Biometrika, 
Vol. XII, 1919, pp. 308-354, 5 plates. 
This is a mathematical correlation of the 
exceedingly variable characters of the eggs 
and nests of this species with their envi- 
ronment, to detect the relation if any be- 
tween these apparently hap-hazard fact- 
ors. In the course of the work many hun- 
dred eggs were examined and measured and 
compared with their immediate surround- 
ings. While results are not conclusive on 
any one point they are suggestive of lines 
of future investigation. Thus, whilst there 
was more uniformity, the eggs averaged 
larger inthe good season of 1914 than in the 
poor one of 1913. This may possibly have 
been due to the stricter elimination of the 
weaker birds or those that departed farthest 
from the optimum type the previous year. 
Another point brought out, but the meaning 
of which does not seem clear, was that the 
most spherical eggs were found in the 
most carelessly built nests. Much other 
food for thought is suggested that we have 
not space to mention. This is work that 
may well be carried on by those few who 
are favorably situated to examine large 
rookeries of variable species. The results, 
even if negative, are worth while, for it 1s 
as much a part of scientific pathfinding 
to loeate the blind alleys as to mark the 
highway. In reply to eriticism that has 
already been raised it may be remarked 
that the senior author has informed us 
that apart from the momentary and un- 
avoidable fright caused by the intrusion 
of the investigators the birds were not 
disturbed and the great array of tabulated 
data was gathered without the necessary 


loss of an egg, 


lnder ‘*Correspondence’’. 

W. E. Saunders and J. H. Fleming ad- 
dress a letter to the Editor, proposing that 
in future, at the Annual Metings of the 
A. O. U., each member shall pay for his 
or her own luncheons instead of being en- 
tertained as guests by members of local 
organizations. It was felt that, however 
hospitable and willing these organizations 


have been in the past, it is throwing an 


FreLD-NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 
annually increasing burden upon them that 
is greater than should be accepted, It may 
be remarked that this was followed by a 
circular letter to the membership, and, as 
a result, at the late Washington meeting 
the suggestion was acted upon. 


Pp. 499-505 are taken up with a discus- 
sion on Popular Nomenclature, originating 
independently with Wm. Rowan and Har- 
rison F. Lewis, and replied to by the Editor, 
Witmer Stone. 

Mr. Rowan objects to the use of names 
like Robin and Sparrow Hawk to Ameri- 
can species when the terms are preoccupied 
by entirely different Old World forms. He 
suggests that we return to the system im 
force before the 1910 Check List of prefix- 
ing the adjective American to them. 

Mr. Lewis presents five propositions for 
the making of popular bird names: 

1.—Provide for specific as well as sub- 
specific names. 

2.—Avoidance of.clumsy names. 

3.—Changing inappropriate or mislead- 
ing names. 

4—Avoidance of the names of people 
in name construction. 

5.—The use of modifiers to group names 
when used for individual members of such 
group. 

Mr. Stone, whilst dealing sympatheti- 
cally with most of these views, proclaims the 
impossibility of applying a ‘‘code’’ to the 
construction of popular names, fearing the 
introduction of ‘‘book names’’ and citing 
eases where such have failed of general 
adoption. In the spirit of Thompson Se- 
ton’s apt phrase ‘‘the genius of the lang- 
uage’’ he objects to Rowan’s proposal de- 
claring in substance that to Americans 
Planesticus migratorius is the Robin and 
no other name will be generally adopted. 
He does, however, approve of Lewis’ 
fifth proposition. 

Whilst a hard and fast code such as is 
applied to scientific names (and ineident- 
ally keeps shuffling our names about) may 
not seem advisable and considerable lat- 
itude must be given to established popular 
usage, it does seem that some such prin- 
ciples might well be kept in mind. The 
Check-list is now a mass of ‘‘book names’’ 
of the bookiest kind, and it does not seem 
that it would put any great inconvenience 
upon the general public were the most ob- 


February, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 
surd of them replaced by others of more 
popular appeal. Names well established in 
popular usage need not be disturbed, but 
it does not seem likely that (1) calling the 
first described subspecies of the Palm War- 
bler, the Interior Palm Warbler; (2) 
shortening Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker 
to Arctic Woodpecker; (3) changing Are- 
tic Towhee to Northern Towhee; (4) Brun- 
nich’s Murre to Thick-billed Murre; (5) 
and Chickadee to Black-capped Chickadee 
would arouse any general protest from the 
public. 

It is difficult to understand Mr. Stone’s 
attitude in regard to the prefix American 
to Robin, Sparrow Hawk, Redstart and 
others. Of course to those who know and 
love him Planesticus migratorius will al- 
ways be regarded as the robin in spite of 
check lists and committees to the contrary, 
but colloquial use need not debar the crea- 
tion of a more formal title for mixed au- 
diences. If we speak of a certain well- 
known ornithologist in public or where 
confusion of identity might arise we are 
careful to use his full formal name, e.g. 
Dr. Witmer Stone, and on proper occasion 
may add a string of letters in due form. 
In general private discussion, I fear that 
the single name ‘“‘Stone’’ is often used, 
whilst among his intimates I think I have 
heard the simple ‘‘ Witmer’’ repeated and 
a nick-name may even be surmised. Yet 
all these forms are without prejudice to 
the full formal title in the check-list of 
American men of scinee. There is no rea- 
son why the same would not prove true of 
the American Robin or any other similar 
bird. 

The fact is that Planesticus migratorius 
is not, nor ever can be, The Robin any 
more than it can be an elephant or any 
thing else that it is not. Calling it so col- 
loquially or as a figure of speech may be 
convenient and expressive where the use is 
plain, but it is not suitable for formal oe- 
casions or where the purpose is obscure. It 
may be said that it is the bird called Robin 
in America or the American Robin, but it is 
not the Robin any more than the Canada 
Goose is a Bustard because French Can- 
adians call it Outard. These are questions 
of fact that cannot be set aside by spe- 
cialist committees. The suggestion that if 
Planesticus migratorius is the American 
Robin, Erithocus rubecula is the European 


FIELp-NATURALIST. 39 


Robin is hardly logical, as we can hardly 
call on Europe to quality itself when it 
has the acknowledged priority; the onus 
of distinction lies with us. 

Finally I would take exception to Mr. 
Stone’s proposal that the names of sub- 
specifically divided species be made plu- 
ral, as Melospiza melodia, the Song Spar- 
rows. This is a retrograde step. A tree is 
a tree no matter how many branches it has, 
and Melospiza melodia is a species, no 
matter how many subspecies may be found 
within its limits. It is not a complex of 
individual disconnected units but an in- 
dividual unit itself, more or less branched 
and containing plans of possible future 
cleavage; but until that cleavage occurs 
an individual entity for all that. To de- 
clare otherwise is to support a false and 
obsolete doctrine without in any way 
clarifying popular concepts. 


Notes and News contains, p. 511, the ob- 
ituary notice for Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, 
who died at Ottawa, Feb. 29, 1920. 


No. 4, Ocroser, 1920. 


Limicoline Voices, by J. T. Nichols, pp. 
519-540. 

This is an interesting paper dealing with 
the voices and call notes of the waders, the 
occasions of their use and probable mean- 
ings. It is largely philosophical in tone but 
no one interested in these birds in life 
should neglect studying it. 


In The Haunts of Carn’s Warbler, by C. 
W. Eifrig, pp. 551-558. 

This paper, by one formerly closely as- 
sociated with the Ottawa Naturalist, is a 
general account of the birds in south-west- 
ern Maryland in 1918. 

Pattern Development in ‘Teal, by Glo- 
ver M. Allen, pp. 258-264. 

This paper was suggested by Kennard’s 
description of the Southern Blue Winged 
Teal, (Auk, 1913). It is the presentation 
of a new theory of color placement based 
upon the above species. The author post- 
ulates certain superficial areas or centers 
from which color may spread. White is 
normally found only at the edges of these 
areas and is to be regarded morphologi- 
eally as caused by restriction of color de- 
velopment, a passive rather than an act- 
ive factor in pattern development. 


40 THE - CANADIAN 


Migration and Physical Proportions, a 
Preliminary Study, by C. K. Averill, pp. 
572-579. 

This is an application of mathematics 
to ornithological study, and is based upon 
series of measurements of various birds 
correlated with their migrational and flight 
habits. Birds of longest migration seem 
to have long wings, short tails and small 
bills and feet. The forked tail is an ac- 
companiment of good flight powers. . A 
possible explanation of this is suggested 
by Dr. J. T. Nichols in a later number of 
the National Geographic Magazine, where 
he calls attention to the forked tails of the 
speedier fish. His theory is that the 
center of the tail is the meeting point cf 
the stream line currents proceeding along 
the body and that the cutting out of the 
tail here reduces drag. It also appears in 
eurrent literature that a remarkably speedy 
motor boat has lately been built by cutting 
away the underbody aft in an analogous 
fashion. It would seem that the effect 
produced in water currents would probably 
be seen in air movement with a result pro- 
portional to the reduced density of the 
medium. The forked tail may have a 
greater meaning than has heretofore been 
imagined. Mr. Averill has suggested a 
promising line of investigation. 

Under ‘‘General Notes’’ are the follow- 
ing: 

The Willet in Nova Scotia, pp. 581-582. 

Breeding of the Semipalmated Plover in 
Yarmouth Co., N.S., pp. 583-584. 

The Black-polled Warbler and Bick- 
nell’s Thrush in Yarmouth Co., N.S., pp. 
991-592. 


Notes on the Acadian Sharp-tailed Spar- 


row, pp. 5987-589. 

' The Singing of the Ruby “crowned King- 
let, pp. 594-596. 

Notes from Seal Island, N.S., pp. 596- 
597. 

All by Harrison F. Lewis. 


The Willet in Nova Scotia, 
Townsend, pp. 582-583. 

Most of these are summarised by their 
titles. The Eastern Willet as a breeding 
bird seems to be increasing in Nova Scotia 
under the beneficial protection of the M1i- 


by Chas. W. 


FIeELp-NATURALIST. 


[ Vol. XXV. 
gratory Birds Convention Act. It was only 
lately supposed to be nearly extinet but 
may after all come back again. For some 
time all Willets on the Atlantic coast were 
referred to the western form, but now it is 
on the cards for observers there to sharpen 
their eyesight once more and differentiate 
between them. All birds now can not be 
automatically referred to the Western as 
the only geographic possibility. Had not 
observers been but too willing to rely on 
geographical preconceptions in identifying 
we might have known some time ago that 
the Eastern Willet was still to be reckon- 
ed with. 


Under ‘‘Recent Literature’’ the follow- 
ing papers are mentioned or reviewed. 

The Eyes of the Burrowing Owl, with 
Special Reference to the Fundus Oeculi, by 
Dr. Casey Wood, Reprinted from Cont?1- 
butions to Medical and Biological Research, 
dedicated to Sir William Osler in Honor 
of his Seventieth Birthday by his pupils 
and Co-Workers, pp. 819-823. 

A new Jay from Alberta, by James Lee 
Peters, Proc. New England Zool. Club, 
VII, pp. 51-55. 


This is a new subspecies of Canada Jay, 
Peiisoreus canadensis albescens, described 
from Red Deer, Alta. from specimens in 
the Brewster collection now in the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. 
It is declared to be paler than other known 
races. 

Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedi- 
tion, 1913-1918, Vol. IX, Part E., Acan- 
throcephala. 

In this is described a new species of 
acanthrocephala, Filicollis a cticus, para- 
sitic on the King Eider in the western 
Canadian Actic. It is interesting to note 
that the King Eider does not carry the 
same infestation throughout its range. On 
opposite sides of the Arctie Cirele it seems 
to be parasitized by acanthrocephala re- 
presenting two distinet genera. 

Notes on the Harlequin Dueck (on Bri- 
tish Columbian Coast), by Chas. E. Alford, 
British Birds, XIV, June, 1920. 

The Trumpeter Swan in British Colum- 
bia, by Allan Brooks, London Field, July 
31, 1920; 


‘THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. 


GARDENVALE, QUE., MARCH, 1921 No. 3. 


THE EVENING GROSBEAK IN CANADA, 


ByiP; KB. 


TAVERNER. 


Published by permission of the Director of the Victoria Memorial Museum, 
Ottawa, Canada. 


Perhaps to no American bird is there 
greater interest attached, aesthetic or scien- 
tific, than to the Evening Grosbeak, Hes- 
periphona vespertina. Appearing as_ it 
does in the dreariest season of the year, 
when birds are few and color absent from 
the landscape, its wonderful yellow color 
and plaintive whistle always attract atten- 
tion and interest. Even those who rarely 
perceive unusual bird visitors note the ap- 
pearance of the Evening Grosbeak, and the 
winters of its occurrence always call forth 
letters in the papers and floods of enquiry 
of the local ornithologist. Over and above 
its showy beauty in an empty landscape the 
very mystery that surrounds the bird 
piques our curiosity. For it comes only 
at irregular and unexpected intervals, and, 
after tarrying awhile, disappears into the 
unknown; nor with all our present know- 
ledge of the movements of birds can we yet 
say authoritatively whence it comes or 
whither it goes. It is some late evidence 
on this point that has suggested the ap- 
propriateness of a partial review of our 
knowledge of the species at this time. 


The species was first introduced to scien- 
ce and popular attention by W. Cooper, 
who, in 1825, in the Annals of the Lyceum 
of Natural History of New York, described 
a specimen obtained by H. R. Schooleraft 
at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on April 7, 
1823. Schoolcraft was told that it was 
common at Fond du Lae and about the 
head of Lake Superior. Further informa- 
tion was obtained from Major Delafield, 
who noted the bird in August of the same 
vear on the Savanna River, north-west from 
Lake Superior, where it visited his camp, 
singing only in the evenings. Impressed 


by its mournful notes, Major Delafield in- 
ferred that it dwelt ‘‘in dark retreats and 
left them only at the approach of night.’’ 
It was from this circumstance that the bird 
received its name vespertina. 

For many years occurrences of the bird 
within the view of students were few and 
far between; they but whetted the scien- 
tific appetite for information without sa- 
tisfying it. The earliest record of the spe- 
ies in south and south-western Ontario 
appears to have been the winter of 1854- 
55, 7 when birds were taken at Toronto, 
Hamilton and Woodstock. In 1866 Tho- 
mas Mellwraith * records hearing of them 
at Hamilton, though he himself did not 
actually see them. In 1879, in the Bulle- 
tin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, 
Coues compiled a history of the species, 
but, as far as the east was concerned, he 
recorded little more than that it was a rare 
and erratic winter visitor south to the 
northern states, though commoner and 
more widely-diffused in the mountains of 
the west. Its first general appearance in 
large numbers in eastern Canada occurred 
in the winter of 1889 and 1890; this was 
made the subject of a full report in the 
Transactions of the Canadian Institute for 
1891. The Auk and the Ottawa Field- 
Naturalist contain numerous notices of the 
species about this date that add to the 
records of its occurrence, though they fur- 
nish no new information. Meanwhile the 
Western Evening Grosbeak, Hesperiphona 
vespertina montana, had been described 
from New Mexico in 1879. It was discover- 


1 Fleming. Auk, xxiv, 1907, p. 7 
2Pro. and Comm. Essex Inst., 
79-96. 


8. 
V. 1866-67, pp. 


- 


42 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST, 


ed breeding in Arizona in 1884, in Califor- 
nia in 1887, and eventually was found to 
nest locally in the western mountains as 
far north as British: Columbia. * 
Although considerable light has been 
thrown on the breeding of these western 
birds, our knowledge of those that visit 
us in the east has not advanced to the same 
degree. The Mackenzie and Athabasca 
valleys have been well worked, but no 
Evening Grosbeaks have been found there 
in summer. Preble failed to locate them 
in the Churchill River system, and the 
country south of Moose Factory on James 
Bay has often been traversed without re- 
sult. There is still room for the species 
in unexplored Ungava, but its winter dis- 
tribution seems to indicate a more western 
origin. L. O. Seott, both alone and in as- 
sociation with M. Bedson,+ reported the 
finding of nests just outside of Winnipeg; 
he repeated, too, some Indian assertions 
about the bird breeding in the Peace River 
district. Later S. S. Stansell® reported 
nests near Edmonton, Alberta, and de- 
fended his statements when questioned. 
None of these records were taken seriously, 
as they came from localities where other 
men had worked without discovering cor- 
roborative evidence; but some of them at 
least may have to be reconsidered in view 
of the new data that was obtained last 
year. Albert Lano,° for example, has re- 
ported that he saw the species in July and 
August, 1990 and 1901, in Aitkin Co. Min- 
nesota; and Chas. E. Johnson‘ has record- 
ed them as present in Lake Co. of the same 
state during the corresponding months of 
1914 and 1915. Most important of all, 
William Rowan * found the birds at Gimli, 
Man., about forty miles north of Winni- 
peg, in late May and early June, 1920. 
They appeared to be mating at the time, 
and remained there until July and early 
August. On July 26 he took a bird of the 
year still being fed by its mother at Indian 


* The history of this species will always be 
associated with the name of the young ornitholo- 
gist Francis’ J. Bittwell. who was killed in the 
presence of his wife. during their honeymoon, 
while attempting to reach a nest of the Western 
Evening Grosbeak in New Mexico. 

4 Ottawa Field-Naturalist, xiii, 1899-1900. 

5 Auk. xxvi, 1909, pp. 390-400. and Ottawa Field- 
Naturalist, xxiil, 1909, pp. 125-127, 

6 Auk, xxxvii, 1920, p. 455, 

7 Thid., pp. 541-551, 

* Ibid., pp. 585-586, 


[Vol. XXYV. 


Bay, Shoal Lake, on the Manitoba-Ontario 
boundary (not the lake of the same name 
north of Winnipeg). This is the first sub- 
stantiated breeding record for the species 
away from the western mountain region. It 
may also be noted that the writer * found 
the birds in late May, 1917, at the other 
Shoal Lake north of Winnipeg, not far 
west of Gimli; at the time, however, he re- 
garded them merely as late migrants and 
in consequence made no systematic search 
for nests. 

There is some evidence therefore to show 
that the nesting area of the Eastern Even- 
ing Grosbeak includes not only the coun- 
try from which it was reported by Major 
Delafield in the original description of the 
species, but that it extends along the north- 
ern forest belt from Lake Superior to some 
point westward. It is true that Mr. D. 
Blakely of the Victoria Memorial Museum 
collected ornithological specimens through- 
out the season of 1919 on Lae Seul, Ont., 
about 125 miles east and a little north of - 
Indian Bay, without seeing it, and that 
Capt. Angus Buchanan '’ traversed the 
country between Prince Albert, Sask., and 
Reindeer Lake with equally negative re- 
sults. But these apparently blank spaces 
in the range of the bird can be explained 
by the supposition that it is nearly as er- 
ratic in its summer as in its. winter dis- 
tribution, changing its breeding localities 
from summer to summer in the same way 
as some other northern species appear to 
do, for example, the Crossbills, the Pine 
Grosbeak and the Bohemian Waxwing. 
The Evening Grosbeak, in fact, does seem 
to be erratic in this respect in the west, 
where its breeding in any locality at one 
season is no surety that it will breed there 
the next, or that it bred there the season 
before. Such an irregularity would largely 
explain why we have isolated records that 
remain unverified by previous or later 
work in suspected or adjacent regions. 
Moreover the fact that the nests of the 
Evening Grosbeak are situated (in British 
Columbia at least) high in the taller ever- 
green trees and that the birds become re- 
tiring and suspicious in the breeding sea- 
son further reduces the probability of find- 


9 Can. Field-Naturalist, xxxiii, 1919, p. 14. 
10 Fleming, Can, Field-Naturalist, xxxili, 
pp. 109-113, 


1919, 


March, 1921.] 


ing them at this time without a special 
‘search. 

In regard to the winter range of the 
species, as contrasted with its summer 
range, there has been a decided change of 
late years, a change that is very apparent 
at Ottawa, but observable probably else- 
where as well. 
species would indicate that originally it 
was a very rare as well as a very erratic 

_ visitor, although numerous enough when- 
ever it did come. Latterly, however, it has 
appeared so much more often that it can 
be regarded as almost regular. It is true 
that none have been seen this winter, but 
then this has been an unusual winter in 
every way, and if Evening Grosbeaks have 
not appeared, neither have other species 
upon whose presence we can more usually 
count. According to the record, while the 
Evening Grosbeak has gradually become 
more regular in the locality of Ottawa, 
other winter species such as the Pine Gros- 
beaks, the Crossbills, the Bohemian Wax- 
wings, the Eastern Horned Larks, the Red- 
Polls and the Snow-Buntings have become 
much less so. A possible, even a probable 
explanation of this newly-acquired reg- 
ularity of the Evening Grosbeaks may be 
found in the recent spread of the Mani- 
toba maple, Acer negundo. John Ma- 
coun has recorded what was_ probably 
nearly the original distribution of this tree 
in Canada. 7! Outside of a few trees grow- 
ing in Toronto he did not meet with it 
again to the west until beyond Lake Supe- 
rior in the northern parts of the prairie 
provinces. Now the samaras or winged 
seeds of this maple hang to the tree all 
winter, and whenever obtainable constitute 
the principal food of the Evening Gros- 
beak. Indeed, when the seeds finally drop 

off, the birds descend to the ground and 
rarely leave the locality until the supply 
is exhausted. In the early days, with so 
large an area of country barren of their 
favorite food, it is not surprising that the 
birds only strayed over it in exceptional 
winters under pressure of food failure else- 
where. Today, however, the distribution 
of this maple is radically different. It is 
~ a hardy, quick-growing shade tree, and in 
consequence has been planted extensively, 


11 Macown, Cat. Canadian Plants, Pt. I, Poly- 


petalae, 1883. 


The old reports of the > 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 43 


not only about many farm houses, but in 
all the villages, towns and cities that have 
sprung up to the east and north of the 
Great Lakes. Thus a baited pathway has 
been laid from the usual summer home of - 
the Evening Grosbeak right to our doors, 
and undoubtedly the bird has taken ad- 
vantage of this fact to travel our way 
more often than it did before. It may even 
be prophesied that with the further in- 
crease of the Manitoba maple northward, 
the Evening Grosbeak will find suffi- 
cient food nearer its summer home and 
again become scarcer in our neighbour- 
hood; for it was the extension of cultiva- 
tion in similar localities that seems to have 
brought about a like change in the move- 
ments of the other birds that I have men- 
tioned. 

The Western Evening Grosbeak, Hespe- 
riphona vespertina montana, was separated 
from the eastern bird on account of some 
slight colour differences and a relatively 
greater length of bill. For a long time our 
British Columbian Grosbeaks were, as a 
matter of course, referred to the western 
race. It has been evident for some time, 
however, that while they may be different 
from the eastern birds, they are certainly 
not the montana as originally disposed, 
with which they agree neither in colour 
details nor in the shape of the bill. Jos. 
Grinnell, the first to try to unravel the 
subject, ‘? subdivided the birds previously 
grouped under the head of montana into 
three races, montana, californica and 
brooksi, and referred the British Colum- 
bian and the Washington birds to the last 
named subspecies. He based his distinetions 
on variations in colour and bill form. Now 
one trouble in estimating the values of 
these different characters is the difficulty 
of obtaining comparable material. All our 
specimens of true eastern vespertina are in 
winter plumage, while the majority of 
British Columbian specimens are in sum- 
mer condition. Allowing for this, how- 
ever, an examination of .the few winter 
western birds available seems to indicate 
that while the width of yellow on the: 
forehead and the back coloration of the 
male in the brooksi ean be readily matched 
in specimens of the eastern bird, the dark- 


‘ 
12 Grinnell, Condor, xix, 1917, pp. 17-22. 


44 


coloured head of the female brooks: does 
really enable us to separate the two races 
with some confidence. ‘Ihe bill averages a 
little slenderer in brooksi than in eastern 
specimens, but this is not a reliable guide, 
for the difference is so slight that it is 
hardly recognizable even in the figures that 
accompany Grinnell’s description, and at 
times is quite swamped by individual 
variation. 

I have been fortunate in having sub- 
mitted to me for examination the two birds 
that were taken by Rowan at Indian Bay. 
One is an adult female in rather worn and 
faded breeding plumage, the other her 
fully fledged young still suffused on back 
and breast with the ochraceous buff that 
is lost in the post-juvenile moult before 
the first winter. There can be no ques- 
tion that the latter is a bird of’ the year, 
and the fact that it was still béing fed by 
its parent indicates that it was raised with- 
in a short distance of where it was taken. 
The parent that was captured is fortun- 
ately a female, and consequently of the sex 
needed for subspecific determination, but 
the disturbing fact is that it bears the 
colour marks of the western bird, brooksi, 
rather than those of the expected eastern 
vespertina. Its head, in contrast with its 
back, is decidedly dark, and the specimen 
generally, in spite of its slightly worn and 
faded condition, is identical with birds 
from the Okanagan Valley, B.C. It is true 
that the bill is large and stubby rather 
than attenuated, and that a large stubby 
bill is a postulated character of the east- 
ern bird; but, as mentioned before, this, 
ir the opinion of the writer at least, is 
too variable a character to be of much 
service in determining individual speci- 
mens. Of course, it does not seem rea- 
sonable that the British Columbian Even- 
ing Grosbeak, brooksi, breeds eastward to 
Lake Superior nor would I care to suggest 
such a conclusion except to negative its 
probability. We may prefer to regard 
this specimen simply as a variant of the 
eastern vespertina, or perhaps suspend 
judgment until further evidence is secured. 

This unfortunate occurrence of abnor- 
mality in a unique specimen brings up the 
important subject of the determination of 
slightly characterized races when thev are 
found far from their natural habitats. 


THE CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST, 


[Vol. XXV. 


Birds with their great mobility certainly 
can and do wander to the most astonishing 
locahties, and it is not impossible for oc- 
casional specimens to appear far from the 
land of their origin and direct blood re- 
latives. In such cases are we to identify 
entirely from the characters that the birds 
exhibit? If we do, we are bound to make 
a multitude of errors through mistaking 
individual for racial variations. On the 
other hand if we allow considerations of 
geography to influence our identifications 
we are just as certain often to twist the 
evidence to suit our geographical precon- 
ceptions. ’ 


There are good reasons for either course. 
If a race means anything it must be based 
on germinal characters and denote blood 
relationship between the individuals com- 
posing it. An albino Negro would not be 
a Caucasian, however close the superficial 
resemblance might be. The very fact that 
an isolated community of a species has de- 
veloped certain common characteristics in- 
dicates the possibility, perhaps even sug- 
gests an innate tendency, of the species as 
a whole to vary in that special direction ; it 
would surprise us less to find such a var- 
iation sporadically in individuals of other 
communities than one the possibility of 
which has not been demonstrated. In 
other words, we can expect to find, even 
in pure lines of descent, disturbing variants 
(sports, if you will) resembling estab- 
lished races more often than departures in 
novel directions. 


These considerations are against identi- 
fying by character alone without consider- 
ing geography as an indication of probable 
descent. However, to lay too great stress 
on geography is equally dangerous and mis- 
leading. For if we plot distribution on the 
determination of specimens we certainly 
must not make postulated distribution, the 
basis for such determination or we shall 
be reasoning in a vicious circle. All we 
ean do in doubtful cases is to acknowledge 
our ignorance, and content ourselves with 
naming the species, leaving the determina- 
tion of the subspecies open for further in- 
vestigation or fuller data. 


In this case of the Evening Grosbeak, 
then, although we may be firmly convinced 
that the Indian Bay breeding bird is of 


ae 


March, 1921.]. THE CANADIAN 
eastern stock, it does not seem that we are 
warranted in calling it anything more de- 
finite than Hesperiphona vespertina, the 


FreLp-NATURALIST, 45 
Evening Grosbeak, leaving its eastern or 
western affinities, vespertina or brooksi, 
open for future consideration. 


THE LARGER FRESHWATER CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA AND 
| ALASKA. | 


By Frits JOHANSEN. 


(Continued from Vol. XX XV, page 30) 
IiI.—B. TADPOLE-SHRIMPS. 


This suborder (Notostraca) is distinguish- 
ed from the Anostraca by having a broad 
and flat dorsal shield covering the body, 
and from the Conchostraca by having a de- 
pressed body, and the shield single and at- 
tached at the front, not double (as a clam- 
shell) and confluent with the body dor- 
sally. ; 


‘The ‘‘tadpole-shrimps’’ do not have the 
antennae developed to the extent of the 
fairy-shrimps and clam-shrimps except in 
their larval stages, but both pairs are 
diminutive dwarfed stubs, especially the 
second pair. The paired eyes are not 
stalked, but sessile and placed close to- 
gether dorsally near the front edge of the 
carapace. The mouth parts are well de- 
veloped, and behind them follow a great 
number of foliaceous body legs (similar to 
these of the fairy-shrimps), of which the 
last (11th) pair in the females form a 
peculiar flat and rounded pouch (like a 
watch-glass) containing the eggs. The 
first leg-pair is the longest and ends, with 
Apus, in three long filaments, used as sen- 
sitive organs by the adults and also as 
swimming-organs by the younger stages. 
Behind the carapace protrude a varying 
number (1 to 3 dozen) of abdominal seg- 
ments (the tail), which end in a plate 
(telson) flanked by two long filaments 
(cercopods). The color of the adults is a 
brownish green,’ the carapace and eyes 
being the darkest. These animals thus re- 
mind one forcibly of the marine ‘‘horse- 
shoe-erabs’’ (Zimulus) and as in the latter 
there is much movement possible between 


the shield and the body, of great import- ° 


1 That of the larva first orange, later yellow- 
ish. 


ance to the animal when digging into the 
mud or turning around. ‘The interior 
organs are similar to those of the fairy- 
shrimps though the heart is shorter and 
there is a large, paired shell-gland. 
Locomotion is accomplished principally 
by the foliaceous legs similar to those of 
the fairy-shrimps, and also by twistings of 
the tail. The food consists of small fresh- 
water invertebrates (Entomostraca, etc.), 
or dead animals (even of its own species) 
which it catches in the water or by tun- 
nelling in the surface of the mud bottom, 
passing any captured prey along to the 
mouth parts by the aid of the foliaceous 
legs. The larve hatch in the spring as 
clumsy nauplii or metanauplii from the 
ripe (red) eggs deposited in the fall 
upon water-plants, ete.; they differ much 
less from the adults than the larve of 
the two other suborders (fairy-shrimps 
and clam-shrimps), having traces of the 
carapace and abdominal segments, and 
later short cercopods. On the other hand 
particularly the second pair of antenne 
are far longer and more powerful than 
is the case with the adults, and function 
as the principal organs of locomotion. 
During the summer the larve grow on and 
gradually assume the shape and colour of 
the adult. In some of the species the fem- 
ales attain a length of several centimeters. 
while the males are somewhat smaller. The 
latter are generally far less numerous than 
are the females and often first make their 
appearance in the latter part of the sum- 
mer; it is therefore probable that when 
‘this is the case the eggs the females carry 
in the beginning of the summer are pro- 
duced parthenogenetically, thorgh it mnst 


46 THE CANADIAN Fre.tp-NATURALIST, 


be remembered that the eggs * are carried 
a much longer time by the mother animals 
and develop more slowly than with 
the fairy-shrimps. Judging from the are- 
tic form (Lepidurus arcticus) both sexes 
apparently lve more than one year and 
probably hibernate in sufficiently deep 
ponds or lakes, supposing, of course, that 
they do not freeze into the ice, are not 
killed by the drying-up of the pond, or 
that their life-cycle is not completed. The 
larve apparently are too few and frail to 
keep the numbers up. alone from year to 
year; this, coupled with the comparatively 
(i.e. compared with the fairy-shrimps) 
slow growth of the young individuals and 
the large size they have to attain, makes a 
normal age of several years a necessity, 
at least for the females. 

While, so far as we know, the arctic form 
occurs year after year, the same is not the 
case with the more southern species, In 
some years the latter are entirely absent, 
or only females occur, and in this respect 
they are not unlike the ‘‘clam-shrimps’’. 
To a still larger extent than is the case 
with the ‘‘fairy-shrimps’’ the ‘‘tadpole- 
shrimps’’ and ‘‘clam-shrimps’’ are very 
erratic in their occurrence, especially out- 
side the arctic; smaller ponds and _ pools 
may be teeming with them, while they are 
not found in others, nor in lakes close by; 
again they may be plentiful only at a cer- 
tain time of the year. 

Of the tadpole-shrimps only two genera 
are known, both occurring in the new as 
well as in the:old world. They are easily 
separated by the spatulate or triangular 
outgrowth from the telson present in the 
one (Lepidurus), but absent in the other 
genus (Apus). 

To Lepidurus belong about half a dozen 
species, to Apus about a dozen, of which 
four of each genus have so far been re- 
corded from this continent. It is interest- 
ing that no Apodida have so far been found 
east of a line from King William Land 
south to Manitoba and the middle States, 
though the Arctic species is apparently 
cireumpolar and has been recorded from 
Labrador and Greenland. 

Of the four species of Lepidurus two 
have so far only been recorded from Colo- 


2 At least the “winter-eggs.” 


[Vol. XXV, 


rado and California and are likely ta occur 
neither in Canada nor Alaska. <A third 
species (L. couesit) was originally  des- 
eribed by Packard from Utah and Mon- 
tana and has since been collected in three 
of the western provinces of Canada (Man- 
itoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta); it 
probably occurs also in British Columbia. 
Its carapace is large, so that only five 
“‘tail’’ segments and the spatulate telson 
are uncovered. Packard’s specimens (both 
sexes) from Montana were taken in the 
first week of July, 1874, and had an aver- 
age length of about 2cm. (exclusive of the 
cercopod-stylets). The Alberta specimen 
(see below) is nearly of the same*size (it 
was dried up when I found it) as a spe- 
cimen (female) about 3 em. long from 
Dufton, Sask., now in the Royal Ontario 
Museum, Toronto; the latter was collect- 
ed by a university student on June 20, 
1913. ; 

Prof. O’Donoghue, of the University of 
Manitoba, writes me (June, 1920) that 
he lias recently collected this species (L. 
couesii) near Winnipeg, where it ‘‘is ex- 
tremely common in the ditches on the west 
side of the south: end of Lake Winnipeg’’. 
He has promised to send me specimens of 
ib: 


From Prof. A. G. Huntsman, of Tor- 
onto, I have recently received a number 
of specimens of the same species from one 
to two em. in length. He collected them 
on June 11, 1920 in sloughs three miles 
north-east of Medicine Hat, Alta., where 
they occurred together with the fairy- 
shrimp Streptocephalus coloradensis (see 
page 29), and clam-shrimps (see later). — 

We have in the museum here in Ottawa 
a specimen of the same species apparently 
collected by J. B. Tyrrell in southern Al- 
berta or British Columbia in the eighties. 
I found it among a number of other in- 
vertebrates from land and freshwater col- 
lected by Tyrrell at that time, but there 
was no date with it, and Mr. Tyrrell was 
not able to recollect the locality or date 
when I sent him the specimen.’ Beyond 
what is given here nothing is known as 
to the northern limit for this species; ap- 
parently, however, it is not found in the 
Yukon and the Northwest Territories, nor 
in Alaska, though it may oceur in the most 
southern part of the last-named territory. 


March, 1921.] 


As to its life-history (development), the 
stages between the eggs and the adults 
are unknown. 

The fourth Lepidurus species is the well- 
known, circumpolar form (L. arcticus Pal- 
las) (L. glacialis Kroyer), first) well des- 
cribed from West Greenland. It is im- 
mediately recognized by the fact that the 
telson ends in a triangular (not spatulate) 
plate obtusely pointed and with spiny 
edges. Its distribution is very similar to 
that of Branchinecta paludosa, having been 
recorded from Greenland *, Iceland, Spits- 
bergen, Northern Scandinavia, Novaja 
Semlja, Siberia and on this continent from 
Alaska to Baffin Bay. Its southern limit 
is not definitely established, but indicated 
by the following records in North America, 
Pribilof Islands, Teller, Point Barrow and 
Martin Point, Alaska; south side of Dol- 
phin and Union Strait, King William Land 
and Labrador. Several of these records are 
based upon my own collections made on 
the Canadian Arctic Expedition, and the 
species will be treated in detail in the re- 
ports (Vol. VII, Part G) of that expedi- 
tion. I have also given a detailed account 
of its biology and development as I studied 
it in Northeast Greenland (Meddel. om 
Groenland, Vol. 45, p. 333-37). Its struct- 
ure, etc., has been well described and beau- 
tifully illustrated by Sars (1896) p. 68- 
82, Tab. 11-18. Its life-history is now 
fairly well known. The hibernating eggs 
hatch in June, and the nauplius, which is 
not unlike that of Branchinecta, soon as- 
sumes the metanauplius stage (see above). 
It is rather sluggish and seems to venture 
forth over the mud-bottom only when it 
has grown considerably and assumed the 
adult’s color; even then it often takes re- 
fuge under the larger individuals. I se- 
eured the metanauplii in Greenland in 
June, but the youngest individuals I found 

during the Canadian Arctic Expedition 
(taken on July 3, 1916, at Bernard Har- 
bour, N. W. T.), were 3 mm. long, and 
practically like the adults. Both in Green- 
land and in the Canadian Arctic I first 


8 West coast up to Foulkefjord and Northum- 
berland Island, east coast at least to 77° N 


THe CANADIAN FIeLD-NATURALIST. ; 47 


secured tue few males in August, though 
adult females together with younger ones 
were secured from the end of July on; the 
latter tirst had ripe eggs in their brood- 
pouch in August. The last Lepidurus in 
the year were secured on October 6, 1915, 
together with the new Branchipod men- 
tioned p. 29 (Artemiopsis stefanssoni). 
Even in the autumn and fall the ani- 
mals range in size trom about 44 em. to 2 
em., thus proving that they represent both 
that and the preceding years’ brood (gen- 
eration ). 


All the Apus species occurring on this 
continent have so far been recorded only 
from the middle and western parts of 
United States, and none from Canada or 
Alaska. One of them (A. longicaudatus) 
has, however, been recorded from Yellow- 
stone River, so it is possible it ranges 
across the boundary into Alberta. Of the 
species occurring in Europe, some are in- 
teresting because they have been known for 
a much longer time than the American re- 
presentatives. The genus was first des- 
eribed in the first half of the 18th century, 
and was subsequently listed by \Linnaeus 
under the name of Monoculus. The genus 
Lepidurus was not separated out until more 
than half a century later, by Schaeffer. 


A parasitic Trematode (Distomum apo- 
dis Pack.) has been observed in the egg- 
sacks of the genus Apus in North America 
(see A. S. Packard, in Amer. Naturalist, 
Vol. XVI, 1882, p. 142). 

G. O. Sars in ‘‘Crustacea’’ (2d. Norwe- 
gian Arctic Expedition 1898-1902 
(‘‘Fram’’), 1911, p. 15) records Lepidu- 
rus apus (Lin.), from a freshwater-swamp 
at Cape Rutherford, east side of Grinnell 
Land (about lat. 79° N., long. 75° W.), 
on August 29, 1898. * This is the first time 
this species has been found in the arctic 
regions, and in America. It is, I believe, 
the same species as L. (Apus) productus 
Bose., known from a number of places in 
Europe. 

(To be continued). 


4 Lepidurus arcticus was also secured by this 
expedition at Cape Rutherford. 


THe CANADIAN Frevp-NaTURALIST, 


' 


[Vol. XXV. 


ASSOCIATION, COMMENSALISM AND PARASITISM AMONG MARINE 
ANIMALS IN THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA, 


By C. McLean Fraser, Pu.D., F.R.S.Cz 


Professor of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. 


The conditions affecting marine life are 
sufficiently diversified in the waters of 
the strait of Georgia to supply material 
for investigation in every branch of z0o- 
logy but no branch is better served than 
ecology. 

In making ecological observations one 
is necessarily struck with the numerous 
instances of association, commensalism and 
parasitism, states which differ only in 
degree and between which complete inter- 
grading is evident. The association may 
be quite casual as in cases where two or 
more species are found in proximity on 
account of the fact that they live on the 
same kind of food. The relationship is 
much closer in other cases where the spe- 
cles remain permanently in proximity, in 
some instances as much for mutual pro- 
tection as for common feeding. It is but 
a short step from this to commensalism 
where two species (seldom more) bear 
such an intimate relation to each other 
that one is seldom found or never found 
without the other. They may be mutually 
helpful, and, if not evidently so, at least 
one must not be harmful to the other. 
The condition of one species feeding with 
another differs comparatively little from 
that of one species feeding on another, and 
so parasitism appears, going from the one 
extreme where the parasite is free to at- 
tack its host, to move about from one host 
to another or even to live apart from the 
host, to the other extreme where the par- 
asite in the adult state has lost all power 
of locomotion and is otherwise so degener- 
ate that it lives only by absorbing highly 
complex nourishment from the host. 

The term ‘‘parasitism’’ is often loosely 
used in connection with such sessile forms 
as hydroids, bryozoa, etc., where there is 
no evidence of such. The larve of these 
forms, when they reach the end of the 
free-swimming period settle down, in most 
cases, on anything available for support 
throughout the rest of their life. In very 


few instances is there any evidence that 
they receive any nourishment from the 
supporting object which consequently can- 
not be a host. It evidently cannot be a 
host when the support .is a piece of rock 
or dead shell, and it is usually no more so 
if this is an animate object. 

~ As an instance of more or less casual as- 
sociation the young herring and the stick- 
leback will serve. The herring hatches out 
in March or April, and by July or August 
has taken on the real herring appearance. 
It gathers in schools to feed around whar- 
ves and floats and near the shore at var-. 
lous places, where it remains until it is 
about a year old. During.this period the 
individuals mingle freely with the stick- 
lebacks that are in that vicinity for the 
Same reason, so that one seldom sees the 
one species without the other. Later the 
herring goes out to deeper water and the 
association is at an end. 

Without going into detail other instan- 
ces may be noted. The little blenny, Ano- 
plarchus, is found with the eling fish, Caw- 
larchus, under stones that are left exposed 
at low tide, and with these the singing fish, 
Porichthys, often appears. Schools of 
sand launces are often associated with 
schools of herring. Viviparous perch, Pa- 
nerodon, and sometimes Teniotoca, occur 
in the same locality as the rock cod, Sebas- 
todes. This is true of the two species of 
clams, Saxidomus and Paphia, and of the - 
heart-urchin, Schizaster, the brittle-star, 
Amphiura, and the holothurian, Molpadia. 

A somewhat closer association appears 
between two Chaetopterid annelids, a large 
ene and a small one, and both of them with 
a Phoronopsis. They are all tubiculous 
species, living in the fine sand a short 
distance above lowest low-water mark. 
Where one is found the others are sure to. 
be present. In certain localities, only ex- 
posed at the lowest tides, where coarse 
sand or fine gravel is mixed with mud, a 
Synapta is plentiful, and with it a brittle- 


March, 1921.] 


star, Amphiura, with long, slender rays. 
In appearance they have very little in com- 
mon and yet they always seem to occur 
together. 

The best as well as the most common 


‘and most extensive association is found 


almost everywhere in rough, rocky bottom 
at a depth of 25 or 30 fathoms in the open 
strait. The most conspicuous part of the 
association is made up of: three sponges, 
Bathydorus dawsoni, Rhadocalyptus dow- 
lingu and Aphrocallistes whiteavesianus, 
the first two in particular being supplied 
with numerous siliceous spicules that make 
them troublesome to handle. With these 
are associated a spiny ascidian, Tethyum 
agaboji (the only very spiny ascidian to be 
found in the strait), a spiny brittle-star, 
Ophiopholus sp., and two species of the 
genu Huphrosyne, spiny annelids. These 
are all spiny creatures and hence they 


‘form a very well protected group. With 


sponges, and a brittle-star. 


these there may be other species of rarer 
oeeurrence; other species of annelids and 
Many species 
of bryozoa and hydroids are attached to 
the sponges but none of them seem to be 
essential to the association. 

Examples of commensalism are numer- 
ous. The two species feeding together 
usually belong to different phyla and hen- 
ee they are hard to group. It may suffice 


.to arrange them according to the phyla to 


which the major members belong. The 
vertebrates do not supply instances. Ap- 
parently there is in this region no counter- 


part of the relation between the pilot-fish . 


and the shark. Possibly the nearest ap- 
proach to it is the case of the little sculpins 
that wait around for the crumbs that are 
dropped when the crab, Cancer productus, 
is having its meal of fresh barnacles. 

The ascidians serve better, as with Asc- 
diopsis paratropa in particular, but also 
with Phallusia ceratodes, Ciona intestinalis 
and Tethyum aurantium, the hydroid, En- 
docrypta huntsmani, finds a close relation- 
ship, since it is found attached to the wall 
of the branchial cavity. A Pinnotherid 
has been found commensal with Tethywm 
igabojt. 

Among the molluses, the most familiar 
examples are found in the clams, Miva and 
Schizoth@rus, where various Pinnotherids 
or pea-crabs are much at home in the 


ad 


THE CANADIAN Fievp-NaTura ist, 


evidently mutually beneficial. 


49 


mantle cavity. The condition here is ex- 
treme, for the body of the horse-clam in 
particular may be 16 or 18 inches down in 
the sand. The crab must therefore depend 
on the circulation in the clam, for its oxy- 
gen as well as for its food supply. An- 
other bivalve, the scallop or Pecten, may 
have either one of two species of sponges 
living commensal with it, the two species 
being E'sperella adherens and Myzilla pa- 
rasitica. With a much smaller bivalve, 
Axinopsis sericata, occurs the hydroid, Mo- 
nobrachium | parasitum. The offensive 
zooids of Monobrachium extend over the 
ventral border of the valve and probably 
protect the molluse as well as the hydroid. 
colony. The key-hole limpet, almost in- 
variably, has an annelid lying in the man- 
tle cavity parallel to the foot, of a color 
that matches that of the foot and gills. 

Among the crustacea there is what might 
be called a foreed commensalism in the 
ease of the decorating crab. Hydroids, 
sponges, bryozoa, ete., grow from many 
places on its exoskeleton, but the begin- 
nings of the colonies are placed there by 
the crab itself. The hydroid, Hydractinia 
aggregata, is always found growing on a 
shell that is inhabited by a hermit crab, 
Pagurus splendescens (possibly other spe- 
cies as well). Here the arrangement is 
The hy- 
droid colony disguises the home of the erab 
and on the other hand it obtains food mat- 
erial let slip by its messmate. This is de- 
finitely indicated by the fact that the nu- 
tritive zooids are much more numerous 
near the margin of the shell, to the ex- 
clusion of the generative zooids that are 
always situated farther back. In some 
eases the hermit-erab, Pagurus ochotensis, 
(and possibly other species), has a closer 
association than that with the hydroid, 
when it has an annelid, Nereis, living with 
it within the shell. 

No instance has appeared where an an- 
nellid is the major commensal except 
where both commensals are annelids. The 
Polynoid that lives in the tube of an Am- 
phitrite is an example. ; 

Among the Eehinoderms one starfish, 
Evasterias troschelit, is seldom found with- 
ont a commensal Polvnoid, that matches 
the color narticnlarlv well byt no better 
than the Polvnoid found on the Holothu- 


50 THE CANADIAN 
rian, Stichopus. Another Polynoid is 
commensal with the starfish, Solaster 


stimpsoni. 

The jellyfish supply the only examples 
among the Celenterates. The largest jelly- 
fish found along the coast, Cyanea arctica, 
has usually one or more species of amphi- 
pods and sometimes other crustaceans 
among its tresses. The actinian, Bicidium 
equoree, is found attached to the umbrel- 
lar surface of Aequorea forskalea and of 
Thaumantias cellularia.* This actinian is 
spoken of as being parasitic but it is not 
probable that it is so. Finally, in the Po- 
rifera, the hermit crab, Pagurus brandti, 
appears surrounded by the living sponge, 
Suberites latus. 

In taking up parasitism only ectoparasi- 
tism will be considered. The crustacea pro- 
vide much the greater number of parasitic 
species. One vertebrate is probably para- 
sitic. The lamprey, Entosphenus triden- 
tatus, attaches itself to the salmon and uses 
it for transportation purposes, but it is 
searcely possible that the skin of the sal- 
mon is so thoroughly pierced for this pur- 
pose alone. 

One molluse is apparently parasitic al- 
though it may be merely commensal. This 
is the species that has been called Lepton 
rude by Whiteaves and Ericyna rugifera by 
Carpenter, found attached to the surface 
of the abdomen of the sand shrimp, Eupo- 
gebia pugettens’s. The annelid, Myzosto- 
ma, is parasitic on the Crinoid, Florometra 
serratissima. Trematodes are commonly 


FYELD-NATURALIST, [Vol. XXYV. 
\ 
found in the gill cavity of several species 
of fishes, attached to the surface, and some 
blood-red nematodes have been found on 
the clingfish, Caularchus meandiinus. 


The copepods make up a large portion 
of the list of parasitic erustacea. There is 
one parasitic isopod, Phyllodorus abdoma- 
nalis, common on the abdominal surface of 
the sand shrimp, Hupogebia pugettensis, 
and a Rhizocephalan, Sacculina, on diffe- 
rent species of shrimps. — 


Parasitic copepods were discussed in a 
paper read before the Royal Society of 
Canada in 1920. Those parasitic on fish 
are very numerous and of many species. 
In these there is the greatest variation in 
the manner in which parasitism has af- 
fected the parasite. Galigus gurnard, for 
instance, shows no great degeneration and 
is almost as freely moving as non-parasitie 
forms. It moves readily about on the host 
and has been found with the plankton 
where it must have been swimming, freely 
in the sea. From~-such a condition there 
is a gradually increasing degeneration 
until such a shapeless, helpless mass as 
that of Chondracanthus or Clavella is 
reached. 


The only parasitic copepod found else- _ 
where than on fish, was a small, red spe- ~ 
cies (undetermined) which is common on- 
the red sand shrimp, Calianassa califor-. 
miensis. It is quite possible that a more - 
eareful observation would bring others to 
light. 


GLEANINGS FROM THE CANADIAN WEST. — PART I. AVIAN FAUNA 


OF ISLAY, 


ALBERTA. -- ‘ 


By J. Dewey Soper. 


While accumulating the notes embodied 
in the following pages I felt congratmla- 
ted in my fortune to be again haunting 
comparatively unknown fields in this de- 
lightful science. By unknown fields, of 
course, I refer to the geography in con- 


nection with the faunal forms that I 
mention, not to any original intimacy 
with the species themselves. The most, 


apparently, which a new region may do 
for one at this time, barring the extreme 


and improbable fortune of discovering 
new members of our country’s fauna, is 
to strengthen, correct, or establish lines | 
of distribution. All the facts proffered 
may long since have been known to some 
one, perhaps even published in papers 
that I thave as yet overlooked. Never- 
theless I enjoyed a rare satisfaction in 
winnowing from the Islay prairies what- 
ever of interest or value may appear in 
this article. Here, in this little, isolated 


‘ 


March, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 


western village, there existed such free- 
dom of movement, such ready accessibil- 
ity to the open and its occupants, that 
one seemed surrounded always by pecu- 
lar benefits. 

- Aside from the singular charm and 
seductiveness of the northern prairies in 
autumn, birds and mammals abound, 
making a visit there of very practical 
interest. I would not venture to describe 
the Islay region as inordinately rich in 
species, nor, on the other hand, markedly 
poor, remembering the latitude. In point 
of individuals, however, I will refrain, as 
I might be induced to expatiate too free- 
ly. I would say briefly in this connection, 
though, that it is my impression that one 
must visit a favorable place in our Canad- 
ian West fully to realize the great flights 
of waterfowl from the north which obtain 
during the autumnal migrations. Liter- 
ally thousands.upon thousands pass over 
a given locality in a single day, followed 
day in and day out at times, over areas 
of wonderful extent, with increasing or 
decreasing numbers. To be on hand there- 
fore during these flights is a privilege 
to be cherished to the full. 

I remained at or near Islay from 
August 29, 1919, until November 30 
following, about fourteen weeks in all. 
My notes were collected under divers 
circumstances with no thought of pub- 
lication at the time, and have since been 
pilfered from a rather promiscuous jour- 
nal. Any lack of cofesion or consistency 
may possibly be traced to these circum- 
stances. 


Of the fifty species of birds recorded 
at Islay, a great many may be regarded 
solely as migrants, especially among the 
water-birds, although not all of these can 
be considered such. Before the advent 
of the settlers, most if not all of the 
waterfowl mentioned would, I believe, be 
found as breeding summer residents in 
the immediate vicinity. So many of the 
sloughs throughout the country have of 
late years dried up, that now numbers of 
these waterfowl are forced to other parts 
_ to rear their young. The majority of the 
smaller species will, in all probability, 
be found as summer residents. As con- 
cerns the general status of a region’s 
bird life, an autumnal list certainly leaves 


Frevp-NATuRALIST, 51 


a great deal to be desired. Nevertheless 
there may be something of interest and 
value even in an incomplete list like the 
present. 

AUTUMN Birps or Isuay AND VICINITY. 


1. Hornep Grese (Colymbus auritus). 
A few believed to be this species noted 
on Laurier and Whitney Lakes, Sept. 1. 

2. Herring Guuu (Larus argentatus). 
The only individuals seen were two rid- 
ing the waves near shore on Laurier Lake, 
September 1. 


3. Mauuarp (Anas platyrhynchos). No- 
ted on various occasions throughout the 
season. What were suppositionally iden- 
tified as mallards passed south near sun- 
down on October 18, in a fast flying 
flock one hundred and fifty strong, 
strung out in a long single imposing line 
at right angles to the line of flight. 

4. SHOVELLER Duck (Spatula cyanop- 
tera). Two individuals collected at Whit- 
ney Lake. 

5. Ruppy Duck (Erismatura jamaicen- 
sis). Observed on several occasions dur- 
ing September. 

6. CanapaA GoosE (Branta canaden- 
sis). During migration very common. 
On the night of September 16, a large 
flock loudly ‘‘honking’’ passed over the 
town. Large companies bore southward 
all day September 18. 


7. Buack Brant (Branta nigricans). 
I make this a thypothetical entry. On 
September 18 and 19, flocks named by 
an old gunner as brant passed southward 
ealling regularly as they bore along. Ac- 
cording to his statements their notes were 
easily distinguishable from others of their 
kin. The brant of any species, however, 
are supposedly rarely if ever to migrate 
inland. In Macoun’s catalogue I find 
a note by Turner for the present species 
reading: ‘‘Few are seen in the fall as 
they then pass through the interior go- 
ing south.’’ I take it from this that 
their occurrence inland is not improbable. 

8. AMERICAN BirTerRN (Botaurus lenti- 
ginosus). One individual only observed 
on September 5, as it rose with a hoarse 
‘‘squawk’’ from a mud-bar on the Ver- 
milion river. 

9. WHOOPING CRANE (Grus americana). 


52 


A solitary bird of large size, snowy wihite- 
ness, carmine coloring on the head and 
black primaries, was noted at 10 a.m., Ue- 
tober 15. It was flying south-eastward 
at the rate of about twenty-five miles 
an fhour. 

10. SANDHILL CRANE (G@rus mexicana). 
Flocks observed on September 18, 24, 
25 and 27. The flock of September 25 
was composed of 168 individuals. 

11. Wiison Snipe (Gallinago delicata). 
Several times observed during the month 
of September. 

12. PectorAL SANppIPER (Pisobia ma- 
culata). One specimen eollected in a 
grassy slough a few miles south of the 
Saskatchewan. 

15. Barrp’s Sanpprrer (Pisobia  bair- 
di). A specimen of this interesting little 
arctic sandpiper was collected in a grassy 
slough margin near ‘‘the Ridge’’ on Sep- 
tember 1. 

14. Lesser YELLOW-LEGS (Totanus fla- 
vipes). Large flocks observed on various 
sloughs. One collected at Laurier Lake 
September 1. Very common on muddy 
slough margins in the vicinity of ‘‘The 
Ridge’’. 

15. KinupEER PLover (Oxyechus voci- 
ferus). Common during September. 

16. Rurrep Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). 
Common about Laurier, Whitney, and 
Raft Lakes. To my surprise several in- 
dividuals were seen frequenting isolated 
““bluffs’’ of small aspeng on the open 
range. These had wandered from the 
thicker continuous woods on the Vermil- 
ion river. 


17. SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (Pediacetes 
phasianellus). Very common. During 
latter August and all of September, while 
the young were reaching their maturity, 
they were commonly found on the open 
prairie or grain fields. After the snow 
fall of October 7 and 8, which perma- 
nently remained, with thermometer in 
early November at 25-30 degrees below 
zero, the birds took up their winter 
quarters in good thick bluffs protected 
from cold winds by contiguous hills. 
Thede elevations, near their ‘hibernal 
abodes, I am told, serve as their dancing 
grounds during the spring, summer and 
early fall. 


THe CaNapIAN Frevp-NATURALIST, 


[Vol. XXV. 


. 

18. TuRKEY Buzzarp (Cathartes aura). 
The only note that I find in my journal 
referring to this species is under date 
of October 3, and reads: ‘‘A solitary 
buzzard sailed majestically towards the 
south this afternoon at a height of about 
1000 feet. This is the only one of the 
species observed since arriving a Islay 
on August 27.’’ fess 

19. Marsh Hawk (Circus hudsonicus). 
Frequently observed during September. 

20. AMERICAN GosHAWK (Astur atri- 
capillus) A large gray hawk flying over 
an area of snow-covered grain  stooks 
on November 12, was identified as of 
this species. 

21. Swarnson’s Hawk (Buteo swain- 
som). An adult specimen of this bird 
in dark plumage was collected on Sep- 
tember 5. Previous to reading more care- 
fully Mr. Taverner’s Birds of the Red 
Deer River, Alta. I felt assured that 
Swainson’s Hawk was the only large 
hawk that I had been seeing. His fine 
series of skins however proved that dif- 
ferentiating ‘‘on the wing’’ between this 
and the Red-Tail is a doubtful proceed- 
ing. My journal reads throughout to 
the plenitude of Swainson’s, some of 
whicn may have been borealis, despite the 
specimen collected on September 5, as a 
guide to the detection of the former. 

22. Piakon Hawk (Falco colwmbar- 
ious). Two individuals of this beautiful 
little hawk were noted during early Sep- 
tember. 


23. Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius). 
Not; uncommon during September. 

24. Great Hornep Own (Bubo virgi- 
nianus). Reported as a resident in the 
heavier woods along streams. During 
late fall both sub-species pallescens and 
subarticus would likely be found. 

25. Snowy Ow. (Nyctea nyctea). An 
individual of this comparatively rare 
arctic bird was collected on October 10, 
following the snow-storm of the 7 and 8; 
when first seen it was sitting upright on 
a snow-covered stook, and with difficulty 
could it be determined whether it was- 
really a bird or a turret of snow fash- 
ioned by the wind. It was rather wary 
when approached, but flew only short 
distances after taking to wing. 


March, 1921.] THe CANADIAN 


26. Fricker (Colaptes auratus) A com- 
_ mon species during September. 
27. Kinepirp (7'yrannus tyrannus), But 


one individual noted, and that on August 
~ 30. 


28. Hornep Lark (Otocoris leucolae- 
ma)? My journal of September 13, 
reads: ‘‘Several times lately flocks of 
smal] birds have passed over-head, emit- 
ting soft twittering call notes identical 
with those of the eastern horned lark. 
- I am convinced that these flocks are refer- 
able to the western variety of this species. 


29. BuuE Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). 
One example noted in the Vermilion 
Valley about September 15. 

30. AMERICAN Crow (Corvus brachy- 
rhynchos). Quite common, large migrat- 
ing companies passed south over the 
Twin Hills on September 30, October 1, 
2 and 3. 

31. Rusty Buackpirp (Euphagus caro- 
linus). Noted occasionally in early Sep- 
tember, but large flocks were common 
from the 15th to the 18th of the month. 
Probably accompanied by a_ percentage 
of Brewers. 

32. WESTERN Merapow Lark (Sturnel- 
la neglecta). A very common bird of 
the prairies; still common on October 5, 
two days before the big snow storm. They 
then disappeared entirely. 

33. WHITE-WINGED CrossBILu (Loria 
leucoptera.) While tramping in a snow- 
storm on November 4 near a fringe of 
aspens skirting an alluvial lowland in 
the Vermilion valley, a solitary bird of 
this species came flying down the wind 
with the storm and lit in some aspens 
near by. I justi managed to identify it in 
the driving snow when it was up and 
-gone again. 

34. Reppott (Acanthis linaria). On 
October 19 the first redpolls of the season 
were seen in a small flock erratically 
flying about the railway grade where 
quantities of seed bearing weeds had 
attracted their attention. _ 

35. AMERICAN GoLpFINCH (Astragali- 
nus tristis). Observed occasionally until 
the middle of September. 

- 36. Snow Buntina (Plectrophenax ni- 
valis). Commonly observed after Octo- 
ber 15. 


Frevp-NATURALIST. 53 


37. Smita Lonespur (Calcarius pictus). 
While enjoying a ramble west of the town 
on September 27, a solitary individual 
of this species fluttered from the trail 
like a vesper sparrow, and alighted fur- 
ther along for concealment in an over- 
hanging buneh of prairie grass. It per- 
mitted me again and again to approach 
very closely; each time it would flit along 
close to the ground, seek secret cover, 
and play the game again. 


38. Vesper Sparrow (Pacetes grami- 
neus). Very common during September. 

39. Savanna Sparrow (Passerculus s. 
alaudinus). A single specimen collected 
on September 19. 


40. Savanna TREE Sparrow (Spizella 
monticola). Noted frequently after Sep- 
tember 14 and up to November 1. 


41. SLATE-coLORED JuNco (Junco hye- 
malis). First noted about the middle of 
September; common thereafter all fall, 
and still remaining in small flocks about 
the town in sheltered nooks on Novem- 
ber 15. 


42. Sona Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). 
Observed in migrating flocks of mixed 
species abouti the willow margins of driéd- 
up sloughs during early September. 

43. NorTHERN SHRIKE (Lanius borea- 
lis). Two individuals observed in early 
November. 

44. Sourrary Vireo (Lanivireo  solita- 
rius). A single individual was noted in 
a small aspen bluff on the prairie on 
the morning of October 1. 

45. MyrtLE WarBLER (Dendroica coro- 
nata). Migrating in considerable num- 
bers at Laurier Lake on September 1. 
The flocks were scattered about the low 
willow fringe, hedged in by the spruces 
on the east coast. 

46. AMERICAN Repstart (Setophaga ru- 
ticilla). A great movement among the 
warblers was one of the most conspicuous 
and interesting occurrences at Laurier 
and Whitney Lakes on September 1. 
This beautiful warbler in company with 
the former species seemed fairly to teem 
about the bushes. 

47. AmertcaN Pieir (Anthus . rubes- 
cens). The first individuals of this spe- 
cies were noted on September 18. _ Not 


54 THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST, 


being positive about the identity I was 
on the prairie the following morning at 
5 a.m. to collect a cabinet specimen to 
make sure, and was surprised that no 
birds were to be seen. Their absence how- 
ever was only apparent, for by 6 a.m. 
a few scattered individuals were in evi- 
dence and in the course of the next 
half hour, as the sun rose higher, flocks 
of hundreds appeared from the stubble. 
Individually they are not shy, but as 
a company they are very restless, rising 
erratically to wheel and dash in reckless 
abandon without apparent cause. <A 
source of some surprise to me (with a 
ground-loving species) was their habit in 
one instance of alighting on telegraph 
wires which intersected the prairie. 


48. Buack-CAapPpED CHICKADEE (Pen- 
thestes atricapillus). More common about 
the mixed woods in the vicinity of the 
lakes, but frequently seen in low willow- 
grown depressions on the prairie, far 
from large trees. Very common at Lau- 
rier Lake and Whitney Lake on Sep- 
tember 1, in company with the warblers. 


[Vol. XXV. 


Others noted in the vieinity of Island 
Lake. 


49. OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH (Hylocichla 
ustulata). A specimen was collected Sep- 
tember 1 at Laurier Lake. It was ex- 
ceedingly wary, and considerable man- 
oeuvring was necessary before the bird 
was obtained. It was vigilantly feeding 
about the tangled growth on the margin 
of the lake shore. 


50. AMERICAN Rosin (Planesticus mi- - 


gratorius). Very common throughout the 
fall. The last record was a solitary bird 
feeding in the snow near Pleasant Valley 


on October 10, two days after the big 


-Storm. No record since. 


51. Mountain Buuspirp (Sialia curru- 
coides). Rather uncommon; scattered in- | 
dividuals in widely separated localities 
noted during September. My last entry 
is on October 5, ‘‘Three mountain blue- 
birds observed near evening along the 
trail east of the Twin Hills.”’ 


(To be continued.) 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Bird Migration.—Replying to Prof. A. 
B. Klugh’s note in the September, 1920, 
number of the Canadian Field-Naturalist 
I wish to point out that I made no dog- 
matic statement regarding self-conscious- 
ness in animals. What I did say was that 
I thought there was no such thing, which 
is very different from positively asserting 
the fact. 

What I meant and intended to convey 
by pure nature was life carrying on its 
functions untrammelled by man’s in- 
fluence or interference, when elaborate 
schemes are seen to work out with the ut- 
most precision, the lepidopteron in the one 
case, and the bird in the other, making no 
preliminary experiments, and hence no 
mistakes, but carrying out through their 
subconscious minds those changes and acts 
which are necessary for the propagation 
and continuance of their respective races, 
which changes and acts are surely of the 
Infinite. Very little onus I imagine rests 
upon me to prove that millions of birds 
as well as other animals are every year 


making no mistakes in these matters. Of 
course it goes without saying that many 
lose their lives in carrying out these sub- 
conscious promptings. In the ease of the. 
bird, after having started on its journey 
it may be overtaken by a violent storm 
whilst crossing some large sheet of water 
and lose its life, but surely this and similar 
instances cannot be put down to the mis- 
takes of the said creatures. 

If, as Prof. Klugh says, there is aca 
utely no proof that any mind can com- 
municate with any other mind save 
through the medium of the senses of hear- 
ing, sight, touch or smell, so likewise there 
is absolutely no proof that any mind can- 
not communicate with any other mind save 
through the above mediums. I personally 
much prefer to keep an open mind on the 
subject, believing that it may be possible 
for any one mind to communicate with 
any other mind irrespective of the afore- 
mentioned mediums, 

I also do not see that it is so very hard 
to account for the fact that birds will 


March, 1921.] 


sometimes (not always by any means, for 
I have seen homing pigeons come home in 
one) become lost in a fog when migrating 
on the telaesthesia principle. Fog has a 
very depressing influence both physically 


and mentally, and why should it not there- 


fore have the same effect upon subcons- 
cious perceptions, dulling and putting 
them out of commission for the time 
being, just as an electric storm affects the 
working of telephone, telegraph and wire- 
less systems. In like manner I imagine 
the glare from a lighthouse on a dark 
night attracts the physical eye of the bird, 
drawing it out of its course and for the 
moment disrupting the psychological con- 
nection, which cannot be regained until 
normal conditions are re-established and 
the bewildered bird escapes from the light 
without losing its life, which so many do, 
thereby never reaching the land of which 
they had such a clear vision just before the 
physical faculty led to a disruption of 
the psychological connection, the same as 
the fog does or may do in the afore-men- 
tioned case. : 
Speaking of bringing out latent facul- 
ties in animals, I once trained a British 
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis britannica) 
to perform some wonderful tricks, but no 
one will ever convince me that I was bring- 
ing out latent faculties already possessed 
by that bird. Rather would I suggest that 
dominant will power, as well as mesmeric 
influence, compelled that bird to perform 
acts which pure nature never intended it 
should, just in the same way as the lion 
tamer compels those noble animals to go 
through humiliating acts, which again pure 
nature never intended they should. Had 
they but self-conscious reasoning minds 
and knew their power I am afraid their 
tamer would soon be no more. It seems 
too sweeping a statement to say that no 
entirely new type of mental process such 
as reason can possibly be evolved by as- 
‘sociation with man, and I am still of the 


opinion that some of the higher animals 


from long association with man have, 
through his mental emanations, acquired 
some slight reasoning powers. It has been 
said that in such cases it is possible that 
the discarnate spirit of the animal does not 
return to the group-soul, but remains 
individualized. 


THE CANADIAN Frevp-NarurRALIst, 5D 


To those who still hold to the theory that 
birds are possessed of reasoning powers I 
would suggest their reading Mr. C. W. 
Leister’s experience with a Spotted Sand- 
piper, Bird-Lore, Vol. xxi, 1919, no. 5, pp. 
287-289, wherein it is recorded how a 
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia), 
after her nest and eggs had been covered 
over, firstly with a cap, secondly with a 
leaf, thirdly with small sticks, and lastly 
with a stone, in every instance sat down 
on the top of the obstacle, and commenced 
incubating, surely a very foolish thing for 
a self-conscious and reasoning bird to do. 
In this instance I would suggest that sub- 
conscious mind brought her back time 
after time to the exact spot where the nest 
and eggs were, but that lack of self-cons- 
cious or reasoning mind allowed her to sit 
on the obstacles without ever investigating 
or removing them, which was perfectly 
feasible in cases two and three, and even 
in the first was not impossible. However, 
chacun a son gout, which also applies to 
the answers to the following questions, 
which appear to me to require more than 
the fearing, sight, touch or smell yan! 
to explain them, viz :— 

1.—How is it that’a string of swallows, 
gathered on a telegraph ‘wire are able to 
leave it at one and the same instant? 

2.—How do a flock of shorebirds man- 
age to turn and twist at one and the same 
moment, thereby avoiding collision with 
one another? 

3.—How do a pair of birds manage to 
work in harmony whilst constructing a 
nest ? 

4.—How does a bird when flushed from 
its nest on the darkest night yet find its 
way back? 

5.—How does the larva, devoid of phy- 
sical sight, yet manage to find its way 
from the food plant to the necessary pup- 
ating station, which may be hundreds of 
yards from the former? 

I would suggest that telepathy 
blending) answers Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in a 
nutshell, and likewise’ telaesthesia (the 
power of vision passing the limits of time 
and space) the two last. That I am not 
alone in discarding the sight or landmarks 
theory seems evident from an article in the 
October, 1920, number of the bis, which 
article was briefly reviewed in the January, 


(mind 


1921, number of the Auk, p. 147, the re- 
viewer there stating that he heartily agreed 
with the views of the author, i.e. that birds 
do not rely to any large extent on land- 
marks to guide them on migration. How- 
ever, we are all at liberty to hold our own 
views on these very interesting, but in- 
tricate, matters and having now clearly 


56 THe CANADIAN Frevp-NaATURALIST, 


" [Vol. XXV. 


stated mine, it is not my intention to pur- 
sue the subject further, seeing that it is 
given to none of us to prove absolutely 
what we may personally believe to be the 
answers to them all. The solution, like that 
to the life hereafter, it is not permitted us 
to see. 
H. Moustery, Hatley, Que.. 


PROSECUTIONS. 


Micratory Birps CoNvENTION Act AND NorrH-Werst Game Act By OFFICERS 
OF THE DoMINION PARKS BRANCH AND RoyaL CANADIAN 
Mountep Pouicr. 


Migratory Birds Convention Act. 
1921 and May 19, 1921. 


Perey MeGray, Clarke’s Harbour, N. 
S., killing a Murre. Specimen and gun 
forfeited. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

C. Harmston, Courtenay, B.C., shoot- 
ing Sea Gull. Gun and Gull forfeited. 
Fine $10.00 and eosts. 


Maurice Smith, Clarke’s Harbour, N. 


Feb- 


S., possession of Eider Ducks. Dis- 
missed. 
Wm. Chapman, Jr., Dartmouth, N.S., 


shooting at a Murre. Fine $10.00 and 
“costs. s 

Leonie Allen, Petit de Grat, 
shooting Merganser in close season. 
. $10.00 and costs. 

Lochart Lohnes, Garden Lotis, 
killing a Duck in close season. 
$25.00 and costs. 

Harper Allen, West Bathe N28 
Selling Geese. Fine $3.00. Suspended. 

Peter Pineau, Rustico, P.E.I., killing 
a Goose between the hours of sunset and 
sunrise. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Stephen Heisler, Martin’s River, N.S.., 
killing a Duck in close season. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

Stanfords, Ltd. 128 Mansfield St., 

Montreal, P.Q.; Henry Gatehouse and 
Son, Bonsecours Market, Montreal, P.Q.; 
P. Poulin and Co., Bonsecours Market, 
Montreal, P.Q.; Walter Deery and ee 
Bonsecours Market, Montreal, P.Q.; 
P. O’Connor, St. Antoine Market, ii foe. 
real, P.Q.; possession of Migratory Game 
Birds. Withdrawn. 

Percival Allmond, 


N.S., 
Fine 


N.S., 
Fine 


Hamilton, Ont., 


shooting a Robin. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Juvenile, Britannia, Ont., molesting 
Canada Goose in close season. Suspended 
sentence and costs. 

Robert Readman, Fort Francis, Ont. 
engaged in business of taxidermist with- 
out securing a license. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

John Jackson, Murray Harbour, P.E. 
I, shooting Canada Goose in close season. 
fae $10.00 and costs. 

Sylvere Gallant, St. John’s Road, Mud- 
dy Creek, PE ee Possession of a Duck 
in close season. Fine $10.00 and eosts. 

Lloyd Heisler, Indian Point, Lunen- 
burg Co., N. S., Shooting Ducks in close 
season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

W. O. Bowser, Amherst, N.S., Molest- 
ing Ducks in close season. Fine $25.00 
and costs. 

Artemus Davidson, Tindal Road, Am- 
herst, N.S., molesting Ducks in close 
season. Fine $50.00 and costs. 

Enzor Oulton, Tormentine, N.B., kil- 
ling or molesting Wild Geese in close 
season. ‘‘Goose-boat’’ seized and for- 
feited. Dismissed. ' 


The Game Conservation Board of Brit- 
ish Columbia has furnished the Dominion 
Parks Branch with a summary of prose- 
eutions, from January 1, 1921, to May 9, 
1921, under the British Columbia Game 
Act, which amount to violations of the 
Migratory Birds Convention Act :— 


J. Antipas, Hunting Ducks in close 


season. Fine $10.00 1 
H. Crawford, Hunting Ducks in close 
season. Fine $10.00 


March, 1921.] 


T. Leathem, Hunting Ducks in close 
season. Fine $10.00. 

Shing Chong, Mallard Ducks in shop 
for sale. Fine $10.00. 

Sam Lee, Mallard Ducks in shop for 
‘sale, Fine $10.00. 

G. A. Sharp, Mallard Ducks in shop for 
sale. Fine $10.00. 


THE CANADIAN FIeLD-NATURALIST. 


57 


Wong Wee, .Did buy a Mallard Duck. 
Fine $10.00. 


Northwest Game Act Prosecutions. 


A.’ Adams, Little Buffalo River, N. 
W.T. Trapping without a license. Two 
mink skins seized. Fine $5.00. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


NoTEes AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE WHITE- WINGED CROSSBILL. 


— In many ways the past winter was a 
remarkable season. Snow covered the 
ground on the 13th of November, and al- 
though we had exceptionally mild weather 
~ with intermittent rains and no prolonged 
snow-falls, yet the temperature was con- 
sistently even and sufficiently low to keep 
the ground snow-covered until early 
March. On the 13th of March the fields 
about Montreal were practically bare and 
I was a little doubtful about undertaking 
a previously arranged snowshoe 
with my friend, Mr. W. J. Brown. How- 
ever, armed with very large snowshoes and 
proportionately large ‘boeufs’, I ran the 
gauntlet of interrogative glances and was 
glad to reach the station and further com- 
pany. Snowshoeing on bare ground is not 
a conventional sport. Reaching Ile Jesus, 
adjacent to Montreal Island, conditions 
were reversed and bare spots the excep- 
tion; while throughout a large spruce 
forest, twenty-five miles farther north, 
_ the snow was between two and three feet 
in depth. 

Earlier in the morning, at St. Lambert, 
I had seen a few Robins, Song Sparrows 
‘and Bluebirds; but here were no cheery 
greetings from spring arrivals, although I 
saw a Marsh Hawk and a Red-shouldered 
Hawk, and glimpsed a furtive sparrow in 
the spruce undergrowth that I failed to 
identify. On the other hand here was a 
probable part explanation of the dearth of 
birds about urban districts during the past 
winter. Black-capped Chickadees were 
fairly common — about twenty-five being 
noted in two flocks. During former win- 
ters I almost invariably saw this bird on 
all of my walks in the vicinity of Mont- 


tramp 


real. I always counted on seeing at least 
the Chickadee until the past Winter, 
when I seldom saw it and then in greatly 
reduced numbers. In these spruce woods 
(mainly Black Spruce and Tamarack) 
one Canada Jay was seen, an Arctic Three- 
toed Woodpecker and four or five Red- 
breasted Nuthatches, but the most noti- 
ceable birds were Pine Siskins and White- 
winged Crossbills. 

The Siskings were well distributed in 
small groups and pairs (?) and many 
were heard singing. Probably twenty- 
five were noted. 


The Crossbills were also distributed 
in small groups but their erratic move- 
ments made it difficult to determine their 
numbers. All those that were plainly 
seen were males. Several were heard 
singing from spruce tops and one gave 
a remarkable flight-song — just skimming 
the tops of the conifers on fluttering 
wings, while giving a series of trilled 
songs continued throughout a flight of 
about one hundred yards, when the singer 
pitched into a spruce tree. Following, 
I found it feeding in the tip of a Black 
Spruce with two other males. 

One song, or flight-note, that was 
heard several times, recalled the tremu- 
lous twitter of the Snow Bunting so 
strongly that I was at first inclined thus 
to record it. -On Mareh 27th we revis- 
ited this locality, minus our snowshoes, 
but found still a good two feet of snow 
in most places and progress was labor- 
ious. Although two flocks of ten and 
twenty White-winged Crossbills were seen 
feeding on tamarack seeds, and other 
birds were heard in flight, we were un- 


D8 THE CANADIAN 
able to determine whether they thad com- 
meneced nesting or not. 

On April 3rd _ practically the same 
ground was covered and although one 
Crossbill was heard in flight, none were 
seen. 

It is noteworthy that this species ap- 
pears to be the prevalent crossbill in the 
Montreal district, at least during recent 
years; while in Compton County, during 
the years 1899-1902, and at other times, 
I did not record it at all, but found the 
Red Crossbill a common bird. 

L. Mcl. TERRELL. 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF PRINCE 
Epwarp ISLAND. 


During the month of June and the 
first few days of July, I was engaged 
in marine biological work at Malpeque, 
P.E.I. I was able incidentally to make 
a few observations on the birds of the 
region and these are worth putting on 
record only because very little has been 


published concerning the avifauna of 
Prince Edward Island. 
The country round Malpeque Bay, 


which is also known as Richmond Bay, is 
practically all cleared. Here and there 
small patches of White Spruce and Paper 
Birch remain, and on the north side of 
nearly every house is a wind-break of 
these same trees left as a _ protection 
against the bitter north winds which 
sweep in from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
Curtain Island, near the middle of Mal- 
peque Bay, and some of the other is- 
lands in the bay, are fairly well timbered. 

The chief feature of the avifauna as 
a whole which impresses one is that iti 
is not particularly rich in species, but 
that there are a great number of indi- 
viduals of such species as do occur. 

On the bay and on the outer coast 
the commonest birds are the Common 
Tern and the Herring Gull. On Fish Is- 
land, and on its great barrier dunes 
which extend practically across the mouth 
of the bay, the Piping Plover is very 
common, and its melodious yet somewhat 
plaintive note seemed to fit in most ap- 
propriately with the vast gray expanse 
of the dunes and the roar of the surf. 

The Belted Kingfisher is not uncom- 
mon and a pair had their home in a 


FIELD-NATURALIST, [Vol. XXYV. 
burrow in a high eroding cliff on Cur- 
tain Island. 

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is 
fairly common and a pair nested in the 
orchard beside the North Shore House 
at which we stayed. 

Of the Woodpeckers the Flicker and 
the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker are the ¢om- 
monest species, the former being abun- 
dant and nesting in the old spruce stubs 
which in many places are found along 
the fences. 

The Kingbird, the Olive-sided and the 
Least were the only Fly-catchers ob- 
served. About a quarter of a mile from 
the North Shore House there is a little 
patch of spruce, and from the top of 
one of the tallest of these trees an Olive- 
sided Flycatcher uttered his ‘‘ Whip-whee- 
yoo-u-u’’ from morning till night, and 
this clear ringing note reached us with 
its volume but little diminished. He also 
had a softer ‘‘Quilp-quilp’’ which he 
used occasionally. A Least Fly-catcher, 
which nested in the grounds, was the 
most persistent singer of all the birds of 
the neighbourhood. His chief haunt: was 
in one of the tall willows, and here he 
sat and uttered his ‘‘ Chebec-chebec-chebec- 
chebec-chebec-chebec’’ so continuously that 
one wondered when he found time to eat. 
On two or three occasions I saw him des- 
eribe an are in the air, and while doing 
so he sane a song quite unlike, and far 
more melodious than, his usual monoto- 
nous vocal performance. 


The Prairie Horned Lark is eommon 
in the fields. The Crow is abundant both 
in the fields and on the shore. The 
Bronzed Grackle is one of the most abun- 
dant birds of the whole region about 
the bay, and nearly every patch of spruce 
held a large colony of these birds. The 
status of this species on the Island seems 
to have changed since Macoun in 1888 
wrote ‘‘One pair seen at Tracadie’’, and 
Dwight in the nineties said ‘‘A pair of 
these birds in Mr. Earle’s possession 
were the only ones he had ever seen on 
Prince Edward Island.’’ - 

The Purple Finch is a common summer 
resident, and a male which lived in the 
vicinity of the North Shore House was 
the most brilliant songster of this species 
{ have ever heard, his rich warbling re- 


March, 1921. | THe CANADIAN 
frain being deep in tone and long-con- 
tinued. 

‘The Vesper Sparrow is extremely com- 
mon, but is exceeded in numbers by the 
‘Savanna Sparrow which is the most 
abundant bird of the region. The White- 
throated Sparrow is common in such 
pieces of woodland as are left, this 
being particularly the case in a damp 
piece of forest near Kensington and in 
the woods on Curtain Island. The Song 
Sparrow is common, the Chipping Spar- 
row rather searce, and the Slate-coloured 
Juneo abundant. 


Of the Swallows, the Tree Swallow is 
the most abundant species, though the 
Barn and the Cliff Swallows are common 
and many colonies of Bank Swallows nest 
in the soil at the top of the cliffs on 
Curtain Island and at other points along 
the coast. 

The commonest species of Warblers are 
the Myrtle, Magnolia, Yellow and Amer- 
ican Redstart. A pair of Myrtles lived 
in the wind-break in front of the North 
Shore House and the male was a con- 
tinuous singer. <A. pair of Yellow War- 
blers had their nest in a gooseberry bush 
in the garden. It was composed of dried 
grass, pieces of twine and yarn, and bits 
of bireh-bark, and lined with hair and a 
few chicken feathers. When the female 
was hunting material for her nest. she 
frequented the lawn and readily accepted 
donations in the shape of yarn or twine. 
When she was seeking hairs with which 
to line the nest, she seemed to find the 
verandah the most promising hunting- 
ground, and finding a hair caught in a 
erevice, or on a splinter, she pulled at it, 
now from this direction, now from that, 
swinging round and round as she tugged, 
and usually succeeding in dislodging it. 
The male took no part in the construction 
of the nest, nor in incubation, but brought 
insects to the female while she was sit- 
ting. Three of the four eggs thatched 
and the shells and the unhatched egg 
were removed from the nest. For the 
first two days after the young appeared 
the female spent most-of her time brood- 
ing, while the male was busy foraging. 
As he approached the nest he invariably 
sang, and when the female heard him 
she usually slipped from the nest and 


FreLp-NATURALIST, 59 


went off to secure a few insects, some- 
times for herself, sometimes to give to 
the nestlings on ‘her return, while the 
male fed the nestlings. In the early 
days of feeding whole insects were not 
given to the young, but the insects were 
pounded and ‘swallowed by the male, then 
regurgitated into the throats of the nest- 
lings. 

The Maryland Yellowthroat and the 
Canadian Warbler were seen only in the 
woods on Curtain Island. 

The Chickadee and the Acadian Chick- 
adee are about equally common in the 
pieces of woodland. 

The Hermit Thrush and the Olive- 
backed Thrush were observed in the 
woods on Curtain Island and were heard 
singing from the woods on some of the 
other islands. 

The Robin is abundant, and three pairs 
nested in the grounds on the North Shore 
House. The songs of the three males 
differed considerably in quality, and one 
of them had a most characteristic refrain 
in which the syllables ‘‘ Rip-rip-ter-rrurr”’ 
oceurred very conspicuously and with 
great frequency. 


A. BrooKeR KLUGH. 


PRAIRIE WARBLER AT HAMILTON, ONT. 


On going into the garden on _ the 
morning of May 12, 1920, to look for 
migrating birds, I noticed an unfamiliar 
Wood Warbler feeding in a thicket of 
wild plum trees. I observed it carefully 
for several minutes at a distance of 
about twenty-five feet, with bright sun- 
light behind me, using 6 X field-glasses. 
As the bird was moving away, I was 
unable to get a good view of the head 


or under-parts, but could see that they 


were bright yellow marked with black. 
Observation of the upper-parts was very 
satisfactory, however, and I noted a 
reddish, saddle-shaped area on the back, 


which was olive-green. On consulting 
P. A. Taverner’s ‘‘Birds of Eastern 
Canada’’, I identified the bird as a 


Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor). I 
knew that the bird was not a common one ; 
but not until recent conversation with 
Messrs. W. E. Saunders and H. F. Lewis 
did I realize that it is rare enough to 


60 


make this record of possible interest to 
other observers. 

The thicket in which this bird was 
seen runs through two gardens and some 
adjoining vacant-building-land on ‘The 
Mountain’? and about three hundred 
yards south of its edge. The neighbor- 
hood is a very quiet one; and _ the 
thicket is a favorite haunt for migrating 
birds. Only the Yellow Warbler, of this 
family, was noticed there before the Prai- 
rie Warbler in 1920; and no others were 
recorded until several days later. 

R. OwrEN MERRIMAN. 


! 


BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS IN SASKATCHEWAN. 

On April Ist (1921) I saw a very in- 
teresting and to me a new sight. When 
I say I saw a flock of one thousand 
Bohemian waxwings, I feel confident; that 
I could multiply that number by three 
and still be within the mark. This was 
in River park (Regina). There were 
acres of them, feeding on the bushes and 
shrubs of the park. They would take 
wing, circle, and again alight, and as 
they rose there was a roaring sound from 
their wings. They flew from bush to 
bush and passed within ten feet of me 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXV. 


quite unafraid. I was surprised to see 
not a few of them with a white spot 
the size of a five cent piece at the side 
of the neck, just in front of the wing 
at. the shoulder. It was a beautiful sight 
to see a tree literally covered with hun- 
dreds of these birds, the branches bend- 
ing under their weight. I have not heard 
of their having been seen in such large 
flocks before. 


Nein GinmMour, Moose Jaw, Sask. 


APPOINTMENTS. —In November, 1920, 
Mr. Harrison F. Lewis, of Bergerville, 
Quebec, and Mr. J. A. Munro, of Okana- 
gan Landing, B.C., were appointed Chief 
Federal Migratory Bird Officers for On- 
tario and Quebec, and for the Western 
Provinees, respectively, Mr. R. W. Tufts, 
of Wolfville, Nova Seotia, was appointed 
to a similar position for the Maritime 
Provinces in 1919. All three have brought 
to their new positions that prime requi- 
site, a thorough knowledge of ornithology, 
and great advances in the cause of bird 
protection in Canada may confidently be 
expected as a result of their efforts. 

H.-L, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. GARDENVALE, QUE., APRIL, 1921 No. 4. 
A POPULAR DESCRIP TION OF DINOSAURS. 
By C. M. STERNBERG. 
IntrRopucTIoN. — Palaeontology deals The dinosaurs varied greatly in size, 


with the history of life, and its time is 
measured in millions of years rather 
than centuries as civilization is measured. 
The time that civilized man has ruled 
the earth is to the time that life has 
been upon it, as a day is to the average 
life of a man. 

In the remote past many orders of 
reptiles and other animals flourished dur- 
ing their time, then passed away, in many 
cases leaving no descendants. Were it 
not for the fact that many of these 
ancient animals left their bones entombed 
in the rock that was laid down at the 
time when they lived, we would know 
nothing about the animals that inhabited 
the earth in past: geological ages. 

Among the most interesting and re- 
markable of these animals were the dino- 
saurs which were so abundant during 
the Mesozoic Era. 

GENERAL Discusston.—The name Dino- 
saur is taken from the Greek and means 
Terrible Lizard. It was first proposed 
by Professor Owen, the eminent English 
palaeontologist and anatomist. The dino- 
saurs were an order of reptiles com- 
prising the largest land animals of which 
we have dny knowledge, and in most 
classifications of the animal kingdom hold 
the same rank as the Chelonia (tortoises 
and turtles) and Squamata (lizards, 
snakes, etic.). They were the dominant 
type of land animals during the Mesozoic 
period or Age of Reptiles, which lasted 
some millions of years and closed at least 
three million years ago. They were 
widely distributed, their bones ‘having 
been found on each of the six continents, 
althongh North America has yielded by 
far the greatest number of genera and 
complete specimens. 


structure and habits, but all of them are 
noted for their small and primitive brain. 
While some of the amphibious forms, 
of Jurassic age, attained a length of 
one hundred feet, others were very small, 
Compsoganthus, a carnivore of Jurassic 
age, being only two feet in length. The 
small carnivora were very slender and 
without. doubt were fleet-footed and ac- 
tive. The armored forms were heavy- 
boned, elumsy, slow-moving creatures. 
Some forms must have taken to the 
water for defence, while others were 
provided with horns, and yet others were 
completely inecased in dermal armor or 
plates of bone in the skin. They all 
possessed four limbs, though in some 
the front pair were very small. None 
of the dinosaurs had the power of flight 
so far as known, though a contemporary 
order of reptiles, the Pterodactyles, must 
have been as graceful flyers as our pres- 
ent-day bats. The amphibious forms 
(Sauropoda) must have spent much of 
their time in the water. Some studer 
believe that they never left the water, 
though of course like all reptiles they 
were compelled to keep the nose above 
water to breathe. In this sub-order are 
placed Gigantosaurus, Brontosaurus, Di- 
plodocus, ete. 

Certain of the earnivorous forms were 
so bird-like that, where only part of the 
skeleton was known, they have been called 
birds. Because of the great similarity 
between these forms and certain birds, 
some students believe that in the course 
of evolution, the birds evolved through 
the dinosaurs, while others believe that 
both birds and dinosaurs were derived 
from a common ancestor. The similarity 


of certain dinosaurs to bs Is is most no- 


62 THE CANADIAN F1eLp-NATURALIST. 


ticeable in the pelvis, or bony arch with 
which the hind limbs articulate, and the 
hollowness of the bones, especially those 
of the limbs. 


The largest of the carnivorous forms, 


which attained a length of forty feet, 
has been named J'yranosaurus or Tyrant 
Lizard, and quite deserves the name 
Dinosaur. 


People often say ‘‘What strange an- 
imals lived in prehistoric times’’, but they 
do not think of the strangeness of some 
of our present day animals because they 
are familiar with them. They remind 
one of the small boy who, when visiting 
the Zoo for the first time, gazed intently 
at the giraffe for a few moments, then 
turned to his mother and said, ‘‘There 
aint no such animal.”’ 

THe CaNapIAN Frevp.— Our Canadian 
field, on the Red Deer River, Alberta, 
is probably the richest known for the 
collection of dinosaurian remains, if we 
consider the number of genera and spe- 
cies it has produced and the completeness 
of the specimens. Though we have made 
great advances in our knowledge’ of the 
upper Cretaceous dinosaurs, there are 
several species which, as yet, are re- 
presented by such fragmentary material 
that only insufficient knowledge of their 
structure can be gained. 

There are two subdivisions of the up- 
per Cretaceous, known as the Edmonton 
and Belly River formations respectivel: 
from which Geological Survey field part- 
ies have collected most of the dinosaurian 
remains now preserved in the Victoria 
Memorial Museum at Ottawa. The Ed- 
monton formation is best exposed along 
the Red Deer river northeast of Calgary, 
Alberta, while the most productive depos- 
its of Belly River age are exposed along 


the same river east of Calgary. These 
aud rising several times. What is now 


two divisions are separated by about six 
hundred feet’ of marine deposit (Ft. 
Pierre), showing that at the close of the 
3elly River age this region was sub- 
merged beneath the sea and did not re- 
appear until Edmonton time. 

There is much -evidence to show that 
during Cretaceous times ‘the continent 
was not stable but sank in one area and 
rose ip another, and repeated the sinking 


Vol. XXXY. 


Alberta was submerged beneatih the Cre- 
taceous sea no less than three times. ‘The 
close of the Cretaceous period marked the 
draining off of the Cretaceous sea and 
the country continued to rise until it 
reached an altitude of thirty-five hundred 
feet above sea level. Subsequently most 
of the deposits which were of more re- 
cent age than Cretaceous were eroded 
away, and finally the great ice cap aided 
in the leveling by scouring here and 
fillng there. Only a remnant of the 
more recent deposits is left on the high 
points which did not suecumb to the 
levelling e. g. the Hand Hills and the 
Cypress Hills. 

Since the glacial period the Red Deer 
river has cut a great trough in the 
prairie and has tapped the ancient burial 
ground. The erosion has been so rapid 
that the banks are quite steep, and the 
rocks are denuded of soil or vegetation 
and in many places are weathered into a ~ 
badland topography of many canyons, 
ridges and steep slopes. In these bad- 
lands Geological Survey parties search 
out the ancient giants and remove them 
to Ottawa, there to be preserved for all 
to see and study. 

At the time when the Belly River and 
Edmonton deposits were being laid down 
this section of country was a great low- 
lying land of many lakes, bayous and 
swamps, which were very little above ti 
level of the Cretaceous sea. This sea ex- 
tended from the Gulf of Mexico over 
what is now the prairie states and- prov- 
inces and at one stage connected with 
the Arctic Ocean, thus separating the 
western part of the continent from the 
eastern part. x 

That the dinosaurs lived near sea level 
is proved by the fact that we often find 
mineled with their bones, the bones of 
marine animals which had wandered too 


far inland or whose bones had been 
driven in by the waves. Most of the 


deposits in which the remains are found 
are of fine grained sand and clay which 
indicates sluggish streams or quiet water. 

Evidence points to a dense growth of 
both land and water plants. Rushes are 
very common, as are trunks, branches, 
and cones of the Red Wood. The pres- 
ence of palms, figs, and other forms of 


April, 1921. 


similar habitat indicates that.the climate 
was semi-tropical. 

This must have been a much favoured 
haunt of dinosaurs and other reptiles, 
for there are thousands of individuals 
represented and of course we see only a 
very small percentage of the bones that 
were entombed in the rocks. 

As the animals died on the banks of 
a river or lake or on a delta, the flesh 
was torn off by some hungry carnivore 
and the bones scattered. In times of 
flood these bones were picked up and 
carried to some lake or washed upon a 
mud-flat, or sand-bar. There are a great 
many extensive ‘‘bone beds’’ or layers 
in which thousands of bones have been 
deposited, as driftwood would be thrown 
up on a beach by the waves, or carried 
on to a mud-flat by back water. These 
bone beds are usually at the junction of 
the clay and sand rather than wholly 
within either type of deposit. The bones 
in these deposits are usually disarticula- 
ted and show signs of having been tossed 
about by the waves. 


Besides these bone beds many skulls 
and skeletons were deposited more or less 
complete. Some of these seem to have 
been washed upon a beach or mud-flat 
and after the lower half was covered 
with sediment the exposed portion was 
torn away by some carnivore leaving 
only half of the skeleton to be preserved. 
In other cases the animals were mired 
or the carcases were washed into quick- 
sand or on to mud-flats where the car- 
nivora could not reach them. One skel- 
eton collected shows the remains of rushes 
which grew among the undisturbed bones 
and even the skin impression is preserved. 
It is very common to find skeletons 
mingled with the remains of vegetation 
such as rushes, moss, leaves and branches 
of trees. The animals which spent most 
of their time in the water are better 
Known than those which habitually lived 
on land, because after death their bodies 
often floated into some lake or bayou 
beyond the reach of the carnivora and 
were buried intact. 

Kinps oF CANapIAN Drnosaurs. — Of 
the dinosaurs thati have left their bones 
entombed in the Belly River and Edmon- 


THE CANADIAN Fievp-NATuRALIST. 63 


ton ‘formations along Red Deer river, 
Alberta, the best known are divided into 
four families. The most common is that 
of the duckbilled dinosaurs or Hadro- 
sauridae. Of this family nine genera 
have been collected from Alberta, eight 
of which have not been found in other 
deposits. Next in number comes the fam- 
ily of thorned dinosaurs or Ceratopsia 
of which two genera have been described 
from the Edmonton and five from the 
Belly River formations. None of these 
are known from any other age. The 
armored dinosaurs or Ankylosauridae are 
not: as well known as the above-mentioned 
families. The carnivorous dinosaurs be- 
long to a different sub-order. Tihey do 
not possess a predentary (a bone situated 
in front of the dentary or lower jaw) as 
do the above-mentioned families. None 
of the very large or very small dino- 
saurs have been found in these deposits. 
They have been found only in older 
deposits than those represented on the 
Red Deer river. 

The duck-billed dinosaurs were heavy- 
boned creatures which ranged up to forty 
feet in length. The legs were of unequal 
size, the hind pair being the larger. The 
fore-feet had four toes and the hind 
ones three. The terminal phalanges of 
the toes of the hind feet and part of 
those of the front feet bore hoofs. -All 
four feet were webbed. ‘The tail, which 
comprised about half the length of the 
animal, was high and narrow, making 
a powerful swimming organ. The integ- 
ument was made up of small seales, (non- 
imbricating and polygonal) which were 
little thicker than the seales of a snake. 
At certain intervals there were areas of 
larger scales or raised bosses which varied 
in shape and arrangement in different 
species. It is probable that with this var- 
ied skin pattern there was a varied color 
pattern which may have been quite orna- 
mental. The thin skin and absence of any 
means of defence, coupled with the web- 
bed feet and swimming tail, seem to 
prove beyond a doubt that these dino- 
saurs spent most of their time in the 
water or at least took to the water for 
protection from their enemies. The pre- 
maxillae and predentaries were expanded 
and ineased in a horny sheath similar 


64 THE CANADIAN 


to the bill of a duck, hence the name 
‘* duck-billed’’. 

These dinosaurs were purely herbivor~ 
ous as shown by their teeth. The teeth 
were arranged in a magazine in vertical 
as well as horizontal rows. There were 
more than twelve hundred teeth in the 
four jaws but only about one in five of 
these was in use at a time, as there were 
five or more teeth in each vertical row. 
As the teeth became worn they were 
pushed out and replaced by new ones 
which were ever forming at the base of 
the magazine. In this respect they differ 
from the mammals which have only two 
sets of teeth. The cutting surface of the 
teeth was on the inside in the case of 
the upper jaw and on the outside in 
the lower jaw. The lower jaws passed 
within the upper jaws and the teeth 
worked like a pair of shears in cutting 
the soft vegetation after it had been 
nipped off with the expanded beak. The 
duck-billed dinosaurs ranged over much 
of North America during late Cretaceous 
times. 

The horned dinosaurs were quadru- 
pedal land animals with short massive 
limbs. There. were five toes on cach 
front foot and four functional and one 
vestigial toe on each hind foot. In gen- 
eral build of the limbs and feet they 
somewhat resembled the rhinoveros. 

These animals had the largest heads of 
any land animal kueown, In the case 
of one (Chasmosaurus belli Lambe) the 
skull covered half the length from the 
snout to the drop of the tail, measuring 
five and one half feet. Triceratops skulls, 
(from a more recent formation) have 
been recorded up to nine feet in length. 
These huge skulls were solidly constructed 
and were surmounted by three horns one 
over each eye and one over the nose. 

In some cases the nasal horn was greatly 
developed at the expense of the supra- 
orbital horns, while in other genera the 
reverse was true. The hack of the skull 
was developed into a large crest or shield 
which extended over the neck and shoul- 
ders. This crest helped to give the skull 
its huge proportions and with the horns 
must have been a formidable means of 
defence. The snout was developed into 
a sharp cutting beak incased in a horny 


FIeELD-NATURALIST, 


Vol, XXXV. 


sheath, similar to that of a parrot but — 
many times as large. This beak was 
probably used for cutting off the vege- 
tation on which the animal fed. The 
horned dinosaurs had the distinction of 
being the only reptiles which had double 
rooted teeth. The teeth were arranged 
in magazines somewhat similar to the 
teeth of the duck-billed dinosaurs, but 
fewer in number. They show that the 
animal was herbivorous in habit. The 
tail was shorter and more nearly round 
than in the before-mentioned family and 
shows no adaptations for life in the 
water. The skin of the horned dinosaurs 
was made up of non-imbricating poly- 
gonal scales which were larger and some- 
what thicker than those of the duck-billed 
family. Some of the largest scales were 
two inches in diameter. The first horned 
dinosaur skin impression brought to light 
was that described by the late Mr. L. M. 
Lambe in the Ottawa Naturalist for Jan- 
uary, 1914. 


It is probable that these animals were 
gregarious in habit, as the writer has 
observed a number of deposits of bones 
in which only horned dinosaurs were re- 
presented and seemingly only one genus 
in each case. This would seem to indi- 
eate that they assembled in certain swam- 
py or low-lying areas from which other 
animals were excluded. 


Skulls of this family are much more 
common than skeletons. This may be ex- 
plained by the fact that they lived and 
died out of the water, and as the skull, 
which was solidly constructed, was more 
durable than the resti of the skeleton, it 
may have lain on the banks for months 
before it was picked up by some flood 
which carried it for miles. Thus the 
skull would remain intact while the rest 
of the skeleton woul be widely scattered. 
The reverse of this situation is true 
in the ease of the water-inhabitating 
duck-billed creatures whose skulls were — 
more fragile and seem to have been easily 
detached from the body and destroyed. 
In the Belly River formation it is com- 
mon to find skeletons of the duek-billed 
dinosaurs without the head. This seems — 
to prove that the neck was weak and 
allowed the head to drop off as the ear- 


‘ 


April, 1921. 


case floated about before reaching its 
final resting-place. 

The third family of herbivorous dino- 
saurs found in the deposits along the 
Red Deer river is the armored or plated 
dinosaurs. They were low, heavy-boned, 
quadrupedal, land animals with very 
short massive limbs. The feet were short 
and stubby and somewhat resembled the 
feet of a rhinoceros. The ribs were so 
constructed and articulated as to throw 
them well out and give a broad back and 
a large body cavity much the shape of a 
huge barrel. The hips were as much as 
five feet broad though the animal was not 


more than six feet high. 


_ These dinosaurs were completely incased 
in dermal armor or bony scutes in the skin. 
In some genera the scutes were high-keeled, 
thick and as much as a foot and a half in 
length, while in other genera they were 
more plate-like with only slightly elevated 
keels. The larger scutes were arranged in 
rows along the back and sides while on the 
under parts were ossicles of irregular shape 
which protected the animal much as the 
chain armor protected the warrior of the 
middle ages. Between the large scutes 
were smaller ones and in the smaller in- 
tervening spaces were tiny ossicles similar 
to those on the under parts. It is quite 
evident that these creatures were so ef- 
fectively armored that they need have no 
fear of their enemies. The tail terminated 
in a bony club, about the size of a water 
pail, which was made up of a number of 
modified dermal scutes thoroughly fused 
~ together. The eyes were protected by a 
bony lid, and in at least one genus (Pano- 
plosaurus) even the mouth was protected 
by a plate of bone in the cheek, which Mr. 
Lambe has called the dental plate. The 
members of this family also possessed a 
horny beak. These animals were so well 
protected that they did not need speed as 
a means of escape and so became a heavy 
sluggish animal in which the main develop- 
ment was strength to carry the heavy load. 

The armored dinosaurs had an excep- 
tionally small brain, the cavity being 
smaller than a man’s fist. The neural 
canal was greatly expanded within the 
sacrum, and Prof. Marsh thought that this 
was the seat of that part of the brain which 
controlled the action of the animal. 


THe CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST. 


. 


65 


There are at leat four genera of car- 
nivorous dinosaurs represented in these 
rocks, the largest of which is Gorgosaurus. 
While Gorgosaurus attained a length of 
thirty feet there was a contemporaneous 
carnivore which was probably not more 
than eight or ten feet long. Only frag- 
ments of the latter have been found and 
it has not been deseribed. 

Gorgosaurus had a much lighter frame 
than the herbivorous forms and the limb 
bones were hollow. The bones show many 
well-developed areas for the attachment of 
muscles. No doubt Gorgosaurus was much 
more active than the herbivorous forms, 
but of course was too heavy to be agile. 
The smaller forms were probably much 
more active. ; 

The carnivorous forms walked on their 
hind feet only, and used their huge tails 
as balancing organs. The front limbs were 
very small, specially in Gorgosaurus, and 
could have been of little use. This limb 
was becoming vestigial as shown by the 
study of earlier carnivorous dinosaurs. 
The fore-limb possessed only two fune- 
tional digits and one metacarpal which 
was vestigial, while the hind foot had 
three well developed and powerful toes 
and a smaller one at the back similar to 
the back toe of a turkey. The fifth toe 
was represented by the proximal part of 
the metatarsal. The terminal phalanges 
each bore a powerful claw. Gorgosaurus 
had four powerful jaws in which were more 
than sixty sharp, double-edged, recurved 
teeth, some of which were four inches long. 
It must have been a fierce looking lizard 
as the name implies. 

Mr. L. M. Lambe suggested that Gorgo- 
saurus may have been a scavenger, since 
the teeth of the type specimen showed no 
sign of wear. 

Another fairly well-known genus is Or- 
nithominus whieh was much smaller and of 
more slender construction than Gorgosau- 
rus. 

The carnivorous dinosaurs 
fitted for life in the water. 

Ertinction.—It is impossible to say what 
caused the etxermination of the dinosaurs. 
Changing conditions with the eutting off 
cf their food supply and their inability to 
migrate great distances may have been one 
eause. The rise of the mammals with their 


were not 


‘ 


66 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


more highly developed brain may have put 
the huge stupid dinosaurs to a disadvant- 
age in the contest for subsistence. In the 
most recent formation from which dino- 
saurian remains have been collected, (the 
Lance formation) there are only a few 
genera represented, which seems to point 
to the gradual rather than sudden exter- 
mination of the order. Certain families of 


turtles, crocodiles and fishes which existed. 


with the later dinosaurs have persisted to 
the present day with very little change. 
That the dinosaurs evolved very rapidly 


Vol. XXXY. 


is shown by the fact that with few excep- 
tions a genus did not persist from one 
geological subdivision to another. For 
example in the Edmonton formation, which 
is separated from the Belly River forma- 
tion by about six hundred feet of marine 
shales, we do not find the same genera that 
are found in the Belly River formation, 
though in several cases the line of descent 
is quite apparent. Geologically speaking 
these formations are quite close together 
in time. . 


A CYPRINID NEW TO SCIENCE. 


By PuHmire Cox, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF 
New BruNSWICK. 


This minnow (Leuciscus rubrilateralis 
Cox) was discovered by the writer in the 
summer of 1897 while he was investigating 
the fresh-water fishes of the peninsula of 
Gaspé, P.Q.- It was generally associated 
with Conesius plumbeus Agassiz, but in 
some of the rivers, i.e. Nouvelle and Grand 
Pabos, it was the dominant form. At that 
time the fish was diagnosed as the eastern 
representative of C. dissimilis Girard, or a 
variety of C. plumbeus; and, as the latter, 
was reported to the Royal Society of Can- 
ada (Fresh Water Fishes and Batrachia 
of the Peninsula of Gaspé and their Dis- 
tribution in the Maritime Provinces of 
Canada, by Philip Cox, Ph.D., Trans. 
Royal Soc. Can., Vol. V, Sect. IV, p. 148, 
1899). 


A subsequent and more critical study of 
the few specimens preserved seemed to 
confirm that view, and it was published as 
C. p. rubrilateralis Cox (Cyprinidae of 
Eastern Canada, Bull. No. I1., Proc. Nat. 
Hist. Ass., Miramichi, 1901, p. 42). 

In August, 1918, numerous specimens of 
this minnow were taken by the writer in 
Black Brook, Loggieville, Miramichi, N. B., 
and carefully diagnosed, when the two 
most important characters, namely, the 
ental formula and the presence or ab- 
sence of the barbel were more satisfactorily 


determined from the examination of a 
large quantity of fresh material. It was 
then seen that its affinities were with the 
genus Leuciscus rather than with Conesius, 
and that it was entitled to full specific 
rank. 

The Gaspé fish are small, rarely exceed- 
ing four inches in length, but, like all the 
eyprinids of the peninsula, are brillantly 
colored, the males well deserving the name 
‘‘redfish’’, by which this species is known 
locally in Loggieville. The Miramichi 
Redfish are much larger, often attaining 
a length of six inches, but the coloration 
is dull, except in the breeding season, when 
the rosy hues are intense on the males but 
only perceptible on the females, 

The accompanying plate shows an exam- 
ple of C. plumbeus above, and two Black 
Brook specimens of L. rubrilateralis, a 
female, and a male, below. 

The type may be described as follows :— 

Body robust, cylindrical, head and cau- 
dal peduncle slightly compressed; dorsal 
curvature less than ventral. 

Head 414-484; depth 5; snout 4-1/3 in 
head; eye small, 5 in head, 1-1/3 in snout; 
D. 8, A. 8; seales 12-72-8 or 9. 

Head short, rounded above; snout, blunt- 
ish; mouth small, oblique, lower jaw in- 
cluded; maxillary not reaching the orbit; 


April, 1921. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 67 


Conesius 
female, 


barbel not evident. Teeth 2.5-4.2 normally, 
but number often reduced, frequently by 
absorption, hooked and without grinding 
surface. 

Fins small, rounded; dorsal inserted 
well behind the ventrals, the tip, when de- 
pressed, over middle of base of anal; anal 
smaller than dorsal and of same shape; 
ventrals small, reaching nearly to vent in 
males, not so far in females; pectorals in- 
serted low, and reaching half way to ven- 
trals. Scales small, a little reduced and 
erowded anteriorly; lateral line complete 
at: all stages. 

Coloration, dull, bluish black above; 
duller on the sides and passing into white 


plumbeus (above) and two specimens, one male and the 


of Leuciscus 


other 
rubrilateralis. 


below; a dark lateral band from black 
patch on operculum to base of caudal, 
sometimes not well defined anteriorly; a 
paler narrow band above, and scattered 
dark scales below; lateral surface below 
band, and extending from base of pectoral 
to caudal, red in breeding males; paler or 
wanting in females. Dorsal and caudal 
fins same color as the back; pectorals and 
anal dusted; ventrals whitish. Length 5-6 
inches. 

Rubrilateralis is very close to, if not 
identical with, L. carletoni Kendall, a spe- 
cies reported from the state of Maine by 
Dr. Wm. Converse Kendall, (U. 8. F. 
Com., Vol. XXIT, 1902, pp. 357-8). 


68 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


Vol. XXXV. 


CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE. 


By THE Hon. Mr. Justice’ LATCHFORD. q 


(Continued f.om Vol. XXXIV., p.-71.) 


21. MUSCULIUM SECURIS.Prime. This 
species resembles t,uncatum in the abrapt- 
ness of the posterior margin, but is a 
smaller shell. Its anterior margin is shorter 
and more rounded, and the tines of growth 
are deeper and more distinct. The valves 
are thicker, less glossy, and paler within 
and without. It occurs on a muddy bot- 
tom in St. Louis Dam, inside the viaduct, 
and probably outside it; and in the pond 
north of the electric railway station at 
Britannia Highlands. 


22. MUSCULIUM WINKLEYI Sterki. 
The ponds east and west of Britannia 
formed by the Ottawa at high water and 
several of the small streams in Nepean pro- 
duce this pretty little shell in considerable 
numbers. It was described in the Nauti- 
lus (XXIII, 66) from specimens found by 
the Rev. H. W. Winkley near his home at 
Danvers, Mass., and at Old Orchard, Me. 
From this indefatigable collector and stu- 
dent of the Sphaeriidae I received from 
time to time during many years delightful 
letters and fine sets of rare or newly des- 
eribed species. Winkleyi resembles securis. 
The first specimens from the vicinity of 
Ottawa sent to Dr. Sterki were thought to 
be a variety of that species and were mark- 
ed M. securis cardissum. It is, however, 
as the description states, higher than secu- 
ris with more rounded outlines, the hinge 
margin is more curled, and the difference 
of size and shape between the anterior and 
posterior parts is less marked; in securis 
the posterior part is more truncate and less 
obliquely so to the dorso-ventral line. 


23. MUSCULIUM PARVUM Sterki. In 
the same number of the Nautilus (p. 67), 
Dr. Sterki distinguished and described an- 
other shell usually confused with securis. 
The types were from Ohio, but the species 
has a wide distribution. It is not uncom- 
mon in the Britannia ponds, but has not 
been found elsewhere near Ottawa. It is 
smaller than securis, the superior margin is 
less curved, the posterior more rounded 
and more oblique; the surface shining, the 
shell colourless, the siphons are said to be 


much shorter, connected, and colourless, 
while in securis they are vellow to orange, 
or salmon, or reddish. The Britannia 
shells correspond in size with the average 
measurements of the types: long. 4.7, alt. 
+, diam. 2.8 mm. 

24. MUSCULIUM PARTUMEIUM Say. 
In Heron’s lst of Ottawa Mollusea (Trans. 
O. F. N. C., I. 40) this shell is meluded 
with a (?). The indentification was prob- 
ably correct as the species is not uncom- 
mon in many small ponds south of the 
city, near where Heron lived. When 
mature it exceeds truncatum im size, is 
brighter in color, more inflated and with 
higher beaks. It is not as large as jayen- 
se, nor so pinched in before and behind the 
hinge. From our rosaceum it differs in 
the greater projection of the beaks, and in 
being more distinctly vellow in eolor. 

This species has a very extensive range 
east of the Rocky Mountains, and what is 
now considered to be a variety of it—WM. | 
variable Prime—oeceurs as far south as 
Florida. In Canada the shell has been 
found in Manitoba and at several places 
in Central Ontario. I have fine specimens 
from Hamilton collected by Mr. A. W. 
Hanham, and several from Humber Bay, 
Toronto. 

25. MUSCULIUM JAYENSE Prime. 
This shell, while not as large as transver- 
sum, is much more beautiful, and is more 
characteristic of the genus. It is of a 
brighter color, shorter, higher, more in- 
flated and more pinched in before and be- 
hind the hinge, giving the central area of 
the’ shell, as will be noticed in the figure, 


Fig. 5.—M. jayense X 1¥2 


a boldly triangular contour. The species 
has a wide distribution over the middle 
West and extends into Michigan, but does 


April, 1921. 
not, as far as | am aware, appear recorded 
from the State of New York. 

Lake Constance is the only locality near 
Ottawa or in Ontario in which jayense has 
been found. It occurs sparingly in two to 

three feet of water on a muddy bottom at 
the boat landing on the Vahey farm, near 
Armitage station. No other musculium 
was collected in the lake, though several 
doubtless occur. A large rough form of 
Anodonta cataracta abounds, and a beau- 
tiful variety of Lymnaea emarginata. 


26. MUSCULIUM ROSACEUM Prime. 
“Shells of unusual size and beauty found 
many years ago in the bay at the east end 
of the pond below the outlet of Meach Lake 
were considered by Tyron to belong to 
this species. Unfortunately but few speci- 
‘mens were collected, and the best of these 
were distributed to correspondents. Re- 
fuse from a saw mill destroyed the locality 
as a habitat for delicate molluses, and I 
have been unable to visit the north side of 
Meach Lake, where a warm muddy bay 
would probably furnish the shell. — 

In the pond on the former Cowley farm 
in Nepean, about two hundred yards south 


of the electric railway, and near the 


boundary of the Ottawa Land Company’s 
property, I collected in 1913 a quantity 
of a large musculium which Dr. Sterki re- 
gards as rosacewm. I have visited the pond 
nearly every year since but have not suc- 
- ceeded in again finding this shell. Other 
species persist in surviving the total dry- 
ing up of the pond in hot summers; but this 
seems to have become quite extinct. 

None of the shells found either in the 
Laurentides or Nepean has a tint that 
would justify the specific name applied by 
Prime. It may be that the soft parts are 
sometime rosy in color as is the case fre- 
quently in Planorbis antrorsus; but I have 
not noticed that peculiarity in any shells 
attributed to rosaceum. 

Dr. Sterki states that this species has 
been found from Maine to Virginia, and in 
Ohio and Illinois as well as in Ontario. 


_ 27. MUSCULIUM ROSACEUM FULI- 
GINOSUM Sterki. A smaller and dif- 
ferently colored shell, but with similar out- 
lines, oceurs at the bridge on the Tavistock 
Road, Britannia Highlands, and a mile or 
so westward in Honeywell Creek, where it 
crosses the John Road. It is the only mus- 
culum I have found in either locality. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 69 


While inclined to regard it as entitled ‘to 
specific rank, I yield to the vastly superior 
experience and discrimination of Dr. Ster- 
ki, and append his description from _ his 
Preliminary Catalogue of North American 
Sphacriidae (Ann. Carng. Mus. X, 448.) 
21. Musculium rosaceum fuliginosum. 
var. nov. 
_ Mussel small, rather. short, subequipar- 
tite, moderately inflated, somewhat 
‘“pinched’’ along the margins; beaks near- 
ly in the middle, narrow, somewhat _pro- 
minent, calyculate; superior margin an- 


‘gular at the beaks, its anterior and pos- 


terior parts straight or nearly so, equally 
sloping; supero-anterior and posterior 
slopes, or truncations, well marked, nearly 
straight, the posterior longer and steeper 
nearly at right angle with the longitudinal 
axiS, anterior and posterior ends rounded: 
inferior margin moderately curved; sur- 
face shining and with a silky gloss derived 
from very narrow, membranous, sealy pro- 
jections of the periostracum on the fine 
concentric striae; shell very thin, glassy 
transparent, with a marked grayish or 
smoky hue. : 

The largest specimen measures; long. 7: 
alt. 6; diam. 3.8 mm. 

The mussel is striking in appearance and 
at first sight seems to be distinet, espe- 
cially since all specimens are remarkably 
uniform, but young and adolescent indi- 
viduals reveal features of other forms of 
M. rosaceum. 

Habitat. Scott Graham Creek, Carleton 
County, Ontario, collected by Mr. Justice 
Latchford, 1911 and 1913. Specimens are 
contained in his collection and in the Car- 
negie Museum, Nos. 6,945 and 7,431. 
Justice Latchford writes in November. 
1913: ‘‘No. 2925 is quite common. I have 
visited the creek at all seasons and never 
found any larger shells than those which | 
send; I therefore regard them—the lareer 
ones—as full-grown.’’ ; 

28. MUSCULIUM DECLIVE Sterki. 
In Lake Gorman and in its outlet Bren- 
nan’s Creek, near Brudenell, in Renfrew. 
was found a pretty little musculium which 
Dr. Sterki described as new (Nautilus. 
XXV, 103). It is about the size of securis 
and of a delicate yellow colour. Although 
exceedingly frail, like the shell on the 
Breton strand so beautifully described by 
Tennyson, it is capable of withstanding 
the waves and strong currents that so 


70 THe CANADIAN Frevp-NATURALIST. 


often prevail over the sandy and gravelly 
floors of the lake and its outlet. 

Dr. Sterki’s description has, I think, 
been republished in the Ottawa Naturalist 
and need not be repeated. The shell has 
also been reported from Michigan. 


299. MUSCULIUM COLUMBIANUM 
Sterki. In a mixed lot of shells sent me by 
the Rev. Geo. W. Taylor marked ‘‘ Quamil- 
cham, V.I.’’ was a musculiwm whieh Dr. 
Sterki has described as new. I append his 
deseription from the Nautilus, X XVI, 117. 

““M. columbianum, n. sp.—Mussel of 
medium size, strongly inflated, outlines 
(along the valve edges) oval to elliptic 
without any angles, beaks somewhat behind 
the middle, large, prominent, rounded or 
slightly flattened on top, or even calycu- 
late: surface more or less uneven from lines 
of growth, somewhat shining, with fine ir- 
regular striae, color light corneous to yel- 
lowish often in alternating zones, shell thin 
subtranslucent; hinge rather slight, car- 
dinal teeth small, the right curved with the 
posterior and thicker, left anterior with 
apex pointed, posterior quite short; liga- 
ment and resilium rather short and slight. 

Long. 4.2, alt. 3.6, diam. 3 mm. (100: 
O24.) 

Long. 3.3, alt. 2.6, diam. 23 mm. (100: 


79: TO). 
Hab. British Columbia, apparently 
widely distributed, and common, and 


rather variable with respect to size and 
shape (no doubt also in Washington, etc.) ; 
vicinity of Esquimalt, collected by Mr. 
Taylor over twenty years ago, sent by 
Justice F. R. Latchford, No. 6362.  Co- 
types with the lot in Mr. Latchford’s col- 
lection. Lots simply marked ‘‘B. C.’’, at 
least some of them from that vicinity, are 
in various collections; Chilliwack Creek 
and Lake, B. C., collected by a member of 
the Canada Geol. Sury. Staff, sent by Mr. 


Vol. XXXYV. 


Whiteaves; a marsh, Duncans, B. C., re- 
ceived from A. W. Hanham. The first 
specimens were received in 1895, and the 
species has been regarded as distinet ever 
since. 

30. MUSCULIUM RAYMONDI, J. G. 
Cooper. The late Dr. John Macoun sent me 
specimens of this shell from British Colum- 
bia, not stating the locality. The shell has 
probably a wide distribution in that proy- 
ince as it undoubtedly has southward in 
Washington, Oregon, and California. It 
resembles securis but with the posterior 
part of the mussel markedly higher than 
the anterior. 


31. MUSCULIUM LENTICULA Gould. 
This shell is mentioned by Dr. Dall as oe- 
curring in British Columbia (Harr. Alas-_ 
ka Exp., XII, 140), and on his authority I 
give it a place in the Canadian list. The 
only specimens I have seen are from Cali- 
fornia. 


32. MUSCULIUM LACUSTRE Muller. 
Dr. Sterki (Ann. Carng. Mus., X, 442) 
gives the habitat of this species as Palear- 
tic and Neartic Regions, Indiana, Ontario 
(and probably northward), California and 
Washington.’’ He thinks that some of the 
shells considered by Dr. Dall to be lenti- 
cula may belong to this species. 

There are several lots of musculia in my 
collection of doubtful identity. One from 
the small pond southwest of the intersec- 
tion of the Rideau Canal and the Chaudi- 
ere branch of the Canadian Pacifie Rail- 
way may be undescribed. Two others from 
Vancouver Island, Nos. 2364 and 2365 (b), 
are said by Dr. Sterki to appear not to be- 
long to any described species. 

In the continuation of this paper I shall 
deal briefly with the remaining genus, 
Pisidium — very largely represented in 
Canada in both individuals and speeies. 


A BABY PORCUPINE. 


3y CHARLES MACNAMARA, ARNPRIOR, ONTARIO. 


It was early in May on the shores of 
that expanse of the Ottawa known as Lac 
des Chats. The Ornithologist had disap- 
peared into the thicket, following an un- 
known and elusive bird voice — goodness 
knows it must have been a rara avis when 
the Ornithologist did not know it — and | 


was left searching a pine stump for certain 
minute insects. After a while I began to 
wonder when he was coming back, for he 
was carrying the lunch in his rucksack, 
and breakfast seemed to have happened a 
long time ago. Suddenly he hurried a- 
round a turn in the log-road, and, a little 


April, 1921. 


out of breath, he said: ‘‘I shouted for 
you but couldn’t make you thear. I saw a 
fine big porcupine back there, and it climb- 
ed only about four feet up a tree. You 
ean easily get a great photograph of it.’’ 

“Back there’’ proved to be a low rocky. 
ridge thickly grown with cedars and bal- 
sams. It was only about three minutes 
quick walk from the pine stump, but when 
we arrived with the camera ready set, the 
big poreupine had utterly vanished, and 
careful searching of the surroundings yield- 
ed no result—at least in big porcupines. 
For just as we were giving up the quest, 
the Ornithologist caught sight of a small 
jet-black creature trying to hide under a 
cedar root. It was a baby porcupine about 
the size of a half grown cat. No doubt the 
large porcupine was his mother, but ma- 
ternal instinct had failed in this case and 
she had deserted her offspring. The long 
' grey-tipped hair of the adult had not grown 
on him yet, and he looked very black in his 
‘short under-coat. Porcupines are remark- 
ably large when they come into the world, 
and although this one seemed well started 
in life, he was probably very young. Nev- 
ertheless he bristled his spines and slapped 
at us with his tail like the oldest and 
surhest of his race. 


As a rule I am opposed to keeping wild 
animals in captivity, but I thought if I 
could feed this little fellow at home for a 
short time, I might learn something inter- 
esting about porcupine ways, and later I 
could set him free again. So while the 
Ornithologist jurriedly emptied our prec- 
ious lunch out of the rucksack, I tried to 
loop my handkerchief around the poreu- 
’ pine so as to work him out from beneath 
the root, for I knew what would happen 
to me if I touched him with bare hands. 
But it could not be managed that way; 
there was nothing for it but bare hands 
after all, and they looked like well furnish- 
ed pincushions by the time he was ‘hustled 
into the bag. His spines were only about 
one quarter the length of those of the full 
grown animal, but they were twice as 
sharp. I pulled them out, one by one, 
with my teeth, and eaeh of them left a 
drop of blood after it. Then I picked up 
my handkerchief and wiped my fevered 
brow, and a good stout spine stuek firmly 


THe CANADIAN FIEeELD-NATURALIST. 71 


in the end of my nose. I began to under- 
stand how the story started that porcu- 
pines can shoot their quills at an enemy. 

Except for an occasional puppy-like 
whine, he lay quiet in the bag all the way 
home. There [ fitted up a roomy box 
for him with a bed of fresh cedar branches, 
and a partition behind which, if he wished, 
he could retire from the garish day. And 
I furnished a provision of lettuce leaves, 
pieces of apple and a saucer of milk. But 
it was plain next morning that he had 
eaten nothing. Then when cabbage leaves 
and succulent willow and poplar twigs 
failed to attract him, I concluded that he 
was too young to take solid nourishment, 
and I tried to draw his attention to the 
immense advantages of milk as a_ food. 
But al! my friendly advances were sullenly 
rejected. He put down his head and 
bristled his back, and looked at me with a 
dull but rancorous eye. 


About all you can do to tame a porecu- 
pine is to speak kindly to him. You can- 
not try to win his confidence by scratching 
his head or stroking him soothingly down 
the back. Evidently firmer measures than 
well-meaning words were needed here. 
From former experience I knew that even 
large porcupines can be handled safely, 
if unsympathetically, with a pair of heavy 
leather mitts; and it was with this equip- 
ment tuat I made the little fellow immerse 
his nose in the milk, hoping that he would 
begin to lap it; but he wouldn’t. Then 
I dipped my fingers in the milk and rub- 
bed them over his lips. He registered his 
objection to this treatment by a squeal, 
but he made no attempt to bite. Poreu- 
pines never do bite in anger; their quills 
are their sole defence. Next I tried to 
feed Him from a bottle, but neither the 
mouthpiece improvised from the rubber 
bulb of a pen-filler, nor what the drug 
clerk assured me was the best make of 
anti-colic feeder for human infants, met 
with his approval, and he whined and 
kicked and left dozens of quills stuck in 
my mitts. He had gone on a determined 
hunger-strike, and all my efforts ended in 
getting no more than a teaspoonful of milk 
down his throat, and that only with much 
trouble and disturbance. However, his 
fasting seemed to have done him no harm, 


¢2 


and between attempted feedings he climbed 
around his box briskly enough for a por- 
cupine. But his occasional fits of erying 
were distressing. 

At last on the third day of his ecaptiv- 
ity I thought of a friendly correspondent, 
Mr. Linwood Flint of North Waterford, 
Maine, who is probably more intimate 
with poreupines than anyone else in the 
world, as he rears them for sale on a 
“Porcupine Farm’’. <A query addressed 
to him by telegram as to what to do with 
a baby porcupine that wouldn’t eat any- 
thing brought the prompt but disappoint- 
ing reply, that it was impossible to rear 
a young porcupine away from its mother. 
This dashed my thopes of porcupine study, 
and my only care now was to get the little 
creature back to his mother as soon as 
possible. For the last time I got my mitts 
full of quills while putting him into the 
rucksack, and just at nightfall I reached 
the rocky ridge where I had found hin. 
The long walk was lightened by hearing 
on the way the meditative notes of the 
first hermit thrush of the season, and a red 
deer was startled from the path and leap- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


Vol. XXXV. 

ed exquisitely over a log into tae bushes. 

As I emptied the little creature out of the 
bag I had an absurd feeling of basely 
abandoning an infant in the wilds. But 
this was home to him, and as he moved off — 
deliberately into the darkling cedars, his 
final leave taking was an angry flip of 
his spiked tail. I did not blame him; he 
had no reason to feel grateful to me. That 
night, when going to bed, as I was walking 
around my room in bare feet -a sudden 
sharp pain took me in the toe. It was a 
last physical reminder of the little poren- 
pine—a slender needle-sharp spine driven 
into my flesh. 


Next day I visited again the place where 
I had left him, and searched thoroughly 
all around the spot, but discovered no 
trace of him. So I have no doubt that his 
mother, who I am sure lives somewhere 
in the neighboring rocks, heard his plaints © 
in the night and came to fim. And [I like 
to think that when I was looking for him 
that afternoon he was safe in a nearby 
rock crevice, with a full stomach, fast 
asleep. 


NOTES ON CANADIAN ENTOMOSTRACA. 


By A. Brooker KuiuenH, M. A., Queen’s University, Kingston. 


The fresh-water Entomostraca have up 
to the present received very little attention 
in Canada. The only Ontario records, so 
far as I know, are those of Dr. G. O. Sars, 
who reports on 16 species, collected at Go- 
Home Bay, Muskoka, in 1907, by Dr. E. 
M. Walker, in ‘‘Contributions to Canadian 
Biology, 1911-14, Fase. 2’’, and of Prof. 
Acheson, who in ‘‘ Proc. Can. Inst., Ser. 3, 
Vol. 1” lists Daphnia Pulex? and Cyclops 
quadricornis as occurring in Toronto tap- 
water. With regard to these last records, 
it is possible that Daphnia pulex? was real- 
ly that species, but it is more likely to 
have been one of the D. Longispina group, 
which are inhabitants of open water, while 
Cyclops quadricornis is a name which was 
at one time used for what are now regard- 
ed as several distinct species. 

These minute crustaceans are of great 
economic importance, because a great many 
of our fresh-water food and game fishes, 


during their young stages, feed to a very 
large extent on Cladocerans and Copepods, 
while these same Entomostraca constitute 
the chief food-supply of the smaller spe- 
cies of fresh-water fishes, which in turn 
are preyed upon by many of the larger 
fishes. The Entomostraca are thus one of 
the chief links in the chain of food-rela- 
tions which leads from the fresh-water, al- 
eae to the commercial and game fishes of 
our inland waters. 


In regard to distribution the different 
species of Entomostraca differ markedly, 
some, aS Chydorus sphaericus, bemg prac- 
tically cosmopolitan, while others are ap- 
parently extremely local. 


The following records, obtained in 1920, 
are presented as a preliminary list of Can- 
adian Entomostraca, to which I hope to 
add from time to time as my investigations 
on this ground continue. 


April, 1921. 


ORDER CLADOCERA, 


- Diaphanosoma leuchtenbergianum, Fis- 


Cc 


* Daphnia 


VA 


Fs 


> 


cher. Frequent in plancton at 1 metre in 
Lake Missanag, Frontenac County, Ont., 

Aug. 30. 

“ Holopedium gibberum, Zaddach. Scarce 
in surface plancton, Lake of Bays, Musko- 
ka, Ont., Aug. 24. 

Daphnia pulex de Geer. Well water, 
Guelph, Ont. Well water, Harrowsmith, 
Ont. Pool in woods, Aylmer, Ont.; col- 
lected by H. C. White. 
longispina hyalina, Leydig. 
Common in surface plancton, Lake of 
Bays; Muskoka, Ont., Aug. 24. Abundant in 
surface plancton, mouth of the Cataraqui 
River, Ont., Nov. 5. 

Daphnia longispina hyalina mendotae, 
Birge. Common in_ surface plancton, 
mouth of the Cataraqui River, Ont. Nov. 5. 

Simocephalus vetulus, O. F. Miller, 
Common among decaying vegetation at the 
bottom of a shallow channel in a marsh 
on the Cataraqui River, Ont. 


v Ceriodaphma megalops, Sars. Searce in 
the same habitat as the preceding. 

Bosmina longirostris, O. F. Miller. Com- 
mon in surface plancton, Lake of Bays, 
Aug. 24. Common in surface plancton, 
mouth of the Cataraqui River, Ont. 

Bosmina longispina, Leydig. Common 
in plancton at 1 metre, Lake Missanag, 
Ont., Aug. 30. . 

Alona guttata, Sars. Searce in surface 
planeton in shallow channel in a marsh on 
the Cataraqui River, Ont., Nov. 5. 

Chydorus sphaericus, O. F. Muller, 
Common in surface plancton, mouth of the 
Cataraqui River, Ont., Nov. 5. 

Polyphemus  pediculus; Linn.  Fre- 
quent in plancton at 1 metre, Lake Missa- 
nag, Ont. 


ORDER OSTRACODA. 


Cypridopsis vidua, O. F. Miiller. Com- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


73 


mon among aquatic vegetation at mouth 
of the Cataraqui Rivers Ont. Common in 
a marshy pond near Kingston, Ont. 

Cyclocypris laevis, O. F. Miiller. Com- 
mon among filamentous algae at the mouth 
of the Cataraqui River, Ont. 

Cypris dentata, Sharpe. Abundant in 
a pool near Kingston, Ont.; collected by 
H. C. White. 

Cypris testudinaria, Sharpe. Common 
in a pool in the woods, Aylmer, Ont., May; 
collected by H. C. White. 


ORDER COPEPODA. 


Diaptomus oregonensis, Lilljeborg. Ab- 
undant in plancton at 1 metre, Lake Mis- 
sanag, Ont. Common in surface plancton, 
mouth of the Cataraqui River, Ont. 


Cyclops biscupidatus, Claus. Common 
in surface plancton, Lake of Bays, Ont., 
Aug. 24. Common in surface plancton, 
mouth of the Cataraqui River, Ont., Nov. 
5. Common in surface planeton, Lake On- 
tario, Dec. 15. 

Cyclops viridis brevispinosus, Herrick. 
Common in plancton at 1 metre. Lake 
Missanag. Aug. 30. 

Cyclops fimbriatus, Fischer. Scarce in 
channel in marsh at mouth of Cataraqui 
River, Ont. 


Canthocamptus minutus, Claus. Searce 
in surface plancton, Lake Ontario at King- 
ston, Dee. 15. 

N. B.—Sinee the above was. wriiten, 
copies of Parts H and J of Vol. 7 Report 
of the Canadian Arctic Expedition ¢on- 
taining records of Arctic Cladocera by 
Dr. Juday and Copepoda by Dr. Marsh 
have come to hand. 


1 Dr. Robert Chambers in Biological Bulle- 
tin, Vol. 22, p. 293, mentions the occurrence 
of Cyclops parens and C. Americanus at To- 
ronto. The Euphyllopoda and parasitic Cope- 
poda have not been considered. — Ed. 


74 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


Vol. XXXV. 


A BOTANICAL TRIP THROUGH GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA. : 


iy WwW. 7r. 


In 1912 the writer visited the former 
German colony in south-west Africa chief- 
ly in order to secure material of Tumboa 
(Welwitschia) mirabilis, mirabilis both 
from the morphological and physiological 
standpoints. It was necessary to make a 
trip across a very extreme desert whose 
scanty flora exhibits remarkable xero- 
phytic adaptations. The conquering of 
this colony by the late General Botha and 
General Smuts and the future probable re- 
lationship of the territory to the British 
Empire under a mandatory held by the 
Union of South Africa may lend a special 
interest to the following notes on that 
trip. ; 

Landing at Swakopmund on the west 
coast, one is in a region in which, accord- 
ing to the official German records, the 
rainfall averages about one inch a year, 
though many years may pass with no pre- 
cipitation. At the time of my visit the 
natives could not remember when the last 
rain had fallen but were sure that when- 
ever it was it had been only a sprinkle. 
As one proceeds eastward the rainfall in- 
ereases slightly but at no place amounts 
to more than ten inches annually. Ap- 
parently in all this portion of the conti- 
nent the rainbearing winds cross Africa 
from the Indian Ocean losing their mois- 
ture on the way. The natives stated that 
the sprinkles always came from the east. 
In the British territories across to the east 
coast the rainfall is much heavier. 

This distribution of moisture available 
for the vegetation is modified in a remark- 
able way by the fact that several old dry 
river beds cross the colony from east to 
west. Apparently the climate was for- 
merly much moister than at present. Oc- 
casionally heavy rains in the British ter- 
ritories to the east cause the water to flow 
down these old river beds. Sometimes the 
flood nearly reaches the sea before being 
absorbed. For long afterwards these val- 
leys support a vegetation different from 
that of the surrounding desert. They are 
then long band-like oases, 

For many miles from Swakopmund, out- 
side the dry bed of the Swakop, one can 
find only three species of plants and very 


THOMPSON, 


few specimens of them (a Zigophyllum, 
a Mesembryanthemum and an Arthaerua). 
They look like hayeocks on an immense 
field of sand. In addition to the lack of 
moisture these plants have to contend with 
the continually wind-driven sand. All day 
long the presence of the fine particles of 
sand in the air makes the horizon as highly 
colored as one of our sunsets. The sand 
lodges against the plants and tends to sub- 
merge them while the plants strive to sur- 
mount the rising sand. In this way high 
dunes are built up round a single plant. 
Usually the plant is beaten in the strug- 
ole with the sand which later blows away 
and leaves the dead plant exposed. The 
only other vegetation of this strip near the 
sea consists of numerous orange-colored 
lichens on the desert rocks. These appear 
to derive their moisture from the heavy 
dews, so heavy that on many mornings 
they drip off the roofs of the houses in 
Swakopmund. In fact it is diffieult to 
see how even the flowering plants can sur- 
vive unless they utilize these dews. 

As we went inland by broad-wheeled 
carts following the route from Swakop- 
mund to Windhuk (the capital) later fol- 
lowed by General Botha, we found new 
plants making their appearance as increas- 
ing moisture enabled them to survive. Af- 
ter a time we met outlying specimens of 
the famous ‘‘good Karoo bush’’ (Augea) 


on which the still more famous sheep of 


the South African farmer largely subsist. 
At fifty miles from the coast we found 
Tumboa, the chief object of the trip. 
This remarkable plant is like a huge 
turnip bearing throughout its life only 
two leaves which soon become torn to nar- 
row shreds by the wind. In adult speci- 
mens the body is five or six feet in diam- 
eter and the leaves stretch for twenty feet 
across the desert sand. As the plants may 
be more than one hundred years old the 
length of life of its two leaves far exceeds 
that of any other known leaves. ‘The 
centre of the turnip rots away leaving a 
narrow atoll-like rim of stem aboye the 
sand. J'umboa is a member of the order 
Gnetales, the highest of the Gymnosperms 
which show in nearly every structure ap- 


Av./ 


April, 1921. 


parent transitions to Angiosperms. It 
bears cones like gymnosperms but in the 
axil of each scale is a flower of Angio- 
spermic structure. Its distribution is no 
less remarkable than its morphology. In 


THE CANADIAN 


this locality it is found in am area of only 


a few square miles. This and another 
similar locality further north are the only 
places in the world where it is found. 
Tumboa’s neighbors have adopted var- 
ied methods of contending with the 
drought. The Naras, Acanthosicyos hor- 
rida (Cucurbitaceae), has completely dis- 
earded its leaves and consists simply of a 
mass of green, hard, extremely sharp 
pointed thorns sprawling over the sand. 
Its roots go down to subterranean water 
and may be fifteen meters long. The Ge- 
raniaceous Sarcocaulon has completely wa- 
terproofed itself in a coat of hard wax 
which may be ten millimeters thick. The 
coat remains as a lhollow shell long after 
the plant has died and rotted away. The 
wax burns readily and the plant is there- 
fore called Hottentot candle. Several spe- 
cies fave imitated the succulent cactus 
though belonging to very different fam- 
ilies. Several members of the milkweed 
family have become switch plants. Strang- 
est of all perhaps in this climate is the 
ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum) with its 
large soft leaves completely covered by 


droplets of cool liquid. To expose its wa- 


ter in this way when the supply is so 
extremely scanty seems to be about the 
worst thing the plant could do. 

A fact which soon strikes the botanist 
is that in spite of strong resemblances in 
external features to the plants of Amer- 
ican deserts these belone to very different 
families. For example, one sees many ecac- 
tus-like plants but no cacti. A large pro- 
portion of the flora consists of members 
of the milkweed family which are there 
switeh-plants. Families which the North 
American botanist has never seen there 
simulate our own xerophytes to a remark- 
able degree. So strong is the resemblance 
in many cases that one ean scarcely believe 
that the flowers, showing the true botani- 
eal relationship, really belong to the plants 


on which they are found. We have here 


a good illustration of entirely unrelated 
plants acquiring the same characteristics 
under similar conditions. 


Fretp-NATURALIST. 


75 


During the whole trip only one species 
of our great rose family was seen, only 
three crucifers and only three members 
of the buttercup family (all Clematis). 
On the other hand, families poorly repre- 
sented here but relatively abundant there 
are the Asclepiadaceae, Tiliaceae (chiefly 
shrubby Grewias), Geraniaceae, Aizoaceae, 
Zygophyllaceae and Anacardiaceae. Fam- 
ilies with many representatives in both 
places are Liliaceae, Leguminosae and Com- 
positae. 

The old river beds constitute an inter- 
esting variation from the desert waste. 
Their periodic flooding from the interior 
enables a richer though still sparse vegeta- 
tion to survive. An occasional gardener 
takes advantage of this moisture to raise 
a few vegetables which are sold at fabulous 
prices to the town dwellers. A number of 
large wells as big as a house are dug in 
the dry river bottom. Into these a little 
water soaks during the night and is pump- 
ed out next day on to the small garden. 
After a time the wells go completely dry 
and the gardener moves a half-mile along 
the river and digs a new set. Sometimes 
several moves are made between floodings. 

In these river bottoms the vegetation 
consists chiefly of scattered shrubs and 
trees. There are the date palm, a fig, 
several thorny acacias, the tamarisk and 
an ebony. One of the most successful 
plants in this habitat is a tobacco (Nico- 
tiana glauca) which reaches the size of a 
small tree. It was introduced by the early 
missionaries, 

Farther inland the increased moisture 
supports a somewhat richer vegetation. In 
places the vegetation is of a type which 
rapidly bursts into flower after a rain and 
then dries up until the next rain. In few 
places is the ground completely covered, 
the plants being in scattered clumps and 
consisting chiefly of grasses. The German 
Government had encouraged in every pos- 
sible way the agricultural development of 
the colony, but even the best parts of the 
country are unsuited to anything but ran- 
ching. The few ranchers who had been 
induced to settle in the eastern portion 
were making a precarious livelihood at the 
beginning of the war. A few municipal- 
ities in Canada are worth more agricultur- 
ally than the whole territory. 


76 THe CANADIAN 


FIELD-NATURALIST. 


Vol. XXXV. 


SWARTH ON THE FOX SPARROW. 


By P. A. TAVERNER. 


This monograph on the Fox Sparrows is 
an excellent example of the species-splitter 
at his best, and worst. That sixteen sub- 
species are recognized is testimony to the 
fineness of the splitting, but the use made 
of these fragments goes a long way to 
justify the process. Too often systematists 
have assumed, when they have divided their 
species into as many fractional parts as 
possible, that their responsibility was end- 
ed, whereas they have only just laid out 
their tools for serious scientific effort. Mr. 
Swarth realizes that splitting is a means to 
an end and not an end in itself, and has 
developed his subject with a grasp and ap- 
preciation of the problems involved that 
is all too rare in revisions of this kind. 

The first 29 pages are taken up by an 
introduction :and chapters on Materials 
and Methods of Treatment, History, Varia- 
tion in Passerella aliaca and Distribution 
and Migration that are models of their 
kinds. The remainder is composed of 
systematic treatment, description and dis- 
cussion of the races considered, a list of all 
the material examined and a beautifully 
drawn and colored plate from the brush of 
our countryman Major Allan Brooks illus- 
trating the extremes of two subspecific 
groups. 

The species is remarkably homogeneous 
over most of the continent but breaks up 
into many races within and west of the 
Rocky Mountains. These races are dis- 
cussed, their relationships pointed out, 
they are traced from their summer to their 
winter, habitat, and many interesting prob- 
lems regarding them are suggested. 

An interesting conclusion is derived 
from the movements and distribution of the 
sritish Columbia and Alaska coastal forms. 
Those that summer farthest north winter 
the farthest south. The more southern 
breeders winter more northerly, and so on 
progressively to the Vancouver Island 
vicinity birds which are practically station- 
ary throughout the year. 

Another important point brought out is 
that the birds breeding in the most humid 
climates are not the darkest or the largest 
of the species. Unalaschensis, summering 
in the extremely moist Alaskan Peninsula, 


does not reach the extreme development of 
size or depth of color that is attamed by 
fuliginosa, resident on the comparatively 
dry Vancouver Island region. This per- 
plexing fact that would otherwise serious- 
ly shake one of our most cherished ecolo- - 
gical principles is explained by the fact 
that the northern race spends its winter 
in arid southern California, and probably 
experiences a much lower annual average 
moisture than does the darker and larger 
race. It is thus brought forcibly to our 
notice that, in studying the relationship 
between the bird and its environment, 
winter ranges and probably migrational 
routes should also be taken into considera- 
tion. 

Some distributional anomalies are point- 
ed out. Some forms range widely over 
varied and more or less discontinuous con- 
ditions unmodified, whilst very slight bar- 
riers have induced specialization in others. 
Kadiak Island, but slightly isolated from 
adjoining territory, has its definable sub- 
species, insularis, yet the Queen Charlot- 
tes, situated far out to sea and noted for 
their peculiar forms, have developed no 
specialization in this species. 

Mr. Swarth divides the Fox Sparrow, 
Passerella iliaca, into sixteen subspecies 
falling into three groups which for con- 
venience he calls after their most char- 
acteristic component members. Thus he 
vives us :— 

I.—The Ihaca group. 


1. P. 2. theca 
2. P. 2. altavagans 


11.—The Unalaschensis group. 


1. P. i. unalaschensis 4. P. 7 annectens 
2. P. 1. msularis 5. P. 7. townsendi 
3. P. 2. sinwosa 6. P. 7. fuliginosa 
I1Il.—The Scehistacea group. 
1. P. 1. schistacea 5». P. 7. canascens 
2. P. i. fulwa 6. P. 1. monolensis 
3. P i. megarhynchus 7. P. i. mariposae 
3. P. 4. brevicauda 8. P. 0. stephensi 


Of these we have nine in Canada either 
as breeders or migrants, including all the 
first two groups and the first of the third. 


April, 1921. 


Iliaea, characterized by foxy color, ran- 
ges all over eastern Canada to the Rocky 
Mountains and Central Alaska. In the 
mountains, through altavagans it ap- 
proaches schistacea, which is characterized 
by the reduction of red and a great in- 
erease of slaty color. Altavagans and 
schistacea occupy most of the interior of 
British Columbia. The wnalaschensis group 
are large maroon-brown birds occupying 
the coast, from fuliginosa, resident in the 
Vancouver Island vicinity, through town- 
sendi, annectens, sinuosa and insularis, to 
unalaschensis of the Alaska Peninsula. 


In the systematic body of the paper, 
dealing with the description, salient char- 
acters and ranges of the forms dealt with, 
are many illustrative drawings, maps, etc. 
The whole is admirable in plan and con- 
struction and clearly presented. It is not 
until we come to study carefully the draw- 
ings of some of these distinctions that any 
doubt 1s awakened as to the expediency of 
perpetuating all these many names. Dis- 
tinctions that seem clear and satisfactory 
‘in print in some cases become very faint 
in illustration. Whilst. we can be assured 
that they are the best possible presentation 
of the case many of them can be felt rather 
than seen. A small amount of individual 
variation would swamp some and even the 
inescapable personality of the draughts- 
man may be a determining factor. In the 
excellent colored plate by Allan Brooks 
brevicauda and unalaschensis are seen to 
be so much alike in color that the other- 
wise excellent three-color process plates 
have absolutely failed to differentiate 
them. When it is realized that average 
characters are regarded as sufficient basis 
for subspecies making and that the author 
calls special attention to the number of 
intermediates in his material one can be 
pardoned for harboring some mental re- 
servations. 


In this connection the reviewer is fort- 
unate in having access to some of the mat- 
erial upon which the work is based and 
that bears the author’s determinations. A 
careful examination of if in comparison 
with the text does not allay all doubt. 
Specimens of altavagans, referred by the 
author to the Jliaca group seem more clo- 
sely related to schistacea, in plumage bare- 
ly separable from it. The Unalaschensis 


THE CANADIAN Firecbp-NATURALIST, 77 


group, represented in the material by all 
but insularis, shows a gradual gradation 


-from the comparatively small and lighter 


colored northern wnadlaschensis to the big, 
dark fuliginosa of southern British Colum- 
bia. These gradations are postulated by 
the writer to occur in marked steps with 
alternate distributional areas of constancy 
and variability. It is neither safe nor just 
to pass final judgment on the suddenness 
of these variations without having seen all 
the material upon which the conclusions 
are based, but the slightness of the char- 
acters and the limitations of collecting on 
a long line of uninhabited coast naturally 
make one wonder whether the gradation is 
not a little more gradual than is assumed, 
and but indicates extended intergradation 
in which perhaps all characters do not 
change at an equal rate, and where there 
are possibly occasional disturbing factors. 


Whilst we do not seriously doubt that 
most if not all of these differences exist, or 
that Mr. Swarth can see and differentiate 
them, we admit our inability to do so in 
some cases and doubt whether any one else 
without his natural aptitude, amount of 
material and the obvious concentration he 
has put upon it can be trusted to identify 
many of these laboratory varieties. Iden- 
tification of Fox Sparrows to the Swarth 
standard thus becomes a one man’s work 
and is practically impossible of verifica- 
tion or intelligent correction by others. 
However, fitted in this case that one man 
may be in keenness of perception, honesty 
of purpose and balance of judgment we 
tremble at the results that may arise from 
the use of these minute subdivisions in the 
hands of the less experienced or responsible. 
This is certainly no work for the dilettante, 
and we question the expediency of present- 
ing undemonstrable races for the use of 
the general public. 

It is notable that when Mr. Swarth came 
to make a serious study of this species he 
was not content to accept the determina- 
tions of anyone else, but very properly 
went to the original material and eare- 
fully worked it all out again to his own 
satisfaction. And thus it must ever be 
when serious use is made of subspecific 
variation in constructive science. Of what 
use have been the numerous trinominals 
applied to Fox Sparrows in the many local 


78 THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 


and other published lists? As far as Mr. 
Swarth was concerned they were no more 
than specific binomials. In this connec- 
tion it is interesting to note that the author 
consistently applies the binomial Passerella 
iliaca, the Fox Sparrow, to all the sub- 
species collectively, and differentiates the 
type form as the Eastern Fox Sparrow 
Passerella iliaca iliaca, definitely nam- 
ing it as a subspecies on a par with the 
others. All this is in perfect harmony with 
the views for which the present reviewer 
has lately been severely criticised. There 
seems much in this paper to justify his 
stand. 

It is also to be noted, as showing a nat- 


ural trend of the present subspecies maker, 
that the author has found it expedient to 


use group names for associations of his - 


subspecies ; so we have arrived at the stage 
of the super-subspecies in spirit if not 
in fact. With an extension of this prin- 
ciple and more thoroughly developed per- 
ceptions we are faced with the possibility 
of super-subspecies and sub-subspecies un- 
til we may be forced to adopt algebraic 
formulae or chemical symbols for the 
representation of the more involved re- 
lationships, an eventuality not without some 
promise. . 


These groups as defined by Mr. Swarth 
are plainly recognizable entities and as 
such must be taken into consideration as 
well to systematize a complicated idea as 
to properly reflect zoological facts. The 
component parts of these groups are, as 
said before, less obvious and it is debat- 
able whether or no it is not sufficient 
for the general worker to lump them un- 
der their group associations, leaving the 


Vol 2a 


finer determinations to the specializing 
expert. In this particular case, one so- 
lution naturally suggests itself. 

It does not appear that Mr. Swarth with 
all his material has demonstrated actual 
intergradation between these three groups. 
In fact he remarks that they approach but 
remain distinct. Might it not be well 
then to acknowledge the apparent logic 
of the evidence and raise them to the 
specific status to which they ‘seem en- 
titled? The evidence is as strong in this 
case as for the Oregon Junco, the North- 
west Crow and others that may be men- 
tioned, and is strengthened by the fact 
that the Eastern Fox Sparrow is a par- 
ticularly constant form, while the western 
races are highly variable, suggesting a 
fundamental distinction between them at 
last. ) 

In spite of all the above criticism, 
either stated or implied, Mr. Swarth is 
to be congratulated on the presentation 
he has made of his thesis. The faults, 
so judged by the reviewer, are those of 
prevailing practice, the virtues are all his 
own. The necessity of studying even the 
finest variations is not questioned, the 
necessity of dignifying all of them with 
formal names and thus exalting their im- 
portance to a par with those of demons- 
trable status is doubted. The question is 
one of expediency rather than of fact. 
However this may be, the thoroughness 
which is evidenced throughout, the care 
that has been taken to provide the widest 
basis of material, the keenness with which 
the author has analyzed his phenomena 
and the clarity with which he has stated 
them and his conclusions. makes this one 
of the noteworthy specific revisions, 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Birp BANDING. 


The work of bird banding, from which 
so much may be learned concerning the 
life history of birds, has been taken over 
from the Societies which were carrying 
on this work by the U. S. Biological 
Survey. All success is wished the Sur- 
vey in this line of endeavour. 

The following article is printed at: the 
request of the Biological Survey, to ac- 


quaint the public of Canada wth this 
work. 
CHECKING UP THE MIGRATION OF Bibs. 
‘he desire to learn what became of 
birds. that flew South with the approach 
of cold weather led Audubon —the great 
American naturalist—to place _ silver 
threads about the legs of a brood of 
phoebes. The following spring he was 
rewarded by having two of the birds re- 


— 


April, 1921. 


turn to nest near the haunts where they 
learned to fly. 


- ‘This occurred early in the nineteenth 


century, and was the first known case 
in America of bird banding. Since that 
time this means of securing information 
on the movements and life history of 
migratory birds has been used by many 
societies, and every fall thousands of birds 
fly south bearing a narrow ring, stamped 
with a number, about one of its legs. 

**So valuable is this work, especially 
with game and insectivorous species of 
birds, that in 1920 the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture took over the 
experiments being conducted by the Am- 
erican Bird Banding Association, the so- 
ciety’s work having outgrown its avail- 
able resources. Since it is the returns 
from bird banding that furnish the data 
desired in this branch of research, it is 
of prime importance that the methods 
employed be improved and that the per- 
centage of birds under observation be 
increased. To assist co-operators in this 
work, the department has published De- 
partment Cireular 170, Instructions for 
Bird Banding, which is just available for 
distribution. 

‘“‘It is the plan of the Biological Sur- 
vey of the department, which is super- 
vising the bird-banding work, to advance 
this method of research along two prin- 
cipal lines: first, the banding of fledg- 
lings as formerly practiced; and second, 
the systematic trapping and banding of 
adult birds. As the banding of fledglings 
has the advantage of affording valuable 
information on the ages of birds, the 
survey wishes to encourage these activ- 
ities, but it desires to lay special emphasis 
on the added value of the systematic 
trapping of adults. 


“With the establishment of a_ well- 
connected chain of trapping — stations 


throughout the United States and Canada, 
regular ‘returns’ are confidently expec- 
ted by department specialists with reports 
of retrapping birds that had been banded 
at the original and other stations. Data 
thus afforded are already indicating the 
exact lines of migration of individual 
birds, the speed of travel, and innumer- 
able items of interest, many of which 
have a direct bearing upon the study of 


THe CANADIAN Fievp-NATURALIST. 79 


life histories and the administration of 
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with 
which the Department: is charged. 

‘“‘The department issues bands of two 
types to co-operators in the work. One 
type is the split ring band for all small 
birds, and the other is the flat strip 
band that is adjustable for all large birds. 
For general land-bird trapping the so- 
called Government ‘sparrow trap’ has 
been found the most satisfactory. The 
bulletin contains details of construction 
of this trap. It also discusses other 
methods of trapping, the operation of 
traps, handling and releasing birds, and 
filling out reports. Federal trapping per- 
mits for this work are required under 
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Appli- 
cations for permits and requests for the 
bulletin should be addressed to the Bu- 
reau of Biological Survey, Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D.C.”’ 

In Canada, applications for permits to 
carry on this work should be made to 
the Commissioner, Canadian National 
Parks, Department of the Interior, Ot- 
tawa. Persons holding federal permits 
to take birds for scientific purposes re- 
quire no other permit. It would be 
needless duplication for records of band- 
ing to be kept in the U. S. and Canada, 
as the birds do not respect our boundary 
in their migration; consequently the rec- 
ords for the continent are beine kept 
at Washington. 


PROBLEMS THAT CAN BE SOLVED BY 
Birp BANDING. 


1. How fast do the individuals of any 
species travel on their periodic migra- 
tions; that is, how many miles per day 
will any one bird average during these 
journeys and what is the total time con- 
sumed in a trip? 

2. Does any one flock continue in the 
van or is the advance made by successive 
flocks passing one over the other in al- 
ternate periods of rest and flight? 

3. Do individuals of any species always 
follow the same route, and is it identical 
for both spring and fall flights? 

4. Do migrating birds make the same 
stop-overs every year to feed? ; 

5. How long do birds remain iv one 


SO Tae CANADIAN KF 1eLp-NATURALIST. 


jocality during the migration, the breed- 
ing, or the winter seasons? 


6. What is the relation between the 
breeding and the wintering grounds of 
individuals; that is, do those birds that 
breed farthest north, winter farthest south, 
thus jumping over those that occupy the 
intermediate zone, or do they merely re- 
place the latter individuals as winter res- 
idents ? 


7. Do birds ‘adopt the same. nesting 
area, nest site, and winter quarters during 
successive seasons ? 


8. For how many broods will one pair 
remain mated, and which bird, if not both, 
is attracted next year to the old nesting 
site? 

9.To what extent do males of a 
species assist in incubating and brooding? 

10. How far from their nests do birds 
forage for food, and after the young have 
Jeft the nest, will the parent birds bring 
them to the feeding and trapping sta- 
tion ? 

11. To what regions do the birds go, 
particularly the young, that do not re- 
turn to the vicinity of their original 
nests? 

12. How long do birds live? 

For the solution of ‘these and related 
problems, it is important that the traps 
always be set on the original site, for 
birds already have returned to the same 
traps through four or five consecutive 
seasons. Many ‘‘returns’’ will, in the 
course of time, afford answers to 
important problems here presented. 


the - 


Vol. XXXY. 


NIGHTHAWK NESTING IN A Peat Boe, — 
On June 4ti, 1921, we were in pursuit of 
Lincolns Sparrows, Yellow Palm and Myr- 
tle Warblers in a large open peat bog 
located on the south shore of the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence. The vegetation was mostly 
Labrador tea and rich green mosses fully 
a foot in depth, with spruces moderately 
spread out all over the territory. This is 
a wonderful country for bog-loving species, 
— Lincolns and Swamp Sparrows, Wilsons 
and Yellow Palm Warblers being actively 
occupied in domestic duties. The White- 
throat’s whistle, always welcome, could also 
be heard from all sections of this beautiful 
bogland. = 

As is sometimes the case the unexpected 
happens and one receives a pleasant sur- 
prise. Here and there were scattered 
patches of sun-baked peat and from one 
of these a Nighthawk departed rather re- 
luctantly, disclosing a single egg. The 
nesting site chosen was slightly off elevated 
ground and was sheltered from any ‘high 
winds that might occur. There was no 
attempt at nest building, merely a feather 
of the female lying alongside the egg. Two 
days later we found that the Nighthawk 
had taken exception to a handkerchief tied 
to the branches of a spruce as a landmark, 
or perhaps she detected, in this sign of the 
human, evidence of further intrusion. In 
any event the egg had disappeared and the 
bird, no doubt, exercised her privilege of 
retiring to another secluded spot some dis- 
tance away, aS further efforts on our part’ 
failed to locate her. 

W. V. Brown, Westmount, Que. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. GARDENVALE, QUE., MAY, 1921 No. 5 
OVERGROWTH OF STUMPS OF CONIFERS. 
By C. C. PEMBERTON. 
Perhaps the most remarkable feature in tention from several writers. Unfortun- 


connection with the subject of the over- 
erowth of stumps of certain conifers is the 
fact that many botanists fave never heard 
of the existence of this phenomenon. This 
is all the more remarkable as it is a phase 
of vegetable life which has been observed 
in different parts of the world for a long 
time and various authorities have, from 
time to time, published references to it. 

The findings of those who have investi- 
gated this subject in one country often do 
not seem to have been known to those in 
another, later writers being» apparently 
unaware of previous investigations. Evi- 
dently the references published in the past 
have attracted little attention and the sub- 
ject has been speedily forgotten. 

I have found that many plant physiolo- 
gists, on learning of the phenomenon, in- 
cline to the idea that the overgrowth is 
the result of a mysterious power in the 
reserve material of the stump which en- 
ables it to continue indefinitely to form 
woody matter without aid of foliage or or- 
gans of assimilation of any kind. They 
comment on the fact that broadleaf trees, 
and even larch, can have their felled stems 
make a limited amount of callous growth 
in the spring following the felling. Other 
physiologists from the first ave deemed 
the reserve material explanation utterly 
inadequate and have considered the con- 
tinuity of vitality, healings and bulky for- 
mations of cappings of new wood to be 
possible only by parasitism— of some sort 
— with a chlorophyll-possessing host plant. 

Some years ago, when [ took up the 
study and investigation of the character- 
istics of the native trees in the environ- 
ment of Victoria, I found it impossible to 
discover any authoritative writings on the 
subject of these stumps, but by degrees I 
learned that the matter had received at- 


ately the full texts of these publications 
have never been obtainable here, and I 
have, therefore, been unable to ascertain to 
what extent investigations have been car- 
ried. 


From Mr. A. D. Webster, whom I first 
met when jie was Superintendent of Reg- 
ent’s Park, England, I have learned that’ 
the English forester, Grigor, (who died 
in 1848) had, in his book Arboriculture, 
referred to the power of coniferous trees 
to continue the formation of healings and 
new wood after the loss of their stems and 
foliage ; that while this statement had been 
scoffed at by subsequent French reviewers 
of the book, Mr. Webster’s father, Mr. 
John Webster, who had noted the charac- 
teristic in Larch, Silver Fir, Scotch Fir 
and Spruce, had by production of actual 
specimens been able to prove that Grigor 
was correct in his assertions; and that the 
findings of Mr. John Webster had then 
been published in an essay ‘‘On the Growth 
of Roots of Coniferous Trees After being 
Felled,’’ which appeared in the T'ransac- 
tions of the Highland Agricultural So- 
ciety’’, No. III, Fourth Series, 1870-1871. 

In Elwes and Henry, Trees of Great 
Britain and Ireland (privately printed, 
MCMIX) vol. LV, p. 726, I find that men- 
tion is made of these overgrowths as being 
the result of root graft, and in a foot-note 
(No. 3) reference is given to Mathieu, 
Flore Forestiére, 529 (1897). 

W. Dallimore, in his article ‘‘ Natural 
Grafting of Branches and Roots’’, in Kew 
Bulletin, Nos. 9 and 10 (1917), p. 308, 
quotes the German- authority, Sorauer, 
(Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten, Ber- 
lin, 3rd Ed. 1909, Vol. 1, p. 774). From 
perusal of a translation of a transcript 
from Sorauer (kindly obtained for me by 
Mr. G. B. Sudworth, dendrologist, U. S. 


82 THe CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 


A.), it appears that the German authority 
refers to a general opinion that the mater- 
ial contained in the stump prior to felling 
might be the only source of the new forma- 
tions, and that they might also be due to 
root-graft between the stump and a tree 
possessing its crown; but he instances ab- 
solutely isolated stumps in which he avers 
the reserve material would not be suf- 
ficient explanation of the bulky forma- 
tions which take place. He refers, in this 
connection, to the chlorophyll to be found 
in the rims of the overgrowth and says 
there is no reason why this chlorophyll 
apparatus should not assimilate as well as 


Fig. 1: 


Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Poir.) Britt. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


the green bark of the trunk. 

It appears then that European views of 
the cause of the overgrowth have differed. 
While the overgrowth is conceded on one 
hand to be a consequence of root-graft 
there are authorities who think it might 
be initiated by reserve material, and in the 
case of isolated stumps that the chlorophyll 
in the rims of the overgrowth might fulfil 
the funetions of foliage. No particulars 
are given, so far as I ean learn, of the 
steps which were taken to establish that 
the remote stumps were absolutely isolated. 

On this continent Prof. Willis Linn Jep- 
son appears to be the first to publish any 


Completely capped-over Douglas 


fir stumps — living posts — the vitality and capping-over being due to root union 


with foster-tree to the 
Vancouver Island. 


right. 


Locality, Admiral’s Road, Esquimalt district, 


May, 1921.] 


reference to the characteristic of the heal- 
ing and overgrowth of stumps. In The 
Trees of Califorma (Cunningham, Curtis 
and Welch, San Francisco, 1909) p. 33, 
speaking of the second-growth circles of 
the Redwood, Prof. Jepson refers to the 
overgrowth of Douglas Fir stumps and 
says ‘‘the catise of this phenomenon is due, 
undoubtedly, to natural rootgrafting.’’ 
In the Scientific American, Vol. CVIII, 
No. 5, p. 112 (1913), continuity in vitality 


THE CANADIAN FIcLp-NATURALIST, 83 


and ‘healings and overgrowth of stumps of 
Cuban Pine (Pinus heterophylla), Long 
Leaf Pine (Pinus palustris), and of stumps 
of Douglas Fir, (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) 
and Redwood (Sequoia gigantea) are spok- 
en of as being a puzzle to the forester, and 
the statement is made that it would seein 
reasonable to conclude that these stumps 
are parasitic and that their roots are graf- 
ted to those of neighbouring trees. 

In the article ‘‘ Natural Grafting of Con- 


Fig. 2: Bigtree, Sequoia washingtoniana 


ington, D.C. 
U. S. Forestry, Washington, D. C. 


(Winsl.) 


Published by the courtesy of Vir. G. 


Sudworth. 
stump of a California Bigtree, from the collection of the U. S. Forestry, Wash- 


Completely capped-over 


B. Sudworth, Dendrologist, 


wD 


ifers’’, Proceedings of the Society of Am- 
erican Foresters, Vol. XI, No. 4, (October 
1916) p. 394, Prof. Harold S. Newins, As- 
sociate Professor of Forestry, Oregon Agri- 
cultural College, calls these stumps ‘‘ Grow- 
ing Stumps’’, and refers to the fact that 
they may be found growing vigorously and 
yet isolated as far as 20° feet from any 
erowing tree (I have found them 50 feet). 
He Says: ‘When found so isolated, the 
common belief has been that they subsist 
by drawing on a reserve supply of food 
materials which have been stored within 
their bodies and roots.’’ He finally says 
that such ‘‘Growing Stumps’’ 
sult of conjunctive symbiosis, which is 
made possible by their root- ovaft with a 
living tree. The two investigators on the 
Pacific Coast have therefore no hesitation: 
in ascribing the cause of the overgrowth 
to natural - eraftage of roots with growing 
trees of the same species. 


When, some years ago, I learned that the 


root-graft theory, of the cause of the vital- 


ity and overgrowth of the stumps was 
doubted, I went to considerable expense in 
having doubtful-looking cases tested by ex- 
cavation of the roots and in every instance 
the root-graft was established. It seemed 
that a very slight graft was sufficient, and 
that the host tree need not be very large 
to accomplish the overgrowth of a stump 
of a tree of greater size. I found it diffi- 
cult to discover a stump very remote from 
other trees. ‘The scattered large Douglas 
Fir of the original parklands of the vicin- 
ity were mostly still standing and the 
young growth was generally in dense for- 
mation. There was one instance in which 
a group of nine capped-over Douglas Fir 
stumps were distant over fifty feet from 
a large tree and there was absolutely no 
indication of roots of the stumps and tree 
being anywhere near each other; never- 
theless, excavation proved that actual root- 
graft existed. The roots of the big tree 
stretched at a depth of two feet below the 
surface past the group of smaller trees, 
the tap roots of some of which had become 
grafted to the underlying roots of the big 
tree. 
turn root-grafted to others more remote 
and all were overgrown alike. This, I 
think, shows that apparently remote stumps 


4 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


are the re- | 


These stumps, so grafted, were in. 


[Wol. XXXV. 


may really be root-grafted to growing trees 
by a series of concealed, unsuspected root- 
grafts. The more especially may this be 
so as frequently the major parts of the 
stumps are decayed and portions of roots 
only remain vital. This phase of the ques- 
tion, In my opinion, explains how remote 
and apparently isolated stumps can show, 
bulky overgrowth. There is probably a 
chain of root-grafts connecting the stump 
with living trees. I have never been able 
to learn of an overgrown stump proved,” 
by actual and complete exeavation of all 
its roots and rootlets, to have no direct or 
indirect root-graft with foliage-possessing 
trees. The great spread of the lateral roots 
of conifers may not always be realized, 
and this, combined with indirect root- 
grafts, may enable overgrown stumps to 
have a source of elaborated food in a dis- 
tant forest. In fact, it. is hard to say 
whether the translocation of elaborated sap 
would ever stop as long as there were liy- 
ing stumps and direct and indirect root- 
graft with sufficient canopy of foliage. 
The question could be easily settled exper- 
imentally, as well as the point whether one 
species is more potent in this respect than 
another. The grafting together of the 
roots of separate trees should be of easy 
accomplishment artificially m a_ single 
season, and then, if the stems of those trees 
intended to be used for tests were cut the 
following year, an immediate overgrowth 
should commence in species prone to show 
the characteristic. The stumps in some 
species of conifers are said to respond 
more quickly than others. I have observed 
the phenomenon in Douglas Fir (Pseudot- 
suga taxifolia, (Poir.) Britt.) and in Grand 
Fir (Abies grandis, Lindley) only, the 
Douglas Fir being far more potent in over- 
growth than the Grand, Fir. In both 
species, when the overgrowth is cut off, a 
renewed healing takes place. I have never, 
however, seen a healing and overgrowth 
by means of secondary or indirect root- 
graft in the Grand Fir. Stumps showing 
healing and overgrowth abound: in all dis- 
tricts in the vicinity of Victoria. In the 
Douglas Fir the heartwood of the stump 
is usually charged with resin and a com- 
plete capping takes place. In the Grand 
Fir the heartwood nearly always decays 
and a rim only of live wood ensues. The 


May, 1921.] 


Douglas and Grand Firs are the only two 
trees which I have had the opportunity of 
studying. The characteristic seems to ob- 
tain in all conifers where root union ‘has 
taken place. ‘Doubtless it would not occur 
in conifers which possess the power of 
stump sprouting, such as the California 
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens, (Lamb) 
Endlicher). The Bigtree (Sequoia wash- 
ingtomana (Winsl.) Sudworth), on the 


Fig. 3: Douglas Fir. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 85 


other hand, cannot sprout but shows the 
overgrowth characteristic in a yery marked 
degree, 2 

The question of the frequency of natural 
graftage as well as the extent: to which it 
takes place among the trees in a forest is 
necessarily pertinent to the consideration 
of the question of overgrowth. Inarching 
of roots of a single tree is a well-known 
phenomenon, Whether wholesale inter- 


Partial overgrowth of stump (to the right) due to natural graft 
of its roots with those of a foster Douglas fir (to the left) 
developed into a bar of wood connecting the tree and stump. 


The graft has 
The ring of 


annual increment of the living tree on the left is seen to be enveloping the 


stump on the right. 


The centre of the stump, not being preserved by resin, is 


decaying and would have become one of the hollow stump types in which there 
is a rim of live wood only. Locality, Sylvan Lane, Gonzales Hill, Victoria, B.C. 


86 THE CANADIAN 
grafting among the roots of similar species 
in the forests takes place always or does 
not do so, seems to be unknown. As des- 
truction of primaeval forests has, in land 
clearing operations, been taking place all 
over the country for a great length of time, 
one might expect that agricultural and for- 
estry works would cover this point. Such, 
so far as I can learn, is not the ease. The 
extensive root grafting of some conifers 
on the Pacific Coast has, however, forced 


itself on the attention of foresters and 
others. It has been noted in Douglas Fir 


and in Western Hemlock (T'suga hetero- 


Douglas fir 


group of stumps, some of which 
with the underlying roots from 


stumps completely capped over by root-union with 


the 


FIELD-NATURALIST, [Vol. XXXY. 


phylla (Raf.) Sargent). Mr. W. R. Carter, 
Assistant Biologist, British Columbia Pro- 
vineal Museum, Victorta, B.C., has in- 
formed me that on some of the coastal 
areas of the West Coast of Vancouver Is- 
land, wind, or other erosion, has diselosed 
continuity in root systems of Western 
Hemlock and other coniferous trees. This 
continuity of roots is often exposed to view 
for three or four hundred yards at a time. 
Others have spoken of the root-graftage of 
the hemlock impeding land-clearing opera- 
tions. There does not appear to be any 
record whether the Hemlock root or stump 


a foster tree. 
The roots from the foster tree are seen stretching through the centre of the 
were united by graftage of their tap roots 


big tree. The stumps on the outside of 


the group had no direet root graft with the foliage-possessing tree, but only 


indirect with those which 


graft 


had. 


Locality, Goldstream Road, Colwood, Es- 


quimalt district, Vancouver Island, B.C. 


May, 1921. | 


sprouts or whether it has the overgrowth 
tendency. (It would be interesting to 
learn what the effect of this extensive 
continuity of root systems had on the 
stabilizing of the trees in the gale of Jast 
winter (Jan. 1921) which did such exten- 
sive damage uprooting valuable coniferous 
timber on the coasts of British Columbia, 
Washington and Oregon). At Rouvray, in 
France, while with the Canadian Forestry 
Corps, I particularly noted that the graft- 
age of the roots of the Pines (Sylvestris, 
I think), was very noticeable. (Strangely 
enough, in one case where the bases of the 
stems of three pines were united and one 
tree had been felled some time previously, 
the stump showed no signs of vitality or 
overgrowth.) On the other hand I have 
seen the roots of coniferous trees inter- 
mingle without apparent graftage ensu- 
ing, and one often finds the stump of one 
Douglas ‘Fir tightly pressed against the 
stem of a growing tree but no sign of vi- 
tality or overgrowth in the stump. From 
this I judge that contact: and pressure will 
not always be followed by graftage. The 
cause of natural eraftage of roots was con- 
sidered by Mr. Dallimore to be mainly 
pressure, and Prof. Newins assigns the 
cause to pressure and affinity of species 
combined with other physical factors. In 
Elwes and Henry the fact: that the bark 
remains alive to an advanced age is said 
to account for the vitality and consequent 
overgrowth of stumps of Silver Fir. 

The feasibility of utilization of the won- 
drous creative biological power shown in 


the continuity of vitality and healing-over 


of these stumps of coniferous trees does 
not seem to have ever been contemplated 
in horticulture or silviculture. 


2 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 87 


Living fence posts can be grown, for 
they do naturally grow, and it should be 
easy to ensure the graftage of roots art- 
ificially. Metal or concrete caps fashioned 
for ornament or use could ‘be placed on 
the stumps when cut and these would read- 
ily become enveloped by the overgrowth. 
These posts would last forever. Prof. 
Newins mentions an instance of an over- 
growth having 200 rings, and at Stan- 
ley Park, Vancouver City,— close to the 
“‘Seven Sisters’ —there is a capped-over 
Douglas Fir stump which must be nine or 
ten feet high. The foster-tree could be re- 
newed from time to time if it became too 
bulky. 


It is certain that trees retaining foliage 
canopy can, by direct root-graft and also 
apparently by indirect root-graft, trans- 
mit elaborated sap to remote stumps. The 
converse might: be equally true, and the 
roots of stumps in moist rich soil might, 
by root graft, be able to maintain trees in 
places of drought and paucity of soil. 


As ordinary grafting is said to be readily 
accomplished in conifers the retention of 
vitality by the stumps and roots might be 
practically turned to account in silvicul- 
ture and in forestry, and rotation similar 
to coppice eulture attained by grafting 
sturdy leaders of felled trees on the living 
stumps or roots. This might be especially 
useful in selecting cuttings in protection 
forests or parklands. 


I feel convinced that the phenomenon of 
the root-graft and overgrowth of stumps 
of conifers is well worthy of greater study 
and experimental investigation than has 
been given to it. 


2 


io) 
10 6) 


THe CANADIAN Firevp-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


THE LARGER FRESHWATER. CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA 
AND ALASKA. 


By Frits JOHANSEN. 
(Continued from Vol. XXXV, p. 47.) 


~ 


IlI—C. CLAM-SHRIMPS. 


This suborder (Conchostraca) is easily 
distinguished from the two preceding ones 
by the presence of a double shell enclosing 
the animal completely (except when swim- 
ming) and attached to it dorsally, so that 
it can be opened and closed like a clam 
(see p. 45). Conforming with this the 
body is much compressed, but shows a dis- 
tinct head-part, sometimes beak-shaped 
(rostrum) and protruding from the shell. 
The eyes are sessile and more like those of 
the ‘‘water-fleas’’ (Cladocera) than those 
of the fairy-shrimps. In other features 
also they resemble the Cladocera, and may 
be considered to stand half way between 
this group of animals and the Phyllopods. 
Thus the first pair of antennae are minute, 
but the second pair developed into long 
and powerful swimming organs. Of mouth- 
organs both mandibles and two pairs of 
maxillae are present; and the short, clum- 
sy body is supplied with from 1 to D dozen 
pairs of foliaceous legs, subdivided both 
for respiratory and swimming purposes; 
they also support the female egg-mass 
dorsally, while the first pair serve with the 
male as clasping organs (‘‘hand’’ and 
‘‘claw’’). The posterior body segments 
have each a pair of spines often present 
also on the compressed, large, terminal end 
(telson), which ends in a pair of filaments 
(cercopods). In size: these animals are 
from a few millimeters to about 2 centi- 
meters long, the Estheriidae being the lar- 
gest forms. 

Different from the Cladocera (where 
the young ones when emerging are very 
much like the adults) the clam-shrimps 
hatch as nauplii not unlike those of the 
fairy-shrimps, though the first pair of 
antennae are not yet out and the labrum 
much larger. Sut the other characters 
(enormous second pair of antennae and 
mandibular palps, single, median eye, pear- 
shaped body with little differentiation of 
the segments, etc.), are the same as with 
the other Phyllopods; also (as is the case 


with the Notostraca-nauplii) the carapace 
is not yet developed. Gradually it assu- 
mes the shape of the adults by the out- 
growth of the shell (carapace) on both 
sides behind the mouthparts, the shortening 
of the body, reduction of the mandibular- 
palps, and development of the paired eyes, 
foliaceous legs, etc., and sexual characters. 
It should be remembered, however, that of 
many clam-shrimps the larval stages are 
very imperfectly known or not known at 
all. 

Their food consists of still smaller in- 
vertebrates (Entomostraca, Protozoa, ete.), 
which they secure by. busily swimming 
around in cireles in the water; as a matter 
of fact when observing them they seem 
never to be at rest. Their occurrence is 
extremely puzzling;+ a water-hole a few 
feet wide may be teeming with them, whe- 
ther it is situated in the woods, in a erassy 
swamp, or on open, dry plains ?; on the 
other hand they may be entirely absent 
from other pools, ponds or lakes in the 
same place. As is the case with the fairy- 
shrimps they seem mainly to oceur (around 
Ottawa) in pools or canals left by the 
overflow of rivers,* and are found from 
April to the time the pools dry up (July). 
In the summer the females carry their eges 
around with them; they are deposited then 
before the pool they are found im dries up 
or freezes to the bottom. The females 


‘have also (Packard, Sars) been noticed to 


carry their eggs in the spring (see below). 

It is interesting that so far there are no 
records of them from the high Aretie (ex- 
cept Siberia), though, as mentioned, both 
fairy-shrimps, tadpole-shrimps and water- 
fleas have their typical representatives up . 
there. I did not find them on the Can- 
adian. Arctic Expedition, nor are they 
known from Greenland. My identifications 
of the Conchostraca from the new Can- 
1 Some years they do not show up at all. 

2 The genus Limnetis seems to prefer pools 
with much vegetation. 

® Or holes filled with water by heavy rains. 


~My 


May, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 


_adian localities given on the following 


pages have been verified by Professor A. 
S. Pearse, of the University of Wisconsin. 
Canadian ‘‘clam-shrimps’’ were first 


_deseribed in 1862 by W. Baird from spe- 


eimens (Limnetis gouldii) collected by Ch. 
Gould in June 1857 at St. Anns, Montreal, 
P.Q., and from specimens (Hstheria cald- 
welli) collected by W. Caldwell in Lake 
Winnipeg, Man. They are represented 
upon this continent by three families (sub- 
families); the ~Limnetidae, Limnadiidae 
and Estheriidae, the two last families being 
often united by authors. The first family 
is easily distinguished from the two others 
by the milky colored shell being more or 
less spherical and with lines of growth, and 
the head cannot be retracted into it. In 
these characters the family reminds one 
strongly of the Cladocera, especially the 
family Lynceidae, though the clam-shrimps 
do not possess the huge claw-foot of these 
Cladocera. Only one genus (Limnetis, es- 
tablished by Loven in 1845) belonging to 
this family of clam-shrimps occurs in 
North America, but it is represented by 
four species of which three are known only 
from the United States (L. mucronatus 
occurs in Montana), but one (L. gouldi 
Baird) also in Canada. This latter spe- 
cies is rather hardy and easy to keep in an 
aquarium; the eggs are found under the 
back of the shell of the female in the spring 
and early summer (May-July), according 
to Packard. It has been recorded from 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Is- 
land, New York and Illinois; from Can- 
ada I have before me specimens from the 
following localities, arranged from east 
to west :— 


About two dozen specimens from a wood 
beyond Montreal West, P.Q., June 17, 
1917, A. Willey, coll. (sent to me from 
MeGill Museum). 

Many specimens (the smaller ones red- 
dish, the larger ones, some of which are 
egg-bearing females, yellow-green * collect- 
ed by myself in a ditch-canal left by the 


overflow of the Ottawa River on the fields 


a little east of Gatineau Point, P.Q., June 
14, 1919. When I visited this place again 
on October 19 of the same year the ditch 
was completely dried up, being filled with 


mer tT 


¢ Baira describes his specimens, which were 
3x8 mm. long, as having a pale fleshy-yellow- 
ish color, with black eyes. - 


89 


Carex and much other vegetation ; no clam- 
shrimps were of course observed on that 
occasion. 

On April 18 and May 30, 1920, I again 
visited the same ditch; but as the water- 
level of the Ottawa River this year was 
(even at its maximum) much lower than 
in 1919, there was no connection between 
the river and the ditch. The latter had 
very little water left, merely small holes 
which contained only some aquatic mol- 
luses, insects, tadpoles,-and the Isopod 
Asellus communis. The farmer who owned 
the field upon which the ditch was situated 
had ploughed it up and partly filled in 
the ditch, so the latter will probably never 
again contain any ‘‘clam-shrimps.’’ 

On May 2nd, 1921, I collected a number 
of immature (114 to 2 em. long) speci- 
mens of this species, in a fairly large and 
deep pond on a field on the hills at Tenaga, 
west side of Gatineau River, P.Q. They 
had a vivid orange or red-brown colour, 
and were easy to catch as they were swim- 
ming slowly (‘‘suspended’’) in the water, 
or attaching themselves to plants.. They 
occurred in great numbers, together with 
Cladocera, Ostracoda, and the fairy-shrimp, 
Eubranchipus gelidus, etc. At the end of 
May neither fairy-shrimps nor Conchos- 
traca were to be found in this pond. 

Mr. W. S. Odell, of Ottawa, tells me 
that about a dozen years ago he secured 
many of these ¢lam-shrimps in a pool on 
the fields at Wychwood (near Aylmer), P. 
Q., and that he secured more in the same 
place during the succeeding years (in 
May). When I visited this pool on May 
15, 1921, it was quite dried up, and fur- 
thermore used as a dump for rubbish, so 
that it probably contains no more erus- 
tacea. Mr. Qdell also secured them in 
pools alongside the railway-track near 
Hurdman’s Bridge (Rideau River) about 
a dozen years ago; but for several years 
their habitat there has been destroyed. 
Furthermore, for several years Mr. Odell 
has observed them in the pools left by the 
overflow (in the spring) of the Rideau 
River on a pasture at Billings Bridge, Ot- 
tawa South, near the brick-yard; and he 
showed me some he had collected there, to- 
gether with the fairy-shrimps Eubranchi- 
pus gelidus of both sexes, on the first week 
of May, 1921. A week later he and I 
visited the place, but did not succeed in 
finding a single fairy-shrimp, though the 


FIreLD-NATURALIST, 


90 THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 


clam-shrimps, cladocera, ostraecods and 
copepods occurred in great numbers. The 
Iimnetis were conspicuous by their.orange 
colour, and both sexes were seen, often in 
copulation; some of the females had al- 
ready (May 16) their olive-coloured eggs 
shining through the shell. The pools in 
which they occurred I found to be the 
deeper holes left in the bed of the ditch- 
canal, much overgrown with water-plants, 
and with many dead leaves in the bottom 
from the large oak-trees scattered over the 
pasture. 

The place was visited repeatedly, and all 
during May the clam-shrimps were found 
in the larger ponds not yet dried up com- 
pletely. After a time the red colour of the 
full-grown individuals changes from oran- 
ge to brownish, and the egg-bearing fema- 
les seem to be more numerous than the 
males, the latter probably dying off rapidly 
when their function is finished. The two 
sexes were often seen in copulation, during 
which process they seem unable to float 
in the water, but are crawling over, the bot- 
tom-mud or lying there. By keeping them 
in a glass of water I observed how during 
the act the female eventually closes its 
shell, and the male has all it can do to 
keep them both free of the bottom. It is a 
very funny sight: the male moving all its 
feet vigorously, trying to rise in the water, 
but the female having the effect of a sinker 
attached to him, so that the net result is to 
cause them both to roll over, wrestler- 
fashion, owing to the globular shape of the 
body. Sometimes two males would attack 
one female, but probably this was because 
SO Many were crowded together in the 
bottle. 


From June on their numbers decreased 
markedly; and at the end of the month 
none were found (the last ones were se- 
cured on June 19, when the two sexes were 
still observed in copulation. Several of 
these, the last survivors, had a growth of 
minute, green Algae, etc., upon their shells, 
a sign of decay). Around Ottawa their life 
thus seems to last two months. It will be 
seen, however, from the record ° of these 
clam-shrimps from Saskatchewan, given 
below, that where suitable surroundings 
are found they may occur also later in the 
summer. 

The weather during April, May and 
June, 1921, around Ottawa, was very 


[Vol. XXXV. 


warm, and with practically no rain; it was: 
interesting to observe, that when a period 
of unusually hot weather arrived in the’ 
first half of May, the fairy-shrimps (H£u- 
branchipus gelidus) were not to be found 
any more. I ascertained this by visiting 
the various pools in which I had found them 
so common only a few weeks before. 

About one dozen specimens from a water- 
hole on the margin of a wood at Searbo- 
rough Junction near Toronto, Ontario,, 
June, 1908, A. G.- Huntsman coll. (see 
Natural History of Toronto Region, 1913, 
[Cape 2G 

Three specimens from pond at Estevan, 
Sask., August 3, 1916, W. R. Quinn, coll. 
(sent me from Royal Ontario Museum). 


Four specimens, the two largest of which 
were egg-bearing females, from a slough 
three miles north-east of Medecine Hat, 
Alta., June 11, 1920, A. G. Huntsman eoll. 
They occurred together with Esthema cald- 
welli, Streptocephalus coloradensis and 
Lepidurus couesi. 

One full-grown and three young speci- 
mens from a shallow slough at Wetaskiwin 
(near Edmonton), Alta., June 1, 1920, A. 
G. Huntsman coll. The fairy-shrimp Eu- 
branchipus gelidus was collected in the 
same slough. 

It thus seems as if this species is not 
found in the Rocky Mountains, nor west of 
them. It has not been recorded from Alas- 
ka, nor did I find it along the arctic coast 
of this continent west of Bathurst Inlet 
(Canadian Arctic Expedition). 

In size this species does not exceed half 
a centimeter in length, the females gen- 
erally being the largest. 

Another species (lL. brachyurus) is 
known from Scandinavia, Central Europe, 
Russia and Siberia, and is well described 
and figured by Sars (1896) p. 117, plates 
18-20. He mentions particularly how he 
only sueceeded in finding it in one ditch 
with much vegetation in Finmark, in 
August, though he examined carefully 
many others; he also observed how it 
swims with the shell-valves wide open, but 
often sinks to the bottom; and how the 
males firmly grab the valves of the females 
below by their ‘‘hands’’ for the purpose of 
copulation. Some of the larval stages are 
described by Grube. 

To the second family of clam-shrimps be- 
long two genera, Lamnadia and Eulimna- 


May, 1921.] 


dia. The shell of the former genus (estab- 
lished by Broignard in 1820), is very broad- 
ovate, flat and with a great number (18) 
of lines of growth. So far only one species 
has been found upon this continent, name- 
ly L. americana, known from Massachu- 
setts; it may therefore possibly occur also 
in eastern Canada. Sars (1896) thinks it is 
the same as L. lenticularis Linn. known 
from Scandinavia and Central Europe; he 
describes and figures this on p. 85, plates 
14-16, and the larval stages on plate 17. 
He says the females already carried the eggs 
at the end of July and that the larvae 
were found in the middle of the same 
month; he expresses the opinion, however, 
- that only one brood is developed each sum- 
mer. The size of L. americana is about 
1 em. The other genus (Lulimnadia) is 
represented upon this continent by two 
species of which one is known from Kan- 
sas, Nebraska and Texas, and the other, E. 
agassizi ° from Massachusetts and Ontario. 
The genus has a narrow ovate, very trans- 
parent shell with 4-5 lines of growth about 
1-2 em. long. I have before me four speci- 
mens of EF. agassizvi collected by A. G. 
Huntsman in pools on rocks at Go Home 
Bay (Georgian Bay) Ont., August 15th 
(1905), sent me from the Royal Ontario 
Museum (See Natural History of Toronto 
Region, 1913, p. 275). 

Dr. Huntsman writes me (June 1920), 
that ‘‘this species occurred at two places 
at Go Home Bay, namely at Station Island 
and at Split Rock Island. In each case a 
large number of specimens was found in a 
small, temporary pool in the rock, the pool 
probably not being more than a foot or two 
feet in diameter, and quite shallow. It 
seemed extraordinary that so many indi- 
viduals of relatively large size should occur 
in so little water...’’ 

The third family of clam-shrimps (Es- 
theriidae) is represented on this continent 
by the genus Estheria of which more than 
half a dozen species are known from the 
United States, but only one, EL. caldwelli 
(Cyzicus mexicana) ° from Canada. It is 
interesting that no species of this genus has 
so far been found east of Saskatchewan 


5 First described (and the genus established) 

by Packard in 1874, from specimens collected 
by W. Faxon- in Massachusetts in 1873; the 
females had then (August) yellowish eggs. 
The following July-August the young ones were 
about 1 line in length. 


THe CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 9 


and the Mississippi River. The genus is 
easily recognized by the oval, more or less 
globose shell of an amber colour (thus 
much like a clam-shell) showing about 20 
lines of growth until about 1144 cm. long. 
I have before me five specimens of E. cald- 
welli from a prairie-slough at Estevan, 
Sask., collected by W. R. Quinn on August 
6th, 1916, and sent me from the Royal 
Ontario Museum. The species was first 
described in 1862 by W. Baird from spe- 
cimens collected by W. Caldwell in Lake 
Winnipeg, and two years earlier by ©. 
Claus from Mexico; it has further been 
recorded from Kansas, Nebraska, Ken- 
tucky, Ohio and New Mexico. 

I have recently received one more spe- 
cimen collected by Dr. A. G. Huntsman on 
June 11, 1920, in a slough three miles 
north-east of Medicine Hat, Alta., where it 
occurred together with Limnetis gouldi 
and other Entomostraca. The specimen is 
about 9 mm. long. while some of the five 
specimens from Estevan, Sask., mentioned 
above were almost double this size. 

Clam-shrimps were recorded from Fin- 
land by Linnaeus; but the order was well- 
described for the first time by Herman in 
the beginning of the nineteenth century. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

In June, 1920, I received a letter from 
Dr. Chancey Juday, of Madison, Wiseon- 
sin, giving me some new records of clam- 
shrimps collected by J. M. Jessup in May- 
July, 1911 and in July, 1912, in Alaska 
and Yukon Territory. 

As these are the first records of Con- 
chostraca from the aretic and subarctic 
parts of this continent, and the first time 
the two species in question have been found 
in America, it is of importance to have 
them included in this article. The records. 
are: 

Lynceus brachyurus (Limnetis 6.) — 
Lakes and bog-holes on Old Crow River 
flat about 40 miles north of New Rampart 
House; Lake 48 miles north of New Ram- 
part House; Morainal lakes, 30-35 miles 
north of White Horse, Yukon Territory. 

Limnadia lenticularis :—Lakes on coastal 


made by 
genus was 


8 The genus-name Estheria was 
Rueppell, in 1857, but later the 
found to be the same as Audouin’s Cyzicus, 
established in 1837. Similarly Baird's species 
E. caldwelli, described in 1862, has been proved 
to be the same as C. mexicanus, first des- 
cribed by Claus two years previously. 


92 * Tae CANADIAN Fretp-NATURALIST, 


plain of Arctic Ocean (about 69° 40’ N., 
141° W.); isolated pond off Old Crow 
River. 

Both of these species have been already 
mentioned in this article. 

Note.—I have been unable to find any 
popular, English names for Notostraca and 
Conchostraca, and am therefore in these 
articles proposing the names of ‘‘tadpole- 
shrimps’” and ‘‘clam-shrimps’’ for them. 
To distinguish the ‘‘clam-shrimps’’ from 
the Ostracoda I propose for the latter the 
name of ‘‘mussel-shrimps’’, a translation 
of the popular, Danish name for the Os- 
tracoda. The difference in the shape of 
the shell between the Conchostraca and the 
Ostracoda is thus indicated in these popu- 
lar names. The popular Danish name for 


A-E: 


Eubranchipus gelidus Hay; F: 
couesii Pack; G-H: Limnetis gouldii Baird. 


Lepidurus 


Above letters explained: fo: frontal organ; 
a1 first pair of antennae; a2 (cl):.2nd pair 
of antennae (or claspers); ne: nauplius- 
eye; pe: paired eyes; fi: filaments of ist 
pair of feet; bodysegments (somites); 
fl: foliaceous legs; ca: carapace (or shell); 
‘ bk: beak of head; in: intestine; pr: pro- 
cesses from somites; eg: eggsack with eggs; 
ge: male genitalia; ad: abdomen; te: tel- 
s0n; cp: cercopods. (A and E, after Pearse; 
F-H, after Packard; B-D, Originals.) A, 
C, E, F?, G are lateral views; D and FT: 
dorsal views; B: clasper from inside; H: 
front view of head. 


SO: 


[Vol. XXXV. 


Notostraca (Apodidae) means ‘‘pond- 
ray’’; but I think it better to use a popu- 
lar English name for them which indicates 
the class of animals to which they belong. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR CANADIAN 
AND ALASKAN EUPHYL- 
LOPODA. 


Muller, O. F.—Zoologia Danica Prodromus, 
Vol. II, Hafniae, 1777. 

Fabricius, O.—Fauna Groenlandica, ete., 
Hafniae et Lipsiae, 1780, p. 247. 

Pallas, M. P. S.—Voyage en différentes 
provinces de l’Empire de Russie, ete. 
Vol. FV,. Paris, 1793. 

Kroeyer, H.—Groenlands Amphipoder 
(Vid. Selsk. Skr.,.naturv. og mathem. 
Afh. VII, Kbhvn., 1838). 

Kroeyer, H.—Conspectus Crust. Groen]. 
(Naturh. Tidsskr. 11 Raekke, 2, Khvbn. 
1847). 

Fischer, S.—Branchiopoda et Entomostra- 
ca (Middendorf’s Sibirischer Reisen, 
II, 1, St. Petersbourg, 1851. 

Baird, W.—Monograph of the family Apo- 
didae, ete. Monogr. of the family 
Branchipodidae, etc. (Proc. Zool. Soc., 
London, 1852). 

Baird, W.—Description of several new spe- 
cies of Phyllopodous Crustac. (Proc. 
Zool. Soc., London, 1862). 

Grube, A. E.—Bemerkung ueber die Phyl- 
lopoden, ete. (Arch. f. Naturgesch.. 
19 Jahrg., 1853). 

Reinhardt, J.—Fortegnelse over Groen- 
lands Krebsdyr, ete. (In H. Rink, Na- 
turh. Tillaeg til en geografisk og sta- 
tist. Beskriv. af Groenland, Kbhvyn., 
1857). 

Claus, C.—Ueber die Estheriden, inbeson- 
ders ueber EF. mexicana (Beitr. zur 
Kenntn. der Entomostr. 12-25, 1860). 

Verrill, A. E.—Desecript. of some new 
Amer. Phyllopod Crust.( Amer, Journ. 
Science and Arts, 2d. Series, 1869). 

Verrill, A. E.—Observat. on Phyllopod 
Crust. of the family Branchipidae, 
ete. (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Science, 
Salem, 1869; Cambridge, 1870). 

Packard, A. S.—Observ. on glacial phe- 
nom, of Labrador and Maine, ete. 
(Memoirs of Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 
I, 1867). 


a 


May, 1921. | 


Packard, A. S.—Synopsis of the Fresh- 
water-Phyllopod Crust. of North Am- 
erica (U. 8S. Geol.-and Geograph. Sur- 
vey of Colorado, 1873). 

Packard, A. S.—Descript. of a new Phyllo- 
pod Crust. from the West (Bull. U.S. 
Geolog. and Geograph. Survey of Ter- 
ritories, Vol. III, No. 1, 1877). 

Packard, A. §8.—Descript. of new N. A. 
Phyllopoda (Ann. Rep. Peabody Acad. 
of Sciences for 1873 (1874) ). 

Packard, A. S.—Monograph of the Phyl- 

vlop. Crust. of North America (U. S. 
Geol. and Geograph. Survey of Wyo- 
ming and Idaho, Part I, Wash., 1883). 

Packard, A. S.—New Phyllop. Crust. (Am- 
er. Nat. Vol. TX, 1875). 

Packard, A. S.—Explorat. Polaris Exp. 

(Amer. Nats. Vol. XI, 1877). 

Packard, A. 8.—Notes on Phyllop. Crust. 
(Amer, Nat., Vol. XIV, 1880). 

Miers, E. I—Arctie Crustaceae (Annals 
and Magaz. of Nat. Hist., Ser. 4, Vol. 
20, 1877; Appendix to Narrative of a 
Voyage to the Polar Sea, 1875-76, Vol. 
II, 1878). 

Murdoch, J.—Marine- Invertebrates (ex- 
elusive of mollusks) (Report of. the 
International Polar Expedit. to Point 
Barrow, Alaska, Washington, 1885). 

Murdoch, J.—Descript. of seven new spe- 
cies of Crustacea and one worm from 
Arctic Alaska (Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., 
Vol. VII, 1884). 

Simon, E.—Etudes sur les Crust. du sous- 
ordre des Phyllopodes (Annal. Soe. 
Entomol. de France, Serie 6, Vol. 6, 
Paris, 1886). 

Lilljeborg, W.—Contrib. to the Nat. Hist. 
of Commander Islands, 9 (Proc. U. 8S. 
Nat. Mus., Vol. X, 1887). 

Hansen, H. J.—Crustacea (‘‘Dijmphna’’ 
Ekspeditionens zoolog. og botan. Ud- 

_ bytte, Kbhvn., 1887). 

Hay, O. P. and W. P.—A Contrib. to the 
knowledge of the genus Branchipus 
(Amer. Nat., Vol. XXIII, 1889). 

Wesenberg-Lund, C. — Groenlands Fersk- 
vands-Entomostraca, I, Phyllopoda, 
branchiopoda et cladocera (Videns- 
kab. Medd. Naturh. Foren, Kbvn., 
1894). 

Wesenberg-Lund, C.—Fersk-og Salt¥ands- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 93 


Entomostraca fra Ryder Eksped. 
(Medd. om Groenl., Vol. 19, 1896). 
Halkett, A.—Ottawa Phyllopods (Ottawa 

Naturalist, July, 1895). 

Halkett, A.—A Naturalist in the Frozen 
North (Ottawa Naturalist, Aug. 1905). 

Prince, E. E.—Remarkable points in the 
life-history of Phyllopods (Ottawa 
Naturalist, 1896). 

Sahlberg, J—Om Finlands hittils kinda 
Phyllopoder, ete. (Notitser ur Sallsk. 
pro Fauna ed Flora Fennica, Forh. 
: XT 

Sars, G. O.—Oversigt af Norges Crusta- 
ceer, Estheriidae (1887) and Bran- 
chiopoda, ete. (1890), Kristiania, 
(Vid. Selsk.Forh.). 

Sars, G. O.—Fauna Norvegiae. I, Phyllo- 
earida et Phyllopoda. Kristiania, 
1896. 

Sars, G. O.—Phyllopoda of the Jana Ex- 
pedition (Annuaire de Mus. Zool. de 
l’Acad, des Sciences, St. Petersbourg, 
1897). 

Sars, G. O.—Crustacea. (Rep. 2nd Nor- 
weg. Arctic Exp. 1898-1902, No. 18, 
1909). 

Vanhoeffen, E.—Die Fauna und Flora 
Groenlands (Groenl. Exp. der Gessel- 
schaft. fiir Erdkunde, Berlin, 1897). 

Daday de Dées, E.—Branchipus paludosus 
O. F. Muell. in der ungarische fauna 
(Termeszetraji Fuezetek, Vol. 13, 
1890). ' 


-Daday de Dées, E.— Monogr. syst. des 


Phylopodes Anostracés, Vol. 11, 1910 
(Annales. des Scien. Natur., Zoologie, 
Série 9). 

Daday de Dées, E.— Monogr. syst. des 
Phyllopodes Conchostracés. Vol. 20, 
1915. (Annales des Sciences Natur, 
Zoologie, Série 9). 

Daday de Dées, E.—Polyartemiella judayi, 
novum genus novaque species, ete. 
(An. Mus. Nat. Hung., 1909). 

Zschokke, F.—Die tierwelt in den Hoch- 
gebirgseen (Neue Denkschr. d. allge- 
mein, schweiz. Gesselsch. f. d. gesammt. 
Naturwiss., Bd. 37, Zurich, 1900). 

Ortman, A. E.—Crustacea and Pyenogo- 
nida eoll. during the Princeton Exp. 
to N. Greenland (Proc. Acad. Nat. 
Scien., Philadelphia, 1901). 


94 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. d 


Ekman, 8S. — Beitrage z. Kenntn. d. Phyl- 
lopodenfamilie Polyartemiidae (Bv- 
hangt. Kgl. Svenska. Vet. Akad. Han- 
dl., Bd. 28, Afd. IV, No. 11, Stock- 
holm, 1902). 


Ekman, S.—Die Phyllopoden, Cladoceren 
und freileb. Copepoden der nordswed. 
Hoehgebirge (Zool. Jahrb. Abt. f. 
System, Bd. 21, 1905). 


Shantz, H. L.—Notes on the N. A. species 
of Branchinecta and their jabits (Bio- 
log. Bull. 9, 1905, Zool. Stud. Univ. 
of Nebr.). 


Howland, R. B.—Migration of retinal pig- 
ment in the eyes of Branchipus geli- 
dus (Journ. Experim. Zool., 2, 1911). 

Johansen, F.—Freshwater-life in N. E. 
Greenland (Medd. om Groenland, Vol. 
45, 1911). 

Brehm, V.—Die Entomostraken der Dan- 
mark Exped. (Medd. om Groenl. Vol. 
34, 1911). 

Cockerell, T. D—The fauna of Boulder 
Co., Colorado, II (Univ. of Colorado 
Studies, Vol. TX, 2-3, 1912). 

Huntsman, A. G.—Invertebrates 
Hist. of Toronto Region, 
1913). 

Pearse, A. S.—Notes on Phyllopod Crus- 


(Nat. 
Toronto, 


[Vol. XXXV. 


tacea (14th Rep. Mich. Acad. Scien., 
1942). 

Pearse, A. 8.—Notes on Crustacea recently 
acquired by the museum (Occas. Pa- 
pers from Mus. of Zool., Umv. of 
Mich., 1918). 

Pearse, A. S.—Phyllopoda (Ward and 
Whipple’s Freshwater-Biology, New 
York, 1918). 

Dodds, G. 8.—Descript. of two new species 
of Entomostraca from Colorado (Proc. 
U. S. N. M., Vol. 49, Washington, 
1914). 

Dodds, G. S.—Key to the Entomostraca 
of Colorado (Univ. of Col. Studies, 
Vol. XI, 1915). 

Dodds, G. S.—Altitudinal Distribution of 
the Entomostraca in Colorado (Proce. 
U. 8S. N. M., Vol. 54, 190 

Haberbosch, P.—Ueber arktische Suesswas- 
ser-Crustaceen (Zool. Anzeig. Bd. 47, 
1916). 

Stephensen, K.—Conspectus Crust. et 
Pygnog. Groenland. (Medd. om Gro- 
enl. Vol. 22, 1917). 

Olofsen, O.—Studien ueber d. Suesswas- 
serfauna Spitzberg, ete. (Inaug. Dis- 
sert., Zool, Bidrag fr. Uppsala, Bd. 
V1, 1918). 


(Coneluded. ) 


NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF LOWER PAGWACHUAN, LOWER KENOGAMI 
AND LOWER ALBANY RIVERS OF ONTARIO. 


By M. Y. Wiuutams, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. 


The following observations were made 
between July 25th and September 16th, 
1920, while on a geological trip along the 
river route between Pagwa on the National 
Transcontinental railway and Fort Albany 
on James Bay. A side trip was also made 
25 miles up Albany River from the Forks. 
The route is along rivers of the Albany 
system and falls into three main divisions, 
—the Pagwachuan River, estimated dis- 
tance 35 miles; the Kenogami River from 
the mouth of the Pagwachuan River to the 
Forks of the Albany River, estimated dis- 
tance 85 miles; the lower Albany River 


from the Forks to James Bay, estimated 
distance 150 miles. English River post, 
formerly known as Mammawemattawa, oc- 
cupied by traders of the Hudson’s Bay and 
Revillon Fréres fur companies, is about 25 
miles below the mouth of the Pagwachuan 
River and at the junction of the Kabina- 
kagami and Kenogami Rivers. The’ Naga- 
gami River enters the Kenogami about one 
mile higher up. Both fur companies men- 
tioned ‘have posts at the mouth of Chipie 
(Ghost) River about 50 miles below the 
Forks of the Albany, and the Hudson’s 
Bay, the Revillon Fréres and the James 


May, 1921.] 


Bay Company have posts at Fort Albany, - 
the last recently established ; a large Roman 
Catholie mission is also situated there. The 
estuary of the Albany River is about 16 
miles long and is composed of many is- 
lands, the largest, Albany Island, being 
about seven or eight miles long and about 
one-half as wide. Near the middle of the 
south side of this island the settlements 
are established. Tide water extends to 
the head of Albany Island. 


The river flows across a plain which 
slopes toward James Bay at less than two 
feet per mile. For about ten miles below 
the steel, the Pagwachuan flows through 
boulder clay overlain by silts and sand, 
the latter rising into hills and ridges. For 
this distance the bedrock is pre-Cambrian 
in age and is seen by outcrops of grey 
eranite in the river bed. ‘To the north 
the erystalline rocks are overlain by Palae- 
ozoic limestones and shales, and across this 
sedimentary basin, the country, as seen 
from the rivers, is a monotonous muskee 
dotted with stunted black spruce. The 
floor is of sphagnum moss, laurel and La- 
brador tea. The river valleys give variety 
in vegetation and topography, their ter- 
races being commonly covered with fair 
stands of white spruce, white birch, white 
and balsam poplar, and scattered cedar. 
tamarack, ash and jackpine. Isolated stands 
of ash and elm occur at the junction of 
the Kabinakagami and Kenogami rivers, 
and on the latter river near the mouth 
of Little Current River. Red osier dog- 
wood and willow grow along the river 
flats. 


THE CANADIAN 


BirDs. 


‘Loon, Gavia imber, Two seen in the 
estuary of the Albany River, August 18th. 
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus. One 
seen at mouth of Pagwachuan River, Aug- 
ust 5th. Two immatures seen at Forks 
of Albany, August 12th. Several seen 
each day between the Forks and- the est- 
uary of the Albany, August 13th — Aug- 
ust 18th. On lower Albany adult birds 
seen August 24th, 27th and Sept. Ist. 
Immature birds seen August 18th, 25th, 
28th, 31st, Sept. 5th and one at the mouth 
of the Pagwachuan, September 13th. 
Common Tern, Sterna hirundo. Several 
seen in the Albany estuary, August 18th 


Frevp-NATURALIST. 


95 


and 24th. Several were seen at Fishing 
Creek Island', August 26th. 

American Merganser, Mergus america- 
nus. Birds probably of this species were 
observed as follows:—two at mouth of 
Pagwachuan River, August 5th; a flock 
at Fort Albany, August 20th; eight at 
Hat Island’, August 31st. 

Mallard, Anas boschas. Five seen in the 
hands of Tmdian hunters, at Albany, Aug- 
ust 21st. They were killed along the coast 
to the west of the river. 

Black duck, Anas obscura. One seen in 
Albany estuary, August 18th; several seen 
in the hands of Indian hunters at Fort 
Albany, August 20th. 

Golden-eye, Clangula clangula. Two 
seen at mouth of Pagwachuan River, Aug- 
ust 5th; five ducks probably of this spe- 
cies near Snake Island’, August 14th. 

Canada Goose, Branta canadensis. Seen 
as follows:+— At Fishing \Creek Island, 
Albany River, five seen on August 17th: 
in estuary of Albany, twelve seen on Aug- 
ust 18th and again on 19th; a flock seen 
at Fort Albany, August 21st; twelve in 
the estuary, August 26th; twelve at the 
mouth of Ghost (Chipie) River*, August 
30th ; twelve at Hat Island, August 31st; 
a flock 20 miles up the Albany from 
Forks, Sept. 3rd. 

Wilson Snipe, Gallinago delicata. One 
seen at the Forks of the Albany, Sept. 2nd, 
and one about 30 miles above the Forks, 
September 5th. 

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Erewnetes pu- 
sillus. Birds probably of this species seen 
as follows: — August Ist, two near mouth 
of Pagwachuan River; flocks near the 
mouth of Chipie River, August 14th, 15th 
and 16th; their notes heard at the Forks 
of the Albany, Sept. 4th and 5th. 

Greater Yellow-legs, Totanus melano- 
leucus. Generally common from the mouth 
of the Pagwachuan River to Fort Albany 
between August 3rd and September 6th, 
after which none were observed. Two old 
birds flew back and forth past our camp 
at the mouth of the Pagwachuan, Angust 


1 About 50 miles up the Albany. 

2 About 35 miles below the Forks of the 
Albany River. 

3 About 16 miles 
Albany River. 

450 miles below Forks. 


below the Forks of the 


96 THE CANADIAN FeELD-NATURALIST. 


8rd to 5th, screaming and apparently try- 
ing to lure us away from their young, 
which appeared to be running about on 
the gravel bars at the far side of the river. 
Two were taken at Snake Island on August 
13th. 

Solitary Sandpiper, Helodromas solita- 
rius, Two birds probably of this species 
seen 10 miles below railway on Pagwa- 
ehuan River. 

Spotted Sandpiper, Actites 
Common throughout trip. 

Semipalmated Plover, gialitis sem- 
palmata. One seen near Chipie River, 
August 16th; several seen at Forks of Al- 
bany, September 2nd. 

Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus. One 
seen at the Forks, Sept. 2nd., and one at 
Pagwa, Sept. 16th. 

Marsh Hawk, Circus hudsonius. Nine 
seen between Snake Island and the estuary 
of the Albany River, August 14th-26th. 
Two seen at the Forks, Sept. 2nd, and two 
thirty miles up the Kenogami, Sept. 6th. 

Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperi. One 
seen at Albany estuary, August 25th, and 
one at Fishing Creek, August 27th. 

American Goshawk, Accipiter atricapil- 
lus. One female shot 30 miles above Forks 
on Kenogami River, Sept. 5th. Three seen 
between this point and English River post, 
Sept. 5th. 

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo borealis. Seen 
as follows: — Five on Kenogami River be- 
low English River post, August 11th; one 
at estuary of Albany, August 24th; one at 
Sand Cherry Island*®, August 27th; four 
at the Forks, Sept. 2nd; two twenty miles 
above Forks on Albany River, August 3rd; 
two on Kenogami River, 30 miles above 
English River post, Sept. 6th; one on 
Kenogami River, 17 miles above English 
River post, Sept. 10th; one at the mouth 
of Pagwachuan, Sept. 13th, and one near 
Pagwa, Sept. 15th. 

Broad-winged Hawk. Buteo platypterus. 
One seen about six miles above mouth of 
Pagwachuan River, July 31st. 

Pigeon Hawk, Falco columbarius. Two 
seen at Hat Island, Albany River, August 
31st, and two, on Sept. 3rd, 20 miles above 
Forks on Albany River. 

Sparrow Hawk, Falco sparverius. One 


macularia. 


5 75 miles above mouth of Albany. 


[Voli XXXV. 


seen at Pagwachuan River, July 29th; two 
seen at Snake Island, Albany River, Aug- 
ust 14th. 

American Osprey, Pandion haliaetus 
carolinensis, One seen at estuary of Al- 
bany, August 18th and again August 25th. 
Five seen at Henley River six miles below’ 
the Forks, Sept. Ist; two seen on the Al- 
bany River a few miles above the Forks, 
a female being collected; one seen at the 
Forks, Sept. 5th. 

Short-eared Owl, Asio accipitrimus. Very 
common every evening spent at Fort Al- 
bany.. Six seen August 19th, ten on the 
21st, two being collected. 

Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus. 
One heard July 30th on Pagwachuan Rivy- 
er. One seen on same TiveR July 3lst. 
One heard at Hat Island, August 31st, 

Belted Kingfisher, Ceryle aleyon. Seen 
oecasionally as far down as the head of 
the estuary of the Albany, 20 birds being 
counted in all. 

Hairy Woodpecker, Dryobates villosus. 
One seen on Pagwachuan River, July 30th ; 
two seen_on Hat Island, August 31st; one 
heard at English River post, Sept. 7th. 

Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides 
arcticus. One seen 20 miles above the 
Forks on~Albany River, Sept. 3rd. 

American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoi- 
des americanus. One seen at head of Albany 
estuary, August 19th, and at Fort Albany, 
August, 21st. 


Flicker, Colaptes auratus. One seen near 
mouth of Pagwachuan River, August Ist; 
one heard at English River post, August 
9th, and one seen August 10th; two seen at 
Forks of Albany, August 13th; one seen 
on Pagwachuan River on Sept. 14th and 
one on 15th. 

Night Hawk, Chordeiles virginianus. 
Fairly common on Kenogami river between 
the mouth of the Pagwachuan River and 
the Forks of the Albany from August 3rd 
to 12th; one seen at the head of the Albany 
estuary, August 18th. 

Olive-sided Flycatcher, Nuttalornis bo- 
realis. Heard on August 8th and 10th at 
English River post, and one seen there 
August 9th. . 

Horned Lark, Otocoris alpestris. One 
seen at Fort Albany, August 21st; thirty 
seen on Albany River 20 miles above the 


May, 1921.] 


Forks, September 3rd; five seen at mouth 
of Pagwachuan River, Sept. 13th. 

Canada Jay, Perisoreus canadensis. 
Heard on. Pagwachuan River, July 26th 
and 27th; common throughout rest of trip. 

Raven, Corvus corax. Noted as follows: 
Two at English River post, August 10th; 
a flock at Fishing Creek Island, August 
16th; two at estuary of Albany, August 
18th; on return trip five single birds 
were seen between Hat Island and 17 
miles above English River post on the 
Kenogami River, August 31st to Septem- 
ber 10th. 

Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoe- 
miceus. One immature male taken 20 miles 
above English river post, Sept. 9th. — 

Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus. 
Two seen on Pagwachuan river, August 
30th; a flock seen at the Forks of the 
Albany, September 2nd; eight seen on the 


‘Pagwachuan, Sept. 15th. 


White-winged Crossbill, Lozxia leucop- 
tera. The commonest bird seen on the 
trip July 25th to Sept. 16th, and their 
twittering flight song was heard every 
day between the steel and Fort Albany. 
Three males were taken at Pagwa, July 
28th. 

American Goldfinch, Astragalinus tris- 
tis. Birds probably of this species seen 
at the Forks and at Fishing Creek Island, 
August 12th and 17th. 

White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia al- 
bicollis, Heard at Fort Albany, August 
23rd; common between the Forks and the 
mouth of the Pagwachuan River, Septem- 
ber 2nd to 14th. 

Junco, Junco hyemalis. Several seen 
at the Forks, Aug. 13th; several seen al- 
most every day between Fort Albany and 
Pagwa, Aug. 22nd to Sept. 13th. 

Song Sparrow, Melospiza cinerea. Sev- 
eral seen at mouth of Pagwachuan, August 
5th; one at English River post, August 
8th; two doubtfully of this species near 


_ English River post, Sept. 9th; several at 


the mouth of the Pagwachuan, Sept. 13th, 
and several 10 miles farther up, Sept. 15th. 
Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca. One seen 
each day Aug. 20-23rd at Fort Albany. 
Tree Swallow, Iridoprocne bicolor. Sev- 
eral seen at mouth of Pagwachuan, Aug- 
ust 5th. 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 97 


Cedar Waxwing, Ampelis cedrorum. 
Common along Pagwachuan from Pagwa 
to its mouth, July 25th to August 4tj: . 
one seen at English River post, August 
9th, and one at estuary of Albany River, 
August 18th. 

Black and White Warbler, Mniotilta va- 
ria. One seen at mouth of Pagwachuan, 
August 4th. 

Oven Bird, Seiurus aurocapillus. One 
heard at mouth of Pagwachuan River, Ju- 
ly 25th. 

American Redstart, Setophaga  ruti- 
cilla, Three seen at mouth of Pagwachuan 
River, August 4th. 

American Pipit, Anthus pennsylvanicus. 
Common at the Forks of the Albany and 
20 miles up both the Albany and the Keno- 
gami, Sept. Ist to 5th. Several seen on 
Kenogami 10 to 20 miles above . English 
River post, Sept. 10th. 

Hudsonian chickadee, Penthestes hud- 
sonicus hudsonicus. Heard at English Riv- 
er post, August 22nd; several seen at 
Noran Island*, August 29th; fairly com- 
mon 20 miles up Albany from Forks and 
up Kenogami to mouth of Pagwachuan, 
Sept. 2nd-13th. 

White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta caroli- 
nensis. Note doubtfully identified at Fish- 
ing Creek, August 27th, and identified 
with certainty at the Forks, Sept. 2nd. _ 

American ‘Robin, Planesticus migrato- 
rius. One seen near mouth of Pagwachuan 
River, August Ist; one seen at Forks of 
Albany, August 21st. 


MAMMALS, 
Drummond’s Vole, Microtus drum- 
mondi (Audubon and Bachman). Taken 


at Fort Albany, August 23rd. 

White-footed Mouse, Peromyscus mani- 
culatus maniculatus (Wagner). Taken at 
Fort Albany, August 23rd. 

Hudson ‘Bay Jumping Mouse, Zapus 
hudsonius hudsonius (Zimmermann). At 
the mouth of the Pagwachuan River, Aug- 
ust 4th. 

Black Bear, Ursus americanus america- 
nus Pallas, Fresh signs seen in Albany 
estuary, August 23rd. 

Grey Wolf, Canis occidentalis (Richard- 

6 Noran Island is situated about four miles 
below Chipie River, 54 miles below the Forks 
of the Albany. 


98 Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


son). Two young wolves were held in cap. 
tivity at the Catholic Mission at Fort 
Albany. A large grey animal accompany- 
ing two jet black ones appeared on the 
shore of Albany River about 12 miles above 
the Forks, Sept. 4th. The grey one ap- 
peared to be a wolf, the other two may have 
been Indian dogs, but pure black dogs are 
rare. 

Northern Chipmunk, Eutamias quadri- 
vittatus borealis (Allen). Common from 
mouth of Pagwachuan River to English 
River post, August 5th to 9th. 

Hudson Bay Squirrel, Sciurus hudsoni- 
cus hudsonicus (Erxleben). Common a- 
long whole route. 

Muskrat, Ondatra zibethica (Linnaeus). 
Remains abandoned by Red-tailed Hawk 
(sp.?2), as we approached, about 10 miles 
above Forks on Albany River, Sept. 3rd. 
One seen on the Kenogami River, Sept. 6th. 

Northern Hare, Lepus americanus ame- 
ricanus Erxleben. Conspicuous by their 
absence. Some signs seen. 

Moose, Alces americanus Jardine. Tracks 
commons along Pagwachuan River. 


14th. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


A ealf passed close to our camp in the ear- 
ly morning on the Kenogami River a few 
miles below the mouth of the Pagwachuan 
River, August 5th. Saw a cow on Keno- 
gami River about 15 miles below English 
River post, August 11th. * 

Virginia Deer, Odocoileus americanus 
borealis Miller. One reported shot on 
Pagwachuan River late in July. Indians 
had deer meat at Fishing Creek Island, 
August 17th. 


BATRACHIANS. 


American Toad, Bufo lentiginosus. Com- 
mon along Kenogami and Albany Rivers 
as far as Fort Albany, August 6th to 31st: 


FIsuH. 


Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser rubicundus. 
Five taken in one net at mouth of Chipie 
River, August 14th. Reported very com- 
mon here. 

Sucker, Moxostoma, sp.? Two taken in 
our net at mouth of Chipie River, August 
These are the commonest fish along 
the rivers traversed. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Aw Aquatic HABIT OF THE PIGEONS. 

For a terrestrial bird to exhibit any 
aquatic habit, even though rarely, would 
seem to be of interest and perhaps may have 
an obscure significance. 

Some twelve years ago, I think it was, 
on a very warm summer day, I was canoe- 
ing on Lake Ontario near Toronto Bay. 
About three domestic pigeons (Columba 
livia, var.?) circled once near me, lit grace- 
fully on the calm surface of the lake, 
remained there for a few seconds during 
which time I believe they drank, and then 
rose easily and flew away toward the city. 

Never having seen or heard of such a 
performance by pigeons, I was surprised 
to the point of incredulity. Mr. C. W. 
Nash was told of the incident and recol- 
lected seeing pigeons light on Ashbridge’s 
Bay on one occasion. He believed at first 
that they had lit on floating weeds, but he 
. decided later that the water was deep at 
the point in question. 


Mr. R. L. Strothers reported to Mr. Nash 
that he had shot at an unknown bird as 
it rose from his trout-pond where it had 
alighted to drink, and was much surprised 
to find that he had killed a Carrier Pigeon, 
one of the races of the domestic pigeon. 

Harting’ mentions that Wood Pigeons 
(Columba palumbus) and domestic pigeons 
have this habit, and as he is one of the few 
observers who mention it the item is worth 
quoting. 


‘‘In very hot weather Wood Pigeons 
(as well as house pigeons) may be seen 
alighting occasionally on the surface of 
water to drink, and after a few seconds 
flying off again (Field, June 26 and 
July 3, 1875).”’ 


So far as I am aware most writers on 
the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migra- 
torius) make no reference to this species 


| Harting. Handbook of British Birds, p. 124. 


~ 


May, 1921.] 


drinking from the surface of the water. 
W. A. Linkletter'! writing in Rod and Gun 
records some interesting notes which show 
that the Passenger Pigeon also drank from 
the surface of the water. 

The apposite portion of his article is 
quoted below: 

‘“‘T wish to mention several peculiar- 
ities which I deem no other variety of 
birds have. Having lived with them for 
thirty years I had an opportunity to 
learn things about them which few people 
‘ever enjoyed. And of the numerous art- 
icles which I have seen in print in re- 
gard to them, none of the writers men- 
tioned any of the peculiar capers which 
the pigeons cut. Although they were 
not water-fowl, if there was no other 
way to get to the water they would 
light on the water with their wings half 
spread and after drinking they would 
clear the water at one flap of the wings.’’ 
This observer notes an important point 

—the wings were ‘‘half spread’’, doubt- 
less to keep them dry. His evidence is 
that this species also alighted on the sur- 
face and did not drink while hovering over 
it, for he says: ‘‘After drinking they 
would clear the water with one flap of the 
wings.’’ 

To sum up, the domestic pigeon (which 
is descended from the Rock Dove of Eu- 
rope) and the Wood Pigeon of Europe, 
exhibit, and the Passenger Pigeon of North 
America exhibited, even if rarely, the habit 
of alighting upon water to drink. 

Perhaps observation will show that many 
other species of the great Order Columbae 
have similar habits. 

The occurrence of this habit in the gen- 
era Ectopistes and Colwmba shows that it 
is wide-spread. Have these different spe- 
cies all acquired such a curious habit inde- 
pendently or has it an ancient foundation ? 
Habits may be more or less transient and 
the habit of the pigeons under discussion 
is too rare to warrant specific conclusions, 
but it should not be forgotten that many 
groups of birds which are considered as 
related to the Pigeons are aquatic. 

Pyeraft? shows the following groups 
allied with the Pigeons in the Charadrii- 


1 Rod and Gun 
p. 754. ‘ 
2A History of Birds, Chap. III, p. 41. 


in Canada, December, 1920, 


Tuer CANADIAN Firevtp-NATURALIST. 99 


formes (Plover-like birds). The 
may be separated as follows :— 


groups 


Terrestrial. 

Turnix (European and Australian Quail), 
Columbi (Pigeons), Pterocles (Sand 
Grouse). 

Aquatic. 

Thinocorys (Seed-Plovers), Glareoli (Cour- 
sers}, Chionis (Sheath-bills), Dromas 
(Crab-Plovers), Alcidae (Auks), Lari 
(Gulls), Oediecnemidae (Stone-Curlews). 
Charadrii (Plovers). 

Hoyves Luoyp. 


FRESHWATER CRUSTACEA FROM CANADA. 


Additional specimens of Gammarus lim- 
naeus from British Columbia (see Vol. 
XXXIV, p. 130), have been received from 
Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Thacker, of Little 
Mountain, Hope, B.C. They comprise 
very young and half-grown individuals 
from the following localities: 

Little- Mountain, Hope, B.C., Mareh. 
April, 1918. 

Sucker Creek, Hope, B.C., July 30, 
1921. 

Nicomecal River, and two small creeks 
running into it, about one-half mile 
south of Langley Prairie Station, 
B. C., August 5, 1921. 

In the article referred to above, p. 128, 
I stated that another amphipod, Pontopo- 
reia affinis, had so far only been found 
in the sea. Dr. Chanecey Juday, of the 
University of Wisconsin, Madison, tells 
me in a letter that the species (identified 
by Prof. G. O. Sars of Christiania) is 
common in Green Lake, Wisconsin, and 
has been found also in certain lakes in .New 
York State. Equally interesting is its oe- 
currence in the deeper parts of certain 
large lakes in the Seandinavian countries - 
(Denmark, Norway, Sweden), and in Rus- 
sia, where it is generally considered (see 
e.g. Wesenberg-Lund, in Kgl. Danske Vi- 
denskab. Selsk. Skrift., 1902 and 1917) 
a typical, glacial relict-form, in the same 
way as the schizopod, Mysis relicta Loven, 
also occurring there and in certain lakes 
upon this continent (see H. L. Schmitt, in 
Rep. Can. Arctic Exped. 1913-18, Vel. 
VII, Part B, p. 3). Some recent authors 
think it more probable that neither Pon- 
toporeia affinis nor Mysis relicta are ‘‘rel- 

~ 


100 


icts,’’ but have immigrated to the lakes 
they now inhabit, at the end of the glacial 
period. 

The records of Pontoporeia affims from 
salt water include the north coast of Al- 
aska (Canadian Bay), the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, the North Atlantic south to 
France, besides the Kattegat, Baltic and 
Kara Seas (see Rep. Can. Arctic Exped., 
Vol. VII, Part E, p. 10). 

Frits JOHANSEN. 


ADDITIONAL Species For THE List OF 
COLDSTREAM BIrDs. : 

(Continued from Vol. XXXIV, p. 53.) 
195. Empidonazx virescens. — Acadian Fly- 
catcher. 
Took a male on May 26, 1921, being 
the first record for this country. 
Hesperiphona vespertina, — Evening 
Grosbeak. 
On Jan. 5, 1919, a flock of nine ap- 
peared here, some of which remained 
until the end of the month. Also lo- 
cated a flock of twenty-five which had 
roosted in spruce trees on a farmer’s 
lawn for nearly two weeks. Several 
birds were noticed working around 
basswood seeds, but all stomachs ex- 
amined contained only maple seeds. 
7. Bombycilla garrula,— Bohemian 
Waxwing. 
Secured two males here, Jan. 30, 1920. 
R. T. Hedley records a flock of six- 
teen on Feb. 3, a few miles south of 
here, and a large flock two miles east 
of Duncrief, the week before. 
Dendroica vigorsi,— Pine Warbler. 
Took a male June 9, 1920. 

Seiurus motacilla, — Louisiana Water 
Thrush. 


196. 


198. 


199, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XX XV. 


A male taken by W. R. Campbell, four 
miles west of Coldstream, June 2, 


1913. 
200. Penthestes hudsonicus, — Hudsonian 
Chickadee. 


A male taken Oct. 31, 1919, and a fe- 
male, Noy. 28. The only individuals 
noted here. Their notes and actions 
were very much slower than atrica- 
pillus. 

A. A. Woop. 


STARLING AT LONDON. 


On the morning of May 15th, 1921, sey- 
‘ral members of our Bird Club motored to 
Port Stanley to spend a few hours with 
the birds. We found them very numerous 
and in the sheltered nooks the air was full 
of song. The principal item of interest 
was the finding of three Starlings along 
the lake front. Our attention was called 
by their harsh guttural notes; although 
they flew away several times, they always 
returned to the tall dead tree where we 
first noticed them. This is the first record 
for the Starling for our vicinity. 

We have another interesting visitor to 
report in Henslow’s Sparrow. It was first 
noticed on May 4th and remained in the 
same field for ten days. In fact it may 
still be there, but we were unable to catch 
its Insignificant ‘‘song’’ on our last visit 
or two to the field on account of the num- 
ber of Bobolinks, Kingbirds and Goldfinches 
that were flying about and filling the air 
with a babel of song. This is the second 
record for London (one having been heard 
last spring), and the bird has only been re- 
ported from some three other places in 
Ontario. 

K. M. 8. Dane, London, Ont. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. 


GARDENVALE, QUE., September 1921 


No. 6 


ON A NEW HELIOZOON FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND 
By Cuas. H. O’Donocuuz, D.Sce., F.Z.S., 


Professor of Zoology, University of Manitoba. 


(From the Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C.) 


On the 25th of May Mrs. Edith Berkeley 
brought in some water, mud and debris 
from a small pond’ near the top of a hill 
above Hammond Bay Lagoon, about 420 
feet above sea level. In this she noticed 
a very large Heliozoon, which she kindly 
handed to me for examination. 


The pond is quite small and shaHow, 
surrounded by a close growth of alders, 
and is apparently permanent. It contains 
a plentiful supply of several species of 
Algae (Spirogyra, ete.), numerous fly 
larvae, beetles and larvae, Copepods, Cla- 
docera, and Hydra viridis and a number 
of flagellate forms. 


The available literature has not yielded 
a deseription of a similar form nor is there 
anything like it in Wailes’ excellent mono- 
oraph number of this order (1) or Leidy’s 
account of the Freshwater Rhizopoda of 
North America. As the present organism 
is remarkable in several respects, it seems 
worthy of putting on record. 


The animal is of very large size and ap- 
pears to the naked eye as a bright green 
sphere with a hyaline cover 2mm. _ in 
diameter; indeed, it was so large that it 
was at first thought that it might be a 
colony. Closer examination showed that 
this was not the case and that it was a 
solitary form, so that it is probably the 
largest Heliozoon known, the only one ap- 
-proaching it being Actinosphaerium 
eichhornu, which may attain a diameter of 
Imm. It belongs to the sub-order Chalaro- 


thoraca in which the largest member is . 


probably Raphidiophrys viridis, which 

(1) The British Freshwater Rhizopoda and 
Heliozoa, by J. Cash, G. H. Wailes and J. Hop- 
kinson, Vol. V, Heliozoa, by G. H. Wailes, Lon- 


don, Ray Society, 1921, 


may reach 90 micra or the colony 190 nmcra 
The present species is then approximately 


-22 times the diameter of the individual 


or 10 times that of the colony. 

The body is spherical and measures 
1.486mm. in diameter; it is enclosed in a 
mucilaginous envelope .540mm. thick. Be- 
yond this again the stiff pseudopodia ex- 
tend 1.892mm. so that the total diameter 
of the whole organism is 3.918mm. The 
pseudopodia are quite numerous, reg- 
ularly arranged and project to an equal 
distance on all sides. They appear quite 
stiff and were not seen in active move- 
ment. The mucous envelope was only 
slightly granular and contained a few 
tiny spherical algae and still fewer some- 
what spindle-shaped ones. On the outside 
of it were sparsely scattered tiny curved 
spicules apparently siliceous and some- 
what pointed at each end. The envelope 
ran up a short distance on each pseudo- 
podium. 


Fig. 1.—RAPHIDIOPHRYS MAGNA, general 
view. The darker area situated slightly excen- 
trically represents the nucleus and endoplasm. 
A.—A small portion of the symbiotic Algae 
to show their characteristic dendritic arrange- 
ment, : 


102 


The ectoplasm of the animal was quite 
granular as far as was observed, had no 
contractile vacuole, and contained a large 
number of green cells. The zoochlorel- 
lae, however, were not scattered about in- 
discriminately, but were arranged in a 
very characteristic dendritic manner and 
so filled the ectoplasm that the internal 
details could not be made out. The basal 
stalk of each group started right deep 
down and branched frequently as it passed 
outwards, thus producing a tree-like ef- 
fect with the short branches on the peri- 
phery. All the threads were of equal di- 
ameter and appeared to be composed of a 
series of units placed end to end, each one 
containing a large green chloroplast in 
the middle and having almost transparent 
ends. ‘The result.was that the thread had 
a banded appearance. 

The nucleus and presumably the endo- 
plasm was eccentrically situated and could 
only be seen by transmitted light. 

The animal was kept under observa- 


GLEANINGS FROM THE 
PART IL. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol, XXXV. 


tion for more than six weeks in the hope 
that it would divide, but unfortunately 
during an absence on a collecting trip in 
the hot weather it apparently died, for it 
disappeared and nothing like it has been 
seen since in the small glass aquarium 
in which it was kept. 

Using the classification by Wailes it 
belongs to the sub-order Chalarothoraca, 
i.e., Heliozoa having an external envelope. 
composed of solid elements with or with- 
out a matrix of plasma. It also fits in 
most closely with his definition of the 
Genus Raphidiophrys, i.e., body enclosed 
in a mucilaginous envelope containing spi- 
cules (spindle, awl or dise-shaped), which 
normally extend outwards along the pseu- 
dopodia; nucleus and endoplasm placed 
eccentrically. 

Provisionally, pending an opportunity 
for more detailed study, it is proposed to 
place it in this genus with the name Rap- 
hidiophrys magna to indicate its large 
size. 


CANADIAN WEST. 


MAMMALIAN FAUNA OF ISLAY, ALBERTA. 


By J. Dewey Soper. 


What seems to me an interesting and 
essential consideration in respect to an 
animal study (aside of course from tax- 
onomical and anatomical aspects), is the 
proper conception or imagery of its sur- 
roundings. So often the animal and its 
environment are surprisingly linked, again 
clearly dual, or as in some instances like 
Blarina and Peromyscus, of remarkable 
adaptability. In short, if we would really 
know the animal we need the knowledge 
of its habitat and abode. To assist in this, 
I have considered it proper to delineate 
in a few words the floral circumstances 
of the region around Islay. 

It permits of three settings, the wooded ; 
semi-wooded; and the prairie. The first 
is the usual poplar forest of the west, oc- 
eurring in unbroken continuity only in 
the river valleys and their vicinity. This 
refers solely to the region of which I 
write, for in some places this is not the 
ease. In the Vermilion and Saskatche- 
wan valleys vigorous specimens of the 
balsam poplar (P. balsamifera) also occu”, 
and in places the white spruce (P. cana- 


densis) as well. The second is the park- 
like country which lies for the most part 
quite distinct and separated from the 
water courses, alternating its various- 
sized aspen (P. tremuloides) woods with 
prairie-land. This is very picturesque 
ground and particularly beautiful im au- 
tumn. In contiguity to lakes, it becomes 
practically an epitome of the last. The 
last, the prairie, seems self-explainable, 
but wide differences obtain even here from 
place to place. The Islay prairie, in the 
first place, is not entirely bald like that 
of some localities; neither is it on a dead 
level, both of which conditions add no- 
thing to its attractiveness in my opinion. 
The surface describes an easy undulation, | 
composed of greater and lesser swells and 
oceasional engaging elevations such as the 
Twin Hills to the west and the Blackfoot 
Range, so called, to the south. Every- 
where in this panorama are liberally 
dotted aspen bluffs of manifold shapes 
and sizes; clumps of wolf-willow scatter- 
ed in between; and in every considerable 
depression, rings of red-willow that sur- 


‘September, 1921 .| THE CANADIAN 


round grassy lagoons that were one-time 
sloughs. The first and last growths keep 
to high and low land respectively, while 
the wolf-willow seems to favor slopes and 
steep places, never in soaked depressions, 
but withal ranging indifferently. As a 
whole, the Islay prairies assume most in- 
terest, both from botanical and biological 
viewpoints, in proportion to their depart- 
ure from monotonous nudity. 

In addition to the country surrounding 
Islay, wherein the major number of my 
zoological excursions were confined, that 
is, in a four mile limit bounded by -the 
Twin Hills to the west and Island Lake 
to the south, I had several opportunities 
of visiting remoter ground, the most in- 
teresting of which was to Laurier Lake 
on September 1, on which I wish to re- 
mark. It seems best, by way of present- 
ing the facts in its connection, to couch it 
in narrative rather than in disjointed and 
purely technical form, in which latter much 
that gives tone to, and conception of, a 
visited region is necessarily lost. As this 
locality has never previously been investi- 
gated by any naturalist so far as I know, 
‘it seems more imperative to do a measure 
of justice to it at once. 

Laurier Lake lies forty miles to the 
north of Islay, our proposed destination 
for the trip. The Vermilion and Saskat- 
chewan Rivers must be crossed at a dis- 
tance of five and thirty miles respectively. 
The car, our means of conveyance, was 
duly equipped the previous night for the 
outing, and all made ready for what we all 
anticipated as a great day’s sport; nor 
were we disappointed in the smallest part. 
I should perhaps mention that the first 
was the opening day of the shooting sea- 
son. The morning dawned in the most 
dispiriting manner, rain seemed imminent, 
but to experience the proper thrill with 
the day, and new country ahead, it seemed 
imperative to start with the dawn. Our 
judgment proved excellent, for by mid- 
forenoon the whole country was radiant 
with the matchless splendor of an Alberta 
‘morning. Never could skies be bluer or 
air so rare. As we spun along, oceasicnal 
sarp-tailed grouse sprang wildly from 
the grassy trail with a staccato cuc, cue, 
cue, cue, cuc, punctuating as they went 
their soaring and flapping flight. No- 
thing surely is more typically western and 

- bnoyant than these big handsome birds. 


Frevp-NaTuRALIs?. 103 
Just before descending into the Vermilion 
valley we had a glimpse of a Franklin’s 
ground squirrel as it seampered into an 
aspen bluff beside -the trail, the only one 
of the species I saw in the west. As the 
forenoon advanced the birds got warmed 
into action, and hourly before dinner were 
more in evidence. The near-by shrubbery 
trembled and flashed occasionally with 
passing warblers, and sparrows languidly 
twittered half-hearted snatches of song, 
fall-like and disconsolate. And that sea- 
son, the fall of the leaf had seemed ac- 
tually to have arrived, for the first few 
mourners were even now rocking slowly 
to earth. The very air had a hue or qual- 
ity of autumnal vigor and adventure. 
Flickers watchfully explored the patches 
of prairie; robins in social flocks drove 
swiftly by with a cheep, cheep. Swainson’s 
stately hawk cleaved the sky in level 
circles; and the delectable mountain blue- 
bird, so tender and so elegant, chanced 
often to cross our path. 


About ten a.m. we neared a series of 
shallow and grassy sloughs dotted with a 
few shoveller and ruddy dvcks, and of 
more than passing interest in the wheel- 
ing and settling flocks of sandpipers that 
sought its plashy margins. Three species 
were plainly present, which after some 
studied ‘‘collecting’’ proved to be the 
lesser yellow, pectoral, and Baird’s sand- 
pipers. The latter was one of those choice 
finds, counted so to me, which comes new 
and unexpected. Until sending it to Ot- 
tawa I had mistaken it for the Least 
sandpiper, which it closely resembles. 

We were now in the vicinity of the 
Ridge, a moraine-like elevation stretching 
for miles on either hand, and locally of 
interest because of the Indian graves which 
are said to dot its sides. According to ru- 
mor, the warrior dead were buried there 
after a retreat from the bloody massacre, 
during the rebellion, which occurred near 
the mouth of the Saskatchewan. As this 
location is some twenty miles from the 
Ridge, the wounded evidently needed some 
help, especially the ones who forever will 
remain on the Ridge. I had no time to 
verify the existence of the graves, but I 
believe without doubt, remembering the 
source of my information, that they are 
there. The whole country should be in- 
teresting, anthropologically, for it seems 


104 


a vast burying ground for that departing 
race; here and there about the country 
relics are frequently found, and in two in- 
stances in fact, I have knowledge of their 
discovery. Both specimens I have in my. 
possession. The one is a stone-hammer, 
three pounds in weight and in perfect 
condition (with the exception of a single 
chip out of one side), which I found near 
the Twin Hills. The other is a round stone 
ball, three inches in diameter and one 
pound in weight, picked up in a locality 
a few miles south of Islay where many 
others similar in weight and identical in 
appearance have been formerly found. 
The panorama from the erest of the 
Ridge is a memorable one. The majestic 
prairies, alternating with aspen woods 
and terminating in the distant blue hills 
of the Saskatchewan, seem so peaceful and 
primeval that only a rugged column cf 
buffalo is required to complete the cireum- 
ference of one’s reflection. Nearing the 
Saskatchewan, the woods become denser 
and more continuous, until, entering the 


valley system itself, the balsam poplars © 


thrive in vigorous groves; the aspens 
erowd thicker and thicker and attain to 
erea‘er height, and a few birch silhouet- 
ted here and there foreshadow the genuine 
borean forests. A peculiarity of these 
woods, and doubtless remarked by anyone 
passing them, is the exhalation of a mildly 
pungent and sour aroma that character- 
izes them, particularly during the fall, 
with the decadence of the leaves, and es- 
pecially towards sun-down. It is neither 
fragrant nor wholly disagreeable, but re- 
markable for an illusive quality that in- 
spires a really unmistakable tingle of ad- 
venture. It is but one of the many odors 
of the autumn woods, that make of a trip 
there a thing of rare enjoyment. 
Ferrying across the muddy Saskatche- 
wan with its surrounding wilderness of 
forested hills was not the least of the 
day’s attractions; nor was the ascent by 
the winding wooded trail beyond. <A pro- 
per panoramic view of this valley long 
lingers in the recollection. On a jutting 
sand-bar at the bend of the river, deer 
trails were in evidence; and the bar was 
said by the government ferryman here to 
be a regular resort to which they came 
from the woods to drink. Although it 
was merely fortuitous, we, noted no 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXYV. 


ruffed grovse until norh cf the river, 
but now they frequently rose at our ap- 
proach and bulleted through the woods. 
More often, however, as is their usual cus- 
tom in the west, they merely walked slowly 
and pertly from view, whimsiecally eluek- 
ing and spreading ruff and tail. 

All along the route the prairie rose still 
bloomed, and occasional sequestered hol- 
lows were blue with violets even at this 
advanced date. Four species of fungi were 
noted all along the way, being, or most 
resembling, Psathyvella disseminata; Le- 
piota naucinoides; Caluatia e aniformis; 
and Caluatia gegantica. It is of further 
interest to note that neither the common 
raspberry nor hazel bush was observed 
until north of the river, becoming then of 
common occurrence. . 

The lakes are a particularly interesting 
locality. The conditions are so diversi- 
fied that doubtless an equally divergent 
series of small mammals could be taken 
there consistent with it. My stay, unhap- 
pily, was of short duration, or much of 
the wistful speculation which I secretly 
bo:e to the woods would have become an 
instructive reality. In theory one has all 
the small mammals possible to the region, 
each in its own peculiar situation, from 
Evotomys gapperi in the mossy spruce 
swamps, to Peromyscus borealis on the as- 
pen ridges, besides all the intermediates. 
The jumping deer are residents here, for 
numerous trails belonging to them were 
observed on the sandy beach at Laurier 
Lake. The latter is a fine body of water 
of considerable size, and yields several 
species of fish, some of which attain to 
very~ respectable dimensions. Whitney 
Lake, its sister, about a mile distant, is 
neither so large nor becoming, but its 
tortuous shore-line, with numerous se- 
cluded bays hemmed in darkly by the 
woods, creates a resort among the water- 
fowl that is quite unknown to the other. 
The day we were there, a single duck, a 
horned grebe, and two herring gulls, so 
far as I remember, were the only fowl we 
saw on Laurier, while on Whitney some 
coves were fairly black with them. Both 
lakes are surrounded by heavy coniferous 
woods, consisting of white spruce (Picea 
canadensis), tamarack, (Larix caricena), 
paper birch (Betula alba), balsam poplar 
(Populus balsamife: a), and the trembling 


September, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 

aspen (Populus tremuloides). The coni- 
fers range back only a comparatively 
short distance from®the lakes, forming an 
encircling collar about them, then being 
replaced entirely by the usual growth of 
aspen. The-soil in places is very sandy, 
notably a streak between and to one side 
of the lakes, on which subsist small ex- 
amples of jack pine (Pinus banksiana), 
developing further along into quite ex- 
tensive groves. The general effect of the 
landscape reminds one of the stunted for- 
ests in the region of Lake Superior, par- 
ticularly in the Hudsonian zone. The an- 
alogy is further heightened by deep 
spongy ground-moss that covers the low 
areas in places near the lakes, the logs and 
trunks covered with dull lichens, and the 
‘fold man’s beard’’ that waves from the 
sepulchral spruces. 


RICHARDSON GROUND SQHIRREL. 
Citellus richardsonii (Sabine). 


The Richardson ground squirrel by far 
exceeds in number any other mammal of 
the region, with one exception, and that 
doubtful — microtus drummondii.  Col- 
onies are nowhere extensive, due no doubt 
to the proximity of its northern limit 
(none were observed north of the Saskat- 
_chewan river); but individuals are scat- 
tered everywhere in hundreds. The most 
flourishing colonies are invariably found 
on high rolling lands usually on the 


slopes, and preferably in gravelly clay, 


but burrows are evident in all but the 
wettest locations. In places the com- 
parative smoothness of the prairie is 
broken by innumerable dark earth heaps, 
throaty burrow entrances, and sunken 
runs. These last are used regularly as 
highways from one community to another, 
and as a rule are traceable by the eye from 
a distance, especially if viewed from a 
sight elevation. Like life, as a maze of 
endless continuity with its thousand ecur- 
rents crossing and counter-crossing and 
crossing again, these little prairie trails 
lead hither and thither, a perfect laby- 
rinth, to both puzzle and entertain. In 
long grass or grain this system becomes, 
of course, much less evident, if not entirely 
hidden. 

My first day at Islay, August 27, was 
_ principally taken up with this animal, 
*both because of its abundance and the im- 


FIeELD-NATURALIST. 105 


mediate access to itsstudy. If approached 
slowly, ground squirrels or gophers re- 
main head and shoulders exposed until 
your nearness sends them earthward at a 
vital moment with a flick of the tail and a 
husky whistle. A few are content to 
court human company at short range, 
feeding meanwhile within easy access of 
their burrows, but others again disappear 
at the first alarm. , When sitting erect or 
crouched at burrow-mouth, somewhat tim- 
orous or moved by mildly-excited curios- 
ity, a striking characteristic is the upward 
flick of the tail in time to a husky chirp. 
From this it has doubtless derived the 
local appellation of flicker-tail. An in- 
teresting experience when a whole colony 
has been frightened underground is to 
le motionless on the prairie, and watch 
them reappear one by one and resume 
their several inclinations, which they 
readily do in a few minutes. Apparently 
already forgetful of their recent alarm, 
they exchange in low drowsy calls their 
expression of content in the mellow sun- 
shine of the morning. 


During September, in certain localities, 
hundreds of small drillings in ¢he soil 
indicate the ground squirrels’ activity in 
garnering a species of grass root or bulb. 
They also collect, so I was informed, the 
red berry of the wild rose and a low shrub 
blueberry resembling the huckleberry 
which grows sparsely on the prairie. In 
addition to these, they take a heavy an- 
nual toll from the grain-fields. 


At Islay the gophers’ nearest mammal 
neighbors are the two species of vole, the 
long-tailed weasel, and the badger. Habit- 
ually the two last prey upon the three 
first. On numerous occasions I have seen 
groups of badger borings in ground squir- 
rel colonies with the evident purpose of 
feasting on those animals, but it is usually 
hard to tell with what success the badger 
meets. Some holes are shallow, while 
others are several feet in depth; the for- 
mer I presume are merely prospect shafts. 
As the badger digs anywhere in the wild- 
est abandon, without reserve, art or dis- 
crimination, it is often difficult and even 
impossible to decide which are dens and 
which prospects. Even after the snowfall 
of Oct. 8, these prospect shafts continued 
for a time as numerous and fresh as ever, 


106 


and were particularly conspicuous against 
the white of the landscape. : 
After the snow I followed weasel trails 
frequently and found that they freely 
weyt in and out of all gopher dens that 
lay conveniently to their course. As a 
diet the gopher is evidently highly re- 
garded by this animal, but I found it 1m- 
possible to ascertain when they explored 
with success. It was incredible that there 
could have been a gopher in each of the 
burrows visited, for in the course of a 
night’s run they seemed almost innumer- 
able. I never had the patience to follow 
to the end in all its intricacies the night’s 
trail of an ermine, although my wander- 
ings in this regard have been really exten- 
sive as a whole, and not without a like 
measure of enlightenment and pleasure. 
An old plainsman told me that once from 
his horse, he watched a prairie weasel enter 
a Richardson’s ground squirrel colony 
when the majority of the members were 
under ground. He bounded easily but 
furtively about from mound to hollow and 
through herbage, lithe as a reptile, and 
nosing the ground occcasionally like a 
hound. Presently there caught his eye an 
isolated and unlucky gopher liberally 
separated from his burrow. The latter 
was feeding with his back towards the 
weasel, but at this moment, apprehending 
danger by some subtlety, he clumsily wheel- 


ed and made a few frightened jumps to-— 


his home. The weasel met him 
the thirst of conquest, sever- 
ing all hope of escape. In a flash 
the gopher, realizing this, sank back 
threateningly, chattering and sereeching 
hoarsely with terror; the next breath and 
the two were mixed in combat. But, stran- 
ge to relate, attracted by the confusion of 
wails and weird vocal pirouettings from 
the expiring gopher, relatives and neigh- 
hors shot out everywhere from their bur- 
rows, and poured in one averting or aveng- 
ing mob about the ears of the aggressor. 
Left alone with one gopher the weasel 1s un- 
doubtedly happy, but this chippering, 
champing, insane rabble was too much. He 
breasted the tide gallantly for a while, lost 
heart. and remembered a pressing engage- 
ment in another quarter; or were the 
grapes sour anyway? A few gophers fol- 
lowed him for a short distance by way of 
impressing further the ignominy of defea’, 
then returned with declining ardor to dis- 


wards 
with 


THe CANADIAN I*reLpD-NATURALIST. 


(Vol. XXXV. 


perse gradually to their separate dens. My 
informant remarked that the whole was so 
quickly enacted that, he sat in the saddle 
half bewildered, scarcely able to compre- 
hend the fleeting bit of wild drama that 
had passed before his eyes..Even the out- 
raged gopher, he said, had so far recover- - 
ed, that when he rode down into the colony 
it too limped its way along and dissappear- 
ed, leaving the prairie still and deserted. 

In regard to the hibernation of this go- 
pher I was agreeably surprised. I had re- 
ceived the impression in some manner that, 
like the woodchucks of the east, they dis- 
appeared in mid-September; instead, how- 
ever, they braved the rigors of October and 
even that of November. After the snow- 
fall of October 7 they dug upwards through 
the snow as numerous as ever, but the sue- 
ceeding cold and snow put the majority 
under by the middle of the month. On 
October 29, near a wolf-willow clump on 
the prairie, I noticed where an ambitious 
individual had tunnelled along under a 
few inches of snow for over twenty feet. 
This subterranean work was carried at in- 
térvals so near the surface that detached 
portions caved in, exposing the run below. 
In other instances, by the dirt mixed with 
the snow, the passage seemed driven di- 
rectly in contact with the earth. For several 
days in early November, though the mer- 
cury was much below zero, an unusually 
hardy animal, reluctant to assume the long 
sleep, daily scampered to and fro be- 
tween den holes in the snow separated by 
several yards. 


FRANKLIN GROUND SQUIRREL. 
Citellus franklin’ (Sabine). 


The northern range-limit of this brush- 
Jand cousin of Richardson’s gopher, must 
almost coincide with that of the latter 


“animal, from all information I could get; 


but in point of abundance there is no com- 
parison between the two. Richardson's 
squirrel is almost everywhere south of the 
Saskatchewan, while Franklin’s seems 
highly restricted in its range, and at Islay 
is nearly absent. I sighted one as it ran 
into a bluff near the Vermilion river on 
September 1, but never saw another, al- 
though five days later on a beautiful after- 
noon I hunted this and other promising 
localities along the valley until nearly 
night. Search for them in other localities 
was likewise fruitless. Information from 


September, 1921. | 


several sources indicated that it was more 
likely to occur on the brushy west slopes 
of Pleasant Valley than anywhere else, a 
locality I was unable to visit. I had also 


‘reports of its occurrence in the region of 


Raft Lake, where it visits the portable 
graineries drawn up near the woods. 


STRIPED GOPHER. 


Citellus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus 
(Mitchell). 


Rare at Islay. It seems strange that the 
single individual responsible for this entry 


should have made its home under the very 


foot-path of the village. But there it was, 
well satisfied apparently with the resound- 
ing tread of feet above its head. Old in- 
habitants recognized it as an animal oc- 
eurring at various points throughout the 
region. 
LirTLE CHIPMUNK. 

Eutamias quadrivittatus borealis (Allen). 


Mr. Sydney Blair of Dewberry, a keen 
and interested observer, states that the 
little chipmunk ranges in the: dry aspen 
woods surrounding Raft Lake, often making 
excursions to the fringes of the grain 
fields which here meet the woods. I ex- 
pected to find it in the Vermilion valley, 
but, as in the case of the Franklin’s ground 
squirrel, my most ardent exploration failed 
to discover it. After an acquaintance with 
it at Edmonton I felt particularly desirous 
of seeing it again, but that pleasure was 
denied. 


Hupson Bay FLyina SQUIRREL. 
Sciuropterus sabrinus sabrinus (Shaw). 


Reported as occurring in the mixed and 
denser portions of the spruce and poplar 
woods at Raft Lake. Doubtless, may be 
found also along the Saskatchewan and 


perhaps Vermilion rivers, as frequently I 


secured them under like conditions at Ed- 
monton, 


Hupson Bay Rep Squirren. 


Collected on September Ist a single spee- 
imen (male) in the spruce woods off the 
east shore of Whitney Lake. The summer 
pelage shows no sign of shedding. The un- 
derparts are distinctly more creamy-buff 
than any of my earliest October specimens 
taken at Ridout, northern Ontario, 1918. 
This specimen measures: Length, 310; Tail, 
115; Foot, 48.5. Bulky nests of shredded 


THE CANADIAN FieLp-NATURALIST. 


107 


bark etc., belonging to this animal, were 
fairly common in the conifers at Whitney. 
The only sign I saw of it at Laurier Lake 
was a fragment of mushroom wedged in 
the branches of a large spruce. 
PRAIRIE HARE. 

Lepus campestris campestris (Bachman). 

Formerly unknown, but gradually mi- 
crating northwards. During my stay one 
was flushed on a grain field a bare mile 
south-west of the village, which was af- 
firmed by all with whom I talked concern- 
ing it as the first known event of the prai- 
rie hare in the vicinity. It had never pre- 
viously been seen nearer than sixteen miles 
to the south, and-that only a single indi- 
vidual three years before. The northward 
fringe of its range seemed indefinitely fix- 
ed away to the south, of late years pushed 
polewards by a few adventures on a line 
with Wainright, until this fall a crusader 
appeared far beyond the natural range, 
perhaps the advance-guard of a general 
future movement. The clearance of the 
land is undoubtedly the incentive, much 
like the invasion of southern Ontario by 
the prairie mouse (P. m. bairdui) of late 
years. 

SNOWSHOE Rassir. 

Lepus americanus americanus (Erxleben. ) 


Searce this fall, but in the recurring ey- 
cle of its septennial abundance scouring 
the country in thousands. Sometimes, ac- 


cording to an informant, entire aspen 
bluffs are ‘barked’ until they die. After 
the snow fall of October 7, their widely 


scattered trails were occasionally seen. 
CANADA WoopcHUCK. 

Marmota monax canadensis (Erxleben). 

Occurs only very sparingly at Islay, 
and perhaps so over the entire west. Any 
individuals which I have seen were no- 
ticeably smaller than the familiar wood- 
chuck of the east. A- specimen taken at 
Edmonton in September 1912 was only 
about two-thirds the size, reddish and griz- 
zled however similar to the latter. This 
may have been an adolescent. 

BADGER. 
Taxidea tarus tarus (Schreber). 

Very common: badger holes were in 
evidence at intervals nearly everywhere. 
Most of these were doubtless prospect shafts 
in search of gophers. Sometimes in colo- 
nies of the latter a half dozen may be sunk 


108 


in a single night in addition to much tra- 
velling and digging in other places. They 
are powerful and effective excavators and 
what may be assumed as the work of se- 
veral may be the work of one. [ shot one 
near the Vermilion in early September. 
Dusk was just creeping over the prairie, 
when passing near a cut bank we caught 
a glinrpse of something moving about, and 
approaching saw one of these animals 
slouch into a hole it had freshly dug there. 
It soon reappeared, sniffing curiously, 
with its nose high in the air, then suddenty 
disappeared again. After a wait of five 
minutes it boldly repeated its tactics in an 
attempt to solve the mystery of its visitors. 
CaNapDA Lynx. 

Lynx canadensis canadensis (Kerr). 

Formerly common in the wooded Ver- 
milion basin, and apparently a few still 
breeding there, but now nearly trapped to 
extinction. Last year an adult and two 
young were killed three miles north of 
Islay. 

PORCUPINE. 


Erethizon dorsatum dorsatum (Linnaeus). 


At Islay the porcupine is encountered 
only at very rare intervals. The nearest 
woods of any particular density le along 
the Vermilion river four miles to the north. 
While driving in this basin on July first 
two vears ago, my brother-in-law Mr. Wil- 
liam East of Islay came upon one loitering 
near the trail. This is the only one he 
had seen there after many years residence. 


MUSKRAT. 
Ondatia zibethica spatulata_ (Osgood). 


Perhaps a great factor in the general 
depletion of this animal of late years has 
been the gradual subsidence of scores of 
sloughs and small lakes throughout the re- 
gion, until now great numbers are either 
totally dry or nearing that condition. An 
area of hundreds of acres west of town, 
once a lake ten feet in depth and the home 
of hundreds of rats, is now as dry as the 
rest of the open range, fed over by stock 
and yielding alike good crops of natural 
hay and Drummond’s vole. <A tract op- 
posite the station which a few years ago 
provided excellent duck shooting, is now 
entirely dry. Scores of like incidents 
could be cited. The lakes remaining are 
of course gradually sinking, and, as at Is- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


land Lake, one time islands are slowly 
rising to the dignity of peninsulas when 
lying off shore. Richardson’s ground 
squirrel has already established himself on 
these with alacrity. It is estimated that 
between one and two thousand muskrats 
inhabited the dried-up lake west of Islay 
in pre-settlement days. This has an area 
of approximately one and a half square 
miles. Two trappers, operating between 
Edmonton and Vermilion via the Vermi- 
lion lakes in 1908, took for fall and spring 
3,900 muskrat skins. From Manville to 
Vermilion, on the Vermilion river, a dis- 
tance of about fifty miles, one party in the 
old days took 2,500 skins, and I under-— 
stand this was for the fall only. Today 
the majority of these places are nearly 
destitute. 


PRAIRIE SKUNK. 
Mephitis hudsonica (Richardson). 


This species is not at all common but is 
generally known throughout the country. 


MINK. : 

Mustela vison vison (Schreber). 
Very rare. Only one. mink trail ob- 
served in thirteen years by an old resident 


pioneer. This was on a mud bar of the 
Vermilion. 


. CANADIAN BEAVER. 
Castor canadensis canadensis (Kuhl). 
Almost exterminated. One family of 
bank beaver known to exist still near the 


confluence of the Vermilion and Saskat- 
chewan rivers. 


PRAIRIE WOLF OR COYOTE. 


Canis latrans (Say). 

Much more plentiful formerly, but still 
common. On November 23 five locally 
caught skins were sold in the village. 
Numerous animals were sighted during the 
fall. Some time in October, after the 
snow, one intrepid individual raced ahead 
of our car down the trail, leaving it only 
as we approached to within about twenty- 
five yards, then side-stepping just suffi- 
cient to get screen behind some low wil- 
lows that lined the ditch. As we dashed 
by he stood there partly visible, wearing a 
languid quizzical grin that was comical in 
the extreme. After the snow fall of Oc- 
tober 7, 8, to sight their trails was a daily 
occurrence, 


‘ 


September, 1921. | 


: LonG-TAILED WEASEL. 
Mustela longicauda longicauda 
(Bonapar‘e). 

A very common species on the prairie, 
but their presence, unless by one pur- 
posely seeking them, would pass unsuspect- 
ed. <A specimen taken on October 18 was 
still brown dorsally, but shedding rapidly, 
with a thick fine coat of white replacing 
it beneath. About November 3 half of the 
specimens collected had a scattered but 
diminishing quantity of brown, while all 
those after the sixth were pure white. A 
wide-spread individual variation prevails 
in completing the moult, although each and 
all, it will be noted, exist under the same 
local conditions. Occasional weasels had 
comple*ed the moult before November 1, 

~whilé others in a like environment a week 
later still presented a thin brown shade 
their entire dorsal length. 

Following are the measurements of lon- 
gicauda taken in the vicinity of Islay. 


Sex Length Tail Vert.._H. Foot 
Nils es or 430 140 50 
EES Se oe Sr 450 155 50 
Mig! > “Gis eer 445 155 50 
TVICREE Se Peter chs, ae 475 175 50 
Metmigicuwer, .nh as: 390 140 ata 
Wemalevc. sc... fs 365 125 40 
[Usjae p's) a 370 130 42 
vate 7 400 145 45 
IIDINIGNE dea rias) os 5 375 125 47 
Female hy a 380 130 46 


Throughout periods of intense cold and 
even winter storms the long-tailed weasel 
seems fo pursue activities without abate- 
ment. Many animals, though remaining 
active throughout the winter, are clearly 
more so during the lulls of fine weather. 
Often have I observed the suspended act- 
ivity of such as red squirrel and mink 


-during and succeeding violent winter 
storms. But the long-tail pays little heed 
to these. On November 5, although snow 


fell for the entire day before and part 
of the succeeding night, the ermine was 
found to have been around and about his 
business as usual. They doubtless travel 
on the coldest and stormiest nights of 
winter, and, in the case of the long-tailed 
species. over the bleakest and most ex- 
posed ranges. 

Their chosen field is the open prairie 
where they wander erratically from place 
to place, visiting wolf-willow clumps, go- 


pher holes, odd stones, aspen bluffs, and 


any other irregularities which appear in 


ra) 


THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 


109 


their line of travel. Their life seems an 
endless roving in search of food, conducted 
without design, lacking home and appa- 
rent destination. This may be regarded 
aS a superficial impression. Having spent 
many hours upon their trails in the snow 
and cold, unravelling as it seemed a clue 
to their very lives and destiny, I have dis- 
covered the opposite to be the truth, <Al- 
though their wanderings seem the mos* er- 
ratic and inconsistent imaginable, there is 
yet beneath it a species of method. I have 
never been able to connect positively their 
widely scattered trails with a fixed abode, 
but I have learned that they habitually re- 
turn again and again over the same route. 
The male in particular is perhaps always 
detached, leading an irregular and nomadic 
existence. While this may be true, it is 
seen that a relatively fixed locality is ad- 
hered to for their hunting, and is withal, 
considering their size, of very considerable 
extent. 
DRUMMOND VOLE: 
Miccotus drummondii (Audubon and 


Bachman). 


a 


Despite the drouth of last summer, which 
doubtless had a negative effect on the pro- 
creation of such moisture-loving animals 
as this species, it still remains, with one 
exception, the most abundant mammal of 
the region. It is found only in damp sit- 
uations or the nearest to this cendition. 
Ranchers making hay in September on the 
dry lake bottom west of the village re- 
ported considerable numbers of this vole, 
and I found their runways in the arching 
grass of nearly all low moist places over 
the prairie. Their most fruitful habita- 
tions are those cup-like depressions among 
the hills which were once’ brimming 
sloughs but now no moister than the aver- 
age lowland pasture. They look-odd now, 
with the precise elliptical willow borders 
surrounding those hollow and grassy la- 
goons. The vegetation in these places is 
quite luxuriant, opulent with the fra- 
grance of pennyroyal, and mystically en- 
tangled enough for any rodent recluse. 
The ground, covered with herbage, is 


_breken into myriads of little hummocks, 


among which the eccentric trails wind 
and criss-cross about, some expunged in 
the near distance and others winding in 
baffling intricacy to finally disappear in 
miniature caverns in the turf. The ‘rails 


110 


are neither so numerous nor well defined, 
however, as those I have seen in the east 
and north, where oftentimes the natural 
meadows were perfect labyrinths of in- 
terlacing trails, and vegetation and muck 
were irreparably united in highways of 
unusual foulness. 

Measurements of drummondii collected 


at Islay, Alberta. 

Sex Length Tail H. Foot 
Adult, Female 150 35 18 
Adult, Male 140 35 iy 
Adol., Male.. 127 30 16 
Juv., Male. : 112 27 17 
Juv., Male. ave 95 20 16 


jas UPLAND VOLE. 
Microtus minor (Merriam). 


To me the discovery of this mouse was 
of more than ordinary pleasure; not me- 
rely because of its comparative rarity or 
its newness to me, but also because of the 
conditions it represented. It is not con- 
fined to dank bottomlands hke drummon- 
dii but climbs to the racy pastures far 
above. It loves the prairie crests and its 
spicy winds, the flowing undulations of 
fragrant herbage, and the rustle of the 
Ww olf- willow. In the very expression ‘up- 
land’ one feels a subtle suggestiveness that 
floats the mind instinctively to the lonely 
north, the north with its glamour of 
brooding plateaus, its silent and immut- 
able tundras. 

At Islay the upland vole casually occu- 
pies the lusher lowlands, not much in ele- 
vation above drummondiu, but always, so 
far as I could learn, on ground never sub- 
ject to inundation, which is distinct from 
that of the latter. The local habitat of the 
two, if not actually overlapping, certainly 
is subject to a very fine delimitation. In 
the matted grass of willow-grown but 
elevated flats it is as likely to be found 
as anywhere, although its presence is by 
no means as certain as the -other species. 
When finally located its sparse trails will 
be found leading languidly among the 
willows, rose bushes, and herbage; tun- 
neled through the latter rather than over; 
fashioned round without a break for con- 
siderable distances. On the slopes or in 
creases of the prairie it lurks in grassy 
tangles beneath wolf-willow and aspen, and 
at times, as previously mentioned, turns to 
the very crest of ridges that are gilded with 
the first and last lights of dawn and sun- 
set. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


S - 


[Vol. XXXYV. 


Unlike the vexing separation of many 
members of this genus, the present voles 
are palpably distinct; with the two side by 
side, colour difference alone suffices to 
separate them. Drummondu, heavy set, 
and of a reddish-grey colour, contrasts 


clearly with the slighter build and 
silvery-grey of minor. For a time, while 
trapping, the occurrence of these two 


colorations, which I distinguished from 
the first, proved rather puzzling. Hay- 
ing no literature along led me _ er- 
roneously to imagine it a seasonal phase 
on the same species. In trapping, however, 
I noticed that each ‘phase’ singularly 
appeared separate, which led me very 
early to suspect the truth, as is 
shown in this journal entry: Sep- 
tember 26 ‘*A second specimen  to- 
night of the grey microtus, both from the 
same trap. It would appear that this ani- 
mal is perhaps a distinct variety from the 
reddish-grey vole. At any rate a cursory 
examination of the few muicrotus taken 
here suggests this;’’ and again for Septem- 
ber 27, I find in part this note: ‘*Sueceed- 
ed in capturing another silvery-grey vole. 
Reference was made to this animal on both 
the 24th and 26th. This one of to-day as 
well as the others were all taken in the 
same trap and locality and only at a slight 
elevation and distance from the lower 
ground where I succeed in collecting only 
the brownish voles.’ 

Islay is close to the northern limit of its 


range. 

Measurements of Islay specimens of 
microtus minor : 
Sex Length Tail Foot 
Male 110 18 14 
Male 116?) ee 15 
Female 115 23 14. 
Female 108 17 15 
Female 116 22 15 

‘ge AIRD’S M ASKED SHREW. 
Sorer personatus haydem (Baird). 


Only two of this diminutive and rather 
obscure animal were collected at Islay- 
Both were taken in the same trap and in 
the same damp lowland where most of my 
drummond voles were captured. They 
appear to be rather uncommon. A plains- 
man told me that in passing low places at 
night he had frequently seen these shrews 
darting across the trail under the glare of 
the head-light on his car. The two speci- 
mens secured are noticeably smaller than 


’ 


September, 1921.] THE CANADIAN 
any of this species I have previously taken 
elsewhere. It was first thought that they 
would prove to be Microsorer hoyi, but a 
dental and cranial examination rendered 
them referable to the above personatus 
subspecies. Dr. R. M. Anderson of Otta- 
wa kindly identified these for me, as he 
did also all the other small mammals se- 
cured on the trip. The Islay specimens 
ot haydem measure: Length, 85-82; Tail, 
24-22; Foot, 10.5-11 mm. 

In addition, I have the following state- 
ment from Mr. Henderson, Acting Chief 
of Bureau, U. S. Biological Survey :— 
‘““Your specimens have recently been crit- 
ically examined by Dr. Jackson, and he con- 
siders that they are referable to Sorex 
personatus hayden as you suspected, al- 
though, as above intimated, your — speci- 
mens are from a point considerably west 
of the previously known range of this 
form. He reports that they approach S. 
personatus in relative narrowness of the 
rostra and in color,”’ 


NoRTHERN WuHitE-FootTep Mouse. 
Peromyscus maniculatus borealis 
(Mearns). 


At Islay the deer mouse is either very 
uncommon or exceedingly seclusive; I 
favor the former view-point. In all my 
rambles and exploring only a single spe- 
cimen was either seen or taken, and that 
only by merest accident. Usually a col- 
lector secures his specimens by clear de- 
sign and is rewarded in direct proportion 
as he may assiduously practise it, but my 
specimen came without that. I was walk- 
ing near the Twin Hills on September 11 
and close to some old homestead buildings 
when, chancing to cross a portion of old 
board on the ground which I kicked in 
passing, an adult white-foot leaped away 
and danced about looking for escape, but 
that was rather reluctantly denied him. 
Without this contingency I should have 
been entirely unaware of the presence of 
this species. It shows a very pronounced 
darkish-brown dorsal band; buffy cheeks; 
white pencilling on the ear rim, and pallid 
plumbeous-grey underparts. Measure- 
ments: Length, 140; Tail, 40; Foot, 18, 
(Male). 

JUMPING MOUSE. 


Zapus hudsonicus. 


Not common. A single individual ob- 
served on the north-western outskirts of 


FIELD-NATURALIST, 


111 


the village. ‘ As so often occurs, it made 
its escape; at times it wequires about three 
men and a dog under the most favorable 
circumstances to successully compete with 
a jumper for its life. 

THe Bia GAME. 

To a genuine nature-lover, one of the 
most ominous tendencies of the day at 
Islay is the gradual depletion of the big 
game, The game must go of course as a 
natural consequence of settlement, and 
where it is going, but not gone, it is still 
but ‘a propheey of the future. The gra- 
phic tales of early days to which one 
eagerly listens now, portraying their ,wild 
and romantic abundance, perhaps on the 
very spot you occupy, serves but to ac- 
centua‘e their present absence, their ir- 
revocable and irreconcilable loss. The 
comparative speed with which they some- 
times disappear is also a significant item. 
Previous to 1910 at Islay the moose and 
mule deer were tolerably common in all 
the wooded river basins, but now both are 
gone entirely from the vicinity and a bare 
ten years has passed. While the moose 
may still be found in pretty fair numbers 
a considerable distance to the north, the 
other is considered nearly extinct. The 
blacktail deer was formerly common, but 
is now very rare. Elk in the old days, ac- 
cording to information, came and went in 
sizable bands, but they are a stranger 
there now, and the nearest is a restricted 
company to the west of Primrose Lake a 
hundred miles to the north. The jumping 
deer has fared much better. As mentioned 
elsewhere, it is still found in the Saskat- 
chewan valley, and all through the woods 
northward to the lakes already referred 
to. Occasional ones may yet survive in 
the remoter nooks along the Vermilion 
river, especially towards its confluence 
with the Saskatchewan. Where other big 
game either perish or retreat, the jumper 
frequently loiters with impunity. It loves 
to dabble about the skirts of civilization, 
and even increases with a little encourage- 
ment. At Edmonton, in 1912, I often saw 
them or their fresh beds within three 
miles of the city, and that with a popula- 
tion of seventy thousand people. Instead 
of retreating like the wary moose, they 
linger on, secretively gazing on the strides 
of industry, relishing the settlers’ first 
succulent crops, and then at last, suecumb- 
ing on the soil of their birth. 


112 


bo 


10. 


20. 


. Scytonema 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST, 


[Vol. XXXV. 


A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ALGAE FLORA OF THE OKANAGAN 
(BRITISH COLUMBIA). 


By E. D. SIsmey. 


CLASS MYXOPHYCEAE. 


Order I. CoOcCCOGONEAE. 


. Dactylococcopsis montana W. & G. S. 


West, in lake plankton. 
Merismopodia elegans Braun, in ditch- 
es, April. 


. Aphanocapsa spec. not determined. 


Order IT. HorMoGonEAe. 
Family. Seytonemaceae. 
myochros (Dillwyn) Ag- 
ardh, growing on rocks moistened 
by water at Peachland, May. 
Family. Nostocaceae. 

Nostoe depressum, Wood, Penticton 
Creek flume, May. 

N. microscopicum, Carmicheal, from 
squeezings of a water moss resem- 
bling Sphagnum, June. 

Nodularia spumigena var. genuina, 
3ornet & Flahault, in ponds Indian 
Reserve, May. 


. N. Harveyana (Thwaites) Thuret, in 


sloughs, Pen, May. 

Anabaena inequalis (Kutz), Bornet & 
Flahault, small pond Indian Re- 
serve, June. 

A. flosaquae, Breh, free floating in 
sloughs. 


Family. Oscillatoriaceae. 


. Phormidium autumnale (Ag) Gom, on 


wet rocks at Peachland, B. C., May. 


. Oscillatoria limosa, Ag, in small pond 


Doe Lake. 


. O. formosa, Bory, Penticton sloughs. 
. O. geminata, Menegh, outlet of a sep- 


tie tank. 


a. Y. agha di, Gom, in pond Dog Lake 


with O. princeps, 


. O. princeps, Vauch, free floating balls 


in small pond Dog Lake. This huge 


Alga is uncommon. 


. O. boryana, Bory, at the outlet of a 


septic tank. 


. Spirulina major, Kutz, Penticton Creek 


in ponds. 
S. meneghiniana, Zenard, moss squeez- 
ings. 
Family Rivulariaceae. 
Rivularia pisum, Ag, in water moss, 
Dog Lake; also on weeds, Ok Lake. 


21. Calothrix parasitica (Chauvin), Thur- 


et, growing on a floating log, Dog 
Lake. 


PERIDINIEAE. — I have omitted this 
group from this list not only because 
I have no literature on the subject, 
but because some authorities group 
them among the Flagellates. What- 
ever view is taken the Peridinieae 
may be left out without spoiling the 
general balance of the list. They are 
naturally a subject for a special study. 
The Peridinieae are of considerable 
economic importance as they are large 
storers of reserve food material, thus 
forming a basic food supply for count- 
less small organisms. 


BACILLARIEAE. — The Diatoms are 
universally acknowledged to be a sub- 
ject for a special study. As some 
12,000 species(ineluding fossils) have 
now been described it is difficult to 
attempt to enumerate species in a list 
of this kind. At the same time, as 
Diatoms usually form a considerable 
proportion of the plankton gatherings 
I include several genera with some 
specific identifications in my plank- 
ton notes of Okanagan Lake. In this 
respect the diatoms are of special in- 
terest in establishing periodicity 
curves, and also, en passant, a great 
many points of biological interest may 
be observed. 


CLASS CHLOROPHYCEAE. 


Division I. ISOKONTAR. 


Order I. Prorococcates. 
Family. Volvocaceae, 
Sub-family. Chlamydomonadeae 


. Chlamynomonas spec. in slough plank- 


ton. Identification of species a mat- 
ter of great difficulty, there being 
a difference of opinion among the best 
authorities. The Genus Chlamydo- 
monas oceupies a position of great in- 
terest among the green algae. It is 
looked upon as the starting point in 


23. 


28. 
29. 


30. 


31, 
32. 


33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 


38, 


September, 1921.] 


the evolution of green Algae and per- 
haps of all plant life. 

Sub-family Phacoteae. 
Phacotas spec. not determined, The 
same difficulties surround this genus 
as above. 


Sub-family Volvoveae. 


. Gonium pectorale, Mull, in green scum 


in vast numbers at bottom of slough, 
May. 


. Pandorina morum, Mull, common in 


sloughs. 


. Eudorina elegans, Ehrenb., common in 


slough plankton. 


. Volvoxr aureas (li) Ehrenb. This alga 


was to be found in vast numbers in 
the slough plankton during the latter 
part of May. 

Sub-order TETRASPORINEAF. 

Family Palmellaceae. 

Sub-family Tetrasporeae 
Tetraspora lubrica (Roth) Ag, on 
stones at the outlet of a small spring, 
Summerland, May. 

Family Protococcaceae. 
Trochiscia aspera (Reinsch) 
common in plankton. 

Family Autosporaceae. 

Sub-family Oocysteae 
Oocystis solitaria, Wittr., slough and 
lake plankton. 

O. crassa, Wittr., as above. 
Nephrocytium  aghardianum, 


Hansg., 


Nag., 
from squeezings of a moss resembling 
sphagnum. 

Tetracoccus botryoides, West. lake 


plankton, April. 

Sub-family, Selenastreae. 
Scenedesmus bijugatus, (Turp) Kutz., 
lake and slough plankton. 

S. quadricauda, (Turp.) Breb, as ab- 

ove. 

Ankistrodesmus  setigiurus 

West, slough plankton. 
Order 2. SrmPHONALEs. 

Family. Vaucheriaceae. 
V. geminata (Vauech) DC. Dog Lake 
in ditches. Vaucheria grows in felty 
masses like moss and may be recog- 
nized from other algae with the naked 
eye. 

Order 3. SIPHONOCLADIALES. 

Family Cladophoraceae. 

Sub-family Cladophoreae. 


(Sehrod) 


Tur CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


39. 


40. 


41. 


42. 


43. 


44. 


50. 


D1. 


55. 
. S. mitada (Dill) Link., ditches Pentie- 


. Chaetophora pisiformis. 


. Mougeotia spec. 


3. Zygnema ericetorum 


. Spirogyra tenuissima, 


113 


Cladopho a ¢ ispata, Roth. Penticton 
Creek, Sept. 

Sub-family Rhizoclonieae. 
Rhizoclonium hieroglyphicum, (Roth) 
Kutz. sloughs, also Marron Lake. 

Order 6. ULorricHALes. 

Family Ulotrichaceae. 
Ulothrix zonata, (Web & Mohr) Kutz., 
common, found in many stations at all 
seasons. 
U. subtilis, Kutz., Okanagan Falls, 
Apr., growing on stones under water, 
where current was swiftest about 12- 
15 miles per hour. 

Family Microsporaceae. 
Microspora tumidula, UHazen, Dog 
Lake, entirely an American species. 
M. stagnorum, (Kutz) Lagerh., com- 
mon in pools more or less stagnant. 

Family Chaetophoraceae. 

Sub-family Chaetophoreae. ; 
(Roth) Ag. 
growing on a floating board. Sloughs. 


. ©. clegans (Roth) Ag. growing on a 


dead stick, sloughs. 


5. C. elegans (Roth) Ag. growing on a 


zen, Dog Lake on a submerged log. 


. Draparnaldia plumosa (Vauch) Ag., 


free floating Ok Lake. 


9. Draparnaldia glomerata, (Vauch) Ag., 


on dead tule Pen 
sloughs. 
Myxonema tenue (Ag) Kutz., Ok Lake. 
Sub-family Microthamnieae. 
Microthamnion Kutzingianum, Nag., 
on dead tule (Scirpus spec.) sloughs. 
Division II. AKONTAE. 
Order 1. ConsuGATAE. 
Family Zygnemaceae. 
Sub-family Mesocarpeae. 
This genus is quite 
common, sterile filaments only. 
Sub-family Zygnemeae. 
(Kutz) Hansg., 
in drying pond by Okanagan River. 
Sub-family Spirogyreae. 
(Hass) 
ponds Penticton Creek, May. 
S. inflata (Vauch) Rabenh., as above. 


(Scirpus spec.) 


Kutz., 


ton, April. 

The family Zygnemaceae is perhaps 
the most widely scattered and by far 
the most noticeable of all the algae. 


a7. Oedogonium 


58. Stipitococeus 


59. Botryococcus 


THE CANADIAN 


That bright green hair-like growth so 
common in ditches and ponds is usual- 
ly made up of one or more members 
of this family. Time will enlarge this 
group greatly in Okanagan. Specific 
identification is possible only when 
filaments are in a fruiting condition 
and zygospores present, an occurrence 
not of great frequeney. As yet I have 
had no success with artificial cultures. 


> 
Family Desmidiaceae. This family 
is not represented in this list as the 
writer has no literature on the subject. 
The extreme difficulty in the study 
of Desmids and the comparative sear- 
city of good literature renders it a 
subject for separate study. The Des- 
mids are none the less of extreme beau- 
ty and great interest, especially in 
the apparent connection between the 
richness of the Desmid flora and the 
older Geological formations. In fu- 
ture, however, I shall be in a position 
to assign the Desmids to their respec- 
tive genera. 
Division 3. STEPHANOKONTAE. 
Order 1. OEDOGONIALEs. 
spec., sterile filaments 
only have been collected. Specific 
identification is impossible except 
when in a fruiting condition, and even 
then it is a matter of difficulty. 


Division 4. HETEROKONTAE. 
Order 1. HeErerococcaEs. 

Family Chlorosaceaceae. 
urceolatus, West, epi- 
phytic on Rhizoclonium hieroglyphi- 
cum. 

Family Botryococeaceae, 
Braunii, Kutz., very 
common in plankton at all seasons. 

Order 2. HererorricHALes. 

Family Tribonemaceae. | 


FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


60. Tribonema, bombycinum (Ag) Derb & 


GL: 


62. 


63. 
64. 


65. 


Sol, common in ditches. 

T. bombycinum forma minor (Wille) 
West, as above. 

Order 3. HirTEROSIPHONALES. 
Family Botrydiaceae. 

Botrydium granulatum, Ehrenb, () 
Grev., uncommon and very interest- 
ing; found on the drying up mud of 
a small lake, May. Growing on flumes 
(at the junction of the boards, where 
slow leakage occurs) to a size much 
larger than usually recorded. 


CLASS PHAEOPHYOEAK,. 


Order SYNGENETICAE. 

Family Chrysomonadinaceae. 
Synura uvella, Ehrenb., slough plank- 
ton. ; 

Uroglena volvox, Ehrenb., as above. 

Family Dinobryaceae. 
Dinobryon cylindricum Imhof., slough 
plankton. 

The system of classification used in 
this list is that of Prof. G. S. West 
in his work on Algae, Vol. 1, Cam- 
bridge Botanical Handbooks, 1916. It 
is, I think, the most: modern: eclassifi- 
cation and in harmony with the latest 
biological experience. 

The species enumerated in this list 
are all positive identifications and are 
for the most part the result of the 
independent observations of Mr. F. L. 
McKeever, F.R.M.S., and myself. A 
ereat. many of the collections were 
made by us jointly, but the micro- 
scopical investigations were carried 
on separately in our own homes. 
Doubtful species and errors are there- 
fore absolutely eliminated. 

The list is as yet woefully incom- 
plete, but I hope in the course of a few 
years to lengthen it to a great: extent. 


bad 


September, 1921. | 


THe CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 115 


AN EXAMPLE OF GRAVITY DEFORMATION IN A LIMESTONE SLAB. 
By E. M. Krnpte. 


It is probably not generally known that 
cemeteries sometimes afford important 
data concerning the modification of certain 
physical characters of gravestones which 
may take place with the lapse of time. 
In the erection of monuments the condi- 
tions for highly instructive experiments 
have been sometimes unconsciously pre- 
pared. It is the purpose of these notes 
to record the results of one of these for- 
tuitous experiments in which gravity has 
produced deformation. 


Numerous examples occur in nature of 
the deformation of consolidated rocks pro- 
duced by lateral pressure and_ gravity 
combined; but no recorded cases of de- 
formation produced by gravity alone un- 
der natural conditions have come under 
the writer’s notice. In the experiments 
of Daubree', Townsend *, Adams*, and 
others, the great changes in shape which 
can be produced in hard rocks and metals 


‘by pressure have been shown, but experi- 


ments in which gravity alone is the active 
factor in deformation have apparently 
been neglec*ed because of the length of 
time required. Experiments aiming to 
produce rock deformation by the action of 
eravity alone appear to have been under- 
taken ‘only in the case of ice. 


Examples may occasionally be found in 
cemeteries which give some definite in- 
formation regarding the amount of flexing 
which may result through the action of 
gravity alone. Such cases are worthy of 
record because they afford data on a phase 
of rock deformation which can hardly be 
approached experimentally, because of the 
time required. 


I 

(1) Etudes Synthetiques de Geologie Experi- 
mentale, 1879. 

(2) Jour. Franklin Inst., Mar. 1878. 

' (3) Geol. Soc. of Am. Bull., Vol. 12, pp. 455- 
461. 

(4) Von Engeln, O.D., Experimental Studies 
and Observations on Ice Structure, Am. Jour. 
of Sci., 4th. ser., Vol. 459-460, fig. 7. 
R. S. Tarr and O. D. von Engeln, Experimen- 
tal Studies of Ice with reference to Glacier 
Structure and Motion, pp. 82-139, fig. 9, Zeit- 
schrift fur Gletscherkunde. Bd. 1x, 1915. 


40, pp. 


King *, Ashley *, and the writer’, have 
described examples of permanent flexing 
in marble slabs which have been supported 
by the ends. Becker *, has noted in old 
buildings such as the Alhambra ‘‘slabs 
of rock very much bent by end pressures 
acting for hundreds of years.’’ 

Previously recorded observations on de- 
formation in cemetery monuments all re- 
fer, with one exception, so far as the writ- 
er is aware, to marble slabs. The excep- 
tion, if it may be so termed, is described 
by Winslow ® as a white crystalline lime- 
stone or marble. 

It is purposed to eall attention here to 
the case of.a limestone slab covering a 
grave in a cemetery in Hull, P.Q. In 
the example under consideration the stone 
is-an unaltered limestone of Trenton age 
as indicated by the fossils which it con- 
tains. 

During the early history of the Ottawa 
Valley slabs of Trenton limestone were 
sometimes used for monuments in the local 
cemeteries. _In the Hull cemetery there 
is a slab of Trenton limestone over one 
of the first graves made in this cemetery 
which is supported on two upright stones 
placed under the two ends, the middle 
portion of the slab being subject to gravi- 
tational pull without any support. This 
has developed in the middle portion of the 
slab a sag amounting to 11% inches. The 
general appearance of this slab is shown 
in the accompanying photograph (Fig. 1). 
This slab has a length of 6 ft. 6 in., a width 
of 2 ft. 10% in. and a thickness of 334 in. 
The inscription on the face of the stone 
indicates that it was placed in position in 
1844 or a little later. The deformation 
which this slab of Trenton limestone has 
suffered has been developed therefore dur- 
ing a time interval of not more than 77 
vears. 


(5) U. S. Geol. Exp., 40th. Par., Vol. I, p. 752. 


(6) Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. Vol. 3, 2nd. ser., 
1890-92 (1893) pp. 319-324. 


(7) Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1894, pp. 49-50. 

(8) Geol. Soc. of Am. Bull-., Vol. IV, 1893, 
p. 53. 

(9) Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. 43, 1892, pp. 133- 
134. 


116 


This slab, with its curved surface, may 
be considered to represent an are of a 
circle which, if completed, would have a 
diameter of 85 feet. In other words, a 
slab of Trenton limestone 334 inches thick 


THe CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


and 266 feet in length could in a period 
of 75 years or less be bent into a cirele 
if subjected to a stress no greater than its 
own weight. 


THE TREATMENT OF SKIN IRRITA-.TIONS DUE TO POISON IVY. 


Thé excessive heat of last summer, caus- 
ing profuse activities of the pores of the 
skin, was to a measure responsible for the 
large number of cutaneous inflammations 
produced by poison ivy. Persons who had 
never before experienced the effects of 
poison ivy succumbed to attacks this year, 
and the usual feeling of security by per- 
considering themselves ‘‘immune’’ 
was largely lost. Observations for a period 
cf years lead me to believe tha* no person 
is permanently immune, unless he succeeds 
in avoiding contact altogether. On the 
contrary, people who heretofore were never 
bothered by the effects of this plant, 
and who claimed to be quite immune, be- 
came violently affected when in a state of 
profuse transpiration. 

The name poison ivy is well known — 
and scores of harmless plants are carefully 
avoided by the camper or picnicker. It is 
remarkable how few people do actually 
know and recognize the plant. All have 
some idea, mainly the wrong one, until 
they experience the effect on their own 


sons 


skin of having come into actual contact. 
Where there is rocky ground or pure sand 
beaches bordering woods, where pines and 
ash grow, there is it necessary to survey 
the ground for this bane of outdoor life. 
Remember the three leaves of poison ivy, 
which distinguish it readily from the five- 
leaved Virginia creeper which it resembles. 
In fall the leaves turn golden brown to 
bright red and are not infrequently gath- 
ered for their glory by the unsuspecting. 
Beware! Beyond the beauty lurks the beast, 
and skin inflammations are sure to follow 
indiscretion. One would expect that people 
would be familiar with the appearance of 
such irritation, but only those actually 
affected remember the symptoms; indeed, 
often enough poison ivy rash is not recog- 
nized by the learned professions. Invar- 
iably children are the victims. Picking 
berries, roaming among the brambles, their 
naked feet covered with harmless minute 
scratches; their energy excites their spores 
to increased activity —and from a few 
hours to a few days after, there appear the 


eX 
oat 


September, 1921.] 


first symptoms of poison ivy injury, at 
first merely a redness, irritable and_ itch- 
ing, slightly raised above the normal skin, 
bordering pricks and scratches — followed 
by a few watery blisters, containing a 
cloudy serous liquid; finally intense irri- 
tation, numerous blisters, and oozing in- 
flamed patches are the result. The ooze is 
conveyed to other parts of the body; eye- 
lids, lips, neck, ete., become involved, and 
the discomfort is great. Children will 
scratch the blisters open, and in severe 
cases there is loss of sleep and appetite. 
The plant comes in for considerable blame 
anyway, but superstition and incorrect or 
inadequate observations have given rise 
to tales of: ‘‘once infected, the infection 
lasts seven years; it recurs every year! in 
fact it is almost hopeless!’’ This assump- 
tion is really nonsense. Yet one comes 
across such comments often enough in text- 
books which should really know better. 
Poison ivy irritations are acute in the first 
place; none of the many children and 
grown-ups whom I have made it my busi- 
ness to watch have ever shown recurrence 
without re-infection. If skin troubles re- 
cur, they we:e not originally due to poison 
ivy. Yet there may be some truth appar- 
ently in the assumption that actual contact 
is not necessary. I doubt this, however, 
from mere lack of positive evidence. No- 
body, of course, ever comes knowingly in- 
to contact with poison ivy. One such case 
is known to me, where afterwards I found 
a vase full of glorious fall-tinged poison 
ivy in the house — with two of the inmates 
suffering from a persistent ‘‘heat rash’’, 
with the usual poison ivy symptoms, 
Not until one of my own children af- 
forded me material for study and experi- 
ment did I become interested in the treat- 
ment of poison ivy. At first — as usual — 
every possible thing was tried, even med- 
ical opinions were sought. Pet remedies 
which everybody seems to possess were 
equally uselessly employed. Baking pow- 
der, sour milk, sulphur soap, lead water, 
lead acetate, boracic powder and _ lotion, 
calamine lotion, potass. permanganate, fat- 


. ty and alcoholic substances, extracts of 
_ Grindelia, the fresh juice of Impatiens, 


were tried one after the other and results 
noted. None of these substances is a eur- 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NAT 


RALIST. 117 


ative; some eased ihe irritation for a mo- 
ment, otaers caused profuse oozing. The 
child was productive of wonderful patches 
until ner shins were covered with one ooz- 
ing, beady sore, 2 inches wide and 8 inches 
long. The usual precautions were taken. 
Tae child was not allowed to swim in the 
river, was cautioned and occasionally ef- 
fectively prevented from scratching, but 
the dose of ivy poisoning persisted until 
the following treatment was resorted to. 
The oozing sores were washed perfectly 
clean with soap and water, followed by 
dubbing with 95 per cent alcohol — which 
latter did no good—but the sores were 
then dried with a clean absorbent towel 
and were painted over from one to three 
times with a cotton wool plug dipped into 
Tincture of Iodine —the usual B. P. tine- 
ture — although later on in cases of adults 
the Churchill tincture was often used. 
This application caused profuse oozing, and 
the ooze was absorbed by dusting with bor- 
acie acid powder. The application of the 
iodine tincture did not cause any pain 
other than that resulting from the actual 
mechanical touch. The smaller sores were 
treated just the same. After 24 hours most 
of the iodine stains had disappeared. The 
skin was again washed as before with soap 
and water, dried, and a second application 
was made, followed 6 hours later by a third. 
Careful attention was paid to any possible 
signs of iodine poisoning, such as redness 
or burns, or any effects ‘from absorption 
of the drug, which is known to oceur in 
certain individuals, but no untoward com- 
plication became noticeable, and the pat- 
ches healed up, most of the minor ones 
after one good application, i. e. allowing 
the first to dry and painting again until 
a good deep-yellow, yet still light brown 
stain resulted. The sores on the shins had 


healed up after a week—three applica- 
tions of tineture of iodine sufficed. Dur- 
ing all this time the child was permitted 
to go in bathing with the rest of the chil- 
dren, without any ill effect to her or the 
others. The preliminary treatments, as de- 
scribed before the iodine was resorted to, 
are not necessary, as further experiments 
and observations proved. In not a single 
case of poisoning with poison ivy did I 
observe failure or ill effects, and a good 


118 THE CANADIAN 
many have been kept under observation 
during the last three years. 

In case there should result any skin ir- 
ritation from the application of Iodine, an 
application of a starch poultice might be 
resorted to. Should any person fear the 
application of Iodine, it is suggested that 
it be not resorted to until the treatment is 
authorized by one’s medical adviser. : 

In conelusion a word may be said about 
the eradication of this undesirable plant. 
Poison ivy will not be killed by a single 
eutting, as new shoots or suckers are per- 
sistently sent up from the root stocks. The 
root stocks must be exhausted by destroy- 
ing the foliage as fast as it appears, either 
by repeated mowing or by .spraying with 
a strong salt brine made at the rate of 3 


- FreELp-NATURALIST, 


[Vol. XXXYV. 


pounds of common salt per gallon of water. 
If the weed is cut or sprayed in June and 
the treatment repeated about: three times 
at intervals of 10 days or two weeks, the 
root stocks will become exhausted and die. 
Arsenate of soda (a violent poison), %4 
pound per gallon of water, or crude oil 
may be substituted for the salt spray. 
Spraying does not affect the roots directly, 
but is simply equivalent to eutting. How- 
ever there is the advantage that one need 
not. come into actual contact with thé plant. 
Spraying with one pound of caustic soda 
dissolved in two gallons of water has been 
found very effective. 


H. T. Gussow, 


Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 


~ 


NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST COAST HERON IN STANLEY PARK, 
VANCOUVER, B.C. 


Having on numerous occasions seen 
herons flying over the City of Vancouver 
I had unsuccessfully endeavored to dis- 
eover their nesting site, and was much 
pleased to hear, on June 9th last, that a 
number of herons were nesting in Stanley 
Park. Without delay and in company 
with two friends I visited the Park, and 
not far from Brockton Point found the 
heronry. It was situated in a very heav- 
ily timbered corner and the main nesting 
site was in a large spruce tree, this tree 
being about 250 ft. in height. We count- 
ed thirty-seven nests in this single tree, 


and about fifteen young birds were in 
view, either sitting up in the nests or 
perched on the branches of the tree. The 


young, which appeared to be half or three- 
quarters grown, kept up an_ incessant 
squawking, which increased fourfold 
whenever a parent bird appeared with 
food. The branches of this spruce tree, 
except for their tips, were deyoid of 
foliage, and tree trunk, branches and nests 
were of a greyish-white colour from the 
birds’ droppings. Much of the vegeta- 
tion close to the ground under the tree 
was dead and everywhere the ground was 
littered with pieces of egg shells, filth, 
etc. I secured a number of egg shells, 
some of which were in excellent condition. 
Two nests and five young dead birds were 


found on the ground beneath the tree; 
two of these were about half grown, two 
about three weeks old, and the fifth about 
one week or ten days old. All five birds 
were more or less decomposed. These 
nests with the young had, no doubt, been 
blown down by a recent heavy wind and 
rain storm. One nest was complete and 
unbroken, and proved to be a bulky affair 
and of solid construction, the outer part 
being constructed of coarse branches about 
half an inch in diameter, while the inside 
was well made with fine twigs securely 
plastered together with refuse and excreta 
from the young birds. From the size, 
the nest must have been in use several 
years, each year having had a little added 
to it. It was between three and four feet 
in diameter outside, while the bowl meas- 
ured eleven inches wide by five inches 
deep; the whole nest was of a greyish- 
white colour as if it had been whitewashed. 
Under the tree three lampreys were found, 
having, no doubt, been dropped by the 
birds when feeding; two of these /fish 
measured 714 inches and one 91% inches, 
two were minus heads and the other lack- 
ed its tail. Several photographs were 
taken by one of my companions, Mr. Ab-. 
bott, and in these the young birds can 
easily be distinguished. 

About two hours were spent watching 


September, 1921.] 


these herons and during that period about 
twelve adult birds visited the tree with food 


for the young. After feeding them they 
would, sometimes rest for five or ten 
minutes before leaving again for their fish- 
ing grounds. Many of the young, which 
I estimated to number from sixty to eighty, 
constantly stood upright and exercised 
their wings back and forth. Two cther 
nesting trees were close by and on these 
also young birds were noticed. 


On June 13th the heronry was again 
visited and another nest was found on 
the ground. It contained three _half- 
grown birds, all so badly fly-blown that 
I was unable to preserve them. One bird 
was weighed and scaled three pounds. Its 
iris was pale lemon-yellow; lower mand- 
ible yellow with upper edge dark horn 
colour; upper mandible, dark; upper part 
of tarsus sulphurous yellow with greenish 
east, the balance of tarsus and toes dull 
bluish-grey; claws very dark. The bill 
measured at culmen 3.00 in., at gap 4.56 
in., tarsus 4.50 in. 

Several more photographs were taken. 
Thirty-six nests could be seen distinctly, 
and these, with the three found on the 
eround, made a total of thirty-nine nests 
in this particular tree. On June 9th five 


THe CANADIAN FreLtp-NATURALIST. 


119 


dead birds were found, and on the 13th 
another small one was located behind a 
log; it had been dead for a long time and 
was, no doubt, out of one of the two first 
nests found. About thirty-five young 
birds were in view on the 13th and careful 
scrutiny failed to reveal more than three 
birds in any one nest, the majority being 
two to each nest, while a few held but a 
single young bird. A fair estimate would 
place the number of adult breeding birds 
at from fifty to sixty. The parent birds 
who hunt for food along the shores cf 
Burrard Inlet, Kitsilano, Point Grey and 
Sea and Lulu Islands only feed the young 
at long intervals. 

A bald eagle was seen to approach the 
nests, when suddenly many of the old 
birds appeared from every direction and 
quickly drove away the unwelcome visitor. 

At the time of writing, July 23rd, many 
of the young birds are flying, but return 
every night to the nesting tree. These 
herons fly at all hours of the night, and I 
very frequently hear them croaking ‘to 
one another between the hours of ten and 
twelve at night, as they fly far overhead 
towards the Park. 

The Stanley Park Heronry has during 
the past few weeks become one of the 
points of interest in the Park, and hun- 
dreds of residents of this city as well as 
visitors now stop to have .a look at the 
curious bird colony, none of the members 
of which appear to be in the least disturb- 
ed, however many people gather about to 
watch them. 

K. Racey, 3262 First Ave. W., 
Vancouver. 


BIRD CENSUS FROM LONDON, ONT. 
By E. M. 8. DALE, 
President, MeIlwraith Ornithological Club. 
For some years our Club has sent in 
reports to ¢he ‘‘Bird /Lore’’ Christmas 
census. . The number of species observed 
has increased from seven in 1910 until now 
a limit seems to have been reached of some 
nineteen or twenty. This probably does 
not indicate more birds here during recent 
years, but rather growing efficiency on the 
part of a larger company of observers, 
combined with increased knowledge of the 
localities most favored by the birds in 
winter. It may be interesting to readers 
of the Canadian Field Naturalist to com- 
pare these lists which are annexed hereto 
in tabulated form. 


120 


Horned Grebe........ 
Hering Gat... 
American Merganser. . . 15 
Lesser Scaup.......... 

American Goldeneye... . 

Ruffed Grouse...... 

Marsh Hawk.. 

Cooper’s Haw ae 

Red-Shouldered Hawk . 

Sparrow Hawk........ 
Long-eared Owl....... 

Screech Owl.......... 

Great Horned Owl.... 

isonptishier | - 22 = 3.) st. 4): 1 
Hairy Woodpecker.... . 

Downy Woodpecker .. . 

Diteiay fe. < Sets. 2 
Ronan ager oto. 57 3 
Redwinged Blackbird . . 

Pine Grosbeak......... 3 
Purple Pinch: 5. h- 2. 

American Crossbill ..... 


Redpolli: eiessn yo. 


ee poe 


Piste Siskan: 4. es cits 
Ss Co gt a ie a te 


2 TET OT a ae ee ee 3 SauvlO 
Song Sparrow......... 

Cardinal . ap enoe 

Northern Shrike....... 1 
Brown Creeper........ 1 
Red-breasted Nuthatch 
White-breasted d if 
Blk.-capped Chickadee . 6 9 
Brown-capped ts 
Golden-crowned Kinglet 10 1 
CTC iy ai a i ea 


th bo Owe 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST. 


[Vol. XXXV. 


1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 
1 


1 3 2 
22 2 20 Zz 
1 
2 10 1 
1 1 2 
Lt 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 1 
1 1 
1 1 if! 1 
2 1 2 2) 
1 3 Cheeta 7 8 8 
1 1 3 i fem (0) 3: -10 8 
19 10 2500 312 1500* {SO 22aae 
i .15 15) se 2 
5 
3 45 55 
i 1 
65 
100 20 5 
30 2 {22s oy) haope 
20. 15 2°28 dogeeee 72 
3 2 1 1 3 5 
7 1 1 3 4 
1 1 1 
5 1 2 ff 4 5 dj 2 
1 1 
5 6 4-210 4; 230 7 3 
28 5 25 78 42) "3o) se eieeeeo 
1 
4 fi 2. 10's 12 2: bea 
ib 


8sp. 12sp. 138sp. 14sp. 13sp. 19sp. 21sp. 18sp. 18sp. 18sp. 


7sp. 
TOTALINDIVIDUALS 95 22. 31 


NOTES 


UnusuaL Micration Recorps IN THE 
Vicinity OF MONTREAL 
No doubt the mild weather during the 

past winter, and the abundance of fruit 

and seeds (especially coniferous seeds) 
limited the movements of a great many 

Northern birds. Throughout South-East- 

ern Canada and the North-Eastern States,at 

least in urban districts, the dearth of birds 
appears to have been general. Of the 


90 105 2561 656 1703 134 323 207 


AND OBSERVATIONS. 


customary winter birds the following were 
seen in the vicinity of Montreal in very 
small numbers: Snowy Owl (2) ; Saw-whet 
Owl (2); Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers ; 
Snow Bunting; White-winged Crossbill; 
Pine Siskin; Goldfinch; Redpoll; Cedar 
Waxwing; White-breasted Nuthatch; Red- 
breasted Nuthatch; Black-capped Chieka- 
dee. 


The unusual occurrences were: Herring ~ 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VOL. XXXV. 


GARDENVALE, QUE., October-December, 1921. 


No. 7. 


A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE BIOTA OF A SAND SPIT IN 


———<J 


LAKE WINNIPEG. 


By CuHas. H. O’DonoauHur, D.Sc., F.ZS. 


Professor of Zoology, University of . Manitoba. 


Early in July, 1918, I was enabled to 
make a short stay of eight days on Berens 
Island, Lake Winnipeg, through the court- 
esy of the Riverton Fish Company of Ri- 
verton, Man. I was accompanied by J. 
Nelson Gowanlock, B.A., Fellow in Zoo- 
logy in the University of Manitoba, and 
we both desire to express our thanks to the 
company for a round trip of some 500 miles 
from Hnausa, taking in Berens Island, and 
also to the men at the fishing camp at 
Swampy Harbour for many favours. 

The main object of the trip was to be- 
come acquainted with the general life con- 
ditions in the great tree belt of the ‘‘Can- 
adian zone’’ which occupies such a large 
part of the Province of Manitoba. To 
this end a camping site was chosen on 
Berens Island which is situated well with- 
in that region and, save for a small corner, 
has not been interfered with by settle- 
ment. Further, the journey there and 
back allowed of short visits to a number 
of typical and practically undisturbed 
spots. 

Adams (1) points out that for satisfact- 
ory ecological study only ‘‘repeated and 
prolonged visits, careful observations, and 
descriptions of the place and animals will 
enable one to acquire the desired famili- 
arity.’’ This was obviously impossible in 
a short stay, but the whole area was so 
full of interest that it seemed highly desir- 
able to call attention to its possibilities, 
and, further, it was hoped that opportu- 
nities would occur later to revisit the spot 
or perhaps induce other people to do so 
and continue the work in a more satis- 
factory manner. This hope has not been 
realised, and the present paper makes no 
pretence at completeness but is intended to 
serve as an introductory survey. 

The following notes relate particularly 
to a sketch of the life conditions on a sand 


spit of Berens Island. Similar spits oc- 
cur at other places on the lake, but, so 
far as I know, none combine so fully two 
important considerations, namely accessi- 
bility and, at the same time, almost com- 
plete freedom from human interference. 
In Shelford’s terms it is a ‘‘primeval or 
primary community’’ (7). Press of work 
has prevented their publication at an ear- 
lier date. It is hoped, however, that they 
will be of some interest and serve to eall 
attention, inter alia, to the fact that prac- 
tically no ecological studies have been 
earried out on the islands and shores of 
freshwater lakes in Northern Canada 
where the conditions differ greatly from 
those farther south. 

Berens Island is one of the two large 
islands in the northern part of Lake Win- 
nipeg and lies approximately in latitude 
52 deg. 15 min. N. and longitude 97 deg. 15 
min. W. Its greatest length is eight miles 
and its greatest width four. The north- west 
sandy shore stretches in a very shallow cur- 
ve for about seven and a half miles and faces 
the north-west corner of the lake which is 
over 120 miles away. The remaining part 
of the coast is more indented and rocky 
and has a large rounded projection on the 
south corner. As is well known. the east- 
ern and western shores of Lake Winnipeg 
differ markedly in character owing to the 
nature of the formation on which they lie. 
The former is composed of the Laurentian’ 
rocks, and the latter of Cambfo-Silurian 
and a certain amount of alluvial .drift. Al- 
though the island lies nearer the eastern 
than the western shore, it is nevertheless 
inside the limits of the Cambro-Silurian 
but must lie very near the junction be- 
tween the two. The island is well within 
the limits of the Canadian zone and its 
characteristic trees are the Spruce, Picea 
mariana, and the Tamarack, Larix laricina, 


122 


with one or two clumps of Silver Birch, 
Betula alba var. papyrifera, and groups of 
Populus balsamifera. It includes, at any 
rate, one large grass swamp and much 
muskeg, and is similar to most other is- 
lands in the lake. The climate is typical 
of that of the surrounding region, dry, 
much of the precipitation taking the form 
of snow in the fairly long winter. The 
lake all around is frozen for 5 months or 
so and the temperature may drop to 
—40 deg. F. or sometimes lower. 

The southern portion of the north-west 
eoast for 2—214 miles is formed by a 
large spit of land continuing the general 
line of the coast and only separated from 


Zz 


rs) 


BURTON 


— Z 
ye 


THE CANADIAN EIELD-NATURALIST 


. 
~ 


= 1S jeaiote 


[Vol. XXXV 


a well-wooded island known as Burton or 
Little Black Island by a narrow channel 
30-40 yards wide. This main spit, there- 
fore, includes between it and the south end 
of the island a large wide open bay. The 
spit is composed mainly of sand which on 
its western side takes the form of dunes 
rising fairly rapidly from the water but 
sloping more gradually on the eastern side. 
Near the main island the dunes are 15 to 
20 feet high but the last part of the spit is 
almost flat. From the east side of the 
main spit two smaller spits are given off. 
The one nearer to the island runs first 
almost east then north-east and finally al- 
most north back towards the island and 


BERENS 


Fig. 1.— Rough sketch map of Berens Island. D, Dune area; G. S., large grass 
and reed swamp; M. muskeg; S. the spit on which the camp was pitched 
and the collections made; S. H. Swampy Harbour. 


Oct.-Dec. 1921. ] 


so encloses a sheet of water 150—200 
yards wide and 200-300 long. The one 
farther from the island runs almost due 
east for nearly 500 yards and gives off at 
its extremity another smaller spit about 
170 yards long pointing to the north. This 
second spit, therefore, encloses a still lar 
ger bay which includes the former spit. 
and this bay and its eastern end come over 
to within about 14 mile of the southern ex. 
tremity of the island. In this way there is 
formed a very good harbour known to the 
fishermen as Swampy Harbour and _ for 
this reason the whole island is sometimes 
erroneously referred to as Swampy Island. 

The main ridge and its side spits form 
an environmental complex that is in many 
ways similar to that on the shores of Lake 
Michigan in the vicinity of Waukegan, and 
its biota (tetal life content both animal 
and plant) must be on the whole fairly 
similar save for the effects of its more 
northern position and the somewhat dif. 
ferent forest associations with which it is 
sur: ounded. 

The observations were made on this se 
eond spit which has the form of an L and 
may be treated as a small ecological unit. 
Its long stem coming off from the main 
spit runs east by a trifle south, and is about 
500 yards long by 100 yards wide. On 
each side it slopes off very gradually 
under the water, on the north to the inner 
bay and on the south to the outer bay. It 
has three crests running along it, the high- 
est of which is about 714 feet high and les 
near the southern side. The short stem of 
the L is about 170 yards long by 23 yards 
wide and runs north by a trifle east. On 
the west side of this the water (of the inner 
bay) is very shallow, but on the east side 
it is deeper, particularly at the heel of the 
L, so that the fisheries steamer ‘‘ Lady o/ 
the Lake’’ is able to run alongside a very 
short pier. At this point are the cleaning 
shed, the store house, bunk house and cook 
house used in both summer and winter 
fisheries by about a dozen men. The short 
stem of the L is used for work on the nets 
and boats, ete., and is sandy without any 
vecetation. Our own camp was pitched 
avout half way along the spit. It is quite 
obvious that the spit is much younger than 
the main ridge from which it springs, for 
while the latter has several groups of fair- 
sized poplars, Populus balsamifera, the 
former has only much smaller ones, and 


THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST 


the largest of these occur at the place where 
it comes off the main stem. It therefore 
represents a comparatively recently form- 
ed spit of sand and fine shingle that is 
being established and overgrown by ve- 
getation. 

The mest st iking feature is the manner 
in which the plants are arranged in rows 
parallel with the axis of the spit, each row 
characterised by the presence of a part- 
icvlar species or group of species. On 
standing at either end and looking along 
the spit this cannot fail to be remarked, 
for it almost looks as if it weve arranged 
and was tommented on by two of the fish- 
ermen quite independently. About eleven 
of these zones can fairly readily be dis- 
tinguished and may be named according 
to the prominent vegetation characterising 


them. Thus, starting on the south, we 
have :— 

A 23 feet shore sand zone 

B21 “* Zone of sot sand 


C 25 ‘*  artemisia zone 


D 29 ‘*  veteh zone 

E 28 ‘‘  golden-rod zone 

Fo25 ‘* rose zone 

G 31 ‘‘ astralagus zone 

H 21 ‘‘ second veteh zone 

J 45 ‘* willow and poplar zone 
K 13 ‘‘ grass zone 

L 40 ‘‘ shore sand zone 


To which may be added 
M the water zone on the inner side. 

The grasses extend through nearly all 
the zones, but in K they are very close and 
are the only noticeable plants; they form 
the main part of the vegetation of zone J. 
The two shore zones are partly covered 
when the water is high, and were probably 
submerged in 1916 and 1917 when the 
whole lake level was slightly higher than 
in -1918. 

“ne Tollowing table gives an idea of the 
zonation. It provides a list of the plants 
found and the zones in which they were 
distributed. To convey some idea of the 
amount of vegetation present, letters have 
been employed. They are by no means ac- 
curate, but time was too short to allow of 
taking unit counts. Thus ‘‘extremely 
ecommon’’ means that the area was well 
covered with the species and n. ec. means 
that examples only occurred here and there, 
often as stragglers from the next zone. 
**Rare’’ is meant to indicate that only a 
few specimens occurred on the whole length 


124 THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST [Vol. XXXV 


PLANTS ZONES 
FAMILY SPECIES C D. E..¥ .G bd. eee 
Equisetaceae Equisetum arvense L........... r,, Deas  Upaecs 
Najadaceae Potomogeton interior Rydb.. ... : ve 
fs richardsoni ”’ .. ne 
Gramineae Alopecurus pratensis L........ r ec 
Calamagrostis canadensis 
_ [Michx. Beauv. ne ne ne 
Deschampsia caespitosa ”” Cu Ce ee eae 
Hordeum jubaium Vs... 2. se . DC OF ne ec. € 
Pea trflora Gib, cate 2c a so soa oe NC; at 
Cyperacee Carex aquatilis Wahlenb....... r e€ 
7 \DEUOEE OME Wc cc ietche 5 Ne* cy | ne c 
7 wrvidula MaGhR. . «<4: ne 
Eleocharis acicularis L........ r ec ve 
us DAVESIIS dics ehhes ti c ec ne 
Lemnacee LCDI TTESUTE TE Nak oe ote oka cco: I 
Juncacee Juncus balticus Willd. var. 
[littoralis tC seem 
Salicacese Populus balsamifera L......... ne ne c 
Salix candida Flugge......... nec ne’ ne 
oF ASCOLOT WAM eee Ss ne ne ne ne ne 
7y “bongijelta Muhl:.? ....-.< 5. ne ne -F 
7. lueida Mahliz ey es ss ne ne ne ne ne 
™ PeltW ANGE Sens > oo. ne ne 
Urticaceze Ulmus americana l. ......... r(1) 
Polygonacez Polygonum aviculareL........ ne ve 
y Perstconats.. 22... ne 
Chenopodiacez ChenopodiumalbumL......... ne 
Caryophyllacee  Stellaria longipes Goldie....... sy - ne 
Ranunculacez Anemone canadensis.......... r ne 
Ranunculus flammula L. var 
[reptans Mey.. ne 
, macounit Brit... .. ne 
Rosacee Fragoriavesta Wao fs 6d. ne ne ve ne 
Potentilla Anserina L......... ne ne, $ 
ae rivalis Nutt. var. 
[pentandra Wats. Crt 


Rosa ‘blavida: Ast.) eh ..: r nc ec ‘rT, ne 


Oct.-Dee. 1921.] THE CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST 125 
PLANTS ZONES 
FAMILY SPECIES C Dy Heese A-s KL OM 
Rubus idexus L. var. strigosus 
[Max. fi «me 
Leguminose Australagus aboriginorum Rich.r r ne ne ec ner 
Lathyrus maritimus L.. ...... r ne ne 
Vicia americana Mubhl. . ve G> (G5, he ve 
Anacardiaceze PONS UIUTE Vie) ees a 5 x a,> + r(4) 
Onagracee Oenothera biennts L........... Ne... tie T 
ede Sr ere ae ee Sie 5 i r ne 
Haloragidacee Myriophyllum spicatum L..... ne 
Umibellifere Sium cicutezfolium Schr........ c ne Ny 
Cornacee Cornus stolonifera Michx. . (1) r(lyrer r(1) 
Labiate — Mentha arvensis L. var. cana- 
[densis Bri. ... ne 
Composite Achillea millefolium L...... ne 
Artemisia caudata Michx...... ne ne ne .¢ +c 
Solidago canadensis L......... ne ec ec ne 
eT Fos ey wile 'tn ne. €) “ne ne ne 
ec extremely common. ve very common. ¢ common. ne not com- 
mon. r rare. 


of the zone. It will be obvious, of course, 
that the term ‘“‘very common’’ has quite a 
different value in numbers of plants to a 
unit area when applied to say roses and 
grass. 

The plants were kindly identified for me 
by Mr. C. W. Lowe of Winnipeg. 

The foregoing list is typical of the flora 
of sandy areas in the region of Lake Win- 
nipeg with perhaps the possible exception 
of Astralagus aboriginorum. This does not 
appear to be common in the province and 
is listed by Rydberg (6) as a mountainous 
_ or sub-mountainous species and is not 
stated to occur in the province by Gray 
(2). 

While it is true that on the whole the 
zonation is striking in its regularity, there 
are two noteworthy exceptions. Firstly, 
at the east end in the neighborhood of the 
camp which has been used both in sum- 
mer and winter for some years, the zones 
are mixed. There are one or two old camp 


sites and frequently dog teams are tether- 
ed at this point. Apart from this, how- 
ever, there is a large clump of willows ex- 
tending across several zones and these give 
shelter to plants — Anemone canadensis, 
Achillea millefolium, Rubus idaeus var. 
strigosus and Fragaria vesca — not at all 
common elsewhere. 

Secondly, at the end wilave the spit joins 
the main ridge there is a transverse ridge 
of limestone ‘pebbles which are overgrown 
with lichens, including Cladonia pyzidata, 
and are obviously older than the remain- 
ing part of the ridge. Among the peb- 
bles, remains of a few Ammonites (*) were 
found but they were too worn and broken 
to be identified. This partly juts into the 
daughter spit, noticeably at zone H, and 
partly also at G and K, and the west end 
of these zones include part of the zonation 


of the main ridge. The plants here, Popu- 
* These appear to be Maclurea and perhaps 
M. Manitobaensis. 


126 CANADIAN 


4 


THE 


men are camping there they have one or 
more dog teams about. 
Family Sciuridae. 

No actual specimen was taken or seen 
but near the camp were tracks which I 
think belonged to :— 

Sciurus hudsonicus Erxleben. 

Citellus franklim Sabine. 

Family Muridae. 

Peromyscus maniculatus 
Mearns, the arctic deer mouse. 
cimens were taken at the camp. 

One of the fishermen reported having 
seen a ground squirrel — presumably C1- 
tellus franklini — and the mouse was not 
uncommon. 

On the main island tracks of the lynx, 
Lynx canadensis, and the fox, Vulpes ful- 
va. were encountered, but not on the spit, 
and one evening a timber wolf, Canis occi- 
dentalis, was seen on the island opposite 
the spit. 


arcticus, 
Two spe- 


Cuass AVES. 


Somewhat fuller notes are provided in 
the case of the birds since Mr. J. N. Gowan- 
lock was particularly interested in them. 
I here wish to express my thanks to him 
for his assistance in this matter. The 
numbers are those of the Catalogue of 
Canadian Birds. (5) 


ORDER LONGIPENNES. 
Family Laridae. 


(51.) Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 
Herring Gull. A common visitant fishing 
along the shores of the spit. Groups some- 
times alighted to sun themselves along the 
southern side. 

(54.) Larus delawarensis Ord. Ring- 
billed Gull. Associated with but in lesser 
numbers than the preceding. 

(64.) Sterna caspia Pallas, Caspian 
Tern. The nearest breeding-place of these 
birds was on Pelican Island and on only 
two or three occasions were individuals 
(in one instance a dozen or more) observed 
passing over the spit in company with the 
two following species. 

(69.) Sterna forstert Nuttall. Forster’s 
Tern. Constantly in search of fish, these 
birds occurred along the waters bordering 
the sandspit. 

(70.) Sterna hirundo Linnaeus. Com- 
mon Tern. Like the last, this bird fished 
regularly along the shores of the sandspit, 


EIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXV 


lus balsamifeia, Eqwsetum 
some glasses, seem to be 
daughter spit. 

The whole spit is exposed and the plants 
not so advanced as in more sheltered parts. 
Thus while roses, Rosa blanda, were in 
flower on Big Island on July 5th, the first 
one to come out on the spit was on July 
10th. Again, ripe strawberries were com- 
mon on Big Island on the same day but 
did not ripen plentifully on the spit until 
July 12th. It is, of course, not protected 
by trees and so exposed to the winds; this 
was a decided advantage, for the camp 
was practically free from the mosquitoes 
which are such a pest on the main part of 
the island. 

One of the most striking features in the 
distribution of the plants is that on each 
side we have zones that are well covered 
with plants, ie. D, E and F on the south 
and J and K on the north, while G and H 
between them are very sparse indeed. If 
we rule out the invasion at the west end 
and the poplar clumps at the east they are 
almost bare. B in particular is sandy and 
has all along it a line of drift showing that 
within the last few years it was the shore 
of the inner bay. Drift is also found on 
the inner side of H. 


- ANIMAL LIFE. 


As might be:expected the animal life on 
such an area is not extensive, but a num- 
ber of different forms were taken. 

While an attempt was made to identify 
the specimens and a number were actually 
identified, I soon realised that in the ab- 
sence of ready access to a large library 
and well stocked museum, the task conld 
not be satisfactorily accomplished. I there- 
fore threw myself on the generosity of my 
fellow-scientists who, without exception, 
gave me their assistance. In each case I 
have cited the authorities responsible for 
the determination of the species. The 
United States National Museum, Washing- 
ton, through the kind offices of Dr. Al- 
drich were good enough to identify many 
of the insects, and the name of the part- 
icular expert, followed by U. S. Nat. Mus., 
is associated with the forms they deter- 
mined, 


arvense and 
invading the 


Cuass MAMMALIA. 


Mammals were rare on the point, per- 
haps owing to the fact that whenever the 


ae 


Oct.-Dec. 1921.] 


especially over the shallower waters of 
the inner bay. 


ORDER STEGANOPODES. 


Family Phalacrocoracidae. 


(119.) Phalacrocorax auiitus auritus 
Lesson. Double-crested Cormorant. Noted 
once, flying over the sandspit, three indi 
viduals in company with ducks. 


Family Pelecanidae. 


(125.) Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gme. 
lin. White Pelican. From one to eight 
or more of these birds fished partically 
every morning and evening in the inner 
bay and on one occasion one was en- 


countered on the spit itself three-quarters , 


of the way to the fish-station. 
OrDER ANSERES. 


Family Anatidae. 


(132). Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus 
Mallard. 
(139.) Nettion carolinense Gmelin 


Green-winged ‘Teal. 

(140.) Querquedula discors Linnaeus 
Blue-winged Teal. 

These three species were frequently 
noted passing in flight over the spit, es. 
pecially at evening. 

(149.) Marila affinis, Eyton, Lesser 
Seaup Duck. A few seen in the evenings a 
short distance from shore. 


ORDER PALUDICOLAE. 
Family Rallidae. 


(214.) Porzana carolina Linnaeus. Sora 
Rail. The characteristic notes of this rail] 
were heard at the ma'shy portion of the 
spit toward Plover Point. 


ORDER LIMICOLAE. 
Family Scolopacidae. 


(239.) Pisobia maculata Vieillot. Pect- 
oral Sandpiper. Noted several times feed. 
ing along the beaches of the spit. 

(254.) Totanus melanoleucus Gmelin 
Greater Yellow-legs. Noted on the spit. 

(256.) Helodramus solitarius solitarius 
Wilson. Noted quite regularly along the 
inner shore of the sandspit, especially in 
the evening. 

(263.) Actitis macularia Linnaeus. Spot- 
ted Sandpiper. Noted several times on the 
beaches of the spit. - 


THe CANADIAN FYELD-NATURALIST 12 


Family Charadriidae. 


(273.) Oxyechus vocife us Linnaeus. 
Killdeer. Noted feeding along the beaches 
of the spit. 


(277.) Aegialitis meloda Ord. Piping 
Plover. Noted one morning along the 
outer beach. Nested at Plover Point, 


where parents and young were collected. 
ORDER RAPTORES. 


Family Buteonidae. 


(331.)  Cireus hudsonius Linnaeus. 
Marsh Hawk. Observed passing over point 
several times and on one occasion it was 
noted qua:tering near the camp in search 
of prey. 


ORDER COCCYGES. 
Family Alcedinidae. 


(390.) Ceryle aleyon Linnaeus. Belted 
Kingfisher. This conspicuous bird was a 
rather infrequent fisher along the inner 
shoreline of the sandspit. 


ORDER MACROCHIRES. 
Family Caprimulgidae. 

(420.) Chordeiles virginianus subsp. 
Gmelin. Nighthawk. This species was a 
regular visitor on the spit near camp at 
evening, a half a dozen or more being noted 
or heard at one time. 


ORDER PASSERES. 
Family Coracidae. 


(488). Corvus brachyrhynchos 6} achy- 
rhynchos Brehm. Crow. Flocks composed 
of as many as a hundred individuals reg- 
ularly visited the beaches of the sandspit 
in search of dead fish. Single individuals 
could be observed in the vicinity at almost 
any hour of the day but the large flocks 
usually came at evening and morning. 


Family Icteridae. 


(495). Molothrus ater Boddaert. Cow- 
bird. Noted as a visitant about the camp. 
(497). NXanthocephalus xanthocephalus 
Bonaparte. Yellow-headed Blackbird. This 
species was noted several times around 
camp, usually together with one or both of 
the following blackbirds. 
(498.) Agelaius phoeniceus subsp. Lin- 
naeus. Noted as a visitant on the sandspit. 
(511b). Quiscalus quiscula aeneus Ridg- 
way. Bronzed Grackle. A. common species 


J 


12 THE CANADIAN 


C 


on the spit, it probably bred somewhat 
south of the camp earlier in the season. 


Family Fringillidae. 


(542). Passerculus sandwichensis subsp., 
Gmelin. Savannah Sparrow. This species 
was the commonest sparrow on the spit 
where it appeared to be nesting in the scat- 
tered shrubs some distance from camp on 
the inner shore. At any rate four pairs 
were actually found nesting on the spit. 

(560). Spizella passerina Bechstein. 
Chipping Sparrow. A resident, but not 
numerous, along the inner face of the 
sandspit. 

(567). Junco hyemalis Linnaeus. Slate- 
coloured Junco. Juneoes were several 
times noted as visitants to the spit, prob- 
ably coming from their breeding places 
across the inner bay. 

(581). Melospiza melodia subsp. Wilson. 
Song Sparrow. The Song Sparrow was a 
resident in fair numbers along the sand- 
spit. 

(584). Melospiza georgiana lUatham. 
Swamp Sparrow. Noted several times on 
the spit. 


Family Bombycillidae. 


(619). Bombycilla cedrorum  Vieillot. 
Cedar Waxwing. Flocks of from five to 
twenty Waxwings very frequently visited 
the spit. The species did not appear to 
have begun nesting at this time. 


Family Vireonidae. 


(624). Vzireosylva olicacea Linnaeus. 
Red-eyed Vireo. Widely distributed 
throughout the whole Lake Winnipeg re- 
gion, the Red-eyed Vireo frequently visit- 
ed the spit. It nested commonly across the 
bay. 


Family Mniotiltidae. 


(652). Dendroica aestiva aestiva Gme- 
lin. Yellow Warbler. Resident on the spit; 
the Yellow Warbler was, however, much 
less numerous here than on the inner por- 
tion of Plover Point. 

(657). Dendroica magnolia Wilson, Ma- 
gnolia Warbler. Noted as an infrequent 
visitant on the spit. 

(660.) Dendroica castanea Wilson, Bay- 
breasted Warbler. Noted once in shrubs 
on the spit. 

(662). Dendroica fusca Miiller. Black- 
burnian Warbler. This species which bred 


FYeELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXV 


commonly on other parts of the island was 
several times observed on the sandpoint. 

(675a). Seiurus noveboracensis notabi- 
lis Ridgway. Grinnell’s Water Thrush. Ob- 
served frequently feeding singly along the 
inner shore line. 

(687.) Setophaga. ruticilla Umnaeus. 
Redstart. A common nesting species across 
the island, the Redstart was noted several 
times as a visitant on the sandspit. 

Family Sittidae. 

(727.) Sitta carolinensis subsp. Latham. 
White-breasted Nuthatch. Observed once 
or twice on the spit. 

Family Paridae. 

(735). Penthestes atricapillus septen- 
trionalis Harris. Long-tailed Chickadee. 
A common breeding species in woods across 
the bay, the Chickadee not infrequently 
visited the sandspit in its characteristic 
wanderings. 

Other interesting birds were encounter- 
ed during the trip, some of which have 
been reported previously (4). 


CLASS REPTILIA. 


No reptile was actually found on the spit 
but a larger specimen (about 32 in. long) 
of the Garter Snake was taken on the main 
island opposite the end of the spit. So 
far as I know this is the most northerly 
point in the province from which this spe- 
cies has been recorded. I should judge 
that it is by no means common, for, on 
the news of its capture reaching an Indian 
camp at the end of the island, the In- 
dians came over and solemnly requested 
to be shown the snake which some appa- 
rently then saw for the first time. 


Family Colubridae. 
Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis Say. 


CLASS AMPHIBIA. 


The amphibia were not found as a rule 
on the spit which was dry, but lived in 
the damp grass marsh of the main ridge. 


Often in the evening they would come out 


on the shore of the spit and the following 
were taken there. 


Family Bufonidae. 
Bufo hemiophrys Cope. Quite common. 
Family Hylidae 
Pseudacris septentrionalis 
Rare, 1 specimen. 


Boulenger. 


Oct.-Dec. 1921.] 


Family Ranidae. 
Rana pipiens Schreiber. Not common. 


CLASS INSECTA 


Insects, while abundant on the island, 
were not very common on the spit. Un- 
fortunately, time did not allow the taking 
of satisfactory notes, and also in several 
instances the preservation was so bad as 
to prohibit the accurate determination of 
the species. Some interesting forms were 
encountered. 

ORDER ODONATA. 


Dragon flies were plentiful on the is- 
land but the only species taken on the 
spit was Nehalennia irene Hagen (B.P. 
Currie, U.S. Nat. Mus.) . 


ORDER NEUROPTERA 


The following were taken on the spit 
but their faulty preserva‘ion did nct allow 
of an accurate identification. 

Limnephilidae, 2 species; Phryganea, 1 
species; Ephemeridae, 1 species (immat- 
ure) (A. N. Candel, U. S. Nat. Mus.) 


ORDER ORTHOPTERA 


A number of grasshoppers were taken 
but all of them were in an immature con- 
dition and all belonged to the genus Mela- 
noplus. They were kindly identified for 
me by Mr. Norman Criddle of Treesbank, 
Manitoba, as follows :— 

Melanoplus atlantis, M. dawson and M. 
femur rubrum or angustipennis. 


ORDER HEMIPTERA 


The following were taken: 

Capsus ater, adult and young; Nabis sp. 
nymph; several specimens of family Corix- 
idae not identified. (W. L. McAtee, Bio- 
logical Survey, U. S. Nat. Mus.) 


ORDER LEPIDOPTERA. 

Family Nymphalidae, Brenthis aphirape 
var.dawsoni; Phyciodes tharos Drury; Ba- 
silarchia dissipus Godart; Basilarchia ar- 
themis Drury var. lamina Fab. 

Family Papilionidae, Papalio machaon 
(L) var. aliaska Scudder. 

Family Sphingidae, Smerinthus cerisyt 
Kby. 

Family Noctuidae, Aeronyta (Apatela) 
dactylina Grote; Hadena allecto. 

Family Notodontidae, Phaeosia rimosa 
_ Pask, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


129 


Family Geometridae, Rhewmaptera has- 
tata L. 

In additicn the larvae of Malasosoma 
fragilis Stretch and a number of uniden- 
tified Noctuids were collected. The stems 
of a number of the Goldenrods were pa- 
rasitised by Gnorioschema gallaesolidogi- 
nis Riley. 

ORDER DIPTERA. 

The Diptera were kindly identified for 
me by Dr. J. M. Aldrich of the United 
States National Museum as follows :— 

Tabanus affinis, Kirby; Tabanus sep- 
tentrionalis, Loew; If{aematopota ameri- 
cana, O. 8.; Chrysops carbonaria, Walker ; 
Chrysops lupus, Whitney; Sphaerophoria 
scrvipta, L.; Phormia regina, Mg.; Phor- 
mia terrae-novae, R. D.; Cynomyia cadave- 
rina, R. D.; Hylemyia  tricho-dactyla, 
Rond; Anthomyia radicum, L.; Laspa sp. ; 
Spathiophora fascipes, Beck; Sciomyza 
simplex, Fall; Camptoprosopella vulgaris, 
Fitch; Dicraeus incongruns, Ald.; Anaros- 
toma marginata, Loew; Fucellia maritima, 
Halliday ; and a new genus and species of 
the family Sapromyzidae. The Tipulidae 
and Chironomidae were not well enough 
preserved for identification. 

Dr. Aldrich has called attention to 
several interesting forms in the foregoing 
list. 

The fly Hydrophorus agalma Wheeler is 
of considerable interest; it has only been 
recorded so far from Battle Creek, Mich., 
the type locality, and from Ridgeway, Ont. 
It belongs to a very abundant family the 
Dolichopodidae, whose larval stages have 
up to the present almost wholly escaped 
observation. In North America so far the 
larval stage of only one species, Thryp- 
tiens muhlenbergiae Johannsen, is known 
and this is a stem-miner in plants very dif- 
ferent from the present species. 

The specimens were taken in water only 
a few inches deep on the north side of the 
spit where it joined the main ridge. The 
bottom here is a mixture mainly composed 
of sand with a little mud, and owing to its 
sheltered position is practically undisturb- 
ed. Unfortunately, owing to lack of time, 
no satisfactory observations were made on 
the life history of this form. The larvae 
build for themselves cocoons of the sand 
about 8 mm. long and in these also they 
pupate so that the cocoons collected con- 
tained both larvae and pupae. How or 


1: 


3) 


0 THE CANADIAN 


when ‘he flies escape f:om the cocoons 
was not ascertained, but from the posi- 
ticn they were in it is clear that a slight 
fall in the level of the lake such as fol- 
lows a change in the wind or comes nat- 
urally in the hot sammer weather would 
leave the cocoons on the dry sand and 
probably the flies would escape at such a 
time. This habit of forming sand eceoons 
is apparently unique, for there is no re- 
cord in Europe of the early stages of this 
genus (nor indeed of any other genus 
forming sand cccoons), and the species 
would doubtless repay further study. 

Spathiophora fascipes Beck, is a Euro- 
pean species that has been recorded in 
North America only from one locality on 
the shores of Lake Erie and two on Lake 
Michigan. 

Amorostoma marginata Loew, is a form 
that is very difficult to see. It lives on 
the bare sand of the dunes of the main 
ridge and the sandy shore line of the spit. 
An allied species A. maculata lives in a 
similar habitat at Pacifie Grove, Califor- 
nila. 

Fucellia ma itima Halliday is also of 
considerable interest since it is normally a 
sea shore form breeding in decaying sea- 
weeds. It is abundant on the eastern 
coast of the United States as far south as 
Cape Hatteras and on the West coast of 
Europe. While it has been found ocea- 
sionally inland in Europe, it has only been 
reported by Malloch from Waukegan, II1., 
on Lake Michigan, and the United States 
National Museum until now had no speci- 
mens from any inland water. It is to be 
noted that the sand beaches of this area are 
very similar to the spit on which the spe- 
cies was taken. 

Four specimens cf a Sapromyzid fly 
were taken, which Dr. Aldrich informs me 
belong to a new genus and new species that 
he hopes he will be able to describe shortly. 


ORDER COLEOPTERA. 


The Coleoptera were kindly identified 
for me by Mr. J. B. Wallis, of Winnipeg, 
as follows :— 

“amily Cicindelidae, Cicindela duode- 
cimguttata De}. var. bucolica, Casey; Ci- 
cindela hirticolis Say; Family Cambidae, 
Bembidion ca inula Cho., Family Omo- 
phronidae, Omophron  tersalatum Say; 
Family Dytiscidae, Ilybius angustior Gyll; 
Family Gyrinidae, Gyrinus maculiventris 


FIeELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXV 


Lee; Family Silphidae, Silpha tritubercu- 
lata Kby; Family Staphylinidae, Creophi- 
lus marillosus var. villosus Grav; Family 
Histeridae, Sap inus frate:nus Say; Fa- 
mily Phalaeridae, Olib: us semiatriatus (?) 
Lee; Family Coccimellidae, Coccinella per- 
plera Muls (?) trifasciata L; Coccinella 
tiansversoguttata Fald; Family Scaraba- 
eidae, Phyllophaga anxria Lee (dubia 
Smith); Family Chrysomelidae, Callig a- 
pha multipunctata Say; Galerucella nym- 
phaeae 1; Tre habda netidicols lec 
(larva of this cr closely related species— 
A. O. Boviry, U. S. Nat. Mus.) ;" Mamtaly 
Curculionidae, Hylobius confusus Kby. 

The tiger beetles C. histicollis were seen 
occasionally on the beach in the bright sun 
but proved difficult to catch.’ On July 
12th, 13th and 14th they were more plenti- 
ful and many pairs were copulating. When 
disturbed they do not separate but fly to- 
gether, the male, as far as cculd be seen, 
carrying the female. This made the flight 
slower and the insects more easy to cap- 
ture. They were not seen so plentifully 
although July 16th was apparently an ideal 
day. The species is not at all common in 
the province and local in its distribution. 

The beetles C. multipunctata’ were ex- 
tremely common on the willow bushes and 
all stages from eggs to perfect forms were 
obtained on July 10th. Cer*‘ain small 
bushes they entirely stripped of leaves and 
their choice of species was marked. They 
attacked mainly Salir lucida and S. dis- 
color, less frequently S. longifolia, and 
never S. peltita or S. candida. In one ease, 
even when practically all the leaves of a 
small S. lucida were eaten, they did not at- 
tempt to ea* those cf an S. candida the 
twigs of which were actually mixed with 
and touching their food plant. 

The species Creophilus villosus was 
found entirely in the shed where the fish 
were cleaned and packed and was quite 
common there. 

Phyllophaga anxia was not taken at 
first, but during the evening of July 8*h 
large numbers of them were flying about 
and probably a hundred or two dropped 
into the camp fire. The next day they 
were found on the spit, but not at all 
plentifully. On the evening of the 10th 


they were again flying in large numbers 


and fell into the fire. It would appear as 
if they were in course of migration, fer 
only a very few were found after that date. 


Oct.-Dee. 1921.} 


It will be noticed that in quite a num- 
ber of cases the foregoing list of beetles, 
small though it is, extends the recorded 
range of most of the species as given by 
Leng (3). 
ORDER HYMENOPTERA. 

The following were taken but mostly not 
well enough preserved for accurate identi- 
fication. 

Larva of a saw-fly Tenthredinidae (E. 
A. Sehwarz, U. S. Nat. Mus.) 

Camponotus  herculeanus L 
Mann, U. 8S. Nat. Mus.) 

Nematus erichson. Htg; Bombus sp.; 
Megachile sp.; Adrena sp.; Sphex fragilis 
Sm.; Sphex uruaria Dahle; Chelonus sp.; 
Pteronidea sp. (S. A. Rohwer, U. 8. Nat. 
Mus.) ; Zaleptopygus imcompletus Prov.; 
Adiastola sp. (R. A. Cushman, U. S. Nat. 
Mus.). 


(W. M. 


CLASS ARACHNIDA. 
Dictyna volupis Keys; Clubiona riparia 
Koch; Tetragnatha laboriosa Hentz; Meta 
menardi Latr.; Epeira trivittata Keys. 
(C. R. Shoemaker, U. 8. Nat. Mus.) 
MOLLUSCA. 


Zone L_ slopes up gradually from the 
water and the slope is continued in K, but 
it reaches its apex there and drops slightly 
before passing over into zone J. In this 
small inner slope of zone K, particularly 
at the west end, are groups of the shells of 
molluses probably deposited there a year 
or so before when the lake level was higher. 
From these the following have been kindly 
identified by Dr. F. C. Baker of Illinois. 

ORDER PULMONATA. 

Family Lymnaeidae, Lymnaea stagna- 
lis appressa Say; Galba obrussa decampi 
Say; Galba catascopium Say; Family Pla- 
norbidae, Planorbis binneyi Tyron; Pla- 
norbis parvus Say; Family Physidae, Phy- 
sa sp.; Family Valvatidae, Valvata since- 
ra Say; Valvata lewisti helicordea, Dall; 
- Valvata tricarinata Say. 

OrpER EULAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 

Family Sphaeridae, Sphaertum fabale 
Prime. 

Some of these were also taken alive but 
all obviously occur in the water round the 
spit. 

SUMMARY. 
Little remains to be added in the way of 
a summary since the work itself constitutes 


THE CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST 


131 


a record of the plants and animals obtain- 
ed. These include at any rate 48 plants 
belonging to 21 families and 127 animals 
widely scattered in different classes, be- 
sides a number of others not identified; 
this number, taking into account the small 
area and the limited time, gives an idea of 
the possibilities of the district. It repre- 
sents one stage in the seasonal changes of 
the spit, since all the actual collecting was 
done within a day or so and naturally, as 
the facies of the habitat changes in the 
passage of the year, the animals will also 
change not only in their relations to one 
another and to the plants and to the stage 
of their life history but alsoun the actual 
species present. Some species will remain 
throughout, others will disappear and yet 
others will be represented that were not 
found at the time. Most of the species are 
probably to be regarded as stable compo- 
nents of the life complex of the spit, but 
certain forms, such for example as the 
beetle Polyphylla anxia, appear as if they 
were simply migrants. No doubt more 
prolonged study would have revealed fur- 
ther species at the time and would cer- 
tainly have added considerably to the life 
history of the forms obtained. This in- 
teresting spit would well repay more de- 
tailed study. 


LITERATURE CITED. 


1. Adams, C. C.—@uide to the Study of 
Ammal Ecology, New York, 1913. 
2. Gray, A—New Manual of Botany, 7th 
Edition, New York, 1908. 
3. Leng, C. W.—Catalogue of the Coleop- 
tera of America North of Mexico, 
New York, 1920. 
4. O’Donoghue, Chas. H. and Gowanlock, 
J. N. 
Notes on the Caspian Tern (Sterna 
caspia) and the Parasitic Jaeger 
(Stercorartus parasiticus) in Man- 
itoba. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 
Vol. X XXIII, April 1919. 
5. Macoun, J. and Macoun, J. M. Catalo- 
gue of Canadian Birds, Ottawa, 
1909. 
6. Rydberg, P. A.—Flora of the Rocky 
Mountains and Adjacent Plains, 
‘ New York, 1917. 
Shelford, V.E.—Animal Communittes 
in Temperate North America. Chi- 
eago, 1913. 


ag 


$32 THE CANADIAN 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


A FAIRY-SHRIMP NEW TO CANADA AND WESTERN NORTH AMERICA 


By Frits JOHANSEN. 


Since my article on Canadian and Alas- 
kan fairy-shrimps was published in the 
Canadian Field Naturalist, February, 
1921, I have had the great pleasure of 
receiving from Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Thacker, 
of Little Mountain, Hope, B.C., records 
that they have kept of fairy-shrimps ob- 
served and collected in Southern British 


Columbia, together with samples of the. 


specimens. They prove to be the well- 

known form Eubranchipus vernalis Ver- 

rill, hitherto not recorded from Canada 
and the United States west of Indiana. 

In my article cited above I have mention- 

ed this species, pp. 24, 27, as one that pos- 

sesses a wide distribution in the United 

States, occurring only during the winter 

and early spring. 

While the genus Streptocephalus (see p. 
29) was established already by Baird, in 
1854, the genus Hubranchipus does not 
oecur outside of North America, and was 
founded by Verrill, in 1869, in describing 
E. vernalis for the first time. 

Mr. Thacker’s records of E. 
from British Columbia follow: 
Hope, B.C.: Sloughs in orchard at Little 

Mountain, through hole in ice, March- 
April, 1918 (plentiful March 10 and 
April 1; only one specimen March 
13, 24, and April 21, 28). None se- 
cured by fishing there on May 26 and 
June 26, 1918. 

Same place, in 1920: none secured on 
Jan. 18-and Feb. 17; one young on 
Feb. 22. 

Slough at Haig, Feb. 11, 1920; plenti- 
ful. 

Craigdorroch Gardens, Victoria, Van- 
couver Island: few females with egg- 
bags in pond, Feb. 14, 1920. 

According to Verrill and Packard this 
species reaches a length of 23 mm. in both 
sexes; and in life the body is of a pale 
flesh colour, with a deep, reddish-brown 
colour as a narrow streak widening from 
the genital organs to the posterior half of 
the abdomen. The hairs upon the cerco- 
pods are white, as are also the tips (en- 
dites) of the basal part of the foliaceous 
legs. These red-brown and white colours 
are the most conspicuous ones when the 
animal is seen in the water. 


vernalis 


The female is easily distinguished from 
that of H. gelidus (see p. 28), by not hay- 
ing the ninth and tenth body-segments 
produced into lateral processes, though 
the egg-sac is similar, not so long as broad. 


[Vol. XXX¥V ° 


Pa 


The male is also easily distinguished from — 


that of E. gelidus by ‘having the frontal 
(accessory) organs much shorter, broader, 
and flatter, triangular in shape and acute- 
ly pointed, with the edge finely serrated. 


Except when in use they are hidden by the 


much longer claspers (2nd pair of an- 
tenne), which have a stout basal joint 
and a chitinous terminal joint resembling 
a Turkish sword, with a long obtuse spur 
on the inner side, basally, beyond which 
the joint is triangular, with the extremity 
bent outward somewhat like the foot of 
a sock before it is worn. These specific 
characteristics are illustrated in  Pack- 
ard’s monograph (1883), Plates XI, X XII. 

The nauplii (no figures: given) were 
successfully hatched by the two brothers 
Hay (Amer. Natural., Vol. 23, 1889, p. 
91), (1), from egg-bearing females secur- 
ed in April, that soon died. The eggs were 
kept in the dry mud all summer; and 
when at the end of September they were 
covered with water, they immediately rose 
to the surface, remained there for a couple 
of days, and then again sank to the bot- 
tom. In the beginning of October a num- 
ber of nauplii came forth; 
paler and more transparent than is gen- 
erally the case with nauplii of fairy- 
shrimps. Also they seemed to leave the 
egg in a more advanced stage as a ‘‘meta- 
nauplius’’ than other fairy-shrimps (there 
were traces of the first 3-4 pairs of folia- 
ceous legs, and of the paired eyes), thus 
recalling the just hatched Lepidwrus (see 
p.'45): 

This species was first recorded by Gould 
(Rep. on Invertebr. of Mass., Cambridge, 
1841), who states (p. 339) that they are 
found in stagnant pools in Massachusetts, 
but wrongly referred them to the Euro- 
pean species Branchipus stagnalis L. Ver- 
rill (Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sc., 1869) was 
the first to call attention to this, deserib- 
ing it as E. vernalis and recording it in ad- 
dition from Connecticut. It has later 
been found also in Rhode Island, Long 


they were 


_— Te 


Oct.-Dee. 1921. ] 


Island, Pennsylvania. Ohio and Indiana 

(Hay, Notes on Some Freshwater Crus- 
tacea, ete., Amer. Natural., Vol. XII, (16) ; 
Packard (1883), etc.) The dates upon which 
it has been observed range there from the 
middle of November to the middle of 
May; and from the date available it seems 
that the eggs hatch when the dried-up 
pools in which they have been deposited 
become filled with rain-water in the late 
fall, or with melting-water in the early 
spring. The larvae then grow to maturity 
in a month or so, attaining that state in 
December (January), or April (May), as 
the case may be. 
from British Columbia given here it would 
appear that their ‘‘season’’ in Western 
Canada (at least in the mountainous parts) 
is shorter (say from January to April), 
beginning later and ending sooner than 
in eastern United States. 
_ Packard’s theory (‘‘Occurrence of the 
Phyllopod Eubranchipus in winter’’ Amer. 
Natural., Vol. XII, 1878, p. 186), that it 
attains maturity in the autumn is not borne 
out by any observations. ’ 

In spite of its frequency during the 
winter in eastern United States, where it 
is the most typical fairy-shrimp, no new 


(1) In the same paper E. gelidus is described 
‘for the first time. 


THE CANADIAN FieLD-NaTuRALIST 


From the new records 


133 


data about its biology have been publish- 
ed, so far as I know, for the last thirty 
years; and we do not yet definitely know 
the number of broods during the time it 
occurs there. It is probable that there 
are two generations, one hatching after 
the fall-rains, the other after the melting 
of the snow in the spring. 


A hermaphroditic specimen of this 
species was found by Dr. C. F. Gissler, in 
January, 1880, in a pool near Maspeth, 
Long Island, together with many normal 
individuals of the same species. It is de- 
scribed and figured by him in the Amer. 
Naturalist, Vol. XV., 1881, p. 136-39. In 
the same volume is another article by Dr. 
Gissler about the influence of the chemico- 
physical nature of the particular pond 
upon the colour and development of the 
E. vernalis it contains; it establishes a ° 
red and a white colour-variety which do 
not cross. 


I take this opportunity of correcting 
a statement I made in these articles (Vol. 
35, p. 41). The genusname Apus was 
established by Schaeffer in 1752, and that 
of Lepidurus by Leach in 1816. The 
Euphyllopoda were first placed among the 
insects, before it was recognized that they 
belonged to true crustaceans. 


BIRDS THAT ARE LITTLE KNOWN IN 


MANITOBA. 


By NoRMAN CRIDDLE, 


Treesbank, Manitoba. 


The following notes are presented in 
order to record observations relating to 
some of the rarer birds found within the 
boundaries of Manitoba. Most of the 
species have been recorded before, but as 
they were considered rare at the time of 
record additional information concerning 
them seems desirable. 


Frrrueinous RoveH-Leccep Hawk. 


Mr. Atkinson in his ‘‘Rare Bird Re- 
-eords’’: (Frans. No. 65 Historical and 
Scientific Soc. of Man.) gives a single re- 
cord of this species as being the only one 
known’ from the province. As a matter 
of fact the bird is by no means uncommon, 
and, judging from old nests, it has evi- 


~ 


dently resided in Manitoba for many 
years past. Its haunts are very similar 
to those of the Red-tailed and Swainson’s 
hawks, excepting that it has not been ob- 
served to spread over the open prairies as 
the last named species does. The nests 
are nearly always distinguishable from 
other buzzards by their bulkiness, due to 
the fact that they are added to year after 
year until eventually they become so ab- 
normally large that they break through 
their supports or are blown down by the 
wind. All my nesting records of this 
hawk were made within, or near, the 
Spruce Woods Timber Reserve, which is 
largely made up of low sand hills forming 
ridges with semi-wooded valleys between. 


134 


The Ferruginous Rough-leg is probably 
the most useful of all our buzzards, its 
food being made up almost entirely of 
rodents, of which by far the greater pro- 
portion consist of gophers. I have re- 
peatedly seen it carrying off those animals 
and have found nests inhabited by young 
containing several untouched examples. 
It is almost certain that these hawks de- 
stroy far more than they can eonsume 
when food is abundant, and for this rea- 
son a family of these birds might well be 
estimated to account for a _ thousand 
gophers in the course of a season, which, 
supposing these latter to have been taken 
from a grain field, would be equal to a 
saving of five hundred bushels of grain. 

This hawk should be better known 
among the farming community and as a 
step in that direction I would propose 
that we discard the cumbersome name that 
is at present attached to it and cal] it Rusty 
Hawk instead. 


BuRROWING OWL. 


This owl has previously been recorded 
by Mr. Atkinson in the above mentioned 
publication, and by me in the Ottawa Nat- 
uralist. It has always been cousidered 
a rarity, however, and for that reason ad- 
ditional records of the bird’s -oceurrence 
are desirable. 

During the last three years I have had 
occasion to travel rather extensively over 
the western portion of the province, and 
as a result have run across several breed- 
ing pairs of this species. No less than 
three families were observed near Souris, 
another was noted near Melita, while odd 
individuals were seen at Pierson, Napinka 
and Virden. I have usually found this 
owl in the vicinity of badger holes with 
burrows of the prairie gopher (C. richard- 
soni) close around. It probably nests in 
the former excavations and doubtless uses 
the gophers as food. 


ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. 


Whether this bird was overlooked in 
former days or has extended its range 
northward within recent times is a ques- 
tion I am not prepared to answer, but it 
is now found quite commonly in the south- 
west portion of the province, where it 
shows a marked preference for human 
habitations. Nearly every village now 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXV 


has its pair of breeding birds, and the 
larger places often contain three or four. 
Trees around the farm yards are also fre- 
quently utilized, and the somewhat quar- 
relsome notes of the bird are among the 
first te attract one in the early morning. 
I have observed this species breeding near 
Winnipeg, and from there westward, along 
the C.P.R. main line at Carberry, Oaklake 
and Virden. It is most commonly met 
with, however, in the south-west portion 
of the province within a line drawn from 
Mawbray to Kirkella. 
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. 


On the 30th of May, 1919, I was busy 
in the laboratory with insect work but with 
ears on the alert for the notes of any newly 
arriving bird. The work was interesting, 
and for that reason I had been but half 
conscious of an unusual song uttered rather 
continuously from some nearby trees. I 
had passed it as being an attempt of a Cat- 
bird to mimic the combined efforts of a 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak and House Spar- 
row, but eventually awakening to the im- 
probability of this I decided upon a closer 
investigation and easily obtained a close 
view of the songster which was perched 
upon an oak. There could be no mis- 
take under such close scrutiny. A heavy 
beak, the bright brown of a Towhee, white 
on the wings and tail and a black head. 
All were plainly visible. Knowing, how- 
ever, that a dead bird is demanded by exact 
science I hesitated whether to go for a 
gun, but what is a dead bird in compari- 
son with a living one which gives promise 
of breeding where its kind have not pre- 
viously been known? To me the evi- 
dence was complete, but for the sake of 
corroboration, I called my brothers Stuart 
and Talbot to view and note the more 
striking features, which they did, while the 
bird sang on unconcernedly. 

I had hoped that this visitor would have 
a mate and that they would make their 
home amid the woods close by, but he van- 
ished the same evening and I saw and 
heard him no more. 

The cause of this bird’s having moved 
beyond its usual range may have been due 
to abnormally warm weather combined — 
with a succession of south winds. On the 
other hand, it is possible that the species 
really does breed in the extreme southern 
portion of the province as the song, though 


Oct.-Dee, 1921. | 


quite distinct, might easily pass as an ab- 
normal one of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
DICKCISSEL. 

This bird was first recorded for the pro- 
vince by Mr. G. E. Atkinson, who took a 
specimen near Portage la Prairie on June 
14,1897. He concluded that the example 
was a straggler from the south, though the 
date at which it was taken would indieate 
that it was breeding in the neighborhood. 

On June 24, 1921, I was out on grass- 
hopper work in company with Mr. P N. 
Vroom. We stopped at Melita and had 
gone out in the evening to do a little eol- 
lecting south-west of the village. About 
half a mile away there is a ravine with 
stagnant pools of water, and just beyond, 
to the right, a rather wide dry meadow 
dotted over with low-lying shrubs consist- 
ing of Silverberry (Elaeagnus argentea), 
Western Snowberry (Symphorocarpus oc- 
cidentalis) and a few others in lesser num- 
bers. There is some high herbage, too, 
which provides abundance of cover for 
small birds. It was on the edge of *his 
meadow, near the road, that I heard a 
song with which I was unfamiliar and 
which IJ traced to a small bird sitting upon 
a fence post. We soon obtained a elose 
view of the singer, which I recognized: by 
the characteristic black patch beneath the 
throat to be. a Dickcissel. This was a 
male in full song and, interestingly enongh, 
his song was answeréd by a second sndi- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


135 


vidual about 80 yards away in the same 
valley. No nests were found or even 
sought for, but from the fact that there 
were two or more males singing there, I 
think we may safely conclude that the 
species breeds in the vicinity. 


LARK BUNTING. 


This species ranges east to Aweme, 
where it has been known to nest. It is, 
however, but a casual visitor in most parts 
of the province, though it breeds quite 
commonly in the extreme south-west cor- 
ner. 


BLACK-THROATED BuUE WARBLER. 


Two examples, both males, have been 
seen since my original record of this species. 
While these birds were not collected the 
markings are so distinctive that it would 
be an extracrdinary lack of observation to 
mistake the species for any other. 


MountTAIN Buvuesirp. 


It is interesting to relate that this hand- 
some species has taken .readily to nesting 
boxes and that it is steadily increasing. 
Both this and the common Bluebird have 
made their nests in the vicinity of my 
“ome for some years past, and while the 
‘louse Sparrow is there, toc, and has a 
reputation for fighting, he is invariably 
~anquished when he comes in contact with 
tie Bluebirds. 


LESSONS LEARNED FROM A TAME SPARROW HAWK. 
By P, A. TAVERNER, 


(Published by permission of the Director of the Victoria Memorial Museum.) 


Some years ago we kept what I -vas 
about to call a captive Sparrow Harvk: 
but the word ‘‘eaptive’’ conveys an er- 
roneous impression of — relationship. 
‘“Tame’’ is weak and equally misleading. 
Perhaps it is better to make a new start 
and state that, — once upon a time, I was 
on intimately friendly terms with a Spar- 
row Hawk. She had been taken from her 
deep, dark nest cavity a half downy 
youngster, inexperienced in the ways of 
Sparrow Hawks in the wice, wild wovrid; 
and whatever she afterwards did or 
thought or attained was more the result 
of instinct and natural ability developed 


throveh contact with human kind, than 
of normal Sparrow Hawk education. 
When I first met her, an adolescent bird, 
as friend and master, there is reason 
to suspect that experience with humans 
had not predisposed her in their favor: 
but, as events proved, nothing serious 
enough had happened to prevent the es- 
tablishment of thorough confidence be- 
tween us. During the two or three years 
this charming intimacy endured I had un- 
usial opportunities for studying Sparrow 
Hawk nature in general and this bird in 
particular. 

Ornithological observers 


are familiar 


THe CANADIAN. FIELD-NATURALIST 


FALCO, a tame sparrow-hawk (falco sparverius). 


[Vol. XXXV 


Oct.-Dee. 1921.] 


with the fact that all wild creatures have 
certain fixed specific habits and mental 
reactions to various stimuli. Some spe- 
cles are particularly wary and cautious, 
others are constitutionally confiding or 
bold. What we also know but usually 
realize all too vaguely is that besides these 
characteristics common to a species, are 
other mental attitudes that are as strict- 
ly individual as many human traits. In 
watching Falco, as we called her, it was 
borne in upon us with all the force of a 
strictly new discovery that the Sparrow 
Hawks we thought we knew so well are 
not automata all cast in the same mould, 
that they each have mentalities of their 
own, personal habits that change in de- 
tail from time to time under whim or 
passing states of mind, individual likes 
and dislikes; in fact they have lives of 
their own to live and minds of their own 
to live them. Even a field naturalist is 
apt to acquire the habit of considering 
the birds he studies in the broad and 
general, as species and subspecies rather 
than as individuals. Not the least learn- 
ed from association with this little hawk 
was this appreciation of her individual 
personality. 

Next to these evidences of personality 
the most striking qualities Falco presented 
were affection, and, if the manner of 
dealing with unusual conditions is a.crit- 
erion, her quite considerable intelligence. 
Though suspicious of strangers, she showed 
a decided liking for her immediate family, 
and enjoyed to sit upon our shoulders, 
fluffed up like a ball euddling close to 
the neck and passing her bill delicately 
around the convolutions of the ear to the 
accompaniment of a contented little chur- 
ring note of satisfaction. She knew even 
the sound of our foot-steps. A stranger’s 
footfall along the concrete sidewalk lead- 
ing to the outer door drove her precipi- 
tately to her safe citadel on top of her 


seldom occupied cage in the far upper 


corner of the room. The sounds of our 
steps on the same walk merely caused a 
look of expectation and a preparation to 
alight upon our shoulders as soon as we 
appeared. She recognized paper parcels 
as common containers of meat and showed 
interest in them accordingly. She knew 
that water could be obtained at the sink 
through our mediation, and came te it 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 137 


when thirsty or wanting a bath. She re- 
cognized doors as the means of communi- 
cation between rooms and when lonely 
and wanting to join us, came to them and 
scratched and churred for admission. A 
mirror perplexed her once but, finding 
nothing behind, she had no interest in it 
afterwards. 

At times she was playful and enjoyed 
a certain game in which a long yellow 
pencil (no other color served quite as 
well) was pointed at her. On finally 
gaining possession of it she would brand- 
ish it most cleverly with feet and bill 
until it slipped to the floor, when she 
would look down, as if in surprise, and 
descend to obtain it again. She had 
many mimic fights with her distorted re- 
flection in the curved base of a brass 
lamp, would hide from it behind books 
or obstructions, then pounce from am- 
bush, striking vigorously with her feet 
and uttering low churs of pleasure. 

Though nervous with strangers, espe- 
cially men, she showed a surprising lack 
of appreciation of danger from hereditary 
or natural enemies, showing that fear of 
definite objects is not as instinctive as is 
commonly believed. A strange face at the 
window caused her to flee in terror, but 
I have seen her sit with only interested 
curiosity on the window sill within, whilst 
without a cat struggled tv make through 
the glass at her. A dog was only an in- 
teresting phenomenon to her, nothing 
more. 

Once a cigar box, with a hole in the 
side like a bird box, was prepared and 
hung near her usual perch. She was in- 
terested at once, and hardly was it fixed 
than she was peering in. She entered, 
and for the next little while nothing was 
seen of her except occasional glimpses of 
her bright little face looking out, but 
from within could be heard the sounds 
of scratching, thumping and excited eja- 
culation. Thereafter she spent many 
minutes, aggregating hours perhaps per 
day, in the box, always in an excited con- 
dition. It was evident that latent sexual 
instincts were aroused, and feeling half 
guilty at having raised unsatisfiable de- 
sires we removed the box. 

In spite of the unnaturalness of the eir- 
cumstances surrounding her she appear- 
ed content and happy, except for short 


138 THE CANADIAN 
periods twice a year — early spring and 
late fall. In the spring, before the sap 
had stirred on the sunniest slopes, and 
whilst snow seemed the eternal order of 
things, and the season’s advance was only 
to be noted by the calendar, she became 
restless and discontented. It was the 
‘Season of New Song’’; more, it was also, 
it seemed, the season of migration, and 
whether she knew the meaning of it or 
not something stirred within her in con. 
sequence and she was deeply moved. Nor. 
mally serene and contented in her window. 
watching with bright, interested eves al] 
that passed within her ken, then she was 
restless and excited, pattering back and 
forth along the narrow runway of her 
window meeting-rail, pausing at intervals 
to half-raise her wings and chatter loudly 
the well-known Sparrow Hawk cry of 
agitation. Once at such a time I saw a 
wild Sparrow Hawk pass over without 
She saw it too, for little escaped her pier. 
cing eyes. She followed it with her gaze 
from the time it first hove in sight, lean 
ing against the glass to see around the 
window jamb until it passed from sight 
behind some trees. This condition lasted 
but a little while each season, a couple of 
weeks perhaps, but while it lasted it was 
nearly as hard on us, her friends, as upon 
herself. Shortly she was her old self 
again, content to watch the world go by 
from her observatory window, her only 
agitation the butcher’s or grocer’s boy 
that brought her food and sent her seek 
ing safety to the high top of her empty 
cage. Similar disturbances to the even 
tenor of her way occurred mm the fall. As 
the first frosts loosed the leaves and the 
grasshoppers were dropping numbed from 
the yellowing grass whence wild Sparrow 
Hawks had but lately gleaned them, 
nature stirred again within her. Its mean 
ing I do not think she ever definitely re. 
cognized, but she became again uneasy. 
restless and difficult to please. 

Now, neither before nor during these 
periods were there any perceptible changes 
in the conditions under which she lived, 
She was not reactive to differences or 
shortage of food, temperature or any other 
factor that could be humanly recognized. 
The change came from within, rather than 
from without. I think that as fruit and 
foliage grow through the season, in cer. 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


and impatiently discarding it. 


[Vol. XXXV 


tain times ripen to maturity and then 
decline in metabohe activity, so the mi- 
grating and sexual instincts develop, cul- 
minate and decline in measured growth 
but slightly accelerated or retarded by 
variations in seasonal condition. And 
thus birds feel the urge to migrate, and 
depart in the fall before the lack of food, 
the ultimate necessity for such a move- 
ment, has sapped their energies and vigor. 
In the spring it works the other way; 
the onward urge tuward a harder rather 
than a softer climate cor:nes early, and 
they tread upon the _ very footsteps of 
winter, ariving north at the earliest mo- 
ment that existence for their kind is 
measureably secure, to the end that they 
have the greatest length of season in 
which to raise their families to migrational 
maturity before the return of winter. 
One of Falco’s interesting physical 
characteristics was her comparative in- 
dependence of water. She was fed prin- 
cipally on butcher’s meat. When liver, 
English Sparrows or other moist meat 
formed_a fair proportion of her food, 
water was only desired for bathing, and 
sometimes weeks went by without her 
drinking. After a spell of rather dry 
meat she desired water and asked for it 
in a way that we who knew her little 
idiosyneracies recognized perfectly. She 
enjoyed bathing, and splashed the water 
from her bowl far and wide, retiring after- 
wards to her sunny window to dry and 
fluff. As said before, her food was lar- 
gvely, and of necessity, from the butcher’s 
shop, and when English Sparrows grew 
too wary to be readily obtained, it was 
found necessary occasionally to mix a 
little chopped tow or shredded rope end 
with it to supply the roughage for na- 
tural digestion and the pellet for regur- 
gitation. She invariably avoided fat, 
tearing it from the lean in little shreds 
She also 
appreciated a variety in diet, and changes 
from beef to pork or mutton or back again 
always met with her approval. At times 
she even tired of English Sparrows. and 
became satiated with her favorite tit-bits, 
June-bugs or Grasshoppers. It is evident 
then that birds enjoy a variety of foods, 
and no matter how plentiful some one 
supply may become, at times they will 
turn their attention elsewhere to balance 


/ 


Oct.-Dee. 1921. ] THE 
out the ration. This trait undoubtedly 
extends the usefulness of each species of 
birds and at the same time explains why. 
in time of great insect plagues, birds are 
not engaged in eating them to the ex- 
clusion of less abundant food. Some va- 
riety is desirable if not an absolute ne- 
cessity to them. 

The quickness of some of Falco’s reac- 
tions were remarkable. An extreme ex- 
ample can be presented. She slept on 
the top of her cage, canary-like, with 
her head under her wing as it is generally 
described, although really the head is 
hidden under the interscapular feathers 
between the shoulders. 

Wishing to obtain a photograph of her 
in this attitude a camera was set con- 
veniently, and late at night, when she 
was sound asleep, an explosive magnesium 
flash was fired. Of course she awoke im- 
mediately, but the speed of her movement 
was only appreciated when the resultant 
negative was developed. It presented two 
clear superimposed images without blur 
between. One showed her asleep with 
only a slight depression in the feather 
masses where the head was hidden; in 
the other she was wide awake regard- 
ing the light. What the duration of the 
flash was I had no means of telling; it 
was surely but a small fraction of a see- 
ond, yet during this short period she 
had held her pose long enough to make 
a sensible impression on the plate. She 
had awakened, changed her position so 
quickly that the movement made no blur, 
and again held her position long enough 
to register another picture. 

Falco had the habit of ‘‘vaching’’ super- 
fluous food. She did this from the first, 
and in so business-like and natural a 
manner that I am convinced that it was 
instinctive and is a regular specific habit. 
I have seen no suggestion to this in the 
literature relating to the wild bird. This 
case may not prove beyond question that 
wild Sparrow Hawks do hide stores, but it 
is strongly suggestive of its probability 
When hunger was temporarily satisfied, 
the unconsumed remainder of the supplies 
was invariably carried in the bill to one 
of several usual hiding places. The most 
favored one was on top of the electric 
meter on the wall nearby. She would 
place the valued bit in the depression be- 


CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


139 


tween the top of the meter and the wall. 
and stamp it down with her feet in a 
business-like manner, churring with a note 
of exultation and then withdrawing te 
view results. If not satisfied she would 
return and rearrange and hammer it 


again and when satisfied seek her perch 
Any time thereafter a motion on our part 
towards her store would arouse anxious 
interest, and if the threatened theft were 
pressed she was immediately on hand to 
protect her property. 


Even if the attempt 


=) 


NG 


a.— Normal falcon bill. 


b. — Overgrown falcon bill, showing tendency of 
growth and loosening scale. 


c. — Normal Buteo bill. 


did not seem serious, after a minute she 
often made an investigation and ‘even 
changed the hiding place. When hungry 
again she remembered her hidden store 
and, if it had been removed unbeknown 
to her, showed disappointment and per 
plexity most plainly. 

Perhaps from a strictly scientific stand 
point the most interesting discovery made 
from this little bird was the method of 
growth of her bill. The Sparrow Hawk, 
though small, is a true Falcon, a ‘‘ Noble 
Faleon’’ in the old vocabulary of venery 
The bill of this group of raptores is dis 
tinguished from the less esteemed hawks 
by having a distinet notch and tooth on 
the cutting edge of the upper mandible 
just back of the hook. This tooth there 
fore is an important point in the classi 
fication of the order. Falco lived largely 
on soft meat, and her bill without the 
natural friction and wear and tear against 
the hard bony parts of normal prey over 
grew. When this occured the notch form 
ing the tooth became almost obliterated, 
and the bill tended to resemble the form 
and character of the non-faleconine hawks 
with a smoothly outlined lobe on the cut- 
ting edge. When this abnormal condi 
tion became well developed, and it seem. 
ed as if a faleon was about to assume a 
Buteo or Aeccipiter character, a erack 


140 THE CANADIAN 
developed in the bill substance and grew 
until a flake of horn flew off, leaving 
the faleonian notch fully developed again 

The significance of this is rather im. 
portant as it indicates that the tooth. 
billed hawks are more highly developed 
than the others and appeared later in the 
evolutionary scheme; that the ‘‘Noble”’ 
is a specialized ‘‘Ignoble Hawk’’ instead 
of the contrary. It is, in fact, additional 
justification for contemporary  classifi- 
eations placing the Falcons at the head 
of their order. 

Faleo had a considerable measure of 
freedom, and seldom except for good 
reason was confined to her cage. When 
the robins without would leave her in 
peace and some one was about to ward 


FIELD-NATURALIST 


| Vol. XXXV 


off cats she even had the run of the yard. 
Had she allowed her primaries to mature 
she might have had absolute freedom at 
any time. She always managed to break 
them off before full grown and was in a 
half flightless condition wunequipped to 
fend for herself. Season after season 
passed in various attempts on our part 
to keep her wings in order, to prepare 
her for a fair fight with the world. 
Whether we succeeded in the end we do 
not know, but that is another story. 

All told, little Falco was a most pleasing 
experience in the life of an ornithologist 
and we still remember her with affection, 
regretting that such happy associations 
cannot continue indefinitely. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 


Unvusvat Migration Recorps In THE 

Vicinity oF Montreau. — Marcu 1921. 

No doubt the mild weather during the 
past winter, and the abundance of fruit 
and seeds (especially coniferous seeds) lim- 
ited the movements of a great many 
Northern birds. Throughout South-Kast- 
ern Canada and the North-Eastern States, 
at least in urban districts, the dearth of 
birds appears to have been general. Of the 
customary winter birds the following were 
seen in the vicinity of Montreal in very 
small numbers: Snow Owl (2); Saw-whet 
Owl (2); Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers ; 
Snow Bunting; White-winged Crossbill; 
Pine Siskin; Goldfinch; Redpoll; Cedar 
Waxwing; White- breasted Nuthatch; Red- 
breasted Nuthatch; Black-capped Chicka- 
dee. 

The unusual occurrences were: 
Gull (last seen Jan. 15); Canada Goose 
(Magog, Jan. 16—N. Smith); and Robin 
(4) seen by Mr. Brown on Jan. 30. There 
were several other reports of Robins that 
I was unable to verify — one from St. 
Lambert, another from Westmount and a 
third from St. Andrews East. It is not- 
able that the only unusual birds were north 
of their usual winter range. I have no re- 
cords of Evening Grosbeaks, Bohemian 
Waxwings or Pine Grosbeaks. With re- 
gard to the latter I am told that they have 
wintered commonly in Newfoundland. 

During January and February I saw 


Herring 


no ducks whatever. possibly due to the 
many areas of open water. As a rule, in 
the vicinity of St. Lambert, wintering 
ducks are congested within a small area 
of open water, and are easily seen. Fol- 
lowing is a list of spring arrivals during 
the month of March. The earlier birds — 

Crow and Prairie Horned Lark, were late, 

while the others, almost without exception, 

were very early. I have taken the liberty 
of including several records secured by 

Mr. W. J. Brown, and one by Miss E. Luke. 

Mareh 2—Crow. 

March 4—Prairie Horned Lark. 

Mareh 5—Flock (15) of Robins ona 
sheltered southern slope, two 
Meadowlarks and a Red-should- 
ered Hawk, all seen by Mr. 
Brown. 

9—Song Sparrow (39 ‘song’). 

11—Red-winged Blackbird (385 
males, ‘song’); House Wren— 
one seen in a sheltered garden 
by Mr. Brown. 


March 
March 


March 12—Bronzed Grackle — 6s seen (Mr. 
Brown); Bluebird — _ three 
‘song’. 

March 183—Marsh Hawk — one; Robins 
and Song Sparrows fairly com- 
mon, 

March 1 —Slate-coloured Juneco — one 
(Miss Luke). 

March 19—Canada Goose — one flock; 


‘Purple Finch—7 (Mr. Brown). 


Oct.-Dec, 1921.] 


March 20—Northern Shrike — one; Her- 
ring Gull — one. 


March 22—Golden-eye Duck—two flocks. 


March 25—Black Duck — three pairs; 
Bittern — one; Sparrow Hawk 
— one; Flicker — one; Gold- 
finch — 5 or 6; Tree Sparrow 
—a number; Killdeer Plover— 
7 seen and two nest excavations 
found; Bluebirds fairly well 
distributed — 8 seen; a Crow’s 
nest was found almost complet- 
ed, and Robins were found ex- 
ceptionally abundant. 

March 26—Rose-breasted Grosbeak — one 
male (Mr. Brown) ; Cowbird — 
one. 

March 27—Goshawk—one; Migrant Shri- 
ke — two; Vesper Sparrow — 
one (Mr. Brown). 

Besides the unusual records enumerated 
above there are two matters worthy of 
particular mention — the unusual abun- 
dance of Robins and Black Ducks. I as- 
sume that Black Ducks are unusually 
abundant this season because I saw three 
pairs about some marshy, partly wooded 
land, where formnerly it was customary for 
but one-pair to nest. It is an easy matter 
to distinguish ducks that have arrived on 
their nesting grounds. They are always 
in pairs and the drake appears never to 
let his spouse out of sight, or perhaps it is 
the other way about. The individuals of a 
pair fly in perfect ‘step’ and appear as a 
unit. 

Possibly the consistently favourable 
weather during the nesting season last 
spring is partly responsible for this appa- 
rent increase, and very probably the vigil- 
ance of officers in enforcing observance of 
the Migratory Birds Convention Act has 
much to do with it. 

In. Mcl. Terri. 


A Privne Siskin Invasion. — In Cen- 
tral Alberta, the Pine Siskin (Spinus 
pinus) has generally been’ considered an 
irregular migrant, except in a few favor- 
able localities where they remain to breed 
in small numbers. <As_ they 
quenters of the coniferous woods, especial- 
ly during the nesting season, these birds 
are not commonly seen in the settled parts 
of the country, the spruce, tamarack and 


THe CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST 


are fre- - 


141 


jack pine not growing on the better soils 
of the prairie. 

Abourt the middle of June, this year, | 
notuwet numbers of siskins flying over 
Camrose, and eventually found them feed- 
ing on dandalion seeds on the lawns and 
boulevards. Their numbers increased 
daily, and about a week after their first 
appearance I estimated that at least five 
hundred of the birds were making their 
home in town. At almost any hour dur- 
ing the day, large flocks could be seen 
flying high in the air, whirling here and 
therd, in Red Poll fashion, sometimes 
alighting on a vacant lot, feeding for a 
while, and off again as suddenly as they 
came. I have counted as many as one 
hundred on the telephone wires between 
two poles, which appeared to be favorite 
resting places for the birds. 

The siskins’ appearance this summer 
was not local by any means. During the 
months of June, July and August, I mot- 
ored several hundred miles, and found 
them quite common in some, and exceeding- 
ly common in many of the places. through 
which I passed. They were plentiful in 
Edmonton, noticed all the way to Cal- 
gary, and not nearly as’ many at Banff 
and Lake Louise, where one would expect 
to find them in greatest abundance. This 
makes one ask if it is not possible that 
they had left their natural haunts for 
some reason. I also found them very 
common at Vermilion, Tofield, Stettler 
and Castor. At this date, September 
15th, there are about one thousand birds 
in Camrose, and they are now feeding 
on the pig-weed seed. 

As all the points mentioned above (ex- 
cept those in the mountains) are in the 
park country of the prairie, where there 
are no evergreens, save small patches along 
the river bottoms, it seems strange that 
these birds should have made this unusual 
migration. As the siskin is an early 
breeder, nesting in May, it is safe to as- 
sume that the birds that have been on the 
prairies since the middle of June were old 
ones and the increase of the year. It 
would be interesting to know if this un- 
usual appearance of ‘the siskin has oe- 
curred over the whole prairie country and 
the reason for this decided change in 
habitat. 

F. L. Faruey, Camrose, Alberta. 


142 


SomME Mosses FROM BoskKUNG. 

As botanical field work in Canada at 
the present day is largely confined to 
flowering plants, a few amateur notes on 
Ontario mosses may perhaps be forgiven 
by the small omniscient experts to whom 
my findings must seem elementary and 
superficial. 

In the month of August, 1921, I spent a 
two weeks vacation on the shores of Bos- 
kung Lake, Stanhope township, Haliburton 
county, Ontario. By way of diversion, I 
attempted to take a census of the mosses 
of the immediate neighborhood. The eom- 
pleted census-roll, though limited, may not 
be without interest. 

Boskung Lake is a small, pear-shaped 
body of water, lying wholly within the 
rough, granitic Laurentian Pene-plain. Its 
surface is some 1100 feet above sea-level 
and its shores rise steeply to an additional 
height of from 100 to 150 feet. Its narrow 
watershed contains no bogs, swamps, or 
small streams. The soil is morainic sand. 

The possibilities of the field were thus 
distinctly limited, and the various mosses 
which favor limestones, which grow at low 
levels and in warm climates, and which 
flourish in bogs, in water, or on clay soil, 
conspicuously lacking. With these reser- 
vations, however, my brief survey found 
many species and much encouragement. 

The chief soil-loving mosses were the 
Common Hair-eap, the glaucous-green 
Juniper Hair-cap, the muddy-green Com- 
mon Barbula, the Common Bryum, the 
Crested Fissidens, and the Maidenhair- 
like Fissidens. 

Frequent finds in moist woods were the 
Common Fern Moss, the Smaller Fern 
Moss, and the Woodsy Mnium. The Clav- 
ellate Drummondia was common on the 
bark of trees; while the Slender Plagio- 
thecium and the Adnate Amblystegium 
were found about their bases. Rotten wood 
was upholstered with dense mats of the 
bright green Common Hypnum, the Pin- 
nate Hypnum, the slender Creeping Am- 
blystegium, the Creeping Hypnmum, the 
Nodding Bryum, and the Ribbed Hypnum. 
Around old stumps I found the Kuropean 
Tree Moss, not unlike a small Lycopod, 
and the dark, thin mats of the Purple 
Ceratodon. 


THe CANADIAN FYIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vol. XXXV 


At the head of Boskung Lake, Hall’s 
Rapids, a short but violent stream foams 
down frcem a higher lake to the north, 
drenching its rocky ravine with spray. 
Here were soft, wet masses of the Beaked 
Anomodon, the Slender Anomodon, the 
Bristly Rhacomitrium, the Long-Leaved 
Mnium, the Fountain Philonotis, and the 
Verdant Weissia. 

A final hunting-ground was a_ steep 
granite cliff, caused by a colossal fault in 
the rocks around the entire northeast shore 
of the lake and kept moist at its base by a 
thick mantle ef forest. Small, dark tufts 
of Common Grimmia were the first dis- 
covery; then came the dark, brittle masses 
of the Roek-loving Andreaea, the flattened 
branches of the Filmy-fern Homalia, and 
the delicate little Wiry Fern Moss; and 
then the Yew-leaved Fissidens, the Small- 
ecapsuled Rhacomitrium, the Long-capsuled 
Brachythecium, and the Crispate Ptycho- 
mitrium. 

Some 34 different species of moss were 
thus identified, with more or less dubious 
accuracy. Several other specimens were 
collected, but for them identification was 
impossible with the two hand-lenses, of 9 
and 24 diameters respectively, with which 
I was equipped. 

The record is a small one, but surely 
large enough, when we consider the limi- 
tations of time, season, and physiography 
in this individual case, to suggest real pos- 
sibilities for amateur bryologieal work in 
Ontario. 

Watson KIRKCONNELL, M. A. 


Brirps AS Foster PaArEnNTs. — It is not 


generally known, probably, that wild 
birds will assume the role of foster 
parents, but after a number of tests 
the writer has discovered that there are 
a ‘few birds at least that will take 


up these duties under certain conditions. 
Firstly the orphan birds must be quite 
young, and, secondly, the foster .parents 
must have young of their own about the 
same age. I have exchanged the young 
of crows, pigeons, swallows and sparrows, 
and in every instance they were raised to 
maturity. This.was done when the young 
were in the downy stage and all were 
about the same age, but if a more mature 
bird be introduced into a nest of downy 


Oct.-Dee, 1921.] 


young he would be promptly ejected or 
left to starve. It seems that the mater- 
nal and paternal love of birds is the 
strongest at this period, which might 
account for their taking more readily to 
the young of others. While the fostering 
of the above-mentioned species was in 
the main brought about through human 
agency and not on their own volition, 
yet it has been my good fortune to ob- 
serve a few cases of strictly voluntary 
adoption. 


One of the most interesting cases of 
this kind was that of a pair of Killdeer 
Plover. In the spring of 1919 a young 
man brought to my shop a pair of these 
birds to have mounted with their young 
ones which he had caught after shooting 
their parents. As these birds had been 
shot at close range while protecting their 
young, they were too much cut up for 
mounting, so I prevailed on the young 
man to give me the young orphans to 
release, which he did. It seemed to me 
that perhaps I could get them adopted 
by a pair of Killdeers which I knew had 
young, and occupied a field about half 
a mile distant. With this end in view, I 
forthwith picked up the box of little 
orphans and made a bee-line for that 
field, but after criss-crossing the field 
several times, I failed to locate them and 
was becoming discouraged. I then walked 
to the centre of the field, sat on a stone 
and took the perforated cover off the 
box. They stretched up their little necks 
and gave utterance in unison to a very 
low plaintive cry or pipe. Almost imme- 
diately, like a bolt from the clear sky, 
the female Killdeer flew towards me and 
settled about 25 yards distant. She had 
heard their piping ery and came to res- 
eue. She appeared to be in great distress 
and anxiety. When the little ones heard 
her voice they also became agitated and 
raised their little voices, which brought 
the mother bird almost to my feet utter- 
ing most bewailing lamentations. Then 
T took one of the little orphans from the 
box and set it on my hand. The scene 
which followed was very pathetic. She 
seemed to go into paroxysms of grief, and 
with most lamentable cries’ and wings 
and tail outspread, quite fearless of ime, 


she ran around me at a distance of not. 


THe CANADIAN F'mup-NATURALIST 


145 


more than 15 or 20 feet. She would drag 
herself on her breast as though both her 
legs were broken, then roll over on her 
back struggling as though she was tied 
down; hop along on one leg with wings 
drooping ; turn summersaults and put her- 
self into all manner of shapes. Obviously 
these manoeuvres were to entice me to 
chase her and get me away from the 
young ones. 

Not caring to keep her in further sus- 
pense I set the little fellow down, and 
he ran over to her as fast as his little 
legs could carry him. She advanced a 
little to meet him throwing one wing 
over him, and uttering a most affection- 
ate purring or crooning sound of joy and 
satisfaction, something akin to that of a 
mother cat when you take her kitten 
from her to fondle. I now released the 
other three and they likewise made direct 
for this foster mother, and she slowly 
led them away until I lost sight of them 
in the grass. Had they been her own, 
and she must have known they were not, 
she could not have shown more maternal 
love and affection. The male bird the 
while kept up his plaintive pee-we-we-we- 
we-we-we-we, but did not come so close, 
and IJ feel certain kept his eye on their 
own litle flock. I am _ satisfied that 
these foster parents raised these little 
orphans, as, passing through the field 
again in August I counted nine on the 
wing, and I am absolutely certain that 
these were the only pair of Killdeer that 
nested in that field or vicinity that year. 

OLIVER TRAFFORD, 
St. Eugene, Ont. 


Wurte-Rumpep SANDPIPER AT OTTAWA. 
— Two white-rumped sandpipers (Piso- 
bia fuscicollis) were noted at Shirley’s 
October 8, 


Bay, near Ottawa, on 
1921. They were in company’ with 
some bhlack-bellied plovers and_ solitary 


and other sandpipers, and the difference 
between the white-rumped species and the 
others was quite plain as a result of the 
conspicuous white upper tail coverts. A 
specimen was collected to make identifi- 
eation certain. The only available au- 
thority stated that this bird has only been 
noted on three occasions in this locality. 


Puiure F. Foran. 


Bs Ra ' ¥ 
¢ . ‘- 
P Sime re 
vi | ae My iy ; 
LAMBA YT: (HH AaNTEA ale wi ey 
i nt a a 


ng cy Wy 1 Loy Handa if 
| "yng 4) 


ey ae viet lh Aline: ¥e 
Ave tds hye af +i ' 0 anh a 


ay 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 
INDEX 


Volume XXX VI 


ob 


ve 


= _ December, 1922.] 


os 
- 
"Ss PAGE 
; Abies iaitacarpa gee ete 114 
Acanthis linaria......... 164 
fe Aseipiter vena, 63, 38, ‘ie a 
‘oi ipiter velox..63, 1 147, 16 
Se Achillea millefolium...... 61 
Acmexa geometrica........ 123 
ae CMU. 41, 42 
SO ae 42 
PCACHIOIWM. 3... /......-..: 42 
__ Acridotheres cristatellus.. .32, 54 
CY De 


, 43 
Aectitis macularia 45, 63, 105, 162 


Adams, J., article by ed 177 


‘Adamatone, F. B., article 
y ‘Additional Notes on the 


Winter Birds of the 
Okanagan Valley, 
British Columbia.... 12 
FIGMIGBYUNG <2 ise. ss 121 
Adventures. i 
Canada Goose....... 81 
Aechmophorus occidentalis 103 
Aegialitis semipalmata 
45, 63, Ae 


| Aethiospar cristatellus.... . 


Agelaius phoeniceus...... 64 
phoeniceus caurinus . 30 
phoeniceus phoeniceus. 147 

Aglais j-album........... 141 

—— - milberti 


$ Albertson, Alice O., Review 


of her ‘Nantucket 
Wild Flowers”...... 40 


_ Alces americanus......... 65 


_ Alder 
J Allen, E. Chesley, articles 


06, 126 


woes s eee ee ee woe 


_ American Association for 


the Advancement of. . 
Science, Resolution by 51 


3 American Hawk Owl, The 68 


in 132 


Amygdalocystites......... 85- 
Anas platyrhynchos . .50, 62, 104 
ae ee 133 
Anemone, Prairie........ 61 
Anemone patens wolfgan- 
MN ee 
DEMOGONE ec ee. 132 
_ Anser albifrons gambeli. . 62 
i a 158 
_ Anthus rubescens....... 65, 166 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX TO VOLUME XXXVI 


PAGE 

Ardea herodias...... 45, 59, 162 
herodias fannini..... 105 
herodias herodias. . 147 
Arenaria inter pres morinella 105 
melanocephala....... 133 

AT OLNUR tas a seach boss: 173 
PUOOBQ ae Fe st. 173 
Argynnis aphrodite....... 141 
VEY (Si) ip ea 141 
CUBES Seer SR, 5 141 
PATECINISIA ge Oe oo cae 5 es 90 
Asclepias syriaca......... 142 
Asellus communis........ 156 
tomalensis........... 156 
Asplenium Ruta-muraria 150 
Trichomanes. .149, 150, 151 
WETMORE, Case 61, 150 
Astragalinus trislis....... 164 
LETSEES IBTIS Se 46, 148 
ASF OCUSIUNESS oe one as Be 85 
Astur atricapillus....... 63, 133 
Asyndesmus lewisi....... 13 
Aiclocystitess oe an hs 85 
Athyrium angustifolium... 150 
PT CRTOA Ur te cle oe st 140 
Razor-billed eee 20, 155 
“‘Auk, The’’, review of.... 76 
Auklet, Rhinoceros... .. 104 
Cassin’ Sete es 104 
VOCED tiie foc 90, 91 
Azure Spring: i5 tS. 141 
IBACKeMiah ek it sek ooo 78 
TRACE O16 aaa Fe. 67 
Badhamia decipiens...... 130 
Yohecole s,s... 130 
DOME en Ree ke, 130 
UNCULATIS. <a> ex 180 
Baldpaterco. ss es 62, 79, 90 
Baltimore, THe: oo... 7.2: 141 


Basilarchia archippus. . 142 
i area 103, 126 
Bene, lait Ly 0". 65 
Grimey. egies 87 
PES Pe ose ctw) 65 
Queen Charlotte 
INORG, ALA vo cs Sa os 103 
Beard Tongue........... 124 
Beaupre, E., articleby... 33 
Beaver, Canadian........ 65 
Mountains ©; 20%. 30 
Bedstraw, Northern...... 61 
Bea, Humple fo .-.5.... 169 
1a tS Min py Me le eee 66 
Beetles, Blister.......... 66 


Bent, Arthur Cleveland, 
review of his “Life 
Histories of North 
American Diving 
Birds,” and “‘Life His- 
tories of North Am- 

Gulls and 


PAGE 
Biological Notes along 
1400 miles of the Mac- 

kenzie River System. 61 
Biological Reconnaisance 
of Portions of Nipis- 
sing and Timiskaming 
Districts, | Northern 

Ontario. 3538.0 os: 175 


Bird Notes from the Dis- 
trict of Algoma, On- 
[oly] epee | 153 
Bird Sanctuaries on the 
North Shore of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. 154 


Birds in Southwestern 
Saskatchewan, Notes 
Nie osha Oa 94 
Birds of a Suburban 
Garden) 4.2 ok oe 146 
Birds of North Bay, 
Ontario, and Vicinity 
Ht 1904 es re ae 161 
Bison;/Woo0d - 23405 254 Ss 65 
Bison bison athabascez... . 65 
‘Batters. tee 5s ok os ee 27 
American. . .62, 74, 76, 162 
Blackbird, Brewer’s.. 13, 74, 138 
Red-winged 
27, 64, 74, 1388, 147, 175 
Rusty Mae 13, 46, 64, 147 
Yellow-headed...... 27, 29 
Bindderwort 2. Sot 123 
Flatleaved. .......... 124 
EIGINCHs 4. es ee 124 
Bumped... = si: 125 
PAarger hn . ; Sosa 123 
essere; 47. =e. ae 124 
tly :| | et ee ee 125 
Reversed 4.27 AS 124 
Bladderworts of Ontario.. 123 
Bleeding-heart......... 60, 156 
BloedtReot. 3.) 108, 110 
Blue, Eastern-tailed...... 141 
Blue Beil, Seottish....... 61 


Bluebird, Eastern. .71, 149, 154 
Mountain... .35, 37, 65, 75 
13 


Western: : 22 5.4 38 
Boag, Mrs. E.J., articleby 113 
BOROHBI Te wy ene 45, 147 
Bob-White............ ee}: 


Bombycilla cedrorum 
13, 46, 148, 165 
Garr. 3.2. 25 eee ae 148 


iopilcc ts \ Se OR Rear Si b 168 
Botaurus lentiginosus....62, 162 
Botrychium lanceolatum 

var angustisegmentum 

149, 151 
Brachyramphus marmor- 

IE of kt eae ~ 104 
Bradshaw, F., articleby.. 91 
Branchinecta paludosa.... 96 
RPE 2 < ha hs ale 144, 180 

Digg No kien wae 145 


— 


kk Fes Ae ihe ees 59-78. | 
r * , sate eal fx, 
iv THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 
INDEX—Continued 
PAGE PAGE aos 
Branta bernicla.......... 144 Gathedes Ao te 149 Colaptes auratus...>.... 63,163 
bernicla bernicla..... 144 Cathartes aura septentrion- auratus hee Bie: fe 747. 
bernicla collaris...... 144 OHS Se 8 cafer saturatior...... 134 | 
bernicla glaucogasira.. 144 Catoptrophorus —_semipal- Columba fasciata....... >. 183° 
canadensis...... 62, 81, 104 matus semipalmatus.. 152 Colymbus grisegena....... <1 
canadensis canadensis. Cattle "Wilde hs: Sr oe 103 holboelli..... 27, 62, 76, 103 : 
12; 147 Cecidomyia ence te os leer 171 Comarocystites punctatus. 84, 85 
canadensis huichinsi.. 50 Cedar, Yellow........... 114 shumardi. > eo Sea "85 
glaucogaster......... 144 Cephalanthera oregana.... 119 Comatricha typhoides..... 130 
Bryozoa...-.------.---- 84 Cepphus columba. . 23. = Oe Comma. ..... 5). 8eeeeee - 108 
Bubo virginianus virgin- grylle . . «AB, 98 Compsothlypis americana.. 166 
NEES ae ees cin 45 Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa. . 130 americana usneae.. .46, 148 
Buccinum undatum...... - 157 Cerithidea newcombei . 123 Conchostraca. ... ) 2.2.0. 95 
ee en ee 118, 158 Cerorhinca monocerata.... 104 Condor, The, Review of — 
Buffalo Berry GEA Certhia familiaris........ 167 for 1921. Sy v"ooeeeee foie, = 
Bufflehead........-- 62, 73, 74 familiaris americana.46, 149 Coneheads. = 2: Ji) anes 41 
Bug, Ambush.......-..-- familiaris montana... 13 Contributionsto Canadian 
Bumble-bee.......----- 60, 156 familiaris occidentalis. 136 Biology, review of... 158 
re, Indigo....... 148, 165 familiaris zelotes..... 13 Coot - 2. 4a 27, 114, 115 
Mess tse S 177 Ceryle alcyon. . .45, 63, 134, 162 American...........29, T4 
am CS See 14, 164 (Rested © ees. ..4 a, ome. 160 Coots, An Invasion of.... 114 
Buteo borealis........--- 63 Chaetetes petropolitanus 84 Copper, Bree pee 141 
borealis calurus...... 134 GAOMOSUS -'S. FS scan 84 Least .. 2. -3peene 141 
platypterus .45, 162 Chaetura pelagica....... 45, 147 Corallorhica maculata. . 173 
Butterflies.....-..---- 126, 141 Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 114 trifida, «0.435 eee 174° 
black and white ad- Charadrius dominicus..... 63 Coregonus. 3: sae 2 hp x 
Be OP he oe 127 dominicus fulvus..... 105 Cormorant, Double-crested _ 
Butterfly, Common Blue.. 108 Charitonetta albeola....... 62 45, 73, 74, 80 
Hepatica.......-..- Check List of The Birds of Violet-green......... 104 ey 
Humters.2: be 2: - 141 Illinois, Review of... 179 Cornus nuttalli.......... 3 
indies >. oo... ts. sx 108 Checker-spot, Harris’.... 141 Cornwall, Ira E., article by 121 
Rate WOT 2x; ee. he 61, 124 Cheirocrimus:. 2.0. <2. >.> 86 Corus brachyrhynchos ilo: 164 
anatiformis.......... 84 brachyrhynchos brach- 
3 Chen hyperborea......... 62 yrhynchos...... 45, 99, 147 
Caddis larva.......----- 12 i hyperboreus nivalis. . 50 COUTINUS |. Aa eae 135 
Calidris leucophaea....... 105 Chickadee.. .14, 46, 78, 149, 154 COTad.~..: wa See . 164 ; 
Calopogon........---- 124, 173 Weasiai?s S not 46 corax principalis..45, 50,64 — 
pulchellus.....-..--- 173 Black-capped..... 153, 167 corax sinuatus......... 135 a 
ee Ee Oe 173 Chestnut-backed. . .13, 136 Corydalis, Pale.......... 150 
Camberwell Beauty...... 108 Hudsonian.......... 65 Corydalis sempervirens. . 150 
Camnula.........--2---- 42 Long-tailed. ........ 75 Cowbird....... 74, 98, 147, 164 
Campanula........-..-. 61 Chipmunk........ 119, 127, 175 Crab, Hermit........... 1 
rotundifolia........ 61, 150 Lake Superior....... 175 Crane.:...: 3:2. 62, 105 
Camptosorus sa ange 150 Choke Cherries.......... 3 Little Brown. . . .53, 76, 79 
Canachites ca 63 Chordeiles virginianus. . .64, 163 Sandhill......... 53, 76, 79° 
franklini Se aS 63 virginianus virgin- Whooping.......... rus bOr 
Canadian wild life photo- GOMUS. oto mn. oo rol 47 Craterium leucocephlalum.. 130 — 
graphs, exhibition of. 179 Cinquefoil, Three-toothed. 150 Creeper, Brown < 
Cannabis saliva.......... 177 Cinofoil, Shrubby...... .. 61 14, 46, 136, 149, 167 
Canvasback. . got ios eae Circinaria concava....... 182 Rocky Mountain. sian: 
Carabocrinus........-... 85 Circus hudsonius....... 63, 162 Sierra. . . =. ae uke a 
Pe IRRRI i hy ate! sal oe 22 14 Csictlis as... . ooo l- 119 Cremacrinus...........-- 85 
SS eee 158 — Cladoceran. ...... »156 _ Cricket,/Fall 2). Al 
Dawei ..2.. 2-6 103 Clangula clangula ameri- Green Tree......... 44 
Carpodacus cassini....... 13 Guegiter hicks spk“) sae 
purpureus.........-. 164 -Cleiocrinus............-. 85 
purpureus purpureus 46, 148 Cliff-Brake, Slender... ... 151 
aes, Thomas D., article Clitambonites. 85, 86 
, 9 See ee 7 
ae Mel antiiins pal 442 Clover ed 60.0. os aa 169 
’ : Glial ACINGWe =. ace ines 58 
Carychium exile.......... 182 C 
occyzus americanus am- 
eS eae Ane teres 169 ericanuS............ 147 
Sagrada............ : erythrophthalmus... . . 147 
Cassels, Elsie, article by.. 58 — Coehlicopa lubrica........ 132 
Cassiope tetragona........ 157 — Cockerell, Prof. T. D. A., 
eae eee ree)! review of his Life of 
Castor canadensis........ 65 Dra. Drary. ....0.0.297 3 


eetoat _ OPES ee 
Crustaceans, Euphyllopod 95 
Cryptoglaux acadica aca- 

di. 


(oD a 147 
acadica brooksi....... 134 
Cryptogramma Stelleri 
149, 150, 151, 162 
BeOS: se 106 


Cuckoo, Black-billed 
35, 147, 153 
Yellow-billed........ 147 


syCupulocrinus............ 85 
Curlew, Eskimo........ 72, 140 
4 oe Long-billed......... 52 

Cyanocitta cristata... ...76, 164 
- cristata bromia...... 76 
- © cristata cristaia...... 147 
va, stellert carlotte....... 185 
memerecystoides =... 85 
MEMCCCEDEUS | 22, i 85 
Cyclospira bisulcata . . 86 
0 a er 171 
Cypripedium hirsutum. ..95, 173 
‘  parviflorum........ 61, 173 
passerinum.......... 61 
Gyprinotds =... 6... 5. 27 
Cystopteris bulbifera....151, 152 
~ Dafila acuta........:..“62, 104 
Damsel-flies............. 127 
Danaus archippus........ 142 
Darapsa pholus.......... 106 

‘ fi Dairdson, Prof. John, 
article ee ae a 168 
Deer, Black-tailed....... 103 
Sa 59 
IG gear ae 102 
\\ oS 2 59 
De apy, Justin S., article : 
ire 137 

Baiph E., articles by 
119, 120, 137 

fe -Dendragapus obscurus sit- 
Se aearee , 188 
BLIGNOTORTINUS. 2. ....:.. 85 
Dendroica xstiva........ 64, 166 
Bh xstiva xstiva . .. .46, 148 
Ret aguduboni, =... ...... 79 
Bn caerulescens......... 166 

ee caerulescens caerules- 
SST 46, 148 
eer. COStaned....... 46, 148, 166 
rte COTUED. |... . 120. 148 
ng coronata.......46, 148, 166 
i discolor 149, 176 
fusca. 46, 149, 166 


magnolia. . 146, 64, 148, 166 
palmarum hypochrysea 46 
palmarum palmarum 

137, 149 


a tea 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 
PAGE 
Dendroica vigorsi......... Hie 
vigorsi vigorsi. 149 
OUT CTB he ae 46, 149, 166 
Desmosiyltie®. = 22°32. 122) 123 
NRESDETUS Ant MoS. 122 
sookensis n.sp...... 122 
UNIS CUP ee o>, BY. 122 


De Vany, J.L., articleby. 16 


Dickerogammarus fasciatus 178 
Dictydium caneellatum.... 130 
Diderma spumarioides.... 130 
Dielytra spectabilis....... 156 
Ppntfertidit on.) os... 6. 8, 39 
DORE ili i Mer nee 8, 39 
Disappearance and Recov- 
ery of the Bluebird... 71 
Distribution of the Ottawa 
Trenton Echinoderm 
Waite! er. S40 84 
Diver, Great Northern... 73 
DivinpeBirds. 2.65.62 ok. 18 
DGRSORe re 106 
LD le re 3, 169 
Dolichonyx oryzivorus... .45, 147 
Dolomite, Guelph........ 108 
Dove, Mourning. $2 BO; Oe 
MnvemIOs as eo. SS 9 
Dragonflies....... 108, 126, 157 
Drosera longifolia. ....... 125 
Drury, Dru, review of 
account of his life.... 75 
Dryobates pubescens. ..... 162 


pubescens medianus .45, 147 


villosa” 2. Ot re. 68, 162 
villosus picoideus— 
sere facing page 121, 134 
villosus villosus.... . 45, 147 
Dryocampa, Rosy....... 106 
DP YOPIOTIE hae ee PES 150 
Duck, Black..35, 68, 79, 83, 129 
Harlequins}. .< 7. ..".*--180 
Isabradoret ©. >... 22 72, 140 
Long-tailed. .....12, 15, 50 
Old-squaw.......... 104 
CU DO nr ir 27, 29 
Seaup. . .14, 15, 62, 162 
Strange Actions of a. 16 
Wet es Os 79 
Duck Hawk, The....... 33 
Dumetella carolinensis.... 149 
Dymond, J. R., article by. 142 
Eagle, Bald........ 74, 134, 162 
Echinoderm faunas...... 84 
Welenocrmus: . 20.0. oo BE 
i ela ar 85 
JOE Sa A ih re 109 
nS 5 a 45, 99, 155 
yo gs Seek ik tat 155 
eee 50, 79 
N Sheen i Vet ec 5 
Eiders, A Family of...... 58 
Elaeagnus argenteus...... 61 
Elderberries............. 3 


> 
PAGE 

Empidonaz difficilis..... . 135 
flaviventris Bap, oe 45, 147 
minimus . 64, 147, 163 
eRe eae 163 
trailli alnorum.. an, Mee 
Empusa grilli............ 68 
Endule mendica.......... 106 
Enodia portlandia........ 141 
* Eepipatiia 280. (2a 174 
decipiens:- 0c... /LT3 PEA 
repens var. ophioides 173, 174 
tessplala gs. eet 174 
Equisetum arvense........ 145 
Ereunetes mauri......... 105 
pusillus.,..........63, 162 
FEVOtG LOb. £2 ee 141 
Erpobdella punctata...... 8, 37 
punctata annulata.... 8, 38 
Erpobdellidae............ 8, 37 
B80 LUCIUS 2.3 ete 66 
Estheria caldwelli........ 96 
Euconulus fulvus......... 132 
Eumetopias jubata... . 103 


Euphagus carolinus 
13, 46, 64, 147, 164 


cyanocephalus....... 13 
Euphydryas phaeton...... 141 
Eurema euterpe.......... 141 


European Hare in Ontario 142 


Eurycea bislineata........ 100 
Everes comyntas.........- 141 
ge, Pearly "23... Roe 141 
Falco columbarius........ 63 
MeXICANUS..=.. = 12 
peregrinus anatum. . .33, 63 
peregrinus pealei..... 134 
rusticolus rusticolus... 12 
sparverius...... 13, 63, 162 
sparverius sparverius.. 147 
Falcon, Peregrine........ 35 
Prawn 5. 5.. S. oes iz 


Farley, F. M., article by.. 72 


Feniseca tarquinius....... 141 
Fern, Boot’s Shield... ... 151 
Braun’s Holly 150 
Bulblet Bladdek 151, 152 
Lance-leaved Grape... 151 
Sensitive. 2.45.44 151 
Spiny Shield. . 151 
HETOES Fic 260. hee Oe ee 149 
Ferns of Hatley. Stan- 
stead County, Que- 
bec, 1921-22; Further 
Notes on the........ 149 
Rigworts:.¢ 641. (eee 124 
Finch, Cassin’s ipo 13 
Purple... 46, 80, 148, 164 
Rosy. . Rates, 2, 94 
‘Fir, Alpine... 114 
US) ga ane 176 
Piax. Least Toatl 2... 02S 124 


Fleming, J: H., articleby. 15 — 


Flicker. . . .35, 63, 134, 163, 175 
Northern 
45, 64, 74, 147, 153 


gather Alder ; 

Great Crested. 68, 147, 163 
74, 147, 153, 163 
Olive-sided. AB, 64, 74, ae 


Yellow-bellied 

45, 77, 147, 153 

Foerste, A. F., article by.. 
Forestry Essay Prize 


Fox, Continental Arctic... 


(Hirudinea) of South- 


Freshwater-Isopod - 
Freshwater-sponge 


The Silver-spot 


Froggatt, Walter W.., 


Fulica americana........ 


Galium boreale 
Gallinago delicata......... 

gallinago delicata..... 
Gallinule, Florida........ 
Gammarus fasciatus. ..... 


Gastrocopta armifera...... 


Gau Itheria shallon. 


immer ellasson. . 


Gentian, Swamp......... 
Gentiana sceptrum.. . . 


Geothlypis trichas........ 
Geranium, wild 
Glaucidium gnoma grinnelli 


Glendenning, R., article by 
Glossiphonia complanata. 


Glossiphonidae. ite 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 


PAGE 
Goats, Rocky Mountain— 
=. he agpee s I vane facing page 81 
Gold JPhreau!. 25 ose se 108 
Golden-eye, American 
14, 15, 16, 62, 68, 74, 120 


Barrow’ get 7 Fe 180 
Golden-eyes.............- 73 
Goldfinch...........46, 80, 148 

American)... i. 2 164 
Goniobasis livescens....... 132 

Sopkensis.-. = P92 384 123 
GOGOUCTU Nae etka, ers ee 174 

TPUDESUENS:. a oan ic). hake 174 
GO0SE St sae ae 104 

American White- 

frontedsste ls 

Bilge eso esse TF 

Cacldinga 8.) xats 180 

Canada 

12, 62, 74, 81, 90, 147 

lemperon ©. 628 12S 53 

Greater Snow...... 50, 180 

Lesser Snow.....-.. 180 

SHOWA os eRe eee 62 
Gopher: 24525. 54 soe eee 67 

Bush’--< .teo 5 eee 119 
Goshawk, American .63, 98, 133 

Western St. 2 Aes 180 
Grackle? Se, Se. 35, 175 

Bronzed 

46, 60, 68, 75, 138, 148, 164 

RISt ye recs ete te 


Graham Island of the Queen 
Charlotte Group, A 
Biological Reconnais- 


ance on o= 2.512104; 138 
Grand River, Rambling 

yet heme tte. eee 
Grass, of Parnassus....... 61 

Yellow-eved = 3... =. leo 
Grasshopper, Carolina..... 42 

Roadster oes 42 
Grasshoppers, Manitoba. 41, 66 
Gratiola aurea........... 124 
Grayling, Arctic......... 66 


Grebe, Holboell’s 
27, 53, 62, 76, 103 
Homed™ oe 7 sake 73, Th 
Pied-billed..... 28, 73, 161 
Red-neckead... °°. 73 
WeBLORIE 0400). cade 103 


Grosbeak, Evening. 
14, 60, 80, 137, 148, 153 
Pine 
14, 99, 129, 135, 148, 164 
Rose-breasted 64,68, 75, 148 
Grouse, Canada Ruffed 
45, 147, 153, 154 
1B ge aie anne 53 
Gray Ruffed........ 63 
pace .85, 63, 74, 78, 175 
94 


Ys se «© + 6s © o's ane” clele « Ses > 


canadensis mexicana. . 


bee luctuosus 


pee Black 


Gull, Bonaparte’ sé 


Glaucous-winged... 
Great Black-backed 
_14, 15, 20, 45, 99, 180 


5, 
8, 104, 147, ni ‘162 
Ring-billed. 14, 15, 62, ee 


Habenaria bracteata “by 
125, 178, ie me 


Hadpatort bachmani. . 
Haemopis marmoratis . 
Haida Indians.........< 
Hairstreak, Acadian 


. Striped... 2. 
Halizetus leucocephalus. 134, 3 cs 
Hare, European. 

Macfarlane Varying.. 


Harelda hyemalis.12, 50, 99, 104 
ae Paul, article _ 


Ne Broad-winged. . 
Duck 


3 

Bi tailed See "63, 74, 134 
Sharp-shinned 

63, 1388, 147, 162 


parrow 

13, 14, 63, 74, 147, 162, 175 ~ 
Hedysarum Mackenzii... . 
Helicodiscus parallelus. . 
Helodromus solitarius:.... 68 


ve 6 © eve soso ee étae | 


Hemlock, Moun kent 


i PAGE 
RMI ice ive ns ose 177 
- Heodes epixanthe eee Bion 141 


t 
Heron, Great Blue’ 
~, --45, 59, 73, 74, 105, 147, 162 
35 


teen ss. 
_Hesperiphona  vespertina 
vespertina........... 148 
_ Heteractitis incanus...... 105 


Heteromeyenia macouni.. 157 
Hewitt, C. Gordon, review 
of his “The Conserva- 
tion of the Wild Life 


of Canada’”’....... 139, 157 
TIMUUIMGAC to . . 5... 6, 37 
Hirudinidae............. 8, 10 
Hirundo erythrogaster 
46, 136, 148 
~Honey-bee.............. 60 


Hornet, black and white.. 126 
Howard 1EQ Eliot, review 


of his ‘ ‘Territory in 
Bird . Bees ks 55 
pusmmeondsiers.. 2... 2... wk 85 
7 ae aneted: Allan’s. 54 
: Ruby-throated 
45, 99, 147, 153 
COAL TC rr 135 
Hungarian or European 
_. Grey Partridge...... 91 
_ Hyalella azteka.......... 178 
ha) -eniekerbockeri....:.. 178 
PEMUOCTINUS cs. 85 
BILUDOCUSIULES ©. 2... =... 2. -- 85 
_Hydrochelidon nigra sur- 
imamensis 2 ae 62 
surinamensis........ 28 
demerit aliciae....... 65, 167 
aliciae aliciae........ 149 
WiUBEERCENS oo... 5: 167 
re fuscescens fuscescens.. 149 
: Ti) 1 a a 167 
guttata faxoni........ 79 
z guttata nanus........ 136 
_ -—- guttata pallasi.. .46, 65, 149 
oa MPEOIEN. Fos. ose vr 149 
ES 167 
— _— -ustulata swainsoni. .46, 149 
Eaicas pedis a a pervee 106 
WANA ens... 106 
: Hymenoptera............ 66 
seo hareta parthenos..... 106 
Hyssop, Golden Hedge... 124 
5 
cs 
I cpurciidas ih, ee 8, 10 
-Icterus galbula 


Bind onnu. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD- NATURALIST 


- INDEX—Continued 
PAGE 
Jaeger, Long-tailed...... 180 
PR ARUGT Gees saps aex\soo 180 
POMATING?<.. dr. 27 :. 180 
“Japanese Starling’ in 
Vancouver, B.C...... 32 
Jay, Blue 
14, 35, 74, 76, 147, 153, 164 
Canada 
14, 45, 64, 74, 77, 147, 164 
Queen Charlotte..... 135 
Johansen, Frits, articles 
big ae 156, 177 
Johnson, C. E., articles 
Baia nnn ich: 2's 60, 99, 100 
ri) cba ole Ines Meet air a 14, 127, 135 
Slate-colored 
46, 64, 75, 148, 153, 165 
Junco hyemalis......... 64, 165 
hyemalis hyemalis...46, 148 
hyemalis oreganus.... 135 
AAD VOIGSicie ee ee ee 41, 44 
Killdeer. . . .35, 74, 90, 147, 162 
Kindle, E. M., article by... 111 
Kainebird sy :oe5 6 45, 147, 163 
PR ANSAR a Pot ea 
HASLet ens hae on. 27, 35 
Westernsctir. ol.) 27,00 
Kingfisher....... 27, 35, 45, 134 
Belted 


14, 35, 63, 74, 153, 162 
Kingiet, Golden-crowned 
46, 136, 149, 167 
Ruby-crowned 
65, 73, 75, 149, 167 
Hugh, A. Brooker, ‘articles 
5 


BS LE cares. . 7, 156 
Ladies’ Tresses........ 5. 110 
Hooded eee week oc 8 3 173 
Lady, The Painted....... 141 
Lady’s Slipper, Northern. 61 
Shows fe. Fo. 95, 110 
Small” Yellow. ai "GT 
Y CLOW eet Gist ¢ 110 
Lagopus rupestris........ 63 
Lanius borealis......... 99, 148 
Lanivireo solitarius. .. 166 
solitarius solitarius. 46, 148 
Lark, Horned...... .95, 99, 163 
Hoyt’s Horned...... 13 


Larus argentatus 
45, 62, 104, 147, 162 


delawarensis. . .62, 147, 162 
glaucescens.......... 104 
hauperboreus NOM IG os a 3 98 
MONNUEE ees 45, 99 
philadelphia......... 
shistisagus.......... 62 


Larve of Phormia chrysor- 
rhea Macq. found up- 
on nestling Bluebirds 116 


LObab Ata ek: 103 
Latchford, Hon. Mr. Jus- 
tice, article by....... 4 


Lebetodiseus............. 85 


Vii 


GE 
Lectures to School Chil- 

Sc Ln a ay ota See 16 
Leeches, Freshwater..... 6, 37 
Leocarpus fragilis........ 130 
Lepidurus arcticus....... 96 
Lepus americanus macfar- 

VON tae gs Ned 65 

CUSOVENS 2 eae 143 

VITAUE DY, 0 SAS 142, 143 
Leucosticte tephrocotis.... . 94 
Lewis, Harrison ite articles 

by ' 58, 98, 116 
Likatiaen, Beh a heitoge heel 108 
Lichen Growth and Snow 

PROBED is os rth ae 113 
Limnadia gigas.......... 96 
Limnetis brachyurus...... 96 

GOWAN 2-5 Ae OO 
EANOTIG;/ MINOT. Sass roe es 124 
| Eni aia Tet: hoe, Pee aetna 108 
Liparis Loeselit.......... 174 
Listera convallarioides.... 174 

CORCOHT of ghee ae 174 


Lloyd, Hoyes, articles by 
49, 116, 143, 178 
Locust, Grouse.......... 43 


Lesser-migratory.... 43 
Red-legged.......... 43 
Rocky Mountain.... 42 
Two-striped......... 43 
Locustinae- oes: 2 ac. ee. 42 
Loon -20 =) 219; 278286457 
: 103, 118, 126, 128, 153 
Bide-a-Wee......... 113 
Pacific. ..... ess 62 
Red-throated . ..103, 137 
Yellow-billed........ 17 
Lophodytes cucullatus..... 104 
Loxia curvirostra minor 
46, 135, 164 
leucoptera . .13, 46, 64 
Luna ee eee 107 
Lutra canadensis....... .65, 103 


Lutreola vison energumenos 65 
Lycaenopsis pseudargiolus ‘141 


Lycogala epidendrum..... 130 
Lycopodium inundatum... 125- 
PAAROC ele ten a ta 132 
humilis modicella.... 132 
Lynx, Canada.......... 65, 119 
Lynx canadensis........ 65 


Macnamara, Chas., article 


\.. See 99 
Macoun, Prof. John, Auto- 

biography GES Sepsis 
Macrobasis murina....... 66 
Macrobdella decora . oe Re AD 


Macroplectrum sese? ipedale 169 
Magee, M. J., article by.. 153 


Magpies). itere ices 78, 79 
Malan): Ss ree 174 
Mallard 


50, 62, 74, 79, 90, 104, 115 
Manitoba Grasshoppers. 41, 66 
Mareca americana........ 62 


Vill 
PAGE 
11 a aoe ke en a 162 
americand........... 29 
TL Rs eee 5 Sere ee 62 
PUM SNOTUG on 62 
Marshmarigold.......... 110 
Marten, Alaska.......... 65 
Queen Charlotte..... 103 
Martes pennanti......... 176 
Martins Purple:< >... 2... 148 
Metyathy (An ee san 2 106 
Meadowlark 
35, 73, 97, 99, 116, 147, 161, 164 
Western........64, 66, 117 
Meadow Rue.......:.... 108 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus 
147, 163 
Melitae harrisi........... 141 


Melospiza georgiana... .. 46, 148 


EMCO pc 135 
lincolni lincolni..... . 46 
WNCIDARG ee os es 2 AOD 
melodia melodia..... 46, 148 
melodia morphna:... . 135 
Merganser.......... 62, 73, 104 

American =. «2. >.14, 15; 74 

HMNOUCd 2. see. 104 

Red-breasted 14, 45, 74, 162 
DECLOUS oe ce ce oe ae SS 04 

GIEFICONUS 2. Shel. . 62 

serraton.. > =~ -.45, 62, 162 
Merriman, R. Owen, ar- 

BIPIe Bye Sot 146 
Mesentericus fuscus...... 78 
Mesomphix inornata...... 132 
Mice, pocket............ 67 
EPETDSLYNIS Waco ee oe 174 

TEVE (a) i ie Re hee 173 
Microtus chrotorrhinus.... 138 

pennsylvanicus....... 34 

xanthognathus....... 65 
Migration of the Brant 

(Branta bernicla) in 

Greemand os 5s 144 
Migratory Birds Conven- 

tion Act, Prosecutions 

11, 50, 94, 154 
Mmkween ee. at fet S< os: 142 
ill age re ae 176 

Western o4 0 se. 65 
BARTOW OIG cll. wide ey 108 
Mniotilta varia..... 46, 148, 166 
Moccasin Flower........ 110 
Mocking Bird....... 78 
Molothrus ater... 164 

ater ater..... 147 
WIOUATCO he 3 5 142 
Moore, J. Percy, articles 

ea ae 6, 37 
AE ae a oat 65 
Morris, F. article by... 123 


Robert T. , article by. 60 


Bosses Club:: 34-505 = 125 
Moth, Beggar... aS wee I 106 

Hawk pare Bh 106 
Moths... . 106 
ONE Fe be 5 78 


Mountain Beaver (Aplo- 
dontia rufa) 


INDEX—Continued 


Mousley, Henry, articles 
by......187, 141, 149, 178 
Mucilago spongiosa....... 130 
Munro, J. A., articles by.. 
1, 12; 26, 32, 35, 89, 114 
Murre, Brumnich’s...._.. 98 


Common.......... 20, 155 
Murrelet, Marbled....... 104 
IMuarrres ee ne 5 ty 97 
Mus norvegicus.......... 103 
IRIS eo oss ee ae 176 

Northwest s.2o 222 65 
Mts ON tgs 7 a os See 158 


Mustela americana actuosa 65 


MESOPRALG..%- . 2. koe 108 
USO ents se. Ree 176 
Myiarchus crinitus.....147, 163 
Myiochanes virens.... . 147, 163 
MOUSE he ae 103 
Myrica californica....... 120 
GOERS tyres ate 120 
Myrtle, California....... 120 
Mystacocetan..... 22.49% 1 
Waytliis, Fs Ra 
CdS. os Ue Se rig ait 
Myxomycetes........... 129 


Myxomycetes of the Lake 
Nipigon District..... 


Nannus hiemalis......... 
hiemalis hiemalis. . .46, 149 
hiemalis pacificus... . 

Nantucket Wild Flowers.. 40 

Nature Lover’s CPOp in 


Nova Scotia. ee AS} 
INOCMLOUIN Sint ee ree 41 
Neonympha eurytus...... 60 
Nephelopsis obscura...... 8, 39 
Nettion carolinense...... 62, 104 
Newcombe, C. F., article 

| 6 Shoe ae PU aeRO et 120 
Nighthawk 


35, 64, 74, 100, 147, 153, 163 
Northwest Game Act Pro- 
secutions.. $207. 6.0. 12 
Nuthatch, Red-breasted 
46, 75, 136, 149, 167 
White-breasted..... 14, 149 
Nuttallornis borealis. .45, 64, 163 


INCHED TUCLE Ces Ah «5 Seis 134 
ING CURIS Sere se wn oe 141 
INIDDR ls. 2h .t eee 108 
Oak, Poison. . 95 


Observations on the Birds 
of Baffin Island and 


WEGHNU ns etiot a 49 
Occurrences of the Mea- 

dowlark in Nova 

SOMtIA Ce? Oe ees 116 
Odocoileus columbianus... 103 
Ccanthinae...........5. 41 


ey. 
: 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


VoL. XXXVI 
PAGE 
Oecanthus nigricornis..... 42 
(dipodinae. ... 5. v2.03 42. 
Oidemia americana....... 104 
deglandi...........62, 104 
perspicillata........62, 104 
Old-squaw.: >. : 4a 15, 99 
Olor 30. ee 105 
buccinatorcs.. eon 144 


Ondatra zibethica spatulaia 65 
Onoclea sensibilis var. ob- 


tustlobata: =. Ae eee 151 
Oporornis philadelphia... .46, 166 
Orchid, Green Wood..... 125 

Prairie Fringed...... 124 

Round-leaved....... 61 
Orchids . 173 


Orchids of Hatley, Stan- 
stead County, Que- 
bec, 1921-22. Further 


Notes on the....... % 
Orchis, Northern White... 173 
Ragged Fringed. ..173, 174 
Rein:.. eee eee 110 
Showy: . 3. 110 
Small” Wood......178, 174 


Orchis rotundifolia. ... . Ol alis 


Orcinus orea:........ ie LO? 

Oriole, Baltimore........ 147 
Bullock’s) = 34 05 eee 27 
Orchard -=)72c ee 17 


Ornithological Occurrences —— 
at Toronto, Ontario, 
January, 19225 == Rests es fs 

Osprey. .27, 45, 63, 74, 134, 153 


Ostrea:. <3... 2. eee 123 _ 
Otocoris alpestris......... 163 
alpestris hoyti....... 13 
Ottawacrinus. ..:..... beeladstont s{5| 
Otter, Canadian......... 65 
Land 2 eee 103 
Séa:., Sarees 103 
Olus GS810 . -. Si eee 134 
GSi0\0S105 , 3. See 147 
Oven-bird...... 46, 75, 128, 149 
Owl, American Hawk.63, 68, 79 
Burrowing.......... 1 
Coast Pygmy: <3) > = p4 = 
Great Gray......... 63 - 
Great Horned.. .45, 74, 127 
Pygmiy ..:4-.i ee {atl 
Saw-whet . .14, 184, 147 | 
Screech 42). =. 14, 134, ‘147. 
Short-eared......2.. 74 
Snowy'.:: 34 sae 50, 134 
Oxyechus vociferus........ 162 
vociferus vociferus.... -147 
Oyster-catcher, Black.... 133 
Pagurus arcadianus...... 157 
Paint-brush, Indian...... 61 
Palaeocrinus............ 86. 
Pandion haliaetus......... 162 
haliaetus carolinensis — 
: * 45, 63, 134 oe 


Papilio glaucus canadensis 142 > 
polyxenes. . 
Parks, National... . «ays 


+ ae 


eee. 


‘eae 


PAGE 

Parnassia ca eeiree 61 
CY 78 
Partritve. Ruieonent Grey 91 

, diungarian....:...... 

Partridge Berry Vine.... 108 
_ Pasceolus globosus...... .84, 85 

GQUCOOTUUS, «boas 8 
antermedius......... 85 
Passer domesticus........46, 64 


domesticus domesticus. 148 


Passerculus sandwichensis 
64, 164 
sandwichensis savanna 
46, 148 
_ Passerella iliaca......... 136 
MACE tRACO 0 oe. 148 
iliaca townsendi...... 53 
Passerherbulus nelsoni sub- 
Taal ae 46 
Passerina cyanea...... 148, 165 
Patch, Clyde A., articles 
1 ee el 101, 133 
Pedetaithya grisegena major 76 
Pedioecetes phasianellus. . 63 
phasianellus campes- 
Sot 2 ea 15 
_ Pelican, White... .... 62, 73, 74 
Pelicanus erythrorhynchus. 62 
Pellaea atropurpurea..... 150 
z _ Pemberton, C. C., article 
, 7 ae aa 21 
* Penthesies atricapillus. . 167 
atricapillus atricapil- 
nn (Rea ei a ala 46, 149 
hudsonicus.......... 65 
hudsonicus hudsonicus 
iemordiays.,...~..-. 46 
Rueseens. 45... .....)--. 136 
: rufescens rufescens... . 13 
Percosia obesa........... 66 
Periglyptocrinus......... 85 
Perisoreus barbouri....... cr 
canadensis......... 64, 164 
canadensis canadensis. 
45, 147 
Peromyscus keeni . 2 LOS 
a 85 
Petrochelidon albifrons hy- 
ee 77 
OT a 64 
lunifrons lunifrons... 46 
Pettigrew, Mary, article 
| a ae A 107 


P Peiee, Western Wood.27, 35, 36 
Wood... . .74, 147, 153, 163 


Mihalierocoric auritus auri- 


BREE GS Sits Fie cc 
pelagicus robustus 104 
ME MOSIONUES oc. ss 133 
Sermeasant. 2... 264.55. .: 133 
_ Phloeotomus pileatus...... 163 
 Phoca vitulina........... 103 


a re 35, 64, 74, 147, 153, 163 
: Pholas penita 121 


ee ed 


Spall chrysorrhea...... 116 
Phyciodes nycteis......... 141 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 
PAGE 
Physa sayii warreniana 
132, 133 
Physarum compressum. . 131 
globuliferum......... 131 
polycephalum........ 131 
op Ae eee 131 
viride var. aurantium. 131 
Vg) a a 168 
Picoides arcticus....45, 119, 162 
Pigeon, Band-tailed...... 1, 133 
Pigeon, Band-tailed, in 
British Columbia . 1 
Pigeon, Domestic........ 7, 60 
Passenger RR: ei, Vay iis, 140 
PL etka TA B32 6 66 
Pine, Western White... .. 114 
White Bark, .< 25). 114 
EVN NEE Se in ats 124 
CLL 2 a ae Se 61 
Pinicola enucleator.... . 135, 164 
enucleator leucura...99, 148 
Pik, ARs os de ea ee 124 
Pantail 355% eee 62, 79, 90, 104 
Pinus albicaulis.......... 114 
MONO Ps Fe Pe es 114 
Pipilo — erythrophthalmus 
erythrophthalmus..... 148 
Pipit, American........ 65, 166 
Piranga erythromelas..... 148 
Piscicola punctata........ 10 
UT) AS, eae oe 4 
abditum 6 
dite OR oN ot: 6 
NT eae ARC, RF pets 6 
compressum......... 5 
compressum _ pelluci- 

EG ee nae oe 5 
Clebatune OF Se ke os 6 
glabellmn Fe) ses tt 5 
tdahoensée... 2.4.5... 5 
noveboracense... .... 6 
SPNGEMOUMA. cP. he. 6 
splendidulum........ 5 
subrotundum.. ...... 6 
varidbile......... 02: 5 
VUTGiNicum. . 2.5.2. : 5 

Pisobva, ba@irdi—. . 202.23: 162 
maculata. . SD PRES ee |S 
TOMO Bel TSS 45, 105 

Pitcherplants......... 110, 124 

Place od. ose. 7 
Parasiiog oo. . c.... 7,9 
Ort. 7,9 
PORTS ates. 8, 9 


Plaintain, Menzies’... .173, 174 
Northern Rattlesnake 


173, 174 
Rattlesnake......... 110 
Planesticus migratorius 

46, 65, 168 

migratorius migrator- 
ius. .99, 149 
migratorius: propinquus 136 
Planorbis parvus......... 132 
Plectrophenax nivalis... .64, 164 
Vitsiogmtinye ceo... 97 
Pleurocystites............ 85, 86 


ix 
PAGE 
Plover, American Golden. 63 
Golden. 3) 63-3505 105 
Semipalmated 
45, 63, 80, 105 
patie. 5 Ae, 67 
Plume-wing.....)....... 106 
Podilymbus podiceps . .28, 161 
Pogomttacn«); 2 Zt. 124, 173, 174 
Pogonia, Rose........... 110 
Polyartemia forcipata..._.. 96 
Palypalas:. . i Gitia 110 
Polygonias..: 4 6 eX 141 
interrogationis....... 141 
Polygyra albolabris....... 132 
monodon . 62.) oo en 132 
monodon fraterna.... 132 
thyroidus jo oe 132 
PA ERIAIE. "9 132 
Polyphemus............. 107 
Polypody, Common...... 150 
Polystichum Braunii.... . 150 
Pomatiopsis lapidaria.... 132 
Pooecetes gramineus gram- 
ANGUS: xh coe 46 
POVOCtINUS Br SR ee 85 
Porsild, Dr. Morten P., 
article:by 75 7: ..2eae 144 
Post-Glacial Terraces on 
the Eastern and Wes- 
tern Shores of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
Notes.ons:. scene 111 
Potamogeton........... 90, 114 
perfoliatus.......... 115 
Potentilla fruticosa....... 61 
tridentata== one 150 
Potter, L. B., article by.. 94 
Prasopora : 6 eae 86 
Preserving Order in a 
Bird Sanctuary...... 35 
Pramas .320" 32 3.8 95 
Progne subis subis........ 148 


Proposed Bird Sanctuary 

in British Columbia... 26 
Prosecutions. .... 11, 50, 94, 154 
Protaxocrinus . 85 


Protoclepsis occidentalis... 7 a 
Reunisees S. wa ta 
Ptarmigan, Rock........ 63 
Ptychoramphus aleuticus.. 104 
PU Fa oe Ce BRP 20, 155 

Bomned <5 see 20 
Putorius haidarum....... 103 
Pyramidula alternata. ... . 132 

cronkheitei anthonyi.. 132 

cronkheiteit catskillen- 

C1 ae We eNO eo 132 
Pyrola, One-Flowered.... 110 
Pyrola, Shin Leaf........ 110 
Querquedula cyanopiera... 28 
Quiscalus quiscule........ 164 

quiscula aeneus..... 46, 148 


Racey, Kenneth, article ee af 


Rafinesquina deltoidea . 


m4 
PAGE 
Rail-Black sie ee 76 
Onda ar Neate Se 74 
ViremMiats. cc Hees 12 
Rallus virginianus........ 12 
Rana clamitans........... 57 
Rangifer dawsoni........ 103 
Ranunculus Flammula. . 125 
at NOLWAY.. 2 6cs Se. 103 
Rats, Wood...... se Sei 87 
Renee: tng re east 135 
AGRETTICAINE 3k, SRR 164 
Northern........45, 50, 64 
Recent Breeding Record 
of the Trumpeter 
Swan in Alberta..... 143 
ed Admiral 25% 108, 141 
Med-head os i es? 24; 29 
Redpoll:.. .:-%.. 13, 14, 99, 164 
Redstart.46, 128, 149, 153, 166 
Redwing, Northwestern...’ 30 
Regulus calendula....... 65, 167 
calendula calendula... 149 
SAINCDG sore Ba st 46, 167 
sdtrapa olivaceus..... 136 
satrapa sairapa...... 149 
Relation of Wild Life to 
Agriculture......... 47 
TRCLCOCTINUS S55 2 nc 85 
Rhamnus purshiana...... 3 
PEHOPAUOCET Os. SPEEA: 141 


Rhopalocera or Butterflies 
of Hatley, Stanstead 


County, Quebec, 
1921 - 22, Further 
OLGSIONS < os ke eS 141 
Rhus toxocodendron. . 95 
typhind............. 146 
DOTIUEE OP os sa We 95 
Rhynchobdellae. . me 7 
Riparia riparia.......... “46, 64 
EVODIN C2 625 14, 35, 36, 46, 60 
65, 75, 99, 149, 153, 168, 175 
Weaatein’ 62 e+ 136 
Rosa gymnocarpa........ 1 
SELES eat oe Many eae 3 
Salamander, Two-lined... 100 
EET ye Se a a 41 
MMR IUCHES. so, i SPRUE Sy 33 
STG EO Vt) hr 105 
Sandpiper, Baird’s....... 162 
Barpramian.. «= =... 17 
PARC Se Eee 45, 105 
ROUOTAL S111. 05 
Lingle} ht, Si hire 53 
Red-backed......... 78 
Semipalmated 63, 162 
OUUAIY ests... 63, 74 
Spotted 
35, 45, 63, 74, 90, 105, 128, 162 
Western, =.=. 105, 180 


Sapsucker, Red-breasted.. 134 
Yellow-bellied 

63, 74, 100, 147, 163 

Sarcophagidae........... 66 

SOrrdeeni@:c sui cbs eee 124 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 
PAGE 
Saunders, W. E., articles 
Bivariate Syn 137, 1388 
Paw Mieswe es Lie eee 170 
Sayornis phoebe... .64, 147, 163 
Seallop-shell............ 106 
Scapholeberis cornuta..... 156 
DCAUPEASe este, nk 90, 91, 115 
Schizocrinus nodosus..... 84 
Sciurus hudsonicus....... 65 
Scoter, American... .14, 15, 104 
Surf tes diy NS RE 62, 104 
White-winged 62, 74, 90, 104 
Scotiaptex nebulosa....... 63 
Scrophulariaceae......... 124 
Sealeharbor so i. ato 103 
Sea-lion, Steller.......... 103 
Sea-urchins S Se Ee ee 121 
Seiurus aurocapillus.46, 149, 165 
noveboracensis....... 65 
noveboracensis  nove- 
Dardcensise oe 46, 149 
Selasphorus rufus........ 135 


Setophaga ruticilla..46, 149, 166 
Shells from Goderich, On- 


tario; A; List of.: 2-2. aae 
Shovenletssen ot ee 62 
Shrew, Queen Charlotte.. 103 
Richardson’s. ....... 177 
SHrEWSe et kt eee 
Shrike, Northern... .14, 99, 148 
Sialia currucoides........ 
mexicana occidentalis . 13 
DUDES ae OCR ay. 168 
Sighs sialis... 322.8 149 


Siderastrea vancouverensis. 123 
Silver-spot, The Mountain 141 
Silver Spots..........:108, 127 
Siskin, Pine46, 73, 135, 148, 178 
Sitta canadensis46, 136, 149, 167 
carolinensis carolinen- 


Caro Sen, ae eens fea 149 
SiiIppelssa4..0- 2 ee 142 
Sura ee ee eee ot a 53 

Chilgan+-2e 53 
Skunlcisceete eh ota 67 
Skunk Cabbage. . 110 


per i. A: ~P., articles 


17, 
Smith. HarlanI.,articleby 15 
Smith, F. Napier, articles 


by Sib RE eR 68, 96 
SHAKGS eee 25 oo a hee 67 
Snipe, Old World Jack... 76 

Wilson’s 


68, 70, 74, 76, 99, 105 
64 


SOIT cs hs hs, oes 99 
mollissima borealis. . . 50 
mollissima dresseri... 45 
spectabilis........... 50 

Some  Inter-relationships 


of Botany and the 

Sister Sciences....... 168 
Some Notes on the Growth 

of Arbutus Menziesii 

Piel. £8.) ee 21 


[Vou. XXXVI 


Sooke Formation, Van- 
couver Island, B.C., 
Some Notes on the.. 121 

Soper, J. Dewey, articles 
by yaar 59, 157, 175, 177 

Sorex longicauda elassodon 103 


_ 


PAGE 


yea 


richardsoni.......... : Ys Sat 
Sparrow, Acadian Sharp- 
tailed. ERB chose Fs 
Chipping 
PBB, 46, 64, 75, 148, 165 
Clay-colored 2s ag 15 
English 3.025059 46, 64, 77 
Field. > 2 ae 48 
Fox:... 35 ee 136, 148 
Grasshopper........ 
House Sse 75, 80, 148 
Lincoln’s 
46, 73, 75, 135, 153 
Savannah 
46, 73, 75, 148, 164 
Song. 25 aes 14, 46, 75 
99, 135, 148, 153, 165, 175 
Sooty Song sb. aan a ene Oy. 
Swamp..... 14, 46, 75, 148 
Townsend Fox...... 53 
Tree? Sse. 14, 35, 148, 165 
Vesper..... 46, 73, 153, 161 
Western Chipping. . 64 
Western Savannah. . 64 — 
White-crowned.64, 148, 165 
White-throated S 
46, 64, 75, 129, 148, 153, 165 
Spatula clypeata......... 62— & 
Speechly, H. M.., articles a 
by. eee 138, 156, 177 
Sphaeriidae, Canadian... Se 
Sphaerium striatinum. . 132. 
Sphinx geminatus........ 106 
Sphyrapicus ruber........ 1384 — 
DOTIUS .=..5is, Opa 63, 163 
varius vaTiIus........ i 5 eae 
Spinus pinus.........-: 46, 135 
pinus pinus......... 148 
Spiranthes Romanzoffiana. 173 
Spizella monticola........ 165 
monticola monticola... 148 
passerind.......... 64, 165 
passerina passerina..46, 148 
pusilla pusilla....... 148 
Spleenwort: ....). sais) eee Peng} 
Spoon-bill ; 77 Sos Saves 74 
Sporozoa....... Se 160 


Springer, Frank, review of 
his ‘New Species of © 
Devonian Crinoidea 
from Northern Cana- 


da”... 5, Oe 56 | 
Squaledont bariensis...... 121 
Squirrel, Franklin’s 
Ground...) 3.) eee “119 
Hudson Bay Red. . 65 
Red thee 60, 119, 127 
Star Flower... 2... <2 Junge 108 


December 1922.] 


PAGE 
Stemonitis ferruginea..... 131 
i. eae oS ole ek 131 
GO OE ae 131 
MUERMMENGENS «0... 2 Oa 131 
BMIETIOSICE scion s swe wt cue 85 
_ Stenodus mackenzii....... 65 
Sterna hirundo. . oie 
= paradisaed. . Indah heh tte 62 

_ Sternberg, C. M., article 
| ER Tr fot. Soecdncs 97 
| Rete berries Pigg oP ip ee 108 
& Bees ceniroluie purpur- ee 
ee nasa trilobita. . 86 
‘Strymon acadica......... 141 
OLAS Sens. oo = ene ie ols 141 
eras. 2. es 141 
_ Sturnella magna........ 97, 164 
magna magna..... 116, 147 
LOT i ae re 64 
Sturnus vulgaris......... 15, 96 
Succinea ovalis.......... 132 
Sulphur, Little.......... 141 
~Sumach, Poison......... 95 
a staghorn “2a 146 

Summer Birds of Advo- 

cate, Cumberland 
County, Nova Scotia 44 

- Summer Birds of the Lac 

la Biche and Fort Mc- 
Murray Region...... 72 
ana 110 
Sundew, Long-leaved 125 
SUMeOUS aS. 169 
a 105 
Surnia ulula caparoch 63, 68 

Se 
ot Baniemee fi 46, 64, 75 
1: Cia 46, 136, 148 
ite Se, S, 46, 64, 75, Lt 

Tree 


35, 37, 46, 64, 75, 136, 153, 179 


— Swallow-tail, The Black. 142 
PRR Teer een sss coe Sire 142 

XO S'S Ra ae 105 
ieee = Trumpeter. .<:.... 148, 144 


Swift, Ghimney. 45, 78, 147, 153 


Retsptaniys borealis... .. 177 
Systaechus vulgans....... 66 
MEMIURET os ccs. oes 85 
eos ss oe wo 175 


‘Tanager, Scarlet 
35, 68, 108, 148, 153 


Tattler, Wandering... 105 

_ Taverner, P. A., articles 
. ne. 59, "71, 81, 95, 119 
Taylor, W., article by.. 113 
BERCHE a. cits kk. es ss 79 
«faa Blue-winged........ 74, 90 
Bs Cinnamon...... 28, 54, 180 
ee Green-winged...... 62, 104 
30 
170 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 
PAGE 
Term blaek .\s.).. 27, 28, 62, 74 


Common..62, 74, 79, 90, 91 


Gull-billed.......... 180 
IES ee 180 
MPCTTISS Mohn tue ii. cc skb ca « 18, 155 
Tettigonilidae........2.%. 41 
Thalarctos maritimus.... . 65 
REV PUGH acein rain hy ao uesens 150 
Boottti var. multiflora. 
149, 151 
Clintoniana x _ Gol- 
“GLY (NOTE es area 150 
Ciintoniana x mar- 
GUTAURE ee oi Ne pares 2 150 
cristata x Goldiana... 150 
cristata x marginalis.. 150 


spinulosa..... 149, 150, 151 
spinulosa var. ameri- 


CUI he nih eee at 150 
Thompson, Stuart L., ar- 

fiGlesDVige:..crisiee 13, 161 
Thomson, R. B., review of 

his ‘‘A Guide to the 

Poisonous Plants and 

Weed Seeds of Canada 

and the Northern 

United States”...... 138 
Thrasher, Brown....... 35, 149 
Thrush, Gray-cheeked 

65, 149, 167 

Hermit, 230 =: 46, 65, 75,- 

79, 129, 136, 149, 153, 167 

Olive-backed’ 

46, 65, 149, 167 

WaMeg Oa har. 136 

Willow tettes') os. 75 

NWS © ooo Se 149 
Thryomanes bewicki  ar- 

DOVOUSEE oki re sees ics 2 77 
Thymallus singifer....... 66 
FID, LUC LVAOletr cas os... 141 
Tiger-MoOthe 20. ls 106 
EORUS Tetiet echt Cidene 67 
Tortoise, The Compton... 141 
Tortoise-shell, The Ameri- 

i; OS Oo 141 
Tortoise: Shellsier nc 6: 22. 108 
Totanus flavipes......... 63 

melanoleucus....... 63, 105 
WOWHEE Serie) cake cas 77, 148 
Townsend, Charles W., 

articles by...... 17, 44, 188 
Toxostoma rufum........ 149 
Trailing Arbutus......... 110 
Trichia decipiens......... 131 

favoginea........... 131 

oc | 131 

DOM es. he 131 
bi lg g HEN: aed 108, 110 
Troglodytes aedon........ 167 

aedon aedon......... 149 
i Ngo  "  e 66 
TAT ese ok. 42 
Tsuga Mertensiania...... 114 
Tubifera ferruginosa...... 131 

SADNGIOe oe. ee. 131 


xi 


PAGE 

Tufts, R. W., articles by 
98, 152, 177, 178, 179 
Turnstone, Black........ 
RUdGY & Rs tees 
Twenhofel, W. H., review 
of his ‘Faunal and 
Sediment Variation in 
the Anticosti Se- 
MUCnCE =. uy. ie ee 56 
Tyrannus tyrannus..45, 147, 163 


Union, American Orni- 
thologists’, meeting of 15 
Unionidde <a nae 132 
Orasterella::..-2 225259 y 85 
Ursus americanus........ 65 
COTO ee eee re 103 
Usnea barbata......... 113, 114 
Utricularia cornuta....... 124 
gibba.. = sa Be ae 125 
intermedia .4.. > Sere 
DUP DUPEO tet a ee aed 125 
TESUPINGL a. ee 124 
TUQUTIS +... Pees 123 
Vallonia excentrica....... 132 
Vanessa atalanta......... 141 
COTAUL 2? (ne tee 141 
virginiensis.......... 141 
VGGry .)..4 oes Lee 149 
Vermivora celata lutescens 136 
DETEOTUNE. 03) roleeut 46, 166 
ruficapiua. seve. e 166 


ruficapilla ru ficapilla 46, en: 


WiOletSe) joe 5. cco an eee 108 
Vireo, Blue-headed . 46, 148, 153 
Philadelphia. . 64, 76, 77, 80 


Red-eyed. . 27, "46, 64, "6B, 

99, 128, 148, 153, 166, "175 
Solitary eae SR 166 
Warbiing. . 2025") 75, 148 
Vireo philadelphicus..... . 64 
Vireosylva gilva gilva..... 148 
olivacea.. . .46, 64, 148, 166 
Vitrea binneyana......... 132 
Terres. oo ae 132 
hammomis.......... 132 
indentata.......:... 182 
lamellidens.......... 132 
Vole, Chestnut-cheeked... 65 
Northern lemming... 177 
FROG nomi aa oa 138 
Vulpes lagopus innuitus... 65 
Vulture, Turkey......... 178 


Wagtail, Black-backed 
Kamchatkan. 
Walker, Bryant, article by 132. 
Wanderer, MO? 7a aah 141 

Warbler, Bay-breasted 
46, 148, 166 

Black and White 

46, 75, 128, 148, 166 


xil 


PAGE 
Warbler, Blackburnian 
46, 129, 149, 166 
Black-poll......,.... 149 
Black-throated Blue 

46, 148, 153, 166 

Black-throated Green 
46, 128, 149, 153. 166 
Canadian..46, 128, 149, 166 


Cape May........ 148, 166 
Cerulean. 2.0 >. 120, 148 
Chestnut-sided 128, 148, 166 
Golden-winged...... 80 
IQOHCH Sores o3- be 78 
Magnolia 

46, 64, 128, 148, 153, 166 
Mourning...... 46, 77, 166 
Myrtle 


46, 75, 128, 148, 153, 166 
Nashville...... 46, 148, 166 


Northern Parula... .46, 148 
Orange-crowned..... 136 
alm. . .137, 149 
Parula. 53g akO6 
Paine a 149, 177 
Prairies ae 2 hy. <e 149, 176 
Tennessee... ... 46, 75, 166 
Townsend’s......... 136 
Wilson’s..... 136, 149, 166 
PVEUOW! oc 2 OO; 
46, 60, 64, 75, 128, 148, 166 
Yellow Palm......_. 46 
UCTS 0) CR Sa ea a 166 
Wasp, mason............ 127 
orange and black.... 127 
yellow jacket........ 127 
Water Birds of Lake 
Newell, Alberta, 
Notes on the........ 
Water-Thrush....... 46, 65, 149 
Gummnell’s+,2 6. = a 65, 75 
MORENCEN "Fh... 73 
Waxwing, Bohemian..... 148 
Cedar 
13, 35, 46, 148, 153, 165 
oo ee ee 15, 67 
5 IGE Bat laa eee 103 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


INDEX—Continued 


PAGE 
Weed Jewell: ies 
Whale, Killer. . 2. .7.2... 102 
pvnelle s.r 3 Pky 157 


Whip-poor-will....108, 147, 175 
White, E. G., article by... 119 
Wihinensh 7 ¢ S34 2a 65 
Whittaker, E.J.,articleby 93 
Whittaker, E. J., review of 

his ‘‘The Fossil Mol- 

luscan Faunas of the 

Marl Deposits of the 

Ottawa District”.... 56 
Wieland, G. R., review of 

his “Two New North 

American Cycadeoids” 56 


With ete Seema. ete oe 17, 152 
Willet Census in Nova 
SCOUAPS toss ee ene 152 


Williams, M.Y.,articleby 61 
Wilson, Alice E., review of 
her “The Range of 
certain Lower Ordovi- 
cian Faunas of the 
Ottawa Valley, with 
Descriptions of some 


new Species”........ 56 
Wilsonia canadensis.46, 149, 166 
DUSUGe a rks 136, 166 
pusilla pusilla....... 149 
Window-pane Visitors in 
Yarmouth County, 
Nova Scotia........ 106 
Woodcock, American..... 68 
Woodpecker... 2.5... 7). 134 
Arctic Three-toed 
45, 119, 162 
Downye5 234. 209 ee 


14,45, 74, 147, 153, 154, 162 
Hair 

14, 45, 63, 147, 158, 162 
Lewis’ Aer ea ace 13 


Bileated" ts. 5 3a 74, 163 
Queen Charlotte Is- 

land......facing page 121 
.14, 147, 163 


Red-headed... 


[VoL. XXXVI 


PAGE 
Wood Rats and Grizzly 
Bears. 2... ee 87 
Wood-satyr, Little....... — 60 
Wood Satyrs:.2-- eee 108 
Woodsia, Crag.......... 124 
Rusty... 22 Snes 151° 
Smooth: «2 Fou 151 
Woodsia alpina....... 150, 151 
glabelia.. 7 A aie 151 
ilvensis....... 149, 150; 151 
Scopulingd.~ eee 124 
Wren, Bewick’s.......... TG 
House 


35, 37, 75, 77, 149, 167 
Interior Tule........ 30 


Marsh 2. eee 27 
Vigors’ :;)".: 3eee 77 
Winter 


46, 128, 136, 149, 153, 167 


Aanthippus... . 3 eee 42 
Xanthocephalus xanthoce- 
phalus; > tee 29 
Xanthotype crocetaria..... 106 
AYris flezUOsd. 2 ee 125 
Yarrow: >. : soe 
Yellow-legs, Greater .63, 74, 108 


27, 75 
Maryland.46, 128, 149, 166 


Zamelodia ludoviciana. . .64, 148 
LQDUS 0525 ee 175 
UNSUGNIS:,. ays oe 175 
Zoarces anguillaris....... 160 
Zonitoides arborea........ 132 
MiNUscula.. ahs. 


Zonotrichia albicollis 
46, 64, 148, 165 
leucophrys......... 65, 165 
leucophrys gambeli.... 64 
leucophrys leucophrys. 148 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


VOL XXXVI 


OTTAWA, ONT., JANUARY, 1922. No. 1 


THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


By J. A. MUNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


The Band-tailed Pigeon has achieved celebrity 
through its relationship with the extinct Passenger 
Pigeon. Together with the Mourning Dove, it 
shares the distinction of being the only Canadian 
kin of their illustrious connection and the periodic 
newspaper stories of Passenger Pigeons surviving 
in the West have always been traced to one of 
these species. In reality the Band-tailed Pigeon 
has little resemblance to the extinct species 
except in its feeding habits and game qualities. 

The adults of both sexes are alike although 
there is considerable individual variation; head 
and under surface of body vinaceous drab,* be- 
coming richer on the chest and crown and fading 
to light gray on the throat and to white on the 
abdomen; back deep mouse gray, slightly glossed 
with iridescent olive in some specimens; a patch 
of iridescent green margined with a white collar 
on back of neck; upper surface of folded wing, 
rump, and base of tail clear Paynes gray; deep- 
ening to dusky neutral gray near middle of tail, 
the darker color forming a black band in sharp 
contrast to the pale mouse gray on terminal 
third of tail feathers; flight feathers chetura 
black with white line on margin of outer web; 
feet orange; bill orange with terminal third 
black; naked eyelids light jasper red; irides rose 
doree with inner ring of silver. The juvenals are 
sombre editions of their parents, lacking the 
iridescent patch and white collar on back of neck 
and with the vinaceous drab replaced by deep 
mouse gray; in some individuals with drab feather 
tipping giving a stippled effect; feet mars yeilow or 
clay color; bill similar with terminal third black; 
naked eyelids and irides violet plumbeous, the 
latter with inner ring of fuscous. In flight or 
when clustered in the tall dead trees they appear 
quite dark—almost black—and when feeding 
on the ground, slate blue is the dominant color. 

The summer range of the Band-tailed Pigeon 
is from south-western British Columbia through 
western Washington, western Oregon to California, 


*The 1921 edition of Ridgway’s Color Standards and Co- 
for Nomenclature is used in this description. 


Mexico and Nicaragua and eastward to portions of 
Colorado, western Texas and Arizona. In the 
southern part of their range their migrations are 
chiefly zonal; they winter in the Transitional 
Zone and breed in the higher altitudes. Middle 
California is the northern limit of their winter 
range and probably the winter home of British 
Columbia, Washington and Oregon birds. In 
Canada their distribution is over a relatively 
small area, being restricted to southwestern 
British Columbia west of the Cascade Mountains, 
including Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, 
and here they are known only as summer residents. 


Early in May when seeding has commenced in 
the fertile Fraser Valley, pigeons make their 
initial appearance; first a small band is noted 
(with a thrill of interest if the observer be a bird- 
lover and with disgust tempered by resignation 
if he be a farmer), then larger flocks appear, and 
finally comes an invasion. While their arrival 
from the south is at approximately the same time 
each year, their appearance in any given locality 
is uncertain and the size of the flocks variable. 
Large numbers may visit a district for a few days or 
only small bands may appear and in adjacent areas 
of the same type they may not be seen at all. 
For example, in the spring of 1920 they were 
very plentiful on Sea Island and Lulu Island. 
The following year few were seen there and in 
the Boundary Bay districts thirty miles distant, 
farmers were complaining of the great flocks that 
were feeding on their seed grain. During some 
years they are locally abundant in the spring 
and scarce in the fall, or vice versa. In the years 
when they do come in large numbers, farmers 
insist that their appearance is coincident with 
seeding operations. 


For possibly three weeks after their arrival they 
remain in flocks and their vagrant wanderings 
during this period follow no known laws. Nesting 
begins early in June and the large flocks are then 
broken up. There are, however, small flocks 
always in evidence, presumably males and non- 
breeding birds, and at this time they are seen less 


2 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


about the fields and more frequently in the timber. 
Few nests of the Band-tailed Pigeons have been 
found in British Columbia, indeed, the discovery 
of a nest even in the Western United States 
where so many ornithologists are in the field is 
deemed worthy of special record. A discussion 
of their nesting habits, however, does not come 
within the scope of this article; suffice it to say 
that they do not breed in colonies as did the 
Passenger Pigeon, and that their solitary nesting 
has been the chief reason for their continued 
existence. Like the Passenger Pigeon, only one 
young is raised by each pair in a year. Early in 
August, when the young are full grown, they 
once more gather in flocks and forage in the woods 
and fields until their departure in September. 
There seems little doubt that the protection 
afforded this species under the Migratory Birds 
Convention has been the cause of a considerable 
increase in British Columbia. Some settlers 
who have taken up land within the past ten years 
are under the impression that their appearance in 
British Columbia is a recent one—another of 
nature’s aggressions—while old-timers recall early 
days when their number was legion. A resident 
of Saanichton, .Vancouver Island, informed me 
that during 1911 only one pair of pigeons was 
seen on his farm of eight hundred acres; that in 
subsequent years they appeared in varying 
numbers at different seasons but were not con- 
sidered a menace to crops until the spring and 
autumn of 1919. 


Pigeons arrive in British Columbia when their 
natural food is at its lowest ebb. It is supposed 
that before the days of agriculture in this pro- 
vince, they subsisted entirely on what dried berries, 
seeds, cherry stones, acorns, etc., could be dis- 
covered under the fallen leaves in the forest, 
probably eked out by buds and tender leaves. 
When in later years they found grain-planted 
clearings in the timber where once they had 
foraged industriously for a scant sustenance, it is 
natural to suppose that this highly concentrated 
food offered in abundance during a season of 
scarcity should have exerted a marked influence 
on their feeding habits. Grain-eating probably 
has become more of a racial habit in the northern 
birds than in those that breed farther south, 
owing to the fewer indigenous varieties of seed 
and berry producing plants found in the north. 
Contrasted with California’s wealth of oaks, 
manzanitas, madrones and other fruit-bearing 
trees, British Columbia is relatively poor in such 
food. The oak, for example, is restricted to a 
small portion of Vancouver Island. 


Assuming that birds follow the migration 
routes of their ancestors, it follows that the 


[Vou. XXXVI. 


pigeons now breeding in British Columbia are of 
British Columbia extraction and have had little 
commerce with, for instance, those resident in 
California, where their migrations are chiefly 
altitudinal. It is thought that individuals, or 
groups of individuals, among many species of 
birds develop certain habits in harmony with 
their environment and that these habits persist 
in their descendants even though they are foreign 
to the species as a whole. Under some conditions 
Blackbirds and Robins become habitual fish- 
eaters, yet fish-eating is not a racial habit. The 
Loon in the northern lakes of Ontario feeds on 
mullet and Cyprinoids and is apparently designed 
for the delight and edification of tourists; in the 
mountain lakes of British Columbia he is a trout- 
eater, a duck-killer, and is execrated by sports- 
men. On the prairie the Mallard fattens in the 
grain fields, on Vancouver Island he grows rank 
on a diet of rotten salmon; the list could be 
extended indefinitely. That species are not a 
fixed quantity but undergo various physical 
modifications due to climatic and topographical 
conditions is an axiom of modern science. That 
there frequently are important modifications of 
their feeding habits as a result of peculiar local 
conditions is not so generally recognized; at least 
no emphasis is laid on this point in the current 
literature of economic ornithology. The point I 
am trying to make is this; the economic status of 
the Band-tailed Pigeon in British Columbia is a 
problem for our own solving and our conclusion 
must be based on the results obtained from field 
work in this province. 


In the spring and autumn of 1921, while gather- 
ing data on this question, I interviewed a number 
of farmers in the pigeon districts. All were 
agreed that pigeons were responsible for a great 
deal of damage, but their opinions regarding the 
nature of this damage were greatly at variance. 
In one district I was told that pigeons took only 
seed grain when newly planted; in another 
district they were said to do the most damage to 
sprouted grain. Farmers in other districts stated 
that little damage was done in the spring but that 
in the late summer they attacked the stooked grain 
while in still other districts I was informed that 
only fruit was taken in the autumn but that their 
damage to newly planted crops frequently entailed 
a second sowing. Taking into consideration 
the erratic nature of the species I am inclined to 


think that all these opinions are more or less 


correct. 

It is thought that under ordinary conditions 
the amount of seed wheat, oats, or barley taken 
by pigeons has little effect on the harvest. Early 
in June, I examined a ten acre field of wheat ove 


avy, 192 2.] 


_which about one hundred pigeons had fed until 
the seed sprouted. The plants were then two 
inches high and no evidence of damage could be 
found. In August I examined this crop again and 
it appeared to be of normal proportions. Pigeons 
when feeding over. a newly planted field take only 
the surface grain. The amount of seed available 
would depend on the care taken in sowing; if 
sown broadcast on newly ploughed land and 
then harrowed in, as sometimes is done, a larger 
percentage of seed would be exposed than when a 
drill had been used, Whether the loss of this grain 
is of importance or not is a matter for agricultural 
experts to decide. I have received emphatic 
statements to the effect that surface grain germ- 
inates and matures, and equally emphatic denials 
of this. Be that as it may, there is no question 
regarding the amount of grain pigeons are able 
to consume. Their crops are capable of enormous 
distention and will hold at least a half-pint of 
grain. Under exceptional conditions such as. the 
exposure of a large percentage of seed by heavy 
rains the loss through pigeons might entail a 
second sowing. 


When about to feed they usually arrive on the 
scene in flocks of open formation with many 
stragglers in the rear and first alight in the ad- 
jacent trees. Tall dead firs or cedars are always 
favorite perching trees. In a short time they 
descend to the ground, not in a body, but in 
detachments. Systematically they work across 
the fields, those in the rear constantly flying over 
those in front to reach fresh ground. A number 
of birds are always in the air and the flock, advane- 
ing rapidly, soon reaches the edge of the crop. At 
all times they are wary and frequently will rise 
suddenly from a field for no apparent reason. 
Their habit of alighting in trees before commencing 
to feed is probably the reason why fields surround- 
ed by timber, or those in which isolated trees have 
been left standing, are selected for their con- 
centrated attacks. 


After the grain has sprouted, they usually 
leave for freshly planted fields, if such be available. 
If not, itis likely that further damage will be caused 
by their pulling out the sprouts. I have not seen 
instances of this but have it on good authority 
that such damage does occur. It is also claimed 
that at this time pigeons scratch to uncover the 
seed, but this is a matter that will require in- 
vestigation. 

From the time seed is planted until the grain 
is harvested a crop is subject to many factors 
that may reduce the yield, therefore it is a difficult 
matter to estimate the reduction due to the 
presence of pigeons in the spring. The extent of 
their damage to stooked grain on the other hand 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 3 


is readily computed. The presence of pigeons 
on the stooks is conclusive evidence that they 
are lessening the farmer’s profit by every kernel 
consumed, and to reckon the extent of such loss 
merely requires that the number of pigeons 
present be multiplied by the average crop contents 
of a few birds and the result reduced to dollars 
and cents on a daily per capita basis. For some 
obscure reason they often select a particular field 
of stooked grain for their operations and pass by 
identical fields in the immediate vicinity. They 
return here day after day and when the crop is 
threshed glean the waste grain among the stubble 
even when a more abundant supply is available 
on adjacent fields. 


No complaints have been received of pigeons 
attacking standing grain and their damage to 
grain in the stook is confined to certain areas. 
No doubt this is largely governed by the abund- 
ance or scarcity of wild fruit. The species of 
fruit chiefly eaten are Cascara Sagrada, Rhamnus 
purshiana; Arbutus, Arbutus menziesi; Salal, 
Gaultheria shallon; Dogwood, Cornus nuttalli: 
Choke Cherries, Prunus, and Elderberries, Sam- 
bucus. On Vancouver Island acorns also form an 
important item in their food supply. ' 


_In the spring pigeons seem to prefer peas to 
any other food. As they pull up the young plants 
as well as take what seed has been left on the 
surface, serious damage to the crop may result if 
a large number of birds are present. A seventeen- 
acre field of peas, examined in May when the 
plants were two inches high, contained several 
areas forty to sixty yards in circumference, where 
pigeons had been feeding. At a distance these 
areas stood out as black patches against the pre- 
vailing green and a closer examination showed that 
two-thirds of the plants had been thinned out. 
While I was examining this field through bincou- 
lars, a flock of about fifty birds alighted in one of 
these patches and commenced feeding. As I start- 
ed to approach, they flew off in a long straggling 
flock, headed for the distant timber. If peas and 
grain are sown together the peas will be taken in 
preference to the grain. In the latter part of 
August I examined a crop of oats, barley, wheat 
and peas that had been grown for chicken-feed. 
Pigeons had fed over this field shortly after it 
was planted and the owner claimed that prac- 
tically all the peas had been taken. Examination 
of the stooks seemed to corroborate his statement 
as very few pea vines could be found. 
When studying Band-tailed Pigeons in the field 
one is impressed by their splendid game qualities, 
Their flight is vigorous and sustained and they 
are wary at all times. If they are surprised in 
the timber their departure is noisy and abrupt and 


4 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


with a burst of speed that soon takes them out of 
shot-gun range. It is usually impossible to 
approach within range when they are feeding in 
the open, neither will they allow a close approach 
when they are in the perching trees. When 
pigeon-shooting was legal, a common practice of 
the hunter was to hide under a favorite perching 
tree and shoot the birds as they alighted. Many 
of these trees were dead giants, their tops high 
above the green timber, and as pigeons usually 
chose to settle on the topmost branches, the 
shooting was done chiefly with a 22 calibre rifle. 


[VoL. XXXVI 


Sometimes good shooting was had by the use of a 
blind and dead birds for decoys, and in some 
places the conditions were suitable for flight shoot- 
ing. No matter how they were hunted a good 
bag tested the resources of the hunter. That this 
fine game bird will be preserved for future genera- 
tions of sportsmen is indicated by their’ pheno- 
menal increase during the past four years and 
incidentally this furnishes proof that the inter- 
national protection of Migratory Birds is entirely 
effective. 


CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE. 


By THE Hon. Mr. Justice LATCHFORD. 


(Continued from Vol. XXXV, p. 70) 


PISIDIUM 

In 1821 Carl Pfeiffer established this genus to 
designate a group of the Cycladidae, as the Sphae- 
riidae were then called, which had but a single 
siphonal tube, and that, as he thought, at the 
anterior end of the shell. The syphon, however, 
projects from the end of the shell which is opposite 
to that from which the foot is protruded. Pfeiffer’s 
error is due to the fact that the shell itself is 
shorter behind than in front of the beaks—a 
character which with the single siphonal tube 
distinguishes Pisidium from Sphaerium and 
Musculium. 

The genus abounds throughout Canada. It 
occurs in great numbers in almost every pond and 
in the quieter waters of many of our lakes and 
rivers. From the clear cold streams in the 
Laurentian Hills it is usually absent, but it is 
found in every brook and ditch on the south side 
of Ottawa. The shells must be sought by sifting. 
They are invariably sunk in the sand or mud, 
and certain forms inhabit very deep water. 
As some do not exceed a millimeter or two in 
diameter a dredge with a very fine mesh should be 
used by the collector. 

The Pisidia present exceptional difficulties in 
identification. The soft parts of species differing 
widely in external appearance are so similar that 
they have up to the present afforded no charac- 
ters of value to the diagnostician. Externally the 
form or size of the same species is sometimes 
modified by varying conditions. The characters 
mainly relied on by systematists are those pre- 
sented by the hinge teeth, which are complicated 
in structure and arrangement. They are fairly 
constant in any one species and different in every 
other species, It is on the details of the hinge 


that Mr. B. B. Woodward particularly relies in 
his monograph on the British and Irish Pisidia in 
the British Museum. (Catalogue of Species of 
Pisidium, Longman’s, 1913.) His method is too 
technical to be more than mentioned here. Apply- 
ing it with great labour and the utmost precision 
to the vast collections available to him he has 
reduced the number of species found in Great 
Britain and Ireland to seventeen, three of which 
are known only as fossils. His monograph with 
its thousands of figures is a monument to his 
industry and skill. 


When the hinge teeth are considered in connec- 
tion with external characteristics they seem to 
afford the best means of distinguishing one species 
from another. Yet so great are the difficulties 
presented in identifying all but a few of the genus 
found in Canada that I have been constrained to 
rely almost wholly on the judgment of Dr. Victor 
Sterki of New Philadelphia, Ohio, who has made 
these shells the subject of intensive study. He 
has accumulated material in vast quantities from 
all over the continent, and examined the collec- 
tions in the National and other United States 
Museums, including what are supposed to be the 
type specimens of the earlier writers. In his 
Preliminary Catalogue, to which I have frequently 
referred in previous papers, he enumerates no less 
than one hundred and thirty species and varieties 
from Canada and the United States. In his 
monograph of the Pisidia on which he is now 
engaged there will doubtless be modifications of 
this list. In the meantime I follow it, and all 
identifications of shells which I have collected are 
given upon his high authority. His descriptions 
of new species are repeated with his permission. 


But few shells of the genus were collected in the 
early years of the Club’s activities. Heron’s list 


January, 1922.] 


(Trans. 1, p. 40) contains only four species, two 
of which were not positively identified. Another 
species was added in the Report of the Concho- 
logical Branch, read March 13, 1890, and prepared 
by the writer and the late Rev. Geo. W. Taylor, 
which gives a catalogue of all the molluscs then 
known to be found in the vicinity of Ottawa. 
The success attending Roper and Winkley in 
Massachusetts and Maine and the encouragement 
extended by Dr. Sterki induced me to devote 
special attention to this genus. The result was 
that in my Preliminary List of Sphaeriidae 
published in The Naturalist in 1913, I enumerated 
twenty-three species of Pisidia, several of which 
were considered new. Since then I have added 
several others and the field is by no means ex- 
hausted. So numerous are the localities in which 
the sheils occur that many other species and varie- 
ties must remain undiscovered. 


33. PISIDIUM VIRGINICUM Gmelin.—Heron 
found this shell on the beaches of Kettle Island 
exposed at low water. My only specimens were 
obtained in a similar situation 
lower down the Ottawa, and by 
dredging in the pond, prolific in 
small molluscs, on Duck Island— 
near the south end. With the 


FIG. 6 2 ’ Y 
P. virginicum, X 2 exception of P. idahoense., which 


has not been found in Ontario or Quebec, it is the 
largest known species, attaining frequently a 


length of 8 mm. — It appears to be quite active 
and makes long and distinct furrows in moving. 
When mature it is always of a dark brown color 
near the umbones. 

Mr. A. D. Robertson found P. virginicum 
abundant in sandy channels in the Georgian Bay 
(Contributions to Canadian Biology, Fasc. ii, 
107), but appears not to have noticed there any 
other shell of the genus. The species has a wide 
range in the United States east of the Rocky 
Mountains, and extends even into Alaska and 
Yukon. 


34. PISIDIUM IDAHOENSE ROPER. This shell 
ranges from Idaho westward to Washington and 
northward through British Columbia into Yukon. 
East of the Rockies it is found in the United 
States only in Michigan. Farther east it is not 
known to occur except in Prince Edward Island 
‘where it was found by Mr. C. Ives. This gentle- 
man began the study of the mollusca after attain- 
ing the age of three score years and ten, and then 
became an indefatigable collector, especially of 
the smaller marine forms like odostomia, discover- 
ing several previously unknown. It is a matter of 
profound regret to many that impaired vision has 
prevented a continuance of his fruitful labors. 
Other pisidia found by him near his home are 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 5 


compressum, abditum and variabile. His sendings 
of P. idahoense from a pond near the east end of 
Prince Edward Island are identical in every 
characteristic with co-types received many years 
ago from Mr. Roper. The shell is of great size 
in comparison with the largest other species of the 
genus. I have several specimens from Mr. Ives 
which exceed 18 mm. in length. 


35. PISIDIUM VARIABILE Prime. This species 
occurs in great numbers in many places near 
Ottawa. One such locality where no other 
member of the genus is found is a ditch running 
east and west on the Shouldis farm on Carling 
Avenue, south of the wood lot. When mature it 
is but slightly smaller than virginicum and never 
as dark in color. The shell is solid, inflated, 
inequilateral and oblique. The umbones are 
greatly elevated, full and prominent. In the 
vicinity of Toronto it is quite a common shell and 
is among the species collected by McInnes in the 
Attawapiscat. 


36. PISIDIUM COMPRESSUM Prime. No shell of 
the genus is more common than this in the vicinity 
of Ottawa. It abounds in Hemlock Lake especial- 
ly near the south-west angle where the banks of 
marl reach to the water’s edge, and living molluses 
form their shells from the remains of ancestors 
long dead. In Nepean it is found in Cave Creek 
and on the Magee and Shouldis farms; in the 
Ottawa on the shoals above Britannia pier; at 
Cornwall in the canal; in Lake Erie at Port 
Ryerse; and near Toronto at Richmond Hill and 
in the Etobicoke. On the Quebec side of the 
Ottawa it occurs in Chilcott Lake, near the outlet 
from the orchid swamp. 

37. PISIDIUM COMPRESSUM PELLUCIDUM Sterki. 
At one time Dr. Sterki regarded this shell as 
entitled to specific rank. In his Preliminary 
Catalogue, however, he treats it as a variety of 
compressum from which it differs in size, being 
smaller. It is also less high, the beaks are less 
pointed; surface with lighter stripe, shell trans- 
lucent. 

38. PISIDIUM SPLENDIDULUM Sterki. A few 
small shells from Magee’s Creek south of the 
Richmond Road (my No. 2547) are thought to 
belong to this widely distributed and variable 
species. It is desirable that additional specimens 
should be obtained. None could be found in the 
summer of .1921 on the only occasion on which I 
collected in this stream. 

39. PISIDIUM GLABELLUM Sterki. Shells from 
the stream south and west of Graham Bay Station 
which I sent to Dr. Sterki in 1911 (his No. 6812) 
are referred to in his description of P. glabellum 
(Nautilus, XXVI, 187). He considered them 
attributable to the new species though somewhat 


6 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


different in shape, having the superior margin 
more curved and the beaks narrower and more 
elevated. The types are from Hess Lake, Mich., 
but the species has a wide distribution from New 
England to Pennsylvania and Minnesota. It is 
described as having resemblance to small forms of 
splendidulum. The hinge is markedly strong and 
like that of variabile and compressum. 

40. PISIDIUM ABDITUM Haldeman. Many forms 
now regarded as distinct were formerly thought to 
belong to this species. Dr. Sterki examined the 
authentic specimens, seven in number, from the 
Temple Prime collection. He states (Nautilus, 
XXVI, 6) that the description in Prime’s Mono- 
graph of the Corbiculidea is quite inadequate 
even with respect to the form of the shells assumed 
to be the types, and that there are several geo- 
graphical subspecies. I have found what Dr. 
Sterki regards as true abditum in Dow’s Swamp 
and in a pond near Casselman. Heron does not, I 
think, give the locality in which he found the 
shells doutbfully assigned to this species. 

41. PISIDIUM SPHAERICUM Sterki. Among a lot 
of shells coliected at the extreme end of Gore Bay 
in the Manitoulin Islands was an almost globular 
pisidium which Dr. Sterki recognized as identical 
with a species known to occur from Maine to 
Virginia and long conféunded with abditum. He 
described it in The Nautilus, XXIV, 8. It is 
stated to be easily distinguishable from larger 
forms of abditum by the large and prominent 
beaks situated close to the posterior end of the 
mussel, and the strong hinge. Average propor- 
tions are 100; 90; 76. My shells are all less than 
5 mm. in length. 

42. PISIDIUM ADAMSI (Prime) AFFINE Sterki. 
When Dr. Sterki described P. affine (1901) (Nau- 
tilus, XV, 66), he had seen no specimen of adamsi, 
and from the description of the latter species 
considered that the two were distinct. After 
examining the specimen of adamsi in the Prime 


[VoL. XXXVI, 


collection he concluded that the two were speci- 
fically identical. The only affine I have found 
were. procured in the large pond on the Metro- 
politan Electric Company’s property, sodth of the 
Des Chenes Rapids. 

43. PISIDIUM NOVEBORACENSE Prime. A way- 
side ditch between the third and fourth concession 
of Nepean, east of Fallowfield, was found to con- 
tain this shell in large numbers. It doubtless 
occurs in many other localities. Several varieties 
have been described by Dr. Sterki. The more 
typical form is thought to be that which is found 
in spring brooks. 

44, PISIDIUM ELEVATUM Sterki. A streamlet 
formed by the overflow from springs in the Bell 
gravel pit near Britannia at one time afforded 
many examples of this shell. None could be 
found in the summer of 1921—perhaps owing to 
a lack of diligence on the part of the seeker after 
specimens. Dr. Sterki was disposed at first to 
consider the sheils a variety of noveboracense, but 
in his catalogue lists it as distinct. I have found 
it only in the locality mentioned. 

45. PISIDIUM SUBROTUNDUM Sterki. Though 
but recently recognized as distinct, this shell was 
long unnamed or doubtfully referred to other 
species. It has a wide distribution in Canada, 
being found from Jupiter River, Anticosti, to the 
Albany and Attawapiscat rivers in north-western 
Ontario, where it was found by Mr. MelInnes. 
It is doubtless the unnamed pisidium from the 
Attawapiscat river referred to in report of the 
Bureau of Mines for 1912. 


Near Ottawa the sheil has been found in Dow’s 
Swamp and in a spring on the Hare farm in 
Nepean. On the north shore of Lake Huron near 
Cutler a few specimens were obtained in a ditch 
beside the railway, north of the Indian village of 
Kashaboiwe. 


‘(To be concluded.) i 


THE FRESH WATER LEECHES (HIRUDINEA) OF SOUTHERN CANADA 


By J. Percy MooRE 


Hitherto little has been published relating to 
the distribution of leeches in the Canadian Pro- 
vinces and that little has been iimited practically 
to the Great Lake shores of the Province of 
Ontario. The leech fauna of the latter region is 
fairly well known, especially since the publication 
of Miss Ryerson’s paper on the extensive collec- 
tions made in Georgian Bay under the auspices 
of the Dominion Biological Station and of Toronto 
University. This enumerates seventeen species 


‘ 


in all. Twelve species, of which specimens were 
actually taken on the Canadian shore of Lake 
Erie, are listed in my own paper on the Hirudinea 
and Oligochoeta of the Great Lakes region. 
Earlier records from the Canadian side of the 
Great Lakes are by Verrill and Nicholson. Baird 
has described a single species from Vancouver and 
one from Great Bear Lake and here and there in 
the narratives of exploring expeditions and 
travelers in Canada casual references to the 


January, 1922.] 


occurrence of leeches are made. 

For this reason the opportunity was welcomed 
of examining a small collection of leeches in the 
Victoria Memorial Museum (Ottawa), for which 
I am indebted to Mr. Fritz Johansen. The 
present paper presents these determinations, 
with transcripts from the labels (in quotation 
marks) of ail specimens, so that all of the locality 
data may be specifically recorded. To these is 
added a list of leeches from Canadian localities in 
the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia. These are designated A. N. S. 
and include some of the material on which my 
paper referred to above was based. 


The general result of this study is to establish 
that most of the leeches found in the fresh waters 
of the northern United States are distributed 
through the southern provinces of Canada. It is 
now possible to trace several species throughout 
the entire east and west width of Canada. It still 
remains to fix the northern limits of the range of 
most species, for there are practically no records 
except from the southern tier of provinces. That 
leeches abound in the numerous lakes of central 
and northern Canada may be expected. Several 
collections that have come to me from Alaska 
establish their occurrence in the far north, but 
these are reserved for description elsewhere. No 
species distinct from those known in the northern 
United States exists in the collection. A new sub- 
species is described but this has been known to me 
from severai points in the northern states for 
about twenty years. 

The following key will serve for the identifica- 
tion of the species listed: 

I. Mouth a small pore-like opening in the disc 
of the anterior sucker through which the 
muscular pharyngeal proboscis may be pro- 
truded; no jaws. Rhynchobdellae. 

A. Body not divided into two regions; 
usually much depressed; eyes near median 
line; stomach usually with well-developed 
lateral caeca; complete somites triannulate. 
Family Glossiphonidae. 

a. Genital orifices separated by a single 
annulus; size small. 

b. Eyes one pair, distinct; gastric caeca 
few and simple. 

1. A brown cuticular nuchal plate and 
underlying gland on the dorsum of 
somite VIII; body capable of great 
extension; cutaneous papillae obso- 
lete; color pale:—pink, gray or brown- 
ish. Glossiphonia stagnalis. 

2. No nuchal plate or gland in the 
adult; body relatively broad and flat, 
incapable of great extension; cutan- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 7 


eous papillae few but variable in size 
and number; color brownish, either 
deeply pigmented in narrow longi- 
tudinal lines or diffuse with trans- 
verse rows of metameric white spots 
on the middie annuli of complete 
somites. Glossiphonia fusca. 
bb. Eyes three pairs, arranged in three 
groups of two in a triangular figure; 
gastric caeca six pairs, very slightly 
branched. 


. Body broad and flat, moderately ex- 


tensile; transparent, with little pig- 

ment. Glossiphonia heteroclita. 

aa. Genital pores separated by two 
annuli; size medium or, for the 
family, large. 

c. Eyes three or four pairs, all distinct, 
in two nearly parallel rows; size 
medium. 


. Eyes three pairs; body rather thick, 


incapable of great extension or flatten- 
ing; opaque, usually heavily pig- 
mented with brown, a dorsal and a 
ventral pair of narrow dark brown 
longitudinal lines’for nearly the entire 
length, the former usually interrupted 
by pale metameric spots; gastric caeca 
seven pairs, little branched. Glossi- 
phonia complanata. 


. Eyes four pairs; body thin and soft, 


capable of great extension; trans- 

parent, lightly pigmented with green 

and three series of small pale yellow 

spots; gastric caeca nine or ten pairs, 

moderately branched. Protoclepsis 

occidentalis. 

cc. Eyes one pair, far forward, com- 
pound, fused in a common pigment 
mass; gastric caeca seven pairs, 
much branched. Placobdella. 

d. Caudal sucker with numerous 
minute marginal papillae; size me 
dium or small. 


. Moderately depressed, slender an- 


teriorly; dorsal papillae usually in a 

median and two paired series, small 

but prominent and pointed. Placob- 

della phalera. 

dd. Margin of caudal sucker smooth; 
size large. 


. Body very broad and much de- 


pressed; dorsal papillae few, low and 


. smooth; integuments opaque; deeply 


pigmented in a conspicuous pattern of 
olive green and yellow. Placobddella 
parasitica. 


8. Body very much depressed; dorsal 
papillae numerous, pointed and rough; 
integuments translucent; deeply pig- 
mented in an irregular mixed pattern 
in which brown predominates. Pla- 
cobdella rugosa. 


AA. Body more or less distinctly divided into an 
anterior narrower and a posterior broader 
region, little depressed; 
usually well separated; complete somites us- 
ually with more than three (six to fourteen) 
annuli; stomach usually with only a posterior 
pair of caeca which are more or less 
coalesced. 

Family Ichthyobdellidae. 
Unrepresented by any species in this collec- 
tion. 


II. Mouth large, occupying entire cavity of sucker; 
pharynx not forming a protrusible proboscis; 
jaws often present. Gnathobdellae. 


B. Eyes five pairs, arranged in a regular arch 
on somites II-VI; complete somites five- 
ringed; muscular jaws usually with teeth 
present; genital organs highly complex; 
testes strictly paired (usually nine or ten); 
stomach with at least one pair of spacious 
eaeca; size large. Family Hirudinidae. 
e. Jaws prominent; teeth numerous, in one 

series; caeca along entire length of 

stomach. 

9. Teeth about sixty-five on each jaw; 
genital orifices separated by five annuli; 
copulatory gland pores on somites 
XIII and XIV; penis short and conical; 
color dark green above, orange below, 
the dorsum with metameric median 
bright red and lateral black spots. 
Macrobdella decora. 

ee. Jaws rather small and retractile into 
pits or obsolete; teeth when present few 
and coarse and in double series; caeca 
limited to a posterior large pair, the others 
vestigeal; genital orifices separated by 
five annuli; no copulatory glands; 
penis filamentous. 

10. Jaws well developed, each bearing 
twelve to sixteen pairs of coarse teeth; 
color variable, green or brown and 
marked more or less thickly with very 
irregular non-metameric, usually con- 
fluent dark blotches. Haemopis mar- 
moratis. 

11. Jaws vestigeal, no teeth; color simi- 
lar to 10 but the venter pale and the 
spotting generally sparser, coarser, 
more angular and less confluent; very 
large. Haemopis grandis. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


eyes when present. 


[VoL. XXXVI. 


BB. Eyes three or four pairs (rarely absent), 
usually one or two pairs on II and two pairs 
at the sides of the mouth on IV; complete 
somites five-ringed or more; no jaws; no 
gastric caeca; genital organs relatively simple; 
testes numerous, small, unpaired; size medium. 
Family Erpobdellidae. 

f. Somites five-ringed; none of the annuli 
conspicuously enlarged or subdivided. 

12. Genital orifices separated by two 
annuli; atrial cornua simply curved; 
vasa deferentia reaching forward to 
ganglion XI; eyes three pairs, the first 
largest; color pattern generally con- 
spicuously longitudinally _ striped. 
Erpobdella punctata. : 

13. Like 12 but color pattern more or 
less strongly annular. Erpobdella 
punciata annulata. 

ff. Last annulus (f. 6) of complete somites 
obviously enlarged and subdivided; eyes 
usualiy four pairs. 

g. Atrial cornua spirally coiled. 

14. Genital orifices separated by two 
annuli; vasa deferentia reaching for- 
ward to ganglion XI; color pattern 
plain or irregularly blotched with 
black. Nephelopsis obscura. 

gg. Atrial cornua not spirally coiled but short 
and simply curved. 

15. Vasa deferentia with loops reaching 
forward to ganglion XI; genital ori- 
fices separated by three and one-half 
annuli; eyes four pairs; nearly pig- 
mentless. Dina parva. 

16. Vasa deferentia not extending an- 
terior to atrium; genital pores se 
parated by two annuli; eyes three or 
four pairs; pigment absent or in 
scattered flecks. Dina fervida. 


GLOSSIPHONIDAE 
Glossiphonia complanata (Linnaeus) 

“Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, N.Y., 
September 1, 1919. F. Johansen.” One speci- 
men. 

“On stones in Fairy Lake, Hull, Quebec, May 5, 
1918. F. Johansen.’”’ Two specimens. Besides 
the usual three series of marginal, intermediate 
and paramedian dorsal white spots there are a 
few scattered white spots. 

“Ottawa River, near Hull, Quebec, October 13, 
1918. F. Johansen.” Four specimens with Dina 
parva and Erpobdella punctata. Dorsally these 
specimens are curiously mottled and sometimes 
reticulated with brown and white, and the brown 
lines broken into segments by regular white spots. 
Ventrally they have a greenish hue. 


January, 1922.] 


“In ditch at Ottawa (West), Ontario, Novem- 
ber 10, 1918. FF. Johansen.”’ One specimen. 

“Stream near Chelsea Road, Hull, Quebec, 
May 9, 1920. F. Johansen.’ Three specimens. 
Two are dark, with continuous black paramedian 
lines, the other paler and mottled, with the 
paramedian lines broken into a series of spots by 
pale blotches. 

“Loch Lomond (near St. John), New Brunswick, 
October 7, 1920. A. G. Huntsman.” One small 
specimen with Nephelopsis obscura. 

“Pond on fields at Moose Factory, Ontario, 
July 14-15, 1920. F. Johansen.’”’ One typical 
example. 

“A.N.S. No. 1183, Rondeau Harbor, East 
Swamp; A-N.S. Nos. 1184, 5, Long Point, On- 
tario, August 18, 21, 28.”’ These three specimens 
together with all others from Rondeau Harbor 
and Long Point, were taken during Professor 
Reighard’s survey of the Great Lakes and are 
pisted in my report on the leeches. 


Glossiphonia heteroclita (Linnaeus) 

“Bight of Ottawa River (Hull Park), Quebec, 
July 6-7, 1919. F. Johansen.’”? One specimen 
8 mm. long, colorless, translucent and delicate. 
The eyes show the characteristic pattern but only 
the right one of the first pair is present. 

“A.N.S. No. 1186, Long Point, Ontario, August 
- HS 27 

““A.N.S. No. 1187, Rondeau Harbor, Ontario, 
August 28.” 


Glossiphonia (Helobdella) fusca (Castle) 

‘Rideau Canal, Ottawa, Ontario, June 16, 1918. 
F. Johansen.”” One typical specimen bearing two 
small packets of ten and twelve eggs respectively. 
There are five series of prominent brown papillae, 
the double character of those of the median series 
being clearly indicated by theirfrequent irregu- 
larity of position or duplication. 

“McKay Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, June 22, 1919. 
F. Johansen.’”’ Two specimens, one of the fine- 
lined smooth type, the other with prominent 
papillae and black or dark-brown segmental spots. 
The latter bears five egg capsules. 

“A.N.S. Nos. 1151, 2, 3, Rondeau Harbor, 
Ontario, August 28.” 

*“A.N.S. Nos. 1154, 8, 9, Long Point, Ontario, 
August 18; No. 1856, the same, August 21.” 

““A.N.S. No. 3435, French River, Georgian Bay, 
Lake Huron, on shell of Physa griv. A. D. 
Robertson, 1913.” 


Glossiphonia (Helobdella) stagnalis (Linnaeus) 

“Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, New 
York, September 1, 1919. F. Johansen.” Two 
small specimens with pale nuchal plate, with a 
specimen of G. complanata. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 9 


“Pool at Tadousac, Quebec, September 6, 1919. 
F. Johansen.” 

“Stream near Chelsea Road, Hull, Quebec, 
May 9, 1920. F. Johansen.” 

“Pool at Catfish Bay, Hull, Quebec, May 16, 
1920. F. Johansen.”’ One typical example bear- 
ing eggs. 

““A.N.S. Nos. 1174, 5, Rondeau Harbor, East 
Swamp, Ontario, August 28.” 

“A.N.S. Nos. 1176, 7, Long Point, Ontario, 
August 21 and 23.” 


Piacobdella phalera (Graf) 

This species does not occur in the Ottawa 
Museum collection, but is represented by five 
specimens in the Academy of Natural Sciences 
collection, all of which were taken during Professor 
Reighard’s survey of the Great Lakes. 

“‘Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, August 15, 1919, July 
6 and 20, 1920, and May 23-28, 1921. A. H. 
Leim.” One taken August 15 bears four capsules 
of eggs of four to six each. 

A.N.S. Nos. 1204, 5, Rondeau Harbor, Ontario, 
August 28.” 

““A.N.S. Nos. 1206, 7, 8, Long Point, Ontario, 
August 16, 18 and 24 respectively.” 


Placobdella rugosa (Verrill) 

“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, August 15, 1919, June 
29, 30, and July 13, 20, 1920. A. H. Leim.” 
All small examples showing typical papillation. 
One taken August 15 bears young. 

“Pools outside Huil, Quebec, October 5, 1919. 
F. Johansen.’ Leech with young ones new-born. 
One specimen 11x8 millimeters, longitudinally 
striped both above and below. Papillae moderate 
in size and number, but distinct. About a dozen 
young 2 mm. long in the bottle.” 

‘‘Near Beaver Lake, Alberta, summer, 1907. 
A. Halkett.” Two medium size, very rough 
specimens with H. marmoratis and N. obscura. 

“A.N.S. No. 1201, Long Point, Ontario, August 
232” 

““A.N.S. Nos. 1202, 3, Rondeau Harbor, On- 
tario, August 28 and 24.” 


Placobdella parasitica (Say) 

“A.N.S. No. 1191, Long Point, Ontario, August 
19, 1899.” 

No examples of this species are found in the 
Ottawa Museum collection and only one Canadian 
specimen in that of the Philadelphia Academy. 
Professor Reighard, however, took it frequently 


during the explorations in Lake Erie, several 


times on the Canadian side, and Miss Ryerson 
found it common in Georgian Bay. 


Protoclepsis occidentalis (Verrill) 


“A.N.S. No. 3454, Black River, Prince Edward 
Island, August 24, 1912. Bayard Long.” 


10 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


This species has not previously been reported 
from Canada. It was not found by Miss Ryerson 
nor was it included in Professor Reighard’s Lake 
Erie collections. It is, however, well known in the 
northern border states. 


ICHTHYOBDELLIDAE 


Piscicola punctata (Verriil) 

“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, June 5, May 23-28, 
1921, dredged on mud bottom in from four to six 
feet. A. H. Leim.” 

These differ from the European P. geometra in 
the absence of eye spots from the caudal sucker 
and the very slight development of two annuli of 
complete somites so that only twelve instead of 
fourteen rings are obvious. 


HIRUDINIDAE 
Macrobdella decora (Say) 


“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, August 11, 1919; 
Enfield, Nova Scotia, July 12 and 15, 1920, 1 foot. 
A. H. Leim.” Typical examples. 

“Pembroke Lake, Grand Etang, Cape Breton 
Island, September 2, 1917. F. Johansen.” A 
young individual 21 mm. long. The four groups 
of copulatory gland pores are plainly visible. 
With one H. marmoratis and nephelid egg cases. 

“Burbidge, Quebec, July 23, 1918. C. L. 
Patch.’’ Two specimens, one mature, the other 
not. 

“Tsland Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario, July 
17, 1900. W. Spreadborough.” Four mature 
specimens differing much in the amount of ventral 
blotching. One has only three groups of copula- 
tory glands, the left posterior being absent. 
With one Haemopis marmoratis. 

“On Dore, Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, 
summer, 1907. A .Halkett.’”’ Four mature speci- 
mens with weil-developed copulatory glands and 
clitella and with penes protruded. Two are plain, 
two spotted ventrally. 

Another example 66 mm. long is in an unlabelled 
bottle with one Erpobdella punctata. 

“A N.S. No. 253, Lac Aux Sables, Quebec, 1894. 
Dr. W. E. Hughes.” 


Haemopis marmoratis (Say) 


“In a freshwater pond, Amherst, Magdalen 
Islands, Quebec, middle of June, 1917. Philip 
Cox.” One of a nearly uniform slate color. 

“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, May 22, June 1 and 
July 2, 1921. A. H. Leim.”’ 

“Neil Harbor, Cape Breton Island, July 29, 
1917. Philip Cox.” One 28 x 7 mm. Brown 
above with widely scattered small dark-brown 


spots; paler below with only three or four small 
spots. The left paired jaw bears eleven pairs of 
teeth. 


[VoL. XXXVI 


‘Pembroke Lake, Grand Etang, Cape Breton 
Island, September 2, 1917. F. Johansen.” One 
sparsely spotted, medium-sized specimen with a 
young M. decora and nephelid egg cases. 

“Mount Herbert, Prince Edward Island, Sep- 
tember 3, 1919. J. Robert Mutch.” A letter 
from the collector accompanying these sepcimens 
states that they were-found in a swamp and are 
very common. Two measure 80 x 12 and 52 x 7 
mm. respectively. The larger with well-marked 
clitellum covering fifteen small annuli and ex- 
truded filiform penis; the smaller without indi- 
cations of sexual maturity. Both are very dark 
—nearly uniform slaty-black above with very 
distinct white sensille, brownish-gray below 
heavily mottled with black. 


“Pond at Cheticamp, Cape Breton Island, July 
1, 1917. F. Johansen.” One. 


“Pond on fields at Moose Factory, Ontario, 
July 14-15, 1920. F. Johansen.’’ Three speci- 
mens, one of large size, two thickly, one sparingly 
blotched. 

‘“‘Missinaibi River, Ontario (between Mattice 
and Opazatika River), June 24, 1920. F. Johan- 
sen.’’ Two small specimens. 

“Abitibi River, Ontario (between New Post and 
Moose River), middle of October, 1920. F. 
Johansen.’’ One small specimen. 

“Government River Post, Albany River ‘bait 
lat. 51 30 N.), August 16, 1920. M. Y. Wil- 
liams.’’ One specimen. 

“Brook near Ottawa, Ontario, June 30, 1918. 
F. Johansen A young specimen 11 mm. long 
with the clitellum already developed. The 
female genital orifice is one annulus further for- 
ward than usual, being therefore removed from 
the male orifice by only four annuli. 

“Pickwick Lake, north of Thurso, Quebec, 
June, 1903. A. Halkett.”” One thickly and 
finely mottled with black. 

‘Long Lake, north of Lake Superior, Ontario, 
August, 1916. F. W. Waugh.” One _ heavily 
blotched. 

“St. Joseph Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 
September 3, 1918. F. Johansen.” One of a 
dark slate color above, paling at the margins into 
the bluish-white of the venter. Dorsally are a 
few very conspicuous scattered irregular pale spots. 

“Tsland Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario, July 
17, 1900. W. Spreadborough.” One. 

“Probably from lakes in Alberta and Saskat- 
chewan, 1894. John Macoun.” A fine specimen, 
notable for the almost complete loss of the usual 
secondary dividing furrows on the enlarged annuli 
vii a3 and vii a 1. With one H. grandis. 

“On Dore, Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, 
summer, 1907. A. Halkett.” One. 


January, 1922.] 


“Near Beaver Lake, Alberta, summer, 1907. 
A. Halkett.”’ Three. 

“In warm sulphur water, Vermillion Lakes, 
Banff, Alberta, coll. 17- VII-16. C. G. Hewitt.’ 
One. 

“A.N.S. No. 3398, Kingston, Ontario, October, 
1915. A.B. Klugh. Under stones.” 

“A. N. S. No. 3399, Lake Ontario, October, 
1915. A. B. Klugh.” 

“A. N. S., No. 3457, Prince Edward Island, 
August 24, 1912. Bayard Long.” 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 11 


The wide range and general distribution of this 
species across the entire east and west width of 
Canada is evident from the above series. When 
the color is not mentioned it is the typical dark 


blotched pattern on a paler background. The 
green pigments of the living leech are lost upon 
preservation. The H. sanguisuga reported from 
Newfoundland by Blanchard is probably this 
species. 


(To be continued) 


PROSECUTIONS 


Migratory Birds Convention Act and Northwest Game Act, by Officers of the Dominion Parks Branch and 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 


‘MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION ACT. 


REPORTED DURING THE PERIOD—MAy 19, 1921— 
OCTOBER 24, 1921. 


Willard Jordan, Murray Harbour, Prince 
Edward Island. Attempting to kill a Brant in 
close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Simon Jordan, Murray Harbour, Prince Edward 
Island. Attempting to kill a Brant in close 
season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Willard Crook, Cape Traverse, Prince Edward 
Island. Killing a Canada Goose in close season. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Alex. Boudreau, Esquimaux Point, Quebec. 
Having in possession Eider Ducks in close season. 
Dismissed. 

Alfred Boudreau, Esquimaux Point, Quebec. 
Having in possession Eider Ducks in close season. 
Dismissed. 

Louis Bariau, Esquimaux Point, Quebec. 
Having in possession Eider Ducks in close season. 
Dismissed. 

Brent Eisenhauer, Indian Point, Lunenburg 
County, Nova Scotia. Shooting at Ducks out of 
season. Dismissed. . 

Allison Johnson, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg 
County, Nova Scotia. Shooting at Ducks in 
close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Hector Landry, Durlingville, Alberta. Shoot- 
ing one Green-winged Teal in close season. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Merritt Brown, Grand Harbour Rd., New 
Brunswick. Killing Black Duck in close season. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

John Harvey, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Taking Gulls’ eggs. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 


‘Ontario. 


Hatsel Cronk, Little Wood Island, Grand 
Manan, New Brunswick. Taking Gulls’ eggs. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Bruce Stanley, North Head, Grand Manan, 
New Brunswick. Taking Gulls’ eggs. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

Peter Stanley, North Head, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Taking Gulls’ eggs. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

John Johnson, North Head, Grand Manan, 
New Brunswick. Taking Gulls’ eggs. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Fulton Fleet, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Molesting migratory game birds in 
close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Robert Green, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Molesting migratory game birds in 
close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Coleman Green, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Attempting to kill migratory game 
birds with the use of a power-boat. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Robert Green, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Attempting to kill migratory game 
birds with the use of a power-boat. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Coleman Green, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Molesting game birds in close season. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Coleman Green, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New 
Brunswick. Wilfuily furnishing false information 
to a game officer. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

W. R. Wadsworth, C.P.R. Building, Toronto, 
Shooting a Semipalmated Sandpiper. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Lionelle Raymond, St. Denis de Kamouraska, 
Quebec. Having in possession a Semipalmated 


12 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXVI. 
Sandpiper. Fine $10.00 and costs. Suspended. Henri Menard, Eastman, Quebec. Having .in 
John McCarthy, Killarney, Manitoba. Shoot- Possession one Great Blue Heron. Withdrawn. 


ing Blue-winged Teal in close season. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

W. Woods, Killarney, Manitoba. Shooting 
Blue-winged Teal in close season. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Dame Onesime Despres, 148 St. Bernard St., 
Quebec, Que. Having in possession one live. 


Bobolink. Withdrawn. 


Wm. Francis Slade, Westmount, Quebec: 
Illegal possession of Semipalmated Sandpipers. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Wm. Townsend, Grand Pre, King’s County, 
Nova Scotia. Molesting Semipalmated Sand- 
pipers by discharging a gun with intent to kill. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

J. V. Welsh, Turtle Tank, Mine Centre, Ontario. 
Having a migratory game bird, viz: plover, in 
his possession without lawful excuse contrary to 
sec. (6) of the M.B.C.A. Fine $10.00 and costs. 
Seizure: one shot-gun. 

R. Paquet, Magog, Quebec. 
sion one Great Blue Heron. 
costs. 

H. A. Channell, East Bolton, Quebec. Having 
in possession one Grebe. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Fred Mitchell, Sherbrooke Quebec. Having in 
possession one Wood Duck. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 

Henri Menard, Eastman, Quebec. 
possession two Mergansers in close season. 
$10.00 and costs. 


Having in posses- 
Fine $10.00 and 


Having in 
Fine 


“ in possession one Great Blue Heron. 


Harry E. Reid, Windsor, Nova Scotia. Having 
Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

E. J. Hibbert, Chipman’s Corner, Nova Scotia. 
Hunting Woodcock in close season. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

H. Whittier, R.R. No. 2, Magog, Quebec. 
Having in possession one Great Blue Heron. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

H. J. Placey, 17 Wellington St., S., Sherbrooke, 
Quebec. Having in possession one Loon. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

John Murphy, New Minas, King’s County, 
Nova Scotia. Having in possession Semipalmated 
Sandpipers.in close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 


NORTHWEST GAME ACT PROSECUTIONS. 


R. W. Phillips, Victoria Island, Northwest 
Territories, Violation of Section (6) of the Re- 
gulations under the Northwest Game Act, which 
prohibits hunting and trapping, except by Eskimos, 
on Victoria Island, Northwest Territories—A fine 
of $100.00, without costs was imposed, or, in 
default, two months imprisonment with hard 
labour at Fort McPherson. The accused being 
destitute the warrant of committment was sus- 
pended on condition that the accused leave the. 
Territory by the first steamer. Accused left the 
country. Seizure: Three White Fox skins. 

George Komana, Kittigaruit, Northwest Terri- 
tories, Trapping Fox out of season. Fine $50.00. 
Seizure: Two White Fox skins. 


ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE WINTER BIRDS OF THE OKANAGAN VALLEY, 
BRITISH COLUMBIA 


By J. A. MUNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


Since the publishing of a list of the winter 
birds of the Okanagan Valley in 1917*, a number 
of additional records have been made which may 
be of some interest. In the list referred to, an- 
notations were given on one hundred and ten 
species and sub-species known to occur during 
the winter months, and, with the additions here 
recorded, the list is increased to one hundred 
and twenty-two. Winter is defined for the 
purposes of this paper as being between Novem- 
ber 1st and March 1st inclusive. 

LONG-TAILED Duck: Harelda hyemalis. An 
adult male shot in Bissett Creek near Lumby on 
November 15th, 1918, was brought to the local 


*The Ottawa Naturalist, XX XI, pp. 81-89. 


taxidermist. This species is known as a scarce 
and irregular migrant. 

CANADA GOOSE: Branta canadensis canadensis. 
At Vaseaux Lake on December 22nd, 1920, I heard 
honkers flying over and was told by the residents 
that they winter regularly in this section. 

VIRGINIA RaiL: Rallus virginianus. An adult 
female in my collection was taken at Summer- 
land on December 22nd, 1919. 

PRAIRIE FALCON: Falco mexicanus. A young 
male was taken at Okanagan Landing on Novem- 
ber 6th, 1921. 

GRAY GYRFALCON: Falco rusticolus rusticolus. 
A specimen of this rare faleon was taken at 
Kelowna on December 1st, 1916, and is now in 
the collection of Mr. L. E. Taylor. 


January, 1922.] 


SPARROW HAwk: Falco sparverius. A second 
winter record for this species was made on Feb- 
ruary 17th, 1919. 

LEWIS’ WOODPECKER: Asyndesmus  lewisi. 
During the winter of 1920-21 two of these birds 
were seen near Kelowna by several persons who 
described them to me. I had seen one in that 
locality on October 28rd, 1920—a notably late 
record as they usually leave during the last week 
of August. 

Hoyts HorRNED LARK: Otocoris alpestris 
hoytt. On December 5th, 1918, I took an example 
of this race from amongst a large flock of arcticola. 
This specimen is now in the Brooks collection. 

Rusty BLACKBIRD: Ewuphagus carolinus. On 
December 5th, 1918, three Rusty Blackbirds 
accompanied by two Killdeer were seen on the 
lake shore at Okanagan Landing, and two speci- 
mens were taken, establishing a new record for 
the Okanagan Valley. Two other specimens were 
taken on November 13th, 1919. Prior to this 
the Rusty Blackbird had been recorded from the 
following localities in British Columbia, namely 
Edgewood, Metlakatla and Atlin. In a discussion 
of the status of this species in British Columbia 
with Mr. H. S. Swarth, he informed me that he 
found them breeding commonly near Hazelton 
during the past summer (1921). 

BREWER’S BLACKBIRD: Ewuphagus cyanocephalus 
In my former list, I stated that large numbers of 
Brewer’s Blackbirds wintered in the City of 


Kelowna during 1912-13, but that none had been - 


seen north of this. During the winter of 1917-18 
a flock of twenty remained in the creek bottom 
between Okanagan Landing and Vernon. They 
were frequently seen following the rooting opera- 
tions of a drove of pigs which were ranging over 
some newly ploughed land. 

CASSIN’S PURPLE FINCH: Carpodacus cassini. 
Prior to 1917, winter records for this species were 
uncommon, but since then their appearance has 
been more regular. During the winter of 1920-21 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 13 


they were quite common, a flock of forty being 
seen on January 24th. 

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: Lozia leucoptera. 
Specimens were taken on November 29th, 1919, 
at Okanagan Landing. These were associated 
with bands of American Crossbills which are 
much more numerous and of more frequent 
occurrence than leucoptera. 

REDPOLL: Acanthis linaria linaria. Formerly 
an abundant winter resident arriving early in 
November and remaining until the latter part of 
March. None were seen after the winter of 
1916-17 until the present year (1921), when a 
single bird was noted amongst a flock of Juncos 
on December 19th. On the following day a 
flock of twelve were seen and these are still in the 
vicinity at the time of writing (December 22nd, 
1921). 

CEDAR WAXWING: Bombycilla cedrorum. Two 
Cedar Waxwings were seen on numerous occasions 
from December 28th, 1920, until the following 
spring. This record is notable in that this species 
leaves early in September and is one of the last 
migrants to arrive in the Spring. 

Rocky MOUNTAIN CREEPER: Certhia familiaris 
montana. 

SIERRA CREEPER: Certhia familiaris zelotes. 

Apparently these two races occur in equal 
proportion during the winter. Zelotes as com- 
pared with montana is considerably smaller, 
decidedly more brownish on the upper parts and 
with a relatively shorter bill. 

I am indebted to Dr. Louis B. Bishop for the 
identification of specimens. 

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE: Penthestes ru- 
fescens rufescens. A small band was found near 
Rollings Lake, twenty miles northeast of Vernon 
in December, 1918. 

WESTERN BLUEBIRD: Siala mexicana occiden- 
talis. This species is becoming a regular winter 
resident; a small flock has been seen each year 
since first recorded in 1916. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL OCCURRENCES AT TORONTO, ONTARIO, JANUARY, 1922 


By Stuart L. THOMPSON. 


Toronto and the surrounding country has seen 
several unusual records of bird life this winter. 
The weather, although cold at times, was often 
very mild, the temperature going above freezing 
and there being an unusual lack of snow. The 
city streets have been quite bare and many hill- 
sides throughout the country still show the frozen 
earth and dead leaves of the fall. This lack of 
snow on certain hillsides is not due to its having 


melted so much as to the fact that there have been 
several days of strong winds which tended to 
drift the snow onto some places more than others. 
No days warm enough to cause buds to burst have 
occurred and rainy days have been very few 
The Don and Humber Rivers have both been 
solidly.frozen over except in swifter parts and 
Toronto Bay has been more or less open in 
patches, 


14 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


There were reports from northern woods to the 
effect that the usual crop of bird foods—seeds, 
berries, etc.—was poor, which led many of us to 
be on the watch for some of the irregular and rare 
winter visitants, such as Pine and Evening Gros- 
beaks, Redpolls, Canada Jays and Snow Buntings. 
As early as November some of these appeared. 
Snow Buntings and Canada Jays were both seen 
at Scugog Lake on November 7, while I was 
hunting ducks, and a week later Pine Grosbeaks 
were seen at the Humber River. During Decem- 
ber I saw several flocks of Redpolls in the Don 
valley, but at no time were any Canada Jays seen 
in the vicinity of Toronto. Other rather unusual 
visitants this winter were a pair of Cardinals, 
which were seen feeding on berries on December 
18 in the Humber valley. The same day a Belted 
Kingfisher was seen—rather a late date. With 
these unusual late records an interesting winter 
seemed in view. Taking advantage of every 
opportunity, I went out early every Sunday 
morning and some of the results were most grati- 
fying, considering that often the weather at the 
time was very uninviting. Although little snow 
was flying and there were probably not more 
than 5° or 10° of frost, the strong western winds 
- which blew made ornithological work endurable 
only in sheltered ravines or deep woods. 

Week by week, my records are as follows: 


January 1.: Downy Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, 
Song Sparrow, Chickadee. 


January 8.: Great Black-backed Gull, Ring- 
billed Gull, American Scoter, Hairy Woodpecker, 
Junco, White-breasted Nuthatch. 


January 15.: American Merganser, Scaup 
Duck, American Golden-eye, Red-headed Wood- 
pecker, Northern Shrike. ; 

January 22.:. Red-breasted Merganser 
Sparrow Hawk, Brown Creeper. 

January 29.: Saw-whet Owl, Evening Grosbeak, 
Swamp Sparrow, Robin. 

In all, 22 species were seen in January. Besides 
seeing these, I have heard Pine Grosbeaks, a 
Screech Owl, Blue Jays and Redpolls, without 
being able to locate them at the time. Many of 
these birds seen are, of course, regular winter 
visitants or permanent residents, whose presence 
is expected almost any day in winter. Strange 
to say, I have not, throughout the whole month, 
either seen or heard a Crow. On other winters 
I have noted great flocks of Crows, even on 
January 1. 

The more interesting notes on the species 
observed are as follows. 

Sonc SPARROW. Rarely stays all winter. I 
found a dead specimen in the winter of 1905 and 
saw one alive on February 6, 1921. This year, 


(2), 


[VoL. XXXVI. 


however, I have found the Song Sparrow once at 
the High Park marsh and once in the Don valley; 
apparently quite cheerful. 

SPARROW HAWK. This bird was seen perched 
on a dead branch of a pine tree on the lee side of 
a‘residence near High Park. There was a high 
wind blowing at- the time and he seemed very 
loth to take flight, so that we came quite close to 
him. Finally he flew off through the park, when 


his typical flight could not be mistaken. 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. I must admit 
being doubtful of this identification. As I was 
strolling through the Don valley, I came upon a 
pair of these birds who took flight at once. They 
had been feeding in a small open part’ of the 
river, where the rapid current kept a few yards 
unfrozen. I had no difficulty in recognizing 
them as Mergansers, not only by their plumage, 
for, on account of my coming up under cover of a 
steep bank, I came within about 30 yards of them, 
but also by the manner in which they made a 
wide circle and flew down the valley again directly 
over my head, when their thin, narrow bills were 
quite readily seen. 

SwAMP SPARROW. This bird was found in 
company with a flock of Tree Sparrows who are 
to be seen in a frozen marsh in High Park through- 
out the winter. I was first attracted to him by 
his note—so different from any which the Tree 
Sparrows were uttering at the time. On my 
approach the Tree Sparrows moved to the other 
side of the marsh, but this particular stranger 
sought cover and remained skulking from clump 
to clump until finally, after many fleeting glances 
through the reeds, he showed himself plainly on a 
twig, when he was readily identified. The Song 
Sparrow mentioned previously was seen near 
here also. 


Rosin. Plainly seen on a sunny hillside near 
the Humber, foraging about on the bare ground. 
He uttered his call and was apparently in good 
condition and plumage. ‘ 


RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. Three of these 
birds have been seen at one time in High Park. 
Several times people have mentioned seeing one 
where I saw my three. On another occasion, I 
saw one about a mile away. It seems hardly 
likely that this is one of the three, for at no time. 
did any fly very far. Seemingly they all preferred 
to remain quiet and, on windy days, cling to the 
lee side of tree trunks as I watched them. 

EVENING GROSBEAK. A flock of eight were 
seen eating Manitoba maple seeds in the Humber 
valley. None were seen elsewhere, although they 
were reported in various parts of the city. 

As for Ducks, American Mergansers, and Gulls, 
they all were seen in Humber Bay. Although the 


January, 1922.) 


river is frozen over, its mouth and the bay are 
still open. The city has built a long concrete 
breakwater aiong the water-front, about 50 or 
100 yards from shore. This forms a lagoon which 
in milder weather is open and which is protected 
from the open lake’s waves and so is an ideal 
resting spot for water birds. 

Many times I have seen Great Black-backed 
and Ring-billed Gulls resting on the concrete wall 
where they were easily seen through field-glasses. 
On several occasions I have seen what I believe 
to be the same flock of American Mergansers 
feeding and sporting in the quiet lagoon. General- 
ly there are two males and three females. On 
January 29 a fourth female appeared. All per- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 15 


mitted a very close approach, but the one female 
did not follow the rest in flight. Later we saw 
her distinctly at a distance of a few yards, for 
she dived and came up close to us by the pier at 
the mouth of the river. There are generally 
several Golden-eyes here also, very tame, for 
people are often seen crossing Humber Bridge at 
this point. Once a small flock of Scaup Ducks 
were here and on another occasion I identified 
an American Scoter. I have never yet been sure 
of the identity of large flocks of ducks which I see 
farther out on the lake, but the Long-tail (Old- 
Squaw) is an abundant visitant here in some 
winters. It is probable that these flocks are 
Long-tailed Ducks. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


THE STARLING, Sturnus vulgaris, AT TOR- 
ONTO, ONTARIO 


The following note from my diary has been 
held, till confirmatory records of the Starling as 
an Ontario bird appeared. The date was August 
24, 1920. 

“While in my garden (Rusholme Road) about 
7.30 this morning, watching for migrants, I saw 
a flock of seven birds fly west over the garden, and 
pass out of view, just clearing some tall elms across 
the road. I was at the east end of the garden 
when the birds were first seen directly above me, 
and I was able to watch them for nearly three 
hundred feet of their flight, and instantly decided 
they were English Starlings; the shape of the 
birds, their flight, and the movements of the flock 
were characteristic; and I had no doubt, while the 
birds were in sight, of their identity.” 

J. H. FLEMING. 


YOUNG WEASELS 


At Bella Coola, British Columbia, on June 18, 
1921, my attention was called by Master Wilfred 
Christensen and his playmate, Master Donald 
Morrison, to two shivering young weasels which 
they had found under some boards filling a shallow 
waterway across a wood road. They said a parent 
weasel had carried off a third kitten weasel, and 
they were keeping both parents away by flourish- 
ing sticks. Both parents were continually rushing 
out and retreating. After examining the kittens, 
which had bodies about five inches long, we all 
stepped back perhaps fifteen feet and waited 
quietly. Soon we heard the chirping ery of one 
parent weasel as it ran out, looked at us, dodged 
around a stump, and looked at us again. It then 
rushed to the young weasels, seized one, apparently 
by the ear, but possibly by the neck or head, and 


whisked it away out of sight under the boards and 
brush. In a few moments it returned and re- 
moved the other slightly larger kitten weasel in 
the same manner. The old weasel seemed smaller 
in girth than the kitten, but this may have been 
an illusion caused by the slenderness of the adult. 
HARLAN I. SMITH. 


DISEASED SHARP-TAILED GROUSE IN 
MANITOBA. 


During the hunting season for grouse in Mani- 
toba—October 15 to 22, 1921—thirty examples 
of the Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse (P. phasianellus 
campestris Ridg.) were shot near the writer’s 
home at Aweme. On being prepared for cooking 
two of these birds were found to be very thin and 
a post-mortem examination revealed the fact that 
the liver was severely affected by tuberculosis of 
a nature apparently identical with that found 
in domestic poultry. Whether the disease is 
really as prevalent as these examples indicate 
cannot, at present, be told, but in any case the 
presence of such a disease in one of our most 
valued game birds is a matter of considerable 
importance as it may well prove one of the chief 
factors in retarding the bird’s increase. The 
disease may be spread in several ways, but it 
would probably make its greatest progress during 
the “dancing” period in spring time, when the 
males gather on certain small areas, or in Autumn, 
when the birds often collect into large flocks. 


NORMAN CRIDDLE. 


THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERI- 
CAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION 


The thirty-ninth Stated Meeting of the American 
Ornithologists’ Union was held in Philadelphia, 


16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


November 7th to 12th, 1921, 
attendance was present. 

The business meeting was held the afternoon 
and evening of November 7th, when a ‘Shore 
Dinner” was given by the President of the Union 
to the Fellows. Amongst the Members raised to 
the Fellow class was our countryman, Major 
Allan .Brooks, of British Columbia. A large 
number of Canadians were elected Associates. 

Public meetings given to the reading and dis- 
cussion of papers occupied the 8th to 10th. 
The Annual Dinner was celebrated the evening 
of the 9th and on the 11th and 12th opportunity 
was given to visit the Zoological Gardens and 
points of historical and ornithological interest 
near the city. 

One paper on Canadian ornithology was read: 
“Some Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan,” by Mr. 
Geo. H. Stuart, who visited the vicinity of Crane 
Lake last summer. 

Much of the pleasureable success of the meeting 
was due to the hospitable welcome extended by 
the various members of the Delaware Valley 
Ornithological Club and by the Academy of Natur- 
al Sciences, which threw its doors wide open to 
the Union and in whose halls the meetings were 
held. 

Among those present were: Messrs. Edward 
Arnold, Montreal; J. H. Fleming, Toronto; 
Hoyes Lloyd, Ottawa; W. E. Saunders, London; 
P. A. Taverner, Ottawa. 

One visitor from England was present, H. Kirk 
Swann, who is visiting American ornithologists 
for the purpose of obtaining material for his 
Synopsis of the Accipitres, now in course of 
publication. 

The next Annual 
Chicago. 


An unusually large 


Meeting will be held in 


LECTURES TO SCHOOL CHILDREN 


During the winter of 1920 to 1921, the Victoria 
Memorial Museum re-established the old policy 
of providing a course of lectures for the entertain- 
ment and instruction of the school children who 
throng the building every Saturday morning. 
Many members of the museum staff offered their 
services for these lectures, and the Department 
of Trade and Commerce co-operated by providing 
moving pictures and an operator. In consequence, 
every lecture was illustrated with lantern views, 
and all but one with moving pictures as well; 
at this one living animals were presented. So 
popular did the lectures prove that they had to be 
repeated each morning to a fresh audience, as the 
hall, which has a seating capacity of 562, was not 
jarge enough to accommodate the crowds. In 
fact one lecture had to be given three times in the 


(VoL. XXXVI. 


same morning. 
The following is the programme of the lectures; 
a similar programme has been arranged for the 


‘winter of 1921-22. 


Feb. 12.—‘The Fur Bearing Animals of Cana- 


da.”’? By C. L. Pateh. 

Feb. 19.—‘‘The Birds of Bonaventure Island.”’ 
By C. L. Patch. 

Feb. 26.—‘‘The Canadian Arctic Coast.” By 
K. G. Chipman. 


March 5.—‘‘Wanderings with the Eskimos.” 
By D. Jenness. 

March 12.—‘‘Roads to Wealth in Our Northern 
Forest, or Mineral Development in Northern 
Ontario.” By T. L. Tanton. 

March 19.—‘‘Hunting Giant Dinosaurs in the 
Badlands of Alberta.’?’ By Charles M. Sternberg. 

March 26.—‘‘Ottawa Three Times Submerged 
and How We Know It.” By M. E. Wilson. 

April 2.—‘‘Conquering the Desert with Irriga- 
tion.”” By Harlan I. Smith. 

April 9—‘‘Asbestos or Fire Proof Cotton.” By 
R. Harvie. 

April 16.—‘My Summer Among the Ojibwa 
Indians.” By F. W. Waugh. 

April 23.—“The Frogs, Salamanders and Snakes 
of Ottawa.’’ By Clyde L. Patch. 


STRANGE ACTIONS OF A DUCK. 


While on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence in the summer of 1921, I witnessed what 
was to me very surprising behavior on the part 
of a wild duck. 

The first occasion was at Natashquan, in the 
month of June, where I was then tenting with 
Harrison F. Lewis, Chief Federal Migratory Bird 
Officer for Ontario and Quebec. 

The bird first attracted our attention by flying 
in circles over the harbor and shore quite near 
our tents, uttering a succession of low maternal 
quacks as it did so. While watching it, we saw 
it make several attempts or feints at alighting on 
the Government Wharf quite near us. We 
thought it was an American Golden-eye, though the 
total absence of the whistling sound made by 
the wings of this species when in flight as well as 
the subdued character of its distinctive markings 
made it somewhat of a puzzle, to me at least. 
After it had flown away we searched. the rocks 
and barren in the vicinity for tree or stump 
where its nest might be, but without success. 

On a day following, I was startled by the same 
bird flying down past me from off a warehouse 
built on the wharf, but as it was in flight before 
I saw it I could not locate its exact perch. 

A couple of days later we embarked in the mail- 
boat to continue our journey along the coast but 


January, 1922.] 


were held at the wharf for a time by unfavorable 
wind and weather. While here, Mr. Lewis went 
one morning for a trip on shore, leaving me with 
the mail-carrier, Mr. Fred Jones, and his son, 
“‘Len.” 


As I had a very lively interest in the bird I 
had been watching, I asked my companions if 
they had noticed it. They stated that they had 
seen such a bird for several seasons in succession. 
and that it often alighted on the chimneys and 
roofs of the houses on shore. A few minutes 
after this conversation I was hailed from the deck 
by the boy, who announced, “Here is your duck 
now.” Taking my field glasses I went on deck, 
to find the bird sitting on the ledge of a small 
window well up in the gable end of the warehouse 
at the farther end of the wharf. As the day was 
somewhat misty, I landed on the wharf and ap- 
proached to about one hundred feet from where 
it sat. At this distance by the aid of the glasses 
my observation was about all that could be 
desired. From where I stood I could see the 
reflection of the bird in the glass of the window 
almost as plainly as I could see the bird itself, 
and -it seemed to be this reflection that occupied 
the whole attention of Madam Duck herself. 
After a few moments she arose from her sitting 
position to her full height and seemed to be 
peering into the window and bobbing her head in 
an endeavor to establish friendly relations with 
her own shadow. The approach of some .men 
along the wharf caused her to fly away and again 
I noticed the noiseless flight, though I had quite 
made up my mind that it was a female Golden- 
eye. 


In the following month I was one day talking 
with two of the patients on the verandah of the 
Grenfell Mission Hospital at Harrington, and as 
usual the conversation was chiefly of the birds of 
the coast. I described the bird seen at Natash- 
quan and asked them if they had ever seen one 
like it. They replied that they had, from their 
seat on the verandah, watched one nearly every 
day for weeks past and that they had seen it 
that morning. One of its usual performances, as 
described by them, was to visit the Episcopal 
Church adjacent to the Hospital to circle around 
the chimney, sometimes perching on it and some- 
times for a short space disappearing into the 
opening. From their accurate description of the 
bird and its actions, I felt that they were stating 
facts. I asked them what they called this parti- 
cular duck, and they replied that it was a ““Smoky 
Pie” and they were greatly surprised that I did 
not know a duck of that name. 


J. L. DB VANY. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 17 


CORRESPONDENCE 


To the Editor of the Canadian Field-Naturalist: 
Dear Sir: 

I was much interested in the Note by Mr. 
Hoyes Lloyd in the May, 1921, number of The 
Canadian Field-Naturalist on “An Aquatic Habit 
of the Pigeons” and am able to add other instances 
of the habit. To quote my “‘Notes on the Rock 
Dove” (Auk, XXXII, 1918, p. 315) “Saunders 
(Manual of British Birds, 1889) says ‘both wild 
and tame Pigeons have been seen to settle on the 
water like Gulls and drink while floating down 
stream.’ Mr. Wm. A. Jeffries tells me he once 
saw a Pigeon alight on the surface of the Frog 
Pond in Boston Common. I have seen a Pigeon 
hovering above Charles River in Cambridge 
dropping its feet till they touched the water, 
picking up something with its bill. This was 
repeated five or six times.” 

In my “Bird Genealogy” (Auk, XXIX, 1912, 
pp. 288, 289) in a study of the relationship of the 
pigeons to the auks, gulls, and plovers in the 
group of Charadriiformes, I state that ‘‘I recently 
placed a half-grown Domestic Pigeon in a wash- 
tub of tepid water. With head and neck erect, 
the bird swam rapidly with alternate strokes of 
the feet to the side of the tub. The wings were 
arched up and waved slightly—not stretched out 
and flapped in the water as in the case of young 
Passerine birds. Its position was like that of a 
Duck, but low in the water. Progress was much 
more rapid than on land where the bird stumbled 
awkwardly along. Indeed it had never before 
left the nest. I repeated the experiment several 
times with the same result. A fact of consider- 
able interest in this connection is that ‘A Pigeon 
with a perfectly webbed foot [was] evolved at 
Cambridge by only three years’ selected crossings’ 
(T. Digby Pigott, ‘London Birds and Other 
Sketches,’ London, 1902, p. 239). This may be 
looked upon as a case of reversion.’’, 

In answer to Mr. Lloyd’s: question, therefore, 
I should say: This curious habit of alighting on 
the water has not been acquired independently, 
but has an ancient foundation. 

CHARLES W. TOWNSEND. 
Nov. 30, 1921. 98 Pinckney St., Boston 


THE WILLET IN WESTERN NOVA SCOTIA 


Editor, Canadian Field-Naturalist: 
Sir: 

It is with very great pleasure and interest I note 
the increase of that splendid shore bird, the Willet. 
My first remembrance of him was some forty 
years ago, when, a mere kid, I was tenting on the 
beach of St. Mary’s Bay, in Digby County, Nova 
Scotia. My companion was a sportsman of note 
at that time. Our object was the shooting of 


18 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Black-breasted and Golden Plover. It was my 
first Plover-shooting trip and I recall that Golden 
and Black-breasted Plover were plentiful. <A flock 
of sandpipers flew past my blind and among them 
I noticed a big bird with white stripes in his wings. 
The big bird fell at the report of my muzzle- 
loader. My shooting companion called it a 
“White Wing.’’ We saw during our trip of four 
days some five or six of these big Willets. -In 
those days of blessed memory they were scarce 
along St. Mary’s Bay, and never in my recollec- 
tion were Willets so plentiful as at the present 
time. Seven years ago I noticed with interest that 
Willets were nesting in Digby County. Since 
that time there are more of these birds nesting 
here each year, and more especially since the 
elimination of spring shooting can the increase be 
noticed. At the present time (June 18th, 1921) 
many birds are nesting at Little River Harbour, 
Yarmouth County, Villagedale, Shelburne County, 
and Grossecoques, Digby County. There are 
doubtless other places in western Nova Soctia 
where these birds nest. Willets are about the first 
of the large ‘‘Shore Birds’’ to leave us in the fall, 
and by September first not many remain here. 
Under the Migratory Birds Act these birds are 
protected. It is, however, a difficult matter to 
protect them fully, as only a comparative few of the 
present day shore bird shooters really know them at 
a glance. Of course the white of their wings is 
very distinctive, but during the month of August 
the coast-line where these birds are is very often 
obscured with fog and when a bunch of these large 
birds burst through the fog-mull it is difficult for 
the amateur to distinguish them in a second or so 
and decide they are on the “protected list.’ 
Wiilets are the easiest of the Shore Birds to decoy 
and ‘‘whistle’’ within shot (with the possible ex- 
ception of the Yellow Legs). 


They are, however, increasing very fast, much 
to the joy of all true sportsmen. Only yesterday 
I was among the nesting Willets. There was a 
real colony of them. They are very noisy birds 
at this season, and so bold they will nearly fly 
against one as you walk near their nesting grounds. 
Their constant cries of Ca-luck, Ca-luck, Tee-da, 
Tee-da still ring in my ears. There will be hun- 
dreds of young birds ready for the fall migration 
next August. Let us hope that not many of 
them will be mistaken for legal game during their 
flight and that all shooters will ‘“‘have a care.” I 
have never known so many Willets to nest in 
Digby County as there are this spring. If the 
increase continues at the present rate there will 
be little danger of this grand bird becoming 
extinct as was feared a short while ago. 


H. A. P. Situ, Dicsy, N.S. 


[VoL. XXXVI, 


Editor, The Canadian Field-Naturalist: 
Dear Sir: ; 

Having noticed in the issue of September last 
under ‘“‘Notes and Observations’”’ a reply by Harri- 
son F. Lewis to a short article of mine on “The 
Birds of the Wilderness of Nova Scotia,”’ I would 
say that Mr. Lewis’ criticism of my notes as they 
appeared under the heading in The Naturalist is 
not far astray. My notes referred, however, to 
song birds alone, and should have been printed as 
the copy read, viz., ‘‘The Absence of Song Birds 
in the Wilderness of Nova Scotia.” I may further 
say that if Mr. Lewis will go back into the interior 
of this province he will not fail to notice the 
searcity of song birds; I do not mean the short 
trips usually taken by the trout fisherman, but 
back to the top of the watershed. I may further 
say that he will not there find the White-Throated 
Sparrow as he suggests. This bird is to me the 
finest song bird we have, and I am always on the 
alert to catch his pure notes. Neither will Mr. 
Lewis discover the Maryland Yellow-throat, nor 
the Chestnut-Sided Warbler. As far as Loons, 
Ruffed Grouse, and Blue Herons are concerned, 
they are certainly to be found there, but it would 
be most difficult to strain one’s imagination 
enough to call them song birds. Mr. Lewis’ 
mention of Herring Gulls proves to me that he has 
not been to the real wilderness of Nova Scotia, as 
these birds are seldom found so far from salt 
water in this province. Mr. James W. Stuber, 
Assistant Chief, Bureau of Fish and Game of 
Ohio, noticed this absence of song birds during 
his trip to the interior of the province. Writing 
in the Sportmsan’s Review, he says, ‘“The silence 
was profound. Not a bird twittered.” I have 
also read, in the same September number of The 
Naturalist, Mr. Lewis’ article, ‘Among the Coffin 
Carriers,’ referring to the colony of Black-Backed 
Gulls at Lake George, Yarmouth County. As 
Mr. Lewis is now in Labrador, it will be of interest 
to know whether upon his return he will retain 
the same respect and love for this big gull that 
he carried with him into Labrador. Perhaps he 
may let us hear about it through The Naturalist 
when he gets back. 

H. A. P. SmitH, Dicsy, N.S. 


BOOK NOTICES 
“LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING 
Birps” (1919) and ‘‘LirE HISTORIES OF NORTH 
AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS” (1921), by Arthur 
Cleveland Bent. These two volumes, which are 
Bulletin 107 and Bulletin 113, respectively, of the 
United States National Museum, are a continua- 
tion of the series of ‘‘Life Histories’’ begun by the 

late Major Charles E. Bendire. 


January, 1922.. 


The systematic and thorough manner in which 
the life histories of the species dealt with are set 
forth is indicated by the following quotation from 
the Introduction to the “Life Histories of North 
American Diving Birds’’: 

“After a few introductory remarks where these 
seem desirable, the life history of each species is 
written in substantially the following sequence: 
Spring migration, courtship, nesting habits, eggs, 
young, sequence of plumages to maturity, seasonal 
molts, feeding habits, flight, swimming and diving 
habits, vocal powers, behavior, enemies, fall 
migration, and winter habits. An attempt has 
been made to avoid repetition in dealing with 
subspecies.”’ 


The task which the author has thus outlined for 
himself has, in general, been well performed. 
Previous publications have frequently been drawn 
upon for essential data and apt passages so that the 
volumes summarize the knowledge already avail- 
able in this field. Much original matter has also 
been contributed, both by the author himself, who 
has travelled far and wide to study North American 
birds in their homes, and by a host of other 
ornithologists, who have furnished notes and data 
on particular points. Although the volumes thus 
present admirable and strictly up-to-date accounts 
of the life histories of the species considered, this 
serves to emphasize the fact that our knowledge 
of the life histories of many species is very unsat- 
isfactory. Little or nothing is known about the 
place and manner of the nesting of several 
species, such as the Marbled Murrelet and the 
gray-winged gulls (Kumlien’s and Nelson’s). 
There is a very great deal for students of avian 
life histories yet to accomplish. 


An important addition to the text in the second 
volume is information regarding reservations and 
the species which are protected in them. This 
information hardly does justice to Canadian 
reservations established under the Migratory 
Birds Convention Act, but this may be due to the 
fact that the manuscript for this volume was 
completed a considerable time before the volume 
was published. 

Several of the life histories in each volume are 
contributed by Dr. Charles W. Townsend. 

The illustrations form a most pleasing and 
valuable feature of these publications. Abundant 
half-tone plates, depicting chiefly birds and birds’ 
nests in their natural surroundings, are scattered 
through the text. Special colored plates, showing 
in their actual sizes one or more typical eggs of 
every species dealt with whose eggs are available, 
are bound in each volume. These are of a very 
high quality, especially those in the volume on the 
Gulls and Terns, which are on egg-shell paper and 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 19 


are beautiful examples of their kind. 

The author defends the Loon against perse- 
cution, thus furnishing justification for the legal 
protection now accorded to Loons in Canada and 
the United States under the Migratory Birds 
Convention. Speaking of the fact that the 
Loon’s diet of fish includes trout, he says, ‘‘“Some 
sportsmen have advocated placing a bounty on 
loons on this account, but as both loon and trout 
have always flourished together until the advent 
of the sportsmen, it is hardly fair to blame this 
bird, which is such an attractive feature of the 
wilds, for the scarcity of trout. We are too apt to 
condemn a bird for what little damage it does in 
this way, without giving it credit for the right to 
live.” With these statements, which are capable 
of a wide general application, the reviewer is in 
hearty agreement. 

Mr. Bent speaks of the much-discussed soaring 
flight of Gulls, saying ‘‘To my mind it is simple 
enough to understand, if we can realize that a gull 
is a highly specialized, almost perfect sailing vessel, 
endowed with instinctive skill in navigating the 
air to use the forces at its command to advantage. 
With a clear knowledge of the forces at work when 
a ship sails, close hauled, to within a few points of 
the wind, we can imagine the gull sailing along a 
vertical plane, in which the force of gravity re- 
places the resistance of the water against the 
keel and the wind acts against the gull’s wings as 
it does on the sails of the ship; the resultant of 
these two forces is a forward movement, which the 
gull controls by adjusting its center of gravity and 
the angle of its wings.”’ 

Although this analogy is plausible at first 
glance, it will not stand investigation. There isa 
radical difference between the action of the force 
of gravity upon a soaring bird and the action of 
the resistance of the water against the hull and 
keel of a vessel sailing close-hauled. The resis- 
tance of the water against a vessel always acts 
directly to consume the component force making 
for leeway, whereas the force of gravity acts upon 
the bird’s mass in a fixed direction, at right angles 
to the force exerted by a horizontal current of air. 
It therefore cannot prevent leeway, and, however, 
the force of a horizontal wind may be divided into 
components by the position of the soaring bird’s 
wings and body, the ultimate resultant of those 
components must be such as to cause the bird to 
move to leeward, not to windward. This fact can 
be demonstrated readily by means of the usual 
formal diagrams indicating resolution of forces, 
the reproduction of which here would exceed the 
limits of this review. 

The true explanation of the undeniable fact that 
Gulls and other birds do soar against the wind 


20 


without loss of elevation must be sought else- 
where. No satisfactory solution of the problem 
has yet been made public. It will be sufficient 
to point out here that one of the best authorities 
on the subject, Dr. E. H. Hankin, in his recent 
work on ‘Animal Flight’ (Iliffe & Sons Ltd. 
London, 1913[?]), states (p. 59) that “In other 
words, in attempting to discover the source of the 
energy of soaring, the movement of tangible 
masses of air that we know as wind must be left 
out of account.’’ and presents an abundance of 
carefully recorded observations in support of his 
statement. Neither superficial observations nor 
hasty conclusions will solve this important ques- 
tion of soaring flight. 

Several minor errors which these two volumes 
contain may well be corrected here, lest they persist 
as truth. 

The most southerly breeding station of the Puffin 
is given (p. 89) as Matinicus Rock, Maine, al- 
though Macoun’s breeding record (1909) for this 
species at Seal Island, Yarmouth County, Nova 
Scotia, is referred to on the same page. Seal 
Island is farther south than Matinicus Rock, and 
although it is possible that Puffins now no longer 
breed there, no evidence to this effect is given in 
this life history. The reviewer saw a pair of 
Puffins at Seal Island in July, 1912, but Dr. C. W. 
Townsend could find none there in the summer 
of 1920. 

In the life history of the Horned Puffin, mention 
is made (p. 98) of a breeding colony of the species 
on Atka Island, Aleutian Islands, and it is stated 
(p. 103) that the breeding range of the species ex- 
tends ‘throughout the Aleutian Islands.’”’? On page 
100 it is stated that ““The southernmost colony of 
Horned Puffins, so far as I know, is on Forrester 
Island in southern Alaska.”’ Forrester Island is 
much farther north than Atka Island, and, in fact, is 
farther north than a large part of the Aleutian chain. 

The most southern point in the breeding range 
of the Herring Gull is stated (p. 102) to be No- 
Man’s-Land in Penobscot Bay, Maine, although a 
foot-note adds that a few Herring Gulls have 
recently bred near Marthas Vineyard. But in 
any event, No-Man’s-Land is not the most 
southern breeding place of this Gull, for there is 
a large well-known breeding place on Seal Island, 
Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, which is farther 
south than No-Man’s-Land. 

Recent publications by Dr. C. W. Townsend do 
not describe the Common Murre and the Razor- 
billed Auk as being so nearly extirpated on the 
southern coast of Labrador as Mr. Bent’s remarks 
on this subject would lead one to conclude. 

On page 8 (“‘Gulis and Terns’’) it is stated that 
Mr. Frank C. Hennessey ‘‘accompanied the A. P. 
Low expedition to the regions north of Hudson 
Bay”. Thisis incorrect. Mr. Hennessey’s valuable 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


iVoL. XXXVI. 


experience in the Arctic was gained while he was 
with the expedition on the Dominion Government 
Steamer Arctic, under command of Capt. J. E. 
Bernier, in 1908 and 1909. He did not accom- 
pany the A. P. Low expedition. 


In the description, on page 330 of the second 
volume, of Plate 16, showing Great Black-backed 
Gulls, it is stated that the lower photograph 
represents ‘‘adult and young bird, one year old’’. 
This is evidently an error for “adult and bird of the 
year”, for Great Black-backed . Gulls, one 
year old, are not given to frequenting the nesting- 
grounds of the species, and the individual in 
question appears to be in the juvenal plumage. 


Although the life history of the Great Black- 
backed Gull makes frequent mention of the breed- 
ing colony at Lake George, Yarmouth County, 
Nova Scotia, the breeding range of this species is 
said (p. 85) to extend “southward .. . to 

Nova Scotia (Pictou, Halifax, and Kent- 
salle) and Bay of Fundy (Isle au Haute)’’. 
Lake George is considerably farther south than 
any of the four other points named. 


In the description of the former breeding range 
of the Laughing Gull no mention is made of the 
fact that it extended to Canada. Dr. H. Bryant 
collected two pairs on Green Island, near Yar- 
mouth, Nova Scotia, in 1856. The condition of 
the females showed that they had just finished 
laying. (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., VI, p. 122.) 

The statement is made concerning Thayer’s Gull 
(p. 121) that only some 25 specimens of the species 
are available for study. The Victoria Memorial 
Museum, Ottawa, is fortunate in possessing a fine 
series of some 30 specimens of Thayer’s Gull. 

Finally, a few remarks may be made concerning 
the editing of these works. Publications of this 
kind need make no pretense to artistic merit, 
which may characterize the writings of none but 
the gifted few, but sound English is justly to be 
expected of them. The facts of science should be 
correctly expressed. Itis true that exact quotations 
from other publications must at times introduce 
incorrect expressions, and that misprints cannot be 
wholly avoided. These things are excusable. But 
the original matter of the volumes under review 
contains a large number of conspicuous solecisms 
which cannot be defended. The over-heavy burden 
of work which the production of these life histories 
doubtless lays upon their author may confine his 
attention to the ornithological facts involved, but it 
is regrettable that there should not be more careful 
editing of the text of these important official 
ghee tn 

Everything considered, these ‘‘Life Histories’’ are 
most interesting, valuable, and important volumes, 
which should be found in every library and should 
be in the hands of every ornithological worker. It 
is to be hoped that future volumes of the series will 
appear with as little delay as possible. They will 
be awaited eagerly.—H. F. L 


. 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


VOL. XXXVI. OTTAWA, ONT., FEBRUARY, 1922. 


No. 2 


SOME NOTES OF THE GROWTH OF ARBUTUS MENZIESII—pursu 


By C. C. PEMBERTON 


(re 
Sas : 


Fic. 1.—PIONEER TYPE. Arbutus Menziessii, Pursh 

This arbutus is a good example of the open grown tree of the natural park-lands of the 
southern end of Vancouver Island. The limbs stretching forth all around the stem denote 
that the tree in early life had plenty of room. The second growth Douglas Fir is evidently of 
recent origin. Locality, Rocky Point, Metchosin, Vancouver Island, B.C. 


PIONEER, TYPES. 


The arbutus is a 
tree the habits and 
characteristics of 


which are of absorb- 
ing interest to the 
nature student. - Its 
occurrence and dis- 
tribution in these lati- 
tudes is fittingly des- 
cribed by John Muir 
(‘‘Steep Trails,’’ 
Houghton Mifflin Co., 
Boston and New York, 
1918; p. .285)- yas 
“standing there like 
some lost or runaway 
native of the tropics, 
naked and_ painted, 
beside the dark mossy 
ocean of northland 
conifers.” 


On the southern end 
of Vancouver Island, 
in the vicinity of 
Victoria and on many 
of the adjacent islands 
of the Straits of Juan 
de Fuca and the Gulf 
of Georgia, the pion- 
eer type of arbutus 
grew as large single 
trees, scattered on the 
plains, on the margins 
of the forest and on 
the sparsely wooded 
crests of hills and 
rocky elevations. The 
forms of these arbutus 
denote that they have 
grown in the open 
and were not at any 
time in early life 
crowded by other 
trees. A good ex- 
ample of the type is 


shown in Fig. No. 1. The huge limbs stretching 
out in all directions prove that the tree must have 
had plenty of room in the past. The young 
growth of Douglas fir surrounding the arbutus is 
of recent origin. 

HELIOTROPIC RESPONSE. 

When the arbutus is compelled to strive for light 
in competition with other trees it shows the 
characteristics of positive heliotropism to a 
degree surpassing most of its competitors. It has 
learned to dodge and looks as if it were trying to 
avoid contact wth its neighbors. If the sur- 
rounding trees are destroyed, then the arbutus, 
curved and bent over, forms a unique feature of 
the landscape. In Fig. No. 2 the curved arbutus 


is a good example of the heliotropic response due 
to light contest with other trees, since removed. 
The characteristic of positive heliotropism seems 
to obtain to a similar degree in arbutus, wherever 
Prof. Jepson, (“The Trees of Cali- 


it is found. 


29 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


fornia,’ Willis Linn Jepson, Ph.D., Cunningham 

Curtis and Welch, San Francisco, 1909, p. 208) 

referring to the phenomenon = says: 

Madrona is rarely symmetrical and 

the older the tre2 the more unsymmset- 
rical as a rule. This is notably the 
ease in the Mendocino and Humbolt 
woods, where it is invariably pushed 
to one side when in light competition 
with Douglas Fir or Tan Oak. Huge 
Madrona crowns, wholly one-sided, are 
frequently met with; some2times the 
aggressive companion trees disappe2ar 
and leave these irregular Madronas 
standing alone. Very frequently one 
finds a long trunk curving out of the 
perpendicular 20 or 30 feet and up 
60 or 70 feet to a wisp of a crown occupy- 
ing a very small area of the forest canopy. 
Such trees are remarkable for their 
curving and often huge trunks, 
which are commoaly very tall 
and often flattened contrary to_ 
the direction ofthe curve. 

The curved and bent specimens of 
Arbutus unedo L. on Dinis Island, Kil- 
larney, Ireland, figured in Plate No. 157 
of “The Trees of Great Britain and 
Ireland,” (John Henry Elwes, F.RS., 
and Augustine Henry, M.A., Vol. III, 
Edinburgh, 1908) are presumably the 
result of heliotropic bending. The 
curves may, however, be caused by 
wind. 


CONTINUITY IN FLOWERING. 


The flowering and fruiting of the ar- 
butus form interesting phases of its life 
history. 

Sometimes the trees of a whole dis- 
trict will totally discontinue production 
of floral buds for several seasons, or, in 
the same grove, some of the trees may 
cease while others continue vigorous 
production. 

During the years that arbutus does 
carry on activity in flowering the con- 
tinuity of the operation is remarkable. 
Without any marked resting period, from 
early spring to late autumn flowering 
may be found in every stage; buds, 
blossoms, and berries. During the win- 
ter months—generally from about No- 
vember to March—no fresh buds develop 


Fic. 2.—-HELIOTROPISM, Arbutus Menziessii, Pursh and the late buds do not blossom, though 
Example of curved stem of arbutus due to former contest for light, - - : ; 

with other trees since destroyed. Many of these odd shaped trees are to they continue to increase in size and 

be found. Locality, Scenie Drive, Mount Douglas (‘Cedar Hill”) Park, advance another stage toward the blos- 


Victoria district, Vancouver Island, B.C. Illustration kindly loaned by the 


Victoria and Island Publicity Bureau, Victoria, B.C. 


som throughout every mild spell, until 


<r 


February, 1922.] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 23 


> 


Fic. 3—CONTINUITY IN INFLORESCENCE. Arbutus Menziessii, Pursh. 


Buds, blossoms and berries, picked from the same tree, 2nd November, 1920. Locality, Cadboro Bay, Victoria distri. t, 
Vancouver Island, B.C. 


24 - THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


sooner or later in the spring the flowering com- 
mences. 

Continuity of flowering has taken place for 
nearly four years, without cessation, in some of 
the arbutus trees I have observed at Cadboro Bay 
and other points on the Coast. The illustration 
given in Fig. 3 shows the ripening berries of the 
earlier blossoms and the new flower buds of the 
autumn, picked from the same tree at Cadboro 
Bay, on 2nd November, 1920. 

Many trees, such as willows and alders, develop 
catkins during the autumn, the willows of the 
higher and drier areas commencing in November 
and those of the colder swamps not until April or 
May. The flowering dogwood (Cornus nuttallii 
Aud.) often also has an amount of continuity in 
blossom. Two sets of flowers may occur in a 
season. Floral buds, too, can develop in the late 
autumn and persist all winter. To my mind, 
however, there is a difference between this and the 
arbutus, for in the latter species there is no resting 
period between successive periods of flowering, 
whereas in the willows, alders, dogwood, etc., there 
is. 

As will be seen by the letter and table of temper- 
ature kindly supplied to me by Mr. F. Napier 
Denison, Superintendent for British Columbia, 
Dominion Meteorological Service, Gonzales Hill, 
Victoria, B.C., and printed below, the weather 
conditions have been somewhat abnormal during 
the last four years. Mr. Denison’s idea about the 
tempering effects of winds blowing off tidal waters 
is borne out by the fact that the floral buds on 
arbutus trees near the shore withstood the tem- 
peratures given by Mr. Denison while those 
farther inland were cut off by the frosts. The 
dogwood also suffered inland but near the sea was 
uninjured. : 

. Victoria, B.C., April 15th, 1921 
C. C. Pemberton, Esq., 
Sayward Building, 
Victoria, B.C. 
Dear Sir: 

In reply to your letter of last December and 
enquiry of recent date respecting climatic condi- 
tions at Victoria during the past few years, I 
take pleasure in enclosing you a table bearing on 
this subject for 1919, 1920 and to March, 1921, 
and monthly normals for precipitation, tempera- 
ture and sunshine. 

You will note from the enclosed that in 1919 
the summer and winter were abnormally cold and 
particularly in November and December. In 
1920 the rainfall was abnormally light in February 
while from the early summer to the close of the 
year it was unusually heavy; and again in January 
and February, 1921, the rainfali was abnormal. 


[VoL XXXVI 


I am inclined to think that why the Arbutus 
grows so weil about Victoria is on account of the 
tempering effect of the winds usually blowing off 
the tidal waters of either the Strait of Juan de 
Fuca, that is, from the southwest in summer, and 
across the Strait of Georgia from the north in 
the winter. 

It may interest you to know that the annual 
amount of bright sunshine here is more than in 
any part of the British Isles, even including the 
Channel Islands. 

Trusting the enclosed information may be of 
some service to you, 

I remain 
Sincerely yours, 
F. NAPIER DENNISON, 
Superintendent in B. C. 
(See top of page 25 for Meteorological Table.) 


A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN. 

The arbutus pictured in Fig. No. 4 is a curiosity. 
Its life history as revealed by its growth-form is 
an enigma. There is the long root—or stem— 
stretching across a pocket of soil in the top of a 
cliff of rock and bending at one end over the edge 
of the cliff and then making a curve up and out 
into a normal shaped tree. The cause of this 
very unusual method of growth is difficult to 
ascertain. The district in which the tree is 
situated is one of those settled and populated 
early in the history of Victoria and I enquired 
from the older inhabitants of the locality for any 
particulars of the early life of the tree but could 
gain no information. No one seemed to have 
noticed it and no data as to fires or other destruc- 
tive agencies could be obtained. The appearance 
at “‘A”’ seems to indicate that at one time there 
was a vertical shoot at the point. In fact, it 
looks as if there had been a good sized tree and 
that from it a root had descended in the direction 
“TD” toward the lower ground. If this were so, 
then the piece “‘A’’- ‘“B” - ‘‘C”” would have been 
another root mostly on the surface but with a 
short portion covered with soil at “B” and hanging 
over the cliff at ‘‘C.”’ As can be seen by the 
illustration, the stem of the tree existing at “‘C”’ 
when the photograph was taken really commences 


to be a true stem at the point “C’’. The stem, 
or root (whichever it is), “A” - “D”, “A” - 
“B” - “C” has the appearance of having suffered 


great ill-usage. It is decadent throughout its 
length except where the small portion at “B” 
is covered with soil. This covered up part proved 
on examination to be vital and in good condition. 
These circumstances have led me to believe that — 
an original stem at ‘“‘A’’ may have become des- 
troyed and, in consequence, an adventitious 
shoot had subsequently sprung from the over- 


February, 1922.] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 25 


VICTORIA, B.C. 


Jan. Feb. | Mar. | April | May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Year | 


1919 
Highest Temperature} 52.0 | 50.9 | 62.5 | 67.2 | 68.5 | 70.0 | 84.5 | 80.4 | 81.4 | 67.2 | 55.3 | 52.5 | 84.5 |July 
Lowest Temperature || 33.0 |.27.0 | 32.0 | 36.8 | 39.8 | 42.8 | 47.2 | 47.7 | 42.0 | 31.7 | 29.7 | 15.5 || 15.5 |Dee 
Mean Temperature. .| 41.3 | 40.1 | 44.0 | 48.9 | 52.1 | 54.4 | 58.5 | 58.8 | 57.7 | 48.2 | 42.8 | 38.0 
Precipitation........ 5.81 | 2.75 | 2.22 | 2.90 49 .53 .02 .34 | 1.35 | 1.30 | 5.53 | 4.79 ||28.33 
Hours of Sunshine... 59 80 150 195 273 283 378 325 242 136 51 94 2265 
Prevailing Wind.....|) N SE SW SW WwW WwW SW SW SW N N N 

1920 


Highest Temperature] 53.0 | 53.0 | 58.8 | 64.7 | 67.4 | 78.2 | 91.3 | 84.3 | 74.0 
Lowest Temperature.|| 24.8 | 32.2 | 31.8 | 30.0 | 39.8 | 43.0 | 48.6 | 46.3 | 4 
Mean Temperature. .|| 39.2 | 41.6 | 43.9 | 45.5 | 49.9 | 55.7 | 59.8 | 61.1 | 55. 


46.0 | 42.5 : 
Precipitation........ 5.55 .62 | 2.28 | 1.45 | 1.87 | 1.04 | 1.00 | 1.61-| 3.62 | 4.08 | 3.11 | 4.62 |} 30.30 
Hours of Sunshine...|| 52 141 134 230 303 255 345 346 173 99 104 31. | 2213 
Prevailing Wind..... N N SW SW SW SW SW SW SW N N SE 
1921 


Highest Temperature!) 51.8 | 55.0 | 56.2 
Lowest Temperature.|| 29.0 | 27.5 | 30.0 
Mean Temperature. .|| 40.2 | 41.5 | 43.9 


Precipitation........ 5.55 | 4.28 | 1.23 
Hours of Sunshine...|| 58 80 174 
Prevailing Wind..... SE N N 
AVERAGE | 
Mean Temperature. .|| 39° 41° 44° 48° 5s? 57° 61° 60° 56° ry hy 45° 41° 50° 
Piecipitation........ 4,01) 3.13" | 2.33 |/1.25 -99 .85 44 .62 | 1.538 | 2.73 | 4.58 | 4.69 27.45 |linches 
Hours of Sunshine... 71 80 142 197 258 279 300 304 189 130 77 60 2087 


il 


hanging root at ‘“‘C’’. When I first saw the tree The break revealed the fact that the lower side 

it was in fairly healthy condition but it has been of the stem was alive and in a healthy condition 

failing slowly ever since, and when the photograph and furthermore that iv had living rootlets pene- 

was secured there were only one or two branches _ trating into the soil of the crevice. Perhaps the 

alive. Not long after this the stem became misshappen and fasciated appearance of the 

broken off at a point alittle to the right of ‘“‘C’’. stem at “‘C’’ may be because it had originally 
: a Be : Se 


ESR = 


Photo by courtesy of the Victoria and Island Development Association 


; Fic. No. 4A MOST REMARKABLE SPECIMEN, Arbutus Menziessii, Pursh 


The cause of this most remarkable growth is unknown. The tree has, since the taking {cf the picture, died and rotted away. 


26 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


been a root. Although I have never seen nor 
heard of arbutus throwing out adventitious shoots 
from roots, in the way poplars and many other 
broadleaf trees do, it can, nevertheless, make 
adventitious growths from stumps and roots 
under certain conditions. There are many 
instances of rings of shoots arising from the rims 
of the stumps of the huge dead pioneer arbutus 
trees of the isolated type once scattered over the 
area surrounding Victoria. Adventitious growths 
can also spring up at the base of the stems of the 
big ancient arbutus trees of the forest as soon as 
the competing trees are cleared away. The young 
growth often takes the place of the parent tree 
which, owing to its wisp of canopy, usually dies 
away. Further proof of the ability of arbutus to 
develop adventitious shoots from roots is to be 
seen when a large tree is blown over on its side 
but part of its root system remains in the soil. 
In cases of this kind, adventitious shoots are 
known to be thrown out by the upturned roots 
near the base of the stem. A striking illustration 
of this was noted at a field meeting of the Natural 
History Society of British Columbia held at 
“Tiswild,”’ the residence of Mrs. MeVicker, in the 
Highland district, Vancouver Island. A still 
more remarkable instance of a similar occurrence 
was found at “‘Allbay,” the property of W. T. V. 
Copeman, Esq., near Sidney, on the Saanich 
peninsula, Vancouver Island. A fair-sized arbu- 


[VoL. XXXVI 


tus growing in shallow soil had been blown down 
but the roots on one side had remained in the 
soil. The flat base of the stem had become 
upturned and had exposed its underside to light. 
The consequence of this was that a strong shoot 
sprang from the upturned lower side and when I 
saw the tree both the original stem and the 
young shoot were thriving. 

Another explanation of the cause of the peculiar 
position and mode of growth of the arbutus in 
Fig.No. 4 may simply be that a seed had germinat- 
ed in the crevice at ‘“‘C”. If this be so, the 
length of the root “C” - “B” - “A” - “DD” is 
remarkable and its course and the loop and 
fasciation of the stem at ‘‘C”’ are unusual. ~ 

The heliotropic power of the arbutus may be 
another reason forthe peculiar appearance of this 
arbutus. Contest for light between the arbutus 
and some other trees once growing together on 
the crest of the cliff may have induced the ar- 
butus to creep along the ground and therefore 
“A” - “B” - “C” may be a stem which, in bending 
toward the light, had layered where it has touched 
the soil. Arbutus, however, so far as I am aware, 
does not naturally layer. Some scrub oak 
(Quercus garryana Dougl.} can be seen in the 
illustration near the point “A” and may be 
sprouts from the remains of some former large 
oak that once competed with the arbutus for 
light. Garry oak is plentiful in the neighborhood. 


A PROPOSED BIRD SANCTUARY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


By J. A. MuNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


The notable increase in the migrations of ducks 
and geese, following the ratification of the Migra- 
tory Birds Convention, has given an impetus to 
bird-protection which is apparent wherever 
sportsmen or nature-lovers are gathered together. 
In marked contrast to the pessimism rife in the 
five years preceding 1918 (which, at its worst, 
prophesied the end of water-fow! shooting in 
another decade, and at best looked for its survival 
only as an interest vested in the owners of large 
estates) is the present enthusiasm and confidence 
in the future. 

This is manifested among sportsmen by the 
earnest discussion of protective measures that 
would have been condemned as radical and 
visionary a few years ago. Measures for vermin 
control, plans for licensing that persistent enemy, 
the domestic cat, reduction of bag limits, etc., 
are questions brought up at every game associa- 
tion meeting. 

Another expression of the popular enthusiasm 


is the growing demand for Bird Sanctuaries. 
Unfortunately, the supply of Dominion lands 
suitable for sanctuary purposes in this Province 
is not equal to the demand—or the need. A 
number of property owners who control land of 
this type have requested, with characteristic 
western generosity, that such areas be created 
permanent Bird Sanctuaries under The Migratory 
Birds Convention Act, even though this restriction 
would mean the loss of their shooting privileges. 

Swan Lake, which has been proposed as a Bird 
Sanctuary, is approximately three miles long and 
half a mile wide, its southern end being three 
quarters of a mile from the city limits of Vernon. 
The land surrounding it is of high fertility, and 
the greater portion is under cultivation. There 
is a considerable acreage in orchard, and alfalfa 
is grown extensively. Between the edge of 
cultivation and the lake shore is a fringe of brush, 
chiefly alder, willow, mountain birch, and black 
haw, and in several places on the east shore there 


February, 1922.] 


are poplar and alder stands, several acres in ex- 
tent. The fore-shore is boggy and alkaline for 
the most part, with infrequent stretches of narrow 
sandy beach. Where the lake bottom is sandy, 
bog rush is the chief aquatic growth, but in the 
muddy portions there is a heavy growth of tules, 
several hundred yards wide in some places. The 
marsh area is widest at the north end of the lake 
and is intersected by several weed-choked lagoons. 
The lake is shallow, probably not exceeding eight 
feet in depth, and is fed by two small streams, 
one at each end. The only outlet is a small 
stream at the north end, which joins Long Lake 
Creek near Vernon. 


Trout are said to have been plentiful at one 
time, but none have been caught within recent 
years. There is, however, an abundance of 
Cyprinoids and several species of larger coarse 
fish, which supply the needs of Loons, Ospreys, 
Kingfishers and other fish-eating birds. 


This shallow lake with its encircling marsh is 
probably more prolific in bird life than any other 
lake of its size in the Okanagan Valley. The 
growth of marsh plants, thriving in the warm 
water and drawing vitality from the decay of 
past years, is amazingly rapid, and fortunately 
the carp, which are reducing the marshes in the 
lakes of the Okanagan chain, have not yet made 
their appearance. 

On a day in June, this expanse of waving green 
and the air above it fairly hum with insect life. 
The water, too, is alive with little fish, with 
crustaceae and with the larvae of the insects that 
swarm on the plants above. To this endless 
banquet come the birds in their hundreds. Marsh 
Wrens peer from the tule clumps and burst into 
ecstacies of song; Black Terns skim past, barely 
clearing the tule tops; Coots, Red-heads and 
Ruddy Ducks swim by in friendly unconcern, 
while a never-ending procession of Swallows and 
Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds fly 
back and forth. This is accompanied by an 
almost deafening volume of bird voices, the 
clamor of Black Terns, chuckling of Coots, rasp- 
ing of Yellow-heads, the yelping of Holboell’s 
Grebes, the pumping of Bitterns and, cutting 
through this medley like a knife thrust, the wild, 
valkyrie call of the Loon. 

The fringe of brush along the shore is also 
alive with birds—Eastern and Western King- 
birds, Western Wood Peewees, Alder Flycatchers, 
Crows, Bullock’s Orioles, Sooty Song Sparrows, 
Red-eyed Vireos, Yellow-throats, Yellow Warblers 
and a dozen other species—no stretch of woodland 
of whatever fertility could support this wealth of 
bird-life. The North Arm of Okanagan Lake, 
only a short distance away, is of the same general 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 27 


character—shallow water and marsh-bordered 
shores—yet it supports a much smaller and less 
diversified population. 


The boggy tule-lined shores and the weedy 
stretch of water are often viewed with hostility, 
and at one time a scheme for draining the lake 
was contemplated. Fortunately this vandalism 
was abandoned and it is to be hoped that such 
an exceptionally attractive breeding-ground for 
water-fowl will be left in their undisturbed 
possession for all time to come. 

The following notes were made during the 
summers of 1916 and 1918 when I spent several 
days exploring the marsh and studying the birds 
breeding in it. 

HOLBOELL’S GREBE: Colymbus holboelli. On 
May 15th, 1916, flocks of Holboell’s Grebe were 
seen in the open water chasing one another with 
a great deal of splashing, and calling in chorus. 
Their courtship is a rough and tumble affair, 
consisting chi2fly on the part of the males in a 
display of pugnacity towards others of their sex, 
and, on the part of the females, of a waiting 
attitude. There is none of the graceful posturing 
and display-flights that make the courtship of the 
more highly organized diving-ducks such a delight- 
ful spectacle. 

A partial exploration of the marsh three weeks 
later brought to light twenty nests, some only 
recently completed and empty, others containing 
from one to four eggs. The nests varied slightly 
in size, but otherwise were identical—sodden 
masses of bog rush, black with a season’s decay, 
floating with the larger portion below the surface. 
Generally, they were moored in a clump of rushes 
and, in most cases, close to the outer edge of the 
marsh where the water was from two to four feet 
deep. My noisy approach through the rustling 
tules was sufficient to alarm the sitting bird and 
she or he (as both sexes help in the work of in- 
cubation) would slip off the nest and glide through 
the tules to the open water without being seen. 
Usually the mate was not far off and, together, 
they would swim back and forth in front of the 
nest, some thirty or forty yards from the marsh. 
Frequently, the sitting bird had had sufficient 
warning to cover the eggs with some of the loose 
material on the nest, and in only a few cases were 
they found exposed. 

Usually, they were embedded in the rotting 
material composing the nest and, no doubt, the 
heat from this source assisted materially in their 
incubation. 

One bird, apparently a female, was seen with 
a single youngster riding on her back. Perhaps 
the rest of the brood had been killed by muskrats 
as several partly eaten bodies of downy young 


s) 


2§ 
were found in the marsh. 

These Grebes did not breed in colonies, but 
each area of marsh contained its quota of nests, 
and, generally, they were thirty or foity yards 
apart. As only a small portion of the lake was 
visited, a correct census of the birds could not 
be taken, but it was estimated that sev nty-five 
pairs were breeding. 

Two years later, June 22nd, 1918, the number 

had been greatly reduced. During the autumn.of 
the previous year there had been a considerable 
mortality through a parasitic disease which may 
explain their relative scarcity in 1918. 


PIED-BILLED GREBE: Podilymbus  podiceps. 

These were less common and much less in 
evidence than the last. Sitting birds would steal 
away from their nests without being seen and 
did not show the solicitude for their eggs that 
marked the behaviour of the larger species. A 
nest containing seven eggs and another with one 
egg were found on May 15th, 1916. The nests 
were smaller than the Holboell’s, but built of 
the same material in similar situations. In both 
nests the eggs were completely covered. Another 
nest, containing eight eggs, was found on June 
8th, 1916, and the covering of wet weeds was 
removed, leaving the eggs exposed. Upon my 
return to the nest twenty minutes later, it was 
discovered that the bird had returned in the inter- 
val and had covered the eggs again. 

Two nests, similar to the last, found on June 
22nd, 1918, contained three and five eggs respec- 
tively and the birds were seen gliding through 
the rushes with only head and neck above the 
water. These were the only occasions on which 
I was able to obtain a glimpse of the birds as 
they left their nests. 


LOON: Gavia immer. A pair seen on June 8th, 
1916, were swimming back and forth in front of a 
marshy point in one of the lagoons at the north 
end of the lake. Their nest was quite close but 
impossible to reach without the aid of a boat. 
Two other pairs were seen at a distance in the 
open water. On June 22nd, 1918, two downy 
young were in the same lagoon. They dived 
through the matted weeds on the surface, appeared 
for a moment farther on, and then vanished in 
the thick tules while the parents called to them 
from the open water fifty yards distant. 

BLACK TERN: AHydrochelidon  surinamensis. 

Finding a breeding colony of Black Terns was 
a decided surprise. I had no record of their 
breeding in the Okanagan Valley and had known 
them only as scarce migrants. When I was 
approaching the marsh on May 18th a band of 
thirty or more were seen flying over the lagoon, 
and, as I neared the water’s edge, they flew to- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(VOL. XXXVI 


wards me, circling over my head with cries of 
w.siiu. 4. LLorough search of the marsh was made 
for nests, but nest-building had not started. 
Three weeks later, on June 8th, the birds had 
started laying and a number of nests contained 
cne or two eggs. Most of these were on a float- 
ing mass of dead rushes which had drifted into 
the lagoon and lodged against the tules. In a 
few nests a scant lining raised the eggs above 
this floating mass of debris, but the greater num- 
ber consisted of a simple arrangement of dead 
rushes, barely sufficient to keep their contents 
from rolling out. In the play of light and shadow 
diffused through the tall encircling tules, nests, 
eggs and the immediate surroundings blended so 
harmoniously that many nests would have escaped 
observation had it not been for the excited cries 
of the parents as they wheeled low over the 
nesting sites. Several nests, and these were 
conspicuous, departed from the usual in being 
made of fine reddish roots of some water-plant, 
probably brought to the surface by a muskrat. 
One bird was seen brooding eggs on a small piece 
of floating debris in one of the deeper portions of 
the lagoon and she remained there quietly while 
I watched at close range—close enough to see 
the maroon-colored gape and the gentle brown eye. 


While I was wading through the tules, the 
Terns flew around me on all sides, often within 
arm’s length, and were quite devoid of fear in 
their parental solicitude. Often three or four 
birds, following each other closely, would fly 
straight towards me until within a few feet, . 
when they would rise slightly and pass over my 
head, to circle back and repeat the manoeuvre. 
While the birds were frequently all in the air at 
the same time,they turned and wheeled or dropped 
out of sight behind the tules so quickly it was 
impossible to count them. Ten nests were found, 
but it is thought the colony numbered twenty 
pairs at least. The breeding ground was restrict- 
ed to an area about two hundred yards square at 
the north end of the lake. 


When I visited the marsh next, on June 22nd, 
1918, the Terns were in the same place and the 
colony was larger. The floating masses of rushes were 
again in position and afforded the chief nesting 
site. With the increase in the number of birds, 
the nests had been built closer together and in 
several places four or five were in sight at one 
time. Twelve nests were examined, the majority 
of which held three eggs, the maximum number. 

CINNAMON TEAL: Querquedula cyanoptera. 
Three drakes and two ducks were seen swimming 
close to shore on May 18th, 1916, and on June 
8th, 1916, two drakes and one duck were seen 
together. It is probable that they were breeding 


February, 1922.} 


but I was unable to find a nest. This species is 
uncommon in British Columbia and these were 
the first I had seen in the flesh. 


REDHEAD: Marila americana. Redheads 
were in small flocks performing their courtship 
antics on May 15th, 1915. On June 8th, the 
majority were paired, but one band of seven 
drakes and five ducks were still in the courtship 
stage. The mating period is probably of longer 
duration with this species than with any other 
duck. I have seen them courting and actually 
copulating as early as February 28th, and it is 
doubtful if eggs are ever laid earlier than the 
first week in June. 


Only one nest was found on June 8th and this 
contained four fresh eggs. The nest, a deep 
hollow on the side of an old muskrat house, was 
well lined with dry tules, and screened from. view 
on all sides by a rank growth of tules. While I 
was examining the contents the parent birds, 
flying close together, passed overhead within a 
few feet. 

On June 22nd, 1918, three nests were found and 
all the birds seen were in pairs. The first nest, 
containing two eggs, was a slightly concave 
platform of mixed dry and green rushes, measur- 
ing twelve inches in diameter and placed at the 
base of an isolated clump of bog rush. The top 
surface of the nest was eight inches above the 
water and perfectly dry. The second nest was 
in the thick patch of tules and from the nest to 
the open water twenty yards distant led a well 
trampled trail. This nest was a flat platform of 
dry rushes, sixteen inches in diameter, resting on 
a springy mass of dead vegetation which raised 
it well above the surface of the water. It had 
been deserted for some reason; possibly the fe- 
male had been killed on the nest by a muskrat. 
The nine eggs were scattered over the nest, two 
had rolled out and two others were broken. It 
was found, on preparing them, that four contained 
dead embryos; two were fresh (that is, they had 
not been incubated) and one was infertile. Pos- 
sibly the two fresh eggs had been laid by a second 
female. A third nest, containing eight eggs, was 
discovered twenty yards farther on in the thick 
tules. This was evidently a second laying as the 
nest was a very flimsy affair. The slight plat- 
form of rushes was not thick enough to prevent 
the marsh water from seeping in and several of 
the eggs were lying in the water. No down had 
been added to any of the three nests. One brood 
of six downy young was seen on the same date. 
The female led them from the protecting tules 
and half swam, half flew along the surface of the 
lagoon and out to the open water. 


Ruppy Duck: Erismatura jamaicensis. On 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 29 


June 8th a band of ten Ruddy Ducks was seen in 
a small pond in the tules. The six drakes, with 
burnished copper backs and broad pale blue 
bills were conspicuous objects on the black water. 
Resting placidly on the surface of the pond they 
appeared as if submerged lower than other diving 
ducks; heads were carried well back between the 
shoulders with no neck showing and tails were 
stiffy erected at right angles to the body. I 
watched for half an hour in the hope of seeing 
an exhibition of their courtship display, but the 
drakes remained utterly indifferent, occasionally 
dabbling their bills in the water or preening their 
feathers. 

Two fresh eggs, undoubtedly belonging to this 
species, were discovered buried in the decomposed 
vegetation on the side of a muskrat house. There 
was no sign of a nest, the parents were not seen 
and I am at a loss to explain their peculiar situa- 
tion. 

AMERICAN Coot: Fulica americana. Next 
to the Red-winged Blackbird, this was the com- 
monest bird at the lake in 1916 and it was estimat- 
ed that two hundred pairs were present. The 
nests were made of dry, flat tules, securely based 
in a clump of tules or bog rush and high enough 
above the water to insure dryness on the upper 
surface. They varied considerably in size, but 
the average nest measured twelve inches in dia- 
meter and was sufficiently concave to prevent the 
eggs from rolling out. The number of eggs in a 
clutch varied from six to eleven. Several of the 
eggs were pipped in one nest and the scarlet bills 
of the chicks could be seen through the openings. 
On June 8th, two broods were seen, little flame- 
colored balls swimming in close formation after 
their mothers. 

The sitting females showed little fear if dis- 
turbed from their nests, swimming to the open 
water in their leisurely fashion with head swinging 
back and forth to an accompaniment of unmusical 
clucks and gurgles and, as soon as the coast was 
clear, they would swim back to their nests. 
Evidently, they live in the closest harmony with 
the Holboell’s Grebe, as it was usual to find the 
two species nesting within ten or fifteen feet of 
each other. 


YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD: Xanthocephalus 
xanthocephalus. Until the first trip to Swan 
Lake, my acquaintance with this handsome 
Blackbird was only a casual one; I had seen 
wandering couples in the summer and occasional 
migrants in the spring. On July 28th, 1914, a 
flock of perhaps forty, nearly all adult males, 
alighted in a bunch of rushes on the shore of 
Okanagan Lake and clung for one exciting moment 
to the slender stalks which bent beneath their 


30 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


weight. They rose in a body, crossed the lake 
in a compact flock, and did not appear again. 


Apparently they leave their breeding ground at 
Swan Lake after the young are fully fledged and 
seek new feeding grounds. While I was driving 
past the lake on July 23rd, 1915, a large flock of 
moulting adults and juvenals accompanied by an 
equal number of Redwings was seen in a row of 
trees along the roadside. From there they flew 
to an open grassy hillside, evidently hunting for 
grasshoppers. It was with keen expectation, 
therefore, that I looked forward to the following 
summer when I could hope to find them at home 
on their breeding ground. 


In the chorus of bird voices that greeted my 
ears on reaching the marsh, the harsh, unmusical 
mating song of the Yellow-head was the most 
insistent. The males clung to the swaying tules 
within a few yards of the shore and when disturbed 
would fly to the top of the nearby willows, while 
the females kept hidden in the tules for the most 
part. Preceding the rasping song, there is a 
plumage display that shows off the contrasting 
black and yellow to the best advantage. In this 
rather grotesque performance the shoulders are 
elevated, the head lowered and the feathers puffed 
out, greatly exaggerating the performer’s size. 
Then the unpleasant bray comes as if ground out 
by main strength, and, at the conclusion, the bird 
collapses into his sleek handsome self again. 


On this date, May 16th, nest-building had start- 
ed, but no nests containing eggs were discovered. 
On June 5th, a dozen nests containing from two 
to four eggs and several others with nestlings were 
found. The Yellow-heads nested in small groups 
of three or four pairs each, often close to a pair 
of Redwings, with whom they seemed to dwell on 
neighbourly terms. The Yellow-heads’ nests 


(VoL. XXXVI 


were slightly larger than those of the Redwings 
and were invariably lined with flat pieces of tule 
{ bre, which always served to distinguish them, as 
the Redwings used coarse grass for lining. They 
were firmly woven in a clump of stiff brown tules 
of the previous year’s growth and generally 
fastened to the stoutest part of the stalks, one to 
two feet above the surface of the water. The 
eggs showed a wide variation in size, shape and 
markings. 


No attempt was made at taking a census, but 
it would be safe to place the breeding population 
at thi ty pairs. Two years later, on June 22nd, 
this was at least doubled. Nests with fresh eggs 
and others with nestiings of various ages were found. 


NORTHWESTERN REDWING: Agelaius phoeniceus 
caurinus. These are the commonest birds at 
the lake and they raise two if not three broods 
during the season. On May 15th were found 
nests containing fresh eggs and others containing 
young, from the naked stage to those almost ready 
to fly. On June 8th conditions were much the 
same and fresh eggs were noted as late as June 
22nd. The nests are in no way different from 
those of the type form and the eggs show the same 
wide range of size and markings. 


INTERIOR TULE WREN: Telmatodytes palustris 
plesius. The globular loosely woven nests of 
this species were a feature of every patch of 
tules, and the tireless little architect was always 
to be seen or heard. The occupied nests were 
softly lined with bullrush-down, and the eggs 
were piled one on top of another. The unlined 
cock-nests outnumbered the occupied ones in the 
proportion of six to one. Often three or four were 
seen within a few yards, probably all built by 
the same bird as an outlet for his superabundant 
energy. 


THE MOUNTAIN BEAVER (Aplodontia rufa) * 


By KENNETH RACEY 


The following notes have been made during the 
past three years and have now been combined in 
this paper in the hope they may prove interesting 
and assist in fuller knowledge regarding a curious 
and little known animal, the mountain beaver. 
sewellel, boomer or ground Log, as it is variously 
known. 

Large and increasing colonies of these creatures 
are to be found within a comparatively short 
distance of Vancouver, where they live in peace 


*Read before The Vancouver Natural History Society, 
1921 


and quietness, seldom disturbed or indeed seen 
by man, owing to their being nocturnal in habit, 
coming out at dusk to feed and retiring again to 
their burrows at daybreak. 

Resembling the muskrat at first sight, but 
without the long bare tail, they are not easily 
mistaken for any other animal. The fur resembles 
more closely that of the true beaver (Castor fiber) 
than that of the muskrat, (Ondatra zibethica). 
As a matter of fact, the mountain beaver, although 
not closely related to any existing rodent, is 
allied to the squirrel tribe. The ears are smal 


February, 1922.| 


and round and the tail very short, being only 
three-quarters of an inch in length and covered 
with fur. The name ‘‘boomer’’ was given to 
these animals from the peculiar booming noise 
made at night. 


They are found only on the eastern and western 
slopes of the mountains of the Pacific Coast in 
Canada and the United States of America. So 
far, the most northerly record for these animals is 
the Fraser Valley, thence they extend southerly 
to northern California. 


These animals have been known to climb trees 
a few feet in search of food, but, judged from the 
structure and short hind legs, they cannot be 
very expert climbers. 


They travel considerable distances from burrows 
and have frequently been caught in traps set in 
sloughs for muskrats. They have been found 
living at an altitude of 3,000 feet, near Coalmont, 
B.C. 

After removal of the skin, the body resembles 
that of the mole more than that of the muskrat, 
woodchuck or squirrel. The joints are loose and 
flexible, and all parts of the head, neck, body and 
legs are encased in tough, powerful muscles. The 
neck is extremely short and so heavily covered 
with muscles that in diameter it is the same size 
as, or larger than, the head. The shoulder blades 
are situated only one-half or three-quarters of an 
inch distant from the base of the skull, so short 
is the neck. The skull is flat and broad, and the 
lower jaw attached by powerful muscles. The 
bones of the hind legs are short for the size of the 
animal and from the muscular development it 
would appear they are much less used than the 
strong fore-legs which are used in digging the 
wonderful tunnels these animals are known to 
make. The tail is very short, being not more 
than three-quarters of an inch to one inch in 
length, and is curved upwards like that of the 
rabbit or hare. The eye is dark in colour and 
small in size, the eyeball measuring only 7-32 to 
+ of an inch in diameter, indicating a dark-loving 
animal. The claws are long and strongly made 
for digging in the earth. The skin is loosely 
attached to the body as with the marmot. Two 
small scent bags are situated at the base of the 
tail and from these a peculiar musky scent is 
produced when the animal is disturbed or excited. 
The weight of an adult mountain beaver runs 
from two to three pounds, but this weight will, 
of course, vary with the season,-as these creatures 
are fatter in the fall than in the early spring. 
The teeth, which are strong and chisel-like, are 
used in the same manner as are those of the 
ordinary beaver in cutting brush, sticks, roots 
and salmonberry canes for food, and for gnawing 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 31 


through roots, ete. 


When walking about in the vicinity frequented 
by the mountain beaver one may be surprised, 
when least expecting it, by the sudden sinking 
of the foot into the ground for a-distance of six 
or eight inches; on examination, it will be found 
that this is caused through having trodden on 
top of a mountain beaver burrow when it has 
approached close to the surface of the ground. 
If the burrow is followed for any distance, it will 
be found to twist and turn in an extraordinary 
manner, usually keeping from four to twelve 
inches under the surface, but, in some instances, 
running to a depth of from three to six feet. The 
burrows are about six and a half to seven inches 
in diameter and run for great distances, with 
openings every few feet. After careful study, 
examination and excavation of numerous burrows, 
I have been led to the conclusion that they are 
so constructed for a dual purpose; firstly, to 
secure ready access to food supplies and feeding 
grounds and, secondly, to enable them to escape 
more easily from their enemies, the marten, mink, 
skunk, owls and other creatures which apparently 
feed upon these animals when opportunity offers. 
In nearly every instance when the burrows have 
been examined and traced, it was found that 
they started from a ravine in which a creek flowed, 
a slough or other damp place where there was a 
constant supply of fresh running water, and 
the lower tunnels are so constructed as to be the 
outlets for little trickling streams of water; in 
some cases, carefully made canals have been 
placed to guide the course of the water from the 
mouths of the burrows. Apparently water and 
plenty of it is essential to the well-being of the 
mountain beaver, as it is found only in regions 
where water is abundant and easily obtained. 
Mountain beavers are only semi-hibernating, and, 
while they do not come out much in the winter 
time, yet they have an abundant underground 
fresh-water supply, no matter how cold the 
weather or how deep the snow may be. Far down 
in their subterranean chambers they live during 
the cold months amply supplied with water and 
food. From December until March, they are 
sluggish and do not come out of their burrows 
very much; in some instances they have been 
known to block up (late in the fall) some of the 
entrances to the burrows. 


In one set of burrows examined, a portion in 
an area of 50 x 50 feet contained sixty-eight 
entrances to burrows, and, farther down the 
mountain in a ravine, these burrows had no less 
than six outlets out of which streams of water 
poured. One of these I found only through 
hearing the water gurgling underground, and, on 


32 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


digging down to a depth of a foot or fifteen inches, 
found a stream of water an inch and a half deep 
running through the burrow. 

The nesting and storage chamber from which 
several burrows radiate is usually an enlargement 
of the burrow to about 12 x 15 or more inches. 
Here the food is stored for winter use and it is 
here the young, numbering from two to four, are 
brought forth in the month of April. The young 
are born blind. : 

These animals do not retire high up the moun- 
tains at the approach of cold weather as is generally 
believed, but, as before mentioned, they frequently 
den up for a portion of the winter. 

These creatures are gregarious, several pairs 
living in the same network of burrows. At the 
same time, all the specimens I have secured so 
far show traces of severe fighting, the skins being 
badly scarred. It is possible some of the many 
scars were caused by birds of prey or other enemies. 

The mountain beavers are very cleanly in 
habits and keep the burrows clean of refuse, dirt 
and old unused, decayed food supplies. One 
burrow was followed for several hundred feet and 
eventually, at a depth of between four and five 
feet, the storage and nesting chamber was dis- 
covered. This chamber measured about 9” 
high x 14”’ wide x 40” long. The northerly part 
for the first fifteen inches was raised high and 
was dry, and here the nest of sticks and moss 
was placed. The rest of the chamber was lower 
‘and half full of water. This subterranean re- 
servoir was well made, the bottom being covered 
with hard sand and small gravel so compact that 
the water could not escape; the whole upper 
part of the chamber was smoothly coated with 
earth or mud as if the animal paid particular 
attention to keeping everything neat and smooth. 


(Vou. XXXVI 


Three burrows led in different directions from 
this chamber. 


The food of mountain beavers consists very large- 
ly of the canes of salmonberry and wild raspberry 
which they cut into pieces three or four inches in 
length and store in their food chambers for winter 
use. They also eat the green moss which is 
found growing over fallen trees and logs, as well 
as the bark of maple trees, and they seem to be 
especially fond of the ‘‘Scotch Cap” leaves and 
canes. They eat the seeds of the maple, remains 
of which I have found in their burrows. In one 
instance, a piece of fungus was found stored with 
the other food. They are fond of potatoes, 
carrots, parsnips, cabbages, cauliflowers and other 
vegetables of all kinds, and are most destructive 
once they become acquainted with a garden 
patch. At Yarrow I once found that the moun- 
tain beavers had completely eaten up a row of 
rhubarb. This is worthy of note, as few animals 
care for rhubarb. One mountain beaver, which 
I had in captivity for a short time, would eat 
nothing but green moss and apples, altho I tried 
it with several kinds of vegetables. They store 
up fern-roots, leaves, grass, moss, red willow and 
currant-bush and feed also on the roots of these 
two latter. As they are nocturnal, they feed and 
gather their food supplies at night, 


Only recently I heard of a rancher finding a 
quantity of his cabbage and cauliflower neatly 
cut and stored away by these animals. 


In summer time I have frequently noticed 
little piles of the mountain beaver “‘hay” lying 
at the mouths of the burrows, drying and curing 
before being taken into the storage chambers. 
These little piles of food are very neatly placed 
with the butts all pointing one way. 


THE “JAPANESE STARLING” IN VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


By J. A. MuNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 


Visitors to Vancouver with an interest in orni- 
thology, are attracted by an odd-looking, glossy 
black bird with conspicuous white wing-bars and 
a curious crest curved forward over the base of 
the yellow bill. This is a species of Mina, Acri- 
dotheres cristatellus, known locally as the Japanese 
or Chinese Starling. 


Nothing definite is known regarding the intro- 
duction of this species to Vancouver. One story 
has it that a large wicker cage containing a number 
of these birds, consigned to a Japanese resident, 
was broken open in transit from one of the Oriental 
liners and the birds escaped. Other stories are 


to the effect that its introduction was deliberate. 


For some unknown reason, this Mina is prized as 
a cage-bird by the Japanese, probably for pleasing 
qualities that are not perceptible to the occidental 
mind. But, whether their introduction was the 
result of accident or of design, is of little interest; 
the important point is, that they are now well 
established and an acquisition of doubtful value 
to our avian fauna. The increase of this species 
has not been as spectacular as was that of the 
House Swallow, but within the last few years it 
has been steady and they are gradually spreading 
from Vancouver into the rural districts. In 


February, 1922.] 


common with the House Sparrow, they frequent 
the city streets in order to feed on the undigested 
grain in horse-droppings. The curtailment of 
this food supply that followed the change from 
horse-traffic to motor-traffic no doubt served to 
check their increase as it has also reduced the 
Sparrow population. 

They are gregarious to a marked degree and, 
like the European Starling, show a preference for 
certain roosts. Small bands forage in the city 
streets and suburban districts during the day 
and towards evening gather in large flocks to 
spend the night under the eaves of certain public 
buildings in the heart of the city. Their arrival 
at these roosts is attended by much brawling, 
jostling and discordant chattering. Neither their 
manners nor their voices are commendable, al- 
though the latter are modified to some extent by 
a mellow whistling note of a rather pleasing 
quality. Of these roosts the most important is 
situated at the corner of Cordova and Carroll 
Streets, where several buildings provide shelter 
for a large proportion of the urban population. 
Other roosts, scattered through the suburbs and 
the adjacent rural districts, contain a relatively 
small number of birds. Marpole, conveniently 
near the fertile farms of Sea Island, is well stocked 
and New Westminster at present is the farthest 
outpost of colonization. 

From an aesthetic standpoint, the Japanese 
Starlings have little to recommend them. Their 
economic status has still to be determined and, as 
they are aliens adjusting their habits to an un- 
familiar environment, any remarks in this connec- 
tion can only be tentative and subject to future 
revision. They have their advocates as well as 
their accusers and for the present they must be 
kept under surveillance. 

The accusations brought against this species 
are in reference to habits that are also ascribed to 
the European Starling. Like the last-named 
and that other quite undesirable alien, the House 
Sparrow, they are said to oust some species of 
our native birds from their long established nest- 
ing sites, forcibly evicting the rightful tenants. 
One observer complained that a Japanese Starling 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 33 


had removed fledgling Blue-birds from their nest 
with his bill and dropped them to the ground. 
At Marpole, I noticed several Starling nests in old 
Flickers’ holes that ordinarily would have been 
occupied by Tree Swallows or Blue-birds. It is 
also stated that they are destructive of small 
fruits in the rural districts. 

On the other side of the ledger, their defenders 
claim that tent caterpillars are eaten to a great 
extent and if this is so, it would be a palliation of 
their objectionable qualities. In this connection, 
however, it is well to remember what claims were 
made for the House Sparrow in the early days of 
its history in America as a check on injurious 
caterpillars. In the analysis of 10 Starling 
stomachs taken during the month of June, when 
the tent caterpillar plague was at its height, there 
was no evidence that any of these had been eaten. 
This, of course, is not proof that they are not 
eaten, and a much larger amount of stomach 
material would have to be examined before a 
conclusion could be reached. In all the stomachs 
examined, vegetable matter was present in excess 
of animal matter. The former included un- 
identified fruit pulp, raspberry and service berry 
seeds, oat husks and leaf fragments, while the 
latter consisted of the remains of spiders and 
insects of several orders. Among these were 
house flies, a larva of a large coleoptera and adults 
of smaller species, an orthopterous insect in the 
nymph stage and one millepede. 

The importation of foreign species of birds 
serves no useful purpose and may result in dis- 
astrous consequences to our native birds. There 
have been several attempts to introduce European 
song birds into British Columbia, chiefly for 
sentimental reasons, but in part fostered by the 
erroneous belief that native bird-life is scarce. 
Bird-lovers in British Columbia may take comfort 
from the fact that over one hundred and thirty 
insectivorous and weed-destroying birds are 
found within the boundaries of the Province. 
Fortunately, The Migratory Birds Convention 
Act prohibits the introduction of any species of 
Migratory Birds without written authority and 
such activities will be under control in the future. 


THE DUCK HAWK 


By E. BEAUPRE, KINGSTON, ONT. 


During the years that I have been interested 
in birds, I have had under observation two pairs 
of Duck Hawks, Falco peregrinus anatum. One 
pair occupied the ledge of a granite cliff overlook- 
ing a small lake in one of the most picturesque 
parts of the lake section of Leeds County, Ontario. 


From the most careful and persistent investigation 
I was able to trace the habitation of this particular 
pair for a full half century. Through visiting 
this lake section at different times, I was able, 
with the assistance of a settler, to secure many 
interesting facts concerning the home life of these 


34 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


birds. 

They arrive at the cliff, mated, about the middle 
of April, and a full clutch of eggs has been laid as 
early as April 23 (1903). This was an unusually 
early date, as May 1 is about the average date to 
find the eggs of this species. 

While these hawks inhabit a cliff for many 
years in succession, they have the habit of chang- 
ing the location of their nesting site each year. 
A most inaccessible part of the cliff is selected for 
the rearing of their young, making it difficult for 
the curious to intrude or trespass on their sacred 
territory. Their habits and conduct are regular, 
firmly fixed and subject to little variation. 

The male falcon selects a rampike, usually a 
short distance back of the cliff where his home is 
fixed, and this is used as a look-out station or 
observation post; when not away on a foraging 
expedition, he here maintains a constant vigil. 


The female attends to all the domestic duties 
of the falcon home, but is spared the task of seek- 
ing for food. This is the duty of the male who 
never fails to secure an abundant supply. During 
the period of incubation he is particularly atten- 
tive in the matter of feeding his mate. The food 
secured consists in the main of birds, which they 
capture alive in true falcon style.. 


Anxious to secure a set of photographs of the 
young hawks in the development stages of their 
lives, I visited this particular cliff in the month 
of June one year. Instead of finding, as I anti- 
cipated, a brood of healthy and vigorous fledglings 
ready to be brought into the field and scope of 
the camera, I was greeted by the sight and un- 
pleasant odor of four addled eggs. While dis- 
appointed in the main object of my long trip and 
expectations on this occasion, I was privileged to 
witness a phase in the life of this particular species 
which I had not previously seen or known from 
observation and which compensated me for my 
journey and efforts. 

In the vicinity of the addled eggs, the cliff was 
covered with the remains of the feasts of the 
falcon family. Distributed over the entire sur- 
face I saw regurgitated pellets very similar in size 
and shape to some that I found near the nest of a 
Short-eared Owl in Cataraqui marsh a few years 
ago. On close examination, I found that the 
pellets contained hair and feathers and the small 
skulls and teeth of the small short-tailed field 
voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). At.the foot of 
the cliff were the bodies of two young ground 
hogs (Arctomys monex) which had been killed by 
the falcons, but had not been used for food. In 
all my experiences with these hawks, this was the 
only occasion on which I found any evidence to 
prove that mammals constituted any part of 


[VOE! XXXVI 


their food. I am now satisfied that mammals 
form a very important part of the food of the 
falcon. 

The mechanical or constructive faculty is 
evidently absent in the falcon as no attempt 
whatever is made to build a nest, the eggs being 
deposited in the loose clay which forms the 
capping of the cliff where they select their habita- 
tion. Not infrequently the clutch contains one 
or more addled eggs. On two occasions I found 
the entire clutch addled. 

When the young falcons are hatched, they are 
well covered with a soft white down and are able 
to toddle about shortly after they leave the shell. 
The lives of the parent hawks are evidently in 
constant jeopardy. This is no doubt due to the 
fact that they fall victims to the gun of some 
farmer who has suffered from their destructive 
propensities. 

A few days after the arrival of the falcons at 
the cliff in 1914 (April) one of the parent birds 
disappeared, but the unmated one remained in 
the vicinity of the ledge until September. In the 
spring of the following year the single bird return- 
ed alone'to the old home, where it remained a few 
weeks, then disappeared never to return to the 
place where the loss of its partner was sustained. 


When the eggs of the falcons are taken they do 
not lay again the same year, but do not leave the 
locality until the proper time for their migration, 
returning at the usual time the following year. 
In 1918 a most delightful and profitable oppor- 
tunity came to me in a part of Frontenac County 
which made it possible for me to continue my 
observations of the falcon. The _ conditions 
were more favorable than on my previous expedi- 
tions. In 1920 I secured a set of photographs of 
the young falcons, and was able to identify the 
feather remains of the birds which had fallen 
victims to the rapacity of their parents. 

On one occasion, I found falcon eggs in a most 
unusual location. They were laid among ferns 
close to some silver birch saplings on the open 
ground on the top of acliff. This clutch of eggs 
is now in the collection of the Rev. C. J. Young, 
M.A., Brighton, Ontario. 

Apparently the development of the young 
falcon is phenomenally rapid. Different writers 
on ornithology whose works I have read are 
united in stating that the period of incubation is 
one month. I am satisfied the period must be 
somewhat shorter, probably about twenty-one 
days. Later on, I hope to be able to settle this 
question with a greater degree of accuracy. On 
June 14 I found the young hawks with a heavy 
growth of white down covering their bodies and 
completely enveloping the feathers. On visiting 


February, 1922.] 


the same brood a week later (June 21) I found 
that the soft down had disappeared and the 
plumage was uniformly a rusty brown with 
black markings. On my approaching the young 
birds, they objected to my intrusion in loud 
voices and gave every evidence that my visit was 
an unwelcome one. But I was there for a purpose, 
and not even the menacing claws of the parent 
bird were going to rob me of my intent with the 
camera. 


I found on this visit the shelf of the rock carpet- 
ed with the feathers of the bird victims of the 
falcons which had been used to feed their voracious 
off-spring. The face wall of the granite cliff 
was a scene of carnage stained with bird blood, 
indicating that a sort of “Belshazzar’s feast’”’ 
had been conducted on the spot. Rich booty 
had been brought from field and farm and slaugh- 
tered for consumption. The odor from the 
decomposing parts that remained uneaten was 
far from pleasant on a hot summer afternoon. 
Flies swarmed about the decaying and decomposed 
victims of the falcon feast, and, having accom- 
plished the chief purpose of my visit, I departed. 


Through the asssistance of Dr. Fisher and Mr 
P. A. Taverner I was able positively to identify 
the following victims of the falcon slaughter:— 
Black Duck, Green Heron, Florida Gallinule, 
Killdeer, Ruffed Grouse, Nighthawk, Blue Jay. 
Black-billed Cuckoo, Meadowlark, Scarlet Tana- 
ger, Brown Thrasher, Flicker, domestic fowl, such 
as half grown Plymouth Rock, and one undeter- 
mined. It will be seen from this tist of victims 
that the Tanager is the smallest bird to attract 
the attention and tempt the appetite of these 
hawks. " 

On the date of my last visit, June 21, the 
young hawks, judged by their unusual vigor and 
activity, fully intended to take flight on my 
approach, which two of them did, the third 
member of the family being prevented from follow- 
ing the example of the rest by having a canvas 
smock thrown quickly over its head. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 35 


- 


At times these Falcons appear to live on friend- 
ly terms with their bird neighbors, and, ludicrous 
as it may seem, on one occasion an old disreputable 
Crow disputed possession of the top branches of 
a look-out tree with the hawk. On different 
cecasions I have observed and recorded Spotted 
Sandpipers, Kingfishers, Grackies and Tree 
Swallows living and rearing their families within 
the shadow of the cliff home of the falcon. 


On the wing the falcon is swift and graceful and 
one is amazed at the speed with which the female 
catapults from her shelf with a downward thrust to 
meet intruders, uttering her cackling notes 
which echo warning along the line of cliff in the 
early hours of the morning. During the long 
years of life which one may devote to the interest- 
ing study of bird life, many delightful incidents 
may occur, but climbing a cliff full of difficulties 
and dangers in order to discover and examine a 
rare bird’s home and its contents has compensa- 
tions sufficient for the most enthusiastic orni- 
thologist, and I shall always cherish deep in the 
recesses of memory my experiences in securing 
these data concerning the Peregrine Falcon. 


My latest visit to the home and haunt of the 
Duck Hawk was on June 9 of this year (1921); 
except to confirm my previous observations I did 
not see or become familiar with anything new. 
Two young hawks were hatched from three eggs, 
the addled egg still being in the nest. The rock 
ledge was profusely strewn with the feathers of 
the victims of the parent hawks, consisting of 
Black Ducks and Scarlet Tanagers, with a Belted 
Kingfisher added to the list. The young hawks 
looked snug and comfortable in their thick cover- 
ing of white down. The development was so 
rapid that I received information by June 29 they 
were strong enough to take flight. 

In a crevice of the granite rock about ten feet 
above the home of the hawks, a pair of Phoebes 
had built their nest, and, in the midst of all the 
carnage created by the hawks, the mother Phoebe 
was tenderly caring for her little brood. 


PRESERVING ORDER IN A BIRD SANCTUARY 


By J. A. MUNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, BRITISH COLUMBIA 


The bird sanctuary of the following article is 
of modest proportions and has no official status 
under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. It 
is a garden sanctuary comprising several hundred 
square yards of orchard about my house and a 
small patch of brush on the shore of Okanagan 
Lake. In this small area there is a normal 
‘population of about fifteen pairs of birds of the 


following species: Eastern and Western Kingbird, 
Western Wood Peewee, Chipping Sparrow, Cedar 
Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Tree Sparrow, House 
Wren, Mountain Bluebird and Robin, and the 
maintenance of order amongst this varied popula- 
tion occasionally demands that rather drastic 
measures be taken. 

The Robin is usually a welcome boarder. No 


36 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


objection is made to his inroads on my cherries as 
he more than pays for this destruction by the 
number of cutworms he consumes in the spring, 
and one philosophically reflects that acid food is 
no doubt essential to his internal economy after 
a steady diet of insects; and perhaps this desire 
for fruit is analagous to the craving of the woods- 
men for green food after a winter diet of salt 
pork. But once, for the good of the colony, I had 
to destroy a pair of Robins and their brood. 
Before relating this episode it will be necessary to 
sketch the contemporary history of a pair of 
Western Wood Peewees. 


In the summer of 1917, a pair of these birds 
built their dainty nest on a nearly leafless branch 
of a small plum tree beside my front door-step 
and in due course three cream, umber-spotted 
eggs were laid. It was the first time Peewees had 
built so close to my house and I was greatly 
interested. The nest was six feet above the 
ground and could plainly be seen by one sitting 
on the verandah. During the first week while 
the eggs were being laid, the Peewees would fly 
out when one walked along the path beside the 
nesting tree, clicking their mandibles together in 
protests at the intrusion, “‘gritting their teeth,” 
as one observer humorously put it. It was not 
long, however, before they became reconciled to 
their human neighbors and then, at close range, 
one could watch the female, sitting tight on her 
eggs, indifferent to the close inspection, while the 
male, in a nearby tree, drooped his tail, flycatcher 
fashion, and showed as little concern. Then one 
morning the eggs were gone—who was the culprit? 
Squirrels and chipmunks had been killed off years 
before. Magpies and Crows gave my garden a 
wide berth; could it be traced to the nocturnal 
activities of white-footed mice? There seemed 
no satisfactory answer. 


The following year the Peewees returned to the 
orchard, again built their nest on an exposed 
branch of the plum tree and as before, laid three 
eggs therein. Now, under the eaves of the house 
a few yards from the plum tree there is a small 
pird-house usually tenanted by Tree Swallows, 
and on its flat top a pair of Robins-had built a 
nest and raised their young during the summer of 
1917. These birds also returned the following 
year and used their old nest on top of the bird- 
house. Shortly after three eggs of the second 
setting had hatched and the Peewees’ eggs were 
about seven days advanced in incubation, I was 
sitting on the verandah steps in the evening dusk 
relating this Peewee story to a friend when one of 
the Robins was seen to fly into the plum tree. 
Immediately there was a commotion of rustling 
wings and snapping mandibles. The Peewees 


[VoL. XXXVI 


had savagely attacked the Robin and he fluttered 
to the ground with the Peewees in close pursuit. 
In a few moments he returned to the tree and 
hopped along the branch on which the Peewees’ 
nest was, built until he stood directly over it, while 
the Peewees protested from a distance but did not 
attack again. We waited in breathless excite- 
ment for the Robin’s next move, and to our 
astonishment, he deliberately pierced one of the 
eggs with his bill and carried it to the ground 
where, under a shower of clods, he was forced to 
drop it. The egg was found intact, save for the 
puncture made by the Robin’s hill. This seemed 
a clear case against the Robin and the family 
was condemned. Unfortunately, the sentence 
could not be carried out that evening, and on the 
following morning the two remaining Peewees’ 
eggs were gone. 


In this garden-sanctuary, the smaller species of 
birds, other than those that build in nesting boxes, 
are the victims of some enemy that takes at least 
fifty per cent of the first setting of eggs. On one 
occasion, I counted seven nests that had been 
rifled of their eggs since the previous day. As the 
well-known enemies of these birds had been 
banished, I was forced by a process of elimination 
to the conclusion that the white-footed mouse 
was responsible for these raids, but, since I had 
the experience related above, it would seem that 
the Robin is not above suspicion as a home- 
breaker. 


It would be a difficult matter to prove that 
egg-eating is a habit of the Robin. Egg-eating 
birds usually discard the egg shells and swallow 
only the soft embryos or the semi-liquid yolk and 
albumen. This material is quickly assimilated; 
consequently the analysis of stomach contents 
throws little light on this question. The enormous 
destruction of bird life due to the egg-eating 
proclivities of the Crow is known to most field 
naturalists, yet a recent extensive investigation 
of the economic status of this species, based on 
stomach analysis, did not furnish proof of the 
extent of this habit. In the case under discussion 
where there was the strongest circumstantial 
evidence that one of the parent Robins had either 
eaten the Peewees’ eggs or else fed them to the 
nestlings within a few hours of their being killed 
careful examination of the stomachs of all five 
birds revealed no trace of the embryos. 


The house-cat is probably responsible for more 
destruction of insectivorous birds than is any other 
of the many natural enemies that the sanctuary 
guardian has to contend with. Domesticated or 
ferae naturae, full fed or hungry, the cat is a bird- 
hunter by instinct and by choice. In a small 
bird-sanctuary where the natural wariness of the 


February, 1922.] 


bird tenants has been modified through constant 
human association, the cat finds profitable and 
easy hunting. We are told that cats can be train- 
ed not to attack birds, but my experiences have 
only served to strengthen my doubts of this 
assertion and, after my pet cat, who was sleek 
with good feeding, had clawed her way up the 
side of an out-house and dragged a sitting Moun- 
tain Blue-bird from her nest, I gave up trying to 
educate puss as a hopeless task and decided that 
she was a luxury I could not afford. However, 
their destructive qualities are receiving full 
measure of publicity in these days of enlightened 
bird-protection, and it is a healthy sign of progress 
when two of the major game associations of 
British Columbia propose that the cat be controll- 
ed by a license system. 

The House Wren, in this sanctuary, has proved 
himself an irresponsible and immoral little vaga- 
bond. When he first comes in the spring, and, 
perched on the ledge of my bedroom window, 
trills a clear bubbling ecstasy of song, it is hard 
to realize at these moments that many of his 
ways are evil and that his presence in the sanc- 
tuary is taboo. But I know him of old. He will 
beglamour me with his song and his merry ways 
in the intervals of stuffing the bird-houses full of 
twigs until the entrances are blocked. And then, 
after he has secured a mate and they have selected 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ay 


a bird-house for their housekeeping, and after I 
have laboriously cleaned out the cock nests from 
the other boxes and decided to give him one 
more chance he will repay my forbearance with 


his usual malevolence. For he wants every bird 


house and every hole where a nest can be built 
for his own private use and the rightful tenants 
will be harassed and persecuted at every oppor- 
tunity. His dislike of other box-nesting birds 
is apparently an active instinct and much of his 
superfluous energy is spent in squabbling with 
the peaceful Tree Swallows and Blue-birds. 
Unless he is forcibly repressed, the little ruffian 
will sometimes enter their nests and pierce their 
eggs with his sharp bill, apparently in rage and 
spite, as he does not eat the eggs. For two 
successive summers I was absent during the 
early part of the breeding season, and, on my 
return, found three pairs of House Wrens in pos- 
session and the remaining seven  bird-houses 
stuffed so full of twigs that the entrances were 
impassable. It was obvious that the Swallows 
and Blue-birds required the aid of a human ally 
to withstand the aggressions of the House Wren, 
and, as seven or eight pairs of the former are 
thought preferable to three pairs of Wrens and a 
litter of twigs in empty bird-houses, such assistance 
has not been withheld since that time. 


THE FRESH-WATER LEECHES (HIRUDINEA) OF SOUTHERN CANADA 


By J. Percy Moore 


(Continued from Vol. XXXVI, page 11.) 


Hemopis grandis (Verrill). 

“Blue Sea Lake, Quebec, September 28, 1919. 
R. M. Anderson. Clinging to keel of boat.” 
One specimen. The vestigeal jaws bear an apical 
double fold but no trace of teeth. 

“On dead pike (Esox lucius), Rideau River, 
Ottawa, Ontario, April 6, 1917. F. Johansen.” 
The single exampie was dissected. The repro- 
ductive organs present some peculiarities. Both 
atrium and vagina lie to the right of the nerve 
cord. The epididymis is unusually massive and 
lies along the entire length of the sperm-sac. 
The much eniarged vagina reaches to ganglion 
XVI, the posterior half being greatly inflated and 
the much crowded and folded anterior half being 
only one-third to one-eighth its diameter. 

“Rideau River, near Ottawa, Ontario, May 15, 
1918. P. Blakeley.”’ An immaculate individual 
with a distinct and continuous marginal yellowish 
stripe. 

“Rideau River, Ottawa, Ontario, October 12, 


1919. W. K. Bentley.” A very pale specimen, 
smoke-gray above, ashy-gray below, with a rather 
distinct yellowish marginal stripe. 

“Rideau River, Ottawa, Ontario, middle of 
May, 1919. E. M. Kindle.’’ One, unspotted. 

“Kapuskasing River (Moose River), Ontario, 
July 8, 1919. C. E. Johnson.”’ A young one 
16.5 mm. long. Dorsum smoke-gray thickly 
speckled with irregular black spots sometimes 


confluent. Venter light gray, immaculate except 
near the margins, where there are a few black 
spots. 

“Cross Lake, Manitoba, summer, 1919. F. J. 
Aleock.’”’ One. 

“Probably from lakes in Alberta and Saskat- 
chewan, 1894. John Macoun.”’ One, with H. 
marmoratis. 

ERPOBDELLID&. 


Erpobdella punctata (Leidy) 
“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, July 2, 1920, May 23- 
28, 1921. A. H. Leim.’’ A_ small example 
dredged in shallow water at each station. 


? 


“Amherst, Magdalen Islands, Quebec, middle of 
July, 1917. F. Johansen.’’ Three small ex- 
amples. 

“McKay Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, September 22, 
1918. F.Johansen.’’ One. 

“Ottawa River, near Hull, Quebec, October 13, 
1918. F. Johansen.’”’ One with D. parva and 
G. complanata. 

“Bight of Ottawa River (Hull! Park), Quebec, 
July 6 and 7, 1919.’ One smail leech and one 
egg capsule; with G. heteroclitus. 

“Stream near Chelsea Road, Hull, Quebec, 
May 9, 1920. F. Johansen.’’ Three specimens 
medium size and typical coloration. 

“Ottawa River, at Interprovincial Bridge, Huil, 
Quebec, May 30, 1920. F. Johansen.’ One, 
with genital pores separated by three annuli. 

“Take at Cochrane, Ontario, June 21, 1920. 
F. Johansen.’”’ One ,of medium size. 

‘Solomon Lake (near Yarmouth), Nova Scotia, 
October 4, 1920. A. G. Huntsman.’’ One small, 
very dark example. 

“Pond on fields at Moose Factory, Ontario, 
July 14-15, 1920. F. Johansen.’”’ One small 
specimen, with the black spots limited to the 
paramedian series. 

“AN: S. No. <1131, ‘kong Pomt, Ontario; 
September 24, 1899. Reighard.”’ 

“A. N. S. No. 1132, Rondeau Harbor, East 
Swamp, Ontario, August 28, 1899.” 

““A_N.S. No. 3400, near Wiarton, Georgian Bay, 
Ontario, July 12, 1915. A.B. Klugh.” 


Erpobdella punctata subspecies annulata nov. 

Form similar to E. punctata, but in extension 
rather more slender and terete; in contraction 
similarly depressed and with sharp _ borders 
posteriorly as in that species. Size medium, the 
available specimens not exceeding two inches in 
length. The type has the following measure- 
ments. Length 42 mm., to clitellum 6 mm., of 
clitellum 8 mm. Width just anterior to clitellum 
1.7 mm., width at male orifice 3 mm.. width mid- 
way between clitellum and caudal end 2.2 mm. 


Annulation, position of eyes, genital orifices 
and nephridiopores exactly as in E. punctata. 
Dissections show that the reproductive organs are 
identical with those of E. punctata and sections 
that the muscular coats are equally thick. 


On the dorsum the ground color is olive brown; 
on the venter abruptly much paler, inclining to 
yellow and strictly immaculate. Dorsally the 
lip is dusky and is followed by an area on the 
posterior part of the head that is paler and without 
definite markings but with a suffused duskiness. 
Following this the remainder of the dorsum to 
the anus is strongly and conspicuously barred 
with black. Each annulus bears a heavy but 


38 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


irregular transvers2 bar lying somewhat nearer to 
the cephalic border. In most cases this continues 
across the middle line but there becomes some- 
what narrower, giving the effect of a pale median 
longitudinal stripe. Toward the margins a'so of 
some specimens the bars may become incised, in 
which case they end laterally as deep black spots. 
The cutaneous sense organs appear as minut: 
pale points on the dark background but they are 
too small to break up the black bars as in typical 
punctata. Caudal of the anus and on the sucker 
black pigment is scanty, occurring chiefly as 
lines on the radiating ridges. 


FE. annulata has been known to me since 1899 
when Professor Trevor Kincaid sent me a small 
collection of leeches from Lake Washington, n2ar 
Seattle, which included twenty-two specimens of 
this form. It was dissected and studied at that 
time and most of this description written but 
never published. The type is No. 3885 of the 
collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia. 


It is clearly a well-marked geographical race or 
subspecies cf E. punctata from which it differs in 
the very dense pigmentation and strikingly cross 
banded or annulate pattern. None of the upwards 
of fifty specimens examined equals the largest of 
E .punctata and it may prove that smaller size 
and more slender form are among its character- 
istics. No structural differences have been de- 
tected and while it is easy to separate fresh, un- 
faded specimens it is probable that bleached 
museum specimens of the two forms could not be 
distinguished. 


Geozraphically, E. annulata replaces typical 
E. punctata in the humid Pacifie region of Washing- 
ton, Oregon and British Columbia, and some 
approach to the type is found along the northern 
border states. 


In this collection, the form is represented from 
Vancouver. ‘Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, B.C., 
June, 1909. W. Spreadborough. Fresh water.” 


There are twelve specimens, all immature, but 
with developed clitellum. All are contracted, 
with somewhat depressed form but margins not 
very sharp except for the caudal flanges. They 
vary in size from 18 by 2.8 millimeters to 28 by 
4 millimeters, the extreme width in all cases being 
close to the caudal end. The first pair of eyes 
usually shows distinctly, but the second and 
third are obscure. All have the pigment som2- 
what faded but with few exceptions the annulate 
pattern is distinct. In some the bars extend the 
full width of the dorsum, but in most they are 
sharply divided into halves by a median paler 
stripe. 


February, 1922.] 


Nephelopsis obscura (Verrill). 

“Near Beaver Lake, Alberta, summer, 1907. 
A. Halkett.’’ Two specimens, one 19 mm. long, 
thickly sprinkled with fine small black spots on a 
light clay color background; the other about 
twice the size and shrunken through drying. 
With P. rugosa and H. marmorata. 

“Jasper Park, Alberta, summer, 1919. W. 
Spreadborough.’’ Four much spotted specimens. 

Miss Ryerson has recorded a large number of 
this species from Georgian Bay. 
from Pembroke Lake, Cape Breton Island, are 
several egg cases resembling those of this species. 

“Loch Lomond (near St. John), New Brunswick, 
October 7, 1920. A. G. Huntsman.’ Two small 
specimens, one thickly, one sparsely spotted, and 
two egg-cases. 

“Pond on fields at Moose Factory, Ontario, 
July 14-15, 1920. F. Johansen.’’ Three medium 
sized, sparsely spotted specimens, and two egg- 
cases. 

“Missinaibi River, Ontario (between Mattice 
and Opazatika River), June 24, 1920. F. Johan- 
sen.’ Two small specimens, with well-developed 
clitella. One measures 46 mm. long and is thickly 
blotched, the other 64 mm. and is marked with 
scattered blotches on a yellowish ground. 

Dina parva (Moore). 

“Ottawa River, near Hull, Quebec, October 13, 
1918. F. Johansen.’’ Twelve specimens, none 
exceeding an inch in length. No pigment. Sex 
pores separated by three and one-half annuli. 
With G. complanata and E. punctata. 

“Lake Deschenes, Ottawa, Ontario, July 10, 


In a bottle » 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 39 


1919, W. K. Bentley.”” One young specimen 14 
mm.long. Eyes distinctly four pairs. Obscurely 
clouded with pigment dorsally. 

“Stream-pool at St. Foye Monument, Quebec 
City, Quebec, September 19, 1919. F. Johansen.” 
One specimen 15 mm. long, contracted. Nearly 
uniform grayish, darker above where there appear 


to be some scattered flecks of pigment. Eyes 
eight, the first two pairs quite distinct. 
“Catfish Bay, Hull, Quebec, May 16, 1920. 


F. Johansen.’ One typical example. 

“Pool at Catfish Bay, Hull, Quebec, May 16, 
1920. F. Johansen.’”’ One with the genital 
orifices separated by only two and one-half 
annuli. 

“A. N.S. No. 3401, Cataraqui River, Kingston, 
Ontario, October, 1915. A. B. Klugh.” 

This species has not been reported previously 
from Canada. 

Dina fervida (Verrill). 

“Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, June 14, 1920. A. H. 
Leim.’”’ A small specimen somewhat doubtfully 
referred to this species. 

“A. N. S. Nos.1137-8, Long Point, Ontario, 
August 18, 1899.” 


oS N.S: No. 1142) Longe Point, Ontario. 
August 21, 1899.” 
“A. N. S. Nos. 1139-40, Rondeau Harbor, 


August 28, 1899.” 

“A.N.S. No. 3402, Cataraqui River, Kingston, 
Ontario, October, 1915. A. B. Klugh.” 

Not in the Ottawa collection, nor reported by 
Miss Ryerson, but abundant in Professor Reigh- 
ard’s Lake Erie collection. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE LATE PROF. JOHN MACOUN 


TO BE PUBLISHED AS A MEMORIAL VOLUME BY THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB 


Members of the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ 
Club will be pleased to learn that the Club has 
made arrangements to publish the autobiography 
of the late Prof. John Macoun, Assistant Director 
and Naturalist to the Geological Survey of 
Canada. As the volume will be sold by subscrip- 
tion it will be necessary to have a sufficient number 
of subscribers to pay for its publication before 
the order is given to the publishers Hence, 
those who desire a copy should notify Mr. Arthur 
Gibson, Dominion Entomologist and Treasurer of 
the Macoun Memorial Committee, Birks Building, 
Ottawa, without delay. The price of the volume, 
which will be one of between 300 and 400 pages, 
will be $3.00. Further information will be found 
in the prospectus which has been sent to each 
member of the Club. 


This autobiography was written by Prof. 
Macoun while residing at Sidney, Vancouver 
Island, B.C., and he was still engaged upon it 
when the illness which resulted in his death on 
July 18, 1920, brought it to a close; but he 
succeeded in bringing the history of his life to 
within a few years of his death. 

Those who knew Prof. Macoun will not need 
to be told that his autobiography will have the 
personality of the writer of it emphasized in it. 
Prof. Macoun had a style all his own, two of the 
characteristics being directness and frankness. 

The following brief outline of Prof. Macoun’s 
work and travels will give some idea of what may 
be expected in this memorial volume. 

Soon after his arrival in Canada in 1850 he 
began the study of botany, and in a few years 


40 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


was a recognized authority on Canadian plants. 
He was chosen by Mr. Sanford Fleming to be 
botanist to the expedition which crossed Western 
Canada to the Pacific Coast in 1872, searching for 
a route for the Canadian Pacific Railway. The 
party was divided at Edmonton, and Mr. Macoun 
proceeded north-west to the Peace River, then 
across the mountains to the coast. The account 
of this expedition with its far reaching results 
was published in Ocean to Ocean by the late 
Principal Grant. 

In 1875 he crossed the mountains again from 
the west, eventually reaching the Peace River, 
and from Fort St. John, with one companion, 
paddled down the Peace for 700 miles in a dugout 
canoe, and after great hardships continued east 
via the Athabasca River and various lakes and 
smaller rivers, then across country to Winnipeg, 
and on to Ontario. He travelled on this trip 
alone about 8,000 miles. His report on the 
country traversed was published in the Railway 
Report for 1877, and created much _ interest 
throughout Canada and was notably influential 
in the settlement of the North-West. 

In 1879, he made a further extensive exploration 
of the prairies, and his glowing reports on the 
value of the North-West for wheat raising and his 
numerous lectures on this subject did much to 
awaken an interest in the west and to set emigra- 
tion in that direction. He also corrected many 
erroneous opinions in regard to the climate and 
soil of the prairies. He continued his explorations 
on the prairies in 1880, 1881 and later, and in his 
book “Manitoba and the Great North-West,” 
published in 1881, he brought together a vast 
amount of information in regard to the country. 

In every succeeding year down to 1911 he was 
exploring and collecting in some part of Canada, 
and his knowledge of the Dominion became very 
great. 


(VoL. XXXVI 


On his appointment to the Geological Survey, 
in 1882, he severed his connection with Albert 
College and moved to Ottawa; from that time 
until his death he was continuously in the service 
of the Dominion Government. In 1887, he was 
appointed Assistant Director and Naturalist to 
the Geological Survey, which position he held 
until his death. Prof. Macoun was an all round 
naturalist and became a first authority on 
Canadian plant and animal life. 


His explorations and expeditions were filled 
with incidents and episodes of a varied nature‘. 
Some of his reminiscences were of hardships 
some of mishaps and some of a very amusin 
nature, and their narration in his autobiograph 
affords extremely interesting reading. 


Professor Macoun, because of the time of his 
principal exploration on the prairies, was in close 
touch with the men who had most to do with 
deciding on the route of the Canadian Pacific 
Railway, and his comments on the different routes 
proposed and the men connected with the enter- 
prise both from the standpoint of the Government | 
and the Railway are very interesting. 


He was a very wide reader, and was well posted 


‘on the principal events taking place in the world, 


but he was particularly interested in the political 
life of Canada, though taking little active part in 
politics. Incidentally his views on many public 
questions of the day are to be found in this 
volume. 

Mr. ARTHUR GIBSON, Dominion Entomologist 
(Treasurer). 

Dr. FRANK T. SuHutTT, Assistant Director of 


Experimental Farms and Dominion Chemist. 
Mr. WILLIAM T. Macoun, Dominion Horti- 
culturist. 


The John Macoun Memorial Committee of the 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, Ottawa, Canada’ 


BOOK REVIEW 


NANTUCKET WILD FLowgrs, by Alice O. Albertson, Curator of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell 
Association; illustrated by Anne Hinchman; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London. 


This is a volume of 442 pages of a size to fit the 
pocket. It was prepared specially for those who 
desire a more intimate knowledge of the wild 
flowers of Nantucket. The island of Nantucket, 
thirty miles at sea, is a happy hunting ground for 
botanists. The book has been written to describe 
with all possible accuracy and few technicalities 
the representative trees and flowers. It will be 
found of course of particular interest to residents 
of Nantucket, but students of distribution will also 


find it of value. Keys at the beginning of the 
book will assist in the identification of unknown — 
specimens. The volume is well illustrated, 
showing character of leaves, ete. Coloured plates 
are interspersed throughout the volume. Al- 
together the book is an interesting one and should 
be much appreciated by those who have an oppor- 
tunity of studying the flora of the locality for 


which it is specially intended. 
A. Gi 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 
VOL. XXXVI OTTAWA, ONT., MARCH, 1922. No. 3 


MANITOBA GRASSHOPPERS 


By NORMAN CRIDDLE, DOMINION ENTOMOLOGICAL LABORATORY, TREESBANK, MANITOBA. 


Grasshoppers are members of the Order Orthop- 
tera, and, in this article, are recognized as compris- 
ing that portion of it known as the Saltatoria. 
They are separated from all other members of the 
order by the specialized hind legs which. are 
much larger than the other four and enable the 
insects to hop as well as walk in the ordinary way. 
They are the true grasshoppers as separated from 
the Earwigs, Cockroaches, Mantids and Walking- 
stick insects, all of which have legs that are of 
approximately the same size. 


The grasshoppers, as above defined, may be 
divided into the following four families: Tetti- 
goniidze or Long-horned Grasshoppers; Gryllidz 
or Crickets; Acridide or Short-horned Grass- 
hoppers and Acrydiide called Grouse or Pygmy 
Locusts. The following brief key will separate 
these families in our territory: 


1. Pronotum not greatly extending backwards. 

A. Antenne long, usually much exceeding the 
body in length. 

b. Tarsi four-jointed .Tettigonide. 

bb. Tarsi mostly three-jointed, middle ones 


always so. .. Gryllide. 
AA. Antenne nat caeeetice length of body. 
; Acridide. 
2, Pronotum extending well back over the 
abdomen. Acrydiide. 


The Tettigonidae ¢ are distinguished from nearly 
all other families of Orthoptera by their very long 
feelers, in which character crickets alone resemble 
them. From the crickets they may be separated 
by the four-jointed tarsi and in having, in the 
females, a flat knife-like ovipositor instead of a 
round spear-shaped one. There are other charac- 
ters of separation, but those mentioned are 
sufficient for the present occasion. The family 


includes the Katydids, Coneheads and Camel 
Crickets, {the first two being usually green and 
the last dull in color, without wings. 

It is to the Katydids and Coneheads that we 
owe most for the insect music of late summer. 
They have, however, close competitors in the 
% crickets. 


The Gryllidae inelude the cricket made famous 
by Dickens, the species he refers to having been 
introduced into this country some years ago. In 
addition we have a number of native species, all 
darker in color but fully equal to the domestic 
cricket in musical abilities. 


The Gryllidae are divided into a number of 
sub-families, the most important of which, in our 
territory, are the Gryllinae and (£canthinae 
(Ground Crickets and Tree Crickets). These 
may be differentiated in the following manner: 

Head short, vertical, ocelli present, color black 
or brown.—Gryllinae. 

Head elongate, horizontal, ocelli absent, color 
green or whitish.—(£canthinae. 

Our species of the sub-family Gryllinae are all 
ground-loving insects which delight to hide under 
any convenient object, as well as in grain stooks, 
hay cocks or stacks. When none of these are 
convenient they dig small burrows in which they 
live. We have two genera in Manitoba, one 
embracing the common large crickets and the 
other known as Nemobius containing very similar 
insects of less than half the other’s size. The 
large ones contain two sub-species, namely: 
Gryllus luctuosus, the Fall Cricket, and G. penn- 
sylvanicus, the Spring Cricket. 


The last named winters as a nymph and is 
fully developed by the end of May. The other 
appears in July, developing from over-wintering 
eggs. 

Apparently we have but one species of Nemo- 
bius; it is extremely common, being found nearly 
everywhere on both high and low land. Ground 
crickets lay their eggs in the soil like grasshoppers 
proper, but they do not place them in a sac. 
The eggs are narrow, cylindrical objects and 
shiny whitish in color. We found them in great 
abundance during the fall of 1921 wherever the 
land was at all sandy; the adults had been very 
numerous previously and caused no little appre- 
hension in some parts. 

The C£canthinae or Tree Crickets are quite 
unlike the Ground Crickets, all being greenish in 


> 


42 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


color, slender in build and frequenters of vegeta- 
tion such as flowers and shrubs rather than of 
the ground. We have but one species in Mani- 
toba, the Raspberry-cane Tree Cricket (Oecan- 
thus nigricornis), so called from the damage it 
does to cultivated raspberry canes while egg 
laying. In reality, nearly any kind of hard- 
stemmed plant is utilized for laying eggs in, the 
eggs being placed in small slits made in the -bark 
by means of the insect’s ovipositor. The practice 
of ovipositing in the bark of trees, etc., seems to 
be to protect the eggs only, as the young feed 
upon leaves. Nevertheless, the habit is very 
detrimental and often results in serious damage 
being done to the stems of small fruit shrubs. 
In Manitoba the wild rose is one of the most 
frequently used plants. 


ACRIDIDAE 


The Acrididae or true locusts are the most 
conspicuous of our grasshopper fauna and among 
them are those that are recognized the world 
over as pests of growing crops. One species, 
doubtless belonging to the genus Acridiwm, pro- 
bably constituted the sixth plague of Egypt. 
Africa, Asia and South America all have their 
plagues, which, at times, come in such numbers 
as to darken the sky, and, with voracious appe- 
tites, clean up every vestige of vegetation in the 
districts visited. We have our destructive kinds 
here which at times attain very large proportions. 
In 1819 they cleaned up the crops of some of 
our first settlers in the Lord Selkirk Settlement; 
in 1871-75 the whole country seemed to be infest- 
ed with them, and the old settlers can still recall 
the flights that fell like snow from a clear sky, 
dropping like a scourge upon the land beneath. 
They can remember, too, the heaps of dead and 
dying even over the land that is in the heart of 
Winnipeg today. These were the Rocky Moun- 
tain Locusts which came from climes adjacent to 
the Rocky Mountains, their original breeding- 
ground. Dryness and favorable winds multiplied 
and brought them to our country, but eventually 
our climate proved unsuitable and they either 
died or flew elsewhere. 

There was a smalier outbreak of the Rocky 
Mountain Locust in 1890 and yet another from 
1900 to 1903, but that was the last and they have 
not been seen in our territory since. The insect 
is very rare now and some authorities think it has 
become extinct, but this hardly seems probable. 
Possibly, in the future, we may have other in- 
vasions, but if we do we shall be prepared and will 
know how to deal with them. 

While the old Rocky Mountain Locust has 
vanished from our province, we have others that 
are natives which, at times, develop into important 


[VoL. XXXVI 


pests. There has been an instance of this during 
the last three years, when considerable damage 
was done to crops, but the loss is not as it would 
have been in the past. Efficient remedies have 
been devised since then which enable us to cope 
with the insects successfully. Probably few 
people recognize how much has been done in the 
way of grasshopper fighting during these last 
three years, nor might they credit the fact that 
poisoned bait has, in some instances, accounted 
for a death rate of more than 200 bushels of 
grasshoppers to the acre. 


The Acrididae are usually separated into three 
sub-families: the Acridinae (Tryxalinae), C&dipo- 
dinae and Locustinae. There is no very strict 
line of demarcation between these, so I will not 
go into details. The Acridinae are all clear- 
winged grasshoppers with a rather slanting face. 
They seldom occur in injurious numbers. 


The C£dipodinae, on the other hand, nearly 
always have some coloring in their wings such as 
yellow, red or black, while frequently the hind 
wings are gorgeously colored so that the insects 
may be mistaken for a butterfly when on the 
wing. In addition, the face is almost vertical 
instead of slanting backwards. The sub-family 
contains some of our largest locusts, such as 
members of the genus Xanthippus and the well 
known Carolina Grasshopper, which has black 
inner wings bordered with yellow. Many of the 
species, too, are very noisy, giving forth a loud 
crackling sound as they fly. 


Not many of the Cdipodinae are of marked 
economic importance but they are all grass 
feeders and, therefore, have only to become 
sufficiently numerous to turn into pests. One 
of them has already done so on our prairies, 
namely the Roadside Grasshopper (Camnula). 
This is one of the few pale-winged forms, though 
most specimens show a distinct yellowish tinge. 
The species derives its name from its habit of 
depositing its eggs in the sod-land along roadways, 
though it also lays freely in other sodded areas. 
It differs from other injurious species in depositing 
its eggs amid clumps of grass instead of in small 
bare spots. The fact that the Roadside Grass- 
hopper is somewhat particular as to where it 
lays its eggs often results in the insects bunching 
up on suitable sod until such places are literally 
crowded with eggs. So thick do they become 
that we have counted more than 3,000 to a 
square foot of sod. 

The Locustinae are told from the other sub- 
families by the presence of a spine-like wart on 
the prosternum between the front pair of legs. 
All our species have clear whitish wings. It is — 
to this heey; that uhe Rocky Mountain, the — 


el 


a se Pe - * 
te 


March, 1922.] 


- Red-legged, Lesser-migratory and Two-scriped 


Locusts belong, as well as most of the injurious 
species of other countries. Among them are to 
be found most of the kinds that migrate iong 
distances, often in large swarms. It is a remark- 
able sight to see them on a sunny, moderately 
windy day suddenly rise in circles, up, up until 
they feel the wind sufficiently strong to bear them 
away, when away they go facing the wind, but 
carried away by its strength. 


ACRYDIIDAE 


Grouse Locusts are among the smallest winged 
grasshoppers known in this country and their 
size, combined with their inconspicuous coloration, 
makes them less known than any other family. 


_We have at least four species in Manitoba, all 


of which are to be met with in low-iying situations 
or in semi-open woods. They are somewhat 
diversified in habits, some kinds wintering as 
adults, others as nymphs of eggs. 

Grouse Locusts, like the Acrididae, deposit 
their eggs in sacs or pods which are placed in the 
ground. The female when she is ready for egg 


_ laying works the top of her abdomen into the 


ground by the aid of the horn-like valves which 
open and shut as she forces her body downwards. 
Eventually getting deep enough, she begins to 
lay her elongate eggs one at a time, forming a 
glutenous substance around them as she proceeds, 
When about 14 eggs have been deposited the 
grasshopper carefully covers the opening by 
kicking and drawing small particies of soil over 
it, then, having hidden all traces of her work, she 
hops actively away. 

The food of Grouse Locusts consists of various 
lichens and other vegetable matter found near the 
ground. So far as we know this family is of no 
particular economic importance. 

I have already dealt in part with the life his- 


tories while reviewing the different sub-families, 
_ but it may be interesting to give a more detailed 


account of one of the commoner species of Locust- 


~inae. ' 


The time at which the small hoppers emerge 


_ from the eggs varies in the different kinds; some 


appear in the fall and winter in the nymph stage; 
others winter as eggs and do not emerge until the 
warmth of approaching summer insures abundance 
of succulent vegetation. All our injurious kinds 
have this last habit and their emergence would 


~ almost seem as if it were timed to coincide with 


the appearance of the farmers’ grain crops. As 
I said before, the eggs are laid in the soil and the 


_ situation selected for them is chosen with great 
care. 
_. seek for more than an hour before she became 


Indeed, I have known a female grasshopper 


satisfied with the situation and commenced to 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 43 


work her abdomen into the ground. 

When the tiny hopper is ready to emerge it 
breaks through the egg and begins to work its 
way upwards by wriggling. If the egg be covered 
a couple of inches or more by soil, the struggle 
to emerge is quite a long one, but it is really 
remarkable how much the insects can get through 
by steady shoving, So, eventually, the hopper 
finds itself upon the surface, a colorless object, 
seemingly so exhausted that it lies on its side and, 
metaphorically speaking, gasps for breath. Just 
when one wonders whether it is"going to recover 
at all, there is a movement of returning animation, 
the skin splits behind the head and soon the 
hopper is seen casting its skin as one might 
expect a small boy to get out of a very tightly- 
fitting suit. The skin is gradually pushed down- 
wards as the hopper wriggles out until at last 
only the hind legs remain encased. Another 
effort and one leg is free; the rest is child’s play. 
The hopper now rests, again rather exhausted, 
but a change soon begins to take place. The new 
skin, which was pinkish or whitish at first, slowly 
colors to the shade characteristic of the species, 
gray, black or green, as the case may be. The 
work, however, that the hopper has gone through 
has been tiring, and so the insect seeks a sheltered 
spot where it can sun itself and rest. It goes to 
bed at night beneath some convenient herbage 
and does not think of food until the second day. 
First there is a mere nibble of some succulent 
grass blade, but food and sunlight soon create a 
greater appetite for more food, growth being a 
natural outcome. In the course of about eight 
days our hopper has grown too large for its coat, 
so it sets to work to grow a new one beneath 
the old one. As soon as this is ready the insect 
crawls up a convenient stem and obtaining a 
firm foothold with all its legs, with the head 
downwards, slowly commences the operation of 
skin casting. Careful watch will reveal violent 
contortions and muscular protuberances along 
the pronotum. Soon the antennae sink below the 
eyes and the skin splits along the back. From . 
this point the old skin is slowly left behind as 
the hopper wriggles out of it, Eventually, just 
as one expects the hanging hopper to drop, it 
makes a violent swinging motion and clutches 
hold of the stem its old skin is attached to and 
at the same time draws itself free. The hopper 
now turns head upwards and remains inactive 
until the new skin hardens and assumes the 
coloring characteristic of the species. The resting 
period, after moulting, lasts a considerable time, 


it being fully three hours before the insect is 
ready to commence feeding again. In the course 
of some six weeks, the hopper has cast its skin 


dd ‘ 


five times, not ineluding the hatching month. 
At the third moult, the wing pads become dis- 
tinetly visible and with the succeeding change 
assume larger proportions, until, at the final moult, 
the insect is adorned with the wings that proclaim 
it fully developed. Growth is now at an end and 
new activities are entered into. 

Flight comes first, as the now fully developed 
grasshopper has an instinctive desire to see the 
world. But there are other considerations also. 
The attainment of wings has provided at the same 
time a musical instrument for the male with 
which he charms his lady-love into admiration 
for his accomplishments. 

The instinct of migration is one of the most 
remarkable in the animal kingdom. It seems to 
arise from a desire in each species to spread as 
far as possible over the land. It has very little 
to do with food supply in grasshoppers, but 
appears to be more an effort to prevent over- 
crowding, and thus escape disease and enemies of 
other kinds. The provision in some species is 
wonderful in its completeness. There are long- 
winged, medium-winged and short-winged ones. 
Think of the result; the strong-winged ones 
move for a field, the medium-winged to compara- 
tively nearby places, while those with short wings 
remain to carry on the race close at hand. 

The main period of flight begins soon after the 
grasshoppers obtain wings, but flying continues 
intermittently for more than a month. The 
flights always commence in bright sunshine and 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


‘ 


ie 2 


[VoL. XXXVI 


‘ SS td 
end as soon as the sun becomes overcast or when 


the shades of evening show that the day is draw- 
ing to a close. 


The music of grasshoppers is usually produced — 
by rubbing the hind legs bow-like against a 
specially developed object upon the wings, but 
in some cases the wings themselves are rubbed 
together. Each kind of grasshopper that can 
play at all has its own particular music which 
can be told without much difficulty from that of 
others. You know how crickets chirp. The 
Green Tree Cricket has a steady trill which is 
noted most in August, hence the name Harvester 
which is sometimes applied to this insect. The 
Katydid gets its name from the song it sings, 
“kat-y-did.” It is not a Manitoba insect but we 
have some close allies which cry ‘“‘she-sees-me”’ 
with great persistency although it is pitch dark. 
For the Katydids are night singers and avoid the 
sun as much as the locusts seek it. The crickets 
are also night singers unless they find some 
darkened place beneath some object, in which 
case they sing all day as well. This music, which 
begins with the warmth of spring, ceases as the 
nights grow long and cold in autumn. There are 
a few kinds of Orthoptera that play on into late 
October, but the majority are then silent, and, as ~ 
winter draws near, the music of the insect world 
grows mute and the lives that were so animate 
are cold in death. 


(To be continued.) 


THE SUMMER BIRDS OF ADVOCATE, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA 


By CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M.D. 


Nearly midway between Cape Chignecto and 
Cape d’Or, and washed by the tides of the Bay of 


Fundy as they rush in and out of the Basin of 
Minas, lies the little village of Advocate. Pleasant- 
ly introduced by Dr. John W. Dewis of Boston, a 
native of this place and a fellow ornithologist, my 
wife and I spent here the last few days of June 
and the first three weeks of July, 1921, in search- 
ing out the birds. Our steps led us to Cape d’Or 
on the east and Refugee Cove near Cape Chignecto 
on the west. We also spent five days at Isle 
Haute, which was discovered by Champlain in 
1604 and accurately described in his “‘Narrative.” 
He says: “Heading northeast nine or ten leagues, 
coasting from Port Royal (Annapolis), we crossed 
a part of the Bay some five or six leagues in 
breadth to a place which we named the Cape of 
Two Bays (Cape Chignecto), and we passed by 
an island (Isle Haute) which is a league from it 


and which is about that distance in circumference, 
and is some forty or fifty fathoms in elevation. 


It is entirely surrounded by great rocks excepting 
in one place where there is a slope, at the foot of 
which is a pond of salt water, which lies at the 
base of a gravel point having the form of a spur. 
The top of the island is flat, covered with trees, 
and it has a very good spring.” 

Champlain also described and charted Advocate 
Harbor, which he called Port des Mines from 
the copper mines at Cape d’Or. To his attributes 
of explorer, cartographer and historian, that of 


bird-lover may be added, as the following extract — | 


from his ‘Narrative’ shows. Speaking of his 
garden at Port Royal he says: ‘“‘We often went 
there to pass the time, and it seemed as if the 
little birds around took pleasure in it, for they 
gathered there in such numbers, singing and 
warbling so charmingly that I do not think I _ 


4 
ieee 


: a 


+5 
| Mar, 1922.] 


S Jever heard anything like it.’’ 
- There are cultivated fields and dyked meadows 
iat Advocate, but behind and on both sides back 
from the sea, the country is heavily forested, for 
aa most part with red spruce and balsam fir, 
white and yellow birches. White spruces are 
- common near the sea. The black spruce and 
_ sweet birch are rare and the gray birch, larch and 
mountain ash are not uncommon. Sugar maples 
and ashes are also found. The region is more 
boreal than the Annapolis valley through which 
_ we passed, where red oaks, white and red pines, 
_ hemlock and beeches are common. Birds of the 
_ Transition Zone seen in the latter region and not 
encountered in Advocate were: Wood Peewee, 
Least Flycatcher, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cat- 

bird, Veery and Bluebird. 

Inthe following list of eighty-one species, all, with 
_ the exception of the Loon, Double-crested Cor- 
- morant, Great Blue Heron and Least Sandpiper, 
were breeding in this region, and it is possibie 
that these may breed there. In the previous 
summer I found evidence of the Least Sandpiper 
“breeding farther south at Cape Sable Island. 


1 LOON: Gavia immer. Few. 


2 BLACK GUILLEMOT: Cepphus grylle. Eight 
or ten pairs breeding in the cliffs of Isle Haute. 
‘3 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL: Larus marinus. 
_ Although I did not find their nests, I believe that 
several pairs bred at Isle Haute. 
4 HERRING GULL: Larus argentatus. About five 
hundred pairs, possibly more, nested on the cliffs 
_ of Isle Haute and especiaily on the steep turf-clad 
portion of the western side. Here the nests were, 
for the most part, in depressions of the turf and 
destitute of nesting materia!. On July 12 most 
of the young were out of the eggs and running 
widely on the turf, but confined within narrow 
_ limits on the ledges of the cliffs. 
__ §. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT: Phalacroco- 
- rax a. auritus). Two or three seen. 
_ 6. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER : Mergus serra- 
tor. A pair nesting near the salt pond at Isle 
_ Haute. 
7. Ewer: Somateria mollissima dresseri. Six 
or seven pairs nesting at Isle Haute. On July 
_ 14 a pair seen, the male in full nuptial plumage. 
On July 16 a nest with four eggs was shown me 
* by the light-house keeper under a spruce bush on 
_ the cliff about fifty feet up. On the same day a 
flock of fourteen were seen, all in brown dress 
ae two, that were only partially moulted into 
_ the eclipse plumage. 
8. GREAT BLUE HERON: 
seen. 
on 9. LEAST SANDPIPER: 
. few pesgreting flocks. 


Ardea herodias. One 


Pisobia minutila. A 


fe eae Aide Mes 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 45 


10. SPOTTED SANDPIPER: 
Common. 


11. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER: Aegialitis semi- 
palmata. On July 1, two pairs plainly showed by 
their actions that they had eggs or young on the 
sandy and pebbly bay of Advocate Harbor. 
Vide Auk, xxxviii, 1921, p. 601. 

12. CANADA RUFFED GROUSE: 
bellus togata. Common. 


13. BROAD-WINGED HAwk: Buteo platypterus. 
One seen on June 28. 

14. OSPREY: 
Two seen. 


15. GREAT HORNED OWL: Bubo v. virginianus. 
On June 29, three young, fully grown and able to 
fly, but with heads still in the down and with 
downy ear tufts were seen in spruce woods. One 
called repeatedly a plaintive note—ee-ah. 

16. BELTED KINGFISHER: Ceryle alcyon. Few 
seen. 


17. HAIRY WOODPECKER: Dryobates v. villosus. 
Few seen. 


18. DowNy WooppPEckKkr: D. pubescens media- 
nus. Few seen. 

19. ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER: Pico- 
ides arcticus. One seen on July 1 

20. NORTHERN FLICKER: Colaptes auratus lu- 
teus. Common. 

21. CHIMNEY Swirt: Chaetura pelagica. A 
few. A pair was found nesting in a fish house at 
Refugee Cove. The nest was attached to a piece 
of canvas nailed to the logs of thelkvall near the 
roof, and the birds entered through a stove pipe 
hole in the roof. There were five eggs on July 9. 


Actitis macularius. 


Bonasa um- 


Pandion haliaetus carolinensis. 


22. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD: Archilo- 
chus colubris. A few. 
23. KINGBIRD: Tyrannus tyrannus. Uncom- 


mon. 

24. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER: 
borealis. Not uncommon. 

25. YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER: Empidonax 
flaviventris. Common. On July 5, I found a 
nest between two moss-covered logs on the ground 
containing several black, downy young. 

26. ALDER FLYCATCHER: £E. trailli alnorum. 
Uncommon. 

27. CANADA JAY: 
One seen. 

28. NORTHERN RAVEN: Corvus corax princi- 
palis. Common. A family group of four or 
five at Refugee Cove and another at Isle Haute. 
At the latter place they undoubtedly preyed on 
the eggs and young of the Herring Gull. 

29. Crow: Corvus b. brachyrhynchos. 
mon. 

30. BOBOLINK: 


Nuttallornis 


Perisoreus ec. canadensis. 


Com- 


Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Few. 


oo See | 


rr. = om, 


AG THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


31. Rusty BLACKBIRD: Euphagus carolinus. 


Few. 
32. BRONZED GRACKLE: Quiscalus quiscula 
aeneus. Few. 


33. PURPLE FINCH: Carpodacus p. purpureus. 
Abundant. 

34. RED CROSSBILL: Loxia curvirosira minor. 
Few. 


35. WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: L. leucoptera. 


Common. 

36. GOLDFINCH: Asitragalinus t. tristis. Com- 
mon. 

37. PINE SISKIN: Spinus pinus. Common. 


38. VESPER SPARROW: Poecetes g. gramineus. 
Few. 

39. SAVANNAH SPARROW: FPasserculus sand- 
wichensis savanna. Abundant. 

40. ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW: Passer- 
herbulus nelsoni subvirgatus. Common. 

41. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW: 
albicollis. Abundant. 

42. CHIPPING SPARROW: Spizella p. passerina. 
Common. 

43. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO: Junco h. hyemalis. 
Abundant. 

44, SONG SPARROW: 
Abundant. 


Zonotrichia 


Melospiza m. melodia. 


45. LINCOLN’S SPARROW: WM. l. lincolni. One 
seen on July 6. 
46. SwAMP SPARROW: M. georgiana. Few. 


47. ENGLISH SPARROW: Passer domesticus. All 
too abundant in the village. 

48. CLIFF SWALLOW: Petrochelidon 1. lunifrons. 
Abundant. 

49. BARN SWALLOW: 
Common. 

50. TREE SWALLOW: 
few. 

51. BANK SWALLOW: Riparia riparia. 

52. CEDAR WAXWING: 
Common. 

53. RED-EYED VIREO: Vireosylva olivacea. Com- 
mon. 

54. BLUE-HEADED VIREO: 


Hirundo erythrogaster. 
Tridoprocne bicolor. A 


A few. 
Bombacilla cedrorum. 


Lanivireo gs. soli- 


tarius. Common. 

55. BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER: Mniotilta 
varia. Few. 

56. NASHVILLE WARBLER: Vermivora r. rubi- 
capilla, Common. 

57. TENNESEE WARBLER: V. peregrina. Com- 
mon. 

58. NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER: Compso- 


thlypis americana usneae. Common. 


[VoL. XXXVI 


59. YELLOW WARBLER: Dendroica a. aestiva. 
Common. 


60. BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER: D. ¢. 
coerulescens. Few. 


61. MyrTLE WARBLER: D. coronata. Abund- 
ant. 


62. MAGNOLIA WARBLER: D. magnolia. Abun- 
dant. 
63. BAY-BREASTED WARBLER: D. casianea. 


Few. 
64. BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER: D. fusca. Few. 
65. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER: D. 


virens. Abundant. One at Isle Haute sang twice 
a part of the song of the Tennesee Warbler. 


66. YELLOW-PALM WARBLER: 
hypochrysea. Few. 

67. OVEN-BIRD: Seiurus aurocapillus. Few. 

68. WATER-THRUSH: S. 7. niveboracensis. Few. 

69. MOURNING WARBLER: Opornis philadel- 
phia. One pair found. 

70. MARYLAND YBLLOW-THROAT: Geothlypis t. 
trichas. Abundant. 

71. CANADA WARBLER: 
Few. 

72. Repstart: Setophaga ruticila. Abundant. 

73. WINTER WREN: Nannus h. hiemalis. 


D. palmarum 


Wilsonia canadensis. 


Common. 

74. BROWN CREEPER: Certhia familiaris ameri- 
cana. Few. 

75. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: Sitta cana- — 
densis. Few. 

76. CHICKADEE: Penthestes a.  atricapillus. 
Common. 

77. ACADIAN CHICKADEE: P. h. hudsonicus. 
Common. 

78. GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET: Regulus sat- 
rapa. Few. 

79. OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH: AHylocichla ustu- 
lata swainsoni. Common. 

80. HerMITt THRUSH: H. guttata pallasi. Com- 
mon. 

81. ROBIN: Common. 


Planesticus migratorius. 


In this brief visit a number of breeding birds 
were, of course, overlooked. For-.example, one © 
would expect to find the Black Duck, Bittern, 
Canada Spruce Partridge, Marsh Hawk, Sharp- 
shinned Hawk, Barred Owl, Yellow-bellied Sap- 
sucker, Nighthawk, Blue Jay, Philadelphia Vireo, 
Cape May Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler and ear 
crowned Kinglet. Konig 6 


- March, 1922.] 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 47 


THE RELATION OF WILD LIFE TO AGRICULTURE 


By NORMAN CRIDDLE, TREESBANK, MANITOBA 


In the old days, before the arrival of the settler, 
when the country was one vast stretch of unculti- 
vated land, the wild creatures roamed the plains 
and woods almost at will. They multiplied or 
decreased according to the prevailing conditions, 
such as were brought about by the prevalence of 
food and the presence or absence of natural 
enemies. Nature had provided that there should 
be a balance in all things and, therefore, while 
certain insects or mammals might increase unduly 
for a time, they were always eventually reduced 
by other forms which preyed upon them, or by 
the meteorological conditions that prevailed. 
Thus the gophers and mice were kept in check 
by hawks, owls, weasels and other predatory 
animals; while the insects were controlled by 
various parasites in conjunction witha host of 
birds which found in them a palatable diet. 
There were no violent changes then, such as is 
brought about by cultivation, and so the balance 
which nature had decreed was maintained as it is 
in all parts where civilized man has not set his 
foot. 


With the advent of civilization, followed by 
cultivation, conditions became changed. Animals 
that had previously roamed the wilds in freedom 
were unmercifully slaughtered with such a lack 
of discrimination that the useful frequently 
suffered even more than the harmful. Hawks 
and owls were among the first to feel this persecu- 
tion. A few injurious kinds set the farmer 
against them all, and, as the useful species were 
much more numerous than the harmful the 
effects were soon very striking. Rodents had 
previously subsisted upon wild plants and had 
found it difficult, at times, to find sufficient for 
their wants, but the introduction of farming 
provided an unlooked-for supply. Immediately 
vast stores of grain were made available and, 
consequently, as the food supply was now ample 
and the natural enemies had been killed off, ro- 
dents increased at a rate hitherto impossible, 
with very disastrous results to the farmer. 


But this was by no means all. In addition to 
the rodents, there was a vast army of native 
insects, a number of which fed upon wild plants. 
These had fluctuated from time to time according 
to the available food supply, but the new condi- 
tions again upset the balance and, farming having 
provided abundance of food, the insects began to 
‘turn their attention to the new supply and soon 
_ became pests of importance. Such are the grass- 


in check. 


hoppers, Wheat-stem Sawfly and cutworms of 
today, while others, at present less known, threaten 
to add to the pests which cultivation has thrust 
upon us. 


One more important factor must be added to 
those enumerated above. Among the greatest 
friends of man are a host of small birds many of 
which nest upon the ground. These, in times 
past, fed upon insects and wild seeds, and they 
were especially important in keeping the former 
In this case cultivation again changed 
conditions in favour of man’s enemies. The 
insects were able to breed as readily, or even more 
so, in cultivated ground, as on the original sod; 
but this was not so with birds which, with every 
acre of land broken up, were obliged to seek new 
breeding grounds. Thus, as man adds to his 
cultivated acreage he encourages the insect pests 
by providing more food and additional breeding 
places, while, at the same time, he forces his bird 
friends to seek nesting quarters elsewhere. 


Pasturing the land has also done much to 
destroy bird life, especially around the margins 
of ponds and lakes. At the same time cropping 
the grass has encouraged grasshoppers. Indis- 
criminate setting of fires has done more still, and 
the burning of woodlands has caused a havoe 
almost unthinkable. Such is a summary of the 
changes which have led to our present trouble 
with insect and rodent pests. Man has provided 
for them, and man alone can reduce or keep them 
in check. 

We have hitherto dealt only with native animals 
but in addition to those are a number which have 
been introduced from other countries. Some of 
these, like the House Sparrow, were brought in 
purposely, others have availed themselves of the 
channels of commerce. It frequently happens 
that the imported pests are even more dangerous 
than the native ones, because the latter have 
always been with us and their enemies are con- 
sequently at hand; but this is not so with intro- 
duced species which have more often left their 
foes behind. The new pests are, therefore, 
generally unhampered by enemies and consequent- 
ly spread with great rapidity. Several of our 
worst pests are examples of this. The Hessian. 
Fly is one, the Cabbage-worm of our gardens 
another. The House Mouse and Brown Rat have 
both been introduced, though in the case of these 
we have both owls and weasels to aid us in keep- 
ing them in check. 


48 


The problem of keeping out foreign pests is one 
that has received much attention of recent years, 
but its importance can hardly be over-estimated. 
This is especially true of insects, though the folly 
of indiscriminately introducing birds or mammals 
has also been amply demonstrated and every 
eare should be taken to avoid a repetition of it. 


A moment’s thought will show that the old 
conditions have passed away never to return. 
Civilization has spread over the land almost like 
a pestilence, and, as it has become established in 
the new country, it has swept from the face of it 
many of the creatures that formerly dwelt there. 
The buffalo had to go, just as it would seem must 
the elk from our cultivated areas. Others may 
have to follow such as the wolf and coyote, but 
we should proceed very slowly even with the 
destruction of predatory animals until we can 
definitely ascertain what their place is in the 
scheme of nature. It may be difficult to exter- 
minate but to replace is impossible. The exter- 
mination of any creature from the world in which 
it has won a place is a responsibility which we 
should consider very seriously. We_ should 
remember too, that conditions change and as 
they do so they alter the economic status of many 
things, animals included. 


Much irreparable harm has already been done 
by thoughtless or selfish slaughter of native 
animals. The Passenger Pigeon has apparently 
gone for ever. Ruthlessly destroyed to a 
point where it could no longer withstand the 
natural enemies with which it had to contend, it 
has thus vanished from our fauna and left us so 
much poorer. Others are in danger of a similar 
fate. The Whooping Crane is on the point of 
extinction now, the Snowy Owl has dwindled to 
a mere remnant of its former numbers, in this 
case due to a mania for collecting, as a casual 
examination of our country hotels will show. 


Before we finally decide on the destruction of 
any species we should remember that even pre- 
datory animals of the worst type have their uses 
and that they are at times actually of value in 
destroying some of our useful species. Among 
all creatures are a certain percentage which fall 
sick; such animals are naturally weaker than 
their healthy companions and for this reason 
they are more apt to fall prey to the carnivorous 
creatures on the lookout for food. The sickly 
grouse, flying more slowly, is caught by the 
Goshawk; an unhealthy deer is more readily 
overtaken by wolves. But in destroying these 
the predators are performing a useful act in as 
much as they are eliminating the unfit and pre- 
venting the spread of disease. Were there no 
animals to carry on this work, it is possible that 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


>. 
disease would become more prevalent, and for 
this reason we might actually defeat the ends we 
had in view by exterminating predatory animals. 


As we have already pointed out, the restriction 
of breeding areas by cultivation and grazing is a 
serious matter, as by it our friends the birds are 
often banished while our insect and rodent ene- 
mies are encouraged. These conditions are, 
unfortunately, apt to become worse with ground- 
loving birds, but with others it need not be so; 
and with tree-loving species, at least, there is no 
reason why the old balance should not be restored. 
To accomplish this every farmer should establish 
a tree belt, preferably near the farm buildings. 
To make the belt attractive to birds, large trees 
should border small ones. Deciduous trees as 
well as evergreens should be planted, also all the 
available berry-bearing shrubs whose fruit form 
a staple diet for many birds after the nesting 
season is over, or when insects become scarce. 
A few small boxes erected on trees or posts will 
form attractive nesting places for Wrens, Tree 
Swallows, Flickers and Biue Birds. Finally, .a 
water trough is important for the birds to drink 
at and bath in. Such a plantation, with the ad- 
ditions mentioned, would increase the range of 
many of our birds and their numbers would be 
multiplied a hundredfold. There would be found 
the Catbird singing softly in the early morn, the 
Robin and Oriole in their attractive plumage, the 
Kingbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren and 
many others all adding to the beauties of the 
landscape and the pleasures of the home. But, 
apart from the aesthetic side, they would prove 
of incalculable value as destroyers of noxious 
insects, thus assisting to restore the balance 
which man upset in the first place. 


Another important factor in restoring bird 
life should be provided; not, however, by the 
individual but by the state. This consists of 
setting aside areas for wild life sanctuary, where 
the creatures within them can multiply unhamp- 
ered and as they do so spread over the surrounding 
country to gather in the pests now so prevalent. 
Much has already been done along this line, but 
too much can hardly be accomplished. Every 
district should have its sanctuary as a permanent 
breeding centre and the farmers must understand 
that such areas are almost as important for their 
welfare as is the maintenance of .their flocks. 


Sport must become secondary to agricultural 


interests and the depletion of our country of 
game birds, particularly grouse, should be made 
impossible. There should also be a _ greater 
consideration for predatory animals. The original 
food of coyotes, for instance, was made up largely 
of rabbits, gophers and mice, all of which do much 


[VoL. XXXVI 


March, 1922.] 


harm, the first named to our trees and the last 
two to our grain crops and fruit trees. Weasels 
formerly subsisted to a large extent upon rodents 
such as gophers, voles, pocket gophers, rabbits, 
mice and an occasional bird. Their food to-day 
is practically as it used to be. The number of 
poultry taken by these animals is a mere nothing 
in comparison to the noxious rodents killed; 
and as only one kind of weasel is known to attack 
poultry out of the three species found in the 
middle west, these animals can be justly classed 
as the most beneficial of all mammals found 
within the country. I am convinced that agri- 
cultural interests should take precedence over 
the fur interests in this question and that the 
wholesale trapping of weasels should be dis- 
couraged as not in the best interests of the com- 
munity. At present weasels are not in any 
way protected by law in Manitoba, though mink 
and beavers, both much less worthy, are provided 
with a close season, an anomaly that can only be 
explained by ignorance of the comparative useful- 
ness of the animals involved. 

The persecution to which most of our predatory 
animals and birds have been subjected originates 
from the fact that there are occasions when most 
of them will take a barnyard fowl. Naturally, 
the robber is, as a rule, observed, and, as its 
every-day habits are not, the conclusions drawn 
are usually very erroneous. Besides this, truly 
injurious species are frequently confused with 
useful ones, such as, for instance, a Goshawk 
with Swainson’s Hawk. In this example, the 
former being known to take chickens, the latter 
is suspected of doing likewise and is shot without 
further consideration. Here then we have need 
of education which might well be carried on in 
the schools, but in the meantime we should adapt 
the principle of justice whereby an animal is 
considered innocent until it is proved guilty. 

The farmer is rapidly learning to appreciate 
the value of wild birds. The large flocks of 
Franklin’s Gulls which were to be met with 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


49 


almost daily following the plough during 1920-21 
when they gathered up such enormous numbers of 
grasshoppers, will long be remembered. The 
birds have already been spoken of as the ““Farm- 
er’s Gulls,” and what fitter species could be 
chosen as an emblem? White represents purity, 
its flight symbolizes gracefulness combined with 
strength, while its persistency in gathering up 
noxious insects surely indicates the acme of 
industry and usefulness. Birds so beneficial as 
these should be afforded every protection, and, 
above all, they should be provided with permanent 
breeding places from which they will continue to 
wander far afield in search of food. Every avail- 
able lake should be made a gull sanctuary, and 
steps should be taken to protect the herbage 
growing around from live stock so that nesting 
sites may not be interfered with. A gull sanc- 
tuary should add considerably to the value of 
nearby farms and not a little to those even twenty 
miles away, as was amply demonstrated in 1921. 


Many another bird is at work along similar 
lines to the gulls. Horned Larks providing a 
cutworm every two minutes throughout the day 
to their nestlings; the Crow, which has been 
known to gather 72 wireworms for a single meal; 
the Upland Plover, almost exclusively a grass- 
hopper feeder and Meadowlarks and Grouse, 
whose families are largely reared on the same diet. 
These are but a few of the many which might be 
enumerated, to say nothing of those species that 
feed upon the pests affecting trees. But enough 
has surely been written to show what the facts 
are. Pests have increased through man’s ac- 
tivities, largely because he provided abundance of 
food for them, but also because he killed or 
banished many of his best friends. A majority of 
these friends are still living in reduced numbers 
As 
they do so, insect outbreaks will grow less fre- 


quent and the balance will become more as it 


and with care may be induced to return. 


was before man upset it. 


SOME OF CAPTAIN HENRY TOKE MUNN’S OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF BAFFIN 


ISLAND AND VICINITY 


By Hoyes Luoyp 


It was recently my pleasure to discuss the bird 
life of the Eastern Canadian Arctie archipelago 
with Captain Henry Toke Munn, F.R.G.S., F.Z:S. 
who has had long experience in that district. As 


any information concerning the bird life of this 


, 


vicinity is considered valuable, I was glad to 


* 


have his permission to prepare for publication 


» 


sae 2 ra he ; 


the notes taken during our conversation. 

There is a large loomery (species ?) on Bylot 
Island, near Ponds Inlet, and the natives obtain 
the eggs of these birds to a considerable number 
in June. Captain Munn once watched a polar 
bear catching some of the adult birds from this 
colony. The birds were diving under the ice 


50 


floe and frequently one would approach close to 
where the bear had located itself. Whenever a 
bird came within reach the bear would capture 
it with one paw. 
Anas _ platyrhynchos—MALLARD 

Captain Munn once saw a female Mallard at 

Ponds Inlet. i 
Harelda hyemalis—LONG-TAILED Duck 

This species is not common in the vicinity of 
Bylot Island although very abundant on South- 
ampton Island. Vast flocks were seen in the 
autumn there. 
Somateria mollissima borealis—NORTHERN EIDER. 

Eiders, undoubtedly of this sub-species, are 
common and breed in Eclipse Sound. There is 
no suitable breeding-ground for them in Ponds 
Inlet vicinity. 

Somateria spectabilis—KING EIDER. 

Common, breed in Eclipse Sound, but not in 
Ponds Inlet vicinity. 
Chen hyperboreus nivalis—GREATER SNOW GOOSE. 

Snow Geese, believed to be of this sub-species 
because of the locality, are abundant and breed 
on Bylot Island and Baffin Island in the vicinity 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


of Ponds Inlet. 
flightless moulting birds for food. The Blue 
Goose was unknown to Captain Munn. \ 


Branta canadensis hutchinsi—(Sub-species ?) 
Captain Munn shot a Branta canadensis about 
the size of a Mallard on Southampton Island. 


Grus americana—WHOOPING CRANE 
Captain Munn saw two Whooping Cranes on 
Baffin Island near Ponds Inlet in the summer of 
1912. 
Grus canadensis or Grus mexicana. 
Common on Southampton Island. 
Nyctea nyctea—SNOWY OWL. 
Two live specimens brought out and presented 
to the London Zoological Society. : 
Corvus corax principalis—NORTHERN RAVEN. 
At least a dozen pairs of Ravens have wintered 
in one season in the Ponds Inlet vicinity, where 
the species is resident and very common. The 
natives believe the Raven is able to stand the 
severe cold because he makes an igloo. As other 
birds sleep under the snow this may well be the 
Raven’s method of withstanding severe weather. 


PROSECUTIONS 


Migratory Birds Convention Act and Northwest Game Act, by Officers of the Dominion Parks Branch and r. 


Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 


MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION ACT 


REPORTED DURING THE PERIOD—OCTOBER 24, 
1921— FEBRUARY 15, 1922. 


Joseph Lachance, S.S. “Rouville”, Quebec. Kill- 
ing a Herring Gull. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Joseph Lachance, S.S. “Rouville’, Quebec. Ob- 
structing a Game Officer in the discharge of his 
duty. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Edward O. Barber, Alberton, Prince Edward 
Island. Selling Ducks. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Thomas Brodrick, Alberton, Prince Edward 
Island. Having Ducks exposed for sale. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 


Hunter Weeks, Alberton, Prince Edward 
Island. Buying Ducks. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Russell Oulton, Alberton, Prince Edward 
Island. Trafficking in Ducks. Fine $10.00 and 
costs. 


A. E. Holt, Erskine, Alberta. Killing Loons in 
close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Russell Hirtle, Oakland, Lunenburg County, 
Nova Scotia. Having in possession a Great Blue 
Heron. Fine $10.00 and costs. 


Clyde Hirtle, Big Tancook Island, Lunenburg 
County, Nova Scotia. Shooting Coots in close 
season. Fine $30.00 and costs. 

Garnet Young, Big Tancook Island, Lunenburg 
County, Nova Scotia. Shooting Coots in close 
season. Fine $30.00 and costs. 

Captain Mercier, S.S. ‘“Rouville”, Quebec. Ob- 
structing a Game Officer in the discharge of his 
duties. Withdrawn. 

Joseph Tremblay, St. Agnace St., Chicoutimi, 


Quebec. Having in possession a Robin. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 
Rufus Nieforth, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ducks 


exposed for sale. Fine $10.00 and costs. 
Beatrice Nieforth (Mrs.), Halifax, Nova Scotia, 
Ducks exposed for sale. Fine $10.00 and costs. 
Joseph Dumphy, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ducks 
exposed for sale. Fine $10.00 and costs. 
Richard Carter. Halifax, Nova Scotia. 
exposed for sale. Fine $10.00 and costs. 


Ducks 


Both dogs and natives hunt the — 


¥ 


Allan Menzie, Dalhousie Junction, Restigouche __ 


County, New Brunswick. Attempting to kill 
migratory game birds between 9 p.m. and 12 
p.m. Seizure: one shot-gun. Fine $20.00 and 
costs. 


~ 


E 


March, 1922.] 


Irving Menzie, Dalhousie Junction, Restigouche 
County, New Brunswick. Furnishing false in- 
formation to a Game Officer. Seizure: one shot- 
gun. Fine $20.00 and costs. 

- Thomas Williams, Musquodoboit Harbour, 
Halifax County, Nova Scotia. Selling Ducks. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Frederick Bowser, 
Nova Scotia. Selling Ducks. 
costs. 

_ Allan Menzie, Dalhousie Junction, Restigouche 
County, New Brunswick. Attempting to kill 
migratory birds by the use of a “night light.” 
Fine $20.00 and costs. 

- Irving Menzie, Dalhousie Junction, Restigouche 
County, New Brunswick. Attempting to kill 
migratory birds by the use of a “night light.” 
Fine $20.00 and costs. 

Irving Menzie, Dalhousie Junction, Restigouche 
County, New Brunswick. Attempting to kill 
migratory birds between the hours of 9 p.m. and 
midnight. Fine $20.00 and costs. 

Dominique J. Mallet, Shippigan, New Bruns- 
wick. Having in possession a Canada Goose. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

David Saunders, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. 
Having Ducks for sale. Fine $10.00 and costs. 


Musquodoboit Harbour, 
Fine $10.00 and 


A RESOLUTION BEARING ON THE INTRODUCTION OF NON-NATIVE PLANTS AND | 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 51 


Clement Pitman, Proprietor People’s Market, 
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Having ducks for sale. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 


John §. Cyr, St. Leonard, New Brunswick. 


Having in possession a Great Blue Heron. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

Robert Bishop, Greenwich, Nova _ Scotia. 
Killing one Hudsonian Curlew. Fine $10.00 
and costs. (Suspended). 


A. E. Booth, 1684 8th Ave. W., Vancouver, 
British Columbia. Having in possession a Duck 
in close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

N. Routley, 55 10th Ave. W., Vancouver, 
British Columbia. Having in possession a Flicker 
in close season. Suspended Sentence. 

W. Viau, 337 Amherst St., Montreal, Quebec. 
Having in possession a portion of skin and plumage 
of a Loon. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Dumouchel & Cockburn, 12 Craig St. E., 
Montreal, Quebec. Receiving a Pileated Wood- 
pecker which had been illegally killed. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

A. E. Houle, 288 Christopher Columbus St., 
Montreal, Quebec. Having in possession a 
portion of the skin and plumage of a Loon. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 


ANIMALS INTO THE NATIONAL PARKS OF THE UNITED STATES 


WHERBAS, One of the primary duties of the 
National: Park Service is to pass on to future 
generations for scientific study and education, 
natural areas on which the native flora and fauna 
may be found undisturbed by outside agencies; 
and 

WHEREAS, The planting of non-native trees, 
shrubs or other plants, the stocking of waters 
with non-native fish, or the liberating of game 
animals not native to the region, impairs or 


destroys the natural conditions and native wilder- 
ness of the parks: 


BEIT RESOLVED, That the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science strongly opposes 
the introduction of non-native plants and animals 
into the national parks and all other unessential 
interference with natural conditions, and urges 
the National Park Service to prohibit all such 
introductions and interference. 


EDITORIAL 


PRESERVE THE NATIONAL PARKS 


Certain areas in various parts of Canada, in- 
cluding some of the most beautiful and attractive 
regions in the western mountain ranges, have been 
set aside as Canadian National Parks and are being 
maintained assuch. The Parks thus wisely created, 
if maintained intact, will provide for present and 
future generations unmarred and inspiring examples 
of our wild life and wonderful scenery. The Cana- 
dian people will be always the better because of 


_ their possession and enjoyment of these great, 


ms 


x 


a att os 
Be bs 
et wld.) > Ri 


health-giving out-of-doors playgrounds. The bene- 
fit conferred in this way will increase continually as 
the Dominion becomes more and more settled. 
Canada’s National Parks are of great value also 
because of the world-wide advertisement which 
they give to some of the prominent natural features 
of the Dominion and because they are the means 
of bringing, through the tourist travel which they 
attract, a large and increasing revenue to this 
country. Such names as Banff and Lake Louise 


‘ 


52 


are heard the world around. 

Attacks by private commercial interests, such as 
in recent years have been made repeatedly upon the 
National Parks of the United States, are un- 
doubtedly to be expected in Canada also. Such 
attacks are usually disguised so as to make it 
appear that, as water-power or irrigation projects, 
they are in the public interest. The most innocent- 
looking and least harmful project may be put 
forward at first, in the hope of creating a precedent 
which may be used for the fullest exploitation of the 
natural resources of the Parks. 


An abundance of water is available outside of our 
Parks for purposes of irrigation and water-power 
development. The great incentive to carrying out 
projects of this sort inside a National Park rather 
than elsewhere is the hope of the private interests 
concerned that they may be relieved of the neces- 
sity of paying for lands flooded and other damage 
done, which would not be the case if the damage 
were done to privately-owned property outside of 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


a Park. Attempts at commercial development and 
exploitation of Park areas are attempts of private 
and local interests to reap abnormal profits by 
destroying and disfiguring the property of all the 
people of the Dominion. 

If even one commercial project should succeed 
in becoming established in Canada’s National 
Park system, the way would be opened for endless 
spoliation, which would render the Parks useless for 
the purposes for which they were set aside. All 
who are interested in the preservation for the public 
use and enjoyment of the grand natural beauties 
and the wild life of Canada’s most attractive regions 
should watch carefully for any attack upon the 
National Parks, and should be prepared to co- 
operate fully in bringing the sentiment of the people 
at large to bear to prevent private inroads upon 
their property. An informed public sentiment is 
the only effective means of meeting powerful private 
attacks upon the public interests. Preserve the 
National Parks! 


REVIEWS 


THE CONDOR FOR 1921. 
No. 1, JANUARY—FEBRUARY. 


Suggestions regarding the Systema Avium. 
By Richard McGregor, pp. 15-18. 

This is a discussion of a new Check List now 
under consideration that is planned as a Nearctic 
volume to a Systema Avium. Other volumes 
covering other geographic divisions are to be 
prepared by British ornithologists. The sugges- 
tions are interesting and demand full consideration 
In this difficult compromise of conflicting ideas. 
Whether all the proposals are to be adopted or 
not, these ideas of a broad-minded worker may 
assist in clarifying the problem. 

Concerning the Status of the Supposed Two 
Races of the Long Billed Curlew. By Joseph 
Grinnell, pp. 21-27. 

This is a discussion of the tenability of the new 
race described by Bishop (Auk. XXVII, 1910, 
pp. 59-60), and upheld by both Oberholser and 
Ridgway. The question as to whether parvus 
Bishop or occidentalis Woodhouse is the proper 
name for this form is passed over as immaterial 
in the discussion, only the validity of the sub- 
species itself being brought into question. The 
investigation is based upon a series of the species 
made in San-Luis Obispo County, California. 
After a large series of measurements (the form 
is separated entirely on size) and some interesting 
illustrative graphs, Dr. Grinnell decides that they 
show a gradual series of gradations without any 
tepdency towards grouping at the extremes, and 


the grounds of subspecific differentiation are, 
therefore, too slight for nomenclatural recognition. 
This, from such a refined “splitter” as Dr. Grinnell, 
carries unusual weight. In connection with this 
question the present reviewer might cail at- 
tention to two sets of eggs of this species in the 


Victoria Memorial Museum, differing in size 


sufficiently to represent the two proposed races, 
but obviously from geographical considerations 
both belonging to the postulated smaller one. 
A typical egg from a set collected by W. Raine, 
10 miles south of Lake Rush, Saskatchewan, 
June 2, 1894, measures 2.8 x 1.9inches. A typical 


egg from the other set collected by P. A. Taverner 


at Cypress Lake, Saskatchewan, May 24, 1921, 
measures 2.56 -x 1.78 inches. It is taken for 
granted that they were laid by comparably sized 
birds. These two sizes from one field near the 
extreme extension of the range of one form largely 
supports Dr. Grinnell’s contention. 


The larger a species and the more extreme its 


[VoL. XXXVI 


specialization, the greater is the expected indivi- - — 


dual and age variation. This is especially so in 
species that may be regarded as overgrown 
members of their family. The Long-billed Curlew 
is enormous for a wader, and its bill, especially 
lengthened and departing far from the ancestral 
type, grows for a considerable period after appar- 
ent maturity and is subject to great variation. 
The Canadian prairie provinces covering the 
ranges of the species are today well settled in 
comparison with much of the bird’s range in the 


 obscurus sitkensis. 


March, 1922.] 


south. The bird has also suffered considerably 
from its contact with settlement, as would be 
expected of a large palatable bird so easy to 
approach in its breeding season. Its individual 
expectancy of life and the relative number of 
very old specimens in proportion to population 
have become considerably reduced in _ these 
northern areas. It is to be expected that the 
average of specimens collected today in this 
section would measure smaller than in more south- 
ern areas where there are large expanses where 
man has interfered with it less. On the present 
evidence it seems the course of wisdom at least 
to suspend judgment upon the status of these 
races of Curlew. 

Notes on some Specimens in the Ornithological 
Collection of the California.Academy of Sciences. 
By Joseph Mailliard, pp. 28-32. 

Consisting of notes and descriptions of 
specimens of nineteen species. The most interest- 
ing of these, in the light of the questioned specific 
identity of the Little Brown Crane, are series of 
measurements of ten Little Brown and eight 
Sandhill Cranes. There is no overlapping amongst 
them shown. 

In From Field and Study:— 

Distribution of Townsend Fox Sparrow. By 
George Willett, pp. 36-37. 

Re Swarth’s Revision of the Fox Sparrows 
reviewed in these pages previously, Mr. Willett 
states that Passerella iliaca townsendi commonly 
winters as well as breeds at the southern end of 
the Alexander Archipelago, a fact that should 
somewhat modify some of Mr. Swarth’s conclu- 
sions expressed in the above work. 


No. 2, MARCH—APRIL. 
The Priblof Sandpiper. By G. Dallas Hanna, 

pp. 50-57. 

An account of the habits and nesting of this 
rare bird. One plate showing the eggs. 

The Sitkan Race of the Dusky Grouse. By 

H. S. Swarth., pp. 59-60. 

Describing a new sub-species, Dendragopus 
It has been suspected for 
some time that the Blue Grouse of the northern 
coast was distinct from fuliginosus but lack of 
material has hitherto deterred designation. The 
principal character is an increased redness of 
color. The specimens cited come mostly from 
the islands of the Alaska pan-handle from Sitka 
to Wrangell Island. Probably the race extends 
south to the Queen Charlotte Islands, specimens 
from which have long attracted attention to this 
same character. 

In From Field and Study:— 

A Record for the Emperor Goose in Oregon. 
By Alex. Walker, p. 65. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 53 


Announces the taking of a specimen on the 
ocean beach at Hetarts, Tillamook County, 
Oregon, Dec. 31, 1920. This suggests that 
straggiers may be still looked for along the British 
Columbia Coast. 

An Afternoon with Holboell 
A. D. Henderson, pp. 68-69. 

Describes the bird diving with young on its 
back at Silvermore Lake, Alta. 


Grebe. By 


No. 3, MAY—JUNE. 


The Probable Status of the Pacific Coast 
Skuas. By A. C. Bent, pp. 78-80. 

The great difficulty of obtaining specimens 
of pelagic birds and the fact that most of them 
breed on lonely oceanic islands in the southern 
hemisphere very difficult of access, has prevented 
our knowledge of them keeping pace with that of 
more easily studied species. With new light 
thrown on these birds through the recent work of 
Beck and others, Mr. Bent has re-examined some 
of the western material and announces that 
California specimens in the California Academy 
of Sciences can be referred to the Chilean Skua, 
Catharacta chilensis, thus adding a new species to 
the North American List. By inference he refers 
Megalestris skua, reported in the Condor, 1918, 
taken at sea near the boundary between British 
Columbia and Washington waters, as the same. 
This will cause a change in our West Coast list, 
the elimination of the Skua and the addition of 
the Chilean Skua. 

New Bird Records for North America, with 
Notes on the Priblof Island List. By Joseph 
Mailliard and G. Dallas Hanna., pp. 93-95. 

This gives notes on the occurrence of seven 
species in these far-flung islands and adds two to 
the North American List. 

In From Field and Study:— 

Notes on the Hypothetical List of California 
Birds. By J. H. Fleming, pp. 95-96. 

Mr. Fleming discusses the cases of three species 
hypothetically included in the California list on 
the basis of specimens in the British Museum. 
The species in question are Woodcock, Hudsonian 
Godwit and Arizona Cardinal. Having had 
opportunity to examine these specimens, Novem- 
ber, 1920, he decides they will have to be disre- 
garded through insufficient evidence as to the 
place of their origin. 


No. 4, JuLy—AUvUGUST. 


Genera and Species. By Richard McGregor, 
pp. 127-129. 

This is a restrained and moderate but very 
cogent protest against the immoderate subdivision 
of the generic conception, seconding Dr. Witmer 


Stone’s plea, Science, Vol. 51, 1920, p. 427, for 


54 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


the use of subgenera (not used in specific nomina- 
tion) for the finer divisions that it may seem 
expedient to recognize. 
In From Field and Study:— 

A Murre Tragedy. By R. H. Palmer, p. 135. 

Calls attention to the danger to sea bird 
life of the increasing amount of oil spread over 
the sea surface by tankers and oil-burning ships. 
The harm seems to be done by ships ballasting 
their empty tanks with sea water. When this 
is pumped out before coming into harbor, much 
waste oil is evacuated with it. This spreads 
over the sea, where it penetrates the plumage of 
swimming birds, mats the feathers together, 
allows the water to reach the skin and causes 
their slow death. Measures of regulating this 
practice are now being considered. Fortunately 
the waste of valuable oil is an additional reason 
for care in this direction and shipping companies 
are not showing themselves antagonistic to the 
humanitarian efforts of the authorities. 


No. 5, SEPTEMBER—OCTOBER. 


A Twelvemonth with the Shorebirds. By 
Allan Brooks, pp. 151-156. 

This is a history of the author’s experience 
with shorebirds from early January, 1920, at 
Comox, Vancouver Island; after April 15th near 
Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands; a short time 
in the fall in Alberta and the winter at Jupiter, 
Florida. It contains a very great deal of interest 
relating to the migrations and habits of the waders. 

Bird Notes from Southeastern Alaska. By 
G. Willett, pp. 156-159. 

Annotations on thirty-six species, mostly 
from the vicinity of Wrangell. It contains much 
interesting material, conspicuous amongst which 
is The Coast Pygmy Owl, Glaucidium gnoma 
grinnelli, that seems not uncommon as far north 
as Wrangell. 

The Northward Range of the Allan Humming- 
bird. By Tracy L. Storer, pp. 160-162. 

As the difference between Allan’s and the 
common Rufus Hummingbird is only positively 
expressed by the shape and color of one tail 
feather, considerable mis-identification regarding 
the former has found its way into print. Mr. 
Storer has examined available material and decides 
that Allan’s Hummingbird has never been noted 
in British Columbia or Oregon and he can sub- 
stantiate but two from. Washington. The re- 
viewer has known for some time that the British 
Columbia specimen cited in the Catalogue of 
Canadian Birds was actually the Rufus. The 
bird should be dropped from the Canadian list. 

Under Editorial Notes and News:— 

The report of the Provincial Museum, Vic- 
toria, British Columbia, for the year 1920, by F. 


(VoL. XXXVI 


Kermode, is noted. Prominence is given to the 
statement therein that the introduced Chinese 
Starling, Acridotheres (or Aethiospar) cristatellus, 
has become well established in the city of Van- 
couver, and that not less than 1,200 birds roost 
on the ledges of the buildings. As though the 
House Sparrow was not a sufficient lesson in the 
introduction of species we have permitted another 
undesirable to complicate still further the difficult 
problems of our eivilization. Without doubt 
organized systematic effort would eradicate this 
bird now. In a few years’ time, as with the 
Sparrows, millions may be eventually spent 
without effect. 


No. 6, NOVEMBER—DECEMBER. ~ 
The Mind of the Flock. By R. C. Miller, 

pp. 183-186. 3 

Discussing how whole flocks of birds respond 
to stimuli as though of a single mind. This can 
be seen especially in the wheelings and circlings 
of groups of flying waders and is an intensely 
interesting subject. 

In From Field and Study:— 


Eclipse Plumage of the Cinnamon Teal. 
By Frank Stephens, p. 194. 


Describes the hitherto unrecorded eclipse 
plumage of this bird. The “Eclipse plumage” is 
peculiar to ducks and is an interpolated plumage 
between the nuptial or spring and the fall plumage 
acquired by the male during the season of wing 
moult. It usually resembles that of the female. 
During it, birds hide very closely and are very 
difficult to secure. Eclipse plumages of any of 
the ducks are comparatively rare in collections. 

In an Editorial, p. 197. 

The Editor discusses the use and abuse of 
the field-glass as an ornithological study adjunct. 
Some of his criticisms of the instrument are well 
founded. The writer knows that for many 
years he marked and identified birds in the field 
with, to him, satisfactory certainty, with nothing 
but the naked eye. Nowadays he feels that it 
it hardly worth while looking at a live bird with- 
out ocular assistance. Undoubtedly we are apt 
to lean too heavily upon such aids and neglect 
our natural powers of observation. . 

Notice is given of the work during the past 
summer of Mr. C, DeBlois Green on Porcher 
Island near Prince Rupert, B.C., It is said that 
he has learned hitherto unknown facts regarding 
the breeding of the Marbled Murrelet, a bird 
common enough in breeding condition along our 
entire west coast throughout the summer but 
whose nest has not yet been positively identified. 


P. A. T, 


xt Seas ey \ pha ss, he 1 r 
~ ae ad . : 
£ ¢ 7 a 


f-+ 


March, 1922.) 
TERRITORY IN BIRD LIFE. 


By H. ELior HOWARD 


With illustrations by G. E. Lodge and H. Gronvold, 
London, John Murray, 1929, 8v0., pp. 308, 
pl. 11, plans 2. 


A most interesting book and one that it will 
repay any student of avian behavior to read. It 
crystallizes thoughts that have been latent in 
many of us. We have been so accustomed to the 
idea that male birds fight each other for the favor 
of the female that we have scarcely thought to 
question it. When, however, Mr. Howard ad- 

vances another explanation we realize that he is 

but stating that of which we have long been 
subconsciously aware. He advances that, when 
birds fight in the spring time, it is not directly 
for mates that they contend, but to possess or 
defend territory in which to rear their families, 
assume definite proprietory rights and tolerate 
no competitors. This explains much that was 
unsatisfactory under the older conventional 
concept; for males fight females as well as males; 
females engage others of their own sex and both 
combine against rival pairs or either individual. 
The fighting also rarely passes certain geographic 
boundaries, beyond which differences seem to be 
forgotten. and on neutral territory birds mix 
indiscriminately without animosity. These well- 
known facts do not harmonize with exhibitions of 
sexual jealousy, but are perfectly reconcilable with 
acompetition for territory. An outline of the 
theory is as follows: 

It is the generai rule amongst most of our song 
birds for the male in spring to return to the 
nesting ground some little time ahead of the 
female. His first business is to prospect for 
and establish ownership in the territory he and 
his mate are to occupy through the coming season. 
This territory must contain satisfactory nesting 
sites and promise of food supplies in sufficient 
quantity so that the young need never be left 
unprotected from the elements for longer than 
their tender constitutions can endure under the 
conditions normally prevailing during the season 
of their helplessness. Once possession is estab- 
lished he occupies a prominent observation point 
within his territory and pours forth his song, by 
which he warns off trespassers and advertises, to 


- such females as may hear, a vigorous male in 


breeding condition with property qualifications 


_ that will refuse no reasonable offer of matrimony. 


- 
Py 


iS 


“" 


bis 


instead of being wooed through it. This is a re- 
versal of our familiar concepts of the working 
of sexual selection, but does not deny them in any 


I ea : 
A eee Wie Wry ane. 


The female therefore comes to the male’s call 


© 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 55 


essential. The most vigorous male, with the 


clearest and most incessant song, will be most — 


likely to hold his territory against competitors, 
or to attract a female. A premium is thus 
placed on virility in the one case as in the other. 
When he is joined by a mate, they unite in de- 
fence of their. territory. Intruders that may 
seek to establish themselves in too close proximity 
are immediately attacked and, if possible, driven 
off. In this, no respect is shown to sex by either 
bird. A female is as certain to be attacked by 
either or both of the pair as is a male. Tres- 
passers are, however, usually driven only to the 
boundaries of the preserve and victories are 
rarely followed up when this object is achieved. 
However pugnacious birds may be in their own 
bailiwick, those of either opposite or the same 
sex will meet freely on common feeding grounds 
without evidence of animosity. Non-competi- 
tive neighbors are tolerated much closer than 
are those of similar species. In these struggles 
the established bird or birds have the advantage. 
They are fighting with the vigor of determina- 
tion for home and fireside, while intruders are 
less determined and, unless desirable localities 
are at a great premum, will retreat to seek quar- 
ters than can be more cheaply acquired. We 
often see one bird chase another ignominiously 
away and into its own proper territory, when 
the tables are reversed, the aggressor becomes 
the defendant and retires with equal haste before 
the assault of the late fugitive. 

Most of this reads very convincingly in connec- 
tion with many of our small song birds and we 
can see the details of it any day in spring or early 
summer, but the experienced observer will 
realize what the author does not suggest, that 
there are species whose modes of life do not fit 
into the scheme. Species that mate for life do 
not have to advertise annually for a mate; those 
that pair before arrival on the nesting ground 
have other methods of attracting mates. Prae- 
coces, whose young run at birth and can be taken 
to the food supplies, are relatively independent 
of the immediate surroundings of the nest, and 
polygamist species are fundamentally different 
from the monogamists in all their family relations. 
The exceptions in these species, however, cannot 
be regarded as objections to the application of 
the rule to others. In fact, in studying the 
reaction of such a law to varying conditions, a 
more intelligent understanding of its workings can 
be obtained. Such exceptions, by interpreting it, 
may be said to prove the rule. 

In connection with this book, it is well to read 
Mr. Mousley’s Singing Tree* which confirms, in 


*Auk, XXXVI, 1919, 339-348. 


a) Fi ye Fe ee ah Mes ay 
MES Le ee (Coes Ree 


a 


at age a 
eed}, 
< a ee 


Pes 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXVI as 


56 


fact anticipates, much that is here presented. consequence from many private libraries that * 


Also Mr. Baldwin’st discoveries of the marital 
relations of House Wrens in the same and succeed- 
ing seasons contains much corroborative material. 
It is rather surprising that so careful an investiga- 
tor as Mr. Howard has overlooked these important 
papers bearing, as they do, intimately on his 
subject. 

A criticism that may not be out of the 
way is that in spite of the exclusion of this im- 
portant evidence, the book is padded. Probably 
the author could have developed his thesis with 
no loss of weight and with an increase of clarity 
in half the number of pages. He goes to great 
length to prove that which can be conceded. 
The illustrations are photogravures beautifully 
drawn and reproduced, a credit to both artist 
and publisher, but they do not bear on the subject 
in hand. They are portraits of birds in various 
fighting attitudes that add nothing to the argu- 
ment and do not illuminate a pertinent idea. As 
proof that birds fight they are not needed, as 
illustrations of methods of fighting they do not 
come within the scope of the work. The plans, 
however, showing how a field was divided up into 
spheres of influence in succeeding years by its 
Lapwing inhabitants, are complementary and 
valuable additions to the text. 

The reviewer is here moved to make formal 
protest against the all too common practice of 
the publication of too expensive books on scientific 
subjects." Knowledge should be made as nearly 
free to all as possible and books, whose reason 
for being is the diffusion of knowledge, should 
be kept within the reach of as many students as 
is compatible with the end in view. Editions 
de luxe, unless accompanied by a popular edition, 
are decidedly out of place in scientific fields and 
should be frowned upon instead of praised and 
imitated. Good paper, clear type and adequate 
illustration should be used, of course, but elaborate 
bindings, deckle-edges, wide margins, large pages 
within each of which a small island of print floats 
in a sea of white paper, unnecessarily expensive 
illustrations and intentionally (I was about to say 
maliciously) limited editions are to the detriment 
rather than to the advancement of science and 
should not be condoned even if they do tend to 
the personal glory of authors by the high prices 
attached to the works in second hand catalogues. 

Not all of these strictures apply to the work in 
question, but enough of them do to make a peg 
on which to hang the complaint. The very fact 
that the book costs nearly four dollars and a 
half, Canadian money, sufficiently shows that it 
is unnecessarily expensive and debarred_ in 


TAbet. Proc. Linn. Soc. of N.Y., No. 13, 1918-1919. 


need it. 


At a time like this when we have often _ 


to forego necessary illustrations or make shift — 


with inadequate ones, we question the good taste 
that uses them to give fictitious value to works 
that are complete without them. 

PAST, 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, MuSEUM BUL- 
LETIN No. 33, 109 PP., 12 PLS., 
OcToBER, 1921. 


Naturalists whose interests are not limited to 
the natural history of present day geography will 
doubtless welcome the group of five palaeontolo-— 
gical papers recently published by the Geological 
Survey as Museum Bulletin No. 338. Biology 
has its roots so deeply buried in the geologic past 
that it appears safe to assume that many readers 
of this magazine will be interested in one or more 
of the group of five papers published in this Bulle- 
tin. The authors include two members of the 
palaeontological division of the Canadian Geolo- 
gical Survey and three well-known palaeontologists 
of the United States. The subjects dealt with 
relate to parts of Canada as far apart as Anticosti 
Island and the plains of Alberta. The fossils 
discussed and illustrated represent the Pleistocene, 
Cretaceous, Devonian, Silurian and Ordovician 
rocks of Canada and the Cretaceous of Texas. 

The papers in the Bulletin are published under 
the following titles: 

Faunal and Sediment Variation in the Anticosti 
Sequence. By W. H. Twenhofel. 

New Species of Devonian Crinoidea from 
Northern Canada. By Frank Springer. 

The Range of certain Lower Ordovician Faunas 
of the Ottawa Valley, with Descriptions of some 
new Species. By Alice E. Wilson. 

The Fossil Molluscan Faunas of the Mari 
Deposits of the Ottawa Distrigt By E..d. 
Whittaker. 

Two New North American Cyeadeniae 
G. R. Wieland. 


Professor Twenhofel sets forth in his paper some 
very important conclusions from his detailed 
study of the Anticosti Island Silurian and Ordo- 
vician faunas, which should be of interest to all 
geologists dealing with problems of Palaeozoic 
correlation. Twenhofel states that “lateral gra- 
dation of sediments and faunas may so develop 


By 


that one type of sediment with its fauna may | 


overlap another—the conditions responsible for 
one type of deposition migrating laterally with 
respect to the other. The common interpretation 


would be ‘‘overlap’” of the one by the other, a 
withdrawal of the sea, a land interval, and the 
Twenhofel 


development of an unconformity.” 


cas % 
one we Be 


i. 4 
7 Marck, 1922.] 


; t sre 
does not accept this current interpretation of the 
- lateral changes in the fossil faunas and sediments 
of Anticosti Island, but states it to be “‘the purpose 
of this article to describe examples of sediment 
and faunal. variation in the shallow Ordovician 
and Silurian seas in which were deposited the 
- sediments which now constitute the rocks of the 

Anticosti sequence, and to show that in these 
- waters conditions in respect to the processes and 
results of sedimentation were little different from 
what they are in seas of the present day.” 

Mr. Springer’s paper describes and figures two 
new crinoids belonging to the genus Melocrimes, 
from the Mackenzie basin. 

The paper by Miss Wilson materially increases 
our knowledge of the geological range of the 
several species comprising the Black River and 
Trenton faunas in the Ottawa Valley, and adds 
some new species to these faunas. The author 
has shown all that her investigations have dis- 
closed regarding range of species by means of a 
series of tables. These indicate at just what 

point in the section each species makes its first 
appearance, and just where it disappears from 
the section. This paper is a good example of 
the sort of precise work in collecting and studying 
fossil faunas which is needed to make stratigraphic 
palaeontology the exact science which it will 
some day become. 

Mr. Whittaker’s contribution deals with a 
fossil fresh-water fauna found in the marls of the 
Ottawa Valley which, in its time relations, lies 
between the latest marine Pleistocene interval 
and the time represented by the living molluscan 

fauna. Students wishing to study the fresh- 
water fossils of the Ottawa Valley Pleistocene 
will find the plates and keys of this paper most 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALISY 57 


useful. The illustrations of the paper include an 
aeroplane photograph showing the relation of the 
fossil marl deposits to the present water level at 
McKay Lake. So far as the writer is aware, this 
ix the first aeroplane photograph to be used in 
ill\strating a palaeontological paper. 

In the paper on fossil cycads, Dr. Wieland has 
des¢ribed the first cycad ever recorded from 
Canadian rocks. The cycads represent a singular 
and exceptional type of plant which, in the modern 
world, is confined to the warmer climates. Their 
short thick trunks have sometimes been called 
“fossil birds’ nests’”’ by quarrymen. 


The Canadian specimen of Cycadeoidea describ- 
ed by Dr. Wieland appears to be the latest record- 
ed from North America. ‘In a few words, the 
known petrified cycadeoids come in with a certain 
abundance, quickly culminate in variety and 
number, and then, after long continental distribu- 
tion, these uniquely specialized forms slowly 
disappear toward Tertiary time, to recur no more. 
With them, too, go the Araucarias, save that these 
still persist in South America.” 

Unfortunately, the plates for this bulletin have 
suffered greatly at the hands cf the printers. 
The palzontologists who prepared the excellent 
plates for these papers will need more than “a 
drop of patience” if they can forgive the damage 
done to them by printing the explanations on 
the backs of the plates. Discarding the nearly 
universal practice of printing plate explanations 
on sheets separate from the plates, which in this 
case are printed on very thin paper, illustrates a 
variety of economy akin to that which would be 
displayed by mounting a fine diamond on a brass 


ring. 
E. M. K. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


A BARKING FROG 
Everyone who has studied animals at all 
_ closely knows that there is a considerable difference 
in temperament between individuals of the same 
_ species, and that because one individual behaves 
in a certain manner under certain circumstances 
it is not necessarily true that all individuals will 
behave in a similar manner. 
This individuality of temperament was brought 
out very clearly in an experience I had last August 
: with a specimen of the Green Frog, Rana clamitans, 
at St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In a very small 
- pool in a little stream on the Golf Links were two 
of these frogs. They were floating at the surface 
of the water against the bank, and while one 
swam away as I approached the other remained 
‘stationary. Seeing that it was not timid I took 
po fi 


the opportunity of photographing it, and having 
done so I reached over and gently stroked its 
back. 
instead of doing so it emitted a sound which can 


I expected it to dart away instantly, but 


most adequately be described as a bark, and 


turning about, it snapped at my finger. I tried 
the same thing again and again with the same 
result, except that its “barks’’ became a little 
louder and its snaps more vicious. The barking 
sound which it made was utterly unlike anything 
I have ever heard this species, or any other frog, 
utter, and if one had not seen the animal which 
was uttering it he would have had great difficulty 
in guessing the species of animal from which the 
note emanated. 
A. BROOKER KLUGH. 


PE RG ee aT ee ee ee ee oe Bar oe ee tee Oe cL a Pe = ON 


, = 
~~ ta ae lCUrk eS OF 


eee ern yt ered, 


58 


WHITE GYRFALCON IN ALBERTA:—A fine spe- 
cimen of the White Gyrfaleon was shot by Mr. 
Waghorn on his farm at Blackfalds, Alberta, 
in the act of attacking one of his turkeys in De- 
cember, 1920. It had been noticed for a fortnight 
previous to being shot. I saw this rare falcon 
in Mr. J. H. Grant’s taxidermist store in Red Deer 
in the spring of 1921, and am indebted to him 
for the above data. The. bird is now in the 
possession of Mr. Waghorn. I believe this is a 
record for Alberta. 

ELSIE CASSELS. 


REMARKS ON THE POISON IVY. 


When reading Dr. H. T. Gussow’s interesting and 
instructive article on ‘‘The Treatment of Skin 
Irritations due to Poison Ivy’’*, I was struck by 
his remark that “‘Nobody, of course, ever comes 
knowingly into contact with poison ivy”, because 
it is not in agreement with my personal experience. 
I have never avoided poison ivy, have often come 
knowingly into contact with it, and have never 
been poisoned by it. Most of my boyhood was 
spent on Long Island, in the State of New York, 
where the poison ivy often grows as a large creep- 
ing plant, climbing to the tops of trees of moderate 
size, and where persons are frequently poisoned 
by it. I distinctly remember that, on one oc- 
casion, my brother and I cut a branchless ‘‘rope”’ 
of poison ivy stem, about an inch in diameter, 
and perhaps ten or twelve feet long, which we 
at once used in a “tug-of-war’’, thus smearing 
our hands freely with the sap which exuded 
from the freshly cut ends of the piece of stem, 
but that neither of us suffered any ill effects as 
a result. I was not in the range of the poison 
ivy during the unusually hot weather of the 
summer of 1921, and I have, of course, no means 
of knowing whether or not I shall be immune to 
poison ivy poisoning all my life. I may add 
that my mother, although she has often come 
into contact with poison ivy, has never been 
poisoned by it, but that my father was readily 
poisoned by contact with it on Long Island. 

Poison ivy is widely distributed in Nova Scotia, 
although it does not grow to a large size in that 
area. Most Nova Scotians do not realize that 
poison ivy grows in their vicinity, because it 
seldom or never causes poisoning in their pro- 
vince. Although I resided in Nova Scotia for 
more than seven years, I cannot recall that a 
case of poison ivy poisoning came to my attention 
during that time. Whether this is due to the 
northern climate and the dwarfed growth of 
poison ivy in Nova Scotia, or to the comparatively 


*The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. 


6, pp. 116-118, September. 1921. 


XXXYV., No. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


isolated position of the fauna of the province, 
or to some other cause, I do not know. 


HARRISON F. Lewin 


FOUNDING OF A NEW CLUB. 


On November 22nd, 1921, a number of Toronto 
naturalists met at the Royal Ontario Museum 
where they organized the Toronto Naturalists’ 
Club. Their purpose was to found an organiza- 
tion which would bring together the men interest- 
ed in Natural History, and, in so doing, make 
co-operation possible along various lines of study. 
Another important purpose was to create a circle 
of congenial men with mutual interests so that 
they might enjoy the pleasures resultant from 
such an association. 

The Club is, so far, unique in that it has no 
officers, the object being to set aside all formality 
and to place on each man a share of the respon- 
sibility for the Club’s activities and success. 
The meetings are led by members, voluntarily 
and by rotation. The Museum’s collections are 
being used for study, and the resulting discus- 
sions bring out many interesting observations and 
reviews. (It will. be here noted that the Museum 
is rendering a valuable service as well as giving 
naturalists an incentive to augment its collections.) 

It is necessary to restrict the membership of the 
Club to a small number because an open organiza- 
tion would necessarily lose the original idea of 
informality and close acquaintance. The follow- 
ing are the founding members:—-: ’ 


J. L. Baillie 
N. K. Biglow 
J. R. Dymond 
T. B. Kurata 
Wm. LaRay 
Shelly Logier 
Chas. Richards 
L. L. Snyder 


L. Sternberg 

Stuart Thompson 

Victor Thomson 

The Toronto Naturalists’ Club solicits the 
friendship and acquaintance of naturalists and 
will be pleased to co-operate with them in any 
way possible. Address any correspondence to 
the Toronto Naturalists’ Club, The Royal Ontario 
Museum of Zoology, Toronto, Ont. 
L. L. SNYDER. 


AN INTERESTING FAMILY OF EIDERS 
Some thirty years ago the late Mr. Simon F. 


Cheney lived on Cheney’s Island, a small island 


of the Grandmanan Group in the Province of 
New Brunswick. He was a very remarkable 
f 


[VOL. XXXVI é 


: 
a 
ot 
n 


- 
~~ s 


RS cal Tete 7h Py 


Ne 


1 


ce 


March, 1922.! 


-Grandmanan fifty-one years ago. 


-man and his knowledge of the birds of his native 


province was quite exceptional. He had the 
distinction of taking the last living Labrador 
Duck, a female which he shot at Sheep Island in 
This bird he 
sent to Geo. A. Boardman, of Calais, Maine, who 
forwarded it to the Smithsonian Institute, Wash- 
ington, D.C. Incidentally, Mr. Cheney never 
received a cent for his prize. Eider Ducks used 
to nest in numbers then at Grandmanan where 
only a few scattered pairs today breed and rear 
their young. Mr. Cheney discovered many 
nests of these birds and frequently placed the 
eggs under tame ducks and hens. It is a curious 
fact that Eider Ducks hatched out under hens 
became blind when about three weeks old. A 
film formed over their eyes which gradually 
destroyed their sight. These blind ducklings 
would invariably die. If, however, the Eiders 
were hatched out under tame ducks, they never 
became victims of this blindness. One spring Mr. 
Cheney discovered an Eider’s nest containing six 
eggs. These he placed under a tame duck and 
all the eggs hatched. Now the problem was 
what to feed the ducklings. Mr. Cheney was, 
however, equal to the occasion. By mixing 
cornmeal and water he made a thin gruel and, with 
the addition of sand fleas the birds learned to 
eat the meal. In picking out the live fleas they 
would of course get some of the meal and became 
accustomed to the taste of it. After a time they 
learned to like the meal and greedily ate it with- 
out the addition of the fleas. When the young 
ducks grew larger, their owner used to take them 
to a brook and turn over stones in order that the 
Eiders could catch the small eels and other tiny 
fish. These young ducks would waddle and swim 
along behind their master until their appetites 
were surfeited. They never went far from their 
pen near the house alone, and were a source of 
great delight to the many visitors who came to 
Cheney’s Island, among whom were many noted 
ornithologists of the day. Each night this 
interesting family of young Eiders was shut up in 
its pen. Among the visitors to Grandmanan 
there came a man and his wife from Calais, Maine. 
The morning after the departure of these tourists 
Mr. Cheney missed his pets and nothing was heard 


_ of them for a month. One day a friend of Mr. 


Cheney’s had occasion to go to Calais and while 
there heard of a flock of young “Sea Ducks” a 
woman had in the town. Upon investigation, he 
discovered they were the same birds which had 
been stolen from Mr. Cheney. In the night this 
friend of Mr. Cheney’s opened the pen where the 
ducks were confined and what was their owner’s 
surprise and delight upon opening his back door 


? THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 59 


the following morning to find the birds huddled 
together upon the stoop. They waddled about 
him and flapped their wings and talked to him 
in their accustomed way, showing every indication 
of delight at getting back home again. From 
Cheney’s Island to Calais is approximately fifty 
miles, yet these young ducks came safely back in a 
very short time after being given their liberty, 
which is only another instance of how wild birds 
will yield to kindness and protection. 


H. A. P. SMITH, 
Digby, N:S. 


A CORRECTION. 


Under the heading of BIG GAME in my 
paper on the ‘‘Mammals of Islay, Alberta,” 
Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XXXV, No. 6, 
p. 111, there appears a confusion of terms regard- 
ing the deer of the west. Since considerable time 
has elapsed since the writing of this paper, I 
cannot recall how or why I came to use such 
terminology. Anyway, I wish to redeem myself. 
The Mule Deer, Black-tail and Jumping Deer, 
contrary to the impression conveyed by my 
writing, are synonymous terms. A few lines 
farther down the Jumping Deer is more explicitly 
singled out—an obvious error—for what is meant 
here is the Northern Virginian Deer or White 
tailed Deer. The same is true of the reference 
to the Jumping Deer at Laurier Lake on page 104. 
There are but two species of deer in Alberta, the 
White-tail and the Mule Deer. 


T. DEWEY SOPER. 


AN AQUATIC HABIT OF THE 
GREAT BLUE HERON 


Mr. Lloyd’s account of pigeons alighting in 
deep wat2r recalls a similar occurrence on the 
part of the Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, 
noted on the Rideau Lakes, Ontario, by myself 
and D. Blakeley. 

We were camping on the shore of Big Island, 
July 11, 1918. Behind us, in the centre of the 
island was a large heronry, whilst passing over 
and continuing across the wide expanse of the 
lake on their way to feeding grounds was a con- 
tinuous stream of herons. On several occasions 
whilst watching the birds departing we saw them 
drop to the lake !evel, hesitate a moment and 
then drop softly into the water. They remained 
perhaps half a minute there and then, with an 
easy flap of wings rose and continued their way. 
The distance was too great to see what they did 
even with 8X prismatic binoculars. There was 
a movement of the neck and head that may have 


60 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


meant picking something from the water, dabbling 
in it, or drinking. 

We thought there might be a shoal out there in 
mid-lake that we were unaware of and made a 
point of investigating. We found nothing but 
deep water anywhere in the vicinity of the oc- 
currence. My mother and sister reported an 
exactly similar occurrence about a year later on 
Crow Lake, a small body of water southwest of 
here, so it is evidently a habit not strictly confined 
to the birds of this one particular rookery. I do 
not remember hearing or reading of this trait of 
the species elsewhere. 

P. A. TAVERNER. 


A LARGE FLOCK OF EVENING 


GROSBEAKS AT TORONTO 

Early on the morning of March 19th, 1922, 
L. Sternberg and the writer were tramping through 
a wooded section northeast of Toronto along a 
small stream known as Jones’ Creek. Many of 
the expected early spring arrivals were noted as 
well as resident birds of the season. At, least 
one species observed rewarded us for our early 
morning activities, namely, a flock of Evening 
Grosbeaks. We were first attracted to them by 
their loud chattering and were permitted to watch 
them for at least ten minutes. Three counts 
were attempted, after which we were able to 
place their number at thirty plus, which was a 
conservative estimate. 

When first observed, they were scattered 
through the trees on the opposite side of the creek. 
Fortunately, they moved toward us, the entire 
flock settling on the ice which bordered the 
creek. They kept up a continuous “peeping” 
which was the last impression left with us after 
they rose, as if by-a gust of wind, and were lost 
to view as they circled round a clump of trees. 

We noticed an interesting effect of light and 
shadow as we were watching these birds through 
our glasses. When the male birds’ olive and 
yellow plumage was under shadow, the color 
effect was that of rufus, similar to the color on 
the breast of an American Robin. Ic is this 
effect of light that causes the frequent reports of 
impossible birds to the student. 


L. L. SNYDER. 
Royal Ontario Museum, 
Toronto. 


AQUATIC HABITS OF PIGEONS.—Recent notes re- 
lating to the aquatic habits of pigeons bring to 
mind an observation which I made some years ago 
and which at the time introduced a question if 
there were any fundametal significance in the 
fact of a pigeon alighting in the water. 


The pigeons on my country place at Stamford, 
Connecticut, were in the habit of flying down to 
alight upon a rock projecting above the water in a 
large stream near my barns. One morning I 
observed a pigeon which flew to this rock for its 
morning drink, but finding it already fully occupied 
by other pigeons, circled about two or three times 
near the surface and then deliberately alighted in 
the water. This apparently did not disturb the 
bird particularly, because it proceeded to drink as 
it slowly floated down stream and then swam to a 
shallow sandy bar from which it took flight. The 
pigeons were an ordinary mixed lot of Blue Rock 
descendants. 

ROBERT T. Morris, M.D. 

BRONZED GRACKLES AS SCAVENGERS.—Above 
Mooney’s Bay, Rideau River, several Bronzed 
Grackles were observed coursing back and forth 
over the surface of the water. At intervals one 
would drop in gull-fashion and lift some morsel 
from the water, carrying it to land to devour. 
Upon closer examination these morsels proved to 
be dead minnows floating along with the current. 
June 5, 1918. 

C. E. JOHNSON. 

FIELD NOTES FROM KAPUKASING, ONTARIO.— 
While engaged in field-work at Kapuskasing, the 
first week of July, 1919, I saw a nest built by a pair 
of Yellow Warblers composed almost exclusively of 
wads of cotton batting picked up around camp. 

A Robin in the same locality posted itself on the 
rocks below Kapuskasing Falls several evenings 
and caught winged insects, fly-catcher fashion. 

A Red Squirrel with left front foot amputated 
close to the body was a frequent visitor at camp. 

C. E. JOHNSON. 

Foop oF AMBUSH Bucs.—Observed an Ambush 
Bug (Phymata wolffi) seize and kill a Little Wood- 
satyr (Neonympha eurytus) as it lit upon-a flowering 
head of Joe Pye Weed, July 28, 1918. On another 
occasion, one near this same locality, Dow’s Swamp, 
Ottawa, seized and killed a common Honey-bee 
upon a head of flowering Golden-rod, August 3, 1920. 

C. E. JOHNSON. 


BUMBLE-BEES ON BLEEDING HEART.—While ad- 
miring the bloom on a plant of Bleeding-heart many 
of the blossoms were noticed to have been per- 
forated on their upper ends. A few minutes later 
a Bumble-bee arrived and promptly proceeded to 
extract nectar through the openings. Several came 
later and when a blossom was encountered with no 


mutilation, the bee dexterously lacerated it to obtain — 


the hidden sweets.—Ottawa, May 19, 1918. 
C. E. JOHNSON. 


(VoL. XXXVI 


4 


ye mo 


OF it aneelian Field-Naturalist 


VOL. XXXVI 


OTTAWA, ONT., APRIL, 1922. No. 4 


BIOLOGICAL NOTES ALONG FOURTEEN HUNDRED MILES OF THE 
MACKENZIE RIVER SYSTEM. 


By M. Y. WILLIAMS 


‘ 


HE following observations were made while 
on an exploration trip in the Mackenzie 
River valley for the Geological Survey of Canada 
in the summer of 1921. The writer travelled in 
company with Dr. G. S. Hume and Mr. HE. J. 
Whittaker, officers of the Geological Survey, as far 
as Fort Providence, where Mr. Whittaker started 
exploration. Dr. Hume and the writer kept in 
touch with each other throughout the summer. 


ITINERARY 


From Peace River Town on Peace River, down 
stream to Lake Athabasca outlet, thence down 
stream via the Slave River to Great Slave Lake, 
down the lake 125 miles to the head of Mackenzie 


_ River, thence downward 550 miles to the site of 


the oil well 58 miles below Fort Norman which 
has so recently stirred the public imagination. 

We started at Peace River Town on May 19; 
our farthest north was the Imperial oil well, 


fifty odd miles below Fort Norman, which we 


visited on August 13-14. Returnint from Nor- 
man on August 21, we reached Smith on Septem- 
ber 4, and McMurray, via Athabasca River, 
September 9; the round trip aggregating about 
2700 miles. 


TOPOGRAPHY AND FLORA. 


The country between Peace River Town and 
Fort Vermillion is high, rolling prairie, more or 
less covered with poplar and willow. Below, the 
general characters are best described as muskeg. 
Sphagnum moss is the common carpet, black 
spruce the common forest tree. Sand ridges 
covered with jack pine are sparsely distributed, 
and stands of black poplar are interspersed be- 
tween muskeg areas. Alders border the streams, 
and white birch and white poplar occupy the bet- 
ter land along the rivers. Numerous lakes occur, 
mostly of shallow character, Such is the country 
visited, except where the mountains bring relief 
to the sight as well as to the landscape. From the 
mouth of the North Nahannie to Fort Wrigley 
mountains are the controlling landscape feature, 
and from here down stream they are rarely more 


than ten miles from the river. The ubiquitous 


muskeg, however, is indomitable and laps the 
hillsides, and even the tops of the low ridges, 
holding perpetual frost little below the moss roots. 

The wood flowers, including beautiful Ladies’ 
Slippers and other fine orchids, are common in 
June, while the thrushes sing, accompanied by 
White-throats, White-crowns and other wood 
songsters. July is the time of fireweed—the burns 
on the uplands and mountain sides are pink with 
it. August is the time of asters, and, after the 
middle of the month, of the yellowing poplar, of 
the reddening leaves of the fireweed and, in 
general, of the fading leaf. 

The following species of plants were collected 
between Ft. Simpson and Ft. Wrigley in 1921 by 
the author, and identified by Professor John 
Davidson, botanist in charge of the Herbarium 
and Botanical Gardens of the University of 
British Columbia. 

Potentilla fruticosa (Shrubby Cinafoil.) 

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow.) 

Gentiana sceptrum (Swamp Gentian.) 

Parnassia palustris (Grass of Parnassus.) 

Elaeagnus argenteus (Buffalo Berry.) 

Campanula rotundifolia (Scottish Blue Bell.) 

Hedysarum Mackenzii (Hedysarum.) 

Galium boreale (Northern Bedstraw.) 

Castilleja, sp? (Indian Paint-brush.) 


Pinguicula vulgaris? (Butterwort). 
Cypripedium passerinum (Northern Lady’s 
Slipper.) 

Cypripedium  parviflorum (Small Yellow 


Lady’s Slipper.) 
Orchis rotundifolia (Round-leaved orchid.) 
Anemone patens wolfgangiana *(Prairie Ane- 
mone.) 
Asplenium viride. 
Campanula Sp? 
FAUNA. 


According to Preble, the Mackenzie valley, as 
traversed by the author, falls within the Canadian 
Life Zone, the Mackenzie and Franklin mountains, 
however, being within the Hudsonian Zone. As 


(Spleenwort.) 


*This species not previously found east of the Rockies. 
according to the records in the Geol. Survey Herbarium. 


i 4 . oo eee | pe Paha. 
| a 
ae 
<< 
» 


62 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (Vou. X XXVI 


will be seen below, the northern extension of the 
range of the Meadow Lark suggests affinities 
with regions hundreds of miles farther south. 
NOTES OF OCCURRENCES. 
BIRDS. 
Colymbus holboéili. 


HOLBOELL GREBE. One seen 


‘on Rocher River, Sept. 6th. 


PaciFic Loon. Gavia pacifica. Two positively 
identified by their grey hoods near mouth of Root 
River, July 12th, and five at Fort Norman, August 
12th. 
7-S8th. and near Ft. Wrigley. August 10th, were 
probably Gavia imber. 

SLATY-BACKED GULL. Larus shistisagus. Sev- 
eral large, dark-backed Gulls seen on Great 
Slave Lake, June 7th and 8th, resembling the 
Great Black-backed Gull of the Atlantic coast. 

HERRING GULL. Larus argentatus? Fairly 

common on Peace, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers 
and Willow Lake River (July 1-17).. Immature 
bird seen at Fort Wrigley, July 30th and 31st. 
Common at Norman. Common at Wrigley 
Harbour at foot of Great Slave Lake, Aug. 31st 
and Sept 1st. 
RING-BILLED GULL. Larus delawarensis. Fair- 
ly common on Willow Lake River, July 6-8th. 
Short-billed gull probably confused with this 
species. 

BONAPARTE GULL. Larus philadelphia sp? 
Common at mouth of Slave River, June 6th. 
Bill black, no rosy tinge noticed. 

COMMON TERN. Sterna hirundo. Common on 
Slave River, June 9th, and at Wrigley Harbour, 
June 12th. This may be s. paradisaea. 

BiLack TERN. Hydrochelidon nigra  surina- 
mensis, Common at mouth of Slave River, June 
9th. 

WHITE PELICAN. Pelicanus erythrorhynchus. 
Six seen commonly at Smith Rapids, June 1-5. 

MERGANSER. Mergus americanus or serrator. 
One female seen on Willow Lake River, June 14th. 
Two at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st and Sept. Ist. 

MALLARD. Anas platyrhynchos. Common on 
Peace and Upper Slave Rivers, May 19-30. 
Female frightened from nest and 12 eggs under 
spruce tree on dry lands above river about 30 
miles above Fitzgerald, May 30th. Several 
females seen on Wiilow Lake River, July 1-14. 
Common on flats of Little Lake below Providence, 
Aug. 30th. Common Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 
31st and Sept. Ist. 


BALDPATE. Mareca americana. One male tak- 
en on Slave River 30 miles above Fitzgerald, 
May 29th. Common at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 
31st. 


GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Nettion carolinense. 
One of the commonest ducks seen throughout trip, 


Loons seen on Great Slave Lake, June 


frons gambeli. 


wherever narrow channels or small lakes occur. 


Broods of year fully grown in lakes east of Wrig- 
ley, Aug. 1-7. These were living on local berries 


of muskeg. Common at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. — 


S1St- 
SHOVELLER. Spatula clypeata. Commonly 
seen along E.D. & B.C. Ry., near Lesser Slave 
Lake, and on Peace River above Careajou, May 
17-20. Common at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st. 
PINTAIL. Dafila acuta. Common on Peace 
River. Fairly common at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 
ES Wtsiis 
CANVASBACK. Marila vallisneria. Several seen 
in bag of a hunter at Fort Chipewyan, Sept. 7th. 
AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK. Marila marila. 
Common on Peace River in small flocks, May 
19-28. 
BUFFLE-HEAD. 
on Peace River. 


Charitonetia albeola. Common 
Female at two islands 30 miles 


below Simpson, June 20th. Females also seen on 


Willow Lake River, July 10th and at Old Wrigley, 


July 28rd. 
AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE. Clangula clangula 
americana. Common on Peace River; male and 


female taken. 
young, 35 miles below Fort Simpson, June 28th. 
Female and eight large downy young east of 
Wrigley, August 1st, living on young clam shells 
the size of peas. 

WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. Oidemia deglandi. 
Seen on Great Slave Lake, June 8-9th. 

SurF Scoter. Oidema perspicillata. General- 
ly common throughout region. Except for the 
occurrences noted above, no breeding ducks were 
observed and they do not appear to nest in large 
numbers along the Mackenzie river where visited. 

Snow GoosE. Chen huperborea. A flock of 15 
seen in Little Lake below Providence, Aug. 30th. 
These were probably the Lesser Snow Geese. 
One seen in hands of hunter at Fort Chipewyan, 
Sept. 7th. 

CANADA GoosE. Branta canadensis. Several 
flocks seen on Peace River. One taken. Report- 


ed common on Carcajou River by Mr. Link, and - 


on Trout River above Providence by Mr. Whit- 
taker. 

AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Anser albi- 
Birds probably of this species, 
locally called ‘‘Brant,’”’ common on Slave River 
and in flocks along length of Mackenzie traversed. 

AMERICAN BITTERN. Botaurus  lentiginosus 
One heard by party at Wrigley Harbour, foot of 
Great Slave Lake, June 12th. 

CRANE. Grus canadensis? One seen in wet 
muskeg 3 miles back of Two Islands Village, June 
18-20 (about 30 miles below Fort Simpson). 


This was evidently a breeding female as it fre- 


quented one locality and made considerable dis- 


Female and fourteen downy 


~~ 


# 


‘ 
roe 
4 
: 


i, 


- April, 1922.) 


turbance while running away. The color was 
warm brown. 

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. Erewnetes pusillus. 
Two doubtfully identified east of Wrigley, Aug. 
3rd. 

GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. Totanus melanoleu- 
cus. Several near mouth of Nahanni river, June 
27th; one on Willow Lake River, July 9th; one 
near Old Wrigley, July 20th; 6 east of Wrigley, 
Aug. 6th. 

LESSER YELLOW-LEGS. Totanus flavipes. Sev- 
eral seen in vicinity of Wrigley appeared to be too 
small to belong to last species and probably belong 

to the smaller species. . 

SOLITARY SANDPIPER. Helodromus solitarius. 
A pair with young seen at Two Island Indian 
village, June. 16-28. One on Willow Lake River, 
July 7th; common at Norman, Aug. 12-14. 

SPOTTED SANDPIPER. Actitis macularia. Very 
common. Nest of 4 eggs on Willow Lake River, 
July 8th. Young seen on Willow Lake and 
Mackenzie Rivers north to Wrigley, July 8-18. 
Common to Norman and Oil Well. 

AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER. Charadrius dom- 
inicus. One male seen on top of Bear Rock, Aug. 
12th, and approached to within 10 feet. 

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. Aegialitis semipal- 
mata. Several seen on Peace River, May 20-30. 
and on Willow Lake River and at Old Wrigley, 
July 12-22. 

SPRUCE GROUSE. Canachites canadensis. Fair- 
ly common in spruce of muskeg from Fitzgerald 
to Norman. Female and downy young, June 21st, 
on trail 30 miles below Simpson. Female and 12 
young near Old Wrigley, July 19th. Common 
at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st. Some seen may 
have been C. franklini. 

RUFFED GROUSE. Bonasa wmbellus. Three 
females with young on trail 30 miles below Simp- 
son, June 20-25. Twelve half-grown young near 
Old Wrigley, July 22nd. Species seen commonly 
as far north as Wrigley, Aug. 1st. This is pro- 
bably the Gray Ruffed Grouse. 

Rock PTARMIGAN. Lagopus rupestris. One 
seen on Cap Mountain, 15 miles east of Fort 
Wrigley, Aug. 5th. 

_SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Pediecetes phasianel- 
lus. Reported common at rapids 35 miles up 
Bear River, Aug. 15-24. 

MarsH HAwk. Circus hudsonius. Seen once or 
twice on Peace River. One male seen at Wrigley 
Harbour, June 12th. One female on Willow 
Lake River, July 13th; one female at Norman, 
Aug. 13th; one female taken at Norman, Aug. 
23rd. 

- SHARP SHINNED HAwk. Accipiter velox. Fair- 
ly common at Norman, Aug. 11-25. A female 
taken at Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st, and a male 


4 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATUTRALIS 


63 


Sept. lst. They were following rusty blackbirds. 

AMERICAN GOSHAWK. Astur atricapillus. One 
immature bird seen in Jack pine forest east of 
Fort Wrigley, Aug. 3rd. 

RED-TAILED HAWK. Buteo borealis. Many 
seen. Immature bird in dark plumage shot near 
mouth of Slave River, June 8th. This one had 
lost about 4 inch of hind toe. Common in Jack 
pine sandy knolls 30 miles below Simpson, June 
20-25. Seen commonly on Willow Lake and 
Mackenzie River north to Wrigley, July 1-30. 
One seen 30 miles below Wrigley, Aug. 10th. 
One seen carrying rabbit at Smith Creek, July 
26th. This is probably the Western Red-tail. 

Duck HAwk. Falco peregrinus anatum. Sev- 
eral pairs seen at gypsum cliffs, Slave River, May 
29th. Two nests in recesses in gypsum cliffs about 
40 feet above the water, two large young sitting 
in one nest. Two seen at Rock-by-the-Riverside, 
Aug. 7-8th; two at Bear Rocks, Fort Norman, 
Aug. 14-19, on which dates a large female was 
taken. One seen at Wrigley, Aug. 18th, and one 
at Providence, Aug. 30th. 

PIGEON Hawk. Falco columbarius. Doubt- 
fully identified on Willow Lake River, July 13th. 
A pair seen at Norman, Aug. 12-16. One was 
seen to catch a cliff swallow on the wing. 

SPARROW HAWK. Falco sparverius. One seen 
on Lone Mountain at mouth of Nahanni River, 
June 28th. One on Willow Lake River, July 2nd. 
Several at Wrigley, July 30th, and fairly common 
at Fort Norman, Aug. 12-19. 

AMERICAN OSPREY or FISH HAWK. Pandion 
haliaetus carolinensis. Absent on muddy waters. 
One seen at Simpson, Aug. 29th, and one at 
Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st, and one, Sept, Ist. 

GREAT GRAY OWL. Scotiaptex nebulosa. One 
seen in spruce woods 14 miles above Fort Wrigley, 
July 28th. A female. (?) shot at Athabasca 
Landing by Wm. Fowler, Jan. 1922 and sent to 
the writer. 

AMERICAN HAWK OWL. Surnia ulula caparoch. 
One seen in black spruce in muskeg near Fort 
Norman, Aug. 13th. One male taken at Wrigley 
Harbour, Aug. 31st. 

BELTED KINGFISHER. Ceryle alcyon. General- 
ly distributed. One seen most days but common- 
er on clear waters, e.g. the Willow Lake River. 
Seen at Fort Norman, Aug. 12-14, and at Simpson, 
Aug. 29th. 

HAIRY WOODPECKER. Dryobates villosus. 
Heard on Willow Lake River, July 10th. Common 
in vicinity of Fort Wrigley, July 22—Aug. 7. 
This is doubtless the Northern Hairy. > 

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. Sphyrapicus vari= 
us. Common along Peace River, May 20-30. 

FLICKER. Colaptes auratus. Seen commonly 
on Peace River, June 19-29th, and fairly common- 


64 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


ly along Mackenzie River as far north as Fort 
Wrigley, one or more being seen or heard every 
day, July 4—Aug. 7th. One seen at Wrigley 
Harbour, Sept. Ist. This is probably the North- 
ern Flicker. , 

NicuHt Hawk. Chordeiles virginianus. Com- 
mon. Three nests and eggs seen on Jack pine 
sand knolls 30 miles below Fort Simpson, June 
18-27. Common in evenings north to Fort 
Wrigley in July and till Aug. 9th, when we went 
down river. 

PHOEBE. Sayornis phoebe. Common at posts 
and Indian settlements along Peace, Slave and 
Mackenzie rivers north to Fort Wrigley. A pair 
nesting at Two Island Indian village, 30 miles 
below Fort Simpson, June 17-27. Heard at 
mouth of Willow Lake River, July 1-2, and 12- 
16. Nest and five young seen at Old Wrigley, 
July 22nd. 

QLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. Nuttalornis borealis. 
Notes heard commonly along Peace, Slave and 
Mackenzie rivers during June and on Willow 
Lake River, until July 13th. One taken at 
Bear Rock, Fort Norman, Aug. 23rd. 

LEAST FLYCATCHER. Empidonax minimus. 
Heard commonly along Mackenzie River, June 
21-30, and also on Willow Lake River, July 12th. 

CANADA JAY. Perisoreus canadensis. Fairly 
common along whole route. Seen or heard prac- 
tically every day on Willow Lake and Mackenzie 
Rivers north to Wrigley, during July and Aug. 
1-7. One seen at Norman, Aug. 18th, one at 
Fort Simpson, Aug. 29th, common at Wrigley 
Harbour, Aug. 30-31. 

NORTHERN RAVEN. Corvus corax principalis. 
A few seen along Peace River, May 19-29. Com- 
mon at mouth of Willow Lake River, at Wrigley, 
Norman, Simpson and Providence or near posts, 
river mouths and where mountains flank rivers. 

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Agelaius phoeniceus. 
Common on sloughs near Carcajou, Peace River, 


May 21st. This is doubtless the Northern Red- 
wing. 
WESTERN MEADOWLARK. Sturnella neglecta. 


One bird seen at Two Island Indian village 30 
miles below Simpson, June 17th. Reported 
taken at Simpson by Capt. Mills. 


Rusty BLAKCBIRD. Euphagus carolinus sp? 
Seen at Two Island Village, June 25th. Two seen 
at Willow Lake River, July 17th. Flock seen at 
Providence, Aug. 29th, and several flocks seen at 
Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 31st. 


WHITE-WINGED! CrossBILL. Loxia leucoptera. 
Gommon near Two Islands, June 20th. Heard 
and seen every day between Willow Lake River 
and Wrigley, July 2—Aug. 10; at Simpson, Aug. 
29th, and Wrigley Harbour, Aug. 30-31. 


(VoL. XXXVI __ 


SNOWFLAKE. Plectrophenax nivalis. A flock 
seen at Fort Norman, Aug. 19th. ; 

ENGLISH SPARROW. Passer domesticus. One 
female seen commonly at Two Islands Indian 
village, where it entered a cabin occupied by us, 
June 26-27. 

WESTERN SAVANNAH SPARROW. Passerculus 
sandwichensis. Small dark sparrows probably 
of this species are common along Mackenzie 
River, but are so retiring that they were not 
eatin clanly identified. 

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. Zonotrichia leu- 
cophrys? Common, in full song, and nesting at 
Two Islands, June 17-28th. In song on Willow 
Lake River, July 12-14. This may be Z. leuco- 
phrys gambelt. 

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. Zonotrichia albi- 
collis. Common everywhere. In song until July 
18th (near Old Wrigley). Seen at Wrigley Har- 
bour, Aug. 31st. 

CHIPPING SPARROW. Spizella passerina. Com- 
mon at Two Islands and on Willow Lake River, 
June 17-July 14. This is doubtless the Western 
Chipping Sparrow. 

SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. Junco hyemalis. 
Nesting along Slave River, May 30th. Common 
everywhere. 

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. Zamelodia ludo- 
viciana. Common at Peace River Town and at | 
Fitzgerald (May 2nd and 3rd.) 

CLIFF SwWALLOw. Petrochelidon lunifrons 
Hundreds of nests on face of rock cliffs, Peace 
River, and birds present May 20—23. One 
bird seen at Wrigley, Aug. 10th, one at Norman 
Aug. 138th. 


TREE SWALLOW. JIridoprocne bicolor. Several 
seen on Willow Lake River, July 5th. 
BANK SWALLOW. Riparia riparia. Hundreds 


of holes in sand banks of Willow Lake River, the 
river between the Two Mountains and in the 
Tertiary soft sandstone beds in the vicinity of 
Norman. Birds seen at nests on Willow Lake 
River, July 2nd and 15th, and several seen at 
Wrigley, August 10th. 

RED-EYED VIREO. Vireosylva olivacea. Pro- 
bably common, but never satisfactorily identified. 
A bird with yellow belly seen at Wrigley Harbour, 
Aug. 31st, might be the Philadelphia Vireo, Vireo 
philadelphicus. 


YELLOW WARBLER. Dendroica aestiva, Com- 
mon at Peace River Town, May 18th and 19th. 
One seen at Willow Lake River, July 16th. One 
at Wrigley, Aug. 8th. - 

MAGNOLIA WARBLER. Dendroica aanantat 
One seen at sand hills back of Two Islands, June 
25th. 


; - Soe Oe 
sr art SF t 
4 » aie 


TS ie RMSE 1 Coa als 
whe an . 


by 1 - 
April, 1922.) 


a WA TER-THRUSH. 


~ ley. 


Seiurus noveboracensis 
Common in swamp at Fitzgerald, June lst to 
5th. One on Willow river, July 9th. This is 
probably the Grinnell Water-thrush. 

AMERICAN PipiIt. Anthus rubescens. Three 
seen on Cap Mountain, Aug. 5th, two at Norman, 
Aug. 14th, several, 15-20. One at Wrigley Har- 
bour, Aug. 31st. 

HUDSONIAN CHICKADEE. Penthestes hudsonicus. 
Common back of Two Islands, June 16-28; on 
Willow Lake River and along Mackenzie River 
as far north as Wrigley, July 8-Aug. 7. 

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Regulus calendula. 
Two seen back of Two Islands, June 2nd. 

HerMit THRUSH. Hylocichla guttata pallasii. 

Characteristic song heard during days and more 
rarely during evenings along Peace, Slave and 
Mackenzie Rivers, May 20-July 8. (July 1-8 
along Willow Lake River). This is probably the 
Eastern Hermit thrush. 
_ GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. Hylocichla aliciae. 
Notes made by this or the Olive-backed Thrush 
heard every evening along Peace, Slave and Mac- 
kenzie Rivers from May 20-July 18, when two 
were seen near site of Old Fort Wrigley. 

AMERICAN ROBIN. Planesticus ‘migratorius. 
Occasionally seen on Willow Lake River and 
along Mackenzie River from the Willow to Fort 
Norman, where it was common Aug. 18th. Heard 
at Simpson, Aug. 29th. 

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. Sialia currucoides. An 
entirely blue bird was seen on the top of the 
Rocky-by-the-Riverside, Aug. 8th. 


MAMMALS. 


Moose. Alces americanus. One yearling seen 
on Smith Creek* July 26th; numerous tracks in 
mountains back of Smith Creek. Tracks common 
in vitinity of Fort Wrigley. Reported common 
up North Nahanni and Gravel rivers. Indians 
make boats out of green moose hides on the Liard 
and Gravel rivers and bring their families and furs 
out in them. The largest boats require eight 
skins. 

Woop Bison. Bison bison athabascae. Park 
rangers at Fitzgerald report the buffalo of the 
Smith reserve to be doing well. An accurate 
estimate of their number is difficult to make, be- 
eause of the muskeg and wooded nature of the 
country. Major McKeand and party reported 


- geeing two bulls in a three-day return trip in 


July, with pack horses from Fort Smith. The 
timber wolves are reported to be taking calves. 

HupDSON BAY RED SQUIRREL. Sciurus hudson- 
icus. Common throughout the region. 


*About 12 miles above the present site of Fort Wrig- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 65 


CHESTNUT-CHEEKED VOLE. Microtus sxantho- 
gnathus. One taken on Willow River, July 23rd. 

NORTHWEST MuSKRAT. Ondatra zibethica spa- 
tulata. Common at mouth of Slave River and 
one seen at Wrigley Harbour. 

CANADIAN BEAVER. Castor canadensis. Re- 
ported fairly common up North Nahanni River 
in late June. Several seen near mouth of Root 
River early in July. 

MACFARLANE VARYING HARE. Lepus ameri- 
canus macfarlani. Several seen in snares at Fort 
Fitzgerald, June 1-5. Fairly common in vicinity 
of Fort Wrigley (New) and 15 miles above, where 
one (apparently young) was seen in the talons of 
a Red-tailed Hawk which circled to a considerable 
height and then started to soar straight for its 
destination. Common also at Fort Norman. 
These hares appear to be on the increase. 

CANADA LYNX. Lynx canadensis. One seen 
by Dr. Hume’s party up North Nahanni river in 
June. 

CONTINENTAL ARCTIC Fox. Vulpes lagopus 
innuitus. A fair number were brought into Fort 
Norman from the Gravel River and from Great 
Bear Lake. One was trapped at Fort Norman 
last winter. 

Buack Bear. Ursus americanus. One seen 
by our party 50 miles above Fort Norman, Aug. 
10th. Oneseen at Bear Rock, Aug. 12th. Num- 
erous tracks were seen in Franklin Mountains in 
July. 

PoLAR BEAR. Thalarctos maritimus. A very 
large skin was brought to Fort Norman from Great 
Bear Lake, where it was probably obtained from 
Coronation Gulf Eskimos. 

CANADIAN OTTER. Lutra canadensis. One re- 
ported by Hume’s party on North Nahanni during 
the latter part of June. 

WESTERN MINK. Lutreola vison energumenos. 
Reported as rather rare and difficult to trap. One 
skeleton among martin skeletons at Two Island 
Indian village. 

ALASKA MARTEN. Mustela americana actuosa. 
A fair number taken to Forts Simpson, Wrigley 
and Norman by trappers. Judging by reports 
and the skeletons seen at the Indian villages, this 
is the most numerous fur-bearer in the district. 
A glimpse of a marten was had by the author in 
the bush about 10 miles above Fort Wrigley, 
July 27th. 


FISHES. 


WHITEFISH. Coregonus sp. These were the 
commonest fish caught by the Indians in the 
vicinity of Foft Wrigley. 

INCONNU. Stenodus mackenzii. Very common, 
up to three feet in length at Wrigley Harbour, 
June 12th. 


66 


LAKE TROUT. Cristivomer namaycush. Two 
fine specimens nearly 3 feet in length caught by 
our party at Wrigley Harbour, June 12th. 

ARCTIC GRAYLING. Thymallus singifer. Two 
caught at Wrigley Harbour, June 12th. Common 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


in Smith Creek, 12 miles above Fort Wrigley. 


PIKE or JACKFISH. Esox lucius. Very common 
and up to 3 feet in length at Wrigley Harbour, 
June 12th. - . 


MANITOBA GRASSHOPPERS 


By NORMAN CRIDDLE 


(Continued from Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, March, 1922.) 


RASSHOPPERS, as a_ whole, form an ex- 
tremely important class of insects. As 
farm pests they are probably second to none, 
while indirectly they are an asset which assists 
greatly in the perpetuation of wild life. To the 
farmer, they are frequently very obnoxious, to 
the sportsman beneficial, to the community at 
large occupying a position that cannot be definite- 
ly classified at the present time. It may be 
useful or harmful, but much more will have to be 
known about the economic relation between 
grasshoppers and other animals before accurate 
information is available on this last point. No 
one can say truly that the world would be better 
without grasshoppers, yet the losses they cause 
each year aggregate millions of dollars. 

Nearly all grasshoppers are vegetable feeders, 
but it does not follow that they are necessarily in- 
jurious on that account. Most of them might 
become so were they to increase sufficiently, but 
the majority of them never do, and we can, there- 
fore, restrict the truly destructive species to a 
comparatively small proportion of the total 
number existing. 


In spite of the devastating habits of certain 
species, grasshoppers, as a whole, play an import- 
ant part in the scheme of nature; but for them a 
number of creatures could not exist at all, while 
many others would be much reduced in numbers. 
In the insect world there are certain Diptera, 
Hymenoptera and Coleoptera that live entirely 
at the grasshopper’s expense. These are of a 
parasitical or predaceous nature. Some of this 
class devour the eggs, others live within the adult 
bodies. The egg destroyers are extremely import- 
ant in reducing locust outbreaks and during the 
last three years they have done more than any 
other grasshopper predator to bring the outbreak 
within bounds. A certain Bee-fly (Systaechus 
vulgans) has been of much value in this respect. 
The adult is a very hairy yellow fly generally 
found resting upon flowers, the larva, a much 
wrinkled inactive grub, met with among the 


grasshopper’s eggs. Of the Coleoptera, Blister 
Beetles play an important part in destroying 
grasshopper eggs. There are various species of 
this beetle which in the adult stage devour vege- 
table matter. One (Macrobasis murina),is an 
important pest of potatoes in Western Canada, 
and here again there is difference of opinion as to 
whether a species does more harm than good. It 


cannot, however, exist without grasshopper eggs — 


and for that reason it only becomes a pest during 
serious grasshopper outbreaks. Another beetle 
larva (Percosia obesa) runs actively about the 
surface of the ground in search of food and is an 
expert at locating locust eggs. Having discovered 
a sac of these it proceeds to make itself at home 
until it has eaten them. We found a number of 
these larvae with eggs in their jaws during 1921 
and so intent were they upon the feast that they 
continued to enjoy it even when placed in confine- 
ment. 

Certain Flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) are also 
valuable grasshopper exterminators. These flies 
usually attack the adult grasshopper and deposit 
their maggots while their host is on the wing. 
Of the wasp-like flies (Hymenoptera) a number 
could be mentioned as grasshopper hunters. 
Some of these make individual grasshopper eggs 
their home in which they develop through all 
their stages. Others carry off their victims bodily 
and store them in burrows as food for their young. 
These insect enemies are extremely useful in 
man’s welfare and without their aid grasshoppers 
would increase beyond all bounds. 

Perhaps the greatest benefiters from grass- 
hoppers are birds and I believe it would he easier 
to enumerate the species that do not eat these 
insects than to list the ones that do. 

In the Middle West, Grouse, such as the Sharp- 
tail, multiply or decrease in accordance with the 
number of grasshoppers present, because the 
rearing of young depends largely upon the avail- 
able supply of hoppers. The Western Meadow 
Lark is another bird whose numbers are maintain- 


i 
~ . 
pay oe 
. 


(Vo. XXXVI 


Sek Nat Oh ae a ae 


. La 


a4 _ than a ‘voice’, apparently intended to intimidate 
her mate. This behaviour elicited an occasional 
response from the male, who squealed back, 
however, with a much greater show of composure. 
___ I was now within 40 feet of the Owls, but I might 
_. have been 40 miles distant for all the notice they 
is took of me. Whatever concern they lacked, how- 
ever, was amply compensated for by my excite- 
ment, for by this time I had guessed who were my 
newly-found friends. 

‘The next Owl move was made by the ‘missus’ 
who took a noiseless dip to the side of her husband 
on the stump, this being the occasion for further 

; monkey-chattering from both birds. I was 
getting my camera into play when the male took 
a fresh grip of the expiring young grackle and 
flew off through the woods, hoping, presumably, 
to get rid of wifey. She followed close on his 
| trail, however, both birds squealing back and 
forth as they flew, while I followed hastily, hoping 
: to locate their nesting site. They did not go far 
-_* and I soon came up to them again; the male was 
. perched on a high branch of a large birch, the 
female below him on the same tree. When 
their chattering had died down the male busied 
himself with his victim and proceeded leisurely to 
divest it of its feathers (the meat was evidently 
being prepared for the baby owls when hatched). 
I watched this performance through my binoculars 
for two or three minutes, during which time the 
female disappeared from the scene, her departure 
being absolutely noiseless. 
; As the male Owl was making such a slow job 
of it I started to canvass the woods with Old Man 
Lussier in the hopes of locating the female on her 
nest in the broken-off top of one of the dead 
trees. We must have spent nearly three hours 
canvassing truncated trees without discovering 
a clue, all the time supposing the female to be 
‘incubating her eggs. Here’s where luck failed 
me, however, and my cup of joy remained only 
7 half-filled, for the nest was never found. 
a The sun was sinking low when Old Man Lussier 
__ and I arrived back at the spot where we had left 
the canoe. Taking a last look backwards— 
loathe to leave my new feathered friends even for 
the night—my eye caught a 12 foot stump in the 
_ middle of a small shallow slough. Perched on the 
_ top, silently and patiently watching for his prey, 
was the male Hawk Owl. I pointed him out to 
Lussier, who remarked in his broken English, 
“she’s get late,” thinking no doubt of something 
more palatable than Owls (we had eaten nothing 
since breakfast.) I had with me on this trip a 
small Premo Camera with a film-pack, expecting 
to obtain nest-and-eggs pictures only; what was 
_ now required was a reflecting camera. I decided 
to try a picture, however, if I could get close 


> - £4 1 
™ 


~ 


THE CANADIAN FIBLD-NATURALIST 69 


enough, evenif I had to tilt the camera consider- 
ably. I guessed myefirst picture at 35 feet; 
then took a few steps in the water and snapped No. 
2 at 25 feet; I became quite excited stalking my 
game and discovered the camera (?) was shaking 
a trifle when I snapped No. 3 at about 15 feet; 
No. 4 was at about 10 feet and still no move on 
the part of thesphinx! With his yellow eyeballs gaz- 
ing intently at me I crept a few inches nearer when 
a whistle from Lussier nearly made me jump; but 
I refrained from swearing aloud as I was too close 
to a feathered gentleman in whom I was greatly 
interested! The next moment the Owl raised his 
head and gave vent to a few of his peculiar scree- 
ches. Was this intended to summon his mate, or 
what? I looked around to see what Lussier’s 
whistle had meant. He was holding up a field- 
mouse in his hand and while I watched he knocked 
over a stump and stamped on some more (nearly 
every stump in these woods harbored a nest of 
these rodents). Then I took two or three final 
steps and came right up to the stump. The owl 
still intermittently uttered his vibrating cries 
but showed no signs of departing. Between 
screeches he would look down at me without 
expression or sign of fear and I took a picture of 
him in this pose. For my last attempt I moved 
around for a side picture to take in the ‘hawk’ 
tail. Alas, ali these photographs were poorly- 
timed and distorted! Another whistle from Old 
Man Lussier and I saw him hold up a field-mouse 
stuck in the end of a stick which he had cut.. This 
time I understood what he wanted and I told the 
Owl if he would wait I would get him what he 
had been hunting for! I splashed over to Lussier 
and brought back stick and mouse to ‘Monsieur 
Hibou,”’ as Lussier called him, who resumed his 
programme of squeals even more persistently than 
before. 

It was here that I took special note of the 
Hawk Owl’s notes. With head thrust forward 
and mouth wide open, displaying a quivering red 
tongue—altogether a snarling expression—those 
weird, vibrating and unmusical sounds beat forth. 
At this distance of only six feet a certain huskiness 
was perceptible, the vocal chords sounding as if 
he had ‘yeiled himself hoarse,’ so to speak, but 
the screeches were not as strong or penetrating as 
was suggested by the energy displayed in produc- 
ing them. The birds nearly always cried as they 
flew through the woods and at a distance their 
cries have a somewhat uncanny sound. During 
all my observations I detected little variation in 
their cries. They apparently have no other call- 
notes and no ‘hoot.’ 

Having made these mental notes I tentatively 
held up stick and mouse to the Owl, at which he 
stopped squealing and coeked his head from one 


68 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


brethren below. Such is Empusa grilli. <A third 
may fall a prey toa wasp. A fourth is parasitized, 
while others fall victims to birds. Thus it is that 
the original numbers diminish by more than half, 
yet a single survival producing eggs may double 
the previous year’s output. In other words for 
every 50 eggs laid some 48 must be accounted for 
by death before they mature into adults in order 
to maintain a balance. A tremendous task for 
nature to provide for. On the other hand, should 
this balance fall below the figures indicated then 
there will be a rapid decline in the grasshopper 
birth rate and a corresponding reduction in such 


[Vot. XXXVI 


of their enemies as depend upon them for food. 7 
How involved their economic relations are! How 
unfit are we, with our present knowledge, to judge — 


which one should live or die even to Rrovide for 3 


our own benefits! } 

It may be that in the dim future cultigatlian 
will have become intensified and every acre of 
land be so fully utilized that the old grasshoppers 
of the plains will have ceased to exist. If that is 


so then many a bird now prevalent will be rare — 


or extinct. The prospect is not a happy one, and 
so, in spite of the enormous ravages inflicted, we 
are inclined to say “long life to the grasshopper.”’ 


THE AMERICAN HAWK OWL (Surnis ulula caparoch) 


By F. NAPIER SMITH 


SATURDAY afternoon, the 22nd May, 1915, 

I left Montreal for Lochaber, P.Q., to visit 

the Campbell’s Bay Club, a private game club 

situated on the north shore of the Ottawa River, 

in Latitude 45° 35’, Longitude 75° 18’, about 25 
miles east of Ottawa, Ont. 

I had never visited this district and was anxious 
to observe its avifauna, having been told by 
members of the Club that it was a veritable bird- 
paradise. I noted with pleasure that that abom- 
ination, the English Sparrow, was conspicuous by 
its absence, but I regret I did not discover a single 
specimen of our beautiful Wood Duck which only 
two years previously was recorded as breeding in 
the locality. The only ducks I found nesting were 
the Black and American Golden-eye (Whistler). 
Altogether, I recorded 77 species, including such 
interesting birds as the Scarlet Tanager, Rose 
Breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested Flycatcher, 
American Woodcock, Wilson’s Snipe and a real 
‘rara avis,’ the American Hawk Owl. 

On Sunday morning, at 5.30 a.m., “Old Man” 
Lussier (the Guardian of the Club) and I started 
off in a canoe to explore the district by land and 
water. The ‘Bay’ is virtually a large lagoon, some 
24 miles in length and varying from 200 yards to 
a half-mile in width, and affords an excellent 
feeding and nesting ground for Ducks, Grebes, 
Rails, Coots, ete. At noon we found ourselves 
at Frenchman’s Point at the western end of the 
Bay; here the ground was boggy and in some 
places under water. The trees had long been 
dead, and in many cases a.l that remained were 
hollow trunks or merely stumps. All this decay 
was due to the undermining action of the water 
which periodically flooded these woods. 

On approaching the shore the first sounds to 
reach our ears were the guttural calls of the 


Bronzed Grackles, and I soon found that this 
locality was overrun with these birds and field 
mice. We had left the canoe and were striking 
into the woods when the Grackle community set 
up an unusual hubbub. I hurried to the scene 
of the commotion and was just in time to see a 
bird make a well-timed swoop to the ground and 
clutch a young grackle in its unerring talons; 
another upward swerve and it had perched on an > 
old ten-foot stump with its victim. The noise 
the grackles now set up was bedlam let loose, but 
apparently the least concerned of all present was 
my new acquaintance the Owl (?)—it must surely 
be an Owl, but why this hunting in broad daylight, 
and why that long tail? The parents of the un- 
fortunate grackle youngster now yelled furiously 
and made two or three sallies close to the Owl, 
who raised his head and snarled at them witha 
quivering red tongue. This warning somewhat 
arrested the “‘ciosing in’ tactics of the grackles, 
who were finally subdued by Mrs. Owl appearing 
on the scene (I afterwards concluded that the 
female was on her eggs, both this and the follow- 
ing day, when I first entered the woods, on each | 
occasion being warned from her nest by the male’s 
cries. I am now convinced that the nest was 
some distance back and that this was only their 
hunting-ground; if I had worked on this theory 
at the time they might have betrayed their nest- 
ing site by their actions. On both days the female 
apparently remained off her eggs for some time 
while we were in the woods, but as the sun was 
very hot this can be readily understood.) 


To resume our story; the female perched on a — 
branch of a tree ciose to the stump which the 
male had chosen and, with feathers ruffled and 
wings drooped, gave vent to intermittent spasms 
of peculiar vibrating sounds, more of a ‘squeal’ 


: a 4 
& : ey 


April, 1922.) 


_ than a ‘voice’, apparently intended to intimidate 


her mate. This behaviour elicited an occasional 
response from the male, who squealed back, 
however, with a much greater show of composure. 
I was now within 40 feet of the Owls, but I might 
have been 40 miles distant for all the notice they 
took of me. Whatever concern they lacked, how- 
ever, was amply compensated for by my excite- 
ment, for by this time I had guessed who were my 
newly-found friends. 

The next Owl move was made by the ‘missus’ 
who took a noiseless dip to the side of her husband 
on the stump, this being the occasion for further 
monkey-chattering from both birds. I was 
getting my camera into play when the male took 
a fresh grip of the expiring young grackle and 
flew off through the woods, hoping, presumably, 
to get rid of wifey. She followed close on his 
trail, however, both birds squealing back and 
forth as they flew, while I followed hastily, hoping 
‘to locate their nesting site. They did not go far 
and I soon came up to them again; the male was 
perched on a high branch of a large birch, the 
female below him on the same tree. When 
their chattering had died down the male busied 
himself with his victim and proceeded leisurely to 
divest it of its feathers (the meat was evidently 
being prepared for the baby owls when hatched). 
I watched this performance through my binoculars 
for two or three minutes, during which time the 
female disappeared from the scene, her departure 
being absolutely noiseless. 

As the male Owl was making such a slow job 
of it I started to canvass the woods with Old Man 


- Lussier in the hopes of locating the female on her 


nest in the broken-off top of one of the dead 
trees. We must have spent nearly three hours 


canvassing truncated trees without discovering — 


a clue, all the time supposing the female to be 
incubating her eggs. Here’s where luck failed 
me, however, and my cup of joy remained only 
half-filled, for the nest was never found. 

The sun was sinking low when Old Man Lussier 
and I arrived back at the spot where we had left 
the canoe. Taking a last look backwards— 
loathe to leave my new feathered friends even for 
the night—my eye caught a 12 foot stump in the 
middle of a small shallow slough. Perched on the 
top, silently and patiently watching for his prey, 
was the male Hawk Owl. I pointed him out to 
Lussier, who remarked in his broken English, 
“she’s get late,” thinking no doubt of something 
more palatable than Owls (we had eaten nothing 


since breakfast.) I had with me on this trip a 


small Premo Camera with a film-pack, expecting 


_ to obtain nest-and-eggs pictures only; what was 
now required was a reflecting camera. 
a to try a picture, however, if I could get close 


I decided 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


69 


enough, evenif I had to tilt the camera consider- 
ably. I guessed my first picture at 35 feet; 
then took a few steps in the water and snapped No. 
2 at 25 feet; I became quite excited stalking my 
game and discovered the camera (?) was shaking 
a trifle when I snapped No. 3 at about 15 feet; 
No. 4 was at about 10 feet and still no move on 
the part of thesphinx! With his yellow eyeballs gaz- 
ing intently at me I crept a few inches nearer when 
a whistle from Lussier nearly made me jump; but 
I refrained from swearing aloud as I was too close 
to a feathered gentleman in whom I was greatly 
interested! The next moment the Owl raised his 
head and gave vent to a few of his peculiar scree- 
ches. Was this intended to summon his mate, or 
what? I looked around to see what Lussier’s 
whistle had meant. He was holding up a field- 
mouse in his hand and while I watched he knocked 
over a stump and stamped on some more (nearly 
every stump in these woods harbored a nest of 
these rodents). Then I took two or three final 
steps and came right up to the stump. The owl 
still intermittently uttered his vibrating cries 
but showed no signs of departing. Between 
screeches he would look down at me without 
expression or sign of fear and I took a picture of 
him in this pose. For my last attempt I moved 
around for a side picture to take in the ‘hawk’ 
tail. Alas, all these photographs were poorly- 
timed and distorted! Another whistle from Old 
Man Lussier and I saw him hold up a field-mouse 
stuck in the end of a stick which he had cut. This 
time I understood what he wanted and I told the 
Owl if he would wait I would get him what he 
had been hunting for! I splashed over to Lussier 
and brought back stick and mouse to ‘Monsieur 
Hibou,” as Lussier called him, who resumed his 
programme of squeals even more persistently than 
before. 

It was here that I took special note of the 
Hawk Owl’s notes. With head thrust forward 
and mouth wide open, displaying a quivering red 
tongue—altogether a snarling expression—those 
weird, vibrating and unmusical sounds beat forth. 
At this distance of only six feet a certain huskiness 
was perceptible, the vocal chords sounding as if 
he had ‘ye:led himself hoarse,’ so to speak, but 
the screeches were not as strong or penetrating as 
was suggested by the energy displayed in produc- 
ing them. The birds nearly always cried as they 
flew through the woods and at a distance their 
cries have a somewhat uncanny sound. During 
all my observations I detected little variation in 
their cries. They apparently have no other call- 
notes and no ‘hoot.’ 

Having made these mental notes I tentatively 
held up stick and mouse to the Owl, at which he 
stopped squealing and cocked his head from one 


68 


brethren below. Such is Empusa grilli. A third 
may fall a prey toa wasp. A fourth is parasitized, 
while others fall victims to birds. Thus it is that 
the original numbers diminish by more than half, 
yet a single survival producing eggs may double 
the previous year’s output. In other words for 
every 50 eggs laid some 48 must be accounted for 
by death before they mature into adults in order 
to maintain a balance. A tremendous task for 
nature to provide for. On the other hand, should 
this balance fall below the figures indicated then 
there will be a rapid decline in the grasshopper 
birth rate and a corresponding reduction in such 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


i. a 5 ge OS FOS On a oe eo ret ee ee ee 
r Ae nS. ha ie ane 
Z 7 


rhe, 


mre 
~hy 


[VoL. XXXVI 


of their enemies as depend upon them for food. 
How involved their economic relations are! 


which one should live or die even to provide for 
our own benefits! 

It may be that in the dim future cultivation. 
will have become intensified and every acre of 
land be so fully utilized that the old grasshoppers 
of the plains will have ceased to exist. If that is 
so then many a bird now prevalent will be rare 
or extinct. The prospect is not a happy one, and 
so, in spite of the enormous ravages inflicted, we 
are inclined to say “long life to the grasshopper.”’ 


THE AMERICAN HAWK OWL (Surnis ulula caparoch) 


By F. NAPIER SMITH 


SATURDAY afternoon, the 22nd May, 1915, 

I left Montreal for Lochaber, P.Q., to visit 

the Campbell’s Bay Club, a private game club 

situated on the north shore of the Ottawa River, 

in Latitude 45° 35’, Longitude 75° 18’, about 25 
miles east of Ottawa, Ont. 

I had never visited this district and was anxious 
to observe its avifauna, having been told by 
members of the Club that it was a veritable bird- 
paradise. I noted with pleasure that that abom- 
ination, the English Sparrow, was conspicuous by 
its absence, but I regret I did not discover a single 
specimen of our beautiful Wood Duck which only 
two years previously was recorded as breeding in 
the locality. The only ducks J found nesting were 
the Black and American Golden-eye (Whistler). 
Altogether, I recorded 77 species, including such 
interesting birds as the Scarlet Tanager, Rose 
Breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested Flycatcher, 
American Woodcock, Wilson’s Snipe and a real 
‘rara avis,’ the American Hawk Owl. 

On Sunday morning, at 5.30 a.m., “Old Man” 
Lussier (the Guardian of the Club) and I started 
off in a canoe to explore the district by land and 
water. The ‘Bay’ is virtually a large lagoon, some 

} miles in length and varying from 200 yards to 
a half-mile in width, and affords an excellent 
feeding and nesting ground for Ducks, Grebes, 
Rails, Coots, ete. At noon we found ourselves 
at Frenchman’s Point at the western end of the 
Bay; here the ground was boggy and in some 
places under water. The trees had long been 
dead, and in many cases ail that remained were 
hollow trunks or merely stumps. All this decay 
was due to the undermining action of the water 
which periodically flooded these woods. 

On approaching the shore the first sounds to 
reach our ears were the guttural calls of the 


Bronzed Grackles, and I soon found that this 
locality was overrun with these birds and field 
mice. We had left the canoe and were striking 
into the woods when the Grackle community set 
up an unusual hubbub. I hurried to the scene 
of the commotion and was just in time to see a 
bird make a well-timed swoop to the ground and 
clutch a young grackle in its unerring talons; 
another upward swerve and it had perched on an 
old ten-foot stump with its victim. The noise 
the grackles now set up was bedlam let loose, but 
apparently the least concerned of all present was 
my new acquaintance the Owl (?)—it must surely 
be an Owl, but why this hunting in broad daylight, 
and why that long tail? The parents of the un- 
fortunate grackle youngster now yelled furiously 
and made two or three sallies close to the Owl, 
who raised his head and snarled at them witha 
quivering red tongue. This warning somewhat 
arrested the ‘‘ciosing in” tactics of the grackles, 
who were finally subdued by Mrs. Owl appearing 
on the scene (I afterwards concluded that the 
female was on her eggs, both this and the follow- 
ing day, when I first entered the woods, on each 
occasion being warned from her nest by the male’s 
cries. I am now convinced that the nest was 
some distance back and that this was only their 
hunting-ground; if I had worked on this theory 
at the time they might have betrayed their nest- 
ing site by their actions. On both days the female 
apparently remained off her eggs for some time 
while we were in the woods, but as’ the sun was 
very hot this can be readily understood.) 


To resume our story; the female perched on a 
branch of a tree ciose to the stump which the 
male had chosen and, with feathers ruffled and 
wings drooped, gave vent to intermittent spasms 


How | 
unfit are we, with our present knowledge, to judge 


of peculiar vibrating sounds, more of a ‘squeal’ — 


ae, my baal Ou : 


yt 


ae 


a 


, 
"4 “ 


a 


April, 1922.] 


comprising an area as large as the western penin- 
sula of Ontario. I spent the latter part of June 
and the first two weeks of July, 1919, with a 
companion, canoeing through the rivers and lakes 
of this region, and have compiled the appended 
list of birds observed during the trip. 

Lac la Biche is about 150 miles north-east of 
Edmonton, and is a beautiful lake on the south 
side of which the Hudson’s Bay Company has 

‘maintained a post for many years. The lake is 
about twenty miles by ten miles in extent and has 
several fair-sized islands which have been the 
breeding grounds for such birds as the White 
Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant and Great 
Blue Heron, likely for ages, but within recent 
years the natives claim their numbers are not as 
great as previously. 

Around the lake there are many half-breeds 
who have taken up land, rather more to be used 
as their headquarters than for farming operations. 
The soil is generally white clay and sand on the 
higher lands, with much muskeg in between the 


ridges. The lake is noted for its large whitefish, 


many of them weighing over twelve pounds, and 
a large industry is carried on with the breeds, who 
net the fish and sell to the companies, who ship 
them in refrigerator cars to the large cities of the 
east. 

On the north east corner of the lake the Owl 
River flows in through a beautiful valley, along 
which are a number of prosperous looking farms. 
This country is served by the recently constructed 
Alberta and Great Waterway railroad, which runs 
from Edmonton to the northern terminus on the 
Clearwater river, within a few miles of the village 
of Ft. McMurray. 

About 80 miles north of La Biche my partner 
and I left the train and packed our canoe and 


- outfit over to Christena Lake, less than one mile, 


. 
+ 
* 
: 


from where we were to commence our river and 
lake journey. This lake is about twelve miles in 
length by an average of one mile in width; its 
water is very clear and cold, and from the number 
of large whitefish that the breeds and Indians 
were catching, we concluded this was as valuable 
as the more southern lake for the industry. 

The surrounding country was far from being 
adapted for agriculture in its present state. The 
ridges are of white clay and yellow sand, partially 
covered with a poor growth of poplar and jack 
pine. Between the elevations were large areas 
of muskeg with scattered willow and tamarack, 
some of which was large enough to have commer- 
cial value. The soil underlying the muskeg moss 
has the appearance of being very rich in humus, 
and some day. may be drained and should be 
capable of producing the hardier varieties of 

grain. Along the bottoms of the Christena 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


73 


river there were scattered bluffs of good-sized 
spruce, some measuring nearly three feet at the 
butt, while the Balm of Gilead was always in 
evidence and in many places plentiful enough to 
warrant installation of saw mills. Several large 
patches of a variety of fern similar to the large 
ferns in Ontario were found in moist places along 
the flats. 

During our trip through Christena Lake we 
noticed the scarcity of many ducks, which we 
thought would be plentiful in this undisturbed 
country. The general impression has been that 
all this tremendous region was the summer home 
of many of the water-fowl, but it was not so, at 
least as far as the waters over which we travelled 
were concerned. There were more Mergansers, 
Buffle Heads and Golden Eyes seen on the river 
than all other varieties noted during the trip. 
Some of our common birds were entirely absent, 
or nearly so; no Meadow Larks or Vesper Sparrows 
were observed north of La Biche. Ruby-crowned 
Kinglets, Northern Water-Thrushes and Lincoln’s 
Sparrows were quite common. Every tamarack 
muskeg resounded with the wonderful three-part 
song of the Kinglet. On the river we. were 
seldom out of hearing of the Water-Thrush, and 
whenever a trip was made into the muskegs, 
Lincoln’s Sparrows were heard singing in all 
directions. This sparrow was the most plentiful 
bird of the muskeg, where it seemed to be at 
home in little thickets on any elevation which 
was not too wet to grow a species of gray willow. 

Pine Siskins were very numerous as we neared 
the Clearwater River, and they could be heard 
singing from the tops of the highest spruces at 
any time of the day. No doubt this was their 
summer home, and it is likely that from localities 
such as this the large flocks come to us in lower 
latitudes in the early summer. A couple of 
Savanna Sparrows were the only ones observed, 
and they seemed lost on a bit of prairie at the 
forks of the rivers. 


Summer Birds of Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray 
Regions 


1. WESTERN GREBE. 
on Christena Lake. 

2. RED-NECKED GREBE. 
the larger sloughs. 

3. HORNED GREBBE. 
sloughs. 

4. PIED-BILLED GREBE. All the bays in Chris- 
tena Lake had one or more pairs. 

5. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Two seen flying 
from the south towards the lake. ’ 

6. AMERICAN HERRING GULL. Many large 
gulls, thought to be this variety, seen on Lac la 
Biche. 


Several pairs observed 
Quite a few seen on 


Common in the smaller 


72 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


established limit to the density of population. 

By the first, the uncertain and finely adjusted 
thread upon which some of our species depend for 
continuance is shown and a possible cause is 
suggested of the sudden disappearance of such of 
our birds as the Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, 
Eskimo Curlew and others for which the human 
element does not offer an altogether satisfactory 
explanation. 

The recovery of the species from almost nothing 
to practical normality within half a decade is an 
indication of how quick and positive is the increase 
in numbers to be expected from an adaptable 
race when unfavorable conditions are absent. 
The Bluebird always suffered somewhat from the 
small boy and slingshot or flobert rifle combina- 
tion, the zoologist enthusiast, the collector and, 
at that date, the millinery trade to some extent. 
But it shows that in spite of a handicap not amount- 
ing to systematic human persecution, a species in 
harmony with its environment tends to increase 
rapidly. The converse is also suggested, that 
species not particularly interfered with by man 
and yet scarce are so because they lack harmony 
with their environment and are probably already 
on.the road to natural extinction. We know that 
species have arisen, flourished and decayed since 
the beginning and long before man appeared on 
the scene. Undoubtedly others are undergoing 
the same process today independently of either 
the direct or the indirect influence of man. Unless 
through some fortunate insight into the involved 
interaction of obscure cause and effect man can 
control some of the critical destructive factors, 
most of these species are doomed to ultimate 
extinction, irrespective of the human attitude. If 
the Passenger Pigeon had been as well adapted 
to modern conditions as its near relative, the 
Mourning Dove, it would not have vanished 
so suddenly and completely after the last great 
rookery at Petoskey, Michigan, when all accounts 
show that there were still hundreds of thousands 
of birds remaining. The systematic netting and 
hunting on a large scale ceased with this rookery, 
and had the birds been fitted to survive there was 
plenty of stock remaining to have persisted in- 


definitely, at least in moderate numbers, not- 
withstanding occasional, irregular or sporadic» 


shooting. # . 
The third lesson taught by this Bluebird episode 
is the demonstration that there is a saturation 
point of population for each species beyond which 
its numbers may not increase. Bluebirds rose 


from practically nothing to their normal num- 


bers in a few years and then they stopped short. 
It was a remarkable demonstration of the law 
of Malthus—that a population tends to increase 
at a geometrical ratio to the full supporting 
power of the land. What factor it is that pre- 
vents its indefinite increase cannot be guessed at 
with any likelihood of success. Here was a 
species increasing regularly and rapidly and 
then, when a certain density of population was 
reached, there came, without any apparent change 
in controlling conditions, a sudden dead stop and 
an indefinitely continued stationary population. 
As far as we can see, there was no reason why a 
growth of numbers should be shown in 1896 and 
not in 1902. We can only acknowledge that there 
is a factor of control that prohibits an indefinite 
increase of population. 


The points I wish to make are:— 

1. That species may be subject to sudden 
unexpected factors of extinction that human fore- 
sight cannot estimate, guard against or control. 

2. That strong dominant species have remark- 
able resources of recovery from depletion which 
will come into play if the cards are not stacked 
against them. 

3. That a species unadapted to prevailing con- 
ditions is doomed to slow or rapid extinction in 
spite of all man can do to prevent it. 

4. That there is a certain density of population 
for each species relative to the individuals of 
that species and to competing forms beyond 


which, under constant conditions, it is impossible © 


to increase. 

All these things should be considered and weigh- 
ed and given their due importance in such con- 
servation methods as we may put into force. 


SUMMER BIRDS OF THE LAC LA BICHE AND FORT McMURRAY REGION 


By. \F.. 


M. FARLEY, CAMROSE, ALBERTA 


( F the many portions of western Canada that 

have received little attention from orni- 
thologists, perhaps none are more outstanding 
than that country lying between Lac la Biche and 
Ft. MeMurray, at the junction of the Clearwater 


and Athabaska rivers. This part of Alberta lies 
between the 55th and 57th degrees of latitude and 
the 110th and 112th degrees of longitude, being 
about eighty miles from east to west and one 
hundred and forty miles from north to south, 


(VoL. XXXVI 


imi | 
ae ae Lee we 


- grain. 


> 


oe 7 


> 
wis? 
* 
S 


April, 1922.) 


comprising an area as large as the western penin- 
sula of Ontario. I spent the latter part of June 
and the first two weeks of July, 1919, with a 
companion, canoeing through the rivers and lakes 
of this region, and have compiled the appended 
list of birds observed during the trip. 

Lac la Biche is about 150 miles north-east of 
Edmonton, and is a beautiful lake on the south 
side of which the Hudson’s Bay Company has 
maintained a post for many years. The lake is 
about twenty miles by ten miles in extent and has 
several fair-sized islands which have been the 
breeding grounds for such birds as the White 
Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant and Great 
Blue Heron, likely for ages, but within recent 
years the natives claim their numbers are not as 
great as previously. 

Around the lake there are many half-breeds 
who have taken up land, rather more to be used 
as their headquarters than for farming operations. 
The soil is generally white clay and sand on the 
higher lands, with much muskeg in between the 
ridges. The lake is noted for its large whitefish, 
many of them weighing over twelve pounds, and 
a large industry is carried on with the breeds, who 
net the fish and sell to the companies, who ship 
them in refrigerator cars to the large cities of the 
east. 

On the north east corner of the lake the Owl 
River flows in:through a beautiful valley, along 
which are a number of prosperous looking farms. 
This country is served by the recently constructed 
Alberta and Great Waterway railroad, which runs 
from Edmonton to the northern terminus on the 
Clearwater river, within a few miles of the village 
of Ft. McMurray. 

About 80 miles north of La Biche my partner 
and I left the train and packed our canoe and 
outfit over to Christena Lake, less than one mile, 
from where we were to commence our river and 
lake journey. This lake is about twelve miles in 
length by an average of one mile in width; its 
water is very clear and cold, and from the number 
of large whitefish that the breeds and Indians 
were catching, we concluded this was as valuable 
as the more southern lake for the industry. 

The surrounding country was far from being 
adapted for agriculture in its present state. The 
ridges are of white clay and yellow sand, partially 
covered with a poor growth of poplar and jack 
pine. Between the elevations were large areas 
of muskeg with scattered willow and tamarack, 
some of which was large enough to have commer- 
cial value. The soil underlying the muskeg moss 
has the appearance of being very rich in humus, 
and some day may be drained and should be 
capable of producing the hardier varieties of 
Along the bottoms of the Christena 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 73 


river there were scattered bluffs of good-sized 
spruce, some measuring nearly three feet at the 
butt, while the Balm of Gilead was always in 
evidence and in many places plentiful enough to 
warrant installation of saw mills. Several large 
patches of a variety of fern similar to the large 
ferns in Ontario were found in moist places along 
the flats. 

During our trip through Christena Lake we 
noticed the scarcity of many ducks, which we 
thought would be plentiful in this undisturbed 
country. The general impression has been that 
all this tremendous region was the summer home 
of many of the water-fowl, but it was not so, at 
least as far as the waters over which we travelled 
were concerned. There were more Mergansers, 
Buffle Heads and Golden Eyes seen on the river 
than all other varieties noted during the trip. 
Some of our common birds were entirely absent, 
or nearly so; no Meadow Larks or Vesper Sparrows 
were observed north of La Biche. Ruby-crowned 
Kinglets, Northern Water-Thrushes and Lincoln’s 
Sparrows were quite common. Every tamarack 
muskeg resounded with the wonderful three-part 
song of the Kinglet. On the river we. were 
seldom out of hearing of the Water-Thrush, and 
whenever a trip was made into the muskegs, 
Lincoln’s Sparrows were heard singing in all 
directions. This sparrow was the most plentiful 
bird of the muskeg, where it seemed to be at 
home in little thickets on any elevation which 
was not too wet to grow a species of gray willow. 

Pine Siskins were very numerous as we neared 
the Clearwater River, and they could be heard 
singing from the tops of the highest spruces at 
any time of the day. No doubt this was their 
summer home, and it is likely that from localities 
such as this the large flocks come to us in lower 
latitudes in the early summer. A couple of 
Savanna Sparrows were the only ones observed, 
and they seemed lost on a bit of prairie at the 
forks of the rivers. 


Summer Birds of Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray 
Regions 


1. WESTERN GREBE. 
on Christena Lake. 

2. RED-NECKED GREBE. 
the larger sloughs. 

3. HORNED GREBE. 
sloughs. 

4, PIED-BILLED GREBE. All the bays in Chris- 
tena Lake had one or more pairs. 

5. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Two seen flying 
from the south towards the lake. 

6. AMERICAN HERRING GULL. Many 


Several pairs observed 
Quite a few seen on 


Common in the smaller 


large 


-gulls, thought to be this variety, seen on Lac la 


Biche. 


72 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


established limit to the density of population. 

By the first, the uncertain and finely adjusted 
thread upon which some of our species depend for 
continuance is shown and a possible cause is 
suggested of the sudden disappearance of such of 
our birds as the Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, 
Eskimo Curlew and others for which the human 
element does not offer an altogether satisfactory 
explanation. 

The recovery of the species from almost nothing 
to practical normality within half a decade is an 
indication of how quick and positive is the increase 
in numbers to be expected from an adaptable 
race when unfavorable conditions are absent. 
The Bluebird always suffered somewhat from the 
small boy and slingshot or flobert rifle combina- 
tion, the zoologist enthusiast, the collector and, 
at that date, the millinery trade to some extent. 
But it shows that in spite of a handicap not amount- 
ing to systematic human persecution, a species in 
harmony with its environment tends to increase 
rapidly. The converse is also suggested, that 
species not particularly interfered with by man 
and yet scarce are so because they lack harmony 
with their environment and are probably already 
on the road to natural extinction. We know that 
species have arisen, flourished and decayed since 
the beginning and long before man appeared on 
the scene. Undoubtedly others are undergoing 
the same process today independently of either 
the direct or the indirect influence of man. Unless 
through some fortunate insight into the involved 
interaction of obscure cause and effect man can 
control some of the critical destructive factors, 
most of these species are doomed to ultimate 
extinction, irrespective of the human attitude. If 
the Passenger Pigeon had been as well adapted 
to modern conditions as its near relative, the 
Mourning Dove, it would not have vanished 
so suddenly and completely after the last great 
rookery at Petoskey, Michigan, when all accounts 
show that there were still hundreds of thousands 
of birds remaining. The systematic netting and 
hunting on a large scale ceased with this rookery, 
and had the birds been fitted to survive there was 
plenty of stock remaining to have persisted in- 


(Von. XXXVI 


definitely, at least in moderate numbers, not- 
withstanding occasional, irregular or sporadic 
shooting. . ; 

The third lesson taught by this Bluebird episode 
is the demonstration that there is a saturation 
point of population for each species beyond which 
its numbers may not increase. Bluebirds rose 
from practically nothing to their normal num- 
bers in a few years and then they stopped short. 
It was a remarkable demonstration of the law 
of Malthus—that a population tends to increase 
at a geometrical ratio to the full supporting 
power of the land. What factor it is that pre- 
vents its indefinite increase cannot be guessed at 
with any likelihood of success. Here was a 
species increasing regularly and rapidly and 
then, when a certain density of population was 
reached, there came, without any apparent change 
in controlling conditions, a sudden dead stop and 
an indefinitely continued stationary population. 
As far as we can see, there was no reason why a 
growth of numbers should be shown in 1896 and 
not in 1902. We can only acknowledge that there 
is a factor of control that prohibits an indefinite 
increase of population. 


The points I wish to make are:— 

1. That species may be subject to sudden 
unexpected factors of extinction that human fore- 
sight cannot estimate, guard against or control. 

2. That strong dominant species have remark- 
able resources of recovery from depletion which 
will come into play if the cards are not stacked 
against them. ' 

3. That a species unadapted to prevailing con- 
ditions is doomed to slow or rapid extinction in 
spite of all man can do to prevent it. 

4. That there is a certain density of population 
for each species relative to the individuals of 
that species and to competing forms beyond 
which, under constant conditions, it is impossible 
to inctease. 

All these things should be considered and weigh- 
ed and given their due importance in such con- 


servation methods as we may put into force. 


SUMMER BIRDS OF THE LAC LA BICHE AND FORT McMURRAY REGION 


By ik. 


M. FARLEY, CAMROSE, ALBERTA 


( F the many portions of western Canada that 

have received little attention from orni- 
thologists, perhaps none are more outstanding 
than that country lying between Lac la Biche and 
Ft. MeMurray, at the junction of the Clearwater 


and Athabaska rivers. This part of Alberta lies 
between the 55th and 57th degrees of latitude and 
the 110th and 112th degrees of longitude, being 
about eighty miles from east to’ west and one 
hundred and forty miles from north to south, 


= +1 4 
4 r > 
ee 


a 
iv 

¥ 
ee 
M 


April, 1922.] 


the birds seen might have been Rusties. 

59. BRON7ED GRACKLE. Common at Lac la 
Biche, nesting in holes of stubs and old woodpecker 
nests. p 

60. Housb SpARRow. A flock of about twenty 
of these birds were quite at home in the village of 
Ft. McMurray. They had evidently come north 
in a freight car, and when liberated at the end of 
steel about fifteen miles from McMurray, spied 
the cluster of buildings in the distance and were 
soon in their new home; likely a northern record 
for these birds. 

61. SAVANNA SPARROW. Only one pair heard 
on some open prairie near McMurray. 

62. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. Quite com- 
mon in the larger woods along the Clearwater 
River. 

63. CHIPPING SPARROW. One recorded. 

64. CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. Not nearly as 
common as farther south. This sparrow prefers 
the park-like country to the open prairie or 
heavy timber country. 

65. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. One of the com- 
monest birds everywhere. A nest with eggs was 
found under a tie on the railway and as the train 
only passed to and fro once a week the disturbance 
did not evidently cause the birds much worry. 

66. SONG SPARROW. Not common north of 
Lac la Biche. 

67. LINCOLN’S SPARROW. Next to the Junco 
and White-throat, this was the most plentiful 
sparrow. Different times I counted as many as a 
dozen males singing at one time all within a 
couple of hundred acres. That country must be 


_ the great summer home of this splendid singer. 


68. Swamp Sparrow. A few heard singing 
their monotonous notes along the edges of marshes. 

69. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. Quite common 
along the river. 

70. CLIFF SWALLOW. Several colonies were 
nesting along the river. 

71. TREE SWALLOW. Not common. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


75 


72. BANK SWALLOW. Very common, and nest- 
ing in all suitable places. One sand bank had 
fallen away from the rest of the solid earth and 
many Swallow’s nests with eggs were destroyed. 
The slide had evidently just taken place as the 
consternation was great among the birds. 

73. RED-EYED VIREO. A few heard daily. 

74. WARBLING VIREO. More common than 
the Red-Eyed. 


75. BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER. Not very 
common. Frequenting the tamarack in the 
muskegs. 


76. TENNESSEE WARBLER. A few heard in 
low places close to the river. 

77. YELLOW WARBLER. Not nearly as common 
as they are farther south. 

78. MYRTLE WARBLER. 
spruces. 

79. OVEN BirD. A few heard. 

80. GRINNELL’S WATER-THRUSH. 
mon all along the rivers and lakes. 

81. YELLOw THROAT. A few heard, often in 
the little clumps of brush in the muskegs. 

82. HouSE WREN. Not many heard. 

83. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. Only 
heard. 

84. LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE. Fairly common; 
this was really Hudsonian territory, but careful 
watching did not reveal this species. 

85. RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Common in all 
tamarack muskegs. Before I located my first 
one I found that these little birds were ventrilo- 
quists of no mean order. When looking for this 
bird I expected that the singer would be as large 
as a sparrow, judging by the volume of his voice, 
and was surprised to find it one of our smallest 
birds. It is certainly a wonderful singer. 

86. WILLOW THRUSH. Fairly common. 

87. HERMIT THRUSH. Quite common. 

88. RoBIN. Very few seen. 

89. MOUNTAIN BLUE-BIRD. 
over our camp one morning. 


Heard daily in the 


Quite com- 


one 


Three seen flying 


BOOK NOTICE 


Dru Drury; an eighteenth century Entomologist. 

Professor T. D. A. Cockerell, of the University 
of Colorado, published an interesting account of 
the life of the above entomologist in The Scientijic 
Monthly, January, 1922. 

This is a lengthy article and space here only 
permits us to make a few extracts from the same. 
Dru Drury was born February 4, 1725. ‘He is 
described as of Wood Street in the Parish of St. 
Alban, London, citizen and goldsmith; afterwards 
of the Strand, of Enfield and of Turnham Green, 


all in the county of Middlesex and of Broxbourne, 
Hereford.” He died January 15, 1804, and was 
buried at the Church of St. Martins in the Fields. 

“Regarding Drury’s life and work as a whole, 
we have an excellent example of that innate taste 
or passion for natural history which inspires a 
certain number of individuals in every generation 
and which the majority can neither appreciate nor 
understand. But we are also struck by the fact 
that favorable circumstances are needed to render 
such aptitudes fruitful and of benefit to mankind, 


“ore TT’? 


16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Many such men as Drury, all through the ages, 
have lived and died without leaving any per- 
manent memorials. The favorable circumstances 
in Drury’s case were especially the organization 
of zoological and botanical knowledge led by 
Linnus, combined with the penetration of nearly 
every part of the world by British commerce. 
It was possible to come by the materials for 
greatly enlarging our knowledge of insects and a 
method had been devised for conveniently record- 
ing discoveries. Drury, taking advantage of 
these conditions, was able to make important 
and permanent contributions to the science he 


(VoL. XXXVI _ 


loved so much.” 

Prof. Cockerell in the baeseiatickes of his abedinil 
refers to the correspondence which Drury had 
with prominent zoologists of his day and to the 
fact that his letters were copied in a large book. 
Recently, Prof: Cockerell, while at Funchal, 
Madeira, was greatly interested to find ‘this 
letter-book in the possession of Mr. C. O.'\L. 
Power, and, borrowing it for a few days, he ob- 
tained copies of a number of the more interesting 
letters and thirty quotations from these any 
in the article. 

A: Gi 


REVIEW 


The Auk, Vol. XXXVIII, 1921, contains the 
following articles of particular interest to Canadian 
ornithologists :— 

No. 1, January:— 

A Nesting of the Philadelphia Vireo. By 
Harrison Lewis. Pp. 26-44., continued in the 
succeeding April number on pp. 185-202. 

This is an intensive daily account of the nest- 
ing of a pair of Philadelphia Vireos, at Bergerville, 
in the immediate neighborhood of Quebec city, 
covering the time when the nest was being 
built, June 12, to when the young left, July 14. 
Not only does it make another record in the dis- 
tribution of this rather rare and slightly known 
Vireo but it is a most excellent demonstration of 
observation methods in the study of life histories, 
and shows that whilst the shot-gun may be 
absolutely necessary in some fields of ornithological 
investigation there are other valuable lines of 
work that can be followed bloodlessly. This is 
nearly a complete field-study of the nesting of 
this species. The number of American species 
that this has been accomplished with is pitiably 
small and is suggestive of the immense amount of 
work that yet needs to be performed. An im- 
portant fact to be emphasized in connection with 
it is that it can be done without special facilities 
and training other than a certain amount of 
patience and careful and discriminating observa- 
tion. Species await the student almost at our 
back doors. 

Further Notes and Observations on the 
Birds of Hatley, Stanstead County, Quebec, 1919. 
By H. Mousley. Pp. 51-59. 

The paper opens with an introduction des- 
cribing the special features of the season under 
discussion and ends with annotations on seven 
species added to the lists previously published by 
the author from his locality, bringing them up to 
175 species. The most important of these is the 
Black Rail, an eyesight record but accomplished 


with details that go far towards making it con- 
vineing. The others are all more or less expected. 

Notes on North American Birds, X, By Harry 
C. Oberholser. Pp. 79-82. 

This is a technical paper. Holboell’s Grebe 
is declared to be a subspecies of the European and 
west Asian Colymbus grisegena. It is removed to 
another genus and called Pedetaithya greisgena 
major (Temmink & Schlegel). Should any of our 
readers ever see this strange name wandering 
across a page they may recognize in it our old 
friend Colymbus_ holboelli. He supports. the 
specific distinctness of the American Bittern from 
the European bird, and will not follow Hartert’s 
claim that it gives but subspecific rank. He 
unites the Little Brown and the Sandhill Cranes 
with only subspecific distinction on the ground 
that size, the only difference between them, inter- 
graduates. Under this conclusion the Little 
Brown Crane would become Grus canadensis 
mexicana. Wilson’s Snipe he regards as only 
subspecifically distinct from the Old World Jack 
Snipe and calls it Gallinago gallinago delicata. 
The present reviewer is not in a position at pre- 
sent writing to question any of these proposals 
and whether they can stand or not can only be 
determined by the careful examination of material. 

The Geographic Races of Cyanocitta cristata. 
By Harry C. Oberholser. Pp. 83-89. 

In this, Mr. Oberholser divides our old friend 
the Blue Jay into northern and southern races. 
The type form he restricts to the southern and 
southeastern States. The northern race, in- 
cluding all Canadian specimens, is named Cya- 
nocilta cristata bromia. The differences are those 
of size, in which extremes overlap, and color. 
Bromia is the larger, less purplish in the blue of 
the upper parts, and larger white tips to greater 
coverts, tertials, secondaries and retrices. 

In the report of the Thirty-eighth Annual 
Meeting of the American Ornithologists Union, 


atid 
as ee 
geen 


April, 1922.| 


if" © ore Os PP A Aer _ - ‘7. 


held in Washington, Nov. 8-11, we note the names 


_ of eight new Canadian Associates. 


County, 


_ according to human standards. 


Under General Notes:— 

The Horned Grebe at Hatley, Stanstead 
Quebec. By H. Mousley. P. 108. 
This species is added to the local list. 

The Grasshopper Sparrow in the Montreal 
District. By L. Mel. Terrill. Pp. 115-116. 
A colony including three singing males is reported 
from Chambly Co., Que., June 26 and July 5, 1920. 
Specimens were taken and the record placed on a 
firm basis. As much cannot be said for an in- 
cidental record of the Orchard Oriole seen at 
Lacolle, on the Richelieu River, seasons of 1916 
and 1920. A Towhee seen at Chambly also on 
the Richelieu is much less remarkable. 

Additions to the Birds of Lake County, 
Minnesota. By Chas. E. Johnson, Pp. 124-126. 
This is in addition to a list for same locality 
published in Auk, October, 1920. It is interesting 
to Canadian students as being adjacent to our 
Rainy River country where no ornithological 
work has been done, and is suggestive of what 
may be expected there. It adds seventeen 
species to the previous list. 

Three Important Records from Hatley, 
Stanstead County, Quebec. By H. Mousley. 
Pp. 126-127. 

This reports a re-occurence of Bartramian 
Sandpiper in the locality, adds the Mourning 
Warbler to the local list, bringing it to 177 species, 
and announces the breeding of the Yellow-bellied 
Flycatcher. 

Ornithological Notes from Southeastern Alas- 
ka. By Geo. Willett. Pp. 127-129. This is 
interesting to ornithologists on the west coast. 
It applies mostly to Prince of Wales Island and 
the Wrangell neighborhood, and consists of 
annotations on 18 species, including records of 
Yellow-billed Loon and Pygmy Owl for the vicini- 
ty of Wrangell. — 

Under Notes and News appears an obituary 
of Professor John Macoun. 

No. 2, April:— 

The Nesting of the Philadelphia Vireo. By 
H. F. Lewis. Continued as previously noted. 

The History and Purposes of Bird Banding. 
By Frederick C. Lincoln. Pp. 217-228. 

Recent Returns from Trapping and Banding 
Birds. By S. Prentis Baldwin. Pp. 228-237. 

The Marriage Relations of the House Wren. 
By S. Prentis Baldwin. Pp. 237-244. 

These are intensely interesting papers. Mr. 
Baldwin’s work has been mentioned in these 
reviews before. He developed genealogical tables 
for his wrens and the involved relationships so 
brought to light are amusing, if rather irregular 
This banding 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 77 


work promises to become one of the most im- 
portant methods of ornithological investigation. 

The English Sparrow and the Motor Vehicle. 
By W. H. Bertgold, pp. 244-250. This demon- 
strates the great reduction of the English Sparrow 
that has taken place in the city of Denver, Color- 
ado, since the more general substitution of motor 
for horse-drawn vehicles. It substantiates a 
process of relief that has been noted by other 
observers. 

Sixth Annual List of Proposed Changes in 
the A.O.U. Check-List of North American Birds. 
By Harry C. Oberholser. Pp. 264-269. As 
these are only proposals and have not yet been 
adopted by the Committee on Nomenclature or 
affirmed by any considerable body of ornithologists 
it is necessary to mention only those most im- 
portant to us. Most of them are purely nomen- 
clatural. W.S. Brooks describes a new species 
of Canada Jay from Anticosti Island, Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, under the name of Perisoreus bar- 
bourt Brooks, Pro. New Eng. Zool. Club, VII, 
March 11, 1920, p. 49. Giving this form full 
specific status is doubtless due to a disregard of 
the subspecific conception in total. That the 
slight isolation of Anticosti should develop a 
recognizable subspecies is remarkable enough. 
That it should originate a full specise in the 
present accepted meaning of the term is almost 
unthinkable. So scanty is the material from this 
out-of-the-way locality that few if any are able 
to judge the value of the proposal. The new Cliff 
Swallow, Petrocheledon albifrons hypopolia Ober- 
holser, described in these pages, 1919, and suppos- 
ed to breed from Montana to Alaska is mentioned. 
It may be well in this connection to state that the 
present reviewer has compared a considerable 
series of this bird and can find no such distinctions 
as is postulated by the describer. Thryomanes 
bewicki arborius Oberholser. Wilson Bulletin, 
XXXII, March 27, 1920. A new subspecies of 
Bewick’s Wren is proposed for southwestern 
British Columbia, replacing in part Vigor’s 
Wren, hitherto attributed to that locality. 

In General Notes appear the following:— 

The Blue Goose in the Province of Quebec. 
By Harrison F. Lewis. Pp. 270-271. This note 
records the taking of this rare species at Cap 
Tourmente, Montmorency Co., P.Q., Oct. 10, 
1917, and another Oct. 16, 1920. Both specimens 
were examined mounted by the recorder. The 
regular migration of this species seems to be down 
through Manitoba and the interior. Their 
occurrences are so irregularly distributed as to 
suggest that they make their long migrational 
flight from the east side of James and Hudson 


~ Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, the only localities 


where they are known to occur regularly in num- 


‘ 


io 6) 


bers, in two or three long flights. The occurrence 
of stragglers from the line of this migration route 
is a matter of considerable interest. It may be 
noted that the following paragraph reports the 
taking of similar’ specimens in Massachusets in 
the falls of 1914 and 1920. 

A Late Record of the Red-backed Sandpiper. 
By Nelson Gowanlock. P. 273. Reports the 
taking of a specimen of that species near Gimli, 
Lake Winnipeg, June 27, 1916. 

Mortality among Chimney Swifts. By Har- 
rison F. Lewis. Pp. 275-276. Reports, on the 
authority of Mr. E. C. Allen, the taking of 1175 
dead and 100 living Chimney Swifts from a 
chimney flue of a church in Truro, N:S., in late 
May (?), 1919. The weather had been very 
inclement and it appeared that the birds had 
taken refuge in the chimney, where they were 
suffocated when the fires were lighted. 

An Attack on Live-stock by Magpies. By 
A. W. Schorger. Pp. 276. This describes the 
methods by which Magpies in a limited district 
of Utah enlarged or even originated sores on the 
backs of sheep and in some cases of cattle until 
serious damage was done, at least one case ending 
fatally. This is a most interesting case, parallel- 
ing as it does the origination of a similar destruc- 
tive habit by the Kea Parrots in New Zealand. 
There have been other cases of this reported 
against the Magpie in recent literature and 
probably there will be more said about it in these 
pages later. 

Hooded Warbler on Belle Isle, Detroit. By 
Etta S. Wilson. P. 281. This substantiates a 
previous record made by B. H. Swales for this 
same locality, Auk, 1920, p. 463. It seems that 
Miss Wilson saw what was supposedly the same 
bird a few hours earlier in the day, May 6, 1920. 
Belle Isle is within a quarter of a mile of the 
International Boundary and hence the corrobora- 
tion of the record is of nearly as much interest to 
Ontario as to Michigan observers. 

Under Recent Literature:— 

The Economic Value of the Starling in the 
United States. By E. R. Kalmbach and I. N. 
Gabrielson, U.S. Dept. of Agr., Bulletin No. 868, 
pp. 1-66, four plates and several diagrams, is 
reviewed. 

This is a history of the bird’s introduction and 
spread in the United States and a detailed account 
of its economic possibilities. As the species seems 
to be extending and headed towards Canada, via 
southern Ontario, all interested in either the birds 
or fruit-growing in the threatened districts should 
obtain copies of this report and shape their 
reception to the newcomer accordingly, It may 
be obtained from the Department of Public 
Documents, Washington, for a few cents. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


No. 3, July:— = 

Which Sex Selects the Nesting Locabtie 
By H. Mousley, Pp. 321-328. This paper is a 
development and extension of Mr. Mousley’s 
studies of nesting habits previously appearing in 
the Auk under title of “The Singing Tree and 
Subsequent Nestings.’ It is thoroughly in har- 
mony with Howard’s Territory in Bird Life al- 
ready reviewed in these pages and substantiates 
much of it. Mr. Mousley decides that amongst 
the general run of small land birds it is the male 
that establishes the general neighborhood of the 
nesting site but the female picks the exact spot. 
Arriving in spring ahead of the female he selects 
his summer range and in it a “Singing Tree” from 
which he can survey his domain, watch for intrud- 
ers and advertise his presence to passing females, 
one of which in the normal course of events he 
accepts as mate. Henceforth until the female 
locates her nest site the “Singing Tree” acts as a 
trysting place that holds the pair together; later 
the nest itself forms the mutual meeting place. 
In some species, probably those in which both 
sexes assist in construction, as in the Chickadee, 
the nest is located by joint agreement between the 
pair. In the case of the Ruffed Grouse, a poly- 
gamous bird, the nest is entirely the care of the 
female and the sexes go and come independently 
of each other, but the females are able to find the 
male whenever necessary by repairing to his- 
drumming log whence his reverberating roll ad- 
vertises his presence. 

Moulds and Bacteria on Egg Collections. 
By Frederick H. Kennard. Pp. 345-356. 

Mr. Kennard for some time has been investi- 
gating a destructive mould on eggs in zoological 
collections. This mould, a tawny bacillus, Mesen- - 
tericus fuscus, flourishes in dry atmosphere and is 
alarmingly prevalent amongst American collec- 
tions. His remedy is to wash eggs carefully with 
Bon-Ami to remove the spots already formed 
and then immerse, blow holes down, in a solution 
of mercuric bichloride, 1 to 500; under home 
conditions, for three to five minutes. The eggs 
are then washed in running water five to ten 


minutes according to size and texture.. Details 
of technic are given. 
Description of a new Loon. By Louis B. 


Bishop, M.D. Pp. 264-270. In this the Loons 
from our prairie provinces westward and the ad- 
joining United States south to northern California 
are separated from the type form under the name 
Gavia immer ellasson Bishop. It is distinguished 
by being slightly smaller. 

The Mockingbird in the Boston Region and 
in New England and Canada. By Horace W. 
Wright. Pp. 382-432. A posthumous paper, for 
the author died in June, 1920. As is stated ina 


April, 19221] 


range. 


te kee ON ee ee > os 
Shope. eh Sie | Ihe P : 7 ae 
( re a - . 
aay, fe ' val 
hae . 


‘ note, p. 490, the expense of publication was borne 


by his sister, Miss Mary Wright. It is a compre- 
hensive and detailed account of the occurrence 
of the species along the northern border of its 
As far as Canada is concerned most of 
the old records are cited, Sable Island, that 
extraordinary sandpit lost in the sea off our east 
coast where so many unexpected waifs have 
strayed, Truro, N.S., St. John, N.B., Anticosti 
Island and Godbout, P.Q. and Strathroy, Chath- 
am, Pt. Pelee and Hamilton, Ont. Most of these 
casual records are well substantiated but some 
should probably be re-examined. The paper 
shows a great amount of research but it is evident 
that the author was less well acquainted with 
Canadian literature than he might have been. 
This may have been due to editing or completion 
under subsequent hands. 

The Name of the Eastern Hermit Thrush. 
By Outram Bangs and Thomas E. Penard. Pp. 
432-434. 


It is stated that the subspecific term pallasi 
that has long been applied to the eastern form of 
the Hermit Thrush was first applied to the type 
form guttata and is therefore a synonym for it. 
This leaves our eastern bird without a name; 
that of faxoni is proposed, thus making the Hermit 
Thrush of eastern America Hylocichla guitata 
faxoni Bangs and Penard. 


- In General Notes appear:— 


American Common Tern Recovered in West 
Africa. By Frederick C. Lincoln. P. 453. A 
striking example of the value of the banding 
methods of migration study now being developed. 
A Common Tern banded July 3, 1913, on Mus- 
congus Bay, Me., by Dr. J. C. Phillips, was taken 
in August, 1917, on the Niger River Delta in 
West Africa. It was well known that the Com- 
mon Tern migrated down both sides of the Atlantic 
but this evidence that American birds ever pass 
over to the east side of these vast waters or vice 
versa comes with a considerable shock of surprise. 
There is evidently more intermixture of New and 
Old World blood going on than we ever suspected. 

King Eider in Michigan Waters. By Etta 
S. Wilson. Pp. 454-455. Reporting the King 
Hider through the winter of 1920 and 1921 on the 
St. Clair River. Also reported from Jack Miner’s 
place near Kingsville, Ont. An unusual number 
of Snowy Owls were also taken the same season. 


Magpies and Live Stock. By T. C. Stepkens. 
Pp. 458-459. Further notes on the attacks on 


liye stock by Magpies, in the Black Hills of North 


Dakota, and in Nebraska. The indications are 


_ that the habit is newly developed and though 


wide-spread is local and perhaps individual. The 


- evidence shows, however, that the birds in some 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 79 


cases attack healthy animals (those free from 
sores or wounds.). 

The Black-backed Kamchatkan Wagtail. 
By John E. Thayer and Outram Bangs. Reports 
the capture of a specimen on one of the outermost 
of the Aleutian Islands, May 4, 1913, thus adding 
the species to the North American list. 

The Criterion of the Trinomils. By Jos. 
Grinnell. In this the writer takes exception to 
the methods of presentation followed by Mr. 
Oberholser in his claim of the specific identity of 
the Sand-hill and Little Brown Cranes. He notes 
that intergraduation in size is exhibited by a 
large series of measurements but wants to know 
what those measurements are and to be assured 
that similar birds were compared and not young, 
poorly developed Sandhills with adult Little 
Browns. The point is well taken. We are not 
prepared to take the say-so of any authority upon 
an important question without having access to 
the evidence upon which it is based. He also 
raises the question of whether in examinations of 
such character “obvious ‘sports,’ a runt say” 
should be disregarded as falling ‘‘outside of the 
polygon of normal variation in the species.””’ He 
also stresses the necessity of adhering strictly to 
the intergradation criterion of subspecifie status. 
He deprecates the use of such inferences as that a 
“form is clearly a Geographic race’’ and therefore 
subspecific without intergradation being shown to 
exist, claiming that species as well as subspecies 
can originate through geographic influences, a 
conclusion that seems too obvious to dispute. 


Under Recent Literature:— 


Mabbot on the Food of Shoal Water Ducks. 
Bull. 862, U.S. Dept. Agri., Dec. 1920, price 
25cts. from Supt. Public Documents, Washington. 
This is a resume of the food habits of Gadwall, 
Baldpate, Teal, Pintail and Wood Duck. The 
Mallard and Black Duck were similarly reported 
on by McAtee in Bull. 720, of the same series in 
1918. 


Lincoln’s Instructions in Bird Banding, U.S. 
Dept. Agr., Circular 170, price 5cts. from Dept. 
Public Documents, Washington. Mr. Lincoln 
has charge of the bird-banding activities of the 
Bureau of Biological Survey. This circular 
consists of instructions in methods and procedure. 

. Nesting of the American Hawk Owl, Oologist, 
XX XVIII, March 1; 1921. By E. S. Norman of 
Kalavala, Man. is noted. 


A Revision of the Races of Dendroica audu- 
boni., Ohio Journal of Science, XXI, May, 1921. 
By H. C. Oberholser. Four races of the species 
are recognized. It is not apparent from the 
context which of these he refers to our western 
provinces. 


80 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Under Notes and News occurs a paragraph 
of peculiar interest to those interested in the 
minor scientific publications. It appears that 
even so well established and financed an organ as 
the Auk is feeling the effects of the high cost of 
and disturbances in the printing industry and it 
has had to appeal to sources outside its regular 
subscription list for the sinews of war. It has 
been glad to receive a financial donation from the 
National Association of Audubon Societies, .and 
two of the heaviest papers published in the year 
were at the expense of Miss Mary Wright and Mr. 
Prentiss Baldwin. Besides this, for the first time 
within the memory of the reviewer, the Auk has 
appeared three months late. It is catching up 
now and the January number of the present 
volume was received towards the end of February. 
However, it is indicative of the times, prices have 
soared so that with this Canadian Field-Naturalist 
we are attempting to publish for $1.50, 
numbers that cost us $3.10. It is evident that 
this can not continue long. Our subscribers, 
ignorant of conditions, can hardly be blamed if 
they think they have a valid cause of complaint 
against us, but the lowered standard of paper, 
illustration, mailing and our general lateness of 
appearance as well as the regrettable doubling up 
of numbers has been the result of grim necessity. 
It is at present up to the general naturalist public 
of Canada whether the attempt to continue a 
Natural History publication (practically the only 
one in Canada) is to fail or not. This is not a 
private venture. No one profits in any financial 
degree by its success, though numbers of us may 
be substantially responsible if it fails. It is 
published entirely as a source of publication and 
information for Canadian naturalists and for the 
general good. There is no fault in the present 
condition of the Canadian Field-Naturalist that 
funds will not repair. More new subscribers are 
absolutely essential and in the meantime we plead 
for consideration from the older ones. It is 
right up to the naturalists of Canada whether they 
wish to continue a national source of scientific 
publication or are satisfied to rely upon the 
courtesy (always freely extended as far as space 
permits) of foreign publications. 


No. 4, October:— 


Breeding Birds of Warland, Lincoln Co., 
Montana. By Thomas E. Burleigh. Pp. 552- 
565. An annotated list of summer birds from a 
point on the Kootenai River very close to the 
Southern British Columbia Boundary. It is of 
suggestive interest to workers in that section. 


Under General Notes occur:— 


Double-crested Cormorant in Ontario. By 


M. J. Magee, p. 597. The occurrence of six 


birds Aug. 4 to 21, 1921, near Gargantua, Ont., 


near eastern end of isthe Superior. 


Note on the Breeding of the Semipalmated 
Plover in Nova Scotia. By Chas. W. Townsend, 
M.D. P. 601. Refers to Lewis’ report of eggs 
in Yarmouth Co. and his own record of downy 
young at Seal Island previously published. Adds 


a record of birds playing wounded as if with young > 


on shore of Barrington Bay near Coffinscroft, N.S., 
July 1, 1921. 


Evening Grosbeak in Michigan. By M. J. 


Magee. P. 604. Reports birds summering at 
Hulbert, Mich., some forty miles west of Sault 
Ste. Marie. Also occurrence of adults and im- 


matures scarcely able to fly, Aug. 24, at Sault Ste. 
Marie, Mich. 
down the nesting grounds of this mysterious 


It seems that at last we are running 


species. 


Goldfinches and Purple Finches Wintering at 
Hatley, Stanstead County, Quebec. By H. Mous- 
ley. P. 606. The title suggests the general 
tenor of this note but the author calls attention 
to a little known or unusual taste for salt noted 
in some birds, Purple Finch, House Sparrow, 


Mourning Dove and Crow. 


The Philadelphia Vireo in the Province of 
Quebec. By H. Mousley. P. 607. Calling Mr. 
Lewis’ attention to overlooked records made by 
himself. It may be said parenthetically here that 
these records were published after the above 
manuscript had been prepared and was beyond 


the writer’s control. 


Golden-winged Warbler at Sault Ste. Marie, 
Mich. By M. J. Magee. P. 607. A sight 
record of this species near the above place. It 
is certainly a northern record, too far north to be 
accepted as it stands and without further details. 


Early Spring Records at Hatley, Stanstead 
County, Que. By H. Mousley. P. 609. A 
number of unusually early spring records for the 
locality. 


Early Bird Banding. By Ernest Thompson 
Seton. P. 611. Description of early attempts 
by writer in marking birds with ink spots and 
small lockets, near Carberry, from 1882 to 1884. 


P. AeDy 


(Vou. XXXVI _ 


+ 


e 


UuoMmwzy UoshgT 0,04q 40149jUT ay) fo juaujavdag ‘YyoUvIG sY4Vq [DUOYDN unipoung Jo fisajsnoy 


SLVOD NIVLNOOW AMOOU—-SLHOIGH AHL 40 SNAZINAG 


\ 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


VOL. XXXVI 


OTTAWA, ONT., MAY, 1922 


No. 5 


ADVENTURES WITH THE CANADA GOOSE 


By P. A. TAVERNER 


(Published by permission of the Director of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa, Ont.) 


UR old friend, Jack Miner, of Canada Goose 
fame, professes unbounded admiration for 

the moral and mental excellencies of the Canada 
Goose. While his superlatives in this connection 
may have a flavor of the exaggeration of enthu- 
siasm, it is not at all certain that Jack does not 
understand goose nature better than do some of 


us Doubting Thomas skeptics. Certainly Canada 


Geese make model spouses and most devoted 
parents. A drake mates only for the occasion, 
and enjoys a sensuous honeymoon, but refuses the 


further responsibilities of his actions, and leads a 


care-free existence with other gay bachelors and 
grass widowers in stag-parties on the open lakes 
and marshes while his conscientious duck alone 
shoulders the drab, exacting duties of raising the 
brood to maturity. Quite otherwise is it with the 
gander of Branta canadensis; he mates for life, 
standing watch and ward over mate, eggs and 
young, co-operates in protection, unites in self- 
sacrifice and holds to his mate till death doth them 
part. Some of the following experiences go a way 
in substantiating Mr. Miner’s oft-expressed 
opinions. 

It was on Cypress Lake, Saskatchewan, in the 
summer of 1921. We were in a rowboat with an 
outboard motor when we saw a family of geese, 
the pair of adults and four downy young but a 
few days from the egg, on the lake ahead. When 
they became aware that our progress was carrying 
us uncomfortably near, they edged towards the 
shore, slowly and openly at first, apparently not 
appreciating the unusual swiftness of our ap- 
proach. Then they put on more speed, and 
arranged themselves in a long single file, one 
parent leading, the other bringing up the rear, 
swimming low, and both with their long necks 
outstretched and laid down flat on the water, 
making themselves as inconspicuous as possible. 
The young, coaxed from ahead and urged from 


behind, paddled along vigorously between, one 


close behind the other. From our low and distant 
point of view, the effect was interesting. They 
looked like a floating stick. Certainly they would 
not impress the casual eye as a family of Canada 
Geese and if we had not first seen them in a 
more characteristic pose they would undoubtedly 
have been passed without recognition. If our 
speed had been derived from oars or paddles, it 
would have taken a considerable chase to have 
caught them, but the engine gave us an unfair 
advantage and one they had not counted on, for 
in a moment we were upon them. 

We tried desperately to get the graflex to bear 
upon them whilst they were in this peculiar lock- 
step formation. But even a long focus lens 
demands close quarters to make an appreciable 
image of even so large a bird as a goose and just 
before we were ready to take the shot the birds 
realized that concealment had failed and that 
other tactics were necessary. The parents 
raised their heads and, flapping their wings, 
endeavoured to get a higher burst of speed out 
of their charges. Failing in this, the gander,* 
calling loudly and excitedly, splashed off ahead 
for a few yards, looked back to see that the 
goslings could not follow, and flapped helplessly 
on over the water. The goose hesitated a mo- 
ment and then joined her mate whilst the young- 
sters, still little more than fluffy balls of down, 
bunched irresolutely and then one and all dove 
and disappeared from sight. During the next 
few minutes the old birds scurried back and forth 
over the water in our immediate vicinity, playing 
the old familiar broken-wing deceit to decoy us 
away, occasionally rising and flying a few hundred 
yards, only to circle back to renew the attempts 
to coax us off, all the time honking loudly in a 
high shrill key that revealed the agony of their 


*As I have no means of determining the sex of the parent 
birds, it is assumed for the purposes/of this story that the 
gander led. 


82 


anxiety. Meanwhile the little ones bobbed to 
the surface in a scattered bunch like a handful 
of yellow corks, saw us and ducked again, came 
up more scattered still and disappeared immediate- 
ly. They rapidly became more expert in their 
bobbing and diving and soon indicated their 
rising only by an instantaneous glimpse of a dull 
yellow spot in a swirl of cloudy water. The 
camera was confusedly pointed this way and that, 
but so quick were the subjects that no snap could 
be made, and all the while they kept scattering 
and getting farther apart until finally we were 


“We 


left, with a virgin camera, vainly waiting the re- 
appearance of the last gosling seen, and there was 
nothing but empty lake before us with a pair of 
anxious parent geese still endeavouring to decoy 
us away—but from a safer distance and with 
considerably less recklessness. We withdrew 
rather crestfallen, but before we lost sight of them 
we could see that the little family was reunited 
and making for the grassy marsh where there was 
cover for young geese and safety from motor boats. 

This was interesting of course as a demonstra- 
tion of the ability of the young to scatter and 
hide on the open lake, but, except for the first 
line-formation with the long conspicuous parental 
necks prone on the water, not different from the 
actions of any of the ducks under similar circum- 
stances. ; 

Foiled in obtaining photographs this time, when 
we discovered another similar family a few min- 
utes later, we resorted to more cautious tactics. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(Vou. XXXVI 


The brood formed in line in the same manner as 
before, but instead of rushing in at full speed, we 
slowly edged them in towards shore. Here there 
was a narrow, sandy mud wash at the foot of a 
steep embankment some twelve inches high. On 
top of this was a dry flat, covered with scanty 
grass and sage clumps, rising gradually at first, 
then more steeply, to a bare hill a hundred yards 
back. They gradually worked in to this shore. 
On being pushed a little too hard, the goose again 
splashed off. Seeing that a repetition of the 


former fruitless tactics was about to follow, we | 


let the gander herd his charges shorewards”’ 


paused and let the gander herd his charges shore- 
wards. They landed and climbed the bank, the 
gander leading, erect to his fullest extent and 
honking loudly, calling to us to follow. The 
brood ¢ame close after him. In the meantime, 
the goose, which had first left towards the right, 
had desisted from her exertions to lead us in that 
direction and had circled about us, and now 
appeared approaching the shore at our right 
where she also landed and occasionally answered 
her mate. The youngsters, toddling after the 
gander, at the first short grassy cover suddenly 


changed their course at right angles and with it _ 


their mode of travel. Hitherto openly intent only 
on speed, without any attempt to hide, now with 
heads low and sinuous movement, they moused 
through the scanty herbage, taking advantage of 
every little grassy clump, and so just could be 
seen, glinting through the dull shadows in the 


sere yellow background. They followed parallel — 


> 
‘ 


> 
we 
he 


May, 1922.] 


to the shore until opposite the waiting goose and 
then came out to where she waited to receive 
them and they all took to water again and paddled 
off quietly and inconspicuously whilst the loud- 


_ealling gander on the bare hill-side watched the 


results of the ruse anxiously and continued his 
conspicuous demonstrations to keep our attention 
on him. The whole little comedy was admirably 
worked out, obviously on the spur of the moment, 
and I doubt if, given the same conditions, human 
intelligence could have evolved a better ruse for 
the safety of the little family. 


It was notable that, though several times after- 
ward we cruised this part of the lake, and knew 


that these geese families were still present, we 


never had such an opportunity again. It is my 
experience that birds learn much by one lesson. 
Opportunities for successful photographing occur 
unexpectedly with certain birds once only. If 
they are not taken advantage of then, the chance 
is unlikely to be repeated. Birds with a nest are 
sometimes badly flustered when surprised, and 
if one is prepared to take advantage of the 
circumstance, good pictures may be obtained— 
but one must work quickly and immediately. 
The first swoops of the parent hawk are usually 
the closest and most daring, and on a return visit 
of the intruder more wary tactics are generally 
pursued. At any rate all we saw of these geese 
again was the stick-like line disappearing in the 


_reedy cover far in advance of us and doubtless the 


first sound of our put-put in the distance was the 
signal for them to forsake the open water and 
make for cover. We had caught them in the 
open once, but they did not permit us to do so 
again. There on the lake where heretofore open 
water was salvation against all danger, they had 
learned at one lesson its futility against our speed 
and power and had reorganized their whole system 
of protection. 


A letter recently received from Mr. H. A. P. 
Smith of Digby, Nova Scotia, contains so much 
of interest in this connection, and an account of 
some habits of the species that but rarely find their 
way into our text books and life histories, that I 
asked the writer’s permission to publish it. The 
following is but a slightly edited copy of his 
account. 


“T certainly believe that the Canada Goose is 
the wisest of game birds. For a number of years 


I bred wild geese on a friend’s farm at the head 


of St. Mary’s Bay. These were virtually wild. 
They were allowed their liberty and flew about 
over the big salt marshes as they liked during the 


months of the close season for wild fowl. I 


found that the birds did not mate until they were 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 83 


four years old. I took great pleasure with the 
geese and used them for decoys. My regular 
‘shooting team’ became very tame and I firmly 
believe that they knew their names. 


“On one occasion when I was shooting geese at 
Barrington Bay in January, I was surprised by a 
large flock of geese coming to water. Canada 
Geese must have fresh water at least once a day. 
I was waiting near where a spring of water trickled 
down from the rocky cliff where the geese came 
at high tide at night for water. Several evenings 
I waited here for the birds to come in with the 
tide for water. It was very dark but I could hear 
the big flock out in the bay some 150 yards out 
having a great time. Occasionally they would 
quiet for a few minutes and then again all honk 
and talk together. Some two weeks afterwards 
I was at the same place waiting in the moonlight, 
and the geese were off shore again making the 
usual fuss. Suddenly they quieted and I noticed 
a bunch of birds which I took to be Black Ducks 
swimming in to the water hole. They came, 
drank, and disappeared again like shadows, 
perfectly noiselessly. After they had disappeared 
in the direction of the geese that had been talking 
there was a great honking again. This was 
repeated again very soon and I saw another bunch 
of birds swim in and drink and all was quiet until 
they had rejoined the flock when the usual racket 
took place. I decided that if any more Black 
Ducks swam in I would shoot at them. Presently 
they came, silent as death except for the gurgling 
of water and the rattle of pebbles as they drank. 
I shot and killed five geese. 


“Now, the question was, why did the geese act 
in this manner? I sat in camp and tried to reason 
it out. At last I came to the conclusion that the 
birds made the noise off shore to hide the others 
coming in and to advertise the fact that they were 
not near shore. When the incoming bunch drew 
near the danger point, the others quieted so that 
those near the drinking place could hear any 
movement on shore and retire on evidence of 
attack from the bushes. An enemy passing or 
listening for them would think they were off in 
the bay and out of range. No doubt more than 
one gunner has listened to the geese and wished 


that they would come in closer under similar 
circumstances. A friend of mine says that if a 
Black Duck had a neck as long as a goose’s it 
would be the hardest of our game birds to ap- 
proach, but I incline to the belief that the Canada 
Goose, in a district where it has been hunted, is 
the wisest bird that flies.” 


84 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE OTTAWA TRENTON ECHINODERM FAUNAS ~ 


By A. F. FOERSTE 


TS Trenton limestone of the Ottawa area is 
characterized by an interesting fauna, part 
of which is very restricted in its geographical 
distribution. This is true especially of its echino- 
derms, including the cystids, crinoids, and star- 
fish, which are represented by a considerable 
variety of species, some of which are fairly common. 
The same species as those found at Ottawa, or 
closely related forms, occur also 170 miles south 
west of Ottawa, at Kirkfield, on the Trent canal, 
between Simcce and Balsam Lakes. These two 
localities, Ottawa and Kirkfield, are widely 
known for the richness of their Trenton echinoderm 
faunas. A small exposure on Goat Island, north- 
east of Little Current, on Manitoulin Island, 300 
miles almost directly west of Ottawa, has fur- 
nished a small echinoderm fauna of such variety 
that it is probable that if considerable exposures 
were at hand, the number of species here also 
would be considerable. This Goat Island fauna 
evidently is closely related to that found in the 
Trenton at Ottawa. Farther westward the 
Trenton echinoderm fauna of the Ottawa area is 
represented only by occasional species. 

Six hundred miles west of Ottawa, on the 
Escanaba River, northwest of Green Bay, an 
arm of Lake Michigan, in section 17 of township 
41 of range 23, the very characteristic Ottawa 
species, Comarocystites punctatus Billings, occurs 
associated with the widely distributed species 
Pasceolus globosus Billings, and with the New 
York Trenton species, Schizocrinus nodosus Hall. 
About 10 or 20 feet farther up, another New 
York Trenton species, Cheirocrinus anatiformis 
(Hall), is found. These species were collected 
long ago by Dr. Carl Rominger, at that time 
State Geologist of Michigan (Geological Survey 
of Michigan, Vol. I, 1873, pp. 58-60). Recently 
the writer had an opportunity of examining the 
original specimens of Comarocystites and Pasceolus 
collected by Rominger, and now deposited in the 
Geological Museum belonging to the University of 
Michigan. The Comarocystites specimen, num- 
bered 5405, evidently is a typical representative 
of the species C. punctalus, as recognized already 
by Rominger. 

The specimen of Pasceolus, numbered 5403, 
however, was described by Rominger in the 
following paragraph which leaves its identity 
unestablished: 

“Bryozoa.—Che#teles petropolitanus, Chatetes 

ramosus, and several other forms, of which one 


is interesting enough to be described here. It is 
of small mummiform shape, with conspicuous 
solid dots, formed by closed tubes and closed 
finer interstitial cells. These solid dots in 
some specimens project like warts, and are 
surrounded by a depressed polygonal area, 
which gives the surface a striking similarity 
with a compound star-coral. Perfectly iden- 
tical specimens also occur in the Trenton 
limestone of Canada, near Ottawa river, and 


are preserved in the collections of the Geological - 


Survey at Montreal.” 


The preceding description becomes readily 
intelligible, when compared with the specimen 
belonging at present to the University of Michi- 
gan. The latter is depressed globose in form, 33 
mm. in diameter, and 22 mm. in height. It is 
covered with numerous hexagonal and pentagonal 
plates averaging from 3 to 3.5 mm. in diameter. 


The sutures between these plates are clearly 


defined. The central part of the plates is de- 
pressed, and from this depressed area grooves 
radiate outward in a stellate manner toward 
the angles of the plates, usually disappearing 
before reaching the latter. It is these stellate 
grooves which suggested to Rominger a striking 
similarity with a compound star-coral. All 
specimens of Pasceolus globosus do not show these 
stellate grooves. In some specimens the plates 
present moderately convex surfaces, suggesting 
to Rominger solid dots, projecting like warts. 
The appearance of warts projecting from the 
general mass is due to weathering, which has left 
narrow grooves between some of the plates. 
There are no interstitial cells; Rominger was 
deceived by irregularities along some of the sutures. 
A break across one of the plates, parallel to its 
surface, shows that what appear as sutures at the 
surface are in reality vertical walls, very thin, 
which can be traced for a distance of 1 mm. 
beneath the surface, but no other structure can 
be observed in the interior of the Escanaba speci- 
men. 

At present there is a tendency to regard Pas- 
ceolus as one of the calcareous alge-in which a 
central space is surrounded by a single spherical 
layer of cells completely shutting off the interior 
cavity. The cells present polygonal outlines due 
to lateral pressure. The walls separating the 
cells are very thin. The outer walls, facing the 


exterior, are either concave and with stellate _ 


grooves, or convex and without any other con- 


Pra 
- ‘ ‘ . ey 
~ bg = 

rae. Si tae 


(Vou. XXXVI 


- found at Ottawa. 


May, 1922.] 


spicuous markings. The inner walls are convex 
toward the interior, and, in certain species, 
present a short central spine projecting toward the 
center of the cavity. In the Escanaba specimen 
the inner walls do not appear to be preserved. 

It is possible that two genera occur among the 
species formerly referred to Pasceolus. Bassler 
refers the two species from the Gun River member 
of the Anticostian series of strata, Pasceolus gre- 
garius Billings and Pasceolus intermedius Billings, 
to the genus Nidulites; however, the reason for 
this association is not stated. 

The Escanaba specimen of Comaracystites 
punetatuts Billings retains 22 complete thecal 
plates. Among these is the plate bordering the 
anal opening on the right, and the one bordering 
it on the left is almost entire but has been crowded 
against the former. A part of the basal support 


__ of the pair of brachioles nearest the anal opening 


is present; and a trace of the basal support of 
_the second pair of brachioles, more distant from 
the anal opening, may be detected. Below the 
level of these basal supports for the brachioles 
the thecal plates best preserved are arranged in 5 
transverse rows, with indications of 2 rows 
beneath. Evidently two or three additional 
transverse rows of plates must have intervened 
between the lowest part of the specimen and the 
top of the column. Along the level of the anal 
opening and just beneath the latter, the number of 
thecal plates in the transverse rows is 6 or 7, 
indicating that nearly theentire width of the theca 
is presented, but pressed flat previous to fossiliza- 
tion. In this flattened condition 6 plates form a 
width of 35 mm. The plates are of the same 
size as in typical Comarocystites punctatus, and 
present the same degree of concavity, but appar- 
ently are much thinner than in most specimens 
The plates are built up of 
vertical lamellz occupying triangular fields whose 
apices meet at the centers of the plates, and 
whose bases are formed in each field by one of the 
sutures between adjacent plates. About 10 of 
these vertical lamellz, parallel within the same 
field, occupy a width of 3mm. The pores between 
the lamellz tend to be arranged in transverse rows, 
but with numerous irregularities. Several of the 
plates preserve some of the pustulose elevations 
noted on the exterior surface of the thecal plates of 
‘typical specimens of this species (Ottawa Natur- 
alist, 30, 1916, pl. 2, figs. 1A, 1B, and 1D.). 
Aside from the occurrence of the typical species 
at Ottawa and on the Escanaba river, Comaro- 
cystites is known only from the Kimmswick 
member of the Black River formation at Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, and at West Kimmswick in 
the same state, where it is represented by Comaro- 


__eystites shumardi Meek and Worthen. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 85 


Pasceolus globosus, on the contrary, is more 
widely distributed. It is listed by Ulrich from 
the lower or Clitambonites member of the Prosser 
formation in the Minnesota area (Geol. Survey 
Minnesota, III, pt. 2, page exxiii); and it occurs 
in the upper of Cynthiana member of the Trenton 
near Ivor, east of Cinncinati, Ohio, although the 
latter horizon is much higher than any part of 
the Trenton in the Ottawa area. 

Among the genera known at present in the 
Trenton only from Ottawa and Kirkfield in 
southern Ontario are Astrocystites, Atelocystites, 
Glyptocystites, Ottawacrinus, Palzocrinus, Peri- 
glyptocrinus, Petraster, and Protaxocrinus. Of 
these Palxocrinus is known as far east as Montreal 
during the Chazyan, but not during the Trenton. 

Among genera known in the Trenton of Canada 
only from Ottawa and Kirkfield, but occurring 
also in the Curdsville member at the base of the 
Trenton in Kentucky, are Amygdalocytsites, 
Cleiocrinus, Edrioaster, Glyptocrinus, Hybocrinus 
Hybocystites, Lebetodiscus, Reteocrinus, and Sten- 
aster. Among these, Cleiocrinus occurs in the 
Chazyan of Lake Champlain and of western 
Tennessee, and Hybocrinus occurs in the Chazyan 
of Montreal. Edrioaster ranges in the Trenton 
as far west as the Minnesota area, where it is 
listed by Ulrich from the Prosser member. Poro- 
crinus occurs not only at Ottawa, Kirkfield, and 
Belleville in southern Ontario, but also in the 
Platteville member of the Black River formation 
in Illinois, and in the Trenton of Frobisher Bay, 
in Baffin Land, in Arctic America. Hemicystites 
occurs at Peterboro, but in Kentucky it is known 
only in the upper or Cynthiana member of the 
Trenton, above the Trenton of the Ottawa area. 

Among the genera occurring not only at Ottawa, 
Kirkfield, and in central Kentucky, but also as 
far east of Ottawa as Montreal are Cupulocrinus 
Dendrocrinus, Ectenocrinus, Hudsonaster, Pleuro- 
cystites, and Tzniaster, the last mentioned genus 
occurring near the city of Quebec. Archz- 
ocrinus and Cheirocrinus are known from as far 
east as Montreal, but are not listed from Kentucky. 
Of these genera Cupulocrinus, Dendrocrinus, 
Hudsonaster, Pleurocystites, Teniaster, and Cheiro- 
crinus are known also in the Trenton of New 
York, while Hudsonasier ranges as far west as 
Minnesota. 

Cyclocystoides is not known at Montreal, but 
occurs at Lake St. John, in northern Quebec, and 
the type of Cyclocystoides anteceptus Hall was 
obtained on the Escanaba River in the northern 
Peninsula of Michigan. The genus is known also 
from New York. 

Among the genera known from Ottawa and 
Kirkfield, and also in New York, are Carabocrinus, 
Cremacrinus, and Urasterella. The first two of 


86 


these occur also in the Trenton of Kentucky, and 
the last ranges as far west as Minnesota. 

From the preceding notes it is evident that 
during Trenton times the Ottawa echinoderm 
fauna ranged as far east as Montreal, as far west 
as Minnesota, and as far south as New York and 
central Kentucky. 

In the Ottawa are, however, there are three 
echinoderm horizons. Of these the lowest hori- 
zon forms the lower third of the Hull member. 
about 35 feet above the base of the Trenton 
formation. The second horizon occurs 160 feet 
above the base of the Trenton, a short distance 
above the lower quarter of the Prasopora member, 
which is regarded as corresponding best to the 
typical Trenton of New York. The third zone 
occurs about 235 feet above the base of the 
Trenton, in the lower part of the Picton member. 
Of these three horizons the lower and middle 
ones are of special interest in this connection 
because they contain the largest and most varied 
of the echinoderm faunas. 

The lower or Hull horizon is stated by Prof. 
Raymond (Bul. Mus. Comparative Zoology, vol. 
56, No. 3, 1916, p. 260) to be well exposed at 
Kirkfield, and to be very near the horizon of the 
Curdsville member of the Trenton in central 
Kentucky. The exposures in eastern New York 
and at Montreal which contain Pleurocystites, and 
which belong to the Glens Falls member at the 
base of the Trenton, are regarded by him to be 
probably of about the same age as the Hull beds. 

The middle or Prasopora horizon is that part 
of the Trenton best exposed at Trenton Falls, the 
type section of the Trenton in New York. It is 
characterized by the presence of Clitambonites. 

The upper or Picton horizon is characterized by 
the presence of Strophomena trilobita, Rafines- 
quina deltoidea, and Cyclospira bisulcata, and, 
acccording to Prof. Raymond, probably is the 
horizon with which the Minnesota cystid bed, in 
the upper part of the Prosser formation, is to be 
correlated. 


Apparently the Ottawa echinoderm fauna 


extended farthest south and ‘east during the 
deposition of the lowest or Hull horizon. During 
the deposition of the middle or Prasopora horizon 
strata it apparently did not reach Montreal on 
the east, nor extend far beyond north-central New 
Possibly the 


York in a southward direction. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


‘sources. 


[VoL. XXXVI 


exposures along the Escanaba River in northern 
Michigan belong here. During the deposition of 
the upper or Picton strata the Ottawa echinoderm 


fauna apparently reached the Minnesota area. 


Finally, during the deposition of the lower Ma- 
quoketa there appears to have been a reinvasion 
of the Ottawa Trenton echinoderm fauna from 
some unknown northern area to which it had 
retreated during the long period intervening 
between the close of the Trenton and the beginning 
of the Maquoketa. 


During early Trenton times southern Ontario, 
including Ottawa and Kirkfield, appears to have 
been a center of distribution from which the Ottawa 
echinoderm fauna radiated in different directions. 


Fore-runners of this fauna appear already in the 
Chazyan of southern Quebec, of the Lake Cham- 
plain area of New York, and in various parts of 
Tennessee. It remains to be determined from 
whatareas this echinoderm fauna invaded southern 
Ontario in early Trenton times, but present 
information suggests at least that later, during the 
Trenton and subsequent to the Trenton, this 
fauna was largely of northern distribution. 


A few of these genera are known also from Euro- 


pean strata but these do not indicate the origin 


of the Ottawa echinoderm fauna from European 
The presence of Cheirocrinus in Great 
Britain and in the northwestern part of the 
continent of Europe, including the Baltic pro- 
vinces, is indicative rather of the northern dis- 
tribution of this genus, since the Chazyan species 
found in America appear to be as old as anything 
found in Europe. In a similar manner, the 
occurrence of Pleurocystites in Ireland, Wales, and 
the Girvan district of Scotland, and the failure of 
its appearance on the continent, suggests the 
origin of the British species from American 
sources, rather than the reverse, the American 
species from the Ottawa area being regarded by 
Dr. Bather as distinctly older (Trans. Royal Soc 
Edinburgh, 49, pt. II, 1918, p. 460). 


It is not unlikely that the greater part of the 
Ottawa echinoderm fauna is distinctly of American 
origin, though the data are not yet at hand to 
determine its sources. More detailed knowledge 
of American Chazyan echinoderm faunas is 
necessary to trace the origin of the Ottawa faunas 
one step backward. : 


ar yh 
; 


f 


4 


mo 


May, 1922. 


bot 
; 


Lee eet an = tie ‘ ay 
’ * ; > 
S 
* 


7 * 
THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 87 


WOOD RATS AND GRIZZLY BEARS 


By MERLE F. BANCROFT 


_\\f ANY examples of the instinct in wild animals 


to shield their young from enemies may 
be seen in tramping through the mountains of 
southeastern British Columbia. The writer, 
accompanied by a prospector and an engineer, 
saw two such exampies on the morning of July 
29th, 1920. The first was on the part of a mother 
wood rat dwelling in an abandoned mine and the 
second was in the case of a huge grizzly bear, 
concerned about the safety of her offspring. 
We, three men, had set out from Ferguson with 
the intention of making a wide circuit through 
part of the Selkirk Mountains lying _ between 
Lardeau Creek and the Duncan River. The first 
day we lunched at “Circle City,’ a one cabin 
stopping-place in the timbered valley of Ferguson 
Creek. The trail from Circle City to the Old 
Gold mine on the Duncan slope proved to be an 
excellent one for gaining elevation. There was 
considerable snow on the pass and the trail on the 
Dunean side lay across several wide gulches full 
of hard packed snow. The construction of this 
trail is unique, as it rises from near the pass to 


skirt around a deep rocky basin; for a mile the 


trail is nothing more than a rock shelf cut high up 
on a limestone bluff. As we ascended from the 
rock shelf, a mountain goat cantered ahead of us 


across some snow and was soon climbing to safety . 


among the cliffs. Before reaching the Old Gold 
cabin, located on the crest of a short ridge, we 
paused to bag a whistler or marmot. We were 
successful in this. The hoary marmot goes well 
in a shepherd’s pie and is one of the popular fresh 
meat diets of the Indians in British Columbia. 

In the valley that lay to the north below us the 
wild animals were fortunate enough to know little 
of man and his doings. There were a number of 
gophers around the cabin to welcome us. Pros- 
pectors working at the Old Gold mine had made 
friends with these animals, called them by name 
and fed them scraps of food. 
these little creatures showed no more fear than 
gray squirrels that frequent parks and climb over 
people in search of food. 

Later in the evening porcupine and wood rats 
furnished a different sort of diversion. Their 
nocturnal activities jeopardized the chances for 
our much-needed rest. Wood rats have a repu- 
tation for being troublesome at night and the 
most effective method of getting deadly revenge 
is to strike a light and deal suddenly with the 


4 pests. A very peculiar unpleasant odour is 


In some respects . 


In the West the bushy-tailed wood rat is 
abundant and known by different names, such as 
“‘mountain rat,” “trade rat,’ “pack rat,” ‘“‘bush 
rat’’ and other less modest terms descriptive of 
their habits and character. Probably no other 
animal has furnished better target practice for 
indoor shooting where interior decorations are 
given no serious thought and ‘‘dead rats” are the 
objective. 

One night while sleeping under the stars far 
from any cabin I was aroused by my companion 
exclaiming, “‘Do you smell a wood rat?’ The 
scent of the little beast was fresh and strong and 
in the half dark we began to feel around to locate 
our visitor. There were two thicknesses of 
blanket between us and the ground. Shrill 
squeaks and squeals came from a part of the 
blanket that lay between us as we grabbed a 
suspicious looking fold. The wood rat had chosen 
a good place to share in our bodily warmth, 
though that may not have been his intention. 
He had taken up a position in the blankets almost 
beneath my companion’s nose. 

On another occasion our temporary quarters 
were in an old mill on the South Thompson River 
not far from Ashcroft. Wood rats were nosiy 
throughout the night. I was sleeping on a camp 
cot and in the gray dawn heard a rapid beating on 
the board floor beneath my cot. Quickly ducking 
my head over the side of the cot, I got my first 
close-up glimpse of a wood-rat. He was sitting 
on his haunches and his long bushy tail lay flat 
on the floor. The noise had ceased, the rat had 
escaped and I could only guess how that noise 
had been made. Had the rat been slapping his 
tail on the floor? The tail looked too light to 
produce the noise I had heard. I later learned 
that wood rats “‘express annoyance or alarm by a 
rapid drumming on the ground with their hind 
feet, just as is done by some of the hares and 
rabbits.”” This particular wood rat had become 
adept in drumming on a board floor. The noise 
produced was far louder than ground drumming. 


To return to the events of July 29th, 1920, we 
three men got an early start, descending from the 
Old Gold cabin into the mountain basin below. 
We stopped at the Guinea Gold mine to look 
over the underground mining developments on 
this property. There was every sign that wood 
rats had taken up their abode in the blacksmith 
shop and in tunnels. ‘They are prolific animals 
and each year have several litters containing from 
two to five.’ This mine had been infested by the 


88 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


wood rats for some years, as indicated by the 
piles of sticks and trash. ‘Sometimes these piles 
of fragments seem to be made merely for amuse- 
ment or to work off surplus energy, for they form 
useless gatherings of sticks and other materials, 
scattered aimlessly about the wood rats’ haunts.” 

There are two tunnels on the Guinea Gold, 
connected by an eighty-five foot vertical upraise. 
Thirty feet below the upper tunnel an intermediate 
tunnel had been driven from the upraise. There 
was considerable water near the entrance of the 
lower tunnel and no wood rats enter water volun- 
tarily. The popular point of access to the mine 
for wood rats was plainly by the upper tunnel. 
This tunnel was bone dry and the floor was almost 
covered with sticks, leaves and materials packed 
in by the wood rats. Daylight penetrated gloom- 
ily into the tunnel for some distance over old 
abandoned nests. Eighty-five feet in from the 
entrance of the tunnel the upraise from the lower 
tunnel came through and since it was reported 
that some silver-lead ore might be seen in the 
intermediate cross-cut, we cautiously descended 
to investigate. 

The atmosphere in the mine was decidedly ratty 
and we had already had audible evidence that we 
had startled some of the rat tribe in coming 
through the upper tunnel. We were surprised 
to find additional wood rat accumulations and in 
the intermediate cross-cut we came across one 
well kept nest. It was built up on the floor of the 
tunnel and looked very much like a comfortable 
old hen’s nest, but instead of eggs we found four 
or five handsome young rats, gray little fellows 
with fine fiuffy soft fur, large ears and bright 
black eyes. 

While we were admiring this litter, much to 
our surprise the intrepid mother rat came to the 
nest and in the full glare of the mine lamps 
settled herself in a comfortable position. It 
looked as if the young rats had just ordered their 
breakfast and she would not postpone it a minute 
on our account. But we were mistaken in her 
intentions for after a few minutes she rose from 
the nest with a furry burden clinging to her tits. 
Besides holding on with their teeth, the young 
rats had firm hold on the mother wood rat’s 
bushy tail. Toe-holds, tail-holds, or possibly a 
combination of both secured them to her. The 
old rat made directly for the mine shaft, descend- 
ing gracefully and proudly, ‘‘with her tail between 
her legs,” into the inky darkness where there was 
nothing but the rough rock wall to cling to in the 
descent of fifty feet down to the lower tunnel. 

It was a rare exhibition of strength, a novel 
means of transportation. We had seen a wood 
rat jitney and a rather startling confirmation of 
the fact that wood rats are skilful climbers. 


‘soon to follow, open to the light of day. 


Wood rats must take to climbing as naturally as 


ducks to water, judging from the location selected — 
in this mine for nesting and rearing their young. 


The second example of mother courage was — 


We found 
the trail down Marsh-Adams (Porcupine) Creek 
below the mountain basin and crossed snow-slide - 
ground bearing abundant vegetation at this time 
of the year. The trail was hard to follow for it 
was almost wiped out for considerable distances, — 
where bears had been harvesting roots and — 
gophers. The grizzly bear is quite a digger, 
displacing heavy bowlders in efforts to have a 
taste of fresh meat. = 

We were well down below timber line, crossing 
through patches of huckleberry bushes. The 
prospector called our attention to several tin 
cans riddled with holes, near the trail. He had 
on an earlier trip taken these tins down the trail 
with the intention of gathering some berries. 


They were old jam containers left with the tops © 


pressed on hard. A grizzly had found the tins 
and punctured them badly with tooth holes. 
Half a dozen tins were scattered about in a 
crushed and flattened condition. 

The grizzly is a powerful animal and intelligent 
enough to keep out of sight of man. If given due 
warning, he will gallop off up a rough mountain 
side with the speed of a race horse. His claws are 
not constructed for tree climbing, they lack the 
proper curvature, and for this reason the grizzly 


bear must remain on the ground, take to flight, or ~ 


show battle. When discovered in an open space 
he will make for the timber. 

The grizzly bear has the reputation of being a 
land owner and he is apt to show battle if intruders 
come into his domain unannounced. The striking 
power of his forepaws is terrible. A prospector 
out hunting grizzly with a partner in the Selkirk, 


was dodging around a big tree to get out of the © 


way of one of these bears. The bear struck at — 
him and the tree got most of the blow, yet the 
bear’s large claws came around the tree with 
enough force to hit the man a stunning blow on 
the forehead. The bear’s efforts were arrested 
at this point by a lucky shot from the partner’s 


gun. z 


Man and the black bear can get up a tree away 
from immediate danger, if they are quick enough 
and if there happens to be a tree at hand. The 


black bear has been seen with young cubs dangling ~ 


from her flanks, holding on by their claws as the 
mother charged through the forest in flight. 
Young grizzly bears would have no such holding 
on power. I have never heard of a grizzly bear 
carrying the young to safety. ‘ 


Below where we had seen the mutilated jam — 


{ 


(ae 
May, 1922.) 
% 
in places along the valley bottom and much of it 
still remained in spite of summer heat. It was 
on one of these large snow patches that we spied 
the bear family as our trail brought us around the 
crest of a low ridge. Two yearling cubs not far 
away were boxing and tumbling around on the 
snow. We stopped to watch them for we were 
quite uncertain whether they were playing or 
_ quarrelling. We soon spied the mother bear, an 
immense animal stretched full length on the snow 
napping or taking a sun bath. The young bears 
rambled down on the snow and began to frisk 
around and over their mother. The old bear 
raised her head and assumed the attitude of a big 
dog reclining in an attentive position. It was 
plain that those young bears could grow a great 
deal more before they would be as big as their 
mother. 
The bear family were two hundred yards from 
the trail and on the east side of Marsh-Adams 
Creek, while our point of observation was on the 
west side of the Creek. A boisterous stream ran 
between us and the bears. Yet I must admit we 
were a bit nervous, for it had not been long since 
the bears had crossed that stream. We had seen 
on the trail, fresh signs of bear and the scent of 
bear still clung to the bushes. 
We were anxious to get a good picture of those 
bears and a little more anxious to know what 
would happen when they discovered us. There 
was no tree at hand, and it gave some measure of 
comfort to know that we were with a prospector 
_who had tamed a few bears and his 30-30 Winches- 
ter might do some more taming should occasion 
arise. 
The wind was in our favor, yet it was not long 
before the old bear became restless and began to 
sniff the air. It was certain that her nose was 
the principal locator, for she got up and walked 
- towards us. The prospector assured us that the 
_ bear’s eyesight was good only for close-up ob- 

servation. The grizzly was soon satisfied that 
we were no friends of hers. She got up on her 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 89 


hind legs and would drop down and come a little 
nearer and then repeat her performance. At 
the nearest approach, all three bears were stand- 
ing on their haunches, a cub on either side of the 
mother bear. The young bears were intently 
watching their mother as she diagnosed the air. 
It was plainly the business of the mother bear to 
sound the retreat or continue the advance. 


They say a grizzly bear is powerful, deliberate 
and quick to act. We felt the truth of the first 
two qualities and were waiting to see what might 
follow to prove the third. The mother bear was 
very deliberate, standing there on her haunches, 
champing her teeth, her mouth wide open at 
times and a long tongue circling about her face. 
We did not know whether she was foaming with 
rage or just nervous or possibly licking her chops 
at prospects of battle. The creek made so much 
noise that it was impossible to say whether there 
was any snarling in connection with all this 
grimacing. I think it must have been a demon- 
stration of pure ugliness for she suddenly turned 
and drove the cubs off up the snow in a very 
undignified and formidable manner, scarcely 
pausing at the edge of the timber. It looked as 
if the young cubs had expressed a wish to come 
over and see us, but it had not met with mother 
bear’s approval. 


I learned some weeks later that the very excel- 
lent and heavy camera packed by the engineer 
who was with us, had failed to put on record what 
would have been some rare pictures. Heavy, 
thunder-clouds were threatening and the most 
acceptable thing had happened in the retreat of 
the grizzlies. Hastening along the rocky trail, 
we arrived at Spencer in a drenched condition. 
We had been seeing live things that morning and 
had no thought of the discomforts of packing in 
the rain. There is only a small cabin at Spencer, 
so we made a camp fire and a cup of tea in the 
open. The sun was shining by the time we were 
ready to continue our journey. 


NOTES ON THE WATER-BIRDS OF LAKE NEWELL, ALBERTA 


By J. A. MUNRO, OKANAGAN LANDING, B.C. 


, 

3 4 ig recent agricultural development in the dry 
Ss belt of Alberta that has been fostered by the 
_ Canadian Pacific Railway Company has led to 
_ important changes in the bird-life of the district, 
_ particularly in the vicinity of Brooks. Following 
the planting of grain and fodder crops, gardens 
- andshade trees in this district, came an influx of 
land-birds, attracted by the insect hordes which 


invariably attend agricultural activities in a new 
country. The increase of passerine birds that 
closely follows the settlement of prairie or wood- 
land is a phenomenon familiar to every bird- 
student and that the Brooks. region should 
attract and hold many species of land birds is not 
particularly notable. The novel feature in this 
instance is, that not only was there a conspicuous 


90 


increase of land-birds but there was an invasion 
of water birds as well. While the growth of rural 
districts is favourable to the increase of various 
species of land birds, the reclamation of marsh- 
land usually connected with such development 
entails the reduction of water-birds on a large 
seale. In this case there was a reversal of the 
usual process caused by the creation of an arti- 
ficial lake to hold the Company’s water supply. 

This reservoir, known as Lake Newell, lies in a 
natural basin five miles south of Brooks; its area 
is approximately twelve thousand acres and its 
maximum depth twenty-seven feet. The water 
is taken from the Bow River near Bassano and 
reaches the reservoir through two main canals, 
one entering at the north end and one at the south. 
The surrounding land is non-irrigable and there 
are no farms near the lake. Apart from the 
spillways and the few concrete dams which link 
up the ridges forming its shore line, Lake Newell 
has not the appearance of an artificial lake. The 
littoral is barren and sandy without brush or tree 
growth and at the time of my visit (June 29th 
and 30th, 1921) the sparse growth of short grass 
was burnt crisp while the low Artemisia and the 
several species of cacti indicated the prevailing 
desert conditions. 

At first glance this arid waste surrounding the 
lake seemed most unfavourable for the study of 
bird life, but close inspection showed that various 
modifications, not at first apparent, had taken 
place during the seven years of the lake’s existence. 
Potamogetons and other water-weeds eaten by 
Ducks have drifted in through the canals and in 
the warm fresh water they have thrived and spread 
to all parts of the lake. Masses of these weeds 
that have been uprooted by storms frequently 
cause trouble by drifting against the mechanism 
of the headgates and interfering with their opera- 
tion. Accompanying these water-plants have 
come their attendant insects and mollusca. Fish 
also have entered the lake through the same 
channel and several species are now well estab- 
lished. With this abundant focd supply there 
naturally followed an invasion of water fowl. 
The attraction of the fresh water and the insect 
and plant food was so great that these water birds 
remained to breed in greater numbers each year. 
adapting themselves to the unfamiliar environ- 
ment. I found that Ducks were nesting under an 
artemisia, or a Russian thistle, or in any slight 
cover available on the barren shores of the lake. 
A Blue-winged Teal built her nest on one of the 
trails by the lake where a shallow depression 
between the waggon ruts offered an inducement. 
The bird flushed from almost under the bonnet 
of the car as we jolted along the rough trail— 
probably she was familiar with this form of 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


. [VoL. XXXVI 


disturbance. The seven eggs appeared hard set, 
so let us hope her good luck held to the end. 

Scattered over the lake are a number of small 
flat islands—hill summits before the lake was 
made. The majority of these are less than an 
acre in extent and have obtained full measure of 
benefit from the life-giving water. This is mani- 
fested by the luxuriant growth of thistles, mustard, 
lambs’ quarters, and other imported weeds—a 
thick jungle of vegetation. Poplars and willows 
are also springing up and their growth should be 
phenomenal. On these islands, free from moles- 
tation by predatory animals, the greater propor- 
tion of water fowl have chosen to breed. I was 
familiar with Pelican colonies, with Gull and Tern 
colonies, but never before had I seen breeding 
colonies of Ducks. For on several islands Ducks’ 
nests were so plentiful and so close together one 
had to walk carefully to avoid treading on the 
eggs. On one island of approximately one-third 
of an acre I counted thirty nests of the following 
species: White-winged Scoter, Scaup, Pintail, 
Gadwall, Mallard and Baldpate. All these nests 
contained the full complement of eggs and all 
showed indications of being well advanced in 
incubation. Several of the nests contained eggs 
of two species, an indication of the crowding on 
the island. A Gadwall’s nest contained six 
Gadwall eggs, two Mallard eggs, one downy 
Gadwall and one downy Scaup. The Scaups 
have an unpleasant habit of fouling their nests 
when they are flushed and one wonders if this is 
done as a protection for their eggs and against 
what enemy. It was too late in the season to see 
breeding Canada Geese, but one old nest was 
found and I was informed that five or six pairs 
bred on the lake. One pair nest on each island 
in splendid isolation. I was told they will not 
tolerate any Ducks in their vicinity. If this be so 
it is fortunate that they are such early breeders. 
Waders were represented on this island by two 
pairs of Avocets, two pairs of Killdeer and one 
pair of Spotted Sandpipers. 

Another of the islands visited contained a 
breeding colony of Common (?) Terns, estimated 
at two hundred pairs, three pairs of Avocets, and 
as many breeding Ducks as were found on the 
first island. From a distance the shore of this 
island appeared snowy white with Gulls, which on 
on closer inspection, proved to be Franklin’s. As 
the boat drew near the island they rose in three 
sections, circled over the boat several times, and 
then flew to an adjacent island where they settled 
on the beach to rest as before. These birds were 
about twenty miles from their breeding ground, 
which is established in a marsh covering several 
sections, southeast of Lake Newell. They were 
all adults and their inactivity in the height of the 


+ 


~ 


* 


exis, \ 


ae 


May, 1922.) _ 


nesting season and at such a distance from their 
breeding ground would lead one to surmise that 
the sexes segregate after the eggs are laid and that 
the males take no part in the subsequent domestic 
duties. 

The Terns; which were hardly distinguishable 
amongst the great wheeling flocks of Gulls, re- 
mained circling over the island after the latter had 
departed. Their rather well-built nests of grass, 
the majority of which contained two or three 


eggs each, were found everywhere on the island, 


/ 


ok Je 


‘ 


hidden in the thick woods. They showed a wide 
variation of color and markings, ranging from a 
pale greyish-green, lightly spotted with black, to 
a rich olive, blotched with sepia. A few nests 
contained downy young and several youngsters 
beginning to feather out were seen hiding in the 


- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 91 


woods. Avocets were also breeding here and the 
downy young, preposterous balls of fluff on attenu- 
ated legs, seampered over the sand and into the 
water where they rode as buoyantly as corks. At 
one time I held the downy young of Scaup, Tern 
and Avocet in my hand where the tiny olive, grey, 
and fawn morsels relaxed contentedly as if glad 
of the warmth. 


Lake Newell is of particular interest at the 
present time owing to the recent proposal that it 
be created a Bird Sanctuary under The Migratory 


Birds Convention Act. This project has the 
sympathy of many of the residents of that dis- 
trict and the foregoing notes are submitted as 
evidence that there will be no lack of tenants for 
the proposed refuge. 


THE HUNGARIAN OR EUROPEAN GREY PARTRIDGE 


By F. BRADSHAW, CHIEF GAME GUARDIAN, REGINA, SASK. 


{ONSIDERABLE interest has been aroused 
among sportsmen by the appearance of the 
Hungarian or European Grey Partridge at many 
points in southwestern Saskatchewan, and those 
whose love of birds is due more to an appreciation 
of their economic and esthetic values, than to 
their sporting possibilities, are equally delighted 
to know of this new addition to the fauna of the 
province. 
The occurrence of a new species of bird or 
- animal is also a matter of scientific importance, 
therefore it might not be out of place to record a 
‘few facts concerning the history of this new arrival. 
The source of supply was undoubtedly in the 
province of Alberta, and I am indebted to Mr. 
Austin de B. Winter, of Calgary, Alberta, for the 
following interesting account of the introduction 
of the Hungarian Partidge into that province. 
Mr. de B. Winter states that: 
“In about the year 1906 or 1907, three of us 


-- imported a few quail (Bob White) from Kansas 


which, however, arrived in extreme temperature 
towards the end of February, I think, and which, 
owing to being confined in heated cars in transit, 
contracted pneumonia or some disease to which 
they very shortly succumbed after they were 
liberated. 

The following year we renewed our efforts and 
secured funds from other sportsmen, resulting in 


- our importing about fifteen pair that spring, and 


about a similar number of Hungarian Partirdge 
that fall. These were liberated about ten or 
twelve miles south of Calgary. Later importa- 
_ tions were made, and to the best of my recollection, 


the total number of partridge liberated did not 
much exceed 150 birds, if indeed it reached that 
number, and these continued to multiply and 
spread all over the province. 

“‘After 1914, I think, an open season with a bag 
limit of 25 birds was established, and a full 
month’s open season, and sometimes two, has 
since been maintained, the present season’s bag 
limit being 50 birds. These birds have increased 
unbelievably, and have literally spread all over 
the province. My impression is that they have 
practically all radiated from the point at which 
they were originally liberated. 

“It is true that small quantities of five pairs or 
so were liberated at distances, say 100 miles north 
and about 60 miles south. I am informed that 
they are to be found in districts around Edmonton 
and North of Edmonton towards the Peace 
River (which I can hardly credit), and it is known 
that they have spread as far south as the inter- 
national boundary. 

“T have seen these birds at distances of 150 
miles North and West of Calgary. 

“So much at any rate for their spreading pro- 
pensities, and you will observe that the birds have 
spread into new districts, notwithstanding the 
fact that in the new districts to which they have 
spread there has been an open season, and ap- 
parently no particular effort made by people to 


“preserve them. 


“The bird likes the stubble and seems to thrive 
well in prairie country. It is not a brush bird, 
although, naturally, cover affords protection from 
vermin. The bird is wonderfully prolific and 


_ . te 


92 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


broods of twenty are frequently to be seen. 
Should casualty overtake the female, the male 
will bring up the family. 

“The birds are extremely hardy, are of economic 
value, and seem to relish not only insects, but a 
great many of the weed seeds, such as wild buck- 
wheat, ete. 

“Our birds were imported direct from Hungary 
by Wenz and MacKensen of Yardley, Pennsyl- 
vania. 
J. MacKensen, who, by the way, is a Canadian. 

“T have had repeated enquiries from various 
parts of Canada, and from numerous clubs who 
wish to secure these birds. During the war, of 
course, it was impossible to obtain any, and while 
I have renewed efforts since, Mr MacKenzen 
informed me that he thought it would be some 
time before he could renew the importation of the 
birds, as the prices were prohibitive.”’ 

As a general principle, the introduction of foreign 
birds or animals is a very dangerous proceeding, 
for, although the introduced species may thrive, 
it may also become detrimental to the welfare of 
the native and more desirable species of animal 
life, and the benefits derived may not compensate 
for the losses sustained. For proof of this, we 
might cite the introduction of therabbit into 
Australia, and the liberation of the House Sparrow 
on this continent, both of which, in their new 
environments, have become pests of the worst 
kind. With the view to finding out what effect 
the introduction of the Hungarian Partridge had 
had on the native game birds of Alberta, I referred 
this matter to Mr. de B. Winter, who, I am 
pleased to say, anticipates no serious developments 
along this line, as may be seen by his reply, which, 
in part, is as follows: 

“T am glad you mentioned this phase of the 
subject, because I should have added that these 
birds are not antagonistic to our native birds in 
any way whatever, and knowing what I do of 
them in European countries, I did not expect they 
would be. Pheasants on the other hand, as you 
know, do interfere with partridges, often laying 
their eggs in partridges’ nests.” 

So much for Alberta’s contribution to the es- 
tablishment of this bird east of the Rockies. We 
will now return to the facts that relate to Saskat- 
chewan. The first intimation received by the 
Department of what was undoubtedly the Hun- 
garian Partridge, was from Mr. Geo. H. Coulter, 
of Piapot, Sask., who, under date of November 
23rd, 1921, wrote as follows: 

“Have seen some small birds around here this 
fall, thought they were quail. Have been told 
they are Hungarian Partridge from Alberta. 
Have a close season put on them, so they will get 
a chance to multiply. They flush together and 


The business is now operated by Mr. Wm. | 


run on the ground, so will need protection.” 
About the same time we were advised by Pro- 


fessor J. S. Dexter, that a specimen of the Hun- 


garian Partridge had been sent to the Saskatchewan 
University for identification by Mr. Russell 
Martin, of Rutland, which point is located in 


township 41, range 25, west of the 8rd meridian, 


about 20 miles east of the Alberta boundary. Mr. 
Martin writes that he ‘Saw a flock of 15 or 20 of 
these birds at the edge of a wheat field, about the 
first of September, and about the first of Novem- 
ber, picked one up from beside the road three 
miles from where he saw the flock. It had ap- 
parently been killed by flying against a telephone 
wire. This is a hilly rough country, with con- 
siderable brush and sloughs and pot holes. About 
half the land is farmed.” 

Our first introduction to this bird in the flesh 
was through the kindness of Mr. C. H. Martin of 
Wilkie, and the manner in which the two birds 
submitted by him were obtained is worthy of 
note. They were hit by a passenger train just 


[VoL. XXXVI - 


west of Wilkie, on the evening of January 5th, — 


1922, and were found on the front of the engine on 
the arrival of the train at the station. It is 
reported there was quite a flock of these birds, 
but no information as to the approximate number 
is given. Both these specimens are now on 
exhibit in the Natural History Museum at Regina. 

Many other reports in substantiation of the 
advent of this bird have been received. Mr. D. J. 
Huntley, Saskatchewan Landing, writes: ‘‘While 
riding in the river brakes this fall, I startled a 
pair of birds identical to the partridge found in 
England. Is this the Hungarian Partridge?” 

We are also advised by Mr. F. Doiton, of 
Valor, that a covey of eight birds were seen south 
of Twelve Mile Lake, township 5, range 2, west 
of the 3rd meridian, about 200 miles east of the 
Alberta boundary, and that other birds have been 
seen in that locality, and My. C. A. Millie, of 
Piapot, informs us that he saw a covey of Hun- 
garian Partridges about ten miles southwest of his 
town. 

With such a pleasing nucleus of birds for breed- 
ing purposes, at widely separated points in the 
southwestern portion of the province, there 
seems every likelihood of the Hungarian Partridge 
becoming well established, and with the object 
of affording the protection necessary to enable it 
to increase by natural process, The Game Act has 
been amended, making it unlawful to shoot these 
birds at any time. 

The co-operation of all persons interested in the 
welfare of this new game bird is respectfully 
solicited, and the Department will be interested 
to hear from any other persons who observe this 
bird for the first time. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


93 


INJUDICIOUS FOSSIL COLLECTING 


By E. J. WHITTAKER 


CERTAIN wise man called Pope many years 
ago declared that ‘‘a little knowledge is a 
dangerous thing.” With prophetic vision he 


looked forward into the twentieth century when 


the general public would be treated to many and 
varied forms of ‘‘little knowledge.” One of the 
most interesting developments in this regard is the 
almost universal instruction in elementary natural 
history. Boys and girls become scouts and 
guides and sally forth to delve into or rather to 
uproot the secrets.of nature. With the natural 
mpetuosity of youth this process often gives 
results other than those expected and leads us 
to conclude that a genuine love of nature, which 
protects rather than destroys, is still dormant. 
We have lately had frequent examples of this 
tendency. In certain parts of New York state, 
the girl guides have been so impressed by the 
beauty of the trailing arbutus, encountered in 
their natural history excursions, that it has now 
ceased to exist. Why? It has been transplanted 
to the city homes of the guides where it did not 
stand a chance of surviving. In another part of 
the same state a group of boy scouts, by indus- 
trious application of the knowledge imparted 
in a woodcraft and trapping course, have almost 
exterminated the fauna of that area. Bird life 
is being saved, not by the “‘little knowledge” of 
the elementary courses in schools, but by further 
intensive instruction, propaganda, and drastic 
laws. The writer wishes to enter a plea on 
behalf of a class of objects which cannot defend 
themselves, whose destruction cannot be repaired, 
and which can suffer extremely under the hands 
of an inexperienced amateur collector, to wit, 
fossils. 
Fossil collecting is an interesting and instruc- 


_ tive pursuit and our knowledge of the distribution 


of fossils has been increased quite as much by 
‘the many collectors throughout the country as by 
‘the professional paleontologists. For the amateur 


- eollector the article by Dr. E. M. Kindle, of the 


‘4 
- 


bs 
‘ons 


y 
; 
‘ 
! 
oe 
7 

; 


by 


Canadian Geological Survey, is very useful.* In 
it is expressed the fact that haste is taboo and 
hard work and patience are essential. This rule 
does not appeal to many amateurs who still fail 


to realize the importance of a fossil, with the 


result that many of these remains are ruined by 


- eareless and hurried attempts to extract them 
from the matrix. 


A good example of this van- 


dalism was observed a short time ago in Hull. 


The Hull limestone quarries have been famous 
for many years on account of the abundance and 
preservation of their fossil remains. Of these the 
crinoids and cystids are most valuable on account 
of their beauty, perfect preservation and rarity. 
The fine collections of the late Elkaniah and 
Walter Billings represent many years of en- 
thusiastic search for these forms in this locality. 
While looking over these beds the writer came 
upon a heavy bed of hard limestone about ten 
feet square whose surface was covered with 
crinoids. Someone who had realized their value 
had endeavoured to remove them and had suc- 
ceeded only in ruining them all and leaving their 
mangled remains to sadden the eyes of those who 
followed. The only method of removing these 
specimens was to channel carefully with a chisel 
to a depth of at least half an inch all around the 
individual fossil and then the whole could be 
removed easily. But this might require half an 
hour to obtain one specimen and the individual 
who had desecrated this plot could not afford to 
spend so much time and energy in getting one 
perfect specimen which would have been a source 
of pleasure to him for all time to come. For the 
fossil has this advantage, it neither fades nor 
decays after being gathered. This example at the 
Hull quarries is mentioned because of local 
interest, but the writer has observed similar 
ravages elsewhere. So he wishes to incorporate an 
unofficial “‘Society for the Protection of Fossils” 
without officers or fees, but to whose tenets all who 
are interested in and realize the importance of 
these ancient remains should subscribe. Besides 
the manual of instructions cited above the follow- 
ing rules of ethics should govern its members: 

1. Do not endeavour to extract an important 
or rare fossil without adequate tools and a proper 
conception of the procedure to be followed. 
It is better to leave it for the time, even to 
another collector, than to destroy it. 


2. The preservation of the fossil is the main 
object sought. It pays to take a little more 
time to get the specimen out complete. 

3. Where specimens are scarce do not remove 
every individual of each species which can be 
seen at a given locality, thus emulating the 
“game hog” in hunting. At a later date, to 
back up or confirm previous data, it is advisable 
to be able to relocate readily such forms. 


Observance of the above rules of conduct, which 


7Y See 


94 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


will be prejudicial to no one, will result in a greater 
feeling of satisfaction on the part of the amateur 
collector, and will certainly obviate unkind 


+ P| + i a 
a be Se 


(Vou. XXXVI 


thoughts such as those that passed through the 
writer’s mind on viewing the shattered crinoids in 
the Hull quarry. 


PROSECUTIONS 


Migratory Birds Convention Act by Officers of the Dominion Parks Branch and Royal Canadian Mounted 
; Police. 


REPORTED DURING THE PERIOD—FEBRUARY 15, 
1922—May 4, 1922. 


Horton Quindley, Stony Island, Shelburne Co., 
Nova Scotia. Shooting a Guillemot. Case dis- 
missed. 

Horton Quindley, Stony Island, Shelburne Co., 
Nova Scotia. Having in possession a Guillemot. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Albert E. Petty, Thessalon, Ontario. Killing a 
Pileated Woodpecker. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Clifton Woodard, North Hatley, P.Q. Having 
in possession a Wild Duck. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Robie Wagner, Central Port Mouton, Queens 
Co., Nova Scotia. Attempting to kill a Horned 
Grebe. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Ralph Amy, Ayer’s Cliff, P.Q. Possessing a 
Bittern. Case dismissed. 

John F. McKinnon, Glace Bay, C.B. Having 
in possession a Canada Goose in close season. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 


Thomas Dustin, R.R. No. 2, Ayer’s Cliff, P.Q. 
Possessing a Pileated Woodpecker. Fine $10.00 
and costs. 

Michell Bowers, Digby, Nova Scotia. Attempt- 
ing to shoot an American Golden-eye in close 
season. Seizure—One shot gun. Fine $10.00 and 
costs (suspended). 

James Currie, Charlottetown, Prince Edward 
Island. Hunting a Canada Goose in close season. 
Fine $25.00 and costs. 

Charles W. Patterson, Charlottetown, Prince 
Edward Island. Hunting a Canada Goose in © 
close season. Fine $25.00 and costs. 

John M. Roop, Charlottetown, Prince Edward 
Island. Hunting a Canada Goose in close season. 
Fine $25.00 and costs. 

Vernon Gay, Charlottetown, Prince Edward 
Island. Hunting a Canada Goose in close 
season. Fine $25.00 and costs. 

Gordon Worth, Charlottetown, Prince Edward 
Island. Hunting a Canada Goose in close season 
Fine $25.00 and costs. 


NOTES ON BIRDS IN SOUTHWESTERN SASKATCHEWAN 


By L. B. Potter 


oe valley of the Frenchman River is about the 
-northern limit of the Sage Grouse in south- 
western Saskatchewan. At this point, 5 miles 
above Eastend, the bird was never very numerous, 
and we seldom saw a band exceeding 8 or 10 in 
number. The Sage Grouse becomes very tame if 
left alone and some years ago we were troubled 


’ with the young birds trespassing in our garden, 


where they would eat the hearts out of the lettuce 
plants. Scaring them off had little effect, but 
we managed to supply ourselves as well as the 
Sage Chickens with lettuce in the end. On 
another occasion I have seen a couple of young- 
sters enjoying a dust bath within 20 yards of the 
stable door. But the coming of the railway up 
the valley changed all this and between 1914 and 
1920 hardly a bird did we see. However, on the 
wide flats below Eastend and all the way to the 
international boundary, I believe there have 


always been fair numbers, and during the past 
winter we have been glad to see a little band of 
8 or 9 generally on our own land; and we hope 
they may decide to remain here to breed. There 
were two “‘dancing-grounds”’ within a mile of 
this house and quite frequently I used to steal 
up close and watch the proceedings. The Sage 
Grouse at ordinary times is very inconspicuous, 
harmonising well with the sage-brush in which, 


‘for the most part, it feeds, but the white air-sacs 


of the male birds at the pairing season can be 
seen a mile away; and the sight of these white 
objects moving about certainly puzzled me at 
first, for without field-glasses the rest of the bird 
is quite invisible so far away. 

During the winter of 1921-22 several Rosy 
Finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis) appeared in the 
valley. A bird of the Rocky Mountains in 
summer, during the winter months it wanders — 


% 


Provincial Museum at Regina. 


7 
in 


ofa is / 


May, 1922.) 


over the prairies as far even as Manitoba. We 


~ collected a few specimens, which are now in the 


I first noted the 
bird in November, 1912; probably it visits this 


_ locality in more or less numbers every winter. 


Excepting once, I have seen them only in and 
around our corrals and stackyard where they 
feed on weed seeds like other finches. During the 
winter of 1916-17, I saw or heard of several and 
while sitting in the train noticed a couple feeding 
with some House Sparrows at the foot of a grain 
elevator in Eastend. It is a silent bird and its 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


95 


only note is a soft “que, que’’ when distrubed. 
All the birds we saw were apparently tephrocotis. 


For the first time in my experience a Crow tried 
to winter here, being seen on February 5th, and 
6th. After that the weather turned very stormy 
and cold and we saw it no more. 


The Horned Lark is now a resident throughout 
the year, though it may be that quite a number 
of our little winter birds are from the far north. 
They are certainly much lighter on the under 
parts. 


oats NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


Subscriptions for 1922 are now due; by 
paying promptly you will greatly facilitate 
_the publishing of this magazine. 


SKIN IRRITATION DUE TO PLANT POISONING.— 
Having been a victim at times to poison ivy, 
Mr. Gussow’s paper on the subject was of con- 
siderable interest to me. If he has found an 
active cure to the complaint he has conferred a 
benefit on all out-door enthusiasts. I can testify 
that some people are more or less immune to its 


effects. As a child and a youth, I handled the 


plant fearlessly. Our place at Muskoka was 
over-run with poison ivy and it was only through 


my mother and I pulling it up by the roots (with 


bare hands as we would any other weed) year 
after year that it was eradicated. This was 
Jargely done in warm summer weather when 
perspiration was profuse. We crushed it into 
large baskets and carried it to the fire-place where 
we had almost nightly camp-fires. Neither of us 
. showed any signs of poisoning though all the 
conditions seemed most favourable for it. Our 
immunity was undoubtedly constitutional. 
_ Years after, again in Muskoka, my mother, not 
- fearing the plant, attempted to clear a neighbor’s 
place of it after the old method, and came down 
with a perfectly terrible case of ivy poisoning, 
whereby she was confined to bed for a week or 
more. Similarly I have since found that I could 
-no longer expose myself with safety to the plant. 
Whilst not peculiarly susceptible, I have had 
several attacks on much slighter provocation 


_ than I used to offer to the plant in the old days. 
__ It is evident that whilst there are various degrees 


of partial as. well as complete constitutional 


a immunity towards ivy poisoning, the protection 


may be lost at any time. I do not doubt that 
various physical and physiological conditions 
affect susceptibility, but one would naturally 
expect that when the pores of the skin are being 
thoroughly flushed outward by profuse perspira- 


1 


tion, it would be one of the poorest times for 
external poisons to be transfused inward. 

During comparatively moderate attacks on the 
hands, especially in the soft skin between the 
fingers, I found that a thorough washing with 
coarse laundry soap gave more relief than 
anything else. Fine toilet soap, however, was 
almost useless. I took the strongest and harshest 
laundry soap and worked up a good lather on the 
hands, continuing the washing motion (which, 
under the circumstances is far from a disagree- 
able proceeding) until the lather vanished and 
the hands were practically dry. This may not 
cure, but it certainly gives relief from the intense 
irritation for from half an hour to an hour, when 
it may be repeated. The virtue in the treatment 
lies in the large amount of free alkali in the soap 
and the massaging, the soapy principle assisting 
the latter and preventing friction. The soap 
drying on the afflicted parts may also hold the 
alkali in place longer than an ordinary wash 
would remain. This is an easy remedy, always 
available, and is good at least for light cases. 

It may also be noted that Poison Ivy, Rhus 
toxocodendron, is not the only plant that may 
cause these irritations. Poison Sumach (Poison 
Oak) Rhus vernix, is equally bad. One of our 
common green house Primulas is also a source of 
danger to many people, as well as that most beauti- 
fulorchid, the Showy Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium- 
hirsutum. Whether the above treatment is 
equally effective with poisons from all these 
plants I cannot say.—P. A. TAVERNER. 


EUPHYLLOPOD CRUSTACEANS FROM CANADA AND 
ALASKA.—A few additions and corrections to my 
article about this subject in this publication, May, 
1921 (Vol. XXXV, ‘No. 5), may be of interest:— 

During a stay in London recently (January, 
1922) I have assured myself that the specimens 
(“‘types’’) of Conchostraca from Canada mention- 


96 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


ed by Baird are still in the British Museum of 
Natural History and preserved in pillboxes dry. 

Those of Limnetis gouldii comprise three full- 
grown (3} by 4 mm.) specimens from St. Ann’s, 
P.Q.; and in the museum is also a vial with two 
other specimens of the same species, collected in 
fresh water at Montreal by Prof. Jukes and pre- 
sented in 1890 to the British Museum by Prof. 
Rupert Jones. 

When I was in Christiania, Norway, November 
last, Prof. G. O. Sars there told. me that he felt 
sure that Baird’s species, L. gouldii, is the same as 
the well known North European species, L. brachy- 
urus. He has now received specimens of L. 
gouldii from Ottawa, so as to decide this point 
by rearing and comparison of the two species. 

Baird’s ‘“‘type’’-specimen of Estheria caldwelli 
is a dried shell, 8 by 5 mm. in size. There is no 
information about when it was collected in Lake 
Winnipeg. 

Though examining all the arctic Euphyllopoda 
in Scandinavian museums (besides in London) I 
have been unabie to find any definite records of 
Lepidurus arcticus from Labrador or of Branchin- 
ecta paludosa from Spitsbergen. 

The following corrections should be made in 
the same number of the ‘Naturalist’’:— 

P. 92 (under Muller, O.F.) Omit the word 
Prodromus, and read {788 instead of 1777. On 
p. 100 read Camden Bay, instead of Canadian Bay. 

P. 93: Sahiberg’s paper was published in 
Helsingfors, 1875. 

P. 94: Under Brehm, read Vol. 45, instead of 
Vol. 34. 

To the bibliography on pp. 92-94, add the 
following works:—. 

Herbst, J. F. W.—vVersuch ein. Naturgesch. 
der Krabben und Krebse, etc., Vol. II, Berlin und 
Stralsund, 1790-1804. 

Dybowski, B.— Beitr. zur Phyllopodenfauna der 
Umgegend Berlins, etc. (Arch, fur Naturgesch., 
26 Jahrg., Berlin, 1860.) 

Wierzejski, A.—Geographical distribution, ete. 
of Branchinecta paludosa, O.F. Muell. (in Polish) 
Cracow, 1882 (1883). 

Lilljeborg, W. Limnadia gigas (J.F.H.) fore- 
komm. i Sverige (Ofvers. Kgl. Bet. Akad. Forh. 
for 1871, Stockholm, 1872.) 

Lilljeborg W. Synopsis Crust. Suec. Ordin. 
Branchiopod. et Subord. Phyllopod. (Nova Acta 
Reg. Soc. Scient. Upsal., 1877.) 

Lilljeborg, W. Beitr. z. Fauna der Baeren 
Insel, 3, Entomostraceen (Bih. t. Kgl. Vet. 
“Akad. Handl., Bd. 26, Afd, 1V, Stockholm, 1900.) 

Guerne, J. de, et Richard, J: Sur la faune des 
eaux douces du Groenland (Compt. Rendus 
hebdom. des seances de |’acad. des sciences, Tome 
108, Paris 1889.) 


(VoL. XXXVI 


Sars, G. O.—Bemaerkn. om de til Norges 
Fauna hoer. Phyllopoder (Forh. Vid. Selsk. for 
1873, Christiania, 1874.) 

Sars, G. O.—Crustacea Norske Nordeksped. 
1876-78, (Vol. VI, Christiania, 1885-86.) 

Richard, J.—Entomostr. recueill. par M. Ch. 
Rabot a Jan Mayen et Spitsbergen (Bull. de la 
Soc. Zool. de France, Vol. 22, Paris, 1897.) 

Richard, J.—Sur la faune des eaux douces 
explorees en 1898 pendant la campagne du yacht 
“‘Princess Alice’ (Mem. de la Soc. Zool. de France. 
Vol. II. Paris, 1898.) 

Linko, A.—Beitr. z. Kenntn. der Phyllopoden- 
fauna des europaeisch. Russlands (Trav. de la Soc. 
Imper. des Naturalistes de St. Petersbourg, Vol. 
31, 4, 1901; in Russian.) 

Zykoff, W.—Zur Crustaceenfauna der 
Kolguljev (Zool. Anzeig., Bd. 28, 1905.) 

Juday, C. and Muttowski, R. A.—Entomostraca _ 
from St. Paul Island, Alaska (Bull. Wise. Nat. 
Hist. Soc., Vol. XIII (new series), 1915.) 

Dahl, K.—Studier eg Forsoeg over Oerret og 
Oerretvand, Christiania, 1917 (tables). 

Lundblad, O.—Branchinecta paludosa and Poly- 
arlemia forcipata in Haerjedalen; some new 
localities for P. forcipata and B. paludosa in 
Sweden (Entom. Tidsskr., Stockholm, 1914-15). 

Lundblad, O.—Vergl. Stud. ueb. die Nahrung- 
saufnahme einig. schwed. Phyllopoden, etc., 
(Arkiv f. Zoologi, Bd. 13, Stockholm, 1920). 

Olofssen, O.—Suesswasser-Entomostracen, etc. 


Inse 


~ von Murmankueste, ete. (Zool. Bidr. fr. Univ. 


Uppsala, Vol. 5, 1916-17). 

Haberbosch, P.—Die Suesswasser entomostrak- 
en Groenlands (Zeitschr. f. Hydrologie, Jahrg. 1, 
1920).— FRITS JOHANSEN. 

THE STARLING IN MAGoG.—On Saturday, the 
11th of March, 1922, a Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 
put in its appearance in Magog. 

I came across the bird suddenly on leaving my 
office at 1.15 p.m. It was feeding, in the middle 
of Main Street, with some English sparrows, who, 
with their customary cheek and curiosity were 
keeping a close watch over the new-comer. 

The Starling had nothing to fear, however, as 
it is a much larger bird, being 8} inches in length, 
and its first concern seemed to be its appetite; it 
had evidently just arrived and was, naturally, 
hungry. It later proved to be a male bird. 
While I was observing, he perched for a few mo- 
ments on a tree and then resumed his feeding on 
the ground, working along the roadway to the 
Dominion Textile Company’s Stables, which 
subsequently became a kind of food-emporium for 
him as it is for a certain band of sparrows. I was 
unable to follow up my new acquaintance until 
Monday, March 13th, when I found him at his 


“May, 1922.) 


same quarters, with the same bodyguard of 
sparrows. When not working—i.e., between meals 

_ —he would sit quietly on a slanting, low roof and 
preen his beautiful feathers. 

The bird reminds one forcibly of the Meadow- 
lark (Sturnella magna) especially by the shape of 
its head and the long beak and short, square tail, 
the two last features being even more accentuated 
than in the Meadowlark. A resemblance is 
implied in the generic names of the two species, 
viz. ‘Sturnus’ and ‘Sturnella,’ although they belong 
to two different families, the Sturnidae and 
Icteridae. The plumage of the Starling is glossy 
black with metallic reflections of green, blue, 
purple and even lavender colors, according to the 
way the light strikes the feathers. Most of the 
feathers are tipped with buffy spots, giving the 
bird a_ spangled appearance. The elongated, 
spear-like bill is mainly yellow and the sturdy 
legs, which “run” and do not “hop’’, are brown 
red, almost an Indian red. 

The Starling is a native of Western and Central 
Europe, migrating in winter to Southern Europe 
and Northern Africa. It is one of the commonest 
and best known birds in England, where it is met 


with in swarms following cattle and sheep, alight-- 


‘ing on their backs to feed on the ticks which infest 

them. It feeds on the ground, eating cut-worms, 
grasshoppers, grain, etc., and it also perches in 
trees and shrubs, including fruit and berries in 
its diet. 

The birds were introduced into this country 
over 30 years ago; 60 individuals in 1890 and 
forty more in 1891 were liberated in Central 
Park, New York City, from which vicinity these 
birds and their progeny have gradually radiated 
around the country for several hundred miles and 
can now be reckoned in the millions. 

The Magog bird probably came up the Connec- 
ticut River Valley. 

The Starling is a hardy and tenacious bird, and 
with the English Sparrow (another importation) 
tends to keep away other more beneficial insecti- 
-vorous species. Like the Sparrow, too, it will 
probably become a nuisance and a pest unless its 

_ increase is artificially checked. 

I collected the Magog bird on the 13th instant 
and found on dissection that it was a male and 
_ apparently a non-breeder. The present record 
would indicate that the migratory instinct is 
_ asserting itself and that the species can now be 
- considered as fully naturalised. We may con- 
_ fidently expect more of these birds from now on. 
_—F. NAFIER SMITH, Magog, Que. 


4 Not A PLEsIosAuR.—The newspapers of late 
have had a great deal to say about the strange 
_animal which has been seen in Patagonia, and in 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 97 


nearly every case it is spoken of as a plesiosaur. 
What the strange animal will prove to be, the 
writer would not attempt to guess, but a few 
remarks about.plesiosaurs will show that there is 
little chance of Prof. Onelli capturing a live plesi- 
osaur. 

The plesiosaur lived from Triassic to Cretaceous 
times, but not a bone of any genus of the order 
has been found in rocks of more recent age than 
Cretaceous. This means that plesiosaur has been 
extinct for more than three million years. The 
Patagonian monster is reported as being very 
huge, so heavily armoured that a bullet could not 
penetrate to the vital organs, and as having made 
a great path through the forest. Some plesio- 
saurs were very large, though many were of 
moderate length, some being less than ten feet 
long, and none were covered with a bony dermal 
armour. The fore and hind limbs both constitu- 
ted flippers or paddles similar to those of a whale 
and were not adapted for walking but were purely 
swimming organs. Most genera of the order 
Plesiosauria had long snake-like necks and small 
heads with sharp conical teeth suitable for catching 
living fish, which were probably their main diet 
Smooth pebbles, which it is thought were used to 
aid digestion, have been found in the stomach. 
The paddles were the main means of propulsion, 
the short tail probably serving as a rudder.— 
C. M. STERNBERG. 


DOVEKIES AND MURRES PICKED UP DEAD AND 
Dy1InGc.—The past winter appears to have been a 
hard one for various species of our more northern 
water birds. About the middle of December, 1921, 
Dovekies were reported from different sections in 
Kings and Annapolis Counties, Nova Scotia. 
Always were the stories the same—birds picked 
up unable to rise and very much emaciated. 
Many of these were picked up miles from salt 
water and all attempts to induce the weakened 
birds to eat were fruitless. Reference to my 
records shows that between December 11th and 
January 19th, there were thirty-seven individuals 
reported to me, nine of which were brought or 
sent by mail, in the flesh. In addition to the 
above, a report from Digby Basin reads as fol- 
lows: “ . . . at Bear Island the remains of 
several Dovekies were discovered where they had 
been devoured by Crows.” Of the nine which I 
had an opportunity to examine, all were in a 
similar starved condition, five being dead when 
received and the other four surviving only a few 
hours. The internal organs were so dried up and 
wasted that I was unable to sex any of the speci- 
mens handled. ’ 

On December 19th, five were brought to school 
by children at Truro who had picked them up at 


9 


oa) 


different points by the wayside after leaving 
home. These were all alive and had apparently 
fallen during the night, possibly attracted by the 
lights of the town over which they flew bewildered 
until exhausted. Eight others were reported 
from the vicinity of Truro about the same time. 
Between the 23rd and 28th of December, there 
were seven found about the town of Annapolis 
Royal. 

Five Murres were reported from January 30th 
to February 18th, all of which were alive at the 
time they were discovered. Four of these were 
sent to me and on examination proved to be 
Brunnich’s Murres. Two were taken under 
conditions which seem noteworthy: On January 
30th a neighbour was driving across the dyke at 
Port Williams when his attention was attracted 
to a bird which was flying towards him swiftly. 
It was about to pass in front of him when it struck 
the telephone wire with a crash which sent it 
spinning to earth with a badly fractured skull. 
It lived only a few moments. When it was 
handed to me it was still warm. It proved to be 
a female Brunnich’s Murre and was a very iarge 
one, measuring exactly 20 inches from tip of bill 
to end of tail. The other measurements were 
as follows: Wing, 8 in.; Tar., 1.50 in.; Bill, 
1.25; width bill at nostril, .48 in. Another was 
discovered on the 10th of February, standing 
erect in the snow holding two cats at bay. These 
would attempt to strike the bird with their claws 
and one had succeeded in giving the Murre a 
severe cut on the throat, though only skin deep. 
The bird, with the use of its bill and powerful 
thrusts, was able to look out for himself re- 
markably well. 

Mr. Forbush of Boston reports that Dovekies, 
Brunnich’s Murres, and Razor-billed Auks have 
been common all along the New England sea- 
board and by way of explanation states that 
evidently some disturbance has occurred in the 
north and there ‘“‘must have been some tremen- 
dous storms at sea.’”’—R. W. Turts, Wolfville, 
N.S. 


COWBIRD IN Nova ScotiA.—On the 17th of 
April, 1922, I had the pleasure of meeting with a 
Cowbird for the first time in my field experience 
in Nova Scotia. 

This was at Kingston Station, Kings County, 
where the bird was feeding on the ground by the 
roadside. At the approach of the car it flew to 
the nearest apple tree, some 25 feet distant, and 
sat there wiping its bill in a manner which showed 
slight concern for the car, which was brought to 
an abrupt stop. The bird was a male and in 
very fine plumage. This appears to be the first 
record from this part of the Province, though 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


several Cowbirds have been reported from 
Yarmouth County.—R. W. Turts, Wolfville, N.S. 


EARLY NESTING OF THE AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 
—In the cases of ten nests of this species which it 
has been my good fortune to examine during the 
past 15 years, or so, it has been possible to deter- 
mine that the eggs were laid about the Ist to 
the 10th of May. On the 16th of April this 
year I collected a set of 3 Goshawk’s eggs which 
were slightly incubated. This nest was examined 
on the 6th of April, and on that date held two eggs. 
The nest was in a medium-sized beech tree, about 
35 feet up, and well fastened in the first crotch. 
An attempt was made to photograph the bird at 
the nest and a blind was constructed for that 
purpose. She returned within about 50 yards 
several times, but apparently her keen eye de- 
tected the changed landscape even at that dis- 
tance and she quickly disappeared. The male 
bird was not in evidence and the female, an 
adult, was very wary, leaving the nest when we 
had approached within about 45 yards. She 
flew about for some time, uttering harsh cries, 
then disappeared, returning after a considerable 
lapse of time when she supposed we had left 
the woods. 

These birds are remarkably uniform in their 
choice of building sites, seeming to prefer a low 
crotch in a medium-sized hard-wood tree and 
never (in my experience) more than 40 feet from 
the ground.—R. W. Turts, Wolfville, N.S. 


NOTES ON SOME WINTER BIRDS OF THE GASPE 
PENINSULA.—In the early winter of 1921-22, I 
made a brief journey through the Gaspé Peninsula 
to Gaspé, Cap des Rosiers, Pereé, and Bonaventure 
Island. I started from Matapedia, P.Q., on 
December 7 and returned there on December 12. 
On this journey I had, for the most part, little 
opportunity of observing birds except from the 
windows of trains or from sleighs, and therefore 
failed to identify many of the birds that were 
glimpsed. The following notes will, however, 
show something of the character of the avifauna 
of the region at that season. 

Cepphus grylle. BLACK GUILLEMOT.—About a 
dozen individuals of this species were seen swim- 
ming and diving just outside of the surfat Cap des 
Rosiers on December 9. In the waters near 
Bonaventure Island three of them were seen on 
December 10 and three on December 11. 

Larus hyperboreus, GLAUCOUS GULL.—An adult 
specimen of this species, which appeared to be 
accustomed to the proximity of human beings, was 
studied at close range as it stood on the beach at 
Cap des Rosiers village on December 9. No 
other Gulls seen during the journey were posi-— 


- 


7 
ber | 


«4 
é ONE ee rine 
re" ase 


e tively identified, but, with one exception, all of 


ee a 
; : 


aa 


“a 
‘ 


_ the Gulls seen during this period which were near 
enough to be distinguished well were of the white- 


- winged species. The exception was a bird, seen 


from the train near Gascons on December 8, 
which was thought to be an immature Great 
Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus). The number 
of Gulls which I saw during the short time which 
I spent in the Gaspé Peninsula averaged about 
half a dozen each day. 

Harelda hyemalis. OLD-SQUAW.—Forty seen at 
Bonaventure Island on December 10 and twenty- 
three at the same place the following day. 

Somateria (sp. ?). E1pER.—Three seen off 
Cap des Rosiers on December 9 and about one 
hundred twenty-five in one flock at Bonaventure 
Island on December 11. Two of those at Cap 
des Rosiers and about twelve of those at Bona- 
venture Island were adult drakes. 

Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos. CROow. 
—Several seen from the train between New 
Carlisle and Gaspé on December 8. Two seen 


_ at Percé on December 10 and two at New Carlisle 


on December 12. I was informed that a few 
Crows sometimes pass the entire winter on the 
coast near Gaspé. 

Pinicola enucleator leucura. PINE GROSBEAK. 
—A solitary individual seen on Bonaventure 
Island on December 11. 

Lanius borealis. NORTHERN SHRIKE.—One 

_ seen on Bonaventure Island on December 10. 

Planesticus migratorius migratorius. ROBIN.— 
One seen seeking food in a field blown bare of 
snow on Bonaventure Island on December 10 
and 11.—HArRISON F. LEwISs. 

Birp NOTES FROM ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO.— 
During the exceptionally dry summer of 1919, 
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds collected in unusual 
numbers about a clump of Jewel Weed. Fourteen 
birds were counted on August 26th, and twelve on 
the 28th. This clump of weeds seems to have been 
the only attraction within a radius of some miles. 

On August 26th, the same year, about an hour or 
so before dusk, an unusually large flock of Mourning 
Doves was disturbed feeding in a gravel pit. 
Forty-one birds were counted as they circled about. 
—C. E. JOHNSON. 

Birp ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY NETTING.—A Song 
Sparrow in Ottawa South entangled itself by the 

right foot in an expanded twist of poultry netting, 
breaking its leg by frantic exertions before it was 
released. 

___ A Red-eyed Vireo killed itself in the same section 
_ of the city by coming in contact with a taut tennis 
net. 


A Wilson Snipe on Echo Drive flew into a strip 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


99 


of poultry netting used as a support for Sweet Peas 
but in this case was only momentarily disabled.— 
C. E. JOHNSON. 

HORNED LARKS IN A CITY GARDEN-PLOT.—Dur- 
ing a severe blizzard on March 28, 1919, a flock of 
eleven Horned Larks visited a garden-plot on Sunny- 
side Avenue, Ottawa. Nine of the birds, accom- 
panied by one Song-Sparrow, came back the next 
day to feed on the weed-seed. The Horned Larks 
secured the seeds several inches above their heads 
by jumping. On March 30th no Larks were 
present, but a flock of about thirty Redpolls settled 
for a few moments; so actively did they move 
about that an exact count of numbers was not 
obtainable.—C. E. JOHNSON. 

THE EUROPEAN STARLING AT ARNPRIOR, ONT. 
—On the afternoon of the 19th of April, 1922, 
business took me to McLachlin Brothers’ “‘yard 
office,’ which is situated about 300 yards from the 
east bank of the Madawaska River at Arnprior, 
on the open road leading to the Mill Bridge. 
Between the office and the river, and 200 ft. or 
300 ft. back from the road are McLachlin Bro- 
thers’ extensive stables. Consequently the vi- 
cinity is infested with English Sparrows, who find 
lavish food and safe shelter about the buildings. 
On this day the level rocky space between the 
road and the stables was dotted with Sparrows 
as usual and more of them were hopping in the 
roadway and chirping from the fences. The 
English Sparrow is the most uninteresting bird in 
the world, and I was paying little attention to 
their all too familiar antics, when, as I approached 
the yard office, I noticed a strange bird among 
them on the road. 

Classification always begins by connecting the 
unknown with the known. Resemblances are 
noticed first, and differences only in second place. 
My first thought was: “That is a queer-looking 
Meadowlark, and if a Meadowlark, what is it 
doing here out of its proper range.’”’ However, 
in a second I saw it was no Meadowlark, but a 
species new to me. A little smaller than a 
Robin, it was a long-bodied bird that walked 
deliberately on its short legs with a rather waddling 
gait. In the shadow its color seemed uniformly 
dark all over, but when it flew up onto a fence 
post, and caught the sunlight, its speckled plu- 
mage gleamed with iridescent greens and purples. 
This was no native bird, and none that I had 
ever seen in the flesh before, but the picture of 
the European Starling flashed to memory, and I 
realized that this latest imported pest had reached 
these northern latitudes at last. The Starling 
somewhat resembles the Meadowlark, but the 
relationship is a distant one, and it is strange 


100 


that the likeness was evident enough to strike 
me when I got a first glimpse of the bird. An 
hour or so later I saw him again picking around 
the stable yard, and still consorting with the 
Sparrows, who, however, did not suffer him 
gladly, but attacked him if he came too close. 

I have no sympathy with those ornithologists 
who seem to regard it as an offence in a bird to be 
rare, and immediately shoot any uncommon 
visitant. “That’ll larn him to be rare!’’* But 
the Starling threatens to become as great a 
nuisance as the English Sparrow, and as an 
authentic record of its spread is valuable, I had 
no compunction in collecting this unwanted 
immigrant. Accordingly, not being a sportsman 
myself, I arranged with a friend in the yard office 
to shoot the bird on its next appearance. The 
following morning it could not be found, but in 
the afternoon I discovered it feeding among some 
small cedars behind the stables, and gave the 
alarm to my friend, who hurried out with the 
gun, and, to use the technical term, the bird was 
“taken.’’ The specimen was sent to Mr. P. A. 
Taverner at the Victoria Memorial Museum, 
Ottawa, so as to make official record of the 
occurrence. For an ornithologist is always a 
doubting Thomas, and when you tell him about 
some unusual bird you saw, he may listen politely, 
but never really believes you, unless, applying an avi- 
an Habeas Corpus Act, you produce the body itself. 

Chapman says the Starling was introduced into 
Eastern North America on several occasions, but 
did not gain a foothold in the country until an 
importation of 60 birds under the direction of a 
Mr. Eugene Schieffelin was set free in New 
York in 1890. Since then they have become 
firmly established in the New England States, 
and have appeared as far south as Alabama and 
west to Ohio. I understand that a specimen has 
been reported in Labrador, and this, with the 
bird collected at Arnprior, marks their farthest 
north to date. It is to be hoped that the sub- 
arctic winter of the Ottawa valley may keep us 
free from any large invasion of them, but they 
show remarkable hardiness. 

The Starling is a favorite bird in Europe, 
making itself attractive by its familiar habits 
around dwellings, its handsome plumage, and its 
destruction of insects. But, like most other 
imported animals, its character seems to have 
changed in its new home, and here it is developing 
all the unpleasant manners and customs of the 
English Sparrow. It gathers around buildings in 
large noisy flocks and defaces the architecture 
with unsightly nests and droppings; and, while 
it is true that its food mostly consists of insects, 
at times it is known to cause severe damage to 
fruit. Worst of all, it is likely to drive away some 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(VOL. XXXVI 


of our most desirable native birds that now nest 
around our houses. Mr. Taverner makes the 
really alarming suggestion that it may dispossess 
the Purple Martin, which can withstand the 
Sparrow, but may not be able to resisit the equally 
aggressive and larger Starling. This would be a 
loss indeed.—CHAS. MACNAMARA, Arnprior, Ont. 


NOTES ON A FEMALE NIGHTHAWK WITH YOUNG. 
—During the extreme heat wave which passed over 
Ottawa in July, 1921, a female Nighthawk shifted 
her two young across the gravel roof of a neigh- 
bour’s sun-room. From July 3-6, with drooping 
wings, open mouth, and palpitating throat, she 
straddled her young, shielding them from the 
intense rays of the sun. July 7 being still higher 
in temperature, she moved them before noon a 
distance of about four feet to a shaded area cast 
by the projecting roof over an adjacent attic 
window. At 6 p.m. she had re-shifted them to 
their original position. July 8 was stiil very hot, 
95.5°, and at noon she had shifted both young to 
the extreme side of the sun-room roof, some ten 
feet, to the shaded area of a brick chimney. At 6— 
p.m. she had again returned with her young to her 
original site. At all times, when observed through- 
out the day, she appeared to be suffering from the 
heat, in all probability intensified by the gravel 
coating of the roof. ‘Fhe young were about half- 
grown and unfortunately the female was not 
observed in the act of moving her charges.—C. E. 
JOHNSON. 


STRANGE BEHAVIOUR OF A FEMALE YELLOW- 
BELLIED SAPSUCKER.—A pair of Yellow-bellied 
Sapsuckers were tapping a maple tree, the male 
about twenty feet from the ground, and the female 
some distance lower down. A friend collected the 
male bird, which remained caught among several 
small twigs. The female did not fly at the report 
but disappeared on the opposite side of the tree and 
began climbing up. Arriving at a point just below 
the suspended male, she reappeared, uttered excit- 
ed notes and promptly pounced upon the carcass. 
The body was dislodged and she hurtled the 
entire distance to the ground with it, continuing 
to administer blows and leaving it only when we 
had approached to within four or five feet.— 
Ottawa, April 17, 1922, C. JOHNSON. 


PARASITE IN A SALAMANDER.—On April 23, 
1921, while I was overturning boulders along the 
edge of a small creek near Ottawa, two specimens 
of Two-lined Salamanders Hurycea bislineata were 
exposed. One of these had the tip of its tail am- 
putated. When it was immersed in alcohol later, 
a species of roundworm similar in color and thick- 
ness to those found in grasshoppers was noticed 
protruding neariy a quarter of an inch from the 
mutilated tail-end.—C. JOHNSON. 


ee Rea, 
Toy: eit ee 


A 


| -The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


VOL. XXXVI 


OTTAWA, ONT., SEPTEMBER, 1922. 


No. 6 


A BIOLOGICAL RECONNAISANCE ON GRAHAM ISLAND OF THE QUEEN 
CHARLOTTE GROUP ; 


By CuiypE A. PATCH. 


 T 630 am. on June 21, 1919, in company 
with Mr. Harlan I. Smith, Archeologist, 
Victoria Memorial Museum, the writer 

left Prince Rupert, British Columbia, on the tug 
Point Gray, an oil burner engaged by the Munitions 
Board to tow spruce rafts from Massett Inlet to the 
mills at Ocean Falls. We arrived at Massett Re- 
serve, Graham Island, about 3.30 p.m., where we 
were kindly received by Mr. Thomas Deasy, 
Indian Agent, and by Harry Wiah and Henry 


_ Edenshaw, Indians. 


About 360 Haida Indians make their homes on 
the Massett Reserve and gain a livelihood by fishing 
salmon or by working in the salmon canneries. A 
few Indians plant small patches of potatoes but 
aside from this they are not successful agriculturists 
nor could they be expected to evolve in one genera- 
tion from sea-faring people into tillers of the soil. 
We camped near the reserve wharf. 

It was with true regret that we viewed the main 
street of Massett Reserve, which forty years ago 
was bordered with hewn-plank houses and liberally 


_ planted with wonderfully carved totem poles on 


; vi 


= 


Tin 
a 


which the eagle, raven, bear, human being, mythical 
“sea-dog,”’ and the beaver—a design introduced 
from the mainland—were used as motives. The 
aboriginal-type houses have been replaced by 
smaller clapboard dwellings, and only two totem 
poles remain standing. At the long-deserted village 
of Yan across the Inlet from Massett Reserve 
several poles are still standing, and also several 
burial posts. These burial arrangements consist of 


two sections of log perhaps four feet in diameter and 


ten feet in height, set in the ground a few feet apart. 
Between the posts a carved and painted wooden 
box was constructed in which, from time to time as 
deaths occurred, bodies enclosed in smaller boxes 
were placed. 

At intervals along the brow of the beach in front 


of the Massett village lie—cracked and disinte- 


grating—the once cleverly hewn and painted canoes, 


_ which have been discarded for motor and row boats. 
These canoes, hewn from a single log, were some- 


times made over sixty feet in length, and would 
carry forty persons. With the exception of Charlie 
Edenshaw, who is now blind, the expert carvers of 
gold and silver ornaments—hammered from coins 
—and miniatureslate totem poles have passed away, 
and the rich-hued and durable colors made of stone 
dust and oil for use in basketry and other ornamen- 
tation have been replaced by dye and paint. A 
few of the handsome old cedar boxes, some of them 
as large as a trunk, with three corners bent and the 
fourth joined with wooden pegs and made from a 
single plank still remain, but the grotesque cere- 
monial masks and rattles and the picturesque hats 
woven of spruce bark have disappeared. I believe 
that within the next decade the true “‘oldtimers” 
will have passed on to the Happy Hunting-ground, 
and the Haida Indian and his works on Graham 
Island will be archaic._ 

New Massett with an all-white population of 
about seventy-five is three miles up the Inlet from 
the reserve. Excepting the grassy flats several 
square miles in area which border Delcatla Inlet, a 
branch of Massett Inlet, and are partly inundated 
at high tide, the vicinity of Massett is heavily 
forested. A wagon road connects Massett Reserve 
and New Massett, and from the latter place a road 
about a mile in length runs through to the north 
beach which, at low tide, is two and three hundred 
yards in width. Excepting at high tide the sea- 
packed sand of this beach makes a splendid roadbed 
for traffic between Massett, Tow Hill and Rose Spit. 

On July 27, we moved camp to the bank of the 
Hiellen River at Tow Hill twenty miles from 
Massett. The three heavily wooded sides of Tow 
Hill, which rises to an elevation of about four 
hundred feet, are steep-sloping, while the seaward 
side is an almost perpendicular rock face protected 
at the base from sea erosion by a spray-washed 
point of solid rock. From Tow Hill several wagon 
roads with an aggregate length of about eight 
miles have been built, but some parts of them, 
owing to disuse, have become obstructed with alder 
growth and fallen txmber. Human, cattle, and 


EE ee on oe ee oh 


102 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


= 


bear trails torm a network through the forest and 
across the muskegs from Tow Hill to the east beach 
and north to Rose Spit. While camped at Tow Hill 
we explored this area, about one-third of which is 
lakes and muskeg and the remainder forested with 
hemlock, Sitka spruce, red cedar, yellow cedar 
(rare), lodgepole pine, yew (rare), alder, crab-apple 
and willow, and has as an undergrowth huckle- 
berry (both blue and red), salmon berry (both red 
and yellow), and sallal. The sallal, a rank-growing 
shrub attaining a height o four or five feet, covers 
large areas of the forest floor, and through it pro- 
gress is almost impossible. In the dense portions 
ot the torest the faJlen trees are shrouded in moss, 
and the living ones festooned with moss and ferns. 


No aquatic animal life was observed in the shallow 
lakes, and excepting the yellow pond lily there is 
very little plant life. The moss covered muskegs 
are studded with lodgepole pine, dead and living, 
and dotted with muck holes which gurgle under the 
weight of the passerby. In places the muck is 
eight feet or more in depth and the largest tree can 
be rocked to its roots bedded beneath the water- 
soaked blanket of moss which stretches and sinks a 
foot under one’s weight. Except tor the geese 
which roost there and an occasional bear or crane, 
there is very little animal life on the muskegs. 


The Hiellen River, shallow and rapid, in a gravel 
bed, is inhabited by Dolly Varden trout, sculpins 
or “bull heads,” as they are called by the settlers, 
and, during the spawning season in September, by 
humpback salmon. 

Over the area explored there are dotted perhaps 
two dozen log cabins all abandoned but five, the 
builders having, after three or four years’ residence, 
found the natural conditions too unresponsive to 
hard labor. The present settlers have each a herd 
of thirty or so head of cattle, which, with the aid 
of a small amount of slough grass hay, forage for 
themselves throughout the year, and, along with his 
garden for home use, net the settler a living. 

Solid rock at the point which stands above high 
tide, with low rock pinnacles and seaweed covered 
boulders forming the central portion, and wooded 
at the base, Yakan Point, situated two miles west 
of Tow Hill, extends a quarter of a mile out into 
the sea. 

Strewn with driftwood above storm tide, Rose 
Spit (Rose Point) is simply a barren, tapering ridge 
of sand several miles in length which continues 
several miles farther as a treacherous sandbar under 
the sea. 

During the greater part of our stay the weather 
was clear and cool, a rainy period seldom lasting 
more than three days. ‘There were a few black-flies, 
mosquitoes were not uncommon, and the tiny 
“no-see-’em’’ flies were abundant and very annoying. 


(VoL. XXXVI 


On September 12 we returned from Tow Hill tO. = 
New Massett, and about 7 a.m., September 28, — 
boarded the S.S. Prince Albert on — way up Mas- © 
sett Inlet to Port Clements, returned to Massett for 
freight (saw very few birds up the inlet) and left 
again at 3.30 p.m. Arriving in Prince Rupert at 1 
a.m., we boarded the S.S. Prince Rupert and landed 
in Vancouver at 4 p.m., September 30. 

As will be seen by the appended list, the avifauana 
of the northwest portion of Graham Island is varied 
and abundant. In addition to those here listed a 
number of additional species have been observed 
by other collectors, and as there are mainland 
islands less than thirty miles distant almost any 

mainland species may be expected. Three birds in- 
habiting Graham Island have been described as 
specifically new to science, and there are indications 
that others will be found peculiar to these islands. 
No butterflies have been recorded from the Queen 
Charlotte group, and neither have snakes, turtles, 
lizards, salamanders, or frogs; the only cold-blooded 
vertebrate other than fishes being the toad common 
to the west coast. An Easterner quickly notes the 
absence of such familiar mammals as the squirrels, — 
muskrat, hare, foxes and woodchuck. Thus far 
only eleven varieties of native land mammals have 
been recorded from Graham Island, four of these 
being bats. Of the eleven varieties at least six 
have been described as species or subspecies new 
to science. The Indians when asked how the 
mammals got on the island replied to the effect that 
their ancestors brought representatives of each 
species. Perhaps they did, either accidentally or 
intentionally. 

As caribou existed on Graham Island and the 
foreign deer seem to be thriving, the advisability 
of introducing other game mammals would seem 
worthy of consideration. 


The specific annotations and titles for the list of 
birds were supplied by Mr. P. A. Taverner, Orni- 
thologist to the Geological Survey of Canada. 


MAMMALS 


Orcinus orca. KILLER WHALE (?).—Chief Harry 
Wiah said that two years prior to our visit, while 
picking strawberries near Chown Point on the north 
beach, he saw more than thirty seals come on the 
beach, and, lyingas flat as possible, refuse to be driven 
into the water. Harry claimed that a whale had 
pursued them and they were thus avoiding him. 

Rep DeER.—About two years prior to our visit 
a buck and three does were introduced from some 
mainland park. The buck became so vicious that 
his destruction was necessary. Members of our 
party observed the three does, a spike buck and a 
fawn. These deer were seen first near Masestt ; 
and later near Tow Hill. 


BEE ae a 3p. Pat thee Sec ok 
mare SY Ren al 
oy aa 


aS ey pai ee } : 
at 

ba 

MS a? 

_ September, 1922.) 


* = 


aCe - Odocoileus columbianus subsp.? BLACK-TAILED 

4 aan —Mr. Carpenter informed me that dead deer 

are sometimes washed up on the beaches, and 

_ during our stay at Tow Hill he observed one near 

_ Rose Spit but it was carried away by the sea before 
I could secure the skull. 


“WILD CATTLE.’’—The so-called “wild cattle” 
were the descendants of some Short-horn stock 
that was brought to Graham Island about thirty 

years ago, by a man whose name is said by Mr. 
Dave Rutten of Massett to have been “Alexander.” 
For several years, during the absence of the owner, 
__ these cattle were neglected and allowed to roam at 
will. When an effort was made to round them up 
on Rose Spit they broke away, and after several 
further unsuccessful attempts to capture them had 
been made, they were abandoned by the owner. 
Up to two years prior to 1919 when the last animal 
is believed to have been killed, the settlers shot 
these cattle at every opportunity for meat. One 
of the settlers is said to have captured a cow and a 
heifer calf, which are believed to be the only wild 
~ cattle taken alive. Owing to the fact that the 
_ wild bulls sometimes associated with the settlers’ 
cattle, individuals in the settlers’ herds show re- 
_ lationship to the hardy, wild Short-horns. The 
greater part of the foregoing information was given 

to me by Mr. Cecil Baker of Tow Hill. 


_-  Rangifer dawsoni. DAWSON CARIBOU.—None of 
the Indians with whom we came in contact had 
_ heard anything relating to the caribou of the Virago 
_ Sound district since the 1910 expedition of Mr. 
Francis Kermode, who saw tracks of what he 
_ thinks may be the surviving individual of the four 
_ earibou seen by Indians in 1908 when the three 
specimens in the British Columbia Provincial 
Museum were taken._ 
Mus norvegicus. Norway Rat.—I shot a two- 
_ thirds grown specimen in the cabin at Tow Hill. 
Peromyscus keeni. KEEN Mouse.—Ten speci- 
mens were taken in the forest near Massett Reserve. 
_A jay was observed to capture a half-grown speci- 
- men 
4 Ursus carlotte. QUEEN CHARLOTTE BLACK BEAR. 
a —On July 10 a female specimen measuring 57 
> ‘inches in length was purchased from Indians who 
a took it on the beach between Virago Sound and 
ie Massett Inlet where accompanied by two cubs 
said to be large enough to shift for themselves, it 
was feeding—Henry Edenshaw said—on insects 
found under the sea-weed strewn on the beach. 
ke ‘Bear tracks were fairly common in the vicinity of 
3 Tow Hill and on several occasions bear tracks and 
E-scattered leaves indicated that bears feed on the 
roots of skunk cabbage. During our stay at Tow 
ill a large bear was chased along the road back of 


z 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


103 


preceding our visit several bears were taken between 
Rose Spit and Tow Hill.— 

Lutra canadensis subsp.? LAND OTTER.—Chief 
Harry Wiah told me that during the winter of 1918 
he trapped seven otters on the west side of Massett 
Inlet. 

Putorius haidarum. HatDA WEASEL.—Mr. Cecil 
Baker informed me that nearly every inhabited 
cabin harbors a weasel, which is unmolested because 
of its ability as a mouse catcher. 

Mustela nesophila. QUEEN CHARLOTTE MARTEN 
—Chief Harry Wiah said that during the winter of 
1918 he trapped twenty-one martens on the west 
side of Massett Inlet. 

Latax lutris. SEA OTTER.—I found a sea otter 
skull in a deserted cabin near Rose Spit. Chief 
Harry Wiah said that about a year before our visit 
an Indian shot at a sea otter which was resting on 
kelp near North Island. He also said that about 
thirty years ago his father, his wife’s father, and © 
other Indians—a total of nineteen boats—got 
twenty-one sea otters in a forenoon and six in the 
afternoon. 

Eumetopias jubata. STELLER SEA-LION.—A young 
male, the only specimen observed, was taken on 
Yakan Point. 

Phoca vitulina. HARBOR SEAL.—Twenty or so 
seals were frequently observed on or near the sand 
bar on the east side of the mouth of Massett Inlet. 
Seals were also seen resting on the point of Rose 
Spit. (Under ‘Killer Whale,” see reference to 
seals and whale.) 

Sorex longicauda elassodon. QUEEN CHARLOTTE 
SHREW.—Three specimens were taken in the forest 
near Massett reserve where they inhabited the same 
localities as peromyscus. 

Myotis sp.2 Bat.—Bats were several times ob- 
served at Tow Hill. 


BIRDS 


Aechmophorus occidentalis. WESTERN GREBE.— 
On September 5, eight birds were observed just off 
the rocky point at the base of Tow Hill. 

Colymbus_ holboelli, HoLBoELL GREBE.—Near 
Rose Spit, on August 1, I observed twenty-eight 
birds of this species a hundred yards or so off shore 

Gavia imber. Loon.—Both adults and birds of 
the year were observed. Two, three or four were 
usually seen a hundred yards off shore in the course 
of a day’s walk along the north or the east beach. 
No individuals were observed on the lakes visited. 

Gavia stellata. ReD-THROATED Loon.—A few 
individuals were observed in Massett Harbour and 
in the vicinity of Yakan Point. ‘“‘Charlie’’ Spence 
of Massett informed me that this species breeds 
on Lumme Lake. 


104 


RHINOCEROS AUKLET.— 
Adult, 


. Cerorhinca monocerata. 
Fairly common in Massett Harbour. 
Massett, July 17. 

Ptychoramphus aleuticus. CASSIN AUKLET.—The 
remains of three birds of this species were found on 
the top of Tow Hill, where they had been carried and 
partly eaten by the falcons. One pair of wings, 
July 28. 

Brachyramphus marmoratus. MARBLED MURRE- 
LET.—Not infrequently observed in Massett Har- 
bour, and less frequently about Yakan Point. In 
Massett Harbour they were several times seen in 
companies of two. Massett, July 5, July 10. 
“Both in dark mottled plumage.” 

Cepphus columba. PIGEON GUILLEMOT. -Pairly 
common in the mouth of Massett Inlet. No birds 
of the year were observed. 

Larus glaucescens. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL.— 
Two or three hundred adults and birds of the year 
were frequently present about Massett Reserve, 
Yakan Point and Rose Spit. Mr. Edward Hodgson, 
2103 Fernwood Road, Victoria, B.C., informed me 
that gulls nest on Jacac Island which lies northeast 
of Graham and is near Dundas Island. He said 
that gulls also nest in great numbers on Grass 
Island on the west coast. Juvenile, Rose Spit, 
August 1; adult, Tow Hill, August 7. ‘The 
juvenile is at least a year old, as shown by the wear 
on the feathering, and is in full moult. However, 
the incoming plumage seems that of a bird of the 
year, being more like the first than what would be 
expected as the second winter plumage. The old 

' plumage, including primaries and tail, is very worn 
and ragged, and bleached pale. The incoming 
plumage on the back is almost solidly dark, showing 
very little of the vermiculation of the juvenile. 
This looks like a case of arrested development, and 
an approximation to a reproduction of a juvenile 
plumage when a more mature one should ensue. 
This may sometimes occur in subnormal birds, 
especially amongst the gulls. The adult specimen 
seems about normal.” 

Larus argentatus. HERRING GULL.—Less com- 
mon than the Glaucous-winged Gulls with which 
they mingle. Three specimens, Rose Spit, August 
1; Tow Hill, August 7. “Except 14102, the re- 
mains of the passing plumage are very greatly worn 
and faded, as if it had been retained considerably 
beyond its proper time for replacement. I think 
this is likely true of most of the summer Herring 
Gulls on this coast, as on Lake Erie, that have not 
repaired to their more northern breeding grounds. 
None of these birds has the grayish wing-tips of 
thayeri, but what black tips are indicated are pure 
and deep like those of argentatus.”’ 

Phalacrocorax pelagicus robustus. VIOLET-GREEN 
CORMORANT.—Not uncommon in Massett Harbour, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vou. XXXVI 


and a flock of forty or fifty frequented Yakan Point 

and vicinity during the day and spent the night on 

the small ledges of the perpendicular, seaward face 

of Tow Hill. The chief food is probably sculpins. 

Tow Hill, August 7, “much worn and faded”; Tow 

Hill, Rees 7, “moulting”’; Tow Hill, August a; 
“mixed ad. and jv. plumage.” 


Mergus sp.? MERGANSER.—Seldom observed 
until September, when two flocks of eight and eigh- 
teen were observed, both on salt water and all in 
gray plumage. 

Lophodytes cucullatus. HOODED akon 
Eleven individuals were observed on the lakes. 
None of them were adult males. 
Hill, August 9. 

Anas platyrhynchos. MALLARD.—Fairly common. 
More frequently observed as the season advanced 
and the young birds began flying. Cecil Baker, 
residing near Tow Hill, informed me that this 
species breeds back of his cabin on a muskeg which 
contains several small ponds. Massett, September 
AG 

Nettion _ carolinense. GREEN-WINGED 'TEAL.— 
First observed on August 21, and shortly after 
appeared abundantly, particularly in the lee of 
Yakan Point, where flocks of 200 and 300 were seen. 
I also observed it on Silver and on Mica Lake, and 
it is said by the settlers to frequent the rivers. 
Juvenile, Silver Lake, August 21. 

Dafila acuta. PINTAIL—Three female or im- 
mature specimens were observed near Tow Hill, 
September 5. Tow Hill, September 5. 

Harelda hyemalis. OLD-SgAw DuckK.—From July 
27 to September 5, a total of five birds was observed 
in the vicinity of Yakan Point. One of these was 
within easy gun shot, but as we had no boat it 
could not have been secured. 

Oidemia americana. AMERICAN SCOTER.—From 
July 30 to September 5, a male bird, probably the 
same individual, was three times observed near 
Yakan Point in company with White-winged 
Scoters. 

Oidemia deglandi. 
Common in water adjacent to all the shore line 
explored. During the latter part of August the 
moulting period was apparently in full swing as the 
beach was frequently littered with feathers. I 
observed an adult male which had moulted all of 
the primaries and, as the new feathers were only 
about one-fourth grown, was unable to fly. Massett 
July 5. ‘“‘Old plumage very much worn and faded.” 

Oidemia perspicillata. SurF Scoter.—A flock of 
six was observed on August 7, near Yakan Point. 

Branta canadensis subsp.? GOOSE.—Fairly com- 
mon on the rivers, lakes and muskegs. On August 


21, fully 150 were seen on Mica Lake, which is — 


about a mile long by an eighth of a mile wide. The 


pig | “Psi on 
“y ba Ty dy et teats Eales 


Juvenile, Tow . 


WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.— 


me | 
RS. 


| September, 1922.] 


settlers not infrequently find nests. Silver Lake, 
August 21; Mica Lake, August 22; 3 specimens, 
Tow Hill, September 2. “These specimens are 
very dark below but do not seem to be quite refer- 
able to occidentalis.” 


Olor sp.? SwAN.—Mr. Ronald Curry, living 
near Silver Lake, told me that nearly every spring 
and fall these birds visit the lake in small parties; 
the largest that he had observed numbered four- 
teen. Mr. James Martin, merchant at Massett, 
informed me that he had seen Swans during the 
_ summer months on the lake at the head of Massett 
_ Inlet just east of McClinton Bay. 


Ardea herodias fannini. GREAT BLUE HERON.— 
One or two individuals were usually observed in the 
course of a day spent about Massett Inlet or the 
small inland lakes. The chief food is probably 
sculpins as the birds frequented localities where 
these fish were plentiful. Juvenile, Massett, July 
1. “Clearly fannini.” 


Grus sp.? CRANE.—On several occasions their 
weird cry was heard after night-fall at Tow Hill, 
and on September 5, two birds were observed out of 
gun range on a small muskeg near Lumme Lake. 
The settlers informed me that the cranes are very 
wary, and that they frequent the muskegs. ‘With- 
out specimens the identity, whether Sandhill or 
Little Brown Crane, can only be surmised. The 
_ former, G. mexicana, is the geographical probability.” 

Gallinago delicata. WILSON SNIPE.—On Septem- 
ber 22, nine individuals were observed on the flats 
bordering Delcatla Inlet. 

Pisobia maculata. PECTORAL SANDPIPER.—On 
September 20 eighteen birds were observed in small 
parties scattered over the grassy flats bordering 
-Delcatla Inlet. The local settlers call this bird 
“Jack Snipe.” Three specimens, Massett, Septem- 
ber 20; Massett, September 26. . 

Pisobia minutilla. LEAST SANDPIPER.—On Aug- 
ust 9 a solitary specimen was collected on the rocks 

at the foot of Tow Hill, and on August 21 an indi- 
vidual was observed on the beach near Tow Hill in 
company with Western Sandpipers. Juvenile, Tow 
Hill, August :9. ‘ 

Ereunetes mauri. WESTERN SANDPIPER.—Seen on 
the beaches throughout our stay in flocks of from 
eight to three hundred. Individuals of the species 
were seen in company with Sanderlings and with 
Semipalmated Plover. Two specimens, Massett, 
June 25; seven specimens, Massett, July 5. 
“Though these are all adults, variation in color and 
size of bill is evident.” 

_ Calidris leucophea. SANDERLING.—During Aug- 
-ust and September, several flocks, the largest esti- 


me mated at 400 individuals, were seen on the beach 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


105 


between Yakan Point and Rose Spit. This species 
was sometimes accompanied by Western Sandpipers. 
Five specimens, Rose Spit, August 1. ‘“These are 
all adults with breasts quite strongly reddish.” 

Totanus melanoleucus. GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 
—Two specimens were observed and collected in 
the shallow margin of Silver Lake, on August 21. 
Two specimens, Silver Lake, August 21. 

Heteractitis incanus. WANDERING TATTLER.— 
On August 25 and September 5, flocks of five and 
seven respectively were seen on the beach near 
Yakan Point. Two specimens, Tow Hill, August 
25; three specimens, Tow Hill, September 5. “All 
in juvenile fall plumage.” 

Actitis macularia. SPOTTED SANDPIPER.—From 
July 27 on, several individuals and parties of three 
or four were observed near the mouth of the Hiellen 
River. All were juveniles. Juvenile, Tow Hill, 
August 7. : 


Charadrius dominicus fulvus. GOLDEN PLOVER. 
—On July 27, two individuals, one of which was 
collected, were observed on the north beach between 
Skonun (Chown) Point and Yakan Point. Mas- 
sett, July 27. “This is an adult in not quite full 
plumage, changing into winter. The old plumage 
below consists of black and white feathers both 
much worn and apparently of equal age. The new 
is considerably more fulvus than comparable 
eastern birds. On the back the spotting of the 
old plumage is faded to nearly white whilst the new 
is a full, pure golden.” } 

Aigialitis semipalmata. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. | 
—Individuals and small flocks were seen on the 
north beach between Massett Reserve and Rose 
Spit. On June 24, I observed at intervals along 
the north beach about three miles from Massett 
Reserve, eight birds which appeared to be four 
mated pairs. By voice and ‘iction they endeavour- 
ed to draw us away from the sandy, driftwood- 
covered flat where they probably had eggs or chicks. 
On August 30, I collected a birdof the year at Silver 
Lake. Two specimens, Massett, June 25; Rose 
Spit, August 1; Juvenile Silver Lake, August 30. 

Aphriza virgata. SURF-BIRD.—Three individuals 
were collected on the rocks and the beach in the 
vicinity of Tow Hill. A specimen taken August 21 
was in company with three Black Turnstones, the 
other two were solitary birds. Tow Hill, August 2; 
Rose Spit, August 20; Tow Hill, August 25. “All 
in full fall plumage. (Juveniles?).” 

Arenaria interpres morinella. RuppY 'TURN- 
STONE.—On September 5, three birds were observed 
on Yakan Point in company with eight Black Turn- 
stones. Tow Hill, September 5. “Adult in full 
plumage.” 


(Concluded in the October issue) 


106 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VOL. XXXVI - 


WINDOW-PANE VISITORS IN YARMOUTH COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA 


By E. CHESLEY ALLEN 


“3 


~ =) 9 eae 


EYOND the western shore of the lake the 
outline of the forest stands out jagged and 
dark against the sunset sky, and with the 

dying evening breeze the mirrors, that have been 
forming in the little coves, creep forth and grow 
until they cover the lake’s broad surface, and throw 
back in faithful detail the wooded margins beyond. 

The bird chorus has ceased, save where from the 
dead top of some tall spruce the White-throat’s 
crystal song floats out across the clearing, or high 
in the air the Nighthawk catches himself on vibrant 
wing. 

The shadows deepen. The dark green of the 
firs is turning to black, and the ferns of the forest 
floor become lost in the deepening shadows. Now 
little is distinct but the white ghostlike trunks of 
the birches. The twilight birds have ceased; and 
the only sound is the long, weird wail of the Loon 
echoing from the lower lake. 

We retreat to our little cabin, and a lamp is 
placed in the long, low window. Almost imme- 
diately, from out the mysterious recesses and long 
dark aisles of the forest, there come to our window 
panes strange troops of fairy-winged creatures, 
large or small, of many colours, plain or gaudy, but 
each after its own kind bearing the stamp of 
nature’s infinite and inexhaustible beauty. 

The first to arrive is a troop of tiny moths, so 
tiny as hardly to be recognized as moths. They 
alight on the pane closest to the bright light, and 
circle rapidly about and among each other in a 
puzzling series of gyrations, like whirligig beetles on 
the surface of some qufet pool. Move the lamp up 
or down, or from side to side and they follow its 
bright lure, but never cease that tireless, mazy 
dance. 

Now the gay figure of the tiny dancer is broken 
for a moment as a great brown body bounds against 
the glass and is gone. But it has not gone far. 
Out there on the edge of the light it stops and poises 
over the tempting horns of the honeysuckle—a 
beautiful trim hawk moth, (Hyloicus kalmix). Just 
below, over another cluster of bloom, hovers a 
relative, (H. gordius), dressed in sober black, white, 
and gray. It is these moths that are so often 
mistaken for Hummingbirds, as they poise on their 
mazy wings over the fragrant flowers; but the hawk 
moths fly only at dusk or later, when the tiny wings 
of the Hummingbird have been folded for the night. 
Later in the evening other hawk moths will come to 
our window—Darapsa pholus in a livery of rich 


brown and tan, and Sphinx geminatus with a 


double spot of blue set amid the rich rose-color 


of each hind wing. 

Let us turn again to the window Up in itie 
corner of this pane a “plume-wing”’ has settled, and 
holds her odd little wings as straight as if the first 
duty of a “plume-wing” was to form a perfect 
capital T. 

Down here on the sash a pale green may-fly 
has settled, and there, scuttling across the glass is 
fierce dobson. Both have come up from the lake, 
and tomorrow we may find still clinging to the side 
of our boat, or to the stones along the shore, the 
empty tell-tale cases that these winged creatures 


have left as evidence of their one-time lowly life 


beneath the water. 

Now, fluttering against the glass, is a most 
beautiful pattern of pale yellow and rose pink— 
the Rosy Dryocampa. When we look upon the 
beauty of a creature like this we can more than half 
forgive the green striped caterpillar that disfigured 
our maple last summer. 

In sharp contrast to the fair beauty of Dryo- 
campa is this next dark-robed visitor. Ctenucha 
seems at first to be clothed in black, but closer 
observation shows her robe to be of rich dark brown, 
the hind wings and body covering forming an under- 
ground of deep metallic blue. As if to relieve the 
gloominess of so sombre an attire her head and 
shoulders are decked in rich orange. 

Here, one after another in quick succession, come 
a whole troop of gay crocus geometrids, (Xanthotype 
crocataria), the rich deep yellow of their wings 
spotted and blotched with bronzy purple. The 
geometrids do not blunder against the glass hke 
some of the heavier moths, but flutter down out of 
the night like falling leaves, poising their wings 
above them like airy butterflies Others follow. 
Here a beautiful little “beggar moth,” (Endule men- 
dica), with iridescent transparent wings. There a 
“scallop-shell”, with wings barred in finest alternate 
lines of brown and white. Still others come 
Geometrids with pale green wings; with wings of 
creamy yellow crossed by one dark line; or with 
wings bearing intricate lace-like patterns of black 
and white. 

During a momentary pause a beautifully mottled 
being strikes sharply against the glass and falls 
fluttering to the ground. Directly it rises and 
settles upon the window casing. This is Hyphoraia 


parthenos, a rare northern tiger-moth, The fore | 
wings are deep rich brown broken by white spots 
and the hind wings banded with black and yellow, 5 ; 


eee 


y 


~ 


~ 


as 


a a 
es 


oy te 


September, 1922.] 


reminding one of the “underwings”. A rare visitor 
indeed! But we have scarcely ceased to congratu- 
late ourselves when another unexpected beauty 
arrives, This is late July, but there against the 
sash is one who has tarried behind her gay June 
companions—pale Luna. Ah! well may she be 
called the ‘queen of the night”; for of all the gay 
procession no creature can excel her for the dainty 
refinement of her pale green jewel-set apparel, 
bearing its delicate train. 
Far into the night the fairy pageant continues, 
and reluctantly we darken the light that lures to us 
these winged gems of the forest. 


A strange touch of mystery there is about this 
infinite nightly tide of living forms from which a 
small side current is turned for a moment by the 
lighted window of a little cabin. Whence its 
source? Whither its goal? In answer to the first 
we stumble across stray fragments of evidence. 
This afternoon we were sitting by the gnarled roots 
of an old yellow birch. As our eyes wandered lazily 
over the brown and yellow pattern of last year’s 
fallen leaves, they involuntarily became focused 
upon a fragment of colour of peculiar shape. As 
we looked closer it transformed itself into a yellow 
and brown geometrid, resting with wings pressed 
flat against a rolled leaf. The fresh perfection of 
its wings led us in curiosity to unroll the leafy 
cylinder, and there, within, we found the newly 
broken pupa case. Here this bit of perfect beauty 
had escaped through fall and winter the bustling 
search of the migrant sparrows, and the prying eyes 
of the brown wood mice. The other day we lifted 
a loose flat stone, and there, firmly fixed to its lower 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


107 


surface, was the brown, furry cocoon of a tiger moth. 
Or again, from the open end of that tough silky 
little bag that we raked up with the brown leaves 
had come a brown-winged Polyphemus 


And whither? To mate, and lay their eggs, and 
die. But not so with all. In the very corner of 
our little illumined window is a fine spun web of 
silk, and crafty Arachna sees many a tiny moth and 
dainty mayfly become hopelessly entangled in her 
silken threads. And she is only one of a countless 
sisterhood; for by the tell-tale dew we see that 
every tree and bush is hung with treacherous nets. 
A little higher, on the border of the zorie of light, 
dark figures flit back and forth along the level of the 
eaves The brown bats have learned that in this 
artificial twilight is good hunting, and the many- 
colored wings that strew the ground next morning 
show that scores of fairy visitors never quite reach 
the luring light. Others, momentarily stunned by 
the treacherous glass, fall fluttering to the ground 
and mysteriously disappear. Does even Mother 
Earth herself turn traitor to these, her children, and 
swallow up their fluttering forms? We stoop to 
look for the last that fell, and find, sitting beneath 
the cabin wall, dark toads. Those close-shut 
mouths look innocent enough, though this big 
fellow in the middle is gulping and swallowing in a 
rather suspicious manner. 

But in the face of countless enemies the tiny eggs 
of next year’s myriad forms are left in quiet pool, 
on blade of grass and tender leaf; and if we too are 
spared to come next year to this, our little cot 
among the trees, we’ll greet again the little people 
at our window-pane, 


RAMBLING BY THE GRAND RIVER 


By Mary PETTIGREW 


HERE are many lovely places all over 
Ontario for the outdoor lover to explore and 
I have had brief excursions through a few of 
them, but the one district I know best is the Valley 
of the Grand River, particularly the fourteen miles 
of its course between the towns of Galt and Paris. 

Our home was in Glen Morris, a tiny village 
halfway between these two towns, and the woods 
climbed up the hill almost to our back door, so 
pine branches beckoned and birds called us irrestibly 
to explore the shadowy, sweet-smelling ravines of 

the wooded, hilly country along the Valley of the 
Grand. 

It is a country of ravines. You walk across what 
appears to be a level field, and are surprised to see 
before you tree tops on a level with your feet. 
These are growing along the sides of a basin hol- 


- 


lowed out in the gravelly soil, and on coming to 
the edge you look down on a circular amphitheatre 
full of trees, and usually a pond or marshy spot at 
the bottom. The slope is easy enough to descend, 
but it is steep, and it is hard work to climb out again 
on a hot day. Sometimes the ravines are long and 
narrow like the valley of a stream, but blocked 
abruptly at either end by a small hill. 

In one place there is a series of five ravines in 
succession. On climbing out of the first, the 
rambler stands on a ridge, looking down into a 
second, and so on through ravine after ravine, until, 
climbing out of the last, he stands on the highest 
ridge and looks down over a level space covered 
with hazel bushes, young pines, and maples, to the 
River flowing close in against a high, gravelly 
bank, down which, year by year, cedars and white 


on ee en 


108 - THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


birches are sliding to their death in the spring flood. 

It was on this ridge, looking back towards the 
fifth ravine, that I saw the top of a maple apparently 
blooming with a gorgeous red blossom, and until 
the flower took wings and flew away, I did not 
realize that it was a Scarlet Tanager. 


These ridges between ravines are almost solid 
gravel, and once the turf is broken, the trees com- 
mence to slide. On the highest ones, the rambler 
often finds granite boulders, gray or pink, all care- 
fully smoothed and with rounded edges. One 
farm near Galt is known as “‘Granite Hill,” and its 
original owner, with great toil, rolled the boulders 
off his farm to form a fence, or rather a barricade 
along the road. Under these alien rocks, when 
spring comes, Blood Root, blue and yellow Violets, 
and Trilliums grow. 

At the bottom of the ravine back of our house, a 
path runs along an old watercourse. In spring it is 
always very dark and silent there. The pines are 
so thick and the ground is deadened with their 
brown needles, so we used to hurry through to look 
for hepaticas on the sunny hill sides. But about 
the 24th of May, the pale mauve flowers of the wild 
geranium appear, and the sides of the ravine are 
fluffy with Meadow Rue and the white foam of 
Mitrewort. Strawberries ripen in open spaces 
where the trees have been cut, and last summer one 
sun-lighted space by a hemlock was haunted by 
black-winged damsel flies with iridescent green 
bodies. 

The path leads past an old lime kiln with oak 
ferns among its mossy stones to a swamp full of 
cedars, cinnamon fern, tamaracks and plumy grass. 
All the old cedar stumps are overgrown with Linnza 
Gold Thread, Star Flower, and tiny green Mitre- 
wort. On summer nights, sometimes a western 
breeze carries the breath of the swamp, a mingle 
perfume of ferns, sweet flag, and twin-flowers, up 
oyer the hills, while Whip-poor-wills are calling. 
The twin bells of the Linnza and the white velvet 
stars of the Partridge Berry Vine have the sweetest 
perfume of any flowers I know. 


This swamp is a happy home for butterflies, 
Silver Spots, Wood Satyrs and Nymphs, and Thistle 
Butterflies. Along the wood road at the edge of 
the swamp the earliest butterfly to be seen is the 
Common Blue. This we used to call the “Hepa- 
tica”’ butterfly, because its wings look like Hepatica 
petals that have floated away on the wind. Red 
Admirals, Commas, the Camberwell Beauty, with 
bedraggled wings at this season, and Tortoise Shells 
are plentiful too in the warm spring sunshine. In 
May and June dragonflies dart up and down this 
road, and the air sparkles with the flash of their 
shining wings. They are mostly Libellulas, very 
tame and easy to catch. They would alight on 


~my hat or shoulder if I stood quite still by their 


favorite resting places. This road leads down to 


several open fields along the river, and last June — 


over these fields coursed strong, swift-flying dragon- - 
flies that gave the collector a run for his money. 

It is pleasant to tramp through this swamp over 
hummocks and rotten stumps, carefully avoiding 
watercourses outlined with marsh-marigold leaves, 
to the River. Here are thickets of grass and sedges 
up to the shoulder, stunted willow bushes, balm of 
gilead, and plantations of sweet flag and jewel weed. 
The trampled mint delights the nose, as you push 
through these plants to the water’s edge, where 
mayflies, mosquitoes, moths and damsel flies dance 
over the brown flowing water. 

To describe something that has always been 
familiar is not easy, but you may know my infatua- 
tion for the Grand and its valley, when I say that 
I was disappointed in the St. Lawrence. Not, of 
course, in the wonderful stream itself, but in the 
scenery along its banks. . 


The Grand River has its origin in Luther’s Swamp 


in Dufferin County, but I have never seen the 
stream until it reaches Elora, where it has made a 
wonderful gorge for itself, cutting through layers of 
limestone. The beauty of scenery at its junction 
with the Conestogo is well known to artists, and 
also that at Doon, where it winds along a very high, 
steep bank, not unlike Scarboro Heights, only the 
formation is more of gravel than of clay. But the 
bank is cut into crevices, and the rambler looks 
down over poplars, brambles, sumach and golden 
rod to the curving river and can watch its silver 
spirals for miles. On the top of the western bank 
is Cressman’s Bush, the only bit of virgin forest 
left in the neighborhood. It has been saved from 
the rapacity of sawmills largely through the efforts — 
of Homer Watson, the artist. While passing under 
the shadows of these ancient hemlocks and elms, 
the rambler gets a faint idea of the awfulness of a 
great untouched forest. In the semi-dark no little 
friendly wood plants can grow, and it is a relief 
to come out of the shadow to an open space matted 
with partridge-vine glowing with scarlet berries. 

From Galt on, the bed of the river is limestone, 
rocky and broken for the most part, but two miles 
above Glen Morris the formation known as Guelph 
dolomite crops out in great stretches, level as a> 
floor. Where the current is swiftest this is cut into 
narrow channels, anywhere from two to five feet 
deep, and the joyous wader paddling along this 
level floor with warm, brown water lapping against 
bare feet, has to watch his step when he comes to 
the brink of one of these channels, and if it is too 
wide for a jump, must wander along its edge up or 
down stream until a narrow place is discovered, or 
a boulder bridging the channel. 


Pid 


_ (VoL. XXXVI 


Meer 
aryl A Paes, 
ten ek 


4 
t 
- 


September, 1922.] 


“What a paradise the Grand River Valley must 
have been in the days of the Indians! It should 
really belong to them yet, for six miles on each side 
from source to mouth was once set aside by the 
Government for the Six Nations. In their day the 
rolling hills were covered with the greatest variety 
of trees, some of the wonderful stumps of which 
remain as monuments. There were pines, elms, 
oaks, maples, nut trees, hickory, butternut, chestnut 
and beech, also hazel nut bushes. Even yet, the 

~woods give the rambler a variety of delightful things 
to eat, maple sap and sap icicles, when the snow 
begins to melt, then, later, wintergreen and part- 
ridge-berries fresh and firm from under the snow. 
Spring brings pungent pepper-root from the black 
earth of the swamp, watercresses from the streams, 
and morels from the meadows. In early summer, 
the rambler finds young, golden-green wintergreen 
leaves, two varieties of wild strawberries and June 
berries. Then in summer there are black and red 
raspberries, blue berries and thimble berries, and in 
the fall, butternuts, hickory nuts, chestnuts and 
hazel nuts. The rambler may spend happy after- 


_ noons in the fall beside a flat, limestone rock with 


a heap of hazel nuts or hickory nuts at one side, and 
a small round stone in the right hand. 

So the Indians must have had plenty to eat, for 
game was also abundant in the Valley—deer, and 
wild duck, and partridge—and the river and the 
creeks were ful! of fish. The river is now polluted 
by the towns along its banks, but the creeks are 
still clean, and in the hope of preserving what we 
have, the outdoor lovers of the neighborhood have 
formed an Association to protect wild life for three 
miles on each side of the river, so that birds, small 
animals, and fish may have a Sanctuary. The 
protected area will extend from Galt to Glen Morris, 
I hope, but it is only half way, so far. 

The early settlers tell us that originally the river 
flowed deep and full among its many islands until 
late July, and that the dreadful spring floods of 
later years were unknown. The islands were 
wooded, principally with great elm trees. The ice 
freshets of many springs have battered against the 
trunks of these trees, grinding their bark to match- 
wood, and, one by one, the few that were left when 
my memory of the river began have fallen, and, 
undermined by the flood, have been carried away 
in the turbid torrent. I am mourning two great 
trees, the last ones, that disappeared from the island 
under the bridge at Glen Morris this spring. The 
flood is a wild, foaming torrent, as unlike as possible 
to the gentle brown stream of the summer, and 
flows far beyond the confines of its banks. After 
the waters have abated, I have walked among the 
trees and noted the cruel marks of the grinding ice 
cakes, in the torn and splintered bark, higher above 


me my head than I could reach. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


109 


Springs of clear, cold water rise all along the 
river banks. On the east between Galt and Glen 
Morris are seven springs, one for each mile, so the 
foot passenger need never thirst even on the hottest 
day. The rambler should make it a point to drink 
at each one when tramping the seven miles. One 
stream rises under a cairn of petrified stones, and 
we always call it “Sweet water” because of a fancied 
taste of sweetness that does not seem to belong to 
the other six. All these springs are heavily charged 
with lime and twigs, mosses, and stones touched by 
the water gradually become petrified. 

Besides the seven springs there are two large 
creeks on the east side, with cresses and water 
weeds along the edge, where people still fish for 
speckled trout. I have followed one almost to its 
source, but the other remains to be explored. At 
Galt, Mill Creek, a really lovely little river, enters 
the Grand. It passes through a park, and is guided 
into several pools where the boys and girls can 
splash in absolute safety, and in water that is purer 
than the drinking water of most cities. 


There are oot so many springs on the west bank, 
between Galt and Glen Morris, but there is one 
creek called Glen Burn, which is 2 great favorite of 
mine, because it can be followed up to its source in 
a lake, which we call “Lime Lake”. Nearly all the 
lakes in the valleys of the hills above the river are 
on the west side. Most of them are the centres of 
swamps and are gradually drying up. The water 
is brackish and not fit to drink, and their beds are 
quicksand or black swamp mud, ideal for waterlilies, 
arrowheads and bulrushes, but bottomless for 
anyone who chances to fall in. 


“Time Lake”, where the Glen Burn creek rises, 
is different. Its water is clear and “hard”. It is 
fed from lime springs rising along its banks, and its 
bed is white lime, also “sinking sand”, but you can 
wade out a long way without danger of being mired. 
One of its springs rises under a grassy mound. and 
you can see the water bubbling up slowly through 
the white lime particles The last time I was there, 
an Eglantine bush was is bloom, and the faint 
pink petals of the sweet briar roses had fallen into 
the spring, and were drifting down to the lake, little 
fairy boats, on the clear water. 


Besides the lakes there are dozeas of ponds which 
do not dry up entirely except in an unusually dry 
summer. These are fascinating places all the year, 
but particularly in the spring. When the first 
hepaticas bloom, if you kneel on a log and dredge 
down in the brown water, amongst scum and 
withered leaves and broken dried grasses, you dis- 
cover frogs’ eggs in jelly, red water spiders, fairy 
shrimps, water boatmen, and electric light bugs in 
their aquatic stage, tiny lizards and caddis cases, 
and damsel-fly nymphs. Plunging down deeper, 


110 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


your dredge comes up with dragonfly nymphs but- 
ting through the mud Almost every pond has its 
own characteristics. In one, the fairy shrimps may 
be large and red, and in another they cannot be 
found at all. Some ponds are afloat with empty snail 
shells, anchored in shoals among the water weeds. 
Water striders dance, and mosquito larve are 
wriggling in every pint of water. There is an odd 
little gray shrimp that wriggles in dozens through 
the mud in every netful taken from these ponds. 

Damsel-fly nymphs are to he found very plenti- 
fully among the weeds in the Glen Burn creek, also 
tiny clam shells and newly hatched crayfish. These 
are little gems with coral claws, and their bodies are 
almost transparent. In this stream some of the 
eaddis-cases are made of tiny grains of sand and 
glitter like mica. The caddises I have met have 
many styles of architecture for their houses, stone, 
log cabin, stucco, and thatched. In May every 
stick and stone you lift out of Glen Burn has stone- 
fly larve clinging tightly to it. 

I must tell you about one more stream on the 
west bank. The hill behind it is almost a precipice, 
and its surface is covered with earth that looks like 
powdered lime. The material scratched out of the 
woodchuck’s front door looks like the product of 
an old lime kiln. On this hill streams burst out 
anywhere and move on to a fresh site at their own 
sweet will. But things grow just the same, the 
usual elms and maples, great tall cedars, and a few 
pines. The ground is covered with velvety leaves 
of wild ginger, meadow rue, and maidenhair fern. 
The principal stream is a gusher, and one wet 
summer, years ago, it carried down a good half of 
the hill, trees and all, and laid them on the flat 
limestone floor of the river. In doing this it cut 
a deep little gorge for itself, and one hot summer 
we camped there. When the temperature was 
hovering ’round the ’90’s, it was always cool in 
the gorge, and we even enjoyed bathing in the icy 
water. There is just room for a tent on the bank 
where the stream leaps to the river, and one night 
I wakened and heard the stream singing over and 
over the notes of a clear wild song of its own. 


One of the roughest trips known to me isa journey 
up the gorge of this stream to the great hole left in 
the hill after the “washout”. The water is so cold 
that you cannot wade in it long, and, clinging to 
old roots and cedar branches, slipping on the slimy 
marl, or sinking ankle deep in the cool wet moss, 
deafened by the sound of the water, you climg up 
and up, until you see the stream shooting out from 
the side of the hill like a tiny Niagara. It changes 
its place year by year. Last summer there were 
three springs bursting out from different points. 

The flowers that grow in the Grand Valley are a 
delight, from the first hepatica to the last fringed 


[VoL. XXXVI 


gentian. In the woods near the more inaccessible — 


lakes there is still Trailing Arbutus, protected by 


the swamps being so full of water in the spring that — 


it is impossible to get across to the hillls where it 
grows. Blood Root looks very pretty growing 


among the waterworn limestone boulders, and, 


later on, trilliums take their place. Last spring in 
the woods above Glen Burn, the trilliums were like 
a white sheet, spread among the trees. In June the 
woods at Glen Morris are full of fringed Polygalas, 
orchid-coloured, and the Pyrolas, Shin Leaf, and 
One-Flowered, and in the last week of June I 
always go to see the Orchids. 

The showy Ladies’ Slipper grows in a sphagnum 
swamp that extends for a couple of miles along the 
base of the hills on the west side of the river at Glen 
Morris. It is hard to get at, and for anything else 
the damp sickeneing heat and the hosts of mos- 
quitoes would keep me away. Old clothes, rubber 
boots, and a cap tied down over the ears are indis- 
pensable, for it is necessary to bore one’s way 
through an entanglement of ancient cedars and 


tamaracks, over quaking bogs and masses of Skunk 


Cabbage and Marshmarigold leaves, 
splashed, hot, and mosquito-bitten, at last I reach 
the tall dead tamarack that marks the secret spot. 


On the rotting rails of an old decayed fence, the ~ 


Sundew holds out rosy, dew-tipped fingers, and 
Pitcherplants, with pitchers half full of water, 
snuggle in the moss. Some years they are in 
blossom, but usually the maroon-coloured sepals 
have fallen and only the green saddle is left. At 
last, by a clump of tiny tamaracks, a white cross 
gleams, and below it hangs the slipper like a white 
shell, veined and spotted with pink and purple. 
Always I stand breathless before the Queen Flower 
of the swamp, then wander on enchanted from 
clump to clump of t®e great orchids and worship 
the glory hidden in the depths of the swamp. The 
flowers are always perfect. One year, however, I 
was horrified to find the slipper eaten away, and 
to discover snails at this work of desecration. 


- 


On the edges of thls swamp, I have found the 
smaller and larger Yellow Ladies’ Slipper, but have 
never seen the Moccasin Flower growing. People 
bring specimens to Galt from a swamp near Kit- 
chener, but will not betray the locality even to one 
who never plucks an orchid. 


The Rein Orchis grows here, too, .but its spikes 
of greenish flowers are overlooked in the quest for 
the Ladies’ Slipper. The curved spirals of Ladies’ 
Tresses are found among the stones on the river 
banks, and along paths through the pine woods I 
find Rattlesnake Plantain. Once I found Rose 
Pogonia growing by an old cedar stump in a bog, 
but it has never appeared again, although I have 
looked for it every year. The Showy Orchis grows 


oR Buch yt nt 


Torn, 


a 
Pa, 


September, 1922.] 


in a quiet wood on the west bank. The first time 

I saw it the plants were all in bud, and, not knowing 

_ what it was, I dug one up and took it home. When 
the buds opened I felt sorry for the plant, whose 
chance to grow on year after year I had destroyed. 
Another curious plant that I used to find in dark 


pine woods is the Indian Pipe. Its stem is white 


and is covered with waxy scales. It has a single 
flower with a gray, smoky-looking centre, and the 
plant turns black soon after it is gathered. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


111 


All summer long the pageant of flowers passes by, 
and every year there are more wonderful things to 
be discovered—new plants, new birds, fossils, 
mushrooms and insects. Then when at last the 


cold winds sweep up the Valley and all is grey and 
blighted except for the flash of Bittersweet berries, 
the rambler has happy memories of summer days 
to warm the cold months when the living things are 
asleep under snow. 


NOTES ON POST-GLACIAL TERRACES ON THE EASTERN AND WESTERN 


SHORES OF THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE* 


By E. M. KINDLE. 


HE principal sources of information concerning 
_ the Pleistocene beaches of Newfoundland are 
' the papers of Murray, Daly and Fairchild. 
Murray! records the occurrence of elevated marine 
_shells at three localities, the maximum elevation 
being 60 feet. The observations of Daly” relate 
_ to localities on both the eastern and western coasts 
of the island. Fairchild* has dealt with the whole 
subject of Post-glacial uplift in northeastern 
America and published a map showing by isobasic 
lines the inferred extent of Post-glacial continental 
uplift east of Hudson Bay and the upper Mississippi 
River valley, including emergence of the shoreline 
around the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This paper 
includes a letter from Tyrrell on the subject of 
Newfoundland Pleistocene shorelines. 

Bell, Chalmers and Goldthwait* have contributed 
many details concerning the marine terraces about 
the shores of the Gaspe peninsula. Recent publi- 
cations by Twenhofel® and Coleman® have contri- 
buted in a comprehensive way to our knowledge of 
the terraces on Anticosti Island and the southern 
shores of the Gaspe Peninsula. 

During the summer of 1921 the writer made a 
short excursion inland from the Bay of Seven 
Islands, which is located west of Anticosti Island, 

- and visited the estuary of the Humber river in 
western Newfoundland. The observations on Pleis- 
tocene geology made during the visits to these two 
localities on opposite sides of the Gulf will be 
recorded in this paper. 


é 


*Published with the permission of the Director, Geological 
Survey, Ottawa, Ont. 


es 1Proc. and Trans. Roy Soc. Can., Vol. I, pp. 58-76, 1883. 


aa 2Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard Univ., Vol. 38, Geol. Ser. 
Fo 1902; Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. I, Ser. 5, pp. 381-391, 


st _ 8Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 187-234, 1918. 
; _ 412th Int. Cong. Geol., Guide Book No. 1, pt. I, pp. 81, 


“sAmer. Jour. Sci., Vol. I, Ser. 5, 1921. 
Can. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 34, 1922, p. 14. 


Through the courtesy of Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, F.G.S., 
observations made by him at Bay St. George and 
other points on the Newfoundland coast will be 
incorporated in the following notes. 

Geological excursions which were made by the 
writer during a brief stay in the village of Curling 
near the western coast of Newfoundland resulted ~ 
in finding marine fossils in an elevated Pleistocene 
sea beach near this point. The bearing of informa- 
tion of this character on the general problem of 
differential uplift appears to furnish an adequate 
reason for recording even isolated observations 
like the present ones. 

Curling is located a few miles above the Bay of 
Islands on the steeply sloping south shore of the 
Humber River which here occupies a deep fiord 
valley called Humber Arm. Conditions have never 
been favourable for the development of striking or 
typical terraces at Curling. But a small apron-like 
terrace of gravel composed of slate fragments, is 
cut through by the railway about one mile west of 
the town. A thickness of eight or ten feet of this 
material is exposed in the cut. Along the sides 
of this cutting north of the highway crossing 
Mytelus edulus was found in the gravel. Several 
specimens of this shell were found but no other 
species was met with. The surface of this deposit 
is about 50 feet above the Curling railway station 
by aneroid. The elevation of the roadbed at the 
station is 79 feet above high tide mark according to 
the Engineering Department of the Reid New- 
foundland Railway. The gravels with M. edulus 
are therefore about 129 feet A.T. No indications 
of a greater Pleistocene submergence than this were 
observed, but the absence of terraces at higher 
levels cannot be regarded as evidence against a 
somewhat greater maximum submergence.’ 


7Notp.—Daly gives 160’ for the highest shoreline at 
Curling; Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. I, pp. 385-386, 1921. 


112 


Another old sea beach deposit is reported to have 
been passed through by a well in the town of 
Curling located on the property of Mr. Baggs. 
Seashells were found in digging the well, according 
to Mr. Baggs, at a level of about 40’ A.T. 

In connection with the observations recorded 
above, Tyrrell’s notes on the terraces of Bay St. 
George, 45 miles southwest of Curling, and points 
on the east coast of the Island are of interest. He 
writes as follows:$ - 

“ . . At Bay St. George, west of Stephen- 
ville, west coast, the main terrace has an elevation 
of 100 feet. At Fox Island River, north of Bay 
St. George, there is a well defined gravel beach at 
an elevation of 150 feet above the river. From 
this gravel beach an even plain rises gently and 
regularly to the foot of the mountains where it has 
an elevation of 600 feet above the sea. The plain 
is underlain by hard boulder clay and I could not 
distinguish any definite gravel beach or shore on 
the line which I travelled, but I would not say 
that it does not exist. I am reasonably certain that 
there is no shore line along the foot of the mountains 
at the 600 foot elevation. 

On the west side of White Bay, east coast, there 
was an excellent opportunity of seeing the old 
shore lines on Sops Island where a depression 
between two ridges of rock is filled with boulder 
clay. On this Island there is a strong gravel 
beach at 120 feet, and another at 160 feet, but 
above that there is no sign whatever of a shore 
line or of wave action of any kind, though there are 
excellent places for preservation of a beach if any 
had ever been formed. I am therefore satisfied 
that the 160 foot beach is the highest post-glacial 
shore line on Sops Island. 

On Sops River the glaciation was north-eastward 
down the river from the Long Range Mountains. I 
am not sure that there was not also a glaciation 
northward down White Bay itself. 

In the vicinity of the City of St. John’s, I did 
not measure the height of the highest shore line, 
but am satisfied that it is much nearer the 160 foot 
level than the 575 foot level as given by Daly.” 

It will be noted that none of the observations 
quoted above show beaches at a greater elevation 
than 160 feet. The higher figures in letter quoted 
by Fairchild? were estimates made evidently 
without instrumental aids which will explain any 
apparent discrepancies. The revision of Daly’s 
earlier observations at St. John’s! by himself has 
reduced the post-glacial emergence to zero.!! 


‘Letter to the writer, December 20, 1921. 
%Op. cit., p. 227. 


WBull. Mus. Steg Zool. paryerd Univ., Vol. 38, Geol. 
Ser. Vol. 5, No. 5, p. 258, 190 


Amer. rr Sci., Ser. 5, er I, p. 882, 1921. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


The very large figure given by some early obser- 
vers for the maximum emergence on the Labrador 
coast have not been corroborated by the later 
work on that coast. The surprisingly large figure 
of 2000 feet reported by Bell!” for the highest beaches 
at Nachvak Inlet in north-eastern Labrador has 
not been verified by the later observations of Daly 
and Coleman; the latter! gives 430 feet as the 
greatest elevation at which elevated beaches have 
been observed on the Labrador coast. The beaches 
reported by Hind up to 1200 feet in the interior of 
Labrador are doubtless modified glacial moraines 
as suggested by Packard.4 Hind relied much upon 
the absence of boulders as a criterion of the amount 
of emergence as the following quotation will show: 
“The remarkable absence of erratics in the Moisie, 
until an altitude of about 1,000 feet above the sea 
is attained, may be explaind by the supposition 
that they may have been carried away by icebergs 
and coast ice during a period of submergence to the 
extent of about 1,000 feet.”!® This is about twice 
the elevation of any Labrador shoreline recognized 
by Daly.!” It may be that late valley glaciers may 
have, in some cases, been responsible for removing 
the abundant and widely distributed boulders left 
by the continental ice sheet. This possibility 
makes the upper limit of boulders a criterion of 
doubtful value for estimating the total emergence 
when applied to coastal valleys. The highest 
shore lines observed by the writer on the Labrador ~ 
coast are those at West Modeste, north of the 
Strait of Belle Isle, where two magnificent terraces 
are developed behind the village. The highest of 
these stands 500 feet A.T. according to Daly.'® 

Certainly none of the terraces seen by the writer 
near the twenty-odd fishing stations between Blane 
Sablon and Indian Harbour approach an elevation 
of 1000 feet. The only terraces which the writer 
has been able to measure on the south shore of the 
Labrador peninsula are those north of the Bay of 
Seven Islands. The nine-mile railway from the 
Bay to Clarke City skirts the front of the highest 
of these for two miles or more. The lower terrace 
has a height of 155 feet according to a hand level 
measurement made by the writer’s assistant, Mr. 
R. H. Wetmore. The terrace is composed of blue 
clay except the uppermost 20 to 30 feet, which is 
sand. The upper terrace, consisting exclusively of 
sand, stands according to aneroid measurement, 40 
feet above the lower terrace. The town of Seven 
Islands, opposite the shore end of the nine-mile 
pulp-wood railway, stands on a sand flat barely 


\ 


“Can. Geol. Surv. Ann. Rept., Vol. I, 1885, p.8 DD, 1886. 
Cart. Geol. Surv. Mem. No. 124, P ‘47, 1921 ed. ; 
“Mem. He: Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol.. , p. 219, 1867. 
1sHind, H. Y., Can. ine 2nd Ser., af 802 (1864). 
'7Amer. Jour Sci., Vol. ,’ Ser. 5, p. 384, 1921. x? 
WOp. cit. p. 384. 


September, 1922.] 


above high water mark, which represents the 
- terrace last uncovered in the district. 

Twenhofel'* reports the highest terrace on 
Anticosti island observed by him to have an eleva- 
tion of 442 feet. On the opposite side of the mouth 
of the St. Lawrence from the Bay of Seven Islands 
Coleman” found the terraces progressively higher 
toward the west, with a maximum elevation of 434 
feet at Ste. Flavie. The 195-foot terrace at Clarke 
City may not represent the maximum emergence 
in that district. No higher terraces were seen, 


18Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. I, Ser. 5, p. 272, 1921. 
%Can. Geol. Surv. Bull., No. 34, 1922, pp. 14-15. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


113 


however, and it is inferred that the Bay of Seven 
Islands area and the Chaleur Bay region lie on 
opposite sides of a zone of maximum emergence 
which has an axis passing near the north shore of 
the Gaspé peninsula, through Anticosti island, to 
the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle where 
Daly reports a terrace at 500 feet. 


Coleman and Goldthwait agree in making the 
maximum emergence on the south side of the Gaspé 
peninsula less than half that on the north side. All 
of the data available concerning the south half of 
the west coast of Newfoundland place it in the zone 
of relatively low emergence. 


BIDE-A-WEE LOON 


By Mrs. E. J. Boac 


ARLY in July, 1922, the writer and family 
. arrived at one of the small islands in Blue 
Sea Lake for a short holiday. 

_A pair of Loons had already taken possession of 
one end of the island. They seemed far more 
curious than perturbed at the arrival of the humans 
and would frequently come within ten or twelve 
feet of the shore, heads on one side, to inspect us. 

_ After a few days of this mutual inspection, we 
suddenly remembered our camera and decided to 
try for a snapshot. We rarely saw both members 
of the pair of Loons at the same time, but were 
quite content to snap one. Unfortunately fate 
here played us an unkind trick. The appearance 
of our camera marked the disappearance of the sun 
for that day. 

Next day I decided to try my luck again and, 
armed with the camera, went in search of the Loons. 
There was neither sign nor sound of them in their 
usual haunt, so, creeping slowly and cautiously, I 

neared the water’s edge where it seemed their 
nesting place must surely lie. Still no sign of them; 
but from amongst the bushes near by a continual 
“cheep, cheep”’ and yet nothing moving except myself. 
Finally I located the spot whence came the “cheep, 
cheep,” and there, amongst a few old twigs on levelled 
ground, was a large grayish-green egg with two large 
black spots on it. On creeping closer, I discovered 
that the two spots were portions of the Loon chick, 


visible through the broken shell. 

By the side of this egg was a broken shell indicat- 
ing that the first-born had arrived earlier. 

It was about ten in the morning when I first 
discovered the egg and not till four in the afternoon 
did the little one finally emerge. 

The parents were still absent, so I put some clam 
shells of water near the chick and left it, heartily 
wishing that its parents would come, as no doubt 
did the chick 

We listened for them through the night; it was 
windy and stormy and not a sleep-inducing one. 
We heard their calls from an island to the south of 
us, but they did not come near us. In the morning 
I hurried off to see my foundling. 

It was still alive but apparently weaker, and much 
bothered by the flies, so I made a little nest and 
brought it in this nearer to the house, where we 
could watch it better. 

After it had been given a little stimulant it be- 
came decidedly chirpy and our hopes rose according- 
ly, only to fall later, as, towards evening that day 
the little victim of parental neglect gave up the ghost. 

We could not leave it to the mercies of flies and 
ants and others of the insect world, so buried it 
deeply and erected a granite tombstone at the head 
of the grave, whereon you may read: “In Memory 
of Bide-a-wee Loon, Born July 11th. Died July 
12th, 1922.” 


LICHEN GROWTH AND SNOW DEPTH 


By W. TAYLOR 


-¥ HAVE found in the course of observations made 
during the last few years that there isan apparent 
connection between the surface level of the snow 


north of Vancouver, B.C., and the point to which 
the lichen Usnea barbata, or ‘‘old man’s beard,” 
descends on the bark of the trees in the alpine zone. 

Systematic measurements here are limited to the 


114 


past three years; but earlier sporadic inte coe 


are in accord with them, the whole going to show ¢ 
that the average depth to which the snow accumu- 
lates on the levels above 3,000 feet can be obtained 
directly from the average lower limit of this lichen 
on the tree-trunks. Professor Church has shown 
that snow densities in the same geographical district 
at the end of the season of accumulation vary .only 
about 10 per cent. A few determinations of 
density, or even an assumed density obtained from 
a nearby district of the same general altitude, taken 
in conjunction with the average limit of the lichen 
referred to, may not improbably afford sound in- 
formation sufficient for the preliminary survey of 
watersheds. 

Usnea barbata is a typical lichen, sub-alpine in 
character, foliaceous, with a length of about 9 
inches, and a light green colour, which blackens with 
age. It has a fruticose thallus. It fruits in the 
fall, the fruit consisting of small circular dises about 
a millimeter in diameter. It entirely covers the 
trunks and branches of the host trees under favour- 
able conditions. It ranges in altitude from 2,000 
to 6,000 feet in the mountain district north of 
Vancouver. It is partial to open slopes, and does 
not favour thick stands of alpine timber. With the 
exception of the yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis 
nootkatensis) it attaches itself to all alpine trees in 
this district, including the western white pine (Pinus 
monticola), alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), white bark 
pine (Pinus albicaulis), and mountain hemlock 
(Tsuga Mertensiana). 

The indications of snow depth from the height at 
which the lichen growth begins are unreliable below 
3,000 feet on southern, and 2,500 feet on northern 
exposures. Some care and experience are necessary 
in obtaining a trustworthy average height at any 
point, as shade, exposure, age, and condition of 
trees give rise to differences which must be dis- 
counted in certain cases. But this presents no 
difficulty to an observer with some experience. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI _ 


Between May 2nd and May 10th, 1921, ‘which 
was the period of greatest snow depth on the 
northern alpine slopes here, measurements were 
made in different places between the 3,000 and 4,000 
foot contours. Usnea barbata was found to begin 
3 feet on an average above the surface of the snow ~ 
layer. The difference of 3 feet remained constant 
in dense, thin, and open forest, on grades of varying 
steepness, and on level rock-benches. The snow 
depth at 3,000 feet, for example, averaged 8 feet, 
and the lichen grew to within eleven feet of the 
ground; at 3,500 feet the snow depth was 153 feet, 
and the lichen grew on the trunks to 183 feet from 
the ground, while at 4,000 feet, with a snow depth 
of 214 feet, the lichen grew down to 243 feet. This 
difference of 3 feet between the snow depth and the 
lichen limit was not departed from at any of the 
200 or more trees where the measurements were 
taken in the first week of May, although the trees 
presented great variations in species, size, aspect, 
and altitude. : 

It is not possible as yet to decide whether the 
limit of the lichen marks the ordinary maximum 
depth of snow, the average depth, or a constant 
difference. The depth of snow on the northern — 
mountains in May, 1921, was about 3 feet less than 
what is probably the average depth taken over a 
long series of years, though this greater depth has 
only been reached once in the last nine years. The 


very slow growth of the lichen might, however, 
make it independent of even such slow seasonal 
changes as this, in which case the beginning of 
lichen growth may correspond to the average snow 
depth. But the point seems to be of sufficient 
practical importance to justify an appeal at this 
stage to other observers, especially in view of the 
cosmopolitan character of this lichen. It might 
also be worth while to direct attention to other 
species of lichens whose distribution is more limited. 


AN INVASION OF COOTS 


By J. A. MUNRO. 


ATE October usually sees a gathering of 
Coots at various points on Okanagan Lake. 

These bands, sometimes numbering a thou- 

sand or more, remain until spring, feeding over the 
beds of Potamogetons unless a particularly severe 
cold snap causes ice to form over their feeding 
grounds when they move south until open feeding 
grounds are reached. Although rarely shot at or 
disturbed they are usually on the alert and will not 


allow a close approach. Until this winter I had 
noticed fearless coots on only one occasion. This 
was at Summerland in the latter part of March, 
1918, when a flock of forty were observed feeding 
over a wide mud flat on the lake shore close to the 
main street of the village where automobiles and | 
wagons were constantly passing. These birds did 
not even raise their heads when a vehicle or pedes-— 
trian passed within a few yards. ; *% 


September, 1922.] 


_ would come to be fed when called. 


attitude towards all things human. 
- this was not the case. 
-seraps and many spent the entire day walking 


- the onlookers. 


Conditions during the past winter were quite 
different. There was an invasion of coots and when 
the cold weather came in February, a steady cold 


that lasted without interruption for six weeks, 


these birds, contrary to their usual custom, did 
not move south. ‘‘Mud-hens’” were reported in 
large numbers from Kelowna, Summerland and 
Penticton on Okanagan Lake, from Kalamalka 
Lake, four miles to the ‘east and from Shuswap 
Lake, fifty miles north. At Okanagan Landing 


_ they were so abundant as to consume practically all 


the available duck feed; the long stems of Potamo- 
geton perfoliatus were stripped of all their leaves 
with the regrettable consequence that the usual 
large bands of Redhead did not winter. With the 
cold weather, ice formed for some distance out 
from the shore, covering much of the already partly 
exhausted feeding ground. The coots were in a 
sad plight. Large numbers gathered along the icy 


_ shore by the village where they were fed scraps by 


the children. These birds became very tame and 
Indeed, one 
small girl was so regular with her largess that the. 


bolder birds would scramble into her lap for morsels 


_of food. Sometimes birds froze to the ice during 


the night in front of the houses of their benefactors 
and these had to be thawed out with hot water the 
following morning. The birds that were fed 
apparently depended entirely on charity for their 
sustenance and suffered more than those which had 


- not been pauperized. These led a relatively happy 


existence diving in thirty feet of water for a scant 
supply of food. When the weather moderated and 
the ice melted along shore it was expected that the 
coots would revert to their normal suspicious 
However, 
They continued coming for 


along the beach or paddling about in the shallow 
water close to shore. Several small jetties beside 
the houses on the lake-shore always held their 
quota of coots, resting placidly in the sun during 
the intervals of preening. One band accompanied 
by several scaups was always to be found close to 
the Canadian Pacific Wharf, and when the boat 
arrived, usually at eleven a.m., they gathered along- 
side to wait for scraps and when the deckhands 
threw out the remains of their lunch the ensuing 
scramble was a source of endless amusement to 
Coots walked along the railroad 


é track beside the boat landing in perfect indifference 


THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


115 


to the crowd of passengers transferring from the 
boat to the train, and on several occasions it was 
necessary to drive them out of the waiting-room. 
Many birds walked some distance from the water 
across the frozen meadows at the north end of the 
lake and others explored the sage brush benches on 
the west shore. These were “wild” birds and their 
overland journeys were an indication of the food 
shortage in the lake. 

When Kalamalka Lake froze over in February an 
excited resident telephoned the Chief of Police that 
thousands of Mud-hens were dying and “What was 
he going to do about it?” The wretched birds 
moped on the ice or floundered about in the deep 
snow when the last piece of open water closed up 
and a great many perished. Those that were not 
too weak or too coated with ice to fly left the 
frozen lake in the night. A number of these were 
seen in Vernon about ten p.m., where, bewildered 
by the lights, several flew against shop windows and 
one bird ended its career in a public garage. 

Conditions at Shuswap Lake were much the same 
although posssiby the casualties were higher. 
While waiting for a south-bound train at Sicamous 
Junction on February 24th I walked along the rail- 
road track with the Provincial Police Constable to 
see the Coots. There was a small area of open 
water some distance from the beach where a few 
birds were feeding, but the majority were gathered 
about the boathouses on the beach or standing in 
the snow. These had been fed regularly and ap- 
parently made no attempt to shift for themselves. 
When the constable called “Coot, Coot, Coot,” they 
came flying towards him, their great clumsy feet 
dragging in the snow. A month after I was again 
in Sicamous and the constable informed me that 
few Coots had survived. A number of Mallard and 
Seaup also died during the winter in spite of regular 
feeding by the Sicamous residents. I was told by 
a resident that three Mallard frequented his back 
yard where he was in the habit of feeding them, and 
after a short time, tamed by cold and hunger, they 
entered his kitchen fearlessly when allowed to do so. 
It was estimated by several that five hundred Coots 
and two hundred ducks, chiefly Mallard and Scaup, 
had succumbed to the combined effects of cold and 
starvation during the month of February. It is 
difficult to understand why these birds did not 
migrate at the first indication of zero weather, when 
a flight of fifty miles would have brought them to 
open water and comparative safety. 


116 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(Vou. XXXVI 


LARVA OF PHORMIA CHRYSORRHEA MACQ. FOUND UPON NESTLING- 
BLUEBIRDS 


~ 


By Hoyes LLoyp 


N July 4, 1922, Philip Foran and I discovered 

a Bluebird’s nest at his farm five miles west 

of Hull, Quebec. The nest was in a cavity 

in a dead stub and was situated about five or 

six feet from the ground. At this time the nest 
contained four eggs. 


I returned to this nest on July 23, and found the 
young fairly well grown and feathered. Conse- 
quently they were removed from the nest and 
banded. Two of the four had enlarged tarsi— 
perhaps twice normal size as indicated by the tarsi 
of the other two: 


This enlargement may have been caused by the 
presence of fly larvee which were found attached to 
the tarsi. These larve clung tightly to their host, 


but when pulled off moved about with agility. 


On the next day, July 24, a return visit was 
made to the nest and all the young were searched 
carefully for these parasites. Ten were secured, 
which with the three taken the day before, made a 


total of thirteen from the four’birds. 


The larye were found on the tarsi again, one on 
a lower mandible, several between the growing 
quills on the under side of the wings, and one was 
Urder the birds’ 
wings tiny spots of blood were seen where the 
larve had been attached. 


attached to a growing quill. 


Eleven live larve were forwarded to the Entomo- 
logical Branch, Dominion Department of Agri- 
culture, and fortunately they succeeded in rearing 
three to maturity. Their report on the matter is 
as follows:— 


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH 
Ottawa, August 18,1922. 
Mr. Hoyes Lloyd, 
Dominion Parks Branch, 
OTTAWA. 


Dear Mr. Lloyd:— 

In reference to the maggots which you found on 
nestling Bluebirds, I have much pleasure in inform- 
ing you that we were successful in rearing three 
adults from the material you supplied. Dr. Aldrich 
of the U.S. National Museum, to whom the speci- 
mens were sent identified them as Phormia chrysorr- 
hea Macq. On referring to Dr. Aldrich’s catalogue 
of the Diptera I find that this genus commonly is 
found on the young of birds. The species azgurea, 


‘for instance, is found in France and Germany on | 


the nestlings of Sparrows and young Larks, whereas 
chrysorrhea has been taken in Germany on young 
Swallows. : 

We have little information or the nature of these 
insects in our offices; most of the references apply 
to European literature, it being stated that both 
these two species are rare in North America. 

On behalf of the Branch I wish to thank you very 
much indeed for your kindness in drawing our 
attention to this insect and for submitting speci- 
mens. I hope that the information contained in 
this letter will prove of interest to you. 

Yours very truly, 
R. C. TREHERNE, : 
Chief, Division Field Crop and Garden Insects. 


As the nest was empty on August 1, and as Blue- 
birds were seen in the vicinity, it is probable that 
the young were not permanently disabled by the — 
parasites, and were able to fly at the usual time. 

My thanks are due the officers of the Entomolo- 
gical Branch for their courteous attention to this 
matter. 


OCCURRENCES OF THE MEADOWLARK IN NOVA SCOTIA 


By HARRISON F. LEwISs. 


ANY of the occurrences in Nova Scotia of 
the Meadowlark (Sturnella magna magna) 
have not been recorded in any publication. 

Such records of occurrences as have been published 
are widely scattered. It has therefore seemed 
advisable to collect as many records of Nova Scotia 


Meadowlarks as possible and to publish them in 
one article, where they may be referred to readily. 
The endeavour to collect these records has re- — 
sulted in the list, given below, in which fourteen 
Meadowlarks are definitely recorded from Nova 
Scotia. In the compilation of this list valuable — 


.) P 
a ay ’ 
2 C7 Veit 


Ve ty 


ag 


pe eye £ 
4 P 

~ cgtd Ee aires 

“Ag aie ee 

~ f* y r d mn ~ ‘ 

3 


: 


ae 
September, 1922.] 


es 


\ 


- 


J 


assistance, which is gratefully acknowledged, was 
received from Mr. Harry Piers and Mr. P. A. 
Taverner. The writer would be pleased to learn 
of any occurrences of the Meadowlark in Nova 
Scotia which are not included in this list. 

1. (Date?) “Veryrare. Only amerestraggler. 
One was shot at Stewiacke.”—Downs, A., Birds of 


Nova Scotia, Proc. & Trans., N.S. Inst. of Sci., Vol, 


VII, p. 166. Halifax, N.S., 1888. 
2. A female, much wasied, [was] taken alive by 
Mr. Flemming, of Sackville, Halifax Co., N.S., 
_ Feb. 16, 1889.—MS. Notes of Harry Piers. 
3. T. J. Egan got one from Prospect, Halifax 


_ Co., NS., in May, 1890. It was a male—M.S. 


‘ 


é 


\ 
] 


w 


~ 


> 


_ Scotia for 1905, p. 7. Halifax, N.S., 1906. 


Notes of Harry Piers. 

4. “On Oct. 24th, 1895, a Meadowlark was 
obtained by Mr. Dickie, of Canning, Kings Co., 
{[N.S.]. The bird is very rare in this province.” 
Piers, Harry, Notes on Nova Scotian Zoology, No. 4, 
Proc. & Trans., N.S. Inst. of Sci., Vol. IX, Pt. 3, 
p. 261. Halifax, N.S., 1897. 

5. A Meadowlark in winter plumage in the 
Nova Scotia Provincial Museum was taken, accord- 


_ ing to the label attached to it, at Lawrencetown, 


Halifax Co., N.S., Oct. 21, 1901. 

6. “Meadowlark (S. magna) taken at Eastern 
“Passage, Halifax, [N.S.], 28 April, 1905.’’—Piers, 
Harry, Report of the Provincial Museum of Nova 
This 
specimen, which is preserved in the Nova Scotia 
Provincial Museum, is in breeding plumage. 

7. “One taken at Comeau’s Hill, Yarmouth Co., 


_N‘S., in fall of 1908, Allen, E. Chesley, Annotated 


List of Birds of Yarmouth and Vicinity, South- 
western Nova Scotia, Proc. & Trans., N.S. Inst. of 


- Sei., Vol. XIV, Pt. 1, p. 84, Halifax, N.S., 1916. 


- 8&9. Two seen at Weymouth, N:S., Feb. 23, 

_ 1911.—Sanders, G. E., Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXV, 
p. 104. Ottawa, Ont.,1911. One seen by Sanders 
at Weymouth on Feb. 26, 1911, and recorded under 
the reference given above is presumed to have been 
one of the two seen Feb. 23. 

10. ‘Another at Emerald Island off Shelburne 
Co., Feb. 20, 1912. This was said to be one of 
three or four on the island at the time.”—Allen, E. 
Chesley, Annotated List of Birds of Yarmouth and 

Vicinity, Southwestern Nova Scotia, Proc. & Trans., 
NS. Inst. of Sci., Vol. XIV, Pt. 1, p. 84, Halifax, 
NS., 1916. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


117 


11. A male Meadowlark in breeding plumage in 
the Nova Scotia Provincial Museum was taken, 
according to the label attached to it, at Eastern 
Passage, Halifax Co., N.S., Jan. 30, 1914. 

12. One was taken [by R. W. Tufts] at Bout 
Island, near the mouth of the Gaspereau River, 
Kings Co., N.S., Jan. 7, 1916—Tufts, R. W., 
Notes on the Birds of the Grand Pre Region, Kings 
Co., N.S., Proc. & Trans., N.S. Inst. of Sci., Vol. 
XIV, Pt. 3, p. 182. Halifax N.S., 1917., 


13. A Meadowlark was observed about the 
Citadel, in the city of Halifax, N.S., on several 
successive days during the last week in March, 1917, 
by the writer. 


14. A Meadowlark was observed clearly at close 
range, with X6 binoculars, in a field near the border 
of a salt marsh, at Central Chebogne, Yarmouth 
Co., N.S., on Dec. 2, 1921, by the writer. It was 
in company with a small flock of Robins and a 
Flicker. 


All of the records given are from the central and 
western parts of Nova Scotia. There are seven 
winter records, three spring records, three fall 
records and one record for which the season is un- 
known, but no summer records. It is evident that 
the Meadowlark occurs in Nova Scotia only as a 
straggler. 


The bird (No. 13) observed by myself at Halifax, 
N.S., in March, 1917, was certainly a Meadowlark, 
but I am in doubt as to whether it was an Eastern 
or a Western Meadowlark. My attention was 
first attracted to the bird by its song, which was 
somewhat like that of the Robin, but which I 
realized was a song unfamiliar to me. I was at 
that time already very familiar with the song of the 
Eastern Meadowlark, but I have never met the 
Western Meadowlark in the field. Passers-by who 
heard the song of the Meadowlark at the Halifax 
Citadel, were heard to remark, “Listen to the 
Robin.” When I finally obtained a good view of 
the bird I was astonished to see that it was a 
Meadowlark. The idea that it might have been a 
Western Meadowlark did not occur to me until 
some time afterwards. 

I have examined carefully the three specimens 
(Nos. 5, 6, and 11), preserved in the Nova Scotia 
Provincial Museum, and have found them all to be 
Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna magna). 


7”, 


118 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(VOL. XXXVI f 


BOOK REVIEW 


SoME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BirpDs. Walter W. 
Froggatt.*—It is of great interest to those on this 
continent who are endeavouring to further the 
cause of Wild Life Conservation to learn of the 
similar activities of our enterprising brethren in the 
Antipodes. The publication treated here should 
go far to create an interest in the birds and it is 
obviously impossible to protect them without that 
interest. This work is profusely illustrated with 
copies of the figures in Gould’s Handbook of the 
Birds of Australia, reproduced by the three-colour 
process, and this alone should serve to extend the 
value and influence of the work to both young and 
older readers. The illustrations are placed through 
the text, certainly a more convenient plan than 
having them all bound in at the back of the book 
and thus separated from the related text on each 
species. 

After a preface concerning this publication and 
its forerunners, there is an Introduction of fifteen 
pages. The writer considers that the protection of 
the native fauna must start from an economic basis, 
and he shows that once this is appreciated the 
sentimental reasons for protection will receive 
sympathy. The danger of protecting injurious 
species is given mention. 

A resume of the history of bird pratestine in 
Australia is given under a general heading and 
under sections relating to the work of protection 
societies and to the influence of literature. The 
present protective act is said to give complete or 
partial protection to all birds or animals not black- 
listed. The law includes a description of all sanc- 
tuaries. For enforcement, dependance is placed 
upon police officers and honorary rangers. Bird 
protection among the school children is furthered by 
‘The Gould League of Bird Lovers,” founded in 
1910. “It was John Gould who did in Australia 
what Audubon had done in America,” and it is 
indeed fitting that both great ornithologists should 
have their names kept green by bird conservationists 

There is then a chapter devoted to the adminis- 
tration of protective measures. Lessons are drawn 
from experiences and practices in the United States 
and Hungary, where, it will be remembered, the 
Central Office for Ornithology was ordered by the 
Minister in 1906, to present a scheme for the 
supply of nest-boxes to the State forests, com- 


*Department of Agriculture, New South Wales. 
Useful Australian Birds. Walter W. Froggatt, F.L. S., F.E.S., 
Government Entomologist; President, Royal Zoological 
Society, N.S.W.; Vice-President, Wild Life Preservation 
Society; Vice-President, Gould League of Bird Lovers; Vice- 
President, Field Naturalists’ Society, N.S.W.; President, 
Wattle Day League. Price 10s. 6d. Sydney: William 
Applegate Gullick, Government Printer, 1921. 8vo., pp. 81, 
62 coloured plates, 


Some 


prising 5,000,000 acres. The author is hardly 


accurate in saying that the United States and ~ 


Hungary are the only two great agricultural 
countries that have taken up the protection of 
birds in a practical manner. The Province of 
Canada passed an excellent law entitled “An Act 
for the Protection of Insectivorous Birds, and Others 
Beneficial to Agriculture,” in 1864 (Chap. 52, 27-28, 
Vict.) and the Province of Ontario passed a valuable 
law entitled “An Act for the Protection in Ontario of 
Insectivorous and Other Birds Beneficial to Agri- 
culture’ in 1873 (Chap. 45-36, Vict.). Further, in 
educational work, Ontario was far advanced 
twenty years ago. The publications of Mr. C. W. 
Nash in this connection can hardly have been — 
known to the writer of whom we are speaking. In 
1904 the third edition of his Birds of Ontario in 
Relation to Agriculture was published, and he is 

still actively engaged in bird conservation work 

after more than half a century’s devotion to this 
cause. Other Provinces in Canada have also been 
active and Ontario is referred to particularly, 
because past conditions here are more familiar to— 
the reviewer, and because it is one of the older 
Provinces. 


It is odd to find a bird writer in 1921 referring to 
a few isolated flocks of Passenger Pigeons nesting 
in the Michigan woods—a statement that is at 
least thirty years out of date. 


Reference is made to the history of bird protection 
in other countries; Germany, Austria, Hungary 
and Great Britain are referred to chiefly in this 
connection. 


The usual arguments are advanced in favour of - 
the creation of bird sanctuaries. Prominenece is 
given to the Yellowstone Park in connection with — 
the preservation of the Buffalo—Canada and its 
Buffalo are not mentioned, although the greatest 
herd of Buffalo in the world is here. There were 
more than 6,000 individuals in this herd at the 
time of the last count. Nor is mention made of 
the enormous areas of wild life sanctuaries in Cana- 
da, the significance of which, in furthering wild life 
conservation is scarcely appreciated. 


It is enough to cheer the hearts of bird lovers and 
ornithologists the world over, however, to read of 
the great steps under way to preserve the wonderful 
fauna of the Australian Continent. This gains 
new significance when it is remembered that our 
sister Dominion has now the mandate for great 
areas outside Australia proper, including Panny and 
a portion of Polynesia. 

Under migration, there is much of interest con- _ 
cerning the Australian area and allied beset “tee 


Been 


September, 1922.] 


_ elsewhere. Mention is made of the Migratory 
Birds Convention in force on this continent. 

“The effect of changing environment on the 
habits of birds” is of special interest with reference 
to the Australian fauana. Finally we have a 
discussion of the question of Introduced Species, 
surely an interesting problem from the Australian 
stand-point. 


Under the groups: 


- “Birds of the Garden, Orchard and Field,”’ 
“Birds of the Forests and Brushes,” 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


119 


“Birds of the Inland Plains, Swamps, Open 
Forests and Scrubs,” our author gives an interesting 
account of the sixty-five species treated. The text 
does not give descriptions of these, but does furnish 
attractive life history notes, anecdotes and points 
concerning distribution. 

The book should serve its purpose admirably— 
namely, to teach about birds and thereby encourage 
their protection. It will give a good idea of the 
avifauna of this distant continent to those whose 


interest in birds is wider than our own confines.— 
EL: 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


MUTILATED TAILS.—Mr. Johnson’s remarks in 
the March Naturalist on the Red Squirrel that 
had lost a leg recall another interesting fact noted 
at the same Kapuskasing camp. There were a 
rather unusual number of Chipmunks (Eutamias) 
on the rocky little peninsula in the river where 
the camp was situated. A remarkable number of 
them had lost more or less of their tails. At the 
time we wondered what might be the cause of this 
but could arrive at no very satisfactory explana- 
tion. Traps seemed the most likely cause, but 
we could think of no fur trapping in the neigh- 


_ bourhood likely to cut off chipmunks’ tails. 


The summer of 1920, however, at Last Mountain 
Lake, Sask., produced evidence that may have a 
bearing on the subject. A number of Bush 
Gophers, Franklin’s Ground Squirrels (Citellus) 
inhabited the vicinity of our camp and soon be- 
came very tame, running around about our feet 


_ under the table, over our persons, and up on the 


table itself. Though perfectly familiar with us, 
they showed the utmost atagonism towards each 
other and fought whenever they met. The 
largest and oldest buck of the community bad- 
gered the smaller ones unmercifully. Mr. C. H. 
Young, one of the party, describes an episode 
wherein this big fellow crept up on an unsuspecting 
victim from behind and, suddenly pouncing upon 
his tail, bit the end clean off. After the fracas, 
Mr. Young picked up the piece of amputated tail 
from the ground where the victor had dropped his 
trophy. 

I have seen a number of other stub-tailed Bush 
Gophers since then and it seems to be a not 
uncommon result of these struggles for territorial 
supremacy. Such competition would be more 


- intense in thickly populated stations and probably 


as great between Chipmunks as between Bush 

Gophers. Probably the mutilated Chipmunks at 
Kapuskasing were the vanquished of similar 
_ interspecific fighting —P. A. TAVERNER. 


ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER (Picoides 
arcticus) IN OTTAWA IN SUMMER.—On August 28, 
1922, while I was crossing Carling Avenue where it 
lies between the city and the Experimental Farm 
at the head of Fairmont Avenue, an Arctic Three- 
toed Woodpecker flew over into the sixty-foot 
border of high trees just within the Farm, having 
come, probably, from the woods still remaining 
within the city just across Carling Avenue from the 
grounds of the Dominion Observatory. As it flew 
into the border it uttered a harsh K-r-r-e-k. Ina 
few seconds it was inspecting the limbs and trunks 
of some tall young pines, pecking energetically at 
the flakes of bark in search for the enemies of the 
trees. I observed it closely with and without bino- 
culars, at one time within fifteen feet. The un- 
broken blue-black back, the bars at the sides, the 
long white streak under the eye and down the sides 
of the neck, the small narrow white streak back 
from the eye, the white under parts and even the 
three toes were carefully noted, while the absence of 
yellow on the crown indicated a female. In five 
minutes, again giving the harsh call, it flew back 
into the city towards the woods down Gwynne 
Avenue. I was astounded on seeing the bird, and 
am delighted to record herewith a summer ap- 
pearance of this Woodpecker in Ottawa.—RALPH 
EB. DELurRY. 


ADDITION TO THE CANADIAN FLORA Cephalanthera 
oregana REICH.—One lone specimen of this species 
was found, July, 1918, one mile north of Agassiz, 
B.C. It was growing in shade on a low hill covered 
with birch and bracken, southern exposure, in 
Humid Transition formation. Identified by Dr. C. 
V. Piper, Washington, D.C.—R. GLENDENNING. 


ToM—THE TAME Lynx.—Some eight or ten 
years ago, I was in St. Flavais, Quebec, and hap- 
pened to visit the barber shop. One of the two 
chairs seemed to be vacant, but on my going over 
to it, a Lynx was found curled up in it. 


. 


120 


The Lynx was probably a year old and full 
grown, I should judge. He was every bit as tame 
as a domestic cat, liking to be petted, and purring 
loudly when pleased. He enjoyed being stroked 
on the chin, but when he stretched out his fore-legs 
and expanded his massive paws, one at a time, 
showing his claws to their full extent, while he was 
seated on my lap, I sat remarkably still. 

All the dogs of the village ran away at the sight 
of Tom.—E. G. WHITE. 


CERULEAN WARBLER (Dendroica cerulea) NEAR 
OTTAWA.—On May 14, 1922, as I entered the tall 
hardwood bush beyond Manotick, about 22 miles 
along the Prescott Highway from Ottawa, I heard 
at a distance of about 80 yards a Warbler’s song 
new to me. I hastened through the woods and 
found the songster moving about in the tops of 
high basswood and beech trees. The song was 
fairly loud and required about three seconds in 
delivery. It was written down as—zee-zee-zee-zee- 
zee—tah-ree, the five uniform zee’s requiring half 
the time. The tah was lower and the ree higher in 
pitch than the zee’s. As the leaves were not fully 
developed, I was able to make a thorough observa- 
tion of the bird with the aid of 8X binoculars. 
Almost immediately the narrow bar crossing be- 
tween the pure white throat and the white breast 
was seen and then the other markings of the Ceru- 
lean Warbler were observed: the two white wing- 
bars, the white edging on the tip of the tail, the 
two or more dark lines down the side under the 
edge of the wing, a light strip over the eye bounded 
by a dark line on the edge of the crown, one or more 
dark lines on the back near the wing, and at times 
the bluish upper parts were glimpsed—especially 
when, on two occasions, the bird swooped down to 
lower levels, chasing a Black and White Warbler. 
With the male were one or two females moving 
about in the same manner and having the charac- 
teristics of the female Cerulean as nearly as I could 
determine. The rarity of the record led me to 
make a most thorough examination of the bird at 
intervals for over an hour, at noon in bright sun- 
light, and the bird sang on during the afternoon in 
nearly the same part of the woods. The plate by 
Fuertes in Eaton’s Birds of New York depicts the 
bird as I observed it, while descriptions of the 
songs quoted by Chapman in his Warblers of North 
America are very like my remembrances of the 
song. There can be no doubt about the record— 
new to me, as apparently it is to the Ottawa dis- 
trict. However, it was a mere accident that I 
visited this woods, and I cannot but feel that the 
Cerulean Warbler would be found more frequently 
if searched for diligently —RALPH E. DeLury. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vou. XXXVI 


GOLDENEYE BREEDING NEAR OTTAWA.—An adult 
female Goldeneye with four half-grown young was. 
observed on July 22, 1922, on the Ottawa River, 
at the edge of the marsh above Cumberland, at a 
point 16 miles by canoe below Ottawa. The young 
were closely grouped about the mother, who floated 
low in the water, hoping to escape detection. As 
the canoe quietly approached them they increased 
the speed of their swimming away from the marsh. 


They were closely observed with the aid of 8X 


binoculars and were approached to within 100 feet, 
when the mother with broken squawks plainly told 
the young to “beat it,’ and being well schooled, 
they promptly did so, with wings and feet making 
good speed away from us and circling back behind 
us to the marsh. The old bird fluttered above the 
young, between them and the canoe, squawking 
signals continuously. The young appeared very 
dark above, with light edgings on the sides and 
eyes. The old bird was more closely observed, 
having the large brown head, short neck, thick 
dark body, white edging patch on wing and “gold- 
en” eye. The bill seemed indented above about one- 
quarter of its length from the tip. It is highly 
improbable that it could be other than the American 
Goldeneye. Adult and juvenile American Golden- 
eye were seen by the writer during August and 
September, 1903, at Go Home Bay, about 17 miles 
up Georgian Bay from Penetanguishene. These 
are the only two instances of the breeding of this 
species in Ontario that he has observed. Hifrig’s 
1910 list does not note the breeding of the Golden- 
eye in this district, and apparently the present is 
the only record of young Goldeneyes for Ottawa, 
though I understand from Mr. Hoyes Lloyd that 
a breeding female has been taken.—RALPH E. 
DELUvRY. 


ADDITION TO THE FLORA OF CANADA.—A fruiting 
specimen of an unknown shrub was sent to the 
writer in July, 1922, by Mr. G. Fraser of Ucluelet. 
The plant is Myrica californica, California Myrtle, 
a relative of the Sweet Gale, Myrica Gale, and, so 
far as catalogues show, has not been recorded from 
Canada before. 


Mr. J. W. Thompson, of Tofino, Clayoquot 
Sound, reports that the shrub was first discovered 
on his property, about four miles from Tofino, by 
Mrs. Thomas McBey of Cameron Lake, in Septem- 
ber, 1920, and that it has a very limited distribution 
so far as known. 

A good description with illustrations may be 


found in Sudworth’s Forest Trees of the Pacific 
Slope, p. 209, figs. 83, 84—C. F. NEWCOMBE. 


) Ly ie 4 
a ee 


One 


eae: 


| 
| 
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLAND WOODPECKER 
Dryobates villosus picoideus 


A BIOLOGICAL RECONNAISANCE ON GRAHAM ISLAND 
OF THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE GROUP 


~-VOL. XXXVI 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


- 


OTTAWA, ONT., OCTOBER, 1922. 


No. 7 


SOME NOTES ON THE SOOKE FORMATION, VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C. 


By IrA E. CORNWALL, F.G.S. 


LONG the southwest coast of Vancouver 
Island several exposures of Tertiary sand- 
stone are known, representing at least two 

formations. One of these, the Sooke formation, 
is exposed at several places between Becher bay 
and Sombrio river. The largest area of this 
formation lies in the basin drained by Tugwell, 
Muir and Kirby creeks, extending for about three 
miles along the coast. It faces the Juan de Fuca 

. Strait, and has been traced for about three miles 
inland, where it has been found at an elevation 
of over 1,000 feet. It rests unconformably on the 
Metchosin basalts and. Sooke gabbro. The sand- 
stone is covered by a considerable thickness of 
Pleistocene glacial deposits, clays, sands and 
gravel. The general dip of these rocks is toward 
the shore, where wave action has cut into them 
forming cliffs, which at many places are undercut 
forming shallow caves. 

The first systematic collection of fossils from 
this formation was made by Dr. C. F. Newcombe, 
of Victoria, in 1894 and 1895. Collections were 
also made by the Canadian Geological Survey. 

About half a mile west of Muir Creek the sand- 
stone forms the beach and has been cut into small 
table-like projections, some of which are a few 
feet and others several yards in area. These are 
caused by the sea cutting through a thin, hard 
layer of sandstone lying on a softer layer, and are 
from six to twelve inches high. On the part of 
the beach uncovered only at the lowest tides 
are found the sea-urchins, Strongylocentrotus pur- 
puratus, in cavities which they cut in the vertical 
sides of these tables. They do not cut deeply into 
the rock and become prisoners for life, as do some 
of the urchins on the California coast, but the 
holes are cup-shaped and just deep enough to 


-- eover them. According to A. Agassiz they cut 


these cavities with their teeth, gnawing at the rock 
as they incessantly turn around, thus enlarging the 
cavities as they grow. These little tables, or 
projections, are also honeycombed by the rock 
boring Pholas penita. These creatures commence 
their borings when very small and when they have 
once made a cavity they become prisoners, only 


their long siphons projecting from the holes. 
They cut into the rock’by constantly turning by 
means of their foot which projects through a 
large opening between the anterior edges of their 
valves. It is the edge of this opening which does 
the cutting. or scraping, as the creature turns. 
When the Pholas has reached its full size this 
opening is closed by the growth of the shell. 
When broken, the rock is found to contain fossil 
mussels, Mytilus sp., in great numbers and in a 
beautiful state of preservation. There are also 
occasional leaf impressions, some of which show a 
reed-like leaf with three parallel longitudinal 
ridges, while others resemble oak leaves. In a 
piece of sandstone broken off from below low-water 
mark at the mouth of Sandstone creek, many of 
the cavities made by the Pholas were found 
crowded with the long shells of the rock boring 
Adula stylina, as many as six or eight being found 
in one opening. None of these shells were found 
in borings which they had made for themselves, 
but all in the borings made by the Pholas whose 
shells, in some cases, still remained in the holes. 
Evidently the rock in this locality is too hard for 
the Adula to bore into. 

The writer has collected a number of fossil 
bones at different exposures of this formation, 
most of which were collected about four years ago 
from the cliffs and sandstone forming the beach 
west of Muir creek. Dr. Othenio Abel, of Vienna, 
has examined photographs and drawings of these 
bones, and, while unable to give an exact deter- 
mination, has stated that they are from a species 
of small tooth whale. He also draws attention to 
the resemblance between one of the vertebrae and 
the lumbar vertebra of Squaledont  bariensis, 
Jourdan,” from the Miocene of Bulluno in Italy: 
Another bone about eighteen inches long, he 
states, resembles, in cross-section, part of the 
lower jaw of a Mystacocetan. We have also found 
pieces of ribs, part of a scapula, and part of a 
small skull showing the ear opening. These 
specimens are too fragmentary to be of any real 
value, but they indicate what may be found in 
this formation by long continued search. 


122 


Considerable interest is attached to the finding 
of two Desmostylus teeth in the Sooke formation, 
both of which were collected in the cliffs between 
Muir and Kirby creeks. The first one was found 
in 1916, and is now in the B.C. Provincial Museum 
at Victoria. It was determined by the late 
Lawrence M. Lambe, of the Canadian Geological 
Survey, as the first right upper molar of the 
Sirenian Desmostylus hesperus Marsh, of Pliocene 
age.* The tooth is considerably worn, and the 
root ismissing. It is composed of two longitudinal 


Fig. la. 
Side and crown views of tooth of 
Desmostylus sookensis n. sp. 


rows of appressed columns with a single column 
at the posterior end. Each of these columns shows 
the characteristic round pit in the centre. The 
length of this tooth is 34 mm.; width: 24 mm.; 
height of columns: 17mm.; diameter of largest 
column: 15mm.; diameter of smallest column: 
10mm. The second tooth was found in 1921 in a 
large block of sandstone which had been dis- 
lodged from the cliff and had fallen to the beach. 
The number of columns and their arrangement is 
the same as in the first tooth, but the second tooth 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(Vou. XXXVI 


is larger and not so much worn. The length of 
this tooth is 46 mm.; width: 34 mm.; diameter 
of largest column: 24mm.; diameter of smallest 
column: 17 mm.* The root of this tooth is also 
missing, and the end column broken. The main 
difference between these teeth and the American 
and Japanese specimens is that each of the Sooke 
teeth has a well developed cingulum. There can 
be little doubt that these teeth represent an older ~ 
species than Desmostylus hesperus, as recent Te: 
search has shown that this formation is Oligocene 


Fig. 1b. 
Side and crown views of tooth of 
Desmostylus sookensis n. sp. 


in age, older than any of the formations in which 
D. hesperus has been found.’ The only other 
species in the genus Desmostylus is D. watasei 
Hay,® from Japan.’ This species is represented 
by one skull which was collected from sandstone 
situated some distance above a Miocene deposit. 
Taking into consideration the greater age of the 
Sooke formation, and also the presence of cingula 
on these teeth, they are, tentatively, named 
Desmostylus sookensis n. sp. The specimen in 
the B.C. Provincial Museum is the type specimen. 


‘October, 1922.] 


Since the first discovery of Desmostylus remains 
by O. C. Marsh in 1888, the exact systematic 
position of this little-known genus has been the 
subject of much discussion. Marsh described it 
as a sirenian, and it was later referred to the 


-*“Halicoride® In a paper by Dr. Othenio Abel read 
before the Vienna Academy of Science, he states, 


in part, “That Desmostylus belongs neither to the 
Sirenians nor to the Proboscideans nor to the 
Ungulates, and indeed is not a placental mammal 
at all!’ He further states, ‘‘there can scarcely be 
any serious doubt left that in Desmostylus we 
have a marine herbiverous Multituberculate.’® 
On the east bank of Kirby creek and about 
half a mile from the shore the fossil beds are well 
exposed in the cliffs, Some of the shells from this 
locality have been determined by Dr. B. L. Clark 
as fresh, or brackish water species. Two of these 
are Gerithidea newcombei n. sp. Clark & Arnold, 
and Goniobasis sookensis n. sp. Clark & Arnold. 
A specimen of a very rare coral was also collected 


' at this locality, and was determined by Dr. T. 


Wayland Vaughan as Siderastrea vancouverensis n. 


sp. This specimen is now in the American 


_ land was at a lower level. 


tl SN 


eS - 


ol 


rs 


oy 


ae 


_ above the other. 


National Museum. 

Another exposure of particular interest is at 
Sandstone creek, about three miles east of Jordan 
river. Here the creek falls over the cliff to the 
beach, making a fall of about ten feet. There are 
two more falls quite near the coast, one about a 
mile from the mouth of the creek and the other 
about a mile and a half. Below the falls the bed 
of the creek is covered with boulders washed from 
the glacial deposits through which the creek has 
cut. From the mouth of the creek to within a 
short distance of the first fall the water runs on the 
surface of the sandstone, which is uncut except for 
occasional pot-holes and little channels cut at 
lines of weakness in the sandstone. The two falls 
do not appear to have been caused by faulting, or 
by cutting back by the creek, but may have been 
the result of wave action forming cliffs when the 
This was partly con- 
firmed by the finding of two wave-cut caves, one 
These are in the cliffs between 
Glacier Point and Sandstone creek. One cave is 


“THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


123 


at the present sea level, and the other is about 
eighteen feet above it. The formation at this 
locality consists of alternate bands of coarse 
conglomerate and brown sandstone. 

At almost all places where the base of the Sooke 
formation is exposed it is composed of conglo- 
merate which rests on the eroded surface of the 
volcanics. We have only found fossils at one 
place in the basal conglomerates, which was on a 
small island in a bay about half a mile east of the 
mouth of Sandstone creek. Here we found 
specimens of Acmaea geometrica Merriam, and 
broken remains of Ostrea sp., and Mytilus sp. 

As the Sooke formation becomes better known 
and more carefully worked it will probably be 
divided into different horizons, as there is a 
marked difference in the fauna collected from the 
different exposures. 

As this coast is being rapidly cut away by wave 
action, and new material is thus constantly 
exposed it amply repays a visit each year. For 
several years Messrs. Connell, Downes and the 
writer have spent a few weeks each summer 
camping at different points along the coast and 
collecting specimens. Dr. Bruce L. Clark has 
kindly determined many of these for us, and some 
have proved to be new species. These will 
probably be described by Drs. Clark and Ralph 
Arnold in the Bulletins of the University of 
California Publications. 


REFERENCES 


1Clapp, C. H., Memoir 96, Sooke and Dunean Map-Areas. 
Geol. Surv. Can., No. 80, pp. 329-340 

2Dal Piaz, G., ‘On ‘Some Remains of Squalodont From the 
Miocene Sands of Bulluno.”’ Palaeontographia Italia. 
Vol. VI, 1900. 

3Lambe, Lawrence M., Report of B.C. Prov. 
pp. 42-43, 1916. 

4Q.J.G.S., Vol. LX XVIII, part 2. No. 310, 1922. 

5Merriam, John C., ‘‘Notes on the Genus Desmostylus of 
Marsh.”’ Univ. of Cal. Publications, Vol. 6, No. 18 
pp. 403-412, 1911. 

6Hay, Oliver P.,' ‘A Contribution to the Know ledge of the 
Extinct Sirenian Desmostylus Marsh.’ Proceedings of 
U.S. National Museum. Vol. 49, No. 2113, pp. 381- 
397, 1915. 

7Yoshiwara, S., and Iwasaki, J., 
Tokyo. Vol. 16, art. 6, 1902. 

8Flower and Lydekker, ‘““Mammals Living and Extinct’. 


Museum, 


Jour. Coll. Se. Imp. Univ. 


. 220. 
oAbel, Othenio, ‘‘Desmostylus, a Marine Multituberculate 
from the Miocene of the North Pacific Coast Region’. 
Abstract of the proceedings of the Vienna Academy of 
Sciences. 1922. 


BLADDERWORTS OF ONTARIO 


By. F. Morris 


ORE than twenty years ago, when I 
was just on the threshold as it were of a 
nodding acquaintance with the wild 

flowers of Ontario, I first discovered the showy 


- blossom-spikes of the Larger Bladderwort (Utri- 


x 


oo 


cularia vulgaris), while I was roaming along the 

shore of Lake Ontario near Port Hope; they were 
growing in great abundance on the surface of a 
small lagoon in the sand. The flowers were 
decidedly handsome and attractive. It was easy 


124 


to see on a near view of them that they must be 
close cousins to the Figworts (Scrophulariacex) 
with their two-lipped corolla subtended by a spur, 
and it lent added interest to the family to know 
that the lovely little Butterwort (Pinguicula), so 
familiar a feature of Scotch and English moorland 
bogs, was their next of kin. 

The very same summer what might have proved 
a mere passing interest was made permanent by 
the discovery of a second species of these beautiful 
yellow flowers, a plant of much more delicate 
habit with a very slender graceful stalk and 
floating stems of fine-cut clean-looking foliage. I 
found it in the heart of a sphagnum bog near 
Newtonville, floating on a pool near some hand- 
some spikes of the Prairie Fringed Orchid (Habe- 
naria- leucophea) and surrounded by Pitcher 
Plants (Sarracenia), Beard Tongue (Pogonia), and 
Grass Pink (Calopogon). A goodly fellowship, to 
be sure, and yet, it seemed to me, it was well 
worthy of its company. I had some difficulty in 
identifying it, for the book of descriptions—to 
the tyro—of the Flatleaved Bladderwort and the 
Lesser Bladderwort are easily confused. It is 
certainly the former that I have found occasional- 
ly since, and I believe I was right in referring my 
Newtonville find to that species (U. intermedia). 

In 1901 I went camping on the south shore of 
Lake Nipissing and in the sandy margin of a bay 
there, beside our tent, I discovered a very beautiful 
and highly fragrant spurred flower on a naked 
seape, which I took to be a bladderwort, but of 
bladders and even of roots there wasn’t a trace to 
be found. I had no botany with me, and for 
over a month these specimens of the Horned 
Bladderwort had to lie hidden in my note book as 
a baffling mystery along with the Golden Hedge 
Hyssop (Gratiola aurea). Late that autumn I got 
Mr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, to help me read 
these and other botanical riddles, notably one of 
two years’ standing, the now widely distributed 
Least Toad Flax (Linaria minor). To have three 
kinds of bladderwort on one’s calling list, so to 
speak, was a great satisfaction—childish, of course, 
but who.of us does not envy the child his first 
meeting with every one of scores of earth’s trea- 
sures? 

More than fifteen years ago, when I paid my 
first visit to Algonquin, I was delighted to find 
both the Larger and the Horned Bladderworts 
abundant in the Park, and as I knew of several 
bogs near Port Hope where the Flat-leaved species 
grew, I felt I had always within my grasp that 
exquisite pleasure of the nature lover, second only 
to the pleasure of making new friends, that of 
renewing acquaintance with old. 

And so matters stood till some five years ago, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


= - 
or 
oe 


[Vou. XXXVI 


when I ventured, as an annual camper in Algon-— 


quin, to master the arts of paddle and portage. 
‘All things come to him who waits’, is true enough 
of the insects, birds and beasts that came to call 
at our camp on Cache Lake; but there is a race 
of beings held in durance vile by wicked enchant- 
ment. 
alas! are the botanist’s sole care, the flowers of the 
field. 

Apart from the joy of exploring that the art of 
the portage provides, treading perhaps where 
human foot seldom if ever trod, there is this other 
lure, peculiarly the botanists’, that round the very 
next bend he may make some new discovery in 
flowers. The very first portage I ever made in 
Algonquin—only one-quarter of a mile from Cache 
Lake—brought me what an amateur’s vanity 
delights to think the discovery of a lifetime, a 
colony of Crag Woodsia (Woodsia scopulina), a fern 
hitherto known only from the Rocky Mountains; 
and here was I ten feet above level ground and only 
100 miles from Toronto, staring at scores of the 
plants within a few rods of a beaten trail. 


My second portage enabled me to cross a little 
beaver pond above White’s Lake, and here in the 
black ooze of the margin left bare by the shrinking 
water of an exceptionally dry summer, I caught 
sight of hundreds of tiny magenta flowers on 
scapes less than three incheslong. Here and there 
a deer had waded boldly through them to drink, 
but they fairly defied the foot of man to reach 
them from shore, or his canoe from the water. I 
managed at last to outwit these mocking imps with 
the long arm of a cedar pole, and, cutting off a 
few stragglers, brought my captives back in 
triumph to camp. : 

They were certainly a bladderwort, and, so far, 
to me a bladderwort had always meant a brignt 
yellow flower; I knew nothing of purple blooms 
in the genus. 
showed that these tiny dull magenta blooms, set 
cross-wise on the top of their scape, their lower 


lip uppermost and the spur remote from the lips, 


must be the Reversed Bladderwort (U. resupin- 
ata). Here was a find, indeed; I was now on 
visiting terms with four species, two rooting in 
the mud, one purple and one yellow, and two 
floating in the water. ~ 

Next season was a very wet one and the ooze 


beds of U. resupinata were submerged all through 


August; but the disappointment was somewhat 
allayed by my finding both U. vulgaris and U. 
cornuta growing about the head pools and margin 
of this interesting little beaver pond. : 


In 1920, there was a great drought and by the 


middle of August I knew from the water-level on 


Cache Lake that a trip to the Beaver Pond would ~ 


“1s 


f 


They may not go a-visiting, and these, 


A careful study of Gray’s botany | 


’ 


ar Aas 
morn Tea! 4k 


y 


a 
4 


: be eminently worth while. 
3 farther shore of the pond were great patches of 
the tiny magenta blooms. 


October, 1922.] 


Sure enough, on the 


After feasting my eyes 
on them, I came back to the nearer shore and 
made my way along the side towards the head of 


the pond; on my way I recognized with pleasure 


several old friends about the margin: the smallest 
of our Club Mosses (Lycopodium inundatum), the 
Yellow-eyed Grass (Xyris flexuosa), the little 
Green Wood Orchid (Habenaria clavellata), and 
the Long-leaved Sundew (Drosera longifolia). 
About half way up the shore, as I had anticipated, 
just out from the firm sandy margin, were dozens 


__and dozens of this quaint little purple mud-dweller 


(U. resupinata). Passing these colonies I found 
myself presently among patches of that pretty 
yellow Crowfoot, the pigmy Ranunculus Flam- 
mula. I had grown so used to this flower that I 
hardly noticed its blooms, just taking them in with 
the tail of my eye as I moved along; but while 
clambering over a pine stump half buried in the 
sand, I noticed among them a little yellow blos- 
som that somehow seemed different, whether in 
colour or in form it would be hard to say, but 
whatever it was it served to arrest my attention, 
so I knelt to examine the flower closely, and be- 
hold! there were two distinct little blossoms among 
these patches of yellow in the sand, and one of 
them was a bladderwort. It proved to be the 
Humped Bladderwort (Utricularia gibba); rarely 
more than one bloom on the scape and the scape 
not much more than two inches in length. 


Last summer’s (1921) tropical heat caused 
such unusual evaporation that at the end of July 
the watery coverlet had been snatched off these 
ooze beds, and their occupants roused for their 
brief revel a month or six weeks ahead of time. 
But there was no opportunity to do more than 
race to the landing of the Beaver Pond and back 
to camp for we were under promise to pack and 
set out on a week’s trip with some friends—paddle 


-and portage—about the Park. Our main course 


was to be down the Oxtongue to the High Falls 
and back; but before going south we were to 
spend two days paddling northwest to the centre 
of the Park, and here on the very first day of our 
trip awaited me the surprise of my life in the 
flowering line. 


- On Wednesday, August 3rd, we set out = canoe 
from Joe Lake Station on our way to Big Island 
Lake and the Otterslides. There were four of us 
in the party, a congenial couple from Florida in 
one canoe, and my wife and I in another. Soon 
after entering the creek above Little Joe Lake, our 
Florida friends who were just ahead of us sung out 
that among the large yellow Bladderworts so 


abundant at the sides of the main channel of Joe 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


125 


Creek were some purple ones. At first I thought 
that if the find was a bladderwort it must be the 
little Reversed species; but we were in deep, 
open water, and when I paddled up to the spot, 
judge of my surprise to find myself staring at a 
large handsome spray of flowers, as sturdy as the 
Greater Bladderwort and with a somewhat similar 
scape, three or four blossoms on each, but these, 
instead of yellow, a beautiful shade of violet, the 
lower lip having a spot of yellow on its face just 
forward of where the two lips met and a big stout 
spur jutting out below it. Long floating stems 
with crowded whorls of foliage lay in masses on 
the channel, the sprays of blossom so abundant as 
to give a kind of luminous haze or blush to the 
surface of the water. 


A few specimens were stowed carefully away into 
a pocket plant-press, and there they remained for 
a week, buried (almost lost) under the thronging 
excitements of a canoe trip. These indeed were 
so many and great that I had time but twice to 
think of my find; once, between the Otterslide 
Lakes, where we discovered a large patch of U. 
resupinata,; and again on the last day of the trip 
when we reached the Beaver Pond and our eyes 
fell on an army of the Reversed and the Humped 
Bladderworts drawn up on the margin, its cohorts 
all gleaming with purple and gold. 


Reference to Gray showed that whorled leaves 
were found in one species only, Utricularia pur- 
purea, and an examination of the last three 
editions of Gray revealed an enticing little pro- 
blem. Fifty years ago the Purple Bladderwort 
was known on the Atlantic coast only; thirty 
years ago, records had been added from Lake 
County, Indiana; and some twelve years ago it 
had been reported from points in North Indiana 
and Michigan. It would be interesting to know 
in the first place whether the rapidly widening 
range of stations is due to the plant’s activity or 
only to the activity of botanical research; I mean 
whether the colonies are newly planted or only 
newly discovered. In Algonquin the Purple 
Bladderwort has established itself in several large 
masses on both sides of the main channel of Joe 
Creek, and over a distance of about 100 yards, up 
and down stream. The colony must be at least 
ten years old, I should judge, and may be much 
older. If the colonies inland are newly estab- 
lished, it must mean that these plants have come 
to form the regular food of some water fowl and 
that their seeds are frequently borne to a distance 
on web, plumage, or bill (if not in crop). 

The extant edition of Gray records it on the 
coast from New Brunswick to Florida, so it may 
have taken in the Atlantic Provinces; but I was 
told it was new to the Dominion; it is certainly 


* 


126 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST {[VoL. XXXVI 


short, it is an ‘‘accession” in far more than the 
Museum sense of the hortus siccus. 


an addition to the flora of Ontario. Moreover, 
its delicate colouring and the beauty of its blos- 


som make a strong appeal to the esthetic eye; in 
7 e 


A NATURE LOVER’S CAMP IN NOVA SCOTIA 


By E. CHESLEY ALLEN 


UR camp fire had burned low. The oc- 
casional flare from some crumbling ember 
set strange uncouth figures struggling with 

each other upon the canvas of our tent, and drove 
back to the deep thickets the great shadows that 
had crept out to reclaim the little. spot we had 
cleared for our summer home. The woods were 
still, but for the light splash of some furtive night 
fisherman along the lake shore, or the sleepy frag- 
ment of song from some smal] bird half aroused 
from its slumbers. 

Suddenly from out over the star-lit bosom of the 
lake rose the long-drawn wail of the Loon; rose, 
and fell, and died away in receding echoes. 

We had come here early in July, milady and I, 
to this little lake, where an obscure branch of the 
Tusket broadens out to meet the dense forest 
growth that clothes the ridges down to its very 
edge. But with the manifold and hurried duties 
of preparing a two months’ camp before the dark- 
ness settled, we had not caught the true spirit: of 
our surroundings until that wild cry came ringing 
over the water. For the cry of the Loon not only 
embodies all the freedom, vigor, and exultant 
passion of the wild life of the north, but is pre- 
eminently vocal of all the subtle warfare and 
relentless cruelty of the wilderness; and a fitting 
prelude it was to the pageant of wild life that we 
were to enjoy for the next few weeks. 

Our camp lay by the shore of the lake, and at 
the foot of an old log-road that came down from 
the ridge above. Half way up the ridge this 
joined another rough road which wound through 
the woods to the settlement and our nearest 
neighbors, two miles above. Thither often we 
tramped, until every tree and shrub and stump 
claimed a corner in our memories. 

Where the roads joined stood an old logging- 
camp, abandoned for two or three years, and 
already beginning to show signs of decay. 

There is something about an abandoned logging- 
camp that invites inspection. The wild life that 
receded before the encroaching axe of the logger, 
comes back on his departure to take advantage of 
the artificial shelter afforded by his rough archi- 
tecture. Swallows and wasps build under the 
eaves; bats fly at evening about the yawning 


doors and windows; and hares and shy wood mice 
take refuge under its floors. 

This particular old camp would have afforded 
bats’ wings enough to clothe Titania’s entire train. 
One day, when we were passing, our attention was 
attracted by a scratching sound on the side of the 
building. Seeing nothing on the outside we 
entered; but there nothing was visible. Coming 
out again and locating the sound, we lifted a long 
loose strip of tarred paper with which the building 
was partly covered, and out flew bats in all di- 
rections. A snug hiding-place they had had cling- 
ing to the rough wall, with the noonday sun 
beating upon the black paper over them. 

Just above our camp the road dipped into a 
dark hollow where the broad-leafed striped maples 
met overhead. Here on several mornings we 
found the ground strewn with moths’ wings of a 
most delicate blue-green. The explanation was 
made clear one evening when we were returning to 
camp. Back and forth under the overhanging 
trees flitted the bats; and we knew that each 
quick turn and tack of wing meant the death of a 
moth. 

By day the bats gave place to the dragon-flies 
The roadside swarmed with butterflies—admirals, 
swallow-tails, silver-spots, mourning-cloaks and 
sulphurs. Among these the dragon-flies were 
dragons indeed. Coursing up and down the road 
like a burnished steel shuttle, one would dart at a 
flitting butterfly, and quicker than the eye could 
follow, seize it, turn it over, and with its wings 
placed together keel-like, bear it off to some road- 
side twig, where in a moment the wings fluttering 
down showed that the meal had begun. These 
bold highwaymen were not above cannibalism, 
for they often seized and devoured members of 
their own family. 

A great black and white hornet that came to 
our tent for flies, though not so sure of her mark — 
as the dragon-flies, yet made mahy captures; 
and most of them were through the flies’ own 
blunders. Entering our doorway she would dart 
at every dark spot upon the canvas, the flies in 
the meantime making feints at her, in the manner 
in which Swallows are often seen to do with 
larger birds. But, unlike the Swallows, the flies — 


*., 


Sg 
Se ee 


ore eR eee 


= 

pom 
>t 
« 


|) Aaa 


5 


wir 
4 
re 


~ 


- f 


io 


~ Oetober, 1922.] 


ae often flew into the very clutches of their enemy, 


who caught many more in this way than by her 
own efforts. Each victim was taken to the ridge- 
‘pole of the tent, where the captor, hanging by one 
hind foot, deftly turned her victim over and over 
‘and clipped off its wings, and then made off with 
it through the doorway. The depository was not 
far off, for often she would be back within a 
minute, her lively hum blending with the high- 
pitched pipe of the cicadas. 


Many other insect visitors, welcome and unwel- 
come, came uninvited to our tent. 

A little mason wasp built her mud-walled nest 
in the corner of our packing-box book-case, but 


~ our clumsy fingers destroyed her dainty work be- 


fore we were aware of its presence. 


On the ground outside, however, we had an 
opportunity to observe the domestic economy of 
her cousin, a pretty little orange and black wasp. 
When first observed she was crawling awkwardly 
along dragging a green caterpillar; which, when 
the ground was rough, was almost too much for 
her. Following her laborious journey to a bit of 
smooth ground near an old dead stump, we saw 
her suddenly drop her burden and begin to circle 
about a small area a few inches in diameter. 


Presently she stopped and began digging into 
the soft earth; and after excavating not more than 
half an inch, she quite surprised us by seizing 
her prey and completely disappearing with it into 
the ground. In a minute or two she reappeared 
alone, and began scraping the earth back into the 
pit, taking the greatest care to remove all hard 
lumps and bits of stone. In fact anything but 
the softest earth was carried away some few 
inches from her treasure-pit, which was finally 
levelled to the top, and the whole surface left 
smooth and free from rubbish. 


After her departure we examined the spot; and, 
removing the freshly placed earth, found at the 
bottom of the shaft not only the green caterpillar, 
but beside it a brown one of about the same size, 
both capable of slight motion but helplessly 
paralyzed. Deposited carefully between them 
was an elongated white egg, from which eventually 
would have hatched a very hungry young wasp 
larva, ready to devour the food so wonderfully 
preserved and carefully placed at its disposal. 


There is always a touch of mystery about those 


‘swarms of innumerable ants, which on certain 


sultry summer days emerge, and fill the air with 
the shimmer of their frail wings. For days the 
preparation for this great event has been going on 
under many a loose stone, or in many an old stump 
or soft hillock. But what manner of fiat is this 
that in some mysterious way goes forth through- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


127 


out all the colonies far and near, and which calls 
forth their swarms as if by prearranged consent. 

Throughout one lazy afternoon we witnessed 
the wedding pageant of the great caterpillar ants. 
Far and near the air was filled with their dazzling 
flight. One queen settled upon an old pine stump 
near our tent, and after a short survey of her sur- 
roundings evidently decided that it was the proper 
place for a home; for in that business-like way in 
which ants do everything, and as if to show her 
utter contempt for frivolities, she immediately set 
about ridding herself of her now useless wings. 
By a skillful use of her feet, the wings, first on one 
side and then on the other, were brought forward 
so abruptly that they were torn short off at the 
body; not bitten off as one might suppose. 


To tell of all the insect wonders to be found 
about that woodland camp would take many 
pages. The strangely shaped chrysalids hanging on 
the thorn that developed into beautiful black and 
white admiral butterflies; the spiny galls on the 
witch-hazel from which the big yellow jacket wasps 
stole liquid sweets; the beautiful blue and green 
damsel-flies along the lake shore; the gay parties 
of silver-spots that danced about the roadside 
thistles; or the crafty ways of the caddis larva 
fishermen that stretched their nets in the current 
of the brook, all beguiled away those dreamy sum- 
mer days. 


But beneath the pleasing rustle of the forest 
leaves what an underplay of stealthy silent 
tragedy there is! 


In a bank by the roadside a pair of Juncos had 
built their late nest. Perhaps some accident had 
overtaken their first attempt at rearing a family, 
for now in July the mother faithfully guarded her 
three speckled eggs. At last her vigil came to an 
end; and three limp awkward nestlings lay in the 


grass-lined hollow. Next day we visited the spot 


and found the young gone, and the grass lining 
strewn about the roadside. Suspicion rested upon 
the red squirrels who had been rummaging about 
the spot that morning. 


Near our tent lay a large flat stone. A striped 
chipmunk scurrying across the clearing suddenly 
stopped and disappeared beneath its edge. The 
next moment a brown mouse appeared from the 
other side, and hurried away. Presently the 
chipmunk appeared bearing something in its 
mouth which he soon began to devour. Driving 
him away from his meal we found the head and 
feet of a young mouse. Another tragedy. But 
how quickly either squirrel or chipmunk seeks 
cover or cowers into rigidity when the deep boom 
of the big Horned Owl comes rolling over the tree- 
tops. Well do they know and fear the swift, 


128 


silent death that ever lurks to overtake the un- 
watchful among the forest people. 

Our camp was in a paradise of birds. Birds 
were everywhere; on the ridges, in the meadows, 
up the brooks, and on the lake. 


One morning the glassy surface of our cove was 
broken by long V-shaped ripples. The mother 
Loon had brought her young close in to the shore; 
and as we stepped from our tent a pretty sight 
they were; the snowy breast of the mother gleam- 
ing in the morning light, and the two black downy 
young paddling contentedly along in her wake. 
Out beyond watched the wary mate; and when 
we appeared both old birds sent long peals of 
weird laughter echoing across the waters, and 
started for the open lake followed by the two 
youngsters. 

Now we dash for the boat. Well we know that 
the old birds can well laugh at any efforts of ours 
on the water. But what will these downy babies 
do? At our first sign of pursuit the male bird 
immediately dives. to reappear several hundred 
yards away. But the mother, though swimming 
some distance ahead of her offspring, remains in 
sight, and encourages their heroic efforts with 
loud wavering calls. And strong and steady 
pulling it takes to lessen our distance from the 
plucky little swimmers. When, however, it is 
shortened to a few yards, they separate, one fol- 
lowing the mother’s calls to the deeper water, the 
other keeping on up the cove. The latter we 
follow; and when our boat is almost upon him, 
flash! heis under. Relaxing our steady pulling to 
await his reappearance we are surprised to see his 


tiny head appear an astonishing distance ahead.. 


Not to be outdone in this manner, the next time 
he disappears we pull steadily, and we are almost 
within reach of the little fellow as he bobs to the 
surface. Down again he goes; and away we pull, 
watching eagerly for that little black head to 
appear. Second after second passes without a 
spot on the clear mirror ahead, behind, or on either 
side of us. Have we carried our experiment too 
far? Has that mite of wild life become a victim 
to our curiosity? Away out in the lake the two 
old birds and their one baby are watching. But 
what is that dark speck scarcely visible among the 
sparkling morning ripples that are just beginning 
to ruffle the middle of the lake? Steadily it 
approaches the trio out beyond. We can scarce 
believe our senses! How little we reckoned on 
that great wilderness instinct, ages old, that had 
taught the tiny fugitive to double back under our 
boat and make for the open water, and freedom! 
Pleased rather than disappointed, we turn toward 
camp. 

Along the lake shore we had another oppor- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(Vou. XXXVI 


tunity to observe the resourcefulness of Nature’s — 


children, when hard pressed. A pair of Spotted 


Sandpipers had nested near our camp, and their — 


soft ascending pr-r-r-eet as they circled along the 
shore was one of the cheeriest evening voices. 
We often saw them with their young and noted 
how quickly, when disturbed, the little grey fellows 
scuttled under the fringe of bushes that lined the 
beach. One day coming suddenly upon one of 
them, we cut him off from his usual retreat. Try 
as he would he could not get by us. 
made straight for the water, and, dashing boldly 
in, swam boldly out into the lake with all the ease 
and grace of a Duck. The lack of webbed feet 
troubled him not at all. Stepping back we allowed 
him to approach nearly to the shore when, sud- 
denly stepping forward again, we made as if to 
seize him. In a trice he was under the water and 
swimming again for safety. Swimming? Nay, 
rather flying under water, for now the legs were 
stretched straight behind, and the unfeathered, 
paddle-like wings were used as easily as if that 
was to be their ultimate mission. And in his 
remote ancestors so, no doubt, it was. 


In the dense growth behind our tent the birds 


were innumerable. The shy Ovenbird’s shrill call 
came ringing down the long green aisles even at 
midday; but at night we heard his true love song. 
When darkness was falling upon the slopes, and 
most of the evening voices had ceased, starting 
from some high perch, he would rise higher and 
higher in air, singing all the while, till, the song 
suddenly ceasing, he dropped abruptly into the 
darkening woods. 


All day long the sweet soliloquy of the Red- 
eyed Vireo came floating down from the high 
beeches. What an idle fellow he seems. But find 
him if you can, up there in the maze of leaves; 
and in the pauses of his song you will see his gray 
form ever flitting from twig to twig, and those 
keen eyes ever searching the under surfaces of the 
leaves where innumerable insects lie concealed. 


For several days near the last of August the 
slope rang with the music of a little Winter Wren. 
His song was new to us; and it was only after a 
long weary scramble over logs and through thickets 
that we espied his diminutive brown figure sitting 
atop an old brush heap, and pouring forth his 
floods of delicious melody. 

What continuous delights were those long walks 
through the woods to the village! The roadsides 
abounded in Warblers—Yellow, Black-throated 
Green, Black-and-white, Canadian, Myrtle, Mag- 
nolia, and Chestnut-sided; with Maryland Yellow- 
throats, and Redstarts. 

An insignificant but unusual song called our 
attention to the top of those tall spruces. Some 


\ 


Suddenly he © 


a 


fay ie 


~ oe an Soe 


- rupted by rainstorms. 


October, 1922.] 


small bird was hidden somewhere among their 


tops. Suddenly he came into full view, and the 
morning sun flashed upon the gorgeous orange 


throat patch of the Blackburnian Warbler. A 


meeting with this animate gem is about worth a 
journey to the north woods. 

Farther up the road by a clump of hackmatacks 
we were stopped one day by a low sweet song 
resembling that of the Purple Finch, but more 
Robin-like. Investigation revealed our old red- 
coated friend of the white winter landscape, the 
Pine Grosbeak. ‘Tis true the books tell us he 


_ breeds in the far north; but here in the cool Nova 


Scotia woods we met him and his sober-colored 
mate, and day after day we listened to his dreamy 
love song. 

By the green alder thicket near the brook we 
paused to hear the ringing cadence of the Veery; 
while farther on, where the road wound by open 
pasture lands, the mellow golden notes of the 
Hermit Thrush vied with the clear sweet whistle 
of the White-throat. 

But now the chill nights of late summer were 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


129 


beginning to weave white mist veils over the 
sleeping bosom of the lake. The clematis and 
fire-weed were donning their soft down, and in the 
open the roadsides were becoming gorgeous in 
golden-rod and aster. The Warblers and Vireos 
had ceased their songs of love and were joining 
the ranks of Chickadees, Kinglets and Sparrows. 
Already faint voices floating down from the starlit 
sky told that the great southward movement had 
begun. 

For us, too, came the parting from our summer 
home, and thoughtfully we looked into that last 
evening’s camp fire. The lake lay like a mirror. 
Three Black Ducks, circling over the islands, 
settled above our camp, and swimming down by 
us left long ripples in its glassy surface. A Blue 
Heron arose from his fishing in the cove above and 
flapped lazily away toward the setting sun. 
Gradually the red in the sky and lake changed to 
gray; and as the stars came out one by one all 
was still, save the voice of the distant river and 
deep, deep bass of the old green frog down among 
his pickerel weeds. 


MYXOMYCETES OF THE LAKE NIPIGON DISTRICT 


By F. B. ADAMSTONE, B.A. 


URING July and August of the past- 
summer (1921), while engaged in lim- 


\ nobiological research on Lake Nipigon 


the writer spent odd moments making a collection 
‘of Myxomycetes or slime molds in the surrounding 
district. . 

_ The region about Lake Nipigon is a very rugged 
hilly country, most of which is quite densely 
wooded. Among the hills there are numerous 
small lakes and streams. The forest is composed 
largely of balsam, spruce, poplar and birch. It is 
the last of these, in the form of old stumps and 
rotting logs, which seems to be the favorite sub- 
stratum for Myxomycetes, but almost any organic 
material will serve the purpose. No specimens of 


slime molds were seen until after the middle of 


July when the prolonged hot weather was inter- 
Thereafter, when rambling 
through the woods turning over logs and examin- 
ing stumps, one was almost certain to come upon 


a some, either in the gelatinous plasmodial stage, 


b 
49 
é 
af 


or in the form of delicate lacy fruiting bodies. 
The extraordinary life history of these organisms 
makes them particularly interesting from a biolo- 


gical point of view. 


When the ripe fruiting body is shaken or dis- 


3  turbed, a minute cloud of dust-like particles 


floats away from it. This consists of the spores of 


the Myxomycete. Should the spores fall upon a 
suitable medium, they germinate, and from each 
a small naked droplet of protoplasm escapes. 
These droplets are usually provided with one or 
more delicate cilia, by the motions of which they 
are propelled about in the liquids of the substra- 
tum. By growth and subsequent division, a whole 
host of similar droplets is formed. Eventually a 
time comes when these fuse in pairs, then the pairs 
coalesce so that a large jelly-like mass of proto- 
plasm results. The plasmodium, as this structure 
is called, resembles an enormous ameeba, not only 
in its appearance, but also in its streaming move- 
ments and in the manner in which it ingests food 
material. It is very sensitive to external stimuli 
at this stage, and usually avoids strong light. living 
beneath logs or other forest débris. Finally a 
time comes when its sensitiveness to light dis- 
appears, and it comes out into the open sunlight, 
sometimes being seen as a brightly coloured, 
gelatinous substance on the side of a stump. At 
this stage peculiar processes go on within the plas- 
modium, and as a result small masses of proto- 
plasm are heaped up a rounded globules. The 
fruiting bodies or sporangia are ultimately formed 
from these little heaps of protoplasm. 

Among the forms collected there are three 
general types of sporangia which are easily recog- 


130 


nized. Nearly all of them, however, are quite 
minute and occur in small patches on the sub- 
stratum. On this account, they may easily be 
overlooked unless careful search is made for them. 
One of the types of fruiting body most commonly 
encountered is a delicate, plume-like sporangium 
of lacy texture, supported by a fine stalk. An- 
other is a verx small globular spore case held up- 
right on a fine stalk, while the third is a sessile, 
globular body which may range in size from less 
than a millimeter to several centimeters in dia- 
meter. 

In the collection made at Lake Nipigon there 
are representatives of twenty-nine species, two of 
which have not previously been reported as 
occurring in Canada. The identification of these 
specimens was very kindly undertaken by Miss 
M. E. Currie, M.A., of the Department of Botany, 
University of Toronto, and the writer is also 
indebted to her for extensive notes relating to 
each species. The names of the species collected, 
together with short descriptions, as suggested by 
Miss Currie, are given below: 

1. Arcyria incarnata Pers. 

Six specimens ‘of this form were obtained, 
ranging in colour from the typical dark reddish- 
brown to a pale flesh pink. The capillitium of 
these specimens is of delicate lacy texture and is 
attached to a small cup—the whole resembling a 
small red plume. 


2. Arcyria nutans Grev. (Fig. 1). 

Yellow coloured feathery aggregations of the 
fruiting bodies of this species were obtained on 
four occasions. The capillitium is superficially 
much like the preceding and resembles it closely 
except for the yellow colour. 


3. Badhamia decipiens Berk. 

This species has not previously been reported 
for Canada although Macbride in his North Ameri- 
can Slime Molds records it for New England. The 
specimen has small, sessile, subglobose fruiting 
bodies which are sometimes plasmodiocarpous or 
evenly distributed in grayish yellow masses over 
the substratum. The cappillitium consists of 
large, orange branching lime knots connected by 
thin hyaline threads or sometimes by typical 
coarse, lime-filled threads. The spores are pale 
violet-brown, minutely spiculose, and _ slightly 
paler and smoother on one side. 


4. Badhamia utricularis Berk. 

The sporangia of this species are globular, 
bluish-coloured bodies attached to the substratum 
by means of fine, straw-coloured stalks. The 
clusters of fruiting bodies have the appearance of 
bunches of grapes recumbent on the substratum 
since the stalks are not strong enough to support 
the sporangia. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


5. Badhamia panicea Rost. (Fig. 3). 

Macbride reports this species as purely a western 
form and this is the first report of it for Canada. 
The sporangia are gregarious, sessile, subglobose 
bodies 6-8 mm. in diameter and of a blue-gray 
colour. The spores are a violet gray colour, 
slightly paler on one side and minutely spiculdse; 
but more smooth and more violet in colour than 
Badhamia foliccola. The peridium is transparent 
and thickly dotted with minute clusters of white 
lime granules. 


6. Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa Macbr. 

The sporophores are very small unbranched 
white bodies, and, since they occur in clusters, 
look very much like a mold or fungus growth. 


7. Comatricha typhoides Rost. 

The stalked, plumose sporangia have a brown 
colour overcast with a silvery sheen, which is due 
to the remnants of the peridia. 


8. Craterium leucocephlalum Ditm. 

Small groups of minute, goblet-shaped, brownish 
sporangia characteristic of this species were found 
on dead balsam leaves. The brown colour is often 
strongly masked by white. 

9. Dictydium cancellatum Macbr. 

The collection of this species is typical having 
minute, globular brownish-red fruiting bodies 
supported by short, slender stalks. 

10. Diderma spumarioides Fr. 

The typical sporangia, in this case, are small, 
globular, sessile bodies of a gray colour. Instead 
of the usual substratum of birch bark this speci- 
men fruited on a poplar leaf and the sporangia 
covered both sides. 

11. Fuligo septica Gmel. 

Two collections were made. One, about 1 cm. 
in diameter, has a pale yellow lime crust over the 
surface of the fruiting body with large yellow lime 
knots; the other, 3 cm. in diameter, has a white 
lime crust with large yellow lime knots. When the 
spores have been partly shaken out the surface has 
a peculiar fluffy appearance, which resembles, in — 
miniature, the remains of a wasp’s nest. 

12. Leocarpus fragilis Rost. 

The sporangia are brownish, short-stalked, 
obovoid structures. The peridium forms a rather 
solid crust over the surface of the sporangium. 

13. Lycogala epidendrum Fr. 

Large globular fruiting bodies of a brownish 
colour are characteristic of this species and are 
easily recognized because of their size and com- 
monness. 

14. Mucilago spongiosa Morg. 

The grayish sporgania are grouped in stalked, 
grape-like clusters arising from the white hypo- 
thallus. The lime crust, which is usually present, 
has disappeared. The ethalium is 8 em. long and 


October, 1922.] 


ported by fine stalks. 


is spread out over a stick. Froth-like masses of 


the mold frequently encircle stalks of grass or 


herbs at a short distance from the ground, the 


whole having the appearance of the frothy material 


-of the spittle bugs seen on meadow grass in sum- 


mer. 


15. Physarum compressum Alb .& Schw. 

In the single specimen obtained, the pale gray, 
subglobose sporangia occur closely crowded to- 
gether on the substratum, or, in some cases, inter- 
mixed with plasmodiocarps, and a few are scat- 
tered singly. There are rounded and angular 
sparkling lime knots connected by thin hyaline 
threads. The spores are spiculose and slightly 
paler on one side. 


16. Physarum globuliferum Pers. 

A large specimen was found on a birch stump. 
The sporangia were of a mauve colour and each 
consisted of a small, globular spore case supported 
by a fine stalk. The size of the patch of sporangia 
was so extensive in this case that the side of the 
stump on which it appeared had a mauve colour 


17. Physarum viride Pers. 

The small gathering shows some sporangia with 
short dark stalks, and some sessile. The peridium 
is a golden yellow and the capillitium consists of 
a network of hyaline threads connecting slender, 
pisiform, orange lime knots. The spores are 


_ nearly smooth, 10 microns in diameter. 


This gathering is peculiar in that the sporangia 
are not like the typical form, that is, they are 
neither nodding on slender black tapering stalks 
nor are they symmetrically lenticular or sub- 
globose. 

18. Physarum viride 
Lister. 

The typical globular gray sporangia, nodding on 
a fine stalk, are present in this specimen. 


Pers. Var. aurantium 


19. Physarum polycephalum Schwein (Fig. 2.) 

This species is characterized by small, grayish 
lobed sporangia supperted by a slender stalk. 
In the specimen obtained there are sporangia 
which are lenticular in shape as well as_ the 
characteristic type. The capillitium is made up 
of hyaline threads connecting deep yellow lime 
knots. 

20. Stemonitis herbatica Peck. 

Three specimens were obtained and these illus- 
trate well its great variability. The sporangia are 
plume-like networks of brown ecapillitium sup- 
One of the specimens has 
a cluster of ferruginous sporangia 7-8 mm. in 


height and the spores are almost smooth. An- 


_ other has fruits 7-8 mm. high, but these are fuscous 


-in colour and the spores are slightly more violet 
_and are roughened with minute warts. in the 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


131 


third collection the fruits are 4-6 mm. high and 
the spores and capillitium are typical. The capil- 
litium of each consists of a dense intermediate net- 
work ending in a small-meshed superficial net. 
Specimens of this species were the first slime molds 
observed. They appeared on a stump in the 
form of small, round, white bodies which might 
have been mistaken for the eggs of some insect. 
During the night the white bodies elongated, 
their colour changed from white to dark brown 
and they transformed into the beautiful delicate 
fruiting body typical of this species. 

21. Stemonitis ferruginea Ehrenb. 

The representative of this species is rather poor 
but the sporangia are the typical short brownish 
ones of the plumose kind. 

22. Stemonitis fusca Roth. 

This gathering is composed of a cluster of dark 
brown piumose sporangia 4 mm. high. The 
spores are 8 microns in diameter and their surfaces 
are reticulate. 


23. Stemonitis splendens Rost. (tentatively). 

In this specimen the sporangia consist of long 
brown plumose bodies supported by a fine stalk. 

24. Trichia decipiens Macbr. 

The collections of this species have dark brown- 
ish globular sporangia supported by a fine stalk. 
The coloration is peculiar, yellow to yellowish- 
brown being more typical. The elaters are a deep 
yellow colour and are very similar to some species 
of Trichia botrytis. 

25. Trichia favoginea Pers. 

In this species the sporangia are characteris- 
tically bright yellow sessile bodies of elongate oval 
form. 

26. Trichia persimilis Karst. 

A small mass of densely-crowded, ochre-coloured 
sporangia make up this collection. The spores are 
covered with coarse, angular, pitted, wart-like 
structures which give them an irregular outline. 

27. Trichia varia Pers. . 

This specimen was immature when collected and 
has not the ochre hue of ripe fructifications. The 
elaters are typical, having two loosely wound 
spirals, but the spores are thin-walled and irregular 
in shape. 

28. Tubifera ferruginosa Gmel. 

A typical flat, brownish xthalium 2.5 x 1 em. 
was collected. The surface of the cushion-shaped 
mass of sporangia presents a honeycomb-like 
appearance where the tips of the sporangia are 
broken off. 

29. Tubifera stipitata Macbr. 

This species is much like the last except that 
the sporangia are stalked and the cluster thus 
raised from the substratum. 


132 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


A LIST OF SHELLS FROM GODERICH, ONTARIO. 


By BRYANT WALKER 


N the summer of 1921 Mr. A. W. Andrews, 
the well-known coleopterist of Detroit, 
Mich., spent his vacation at Goderich and 

very kindly collected for me such shells as he 
came across while in the field. 

The list, although not large, is of interest as it 
includes at least one form not hitherto recognized 
in Canada and extends the range of several others 
very considerably towards the west and seems 
worthy of preservation as a local list. 

Polygyra albolabris (Say). 


Ten fully matured specimens are all rather thin 
and noticeably greenish in tinge. They vary in 
height from 16 to 21.20mm. with an average of 
18.18 mm. and in diameter from 23.75 to 29 mm. 
with an average of 26.7 mm. The axial index 
varies from .641 to .859 with an average of .684. 

A comparison of the average shell of this series 
with the average shells from the Upper and Lower 
Peninsulas of Michigan and the Charity Islands, 
Lake Huron, (Walker, Occ. Pap., Mus. Zool., 
Univ. Mich., No. 7, 1915, p. 2) may be made as 
follows:— 


Axial 
Locality Height Diameter Index 
Upper Peninsula..... O02, 25.81 654 
Lower Peninsula.....18.10 27.10 677 
Charity Islands......18.51 26.33 .704 
Goedench so". sf. a 18.18 26.70 .684 


This shows the Goderich shells to be larger in 
diameter than those from the Upper Peninsula 
and the Charity Islands and smaller than those 
from the Lower Peninsula; but higher than those 
from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas and lower 
than those from the Charity Islands. 

Polygyra thyroidus (Say). 

Rather small, varying from 21 to 22 mm. in 
diameter and like the preceding species decidedly 
tinged with green. 

Polygyra tridentata (Say). 

Rather small, varying from 12 to.14 mm. in 
diameter and quite depressed. 

Polygyra monodon (Rack). 

ad 4 fraterna (Say). 
Pyramidula alternata (Say). 
if cronkheitei anthony Pils. 
ie Bs calskillensis Pils. 

So far as I can ascertain this is the first record 
for this form in Canada. 

Helicodiscus parallelus (Say). 

Mesomphiz inornata (Say). 


This seems to be the first Canadian record for 
this species west of Ottawa. In the United States 
it ranges from New York southwest through Ohio, 
into southern Indiana. The supposed records 
from Michigan are either unauthenticated or 
fraudulent. 

Zonitoides minuscula (Binn). 

i arborea (Say). 

Vitrea hammomis (Strom.). 

oe binneyana (Mse.). 
lamellidens Pils. 

This rare (in the north) species has hitherto 
been recorded in Canada only from Ottawa 
(Walker, Ottawa Naturalist, XIV, 1900, p. 90). 
Mr. Andrews’ discovery extends its range very 
considerably to the west. 

Vitrea ferrea (Mse.). 

i indentata (Say.). 

Euconulus fulvus (Dr.). 

Circinaria concava (Say). 

Vallonia excentrica Sterki. 

Gastrocopta armifera (Say.). 

id tappaniana (C.B. Ads.). 
contracta (Say.). 

Succinea ovalis Say. 

Cochlicopa lubrica (Mull.). 

Carychium exile H. C. Lea. 

Lymnexa humilis modicella Say. 

pS RS 

A single, very small specimen, probably im- 
mature, with a broadly reflected columella that I 
cannot place. \ 

Planorbis parvus Say. 

Physa sayii warreniana Lea. 

I think that this is the first record for this form 
in Canada. 

Goniobasis livescens (Mke.). 

Pomatiopsis lapidaria (Say.). 

Amnicola sp.? 

A single specimen of a small species that I have 
been unable to identify satisfactorily. 

Spherium striatinum (Lam.). 

Mr. Andrews reports that he saw no signs of 
there being any Unionidz in the river at Goderich. 


\ 


ce 


“ec 


Mr. Justice Latchford states in reference to Dr 
Walker’s paper that he has not had a favourable 
opportunity to collect shells on his official visits to 
Goderich, but that once while walking there near 
the mouths of the Maitland he picked up a living 
anodonta which he thought to be the variety of 


J 


* ol 


a 


A 


oo 


October, 1922.] 


- edentula known as pavonia. Attached to it was a 


small ancylus. Both shells were broken in transit 
from Goderich. 


In regard to Physa sayii warreniana, he says 


_ that in the opinion of Dr. Frank Collins Baker of 


: —Fairly common. 


M 


— ee we. sees | 
y 


‘ 


cat 


the University of Illinois, warreniana is a very 
common shell in the vicinity of Ottawa, and is the 
proper name of the beautiful pearly physa found 
in Brown’s Inlet, west of Bank Street, and in the 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


133 


Rideau River as well as of the darker form called 
heterostropha in the publications of the Ottawa 
Field-Naturalists’ Club. Dr. Baker has examined 
large sets of Canadian physz submitted to him by 
Justice Latchford, and has identified tentatively 
nearly all of them. Many appear to be new to 
Canada, and some may be undescribed. A pro- 
visional list will appear in an early number of 
The Naturalist. 


A BIOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE ON GRAHAM ISLAND OF THE QUEEN 
CHARLOTTE GROUP 


By CLypE A. PATCH. 


(Concluded from Vol. XXXVI, No. 6, p. 105) 


Arenaria melanocephala. BLACK TURNSTONE.— 
On July 21, a specimen was collected near Massett 
Reserve, and from July 27 on, several small flocks 
were seen on Yakan Point. On September 5, a 
flock composed of eight Black and three Ruddy 
Turnstones was seen on Yakan Point. Massett, 
July 21; Rose Spit, August 20; Tow Hill, Septem- 
ber 5. “The Massett specimen has traces of spring 
plumage on sides of breast and is therefore adult, 
the other specimens are probably juveniles.” 


Hematopus bachmani, BLACK OYSTER-CATCHER. 
—On July 5, two adults were observed on the rocky 
shore in front of the old Indian village (Yan) which 

s located on Massett Harbour about opposite 
Massett Reserve. 

Dendragapus obscurus sitkensis. SOOTY GROUSE. 
During the moult, which takes 
place in August and the fore part of September, 
they frequent the roadways where the sand, which 
has been used to some extent as road building 
material, makes desirable dust baths. This year 
at least large broods were not in order judging by 
the families observed as follows: 1 female and 6 
juveniles; 1 female and 2 juveniles; 1 female and 
4 juveniles; 1 female and 2 juveniles. The Indians 
sometimes catch grouse with a noose on the end of 
a pole. Ten adult and three juvenile specimens 
were taken from August 6 ‘to September 21 at 
Massett and Tow Hill. ‘These birds are probably 
referable to the above form lately described by 
Swarth (Condor, 1921, pp. 59-60). The males are 
all dark birds, the females rather reddish. Most 
of the males have collars of worn rusty that may 


- be more or less characteristic of Q.C.I. birds, but 
_ [am not prepared to say that it is more than fading 


common to the species at comparable plumage 


Be" stages or an indication of juvenility.”’ 


Phasianus sp.? PHEASANT.—Two years ago Mr. 
Cecil Baker, living near Tow Hill, released two cocks 


and ahen. The following spring a brood was seen 
near Silver Lake, and again last spring juveniles 
were observed in the same locality. Mr. Chas. 
Smith, who lives near Silver Lake, informed me 
that this spring he saw a cock -bird dig young 
potatoes and carry them into the wood. Possibly 
this was a trait acquired by an individual, or 
perhaps the potatoes taken harboured grubs. 


Columba fasciata. BAND-TAILED PIGEON.—On 
July 28, a representative of this species was seen in 
a tree about thirty yards from our camp at Tow Hill, 
but before I could get my gun it had flown across 
the river and by the time I reached its resting place 
it had disappeared. None of the inhabitants, 
some of whom are fairly well acquainted with birds, 
had ever seen the pigeon, of which I showed them a 
coloured picture. The nearest substantiated record 
of this species is from Bella Coola, B.C. 

Accipiter velox. SHARP-SHINNED HAwxk.—Not 
uncommon. On two occasions this species was 
seen annoying a party of Jays by darting at indivi- 
duals wheri they emerged from the dense evergreen 
growth, and on another occasion one was seen 
alternately pursuing and being pursued in a listless 
manner by several Crows. Six specimens. Massett 
and Tow Hill, July 5 to August 9. “These are all 
juvenile birds in very dark plumage and suggest a 
possible subspecies.” 

Astur atricapillus subsp.? GOSHAWK.—A bird 
of the year was secured September 12, that had 
been annoying poultry in the vicinity of Massett. 
Mr. Dave Rutten of Massett has a mounted speci- 
men. Juvenile, Massett, September 12. ‘This is 
a dark bird with broad, sharp and very dark stripes 
below and on breast. The ground color is deep 
cream, almost tawny on the breast. We have one 
adult of unknown sex from Massett, taken in 
February, 1920, by W. T. G. Hellier. This specimen 
is very dark, almost black on crown and back, and © 


134 


broadly washed with the same color on flanks and 
across breast. The vermiculation is coarse and 
suffused, and the feathers below and in front 
broadly shaft-streaked. Both these types of color- 
ation (juvenile and adult) are included amongst the 
types of striatulus originally described by Ridgway. 
This is a well-marked form in these specimens, but 
it is evident that we will have to revise our con- 
ceptions of the characters and range of this sub- 
species. It is not the breeding form of southern 
British Columbia, where it only occurs as a migrant, 
and, judging by the number of specimens obtain- 
able, a rare one. It is not characterized by fine 
vermiculation but shows a general suffused darkness 
and broad shaft-streaks. There is no evidence that 
the species breeds on the Queen Charlottes, and 
the nesting area is a matter of supposition.” 


Buteo borealis calurus?) RED-TAILED HAWK.— 
Three were observed on the border of the muskegs 
in the vicinity of Tow Hill. The stomach of the 
specimen collected contained the remains of several 
toads. Tow Hill, August 7. ‘This is a very dark 
and richly coloured bird. However, it does not 
approach the black phase of the Western Red-tailed. 
Below it shows much greater increase or depth of 
red color, rather than an extension of the black. 
Hoyes Lloyd has a very similarly coloured bird 
from southeastern British Columbia, and J. A. 
Munro says he has seen several birds from the 
Q.C.I. quite similar to it. It therefore seems to be 
a rather constant coast type of coloration which we 
have not seen from elsewhere.” 


Haliztus leucocephalus. BALD EAGLE.—Two or 
three birds were usually seen in the course of a day’s 
tramp. White-marked and _ brown individuals 
were present in about equal numbers. 


Falco peregrinus pealei subsp. (?). Duck HAWK. 
—At least two juveniles and two adults were seen 
about Tow Hill. Several local residents informed 
me that they annually nest on Tow Hill’s ledges. 
I found the remains of three Cassin Auklets on 
which they had been feeding, and on two occasions 
saw individuals pursuing waders which in both 
instances succeeded in eluding the pursuer. I was 
informed that this species is not uncommon on 
North Island. Two juveniles, Tow Hill, July 28. 
“Though these are both rather dark birds, they are 
separated from some eastern specimens only with 
difficulty.” 

Pandion halixetus carolinensis. OSPREY.—Two 
were observed on the north beach, one on July 27 
near the mouth of the Skonun River and the other 
on September 5 near Tow Hill. 

Crytoglaux acadica brooksi. SAW-wWHET OwL.— 
After dusk on July 5, a female and three juveniles 
were collected in the wood bordering the dry creek 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


bed just back of Massett Reserve, and on the 
evening of July 21, three juveniles were collected 
in the same locality. My attention was attracted— 
to these birds by the “‘saw-whetting”’ cries of the 
young. Some of the stomachs contained plumage ~ 
that will probably prove to be that of some warbler, 
though it is to be hoped that this will be found to 
compose only a small percentage of the stomach 
contents of these handsome little birds. One adult 
and three juveniles, Massett, July 5; three juveniles, 
Massett, July 21. “All but one of these are in the 
juvenile plumage comparable to the kenicotti 
plumage of eastern birds. They are obviously 
to be referred to brooksi, not scoteza described by 
Osgood as from Q.C.I. I should not be surprised 
to find that this form is deserving of full specific 
rank.” 


Otus asio subsp.? SCREECH OWL.—On August WG 
I believe I heard two individuals in the wood bor- 
dering a muskeg near Tow Hill. 


Nyctea nyctea. SNOwy OwL.—I was informed by 
Mr. Thomas Deasy, Indian Agent at Massett 
Reserve, that he had twice seen this bird near the 
reserve, and Mr. Cecil Baker, living near Tow Hill, 
told me he had shot two of these birds near his place. 


Ceryle alcyon. KINGFISHER.—The Hiellen River, 
Chown Brook, and the vicinities of Massett and 
Massett Reserve were each frequented by several 
birds. Massett, September 12. 


Dryobates_ villosus picoideus. WOODPECKER.— 
About ten individuals were observed during our 
stay. Four adults and four juveniles were collected 
at Massett from June 25 to September 22 .“These 
are all well marked picoideus in general coloration, 
though I cannot see the barred-back character 
called for by Osgood. Most of the white dorsal 
feathers have centre spots which other members of 
the species do not show, but I can hardly say that 
this would be described as cross-barring. The red 
crowns of the juveniles are more pronounced in the 
male specimens. In general coloration, especially 
below, some specimens show individual intergrada- 
tion with harrisi, and even in the spotting of the 
back feathers the same may be true.” 


Sphyrapicus ruber.° RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 
—During our stay twelve individuals were observed. 
On June 30 what appeared to be a family party, 
consisting of three juveniles and two adults, was 
collected in a stretch of wood between Massett and — 
Massett Reserve. Five specimens, Massett, July 1. 

Colaptes cafer saturatior. FLICKER.—Two or 
three individuals were usually observed during 
the course of a walk through the more open wooded 
areas or along the margins of the muskegs. Juven- 
ile, Massett, July 12; juvenile, Tow Hill, September 
5; juvenile, Tow Hill, September 6. ‘These birds, 


- 
ia 
=, 
Y 


October, 1922.) 


_ whilst dark, are somewhat lighter than typical 


“ 


saturatior, and are also lighter than several speci- 
mens from southern British Columbia (V. I.). 
Neither are they quite pure cafer, but all show more 
or less distinct auratus influence. One specimen 
has the gray throat feathers tipped distinctly with 
fawn, and small black indications in the red mus- 
tache. In none of them is the gray of the throat 
perfectly pure and without traces of fawn. Since 
they are juveniles, perhaps too much stress should 
not be laid on this slight throat veiling.” 


Selasphorus rufus. Rurous HUMMINGBIRD.— 
Common at the time of our arrival and until July 
5, after which time they were comparatively rare. 
Their disappearance may have been due to the 
fact that after the first week in July, the sallal 
blossoms at which they had been feeding began 
giving place to fruit, and the birds possibly migrated 

_to localities where other food was abundant. 
Hummingbirds are frequently found dead on the 
window sills of the settlers’ homes out of which 
they have been unable to find an exit after having 
been enticed in by the house plants. Three speci- 
mens, Massett, July 1-2. “Probably all juveniles.” 


Empidonax difficilis. WESTERN FLYCATCHER.— 
Throughout our stay, one to five birds per day 
were observed in the more openly wooded areas. 
‘Four specimens, Massett, July 24 to August 1. 


Cyanocitta stelleri carlotte. QUEEN CHARLOTTE 
JAY.—Fairly common. Usually moving about in 
family parties. Frequently seen feeding on green 
fruit of the Skunk Cabbage which they manage to 
remove from its stem and carry to a comfortable 
spot on a trail, roadway or log. On one occasion a 


Jay was observed to capture a young wood mouse. * 


The settlers sometimes use Jay flesh for trout bait. 
Four adults and eight juveniles, Massett, June 28 
to September 26. “These particular specimens are 
only slightly different from some northern Van- 
-couver Island specimens, but the Dwight and 
Bishop collections contain carlottz with strongly 
marked subspecific characters.” 


Corvus corax sinuatus. RAVEN.—Present at all 


- points visited. Usually in what were probably 


family parties consisting of three, four or five indi- 
viduals. On June 24, a juvenile and an adult male 
were taken in company. With the beginning of 
September they evidently congregate in larger 
flocks, as one day fourteen and another day nine- 


_ teen were seen winging about the wood at the base 


_- 
% 


_ of Yakan Point. 


q 
4 
a 
+ 
a 


The Raven appears to get more 
joy out of life than any other species with which I 
am acquainted. I have seen two birds, one above 
the other, drift out of the wood and for a quarter 


_ of a mile up the beach in the face of the wind, and, 
__every few yards as they drifted the lower bird, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


135 


without apparent effort, rolled sidewise completely 
over. At other times I have seen a bird alight on 
the beach and make several grotesque hops over the 
same spot before coming to rest. Adult and ju- 
venile, Massett, July 24. 

Corvus caurinus. CROw.—Common in certain 
localities, particularly on the beaches and in the 
adjacent woods in the vicinity of Massett and 
Yakan Point. They feed to a considerable extent 
on dead crabs, with which the beaches are at times 
strewn. A nest, discovered June 28 and containing 
three juveniles just able to fly, was situated five 
feet from the ground in sallal growth. Juvenile, 
Massett, June 28. ‘“Too juvenile to identify speci- 
fically, but included under this species on the general 
probabilities.” 

Pinicola enucleator subsp.? PINE GROSBEAK.— 
Only three individuals observed. On July 5, I was 
unable to find a wounded male first seen on the 
beach east of Massett Reserve, and two days later 
I failed to collect a pair observed in heavy timber 
near Massett. 

Loxia curvirostra minor. CROSSBILL.—Abundant. 
Flocks of 50 or so were not infrequently observed 
extracting seeds from the spruce cones. The song of 
this species, usually emanating from a solitary 
individual resting in the top of an evergreen, was 
frequently heard throughout our stay. Three 
specimens, Massett, June 25; Massett, July 1. 
13998 is mixed gold and orange plumage, the 
former predominating; 13999 olive with indistinct 
yellow and orange veiling; 14000 olive; 14028 gold, 
orange and red about equally present.” 

Spinus pinus. PINE SISKIN.—Apparently not 
common, as it was observed on only three occasions 
as follows: June 25, three individuals; July 7, 
fifteen; and July 21, two. One juvenile and two 
adults, Massett, June 25. “The juvenile is just 
out of the nest, indicating breeding in the vicinity.” 

Junco hyemalis oreganus. JUNCO.—Fairly com- 
mon in the more open areas. During the last week 
in July and thenceforth they were usually observed 
in flocks of from 15 to 30 individuals. A juvenile 
just able to fly was collected on July 8. Massett, 
June 24; Massett, July 8; Massett, September 20. 

Melospiza melodia morphna. SONG SPARROW.— 
Fairly common in the shrubbery contiguous to the 
beaches. Juvenile, Massett, June 25; two speci- 
mens, Massett, September 20. ‘These skins have 
the appearance of being very large, but as the tails, 
wings and bills do not seem to be apprecialy larger 
than those of other morphna, this is probably due 
to the fresh, unworn, fall plumage and to ‘make up’. 
A large series from the islands would be desirable.” 

Melospiza lincolni. LINCOLN SPARROW.—Not 
uncommon. Frequents the muskegs and the flats 


136 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


bordering Delcatla Inlet. During one day twelve 
ndividuals were observed in the vicinity of Silver 


Lake. It appears to be a rather shy species usually 
seen making quick, short flights from cover to 
cover. Tow Hill, August 4; four specimens, 


Silver Lake, August 21. ‘The only difference I can 
see between these and eastern birds is a slight in- 
crease in the weight of the dark crown streaks. It 
is too fine a distinction, however, to found or name 
a subspecies upon.” 

Passerella iliaca subsp.? Fox SPARROW. Rigs 
and not abundant, only six or eight being observed, 
usually in dense undergrowth. Two specimens, 
Massett, June 24; Massett, September 20. ‘““These 
are very heavily coloured birds which I do not wish 
to identify until I can go over the whole species 
with care.” 


Hirundo erythrogastra. BARN SwALLOw.—Not 
common. One or two birds could usually be seen 
about Massett Reserve. On July 7, ten adults and 
four nests were observed about an unoccupied 
house on the flat near Delcatla Inlet. One nest 
contained eggs while the others held nestlings of 
various ages. Later in the season nests in which 
broods had earlier been raised were found in aban- 
doned shacks situated in small, isolated forest 
clearings. August 24, a flock of twenty-four adults 
and juveniles was observed near the base of Yakan 
Point. Three juveniles, Tow Hill, August 7. 


Tridoprocne bicolor. TREE SWwWALLOwW.—Fairly 
common in the vicinity of Massett Reserve from 
the time of our arrival until our departure for Tow 
Hill where none were observed. Juvenile, Massett, 
July 3. 


Vermivora celata lutescens. ORANGE-CROWNED 
WARBLER.—This warbler is probably better rep- 
resented than any other as about twenty-five indi- 
viduals were observed. They were several times 
seen in company with Chickadees. On July 5, two 
juveniles accompanied by an adult male were 
collected. Adult and two juveniles, Massett, July 
4; Tow Hill, August 15. ‘‘These are all good 
lutescens.”’ 

Dendroica townsendi. TOWNSEND WARBLER.— 
About eighteen individuals were observed during 
our stay. In September they were seen in com- 
pany with Chickadees, Kinglets and Brown Creep- 
ers. June 25, juveniles were observed being fed by 
the parent birds. Two juveniles, Massett, June 
25; Tow Hill, September 5. 

Wilsonia pusilla subsp.? WILSON WARBLER.— 
Only four were seen, all in the vicinity of Tow Hill. 
Tow Hill, August 9; Tow Hill, August 15. “TI 
have not quite decided whether these are pileolata 


or chrysolea. They do not seem obviously typical 
of either.” 


<2 
[VoL. XXXVI 


Nannus hiemalis pacificus. WINTER WREN.—A 
few individuals were invariably observed in the 
undergrowth along the roadways. Juvenile, Mas- 
sett, June; Massett, July 1. ‘‘Plainly pacifica.” 

Certhia familiaris occidentalis (?) BROWN CREEP- 
ER.—Only a few individuals were observed during 
our stay. This species was several times seen in 
company with Chickadees, Kinglets and Warblers, 
where its presence was apparently distasteful to 
the Chickadees, as they frequently darted at it 
with angry twitters. Adult and three juveniles, 
Massett, July 4. ‘“Occidentalis seems the form 
Ridgway ascribes to the humid coast, and that is 
the form Osgood refers his Queen Charlotte Islands 
specimens to. The one adult in this lot does seem 
perceptibly browner above and below than eastern 
birds and those from the southern interior of 
British Columbia, but the difference is not marked.” 

Sitta canadensis. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.— 
Not common. A total of thirteen individuals was 
observed in the vicinity of Tow Hill. Four speci- 
mens, Tow Hill, August 1. ‘These birds are an 
unusual bright and even reddish below.” 


Penthestes rufescens. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICK- 
ADEE.—Fairly common. Flocks of this species 
were usually accompanied by Kinglets, frequently 


by Brown Creepers and Warblers, and on one occa- — 
sion by a Nuthatch. Three specimens, Massett, 


September 22. 


Regulus satrapa olivaceus. GOLDEN-CROWNED 
KINGLET.—Fairly common. Almost invariably in 
company with Chickadees, and frequently with 
Brown Creepers and Warblers. Juvenile, Massett, 
July 5; two juveniles, Tow Hill, September 2; two 
adults, Massett, September 22. 


comparable eastern birds. I rather hesitatingly 
refer them to olivaceus which seems a very slightly 
defined race.” 

Hylocichla guttata nannus. HERMIT TaRUgE.— 
Common until the middle of July, after which time 
the number observed gradually decreased. Three 
specimens, Massett, June 26. 


Planesticus migratorius propinquus. WESTERN 
Rosin.—Common until the latter part of July, 
after which time they appeared to decrease in 
number. Considerable areas of land have been 
cleared in the vicinity of Massett Reserve, which 
may account for the fact that this species was more 
abundant there than in the other localities visited. 
Juvenile, Tow Hill, August 4. 

Ixoreus nevius. VARIED THRUSH.—During the 
course of a day’s walk one to four individuals were 


: “These birds are | 
very slightly brighter in colour on the back than 


usually observed. A juvenile collected June 4 had 


only recently left the nest. Juvenile, Massett, 
June 4, 


‘ 
‘. 


“e 
rig October, 1922.]} 
by, ’ é 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


137 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


OCCURRENCE OF THE RED-THROATED LOON AT 
Rossport. ONT.—Rossport, Ontario, is a station 
on the Canadian Pacific Railway about 50 miles 
east of Nipigon, and, as the name indicates, lies 
on Lake Superior. It is a fishing village pre- 
eminently, and little attention is paid to anything 
else. On my arrival there on June 20, 1911, I 
found in the yard of the little hotel, a drowned 
bird hanging on a ladder to dry. Enquiry elicited 
the fact that it was not wanted by anyone and 

- that I might have it, so I promptly made a skin 
of a fine female Red-throated Loon. There was 
no indication of activity in the ovaries, so I pre- 
sumed the bird was incubating or feeding young. 
Nesting of this species is probable in the small 
lakes back from Superior.—W. E. SAUNDERS. 


_ OCCURRENCE OF IMMATURE EVENING GROS- 
BEAKS IN ONTARIO.—On the shore of Pine Lake, 
Ontario, near Ingolf, early on the morning of 

_ August 5, 1920, we were awakened by the break- 
fast calls from hungry young throats in Knudsen’s 
garden, and to our great delight we distinguished 
the mellow chatter of Evening Grosbeaks. Has- 
tening out, we found an adult female feeding her 

\ two insatiable young birds—the first young Even- 
\°- ing Grosbeaks, we believe, to be recorded for 
Ontario. The birds were carefully observed at 
close range with the aid of 8X binoculars. The 
fully fledged young were able to make the ser- 
pentine flight of the Grosbeaks, and they were 

- observed flying about with their mother during 
the following three hours, while we remained 
there, but were not seen during the afternoon of 
August 12 when we returned after canoeing about 
Hawk, Falcon and High Lakes and Falcon River. 
Our complete records of Evening Grosbeaks made 
during this trip are: August 5, 6.30-9.30 a.m., 
adult female feeding two young near Pine Lake, 
Ontario; August 6, 2 p.m., heard, then saw, three 

_ flying north towards us from over Falcon Lake, 
Manitoba; August 7, 8.45 a.m., three flying west- 

- ward along north shore of Faleon Lake; August 
8, 7 am., “heard Evening Grosbeaks, Falcon 
Lake’; August 9, 7.40 a.m., heard, then saw, 
four flying high southward over High Lake; 
August 10, 5.40 a.m., two, and between 6.45 and 
7.50 am., four individuals flying singly west 
along north shore of Falcon Lake, while at 8:00 

- a.m., six in a flock flew east (probably the earlier 
six returning). While the long wavy flight of the 
_ Grosbeaks would carry them easily from one of 
these lakes to another, it seems more probable 


: * 
iy that there were at least three on Pine, six at Fal- 


con, and four on High Lakes. 


In The Auk for October, 1920, (Vol. XX XVII, 
pp. 585-6), Prof. Wm. Rowan records the breeding 
of the Evening Grosbeak in Manitoba. He says 
also: “‘Mr. Lawrence visited Pine Lake on the 
borders of Manitoba and Ontario (actually in 
Ontario) on July 3. He found the Evening Gros- 
beak in some numbers but found no nest.” This 
fact coupled with our record of the young birds 
seen 33 days later at or near the same place makes 
it seem very probable that Evening Grosbeaks 
bred in western Ontario in the summer of 1920. 
P. A. Taverner’s article on “‘The Evening Gros- 
beak in Canada’”’, (The Canadian Field Naturalist, 
March, 1921, Vol. XX XV, pp. 41-45) makes no 
mention of young Evening Grosbeaks ever having 
been recorded for Ontario.— RALPH E. DELuRY; 
JUSTIN S. DELuRY. 


PALM WARBLER (Dendroica palmarum~ palm- 
arum) AT HATLEY, QUE.—So far as I am aware 
this is the only record for the Province of Quebec. 
The bird first attracted my attention on May 12 
of the present year, 1922. It. was flitting about 
in a small wood adjoining the little marsh near 
my house, and from the first I felt sure it was 
palmarum and not hypochrysea or the Yellow Pal m 
Warbler, as the under parts were very dull in 
comparison to the bright yellow of an example of 
hypochrysea I had seen in this same wood only a 
few days before. However, it was late in the 
afternoon, and having no gun I had to content 
myself with the hope that it would be there the 
following day. In this I was not disappointed, 
and after a search of some two hours, I again 
found the bird in a cedar tree and secured it, 
and later on sent it in the flesh, and presented it to 
the Victoria Memorial Museum at Ottawa. I 
find on reference to Knight’s Birds of Maine, 1908, 
that there is no record of the species ever having 
been taken in Maine. Miss Inez Addie Howe of 
The Fairbanks Museum of Natural Science at St. 
Johnsbury, Vermont, writes me on June 10, 1922, 
that there are no records in the Museum for Ver- 
mont, their type specimens having been taken in 
Massachusetts. In Allen’s Birds of New Hamp- 
shire, there are no spring records given, but an 
example was secured at Shelburne in the Andro- 
scoggin Valley on September 16, 1884, as recorded 
by Dr. A. T. Chadbourne, and Mr. Allen speaks of 
having taken specimens in the Saco Valley at 
Intervale between the 8th and 14th of September. 
Its reported presence at Manchester in spring, he 
goes on to say, is probably an error (Proc. Man- 
chester Inst. Arts and Sci., Vol. 11, p. 82, 1901). 
In Life and Sport on the North Shore (of the St. 


138 


Lawrence) by Napoleon A. Comeau, 1909, there 
is a reference on page 433 leading one to imagine 
that the Palm Warbler had been met with on some 
few occasions at Godbout. This is evidently an 
error, the birds referred to without doubt being 
the Yellow Palm Warbler (D. palmarum hypo- 
chrysea). At all events they are treated as such 
by Mr. Ridgway in his Birds of North and Middle 
America, Vol. 2, 1902 HENRY MOUSLEY. 


NOTE ON BRONZED GRACKLES.—Mr. C. E. 
Johnson (Vol. XXXVI, r. 60) speaks of Bronzed 
Grackles picking up dead minnows in gull-fashion 
from the surface of the water. Besides acting as 
scavengers these birds sometimes capture living 
fish. This I have seen them do in the Charles 
River Basin in Boston ,and their prey was the 
three-spined stickleback. See Auk, XXXVI, 1919, 
p. 627.—CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M.D. 


EFFECT OF LIGHT ON COLOR OF BIRDS.—A 
distinguished lawyer in Winnipeg persists in 
declaring that last fall he saw amongst a large 
flock of Red-winged Blackbirds several that were 
“red-headed’”’. I am convinced that Mr. L. L. 
Snyder is right in his allusion to the “effect of 
light that causes frequent reports of impossible 
birds”. I have suggested to the lawyer that he 
saw some Brewer’s Blackbirds illumined thus; 
but no, he won’t have it!—H. M. SPEECHLY. 


OCCURRENCE OF THE ROCK VOLE AT ROSSPORT, 
ONTARIO.—During my stay at Rossport, Ontario, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


a little fishing village on the Canadian Pacific 
Railway about fifty miles east of Nipigon, in the 
latter part of June, 1911, the nights were devoted 
to trapping for small mammals and I had the 
satisfaction of taking a small number of Microtus 
chrotorrhinus, mostly gravid females and young. 
One specimen was taken in the sparsely wooded 
country and after that I hunted for more favour- 
able places and trapped on the railway enclosure 
where there was a growth of grasses concealing 
the runways of the vole. The Biological Survey, 
Washington, writes me that this is several hundred 
miles west of the nearest previous location.—W. 
E. SAUNDERS. 


CHILDREN COMPETE FOR FORESTRY ESSAY 
PrRIzE.—Scores of school children in every school 
district of the Dominion are competing these days 
in the national school essay competition on 
Forestry and Tree Planting, inaugurated recently 
by the Canadian Forestry Association. 

Questions as to the forest resources of Canada, 
the damage done by forest fires, what trees to 
choose for planting and how to plaat them are 
being asked by a multitude of young people and 
the resultant information is being applied to the 
essay competition. Three substantial cash prizes 
are being given in each province and the effect of 
the national effort to stimulate juvenile interest in 
the forest resources of the country and the multiple 
benefits of tree planting has secured the hearty 
endorsation of all the departments of education 
which are giving every co-operation. 


BOOK REVIEW 


A GUIDE TO THE POISONOUS PLANTS AND WEED 
SEEDS OF CANADA AND THE NORTHERN 
UNITED STATES. R. B. Thomson, B.A., 
F.R.S.C., Associate Professor of Phanerogamic 
Botany, University of Toronto, and H. B. 
Sifton, M.A., Assistant Professor of Research 
in Botany, University of Toronto. University 
of Toronto Press, 1922, 8°. 169 pages with 40 
illustrations in the text. Price, $2.50. 


This very attractive book was primarily written 
for the purpose of serving as a text-book for the 
students of the Ontario Veterinary College. As 
such it contains, in a brief, yet not unduly con- 
centrated form, all available up-to-date knowledge 
of the poisonous plants encountered in Canada and 
the northern United States, including the charac- 
teristics by which they may easily be recognized, 
the symptoms produced by them, and the treat- 
ment required to effect cures in cases of poisoning. 

In the treatment of their subject the authors 


have departed from the usual method followed in 


(Vou. XXXVI 


most books and bulletins dealing with poisonous ~ 


plants. Instead of arranging the plants in one 
long and, as a result, often confusing and tiresome 
list in accordance with their botanical relationship 
which hitherto has been a general practice, the 
authors have divided the book into four main 
sections dealing with the poisonous plants as 
follows: = 
I. Plants dangerous when included in hay 
and coarse feed. 
II. Plants dangerous in pasture and on the 
range. 
Plants dangerous in ground feeds. 
Poisonous plants which are rarely ob- 
served to cause death in animals. 


From this arrangement it is seen that the first 
three sections deal with the plants which are 
chiefly responsible for fatalities among farm 
animals; they are therefore of special interest to 


III. 
IV. 


October, 1922.' 


: 
<> 


: those who are particularly concerned in the welfare 


and health of stock. The fourth section includes 
plants which rarely cause injury or death to 
animals but which are poisonous to human beings; 
it is consequently of particular interest to the 
public in general. 

The following number of poisonous plants are 
dealt with: ; 

Section I.—Six genera with about a dozen 
species. 

Section II.—Twenty genera with about two 

- dozen species. 
Section III.—Nine genera with as many species. 
“ _IV.—Thirty-one genera with about fifty 
species. 

Section III, which deals with poisonous plants 
encountered in ground feeds, deserves particular 
attention. It is, as the authors assert, ‘‘the first 
time that the importance of poisonous plant consti- 
tuents in concentrated feedstuffs has been given 
recognition in a text book.’’ The importance of 
including this section is apparent when it is 
realized that large quantities of elevator screenings 


- containing a considerable proportion of more or less 


poisonous weed seeds are annually used in the 
manufacture of concentrated feed. Indeed, the 
losses suffered from the presence of poisonous con- 
stituents in such feed have recently been so great 
that the Dominion Department of Agriculture has 
found it necessary to design a special feedstuffs act 
and to provide for laboratory facilities where con- 


_ centrated feeds can be microscopically analyzed and 


the presence of poisonous plant constituents in 
- dangerous quantities ascertained. 

In addition to the four main sections briefly 
referred to, a “Symptoms Key” to the principal 
poisonous plants is given by which it may be 
possible to determine, in the case of poisoning, 
which plant should likely be held responsible. The 
identification of poisonous plants found in hay or in 
the field is also greatly facilitated by the 40 excel- 
lent illustrations which the book contains. 
~ As already stated, the Guide to the Poisonous 


__ Plants and Weed Seeds of Canada and the Northern 


a 


oo -" 


United States was written primarily as a text-book 
for veterinary students. Its usefulness, however, 
extends far beyond its primary scope. It is written 

in such a pleasant style, and it is so free from all but 

unavoidably necessary technical terminology, that 
it should make entertaining and profitable reading 
not only to followers of the veterinary and medical 
professions and to students of natural history, but 
also to farmers, stockmen, and the public in general. 

Public and other libraries would be well advised to 

secure the book.—M. O. M. 


_ THE CONSERVATION OF THE WILD LIFE OF CANA- 


DA, by C. Gordon Hewitt, D.Se., late Dom- 
inion Entomologist and Consulting Zoologist. 
With numerous illustrations. New York 
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1921. - 344 pages, 23 
plates, 4 text figures, 10 maps, and five charts. 


While this book is rapidly being recognized as a 


‘ 


_ standard authority on the broad subject which it 


treats, it is of particular interest to the members 


_ of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, of which 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


139 


organization the late Dr. Hewitt was an active 
member for several years and president for two 
years. It contains information with which every 
true field-naturalist should be familiar and no 
naturalist’s library in Canada will be complete 
without it. 
The importance of the subject may be realized 

by stopping to consider that Canada is the home and 

refuge of the most important and desirable wild ani- 

mals of this continent. The large wild animals that 

were once found everywhere in the United States have 

melted away until only remnants are left in a few 

inaccessible or protected refuges. The northern part 

of the continent was less inviting to the settler and 

the forests, mountains and barren grounds of Canada 

have proved a sanctuary to by far the greater part of 

the surviving wild life of North America. The people 

of the United States now realize and deplore their 

shortsightedness in unnecessarily destroying their 

heritage and are endeavouring to rescue the fragments 

from complete and utter annihilation. The aim of 

Canada in this regard has been to profit by the mis- 

takes of older countries and prove that the advance 

of civilization to the more remote sections of Canada 

shall be more than merely temporary, exploitation 

implying the total destruction of heritage due to 

prosperity. ; : 5 
_ As treated in Dr. Hewitt’s masterly book the wild- 
life problem is restricted particularly to the larger 
wild mammals, many of which are commonly in- 
cluded under the head of big game, and to the birds 
of Canada. The fur-bearing mammals, having 
been recently discussed elsewhere, are not consid- 
ered at length, except as far as their conservation in 
the wild state necessarily constitutes an important 
aspect of the general problem of wild life conserva- 
tion. Canada is fortunate in having certain species 
of valuable animals not found elsewhere except in 
parts of the United States. Among these we find 
the moose, wapiti or elk, caribou, buffalo, mountain 
sheep, goats, muskoxen, and antelope, and all of 
these have been discussed extensively, rationally and 
sympathetically in Dr. Hewitt’s book. It is valu- 
able alike to the technical naturalist and to the 
general reader. ‘ ‘ 

The value of wild life to the nation is first shown 
to have an economic significance, not because 
Canadians lack appreciation of their moral obliga- 
tions or reasons of sentiment, but because the 
rapid opening up and development of the country 
came into direct conflict with the ability of many 
important forms of our wild life to survive. Lands 
not suitable for agriculture, as found in many 
forest reserves or areas of generally unfertile soils, 
are in many cases capable of a larger utilization by 
intelligent use of the wild life resources. The 
common native deer is shown to be an animal 
which increases and thrives from east to west 
with anything like reasonable protection and has 
been proved by practical demonstration in many 
states to produce a large meat-supply on non- 
agricultural areas. 

The vast area of the Northwest Territories, by 
far the greater part of which is unsuited to agri- 
culture, may be made to continue productive by 
properly conserving the game supply as a necessary 
adjunct to the preservation of the fur industry and 
the establishment of mining enterprises and other 
industries. The necessity of conserving a native 
food supply for Indians and Eskimos in northern 
districts is an important obligation which rests 
upon the nation since the common-sense conserva- 
tion policies followed under the guiding influence 
of the old-time trading companies have been 
largely weakened by the enormous increase of 
cutthroat competition and by the virtual bounties 


- = aft. 


140 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


which are now on the heads of many animals in 
the shape of excessive prices for their pelts. 

The recreative value of wild life is harder to 
place a value upon. Recreation is now recog- 
nized as an important factor in keeping up human 
efficiency, and who can estimate the influence of 
wild life in remote parks and mountains as an 
attraction to draw men out into the open. 
Whether one be sportsman or photographer, or 
just plain citizen, the presence of wild bird or 
animal life adds zest to his enjoyment of the 
scenery, and the same principle applies to the 
shortest suburban or country ramble. 

One of the saddest features of the history of 
wild life during recent years has been the dis- 
appearance of a number of animals and birds 
that were formerly abundant, for they are re- 
sources which are beyond the power of man to 
replace. Destroyed forests may be replanted and 
ravaged cities rebuilt, but a vanished mammal or 
bird is gone forever. To the biologist, every 
species wiped out represents the end of a long line 
of ancestry running back far into the past before 
man with his destructive arms appeared on the 
scene. 

The main axiom of wild life protection is that a 
species of animal must not be destroyed at a 
greater rate than it can increase. The remedy for 


» thoughtless destruction is education, supple- 


mented necessarily by legislation. Birds which 
have recently become extinct in Canada are the 
Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk, Labrador Duck, 
and (perhaps) Eskimo Curlew. Various adverse 
factors have entered into the wild life problem, 
the chief ofwhich at all times is the market hunter. 
While acknowledging that much has been done 
in Canada towards protection, Dr. Hewitt does 
not fail to remind us that the sale of game is still 
permitted in certain provinces. Compared with 
the rapacity of men the destruction of our wild 
life by natural factors is slight although it must 
be considered. 

For a long time, naturalists, sportsmen, game 
conservationists, and the general public who are 
interested in the wild life of Canada have desired 
to have in one volume an up-to-date account of 
the present status of the wild life of the country 
and a survey of the measures which have to be 
achieved in the preservation of this great heritage. 

The late Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt was admirably 
fitted for this task. English by birth, a thorough 
zoologist by training as student and faculty mem- 
ber of Manchester University, of a cosmopolitan 
and open mind, he attacked problems without 
prejudice. Trained technically as an entomolo- 
gist, he early appreciated the value of birds as 
insect destroyers and before leaving England he 
had done much to demonstrate publicly the truth 
of his theories. Coming to Canada in 1909 as 
Dominion Entomologist, he speedily built up the 
Entomological Branch to a state of recognized 
efficiency. But while recognizing the value of 
entomology, Dr. Hewitt had talents which led 
him farther afield, and the position of Consulting 
Zoologist was created for him in addition to his 
other duties. His acquaintance with the men and 


[VOL. XXXVI 


the needs of all parts of the Dominion, begun on 
his frequent visits of inspection to every province, 
grew with years, and his excellent judgment of 
men and affairs was brought into excellent service. 
His standing had always been commanding in 
scientific circles, and as he realized that the con- 
servation of wild life as a present and future asset 
of the country was not a question of party politics, 
his opinions were respected by statesmen and 
politicians of all parties in the different provinces, 
where the keenness of his observations, his obvious 
sincerity of motive, and the clarity of his common 
sense made his influence of supreme importance 
in bringing the lagging sentiment of the country 
into line with the principles of the now famous 
Migratory Birds Treaty consummated between 
Great Britain and the United States in 1916. 


This much-discussed treaty has already accom- 
plished more than its sponsors imagined in increas- 
ing the numbers of wild fowl which were being 
harried through lack of international co-operation 
in the preservation of an international asset, by 
winter market-hunting in the South, spring- 
shooting in the central states and the Canadian 
provinces, and lack of protection on the northern 
nesting grounds. 


Dr. Hewitt was also active in framing the Regu- 
lations for the enforcement of the Migratory 
Birds Treaty and a little later was active in draft- 
ing the new North West Game Act, a far-reaching 
measure to protect the wild game and fur-bearing 
animals of the vast North West Territories and 
the future interests of the natives and settlers — 
beyond the borders of what are now the settled 
parts of Canada. ‘ 


Dr. Hewitt had unrivalled opportunities for 
obtaining fresh information. A frequent visitor 
at all the provincial capitals and the experimental 
farms in all parts of the Dominion, he had the 
friendship of men of affairs, scientific men, and 
local naturalists and observers, so that when 
disputed points came up he could marshal his 
information at first-hand, and in this book we 
have the cream of his data assembled systemati- 
cally. His disarming candour and the absolute 
fairness of his treatment of colleagues and as- 
sociates procured him sympathy and support for 
any plans which he brought forth. The book was 
adapted to fill a long-felt want and demand and 
represented a labour of love on the part of Dr. 
Hewitt during the spare hours of the last three or ~ 
four years of his life, being completed and made 
ready for the printer only in the month before his 
death. Written in a beautifully pure and idio- 
matic English style, the book appeals from a 
literary as well as a scientific and educational 
viewpoint, and the publishers have done their 
part in bringing out the book in an attractive 
form. No one could have done the work better, 
and, coming when it did, it may fittingly be con- 
sidered as a monument to.Dr. Hewitt’s accomplish- — 
ments in what-he would have wished to consider 
his most important life work.—R.M.A. 


\ 


ad 


ee which hardly seems worthy of a name, make a 


The Canadian Field-N aturalist 


VOL. XXXVI 


OTTAWA, ONT., NOVEMBER, 1922. 


No. 8 


FURTHER NOTES ON THE RHOPALOCERA OR BUTTERFLIES OF 
HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1921-1922. 


By HENRY MOousLEY 


FIND on reference to my last paper in The 

Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XXXIV, 

1920, No. 9, pp. 173-174, on the butterflies 
of this district, that three new species were added 
to the already existing list so that the total at 
the end of the year 1920 stood at forty-eight 
species, with very little prospects of any new 
additions in the near future. Certainly I never 
dreamt that the opening of another season would 
see not only the addition of a very rare little 
butterfly to my list; but also some contribution to 
its life history, which was practically unknown, 
and that the date upon which it was taken would 
also prove a record one in these parts. Yet so 
it was, for on April 30, 1921, (previous earliest date 


recorded, May 18,) I took a male example of the- 


Early Hairstreak (Erora lxta) in a little wood near 


my house, and on May 21, whilst climbing Mt. 


Orford, (2860 ft.) watched a female deposit an 
egg on the underside of a beech leaf which I 


secured. Up to that date the food plant was 


unknown, and I believe I am the only person who 
has witnessed the female deposit an egg in the 
open and amidst her natural surroundings, and 
seen the resulting larva. For these unexpected 
pleasures I am greatly indebted to Mr. Albert F. 
Winn of Montreal, who first drew my attention to 
leita, a fuller account of which, however, will be 
found in the pages of The Canadian Entomologist. 


Other additions to my list consist of the Little 
Sulphur (Eurema euterpe), The Banded Hair- 
streak (Strymon calanus), and the Bronze Copper 
(Heodes thoe), all of which have been taken by Mr. 
Winn at East Bolton (which place comes within 
my radius) as recorded in his A Preliminary List 
of the Insects of the Province of Quebec, 1912, pp.9- 
18. At Beebe on July 29, 1922, I secured a 
number of specimens of the Least Copper (Heodes 
epixanthe), and at Hatley on September 15 a 
female of the Eastern-tailed Blue (Everes com- 
yntas), and these species with l#ta and the other 
three above named, and the form violacea Edw., 
of the Spring Azure (Lycenopsis pseudargiolus) 


total of fifty-five species and forms for Hatley 
and district to the end of the present year, 1922. 


During the past two seasons there appears to 
have been a general falling off in the numbers of 
many of the species here represented, the most 
notable probably being amongst the Fritillaries. 
At one time the larger members of this genus such 
as The Great Spangled Fritillary (Argynnis 
cybele), The Silver-spot Fritillary (A. aphrodite) 
and The Mountain Silver-spot (A. atlantis), 
literally swarmed, but now they are not nearly so 
plentiful and this remark applies equally well to 
all the smaller members, more especially, however, 
to The Baltimore (Euphydryas phzeton) Nycteis 
(Phyciodes nycteis), and Harris’ Checker-spot 
(Melitz harrisi). Certainly in 1921 I discovered 
two new stations for the latter near Ayer’s Cliff, 
but only a very few specimens were seen. How- 
ever, this is somewhat encouraging in view of the 
fact that it has entirely disappeared from the one 
and only meadow where I used to find it years ago. 
The genus Polygonia has been very poorly repre- 
sented ever since 1919, the year in which it was so 
abundant. No examples whatever have been met 
with of The Violet Tip (Polygonia interrogationis) 
the largest and handsomest, and very few of the 
other members have been seen. The Compton 
Tortoise (Aglais j-album) as already mentioned 
in a previous paper is on the decrease, very few 
examples having been seen during the past two 
seasons. The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). 
Hunter’s Butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis), The 
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and The Wanderer 
(Feniseca tarquinius) have not been seen at all, 
whilst only two examples of The American Tor- 
toise-shell (Aglais milberti) have been noted on 
August 17 of the present year, 1922. The Pearly 
Eye (Enodia portlandia) has just about held its 
own, three specimens being seen in 1921, and two 
in 1922, which is about all I usually meet with in 
a season. I am afraid as already recorded that 
the cutting down and burning of all the shrubs on 
the roadside frequented by The Acadian and 
Striped Hairstreaks (Strymon acadica and S., 


~~ et bot 


142 . THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


liparops) in the fall of 1920, has resulted in their 
extermination, as not a single example has been 
seen there since. Most of the Skippers were 
fairly plentiful, but I have no record of having 
seen The Arctic (Carterocephalus palemon) in 
either year. In contrast to this apparent falling 
off in the number of some species may be men- 
tioned the great increase in that of others. Never 
have I seen so many Tiger Swallow-tails (Papilio 
glaucus canadensis) as this year (1922). They 
literally swarmed at some of the puddles on the 
road side, and a photo sent me at the time by a 
friend who was staying near Metis on the Gaspé 


coast depicted a similar scene. The other mem-. 


ber of the family, The Black Swallow-tail (Papilio 
polyxenes),also appeared in very fair numbers, but 
the greatest treat of all was the extraordinary 
abundance of our largest and handsomest butter- 
fly in these parts, the Monarch (Danaus archippus) 
It is now four years since this great migrant 
paid us a visit, so it can be imagined with what 
pleasure I again saw it on June 24, from which 
date its numbers kept increasing until July 21, 
when I saw ten examples in one afternoon. 

On July 10 I watched a female deposit several 
eggs on the underside of the leaves of the common 
milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and on July 21 
obtained about half a dozen full-fed larve from 
another locality. One of these changed to a 
chrysalis two days later, and the butterfly emerged 
on August 6, having been in the chrysalis shape 
exactly a fortnight. The egg stage of this butter- 
fly is a very short one lasting only about four days. 
Those mentioned above hatched out in five days. 
The life history of this beautiful insect is a most 
interesting one. The butterfly is considered to 
be polygoneutic, that is to say, many broods are 
produced annually. Those we get in Canada 
represent a wave of immigration coming north- 
ward from_the warmer Gulf States, which lay 
their eggs as they come. It is not believed that 


THE EUROPEAN HARE IN ONTARIO = 


(Vo. XXXVI 


any of them hibernate in any stage of their exis- _ 
tence. In the fall they return, sometimes gather- 
ing in great swarms on the northern shores of — 
Lakes Erie and Ontario and in southern New 
Jersey. Within recent years it seems to have 
effected a settlement in Australia, and has thence ~ 
spread northward and westward until it has 
reached Java, Sumatra and the Philippine Islands. 

Moving eastward on the lines of travel it has 
even reached the south of England, where, accord- 
ing to the published records from 1876 (the year 
in which it was first observed) to 1906, about thirty 
specimens have been seen or caught, one third of 
these being obtained in September, 1885. There 
is no question concerning the migratory habits of 
this butterfly but just how it reaches England is 
not definitely known, neither is it known whether 
upon arrival there it is able to reproduce its kind. — 
It was first observed on the Continent in 1877 at 
La Vendée, France. In 1886, when half a dozen 
were recorded from England, single specimens 
were obtained in Guernsey, Oporto and Gibraltar. 
It has been taken, I believe, in the Canary Islands, — 
and is well established at the Cape Verde Islands, 
and possibly by now has invaded Africa, where it | 
would find the family of plants the larv feed upon 
well represented. With such a history behind it, 
is it possible to gaze upon the insect without 
experiencing some kind of emotion, and yet it is so, 
the vast majority of persons paying little or no 
attention to the beauties around them! _Its~ 
counterpart, the Viceroy (Basilarchia archippus), 
the most striking case of mimicry which occurs in™ 
our fauna, has been seen on many occasions during 
the past two seasons, the largest specimens of 
which no doubt are often mistaken by the novice 
for the Monarch. ; 

In conclusion the more we study nature the 
more do we see how wonderfully adjusted are her 
scales, a little increase here, a little decrease there, 


’ so that always the balance appears about equal. 


By J. R. DYMOND 


HE European Hare is one of the latest 
additions to the list of species introduced 
into Ontario from abroad. Its introduction 

was brought about by Mr. Otto Herold, formerly 
Manager of Bow Park Farm, near Brantford, Ont. 
In a letter from Mr. Herold, now of Danzig on 
the Baltic, he says, 


“In February, 1912, when I was Manager 
of the Bow Park Farm near Brantford, I 
imported from Germany seven females and 


\ 
two males. They belong to the _ species 
Lepus timidus and were exported to the farm 
by a German zoological exporter. 

_ “When they arrived I kept them fenced in 
in order to see how they would do in the 
climate. However, they found a loophole 
and escaped. In the summer of 1912 we had ~ 
already found a bunch of young hares. They 
usually have from two to three young hares 
about three or four times a year, In Ger- 
many the first young arrive in March which 
usually have young ones again the same year. 


_ November, 1922.] 
eg “My idea was to keep same on the Bow 
‘Park Farm which is nearly surrounded by 
; water of the Grand River. I thought they 
* would stay there but in winter when the ice 
; came they escaped. I had no particular 

_ reason for importing them to Canada except 

_ that I am a lover of nature, especially harm- 
less, useful animals. Here it is a 
well known fact that their usefulness exceeds 
their destructiveness. There is certainly a 
great industrial value in these hares even if 
they do eat an occasional cabbage head or a 
turnip. 


If this species is the native hare of Germany as 

Mr. Herold’s letter suggests, it is Lepus europeus 
Pallas. Miller’s Catalogue of the Mammals of 
_ Western Europe in the Collection of the British 
Museum gives the range of Lepus europeus Pallas, 
as “Central Europe from Great Britain to Russia 
and from the Baltic south to the Pyrenees, Italy 
and Greece’”’ and of the typical subspecies L. 
 europeus europeus as “‘Central Europe from Ger- 
_ many to the Atlantic Coast and from Denmark to 
Central France.” The distribution of Lepus 
timidus Linnaeus, is ““Northern portion of Europe 
and Asia. In Europe throughout Norway, 
Sweden and Northern Russia, also in Scotland 
and the Alps. Represented in Ireland by a dis- 
tinct though nearly related species.”” Attempts 
to acclimatize L. ewropeus in Ireland have failed, 


f 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 143 


according to the Cambridge Natural History. 

The British Museum Catalogue referred to 
above gives the distinction between these two 
species in part as follows: 

L. timidus and related forms.—Tail, including 
pencil, much shorter than hind foot; its upper 
surface white or clouded with brown or grey, 
never with clear black median area. 


L. europeus and its relatives.—Tail, including 
pencil, about as long as hind foot; its upper sur- 
face with conspicuous clear black median area. 


I have not had an opportunity of examining 
specimens and am anxious to hear from anyone 
familiar with this animal in Ontario. They are 
apparently spreading quite rapidly. Last winter 
they were reported, from the Niagara Peninsula, 
Ingersoll and Guelph. No complaints of their 
destructiveness have been heard. On the other 
hand, there is some agitation for their protection 
because of their value as game. 


Since the above was written, the Museum has 
received from Mr. A. G. Montgomery of Brant- 
ford two specimens of this hare. They prove to 
be L. europeus as was expected. Reports of in- 
jury to crops have also come from sections where 
the hares are numerous. 


A RECENT BREEDING RECORD OF THE TRUMPETER SWAN IN ALBERTA 


By Hoyes LLoyD 


JN OCTOBER, 1920, Mr. R. F. Jones, the 
Manager of the Longfellow Zoological Gardens 
at Minneapolis, Minnesota,. wrote to the 

Canadian National Parks Branch, Ottawa, asking 
permission to export a live Swan from Canada, 

_ this bird being then in the possession of Mr. L. E. 

Bodie, of Clairmont, Alberta. Mr. Jones wished 
to obtain this bird as a mate for one in his pos- 
session and upon inquiry stated concerning Mr. 
Bodie’s bird: ‘It is known as the Trumpeter, or 
Piping Swan. This is the only species that I 
have ever been able to secure in the Northwest. 

- They are a large white bird with black feet and 

pill. Are very tame when domesticated and thus 

 ararely attractive one.” 

Possibly ornithologists who have access to Mr. 
Boa Jones’ zoological collection at Minneapolis may 
_ be able to record some occurrences of the Trum- 
peter Swan if they study his specimens and 


- records, | 
* After consulting the Advisory Board on Wild 
- Life Protection the Canadian National Parks 
_ refused permission to export this Swan from 


Canada, at least until its identity was established. 

Colonel Perry, Commissioner, Royal Canadian 
Mounted Police, was furnished with complete 
descriptions of both Trumpeter and Whistling 
Swans and plaster casts of the heads of the two 
species and requested to have one of his officers 
cendeavourto identify the bird in Mr. Bodie’s 
possession. : 

On January 26, 1921, Sergeant T. C. Davies, 
in charge of Grande Prairie Detachment of the 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, made a patrol 
to carry out his ornithological mission. He visited 
the Bodie farm, which is 10 miles west of Clair- 
mont, Alberta, and immediately north of Bear 
Lake on the south half of Section 3 Town- 
ship 73, Range 7, West of the 6th Meridian. 
This is almost 55° North Latitude, 119° West 
Longitude. 

He found that the bird had died on January 
14th, and that its body was still in one of the 
sheds. The officer took the wing measurement 
as 2214 inches, and found the weight of the frozen 
body on spring scales to be 1914 lbs. 


144 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Extracts from the statement taken by Seregt. 
T. C. Davies from Mr. Lawrence Bedie are given 
below: 

Clairmont, P.O. 
January 26, 1921. 


“In July, 1919, I saw a young swan in the 
shallow waters of Bear Lake, near my father’s 


farm. I went out and caught it with my 
hands. I would judge it to be about one 
week old. I brought it home and turned it 


loose among our chickens. The Swan was 
never penned up or held in any way, it was 
always free to come and go as it wished, it 
would fly ’round the neighborhood but always 
returned to our farm, it was quite tame and 
would follow us around. 


“JT wrote the Game Authorities in Edmon- 
ton, asking them for a Permit to have the 
swan in my possession and also to dispose of 
it but they informed me that they could not 
give me any permits. I then tried to get rid 
of the bird by taking it down to the Lake 
three miles from the farm and turning it 
leose, I did this three times but each time it 
returned to the farm. I then realized that I 
could not drive it away so let it stay around. 


“About three weeks ago I noticed the swan 
acting as if it had a cold, it seemed to eat 
well but its breathing was not free and on the 
14th of the month I noticed it lying dead in 
one of the sheds. 


“The dead body of the swan is still in my 
possession. . . . 5 
“T have now turned the body of the Swan 


[VoL. XXXVI _ 
over to Sgt. Davies, of the R.C.M.P.” 
‘(Signed) L. E. Bopig. 
Witness: 
T. C. DAVIES, 
Sgt., R.C.M.P. 

Thus by a strange series of events a specimen 
of the Trumpeter Swan, Olor buccinator, came into 
the possession of the Branch. The specimen was 
well prepared by Wolfe & Hine, taxidermists, of 
Edmonton, and the sternum and trachea were 
preserved. It is a o& and of special interest 
because it is of known age, namely 174—18144 
months. Consequently, from it the develop- 
ment of convolutions of the trachea at that age 
may be determined, and it indicates of course, the 
size, weight, and plumage development of the 
species at that age. 

It furnishes as well a breeding record for the 
species in the Province of Alberta. The only 
other published breeding records for the species in 
that Province of which I am aware are as follows: 

April 7, 1891, nest with 5 eggs, at Buffalo 
Lake; W. E. Raine;! 

Spring 1885, nest with 4 eggs, at Sounding 
Lake, recorded by W. E. Raine,” on authority 
of a Mr. Sanderson. 

In view of the fact that Coale* located only 
sixteen Trumpeter Swan specimens with authentic 
data preserved in museums, this specimen will 
form a valuable addition to the collection in the 
Canadian National Museum, to which institution 
it has been presented. 


1Macoun & Macoun—Catalogue of Canadian Birds, 2nd 
Edition (1909), p. 135. ‘ 

“loc. cit., p. 135. 

3The Auk, Vol. XXXII, pp. 82-90. 


MIGRATION OF THE BRANT (Branta bernicla) IN GREENLAND 


By Dr. Morten P. PorsI.p, 
Direktor, Den Danske Arktiske Station (The Danish Arctic Station), Disko, Greenland. 


During the years 1919 and 1920, following the publication 
by the Dominion Parks Branch of a little brochure on The 
Brant of the Altantic Coast, the writer carried on some corres- 
pondence with Dr. Porsild in regard to the migration of the 
Brant in western Greenland, and, while on a visit to Ottawa 
in 1922, Dr. Porsild discussed the matter further, consenting 
to the publication of the notes. 

The nomenclature of the species is rather confusing, as 
many writers do not separate the European bird, Branta 
bernicla (Linn.) from the alleged American subspecies Branta 
bernicla glaucogastra (Brehm.), the latter bird being differen- 
tiated as having lighter underparts. 

The American Ornithologists’ Union Check List (1910) gives 
Branta bernicla bernicla as ‘‘Extralimital’’, and gives the range 
of Branta bernicla glaucogastra (Brehm.) = Branta glaucogaster 
Brehm., Handbuch Vogel Deutschl., 1831, 849 (German coast 
of Baltic Sea) as follows: ‘‘Range—Northern Hemisphere. 
Breeds on Arctic islands north of latitude 74° and west to 
about 100°, and on the whole west coast of Greenland; winters 
on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts south to North 
Carolina, rarely to Florida; has been recorded in the interior 
from Manitoba, Ontario, Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, 
Michigan, Indiana, and Louisiana; accidental in British 
Columbia and Barbadoes.”’ 


Professor W. W. Cooke, in his Distribution and Migration 
of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, U.S. Dept. of 
Agriculture, Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 26, 1906, under - 
Branta bernicla glaucogastra (Brehm.) White-bellied Brant,” 
states: “The eastern brant breeds on the west coast of Green- 
land from Frederikshaab, latitude 62°, northward probably as 
far as land extends, certainly as far north as the north shore of 
Grinnell Land, latitude 82° 33’, etc., ete.” 

Other authors state that in Spitsbergen and northern 
Europe both light and dark-bellied birds are found. Hartert, 
Scottish Naturalist, 1917, considers that Branta bernicla (Branta 
bernicla glaucogastra) is a dimorphic form; if the American bird - 
is separable it is Branta bernicla collaris (Brehm.) 

In a letter to Dr. Porsild on February 27, 1920, the writer 
stated: ‘‘The bulk of the American birds at least, according to 
the authorities, seem to be of the light-bellied form. The 
natural route of migration would be for many of these birds to 
migrate north from Labrador to the west side of Greenland. 
Probably a good many European birds (Brant) come from 
Europe to east Greenland by way of Iceland, and no doubt 
some of them get across to West Greenland. It would seem 
more natural, however, for such birds to go north along the 
coast of East Greenland instead of swinging south around the 
southern end of Greenland or perhaps crossing over the center 


hs i 


Se 


as 


N ovember, 1922.] 


; Fugle’’, Meddelelser om Grénland 21, 1898. 
tsation, is situated near the colony of Godhavn on. 


they nest there. 


of the statement. 
~ nests were known in former times. 


of Greenland in a southwesterly direction. It would seem 


: putibe possible for Brant to come up along the west coast of 


reenland, following the coast pretty closely and, after striking 
the south side of Disko island, to swing around so as to come 
from the northeast in the locality of Godhavn. The Black Brant 
of the western Arctic,so far as my observations go, seem to 
follow the coast line pretty closely in their migrations, though 


_of course when necessary to ‘make a passage’ across a strait 


they are not averse to doing so. I think a good deal of the 
confusion about American and European forms of the same 
species is due to not having enough specimens together from 
both sides of the Atlantic. The European museums have 
large series of European birds and the American museums have 
the American-taken specimens, and seldom is there an oppor 
tunity to examine both sets of specimens side by side.’’— 
R. M. ANDERSON. 


HAT I know about the Brant in Greenland 
is not much beyond what has been written 
by H. Winge in his excellent ‘“Grénlands 

My 


South Disko. This placeis one of the very few spots 
known to me in Greenland regularly touched by 
migrating Brants. Asa joke I used tosay: ‘‘The 
Brants are coming June 3rd at 6 o’clock p.m.” 
and, in fact, during the thirteen years of my 
residence at the place, the first Brants were seen 
from June 1st to 3rd without any regard to weather 
conditions. I do not know where they cross 
Disko Bay; to us they come from northeast, 
flying along the steep wall of the basalt mountain 
“Skarvefjaeld”. Leaving the shore here, they 
cross the small ‘‘Sortesandsbugt’”’ along the border 
of the last winter ice, steering straight to Uper- 
navik naze, where the natives shoot at the flocks. 
The neck of Godhayn Peninsula between the 
Harbour and Sortesandsbugt is very low and 
sandy. If they would fly over that neck every 


one would escape from the shooting, but they 


never do. The flocks are usually very great, 
from one to several hundreds each, and normally 
several hundred thousand Brants pass us every 
year. Some years, however, the number is much 
smaller. 

Curious is. the varying of the datesfor migration 
Now the date is as said about the 3rd of June. 
In the years about 1812 they came the last days 
of May, about 1840 the date was between the 8th 
and 12th of June, and in 1882 the dates were 8th 
to llth June. Each of the years mentioned does 
not mean that single year,but a series of subsequent 
years of varying number. 

I have hitherto applied in vain to the natives 
for other migration stations than this; only 


‘casually small flocks or single stragglers were 


observed. They are often seen on Northeast 
Disko, and one of my informants believes that 
But as that region is uninhabited 
and very rarely visited I doubt the correctness 
North of the 73rd _ parallel 
Now I think 
nests do not occur except at Smith Sound, and 


| ~ Mr. W. Elmer Ekblaw, member of the Crocker 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


145 


Land Expedition, told me that nests were com- 
paratively scrace on the north coast of Greenland, 
whereas Ellesmere Land and Grant Land were 
the veritable El Dorado of the Brant. 


Once I succeeded in getting a live pair on North 
Disko in August. The female had a broken wing 
and the male could not or would not quit her, so 
my Eskimo companion ran them down and 
caught them. I had them in my boat some 
fourteen days, until I got home. They were very 
greedy and I fed them with everything obtainable, 
but mostly with Equisetum arvense. After my 
return the female drowned by an accident and the 
male was killed when the frosts came. 


I (formerly) believed that the Brant wintered 
in Europe only, and not in America. and it was 
to me a favourite object for fairy tales to chil- 
dren: the Brants coming June the third, steering — 
straightway from Europe through snow and gales 
to our little naze and building their nests on far 
Klilesmere Land were most fascinating. Now I 
see that they do winter in America, the story 
becomes a little less fascinating, but more natural. 


When I come back, I shall try to send out 
question schedules over the whole of West Green- 
land; our Eskimo are intelligent and interested 
If I sueceed in getting some valuable 
information about the tracks of the Brant, I shall 


send it to you. 


observers. 


Copenhagen, April 8, 1920 


As much has been published since the book by 
Herluf Winge on the Birds of Greenland in 1898, 
I went today to Mr. Winge to get information 
from our first authority. Winge considers all 
Brants from East as well as West Greenland to 
be the same race, namely, the light-bellied glauco- 
gastra, and he does not doubt that all Greenland 
Brants migrate to America and not to Europe. 
About the racial value of the glaucogastra, Mr. 
Winge was rather uncertain. Ordinarily he is 
rather conservative in taxonomy. 


I think the statement by Cooke, quoted by 
you, as to the breeding of the Brant down to 62° 
It does breed at 
73°, but only casually, and as far as I know, 
partially from verbal information by Mr. Ekblaw 


in West Greenland is wrong. 


only a few birds breed in the northernmost part 
of Greenland, whilst Ellesmere Land is the great 
breeding place for the millions of Brants passing us. 


146 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


(VoL. XXXVI 


BIRDS OF A SUBURBAN GARDEN 


By R. OWEN MERRIMAN. 


VER since the days of Rev. Gilbert White, 
observers have realized the importance of 
records of the natural history of limited areas; 

and in ornithology local lists have been made and 
published for very many localities. These lists 
are nearly all for comparatively large areas, a 
farm of many acres being the smallest area which 
observers seem inclined to treat as a unit. The 
writer and his neighbor, W. F. Ambrose, having 
been compelled for reasons of health to limit their 
observations chiefly to one garden, have been 
pleased to find the list of species identified within 
its boundaries grow to unexpected dimensions; 
and they have wondered whether their location is 
especially favorably situated for such observations 
or whether similar lists could be made for other 
areas of similar size. Those who have kept 
records for small gardens may be glad to compare 
this list with theirs, as the writer would certainly 
be glad to do. 


- This garden is situated in a suburb of Hamilton, 
Ontario, Canada, on the Niagara escarpment, and 
about three hundred yards south of its edge, two 
hundred and fifty feet above the level of Lake 
Ontario. The escarpment here forms the south 
limit of the city of Hamilton, which lies below and 
extends northward to its harbour, two miles away. 
The land on the top of the escarpment is gently 
rolling; and is partly built up for half a mile from 
the edge. This suburban district has many trees; 
but to the south the farm lands have few orchards 
and fewer wood-lots. The nearest water is a 
small stream a mile away. On three sides of this 
garden there are houses within one hundred feet; 
but on the west there are only one or two houses 
within a quarter of a mile. On this side lies a 
meadow, beyond which runs a long private avenue 
of Norway spruce, horse-chestnut, maple and 
elm. To this open, quiet space, and to the fact 
that there is little traffic on the street to the east 
of the garden, much of its attractiveness to birds 
may be due. 


The garden itself is a rectangle, two hundred 
and fifty feet by one hundred and sixty feet, or 
about five-sixths of an acre. Near the north 
boundary is a large brick house with a small out- 
house; and near the middle of the west boundary 
is a small, low cottage. On the north half of the 
area are eighteen small trees, maples, horse- 
chestnuts, one Lombardy poplar, and fruit-trees; 
and around the house are a few shrubs, three 
clumps of staghorn sumach (Rhus typhina) merit- 


ing special notice. A few flowers and vegetables 


are also grown. The grass on the north half of | 


the area is kept as a mown lawn, but on the south 
half most of it is cut only once during the summer. 
Overhanging the roof of the- above-mentioned 
cottage is the only large tree in the area, a white 
oak; and nearby is a ten-year-old elm. Along 
the south boundary is a widely-spaced row of 
Norway spruce. The most important feature of 
the garden is a thicket which extends along the 


‘west boundary, forming the south end of a thicket 


which follows this fence for nearly two hundred 
yards. This thicket, here about twenty feet 
wide and fifteen feet high, is composed chiefly of 
wild plums, but includes seedling pear and cherry 
trees in bearing, many seedling maples, wind- 
sown from a tree just over the west edge of the 
area, sweet brier and rugosa roses, and bittersweet 


and Virginia creeper climbing some of the trees. — 


The thicket is not pruned or raked, the carpet 
of leaves and the many dead twigs and branches 
proving definite attractions. It is in this thicket 
that most of the observations are made, especially 
during the seasons of bird migration. 


During the winter, supplies of food are available 
in the area for such species as will accept them. 
Sumach and bittersweet have been mentioned 
already. Two inverted feeding-boards built after 
the design of W. E. Saunders are kept filled with 
seeds and suet, and seeds and table-scraps are 
sprinkled on the ground. House Sparrows are 
discouraged with trap and gun. It is during the 
spring migration that the largest number of species 


is observed; but all that can be done to encourage © 


the visits of migrants is to keep the garden as 
quiet as possible, to delay raking and other gar- 
dening, and to discourage the visits of neighbors’ 
cats. In May it is not unusual to observe twenty 
species in the garden in one day; and in five hours 
on May 20, 1920, thirty-four species were identified 
by one observer while seated in one spot. During 
the breeding season, nesting material attracts 
some individual birds; and nesting-boxes of 
various sizes have been erected in suitable sites 
The two bird-baths which are kept filled in all 
but freezing weather are known to have been 
used by about twenty species; by some only for 
drinking. Far fewer birds are recorded during 
the fall migration than during the spring, partly 
because of the greater difficulty of distinguishing 
between similar species in fall plumage, and partly 
because the trees are in fuller leaf. 


, 
4 
a 


| 3 November, 1922.] 


a 


The observations on which the following list is 
_ based were begun in 1907; but at first records were 
kept only in a sketchy fashion. As the knowledge 
_- of the observers grows, they find greater interest 
in referring to their records, which are being made 
with increasing attention to detail. In compiling 
the list, no species has been included unless 
identified as positively as‘is possible by sight alone; 
-__ and care has been taken especially to remove all 
- doubtful records of species not usually seen in the 
vicinity. 
I. _ Larus argentatus. HERRING GULL.—Flocks 
of fifteen or less frequently seen flying overhead 
in winter and spring, in search of food among 
manure on fields. These flocks may also include 
_ L. delawarensis as these two species are found 
together on Lake Ontario in spring. 
2. Branta canadensis canadensis. CANADA 
' GoosE.—Flocks rarely seen flying over in spring 
and fall. One record of two flying about twenty 
' feet above ground into gale and snow-storm. 
- Flocks-of unidentified Ducks regularly fly over in 
spring and fall. 


8. ~ Ardea herodias herodias. GREAT BEUR 
_. HERON.—One bird observed flying over. 
4. Oxyechus vociferus vociferus. KILLDEER.— 


Abundant summer resident in the vicinity. 
5. Bonasa umbellus togata. CANADA RUFFED 
__ GROUSE.—One seen in May, 1915, later found 
-- dead. Now rare in vicinity. 
_ 6. Accipiter velor. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.— 
Rarely seen. 
a. 7. Falco sparverius  sparverius. SPARROW 
-HAwK.—Rarely seen. Hawks are frequently 
_ seen soaring and sailing overhead in summer, not 
identified further than as belonging to the genis 
Buteo or genus Archibuteo. 
8. Cryptoglaux acadica acadica. SAW-WHET 
_ Owx.—Flock of five or six seen. June 26, 1921. 
9, Otus asio asio. SCREECH OwL.—Heard 
frequently throughout the year, but seldom seen. 
~ Other Owls occasionally heard. 
— 10. Coccyzus americanus americanus. 
- LOW-BILLED Cuckoo.—Seen every year, 
infrequently. 
11. $=Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. BLACK-BILLED 
Cuckoo.—Seen occasionally every year. 
12. Dryobates villosus villosus. Hatry Woop- 
_ PECKER.—Seen every winter, in some winters a 
regular visitor at feeding stations. 
13. Dryobates pubescens medianus. DOWNY 
~WooprEcKER.—Common throughout the year. 
_ At feeding station regularly in winter and occa- 
- sionally, with young, in sumnrer. 
a 14. Sphyrapicus varius varius. YELLOW-BEL- 
_ LIED SAPSUCKER.—Not common, but recorded 
_ every spring. 


YEL- 
but 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 147 


15. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. RED-HEADED 
WooDPECKER.—Common summer resident. 

16. Colaptes auratus luteus. NORTHERN 
FLICKER.—Very common summer resident. One 
visited feeding station regularly through the 
winter of 1919-1920. 

17. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus. WHIP- 
POOR-WILL.—Heard occasionally every year, usual- 
ly in May. 

18. Chordeiles virginianus virginianus. NIGHT- 
HAWK.—Very common in summer. Breeds in the 
city of Hamilton. 

19. Chaetura pelagica. 
Very common in summer. 

20. Archilochus colubris. RUBY-THROATED 
HUMMINGBIRD.—Very common in summer. 

21. Tyrannus tyrannus. KINGBIRD.—Com- 
mon in summer. 

22. Myriarchus crinitus. 


CHIMNEY SWIFT.— 


CRESTED FLyY- 


CATCHER.—Seen regularly in spring and rarely in 


summer. 

23. Sayornis phoebe. PHOEBE.—Seen fre- 
quently in spring and fall, but not often in summer. 

24. Myiochanes virens. WooDdD PEWEE.—Fair- 
ly common in summer. Z 

25. Empidonax flaviventris. YELLOW-BELLIED 
FLYCATCHER.—Regular spring migrant, rather 
rare. 

26. Empidonax minimus. LEAST FLYCATCHER. 
—Common in summer. 

27. Cyanocitta cristata cristata. BLUE JAY.— 
Common all year. Visits feeding station in 
winter. 

28. Perisoreus canadensis canadensis. CANADA 
JAY.—Very few records. Seen in vicinity almost 
every winter. 

29. Corvus  brachyrhynchos  brachyrhynchos. 
Crow.—Common except in January, when few 
are seen. 

30. Dolichonyx oryzivorus. BOBOLINK.—Com- 
mon in spring and early summer. 

31. Molothrus ater ater. CowsirD.—Common 
in summer. Young usually fostered by Song 
Sparrows. 

32. Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus. RED- 
WINGED BLACKBIRD.—Very few records, though 
not uncommon in the vicinity. 

33. Sturnella magna magna. 
—Common in summer. 

34. TIcterus galbula. BALTIMORE ORIOLE.— 
Fairly common in summer. 


MEADOWLARK. 


35. Euphagus carolinus. Rusty BLACKBIRD. 
—Very large flocks, including this and other 
species, of Blackbirds gather in Dundas Marsh 
three miles to the north-west in the fall, flying 
over the area at.sunrise and sunset on the way to 
and from feeding in stubble and ploughed fields. 


3 


> SS 


148 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Also occasionally recorded in trees in the area. 

36. Quiscalus quiscula exneus. BRONZED 
GRACKLE.—Very common in summer. Less com- 
mon during last two years than formerly, though 
apparently increasing in the city. 

37. Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina. EVEN- 
ING GROSBEAK.—Flock of eight or ten frequently 
visited the garden in January, 1920, feeding on 
staghorn sumach. 

38. Pinicola enucleator leucura. PINE GROS- 
BEAK.—One March record of a flock of about 
twenty-five. 

39. Carpodacus purpureus purpureus. PURPLE 
Finco.—Rare in area but not uncommon spring 
and fall migrant in vicinity. 
domesticus. 


40. Passer domesticus HOUSE 
SPARROW.—A pest! ( AB fy as 
41. Astragalinus tristis tristis. GOLDFINCH.— 


Very common in summer, often nesting in the 
area. Flock occasionally seen in winter. 

42. Spinus pinus pinus. PINE SISKIN.— 
Regular early spring migrant. 

43. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. SAv- 
ANNAH SPARROW.—One record. Common sum- 
mer resident in vicinity. 

44. Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys. WHITE- 
CROWNED SPARROW.—Regular spring migrant, not 
common. 

45. Zonotrichia albicollis. _WHITE-THROATED 
SPARROW.—Regular migrant, very common in 
spring, less common in fall. 

46. Spizella monticola monticola. TREE SPAR- 
ROW.—Rare winter visitor. Not uncommon in 
vicinity. 

47. Spizella passerina passerina. CHIPPING 
SPARROW.—Very common in summer, nesting in 


area. 


48. Spizella pusilla pusilla. FIELD SPARROW. 
Spring migrant, only a few records. 

49. Junco hyemalis hyemalis. SLATE-COLORED 
JuNco.—Common in spring and fall, and in some 
years also common in winter at feeding station. 
50. Melospiza mleodia mleodia. SONG SPARROW. 
—Very common in summer, regularly nesting in 
area. 

51. Melospiza georgiana. SWAMP. SPARROW.— 
One record. Not uncommon in certain localities 
within a few miles. 

52. Passerella iliaca iliaca. Fox SPARROW.— 
Regular spring migrant. During the last two 
years common both spring and fall. 

53. Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus. 
TowHeEr.—Regular spring migrant, rather rare in 
area though not uncommon in vicinity. 

54. Zamelodia ludoviciana. ROSE-BREASTED 
GROSBEAK.—Seen once or twice almost every 
spring. 


55. Passerina cyanea. 
Formerly seen frequently, but rarely seen in last 


a ee 
[VOL. XXXVI es 


INDIGO BUNTING.— ~ 


ten years though still a common summer resident — 


within a mile. Perhaps influenced by the building”; 
up of this neighborhood. 

56. Piranga erythromelas. SCARLET TANACER. 
—Usually seen once or twice each spring. 

57. Progne subis subis. 
Common in summer. 

58. Hirundo erythrogaster. 
Fairly common in summer. 
prior to about 1910 than now. 

59. Bombycilla garrula. BOHEMIAN WAXWING 
—Two winter records. 

60. Bombycilla cedrorum. CEDAR WAXWING. 
—Seen irregularly throughout the year in flocks 
of from ten to fifty. 

61. Lanius borealis. NORTHERN SHRIKE. 
—One winter record. 

62. Vireosylva olivacea. RED-EYED VIREO.— 
Seen throughout every summer. 

63. Vireosylva gilva gilua. WARBLING VIREO. 
—Regular but rather rare spring migrant; also 
occasionally seen in fall. . 

64. Lanivireo solitarius _ solitarius. BLUE- 
HEADED VIREO.—Three records in spring and two 
in fall. 

65. Mniotilta . varia. - BLACK AND Weare” 
WARBLER.—Common in spring and fall, oceasion- 
ally seen in summer. 

66. Vermivora ruficapilla ruficapilla. New 
VILLE WARBLER.—One or two seen each spring 
recently. 

67. Compsothlypis americana usneae. Nor- 
THERN PARULA WARBLER.—Several spring records 
but none since 1919. 

68. Dendroica tigrina. CAPE MAY WARBLER. 
—Several spring records in recent years. 

69. Dendroica aestiva aestiva. YELLOW WARB- 
LER.—Very common in summer. Nests abun- 
dantly in immediate neighborhood. i 
70. Dendroica caerulescens caerulescens. BLACK- 
THROATED BLUE WARBLER.—Very common mig- 
rant in spring and fall. 

71. Dendroica coronata. MYRTLE WARBLER. 
—Regular spring and fall migrant. 

72. Dendroica magnolia. MAGNOLIA WARB- 
LER.—Very common spring and fall migrant. 

73. Dendroica cerulea. CERULEAN WARBLER. 
—QOne record in spring, April 25, 1921; bird 
identified with 3X prism binoculars at thirty feet 
in excellent light. Rare migrant in vicinity. 

74. Dendroica pensylvanica. CHESTNUT-SIDED 


WARBLER.—Common spring migrant, very few 


fall records. 


75. Dendroica castanea. BAY-BREASTED Wars- 


LER.—Uncommon spring migrant. 


BARN SWALLOW.— ’ 
More common 


— 


PURPLE MARTIN.— - 


r,s ” ery - Pa J . a * 


>. 7 


Jovember, 1922.] 


2 
16. Dendroica striata. BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 
___ One or two seen each spring. ' 
ag 77. Dendroica fusca. BLACKBURNIAN WARB- 
i, _ LER.—Regular spring migrant, one fall record. 
__. 78. Dendroica  virens. BLACK-THROATED 
. GREEN WARBLER.—Uncommon spring migrant, 
one fall record. 
_- 79. Dendroica vigorsi vigorsi. PINE WARBLER. 
a —Only one spring record for area. Regular 
: migrant in vicinity, but probably influenced by 

absence of pine trees from the area and its im- 

mediate neighborhood. 

80. Dendroica palmarum palmarum. PALM 

. WARBLER.—Two spring records. 
3% 81. Dendroica discolor. PRAIRIE WARBLER.— 
_ One spring record, May 12, 1920, when distinctive 
marks on back clearly seen with 6X prism bino- 
_. eulars, bird under observation for several minutes 
in good light. Very rare in vicinity. 
f 82. Seiurus aurocapillus. OVEN-BIRD.—Com- 
- mon in migration. Sometimes breeds in vicinity 


uP 


———-88. Seiwrus  —noveboracensis —_noveboracensis. 
_ WATER-THRUSH.—One spring record. 

a 84. Geothlypis -trichas trichas. | MARYLAND 
: _ YELLOW-THROAT.—Common spring migrant. 
85. ~=~Wilsonia pusilla pusilla. WILSON’S WAR- 
___ BLER.—Records only for spring in last two years. 
Regular migrant in vicinity. 
_-—s-86._-—~Wilsonia canadensis. CANADIAN WARBLER 
’ —Common in spring, seen also in fall, one August 
__- record. 

+87. Setophaga  ruticilla. REDSTART.— Very 
we common in spring, and also seen in fall. 

t 


88. Dumetella carolinensis. CATBIRD.—Com- 
mon in summer. breeding in immediate neighbor- 
hood. 

89. ~Toxostoma rufum. BROWN THRASHER.— 
te Common in spring. 

. 90. Troglodytes aedon aedon. House WREN. 
3 _—Very common in summer,-two to four broods 
| being raised each year in the area. 


‘ 91. Nannus hiemalis hiemalis. WINTER WREN. 
ee —Spring records in three recent years. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 149 


92. Certhia familiaris americana. BROWN 
CREEPER.—Common spring and fall migrant, 
occasionally seen in winter. 

93. Sitta carolinensis carolinensis. WHITE- 
BREASTED NUTHATCH.—Usually common in win- 
ter and seen throughout the year. Visits feeding 
station regularly in winter, and occasionally, with 
young, in summer. 

94. Sitta canadensis. 
HATCH.—Fairly common in spring and fall mig- 
rations. 

95. Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus. CHICKA- 
DEE.—Common in winter, seen throughout the 
year. Visits feeding station commonly in winter, 
and occasionally, with young, in summer. 

96. Regulus satrapa satrapa. GOLDEN-CROWN- 
ED KINGLET.—Common spring and fall migrant, 
occasionally seen in winter. 

97. Regulus calendula  calendula. RUuBY- 
CROWNED KINGLET.—Very common spring and 
fall migrant. 

98. Hylocichla mustelina. 
Rare spring migrant in area. 
in vicinity. 


Woop THRUSH.— 
Occasionally breeds 


99. Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens. VEERY. 
—Regular visitor in spring. Not seen in the area 
in summer, though breeding regularly within one 
mile. 


100. Hylocichla alicie alicie. GRAY-CHEEKED 
THRUSH.—Occasionally identified in spring and 
fall. 

101. Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni. OLIVE- 
BACKED THRUSH.—Common migrant in spring and 
fall. 

102. Hylocichla guttata pallasi. HERMIT 
THRUSH.—Common migrant in spring and fall. 

103. Planesticus migratorius migratorius. 
ROBIN.—Very common in summer, breeding regu- 
larly within the area. Sometimes a few winter in 
the vicinity. 

104. Sialia siaiis sialis. BLUEBIRD.—Common 
in summer, breeding within the area. 


_ FURTHER NOTES ON THE FERNS OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, 


> QUEBEC, 1921-1922. 


_. JN MY previous paper on the ferns of this 
., district, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. 
XXXIV, 1920, No. 7, pp. 137-140, I find that 
_ forty-one species and varieties were recorded. 
To this number may now be added the following, 
ezine Thelypteris spinulosa, Thelypteris Boottii var. 


San 


By HENRY MOUSLEY 


multiflora Dav.; Botrychium lanceolatum var. 
angustisegmentum; Woodsia ilvensis; 
gramma_ Stelleri, and Asplenium Trichomanes, 
these six now bringing the total up to forty-seven 
species and varieties to the end of the present 


year, 1922, fuller particulars of which will be found 


RED-BREASTED NUT- ~ 


Crypto- | 


150 


in the annotated list which follows hereafter. In 
addition to these forty-seven species and varieties, 
there are several interesting hybrids of the Thely- 
pteris (Dryopteris) family, which, thanks to the 
help of Dr. Philip Dowell (who has made a special 
study of them), I am able to include here, viz: 
T. Clintoniana x Goldiana, T. cristata x Goldiana? 
T. Clintoniana x marginalis?, T. cristata x mar- 
ginalis?. It has been thought advisable to place 
a note of interrogation after the last three, in 
view of the fact that there is still some uncertainty 
as to whether they are Clinton crosses or crested 
crosses. It is indéed no easy matter in some 
cases to make absolute definite determinations 
with regard to these hybrids. but looking to the 
fact that cristata is far more numerous than 
Clintoniana it is more than probable that they 
are crosses by the first named, although I should 
not be surprised if they all occur here. 


It will no doubt be remembered that I drew 
attention to the fact of the scarcity in my list of 
purely rock-loving ferns, due to the fact of the 
rocky localities lying at some distance from Hat- 
ley, and my inability to visit them very often. 
In order to see approximately what rock species 
might reasonably be expected in this-district, I 
consulted the lists of the most famous localities 
in the state of Vermont (which adjoins our County 
of Stanstead), such as Willoughby Lake, Dorset, 
Manchester, and Pittsford, from which I gathered 
that the following species had been taken in most 
of them, and might reasonably be looked for here, 
vix.: Pellxa airopurpurea, Cryptogramma Stelleri, 
Asplenium viride, Asplenium Trichomanes, Asple- 
nium Ruta-muraria, Camptosorus rhizophyllus, 
Woodsia ilvensis, and Woodsia alpina. Of these 
eight species, I have this season (1922) found the 
following three, viz: Cryptogramma  Stelleri, 
Asplenium Trichomanes, and Woodsia ilvensis. 
Assuming it possible to obtain the remaining five 
(which I am afraid is not very likely) Hatley would 
then have a list of thirty-seven true ferns, or a 
lead of one over Willoughby Lake which nowheads 
the list with thirty-six species, having only just 
recently attained to this honour by the discovery 
there on July 4, 1921 of Athyrium angustifolium 
by Mr. E. J. Winslow, who speaks of this as being 
the farthest northeast station so far known to 
him for this species. Evidently he is unaware of 
my having found the species here at Hatley, but 
only in one wood. Another station, however, 
was discovered at Ayer’s Cliff (about seven miles 
from Hatley) by a lady during the present sum- 
mer (1922), but-only a very.few plants were noted, 
not more than four I think. With the addition of 
Thelypteris spinulosa, Cryptogramma Stelleri, Asp- 
lenium Trichomanes, and Woodsia ilvensis, the 


Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST _ : 


(VoL. XXXVI 


Oe 


list of true ferns found at Hatley now stands at 
thirty-two species, or four behind that of Willough- 


by Lake. 


My first real fern hunt for the season — 


of 1922 took place on June 26, when I climbed — 
Mt. Orford (2860 feet) for the third time since ~ 


1918. 


The principal object of the present ascent — 


was to determine definitely the identity of a fern — 


I had found at the summit on May 21, 1921, the 


fronds of which were only just uncurling at that 


date, and also to try and add some of the roek 
species to my list. In this I was successful, as 
Woodsia ilvensis fell to my lot, and the species at 
the sumit was found to be Thelypteris spinulosa 
var. americana, of which there were several large 
beds in full fruit. On the way down I came upon 
one plant of Braun’s Holly Fern (Polystichum 
Braunii), thus adding a second station for this 
interesting species. As already intimated I feel 
sure this mountain will well repay systematic 
working. The area is a very large one, the long 
spurs leading to the summit would alone take 
many days to examine, and then there are numer- 
ous other rocky points all around the base. I 
only wish I could spend several weeks in the 
neighborhood, as the results I have so far obtained 


on flying visits are sufficient to make me optimistic. — 


My next outing was on July 6th when I climbed 
Barnston Pinnacle (2150 ft.), the results of which 
were very disappointing. Certainly I found two 
interesting wild flowers on the summit, one of 
them being the Pale Corydalis (Corydalis semper- 
virens) which was new to my list, and the other 
the Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata) 
which I had previously found there in 1918, this 


being the only station I know of for the species. — 


Concerning the ferns I can chronicle little of 
interest, except the fact that the Common Poly-- 
pody did not belie its name. Previously I had 
found it in very small quantities in some five or 
six stations, but here it covered all the huge 
granite boulders at the foot of the Pinnacle, as 
well as being generally distributed everywhere. 
Other visits I hope may prove more remunerative, 
as of course I was only able to cover a very limited 
area in the time at my disposal. On the eleventh 
I was unexpectedly able to pay the big gorge at 


Coaticook a flying visit of an hour’s duration | 


only, which time was spent in locating the most 


suitable place for entering it, the river being deep © 


in places and the sides perpendicular. Incident- 
ally I found a fine cluster of that interesting little 


wild flower, the Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), — 


with which I was well acquainted in England, but 

which I had, so far, never come across in this — 

country. ; Ss 
At the end of the month I paid Burrough’s 


Falls a visit and, this being a small area, I wi ‘ 


“-"< 


~ 
a 


= 
5 


enabled to examine carefully all the rocks, v ith 

no better results than on a former occasion (al- 
- ready reported), when nothing but the Bulblet 
Ne Bladder Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera) could be 

- found. The only item of interest was the locating 
e again of a few plants of the Harebell, which my 
younger son had previously informed me he had 
seen in 1919. The following day (July 31) I 
z went to Ayer’s Cliff, and searched the rocks all 

_ around that part of Lake Massawippi known as 
Be Elmwood Park on the southern shore. Here 
_ again the Bulblet Bladder Fern was the only one 
in evidence, and as I unexpectedly had the oppor- 
_ tunity of a ride to Burrough’s Falls, I decided to 
visit that locality again, and explore the sides of 
the river to the south of the Falls. This was a 
lucky move, indeed, for I eventually came upon 
several large patches of that delicate little fern, 
the Slender Cliff-Brake (Cryptogramma Stelleri.) 


mS ae. had almost forgotten to mention that, previous 
_ to my visit to Burrough’s Falls, I spent the day of 
July 21st on the eastern shore of Lake Massawippi 
= visiting Perkin’s Point and the site of that rare 
- - little fern, the Smooth Woodsia (Woodsia glabella), 
__ which I discovered in 1920. Imagine my feelings 
is on finding that a landslide had taken place since 
% then, and had swept most of the largest plants 
— away. The elevation of this site is about 550 
_ feet above sea level, or barely half that of Woodsia 
__ ilensis found on Mount Orford on June 26th. 
_ At one point on the shore I came across quite a 
large colony of the so-called var. obtusilobata of the 
Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis), with leaves in 
all stages of transition. As these leaves merely 
___ represent the transition from the usual sterile leaf 
_ to the fully fledged sporophyll, they should ob- 
_ viously bear no distinctive name. 


It was not until September 19th that I again 
- took the field in a systematic hunt for rock ferns, 
-- the locality this time being the big gorge at Coati- 
- eook.. Here I came across Cryptogramma Stelleri 
and Woodsia ilvensis, and again three days later 

- obtained Asplenium Trichomanes. In my last 
paper I find I omitted to mention Owl’s Head 

_ (2484 feet) as being a likely place for rock ferns. 

_ This mountain is situated on the western shore of 
. Lake Memphremagog about eighteen miles to the 
west of Hatley, and is of a rocky nature, but 
unfortunately I have not been able to visit it so 
‘ far. The shores of this lake are also rocky in 
_ places, and would no doubt yield good results if 
Ppitperly worked. I think the foregoing notes 
about sum up the principal events of the seasons 
1921-1922, so I will now proceed with the an- 
notated list of the new species discovered, which 


have only been casually referred to so far. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 151 


SPINY SHIELD FERN (Thelypleris spinulosa).— 
This species was really discovered on August 27, 
1919, but omitted from the 1920 list pending exact 
determination. 

Thelypteris Boottii var. multiflora Davy.—This 
variety of Boot’s Shield Fern was likewise dis- 
covered on August 27, 1919, but was not sufficient- 
ly identified for inclusion in the 1920 list. It was 
described by Davenport and is a robust form of 
the ordinary T. Boottii, which Dr. Philip Dowell 
(who kindly verified it for me) considers under 
less favourable conditions would not differ from 
the less robust. 


THE LANCE-LEAVED GRAPE FERN (Bofrychium 
lanceolatum var. angustisegmentum).—Although 
this species has not yet been found by myself, 
there is a record of it from Magog (Goode), and 
as this place comes within my area it has been 
included: see Catalogue of Canadian Plants, John 
Macoun, 1890, pt. 5, p. 255. 


THE Rusty WoopsiA (Woodsia ilvensis) —The 
first sight of this woolly little species is not likely 
to be easily forgotten. Often it is found on the 
exposed crests of precipices and similar dangerous 
places, growing in the full glare of the sun. Luck- 
ily for me, however, the site on Mt. Orford where 
I first found it on June 26, 1922, was a very easy 
one to reach, being a ledge of rock about my own 
height, on the top of which were several young 
plants growing together in close mats, the young 
croziers being covered with silvery white hairlike 
scales, which were in pleasing contrast -to the 
darker green of the more mature fronds. The 
ledge was in a shady spot just off the trail, and 
roughly about 1,200 feet above sea level. Time 
would not allow of a systematic search being made, 
so I am unable at present to give any idea of its 
abundance or otherwise, but judging from the 
look of the surrounding rocks it may eventually 
be found in some quantity. On this occasion I 
located only about half a dozen plants, or rather 
mats, as no single plant grew separately. The 
site in the gorge at Coaticook was a very different 
one from that on Mt. Orford, being a cleft in the 
rock at the very top of the gorge, and in the full 
glare of the sun, the elevation being roughly about 
800-900 feet above sea level. There was only one 
little cluster or mat consisting of about half a 
dozen very small plants, none of which exceeded 
four inches in height, and which I at first took to 
be Woodsia alpina. 
we have found the rarer of any two species which 
nearly resemble one another! 

THE SLENDER CLIFF-BRAKE (Cryplogramma 
Stelleri) —This frail and delicate little fern was 
discovered growing on the banks of the river 
Nigger, about half a mile to the south of Bur- 


How we all like to imagine - 


Boy 


iv 


ae 
* 
152 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VOL. XXXVI _ 


rough’s Falls on July 31, 1922. Viewing the spot 
from a distance, I at once seemed to know (one 
acquires this gift after years of field work) that 
here lay some secret hidden away. Everything 
pointed to it, the very lay of the land, the river 
with its rocky bed and steep-sloping, well-wooded 
sides, seemed to proclaim the fact. And yet it 
was some time before nature gave up her secret, 
for the very young fronds of the Bulblet Bladder 
Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera) are not unlike the 


sterile ones of C. Stelleri especially when seen 


growing at some height above one’s head. I 
started work on the right bank of the river, but 
at first noticed nothing but C. bulbifera (the same 
as at the Falls), until a crevice in the rock high 
up attracted my attention, and I said, almost 
involuntarily, ““There’s Stelleri.”” I had caught 
sight of a fruiting frond, luckily, otherwise it was 
almost impossible, at the distance they were from 
me, to distinguish the sterile fronds from those of 
C. bulbifera, which were growing adjacent to them. 


Had I known it, I might have saved myself a good 
deal of trouble in securing this spezimen, as I — 
afterwards found several good beds of it on the 


opposite bank, and obtained specimens in all 
stages, from the young primordial leaf, with one 


¥ < 


or more large segments, to the mature, with many - 


and small segments. Fruiting fronds were not at 
all plentiful, in fact they were scarce. In contrast 
to the abundance of the species at the Falls, the 


scarcity in the gorge at Coaticook was very — 


marked. Here only a very few plants were 
found, and the small colony seemed in imminent 


danger of being swept away at no late date by a 
apparently developing 


landslide, which was 


higher up. 


In conclusion I should say that it is my inten- 


tion to present pressed examples of all the ferns 
enumerated in my papers to the National Her- 


barium of Canada, Victoria Memorial Museum, ~ 


Ottawa. This was partly accomplished in Feb- 
ruary, 1921. 


WILLET CENSUS IN NOVA SCOTIA 


By R. W. TuFts 


URING the summer of the current year 
(1922) a careful survey was made of the 
breeding range of the Willett in Nova Scotia. 

This was undertaken under the direction of the 


Canadian National Parks Branch with a view to, 


ascertaining as nearly as possible the number of 
these birds which still nest in this province. 


Several specimens which were taken from here 
were examined by Dr. C. W. Townsend of Boston 
and were subsequently classified by him as the 
Eastern Willett (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus 
semipalmatus) which at one time bred along the 
Atlantic seaboard from Nova Scotia to the Gulf 
of Mexico. As a result of various forms of. per- 
secution, which the species was not able to with- 
stand, this breeding range, so far as known, is 
now restricted, north of Virginia, to the four 
western counties of Nova Scotia. Since it is not 
found inland, usually preferring extensive salt- 
marsh areas and adjacent uplands, it will be seen 
that the task of numbering the individuals is not 
as hopeless as it might at first appear. During 
the period when this estimate was being made 
there was considerable rain and fog which made 
it difficult to see the birds except at close range; 
but on the other hand it was undertaken at a 
time when the young were newly hatched and 
both parent birds were therefore much in evidence. 
They breed in small colonies or isolated pairs, the 


nest being concealed in the thick grass and low 


bushes near the edge of the tide or well hidden in 
the upland pastures adjacent to the marshes. An 
allowance of three young per pair was made so 
that the figures which follow represent, approxi- 
mately the actual number, adult and young, at 
the end of the breeding season, and in submitting 
them the writer has endeavored to err on the side 
of conservatism. The area more definitely des- 


cribed includes the favorable coastal districts from _ 


St. Mary’s Bay in Digby County south through 
Yarmouth and thence south-east through Shel- 
burne as far as Port Mouton in Queen’s County. 


HEAD OF St. MAryY’s BAy, DiGcBy Co....... 
This colony is readily counted with a fair 
degree of accuracy owing to the nature of 
the country and the fact of its comparative _ _ 
isolation from other Willet grounds. The 
birds in this area appear to show a steady 
increase during the past decade. of 


GROSSES COQUES, DIGBY Co.....:.... Sear 50 


The numbers here this year are dis- 
appointing in comparison with those of 
recent years. 


CHURCH POINT;. DIGBY CO.: . 1... /3#tue eee 20 
There appears to be a new colony spring- 
ing up here. Fa bed 


CHURCH POINT TO SALMON RIVER, DIGBY 


100 _ 


eres 
(Gal 


~ November, 1922.] 


. A few scattered pairs noted along this 
__. stretch of marshland. 


__ _CHEBOGUE TO LITTLE RIVER, YARMOUTH Co. 200 
This section is no doubt the best favored 
____ in the province for the birds. The marshes 

: are numerous and intricate. Birds in 
small colonies and scattered pairs were 
noted at many points. Natives here, with 
whom the question was discussed, contend 
that the Willets have increased during the 
4 past decade or two. s 


__ TUSKET MARSHES TO SURETTH’S ISLAND, 
MunEMOUTH CO... ee 


ee NG the period August 2 to 6, 1922, I 
was on a fishing trip to some small lakes back 
of Goulais Bay, Lake Superior, some 20 miles 
nearly north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The trip 
was made by auto to within a mile and a half of 
' the first lake and the one where our camp was 
located. The country is quite well settled to 
within a couple of miles of the lakes, there being 
__- a number of good farms. The lakes themselves 
-. are in a heavily wooded, rocky, mountainous 
region. 


Birds Seen: 


ben 7. Loon.—A pair on each lake visited. 

61. Herring GuLu.—4. A trapper told me 

_ that a few nest every year. 

300. CANADA RUFFED GROUSE.—Very plentiful. 
364. OSPREY.—2. On an island in one of the 
lakes was a nest on top of a pine stub about 35 
feet in height. I was told a pair of Ospreys had 

nested there for a good many years. 

* 388. BLACK-BILLED Cuckoo.—2. 


¥ 
rey 


390. BELTED KINGFISHER.—At all lakes visited. — 


893. Harry WoopPrecKER.—5. 

_. 394c. Downy WooppecKER.—Plentiful; saw one 
flock of at least 20. 

— 412a. NORTHERN FLICKER.—Several. 


420. ‘NIGHTHAWK.—7. 
423. CHIMNEY SWIFT.—3. 
428. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.—Several 


- around camp every day. 


a oe th bes =a eee 
4 % he 
7 y 


456. PHOEBE.—2. 
~ 461. Woop PEWEE.—3. 
~ 463. YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.—2. 
- ~ 467. Last FLYCATCHER.—2. 
477. ~Buiue Jay.—These birds were flocking. I 


Be . 
- saw numerous flocks, of which the largest con- 


J 
co ii 


‘ tained from 35 to 40 individuals. 


-in Sault Ste. Marie, . Michigan. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 153 


No colonies but birds common over entire 
area. 
ARGYLE TO VILLEGADALE (Villagedale is in 
Shelburne Cov) ny. 2c SF BE 100 
Isolated pairs in many small marshlands 
rather widely separated for the most part. 
VILLAGEDALE TO PoRT MOUTON, which is in 
Oieenis' CO. 7a. hate eee. - 100 
The district between these points is simi- 
lar to the above, there being no extensive 
areas of marshland. 


BIRD NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT OF ALGOMA, ONTARIO 


By M. J. MAGEE. 


514. EVENING GROSBEAK.—1 male. Dr. 
Christofferson, my associate in bird work, and 
myself have located the Evening Grosbeak west 
of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in summer for 
three years. For the past seven winters I have 
had a flock of from 30 to 60 at my feeding station 
They usually 
come in the latter part of October or the first part 
of November and stay until the latter part of May. 


540. VESPER SPARROW.—Plentiful. 

558. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.—Abundant, 
old and yoting. 

567. SLATE-COLORED JuNcO.—A pair of adults, 
with three young. 

581. Sonc SpARROW.—Plentiful. 

583. LINCOLN’S SPARROW.—A pair of adults, 
with two young. 

608. SCARLET TANAGER.—A pair of old birds 
with two young. This is just about the northern 
limit of the breeding area of this species in the 
Great Lakes region. 


614. TREE SWALLOW.—3. 

619. CEDAR WAXWING.—Common. 

624. RED-EYED VIREO.—Common. 

629. BLUE-HEADED VIREO.—1. 

654. BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.—l1 male. 
655. MYRTLE WARBLER.—Two flocks, about 15 
each. 

657. MAGNOLIA WARBLER.—1. 

667. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.—95. 
687. RRDSTART.—2. 

722. WINTER WREN.—2. 

735. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEB,—Several small 
flocks. 


759b. HERMIT THRUSH.—2. On August 5 I 
found a nest with four eggs. 


761. Rosin.—A few. 


154 


766. BLUEBIRD.—About 25. 

Both the Spring and Fall migrations of Warb- 
lers were very light. With the exception of the 
Myrtle Warbler we have seen no flocks of Warb- 
lers this year of ‘over 10 or 12 birds. 

Last year there was no food for the Winter 
birds in this vicinity or farther north, so, except 
at’ my feeding station, we had practically no 
Winter birds. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI : 


The Doctor and I spent four days in February my 


up the Algoma Central Railway, some fifty miles — 
one — 


north of the ‘‘Soo’’. 
Downy Woodpecker, 


Three Chickadees, 
and one Canada Ruffed 


Grouse were the sum total of what we could find. 


This year everything is loaded with fruit and — 


the Winter birds should be here in force. 


PROSECUTIONS—nmieratory BirDS CONVENTION ACT 


By Officers of the Dominion Parks Branch and Royal Canadian M ounted Police. 


a 4 


Reported during the period May 4th, 1922— 
November 23, 1922. 

Joseph Bruno, Ojibway, 
Molesting Ducks in close season. 
costs. 

Seizure—one .35 Caliber Revolver. 

Fred Chappus, Petite Cote, Ontario. Molest- 
ing Ducks in close season. Fine $10.00 and costs. 

Seizure—One 12-gauge Winchester repeating 
shot gun. 

Onesime Belisle, Ile Verte, P.Q. Having in 
possession an Hider Duck in close season. Fine 
$10.00 and costs. 

Seizure—One shot gun. 

William Belisle, Trois-Pistoles, P.Q. Having in 
possession an Eider Duck in close season. Charge 
withdrawn. ; 

Wilfrid Talbot, Ste. 


Mssex County, Ontario. 
Fine $10.00 and 


Eloi, P.Q. Having in 


Louis Mailloux, St. Simeon, P.Q. Having in 
possession portions of migratory birds in close 
season. Charge withdrawn. 


John Tremblay, St. Simeon, P.Q. Having in-‘ 


possession portions of migratory birds in close 
season. Charge withdrawn. ? 
John Lyman Nickerson, Big Mud Island, Yar- 
mouth Co., N.S. Having in possession a number 
of Terns’ eggs. Fine $15.00 and costs. . 
Frank Stranahan, Killam, Alberta. 
migratory game birds with an automatic shot gun. 
Fine $10.00 and costs. 


Seizure—One automatic shot gun. mi 
George Finlay, 21 Fairleigh Crescent, Banshee 


Having in possession a Woodcock in 
Fine $10.00. 


Ontario. 
close season. 


W. W. Powell, 191 Mary St., Hamilton, On- 


possession an Eider Duck in close season. Charge tario. Having in possession a Woodcock in close 
withdrawn. season. Fine $10.00. Fs 
EDITORIAL 
BIRD SANCTUARIES ON THE NORTH SHORE OF THE GULF OFST. - 


LAWRENCE. 


ONSERVATION is now widely recognized 

as an essential element in our attitude toward 

all wild creatures. What treasures of wild 
life we now possess ought to have their perpetua- 
tion assured. In the maintenance of such a 
policy lies the greatest wealth and the greater 
good, both for us and for the humanity of the 
future. 


In the conservation of our valuable and in- 
teresting bird life, it has been found that the 
establishment of sanctuaries or reserves, where 
birds may nest or feed in assured safety, is a most 
effective means of protection. It is especially 


applicable to sea-birds and other water-fowl, 


Hunting 


because these birds often nest habitually in con-— a 


centrated colonies, 
breeding birds may be protected on comparatively 
small areas. 


Many sanctuaries for such birds have aiteagine oe 
Up — 


been established officially in North America. 
to the present time, however, far the greater 


number of these sanctuaries are in the territory 


of the United States. That country has estab-— 
lished bird reservations on both the Atlantic and 


the Pacific coasts, in the Mississippi Valley, and a 
Some of these include large areas. 


in Alaska. 


where great numbers of 


3 
: 
: 
; 
“a 


set 


: Canada has a number of bird sanctuaries in the 
_ prairie regions of the West, but on the eastern 
- coast of the Dominion there are but two such 


reserves—the Bird Rocks, and Percé Rock and 
the cliffs of Bonaventure Island. These two 
reserves, which are set aside by both the Province 
of Quebec and the Dominion Government, afford 
protection to large numbers of nesting sea-birds, 
especially to the picturesque Gannets, and are of 
much importance. Although they have been 
established but a few years, and have been com- 


_ paratively little advertised, their potential value 


_ which is collected from the nest. 


fact that, 
registered at Percé’s “two hotels a spent about 


as attractions to tourists and summer holiday- 
makers may be realized to some extent from the 
in the summer of 1922, 767 visitors 


$16,000.00 in the village. 


But some of the water-fowl most in need of 
protection on our Atlantic seaboard receive 
little or no aid from these two reservations, and 
it is highly desirable that additional sanctuaries 
should be established in order to assure well- 
protected nesting areas for such species. One of 
the most important of these birds is the American 


_ Eider Duck, which is a close relative of the Eider 
_ of Europe, long famous for the valuable eider-down 


which it produces. In Norway and in Iceland 
the Eider is jealously protected because of the 
large revenue derived from the sale of its down, 
This revenue is 
obtained by comparatively light labor, without 
interference with fishing or other occupations, 
and it is of great importance to the welfare of the 
inhabitants of the regions where down is obtained. 
There appears to be no good reason why the Hider 
of our Canadian coast should not add similarly 
to the revenue of our people if it received proper 
protection and if the down from its nests were 


_ gathered, cleaned, and sold. Far from receiving 


such protection in the Gulf of St. Lawrence area, 
however, the Eider has been mercilessly hunted 
and its eggs have been taken at every oppor- 
tunity for decades, so that it was greatly re- 
duced in numbers. The same is true of many of 
its neighbors among the sea-birds. Fortunately, 
Provincial and Federal game laws now afford 
~some relief from this persecution. 


The chief breeding-place of the American Eider 
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence region is along the 
north shore of the Gulf. Here are thousands of 
barren, rocky, uninhabited islands, of all shapes 


and sizes, which are at present economically 


_ abundance, 


useless. On these islands Eiders breed in moderate 
in company at times with several 


other species of protected sea-birds, such as 


3 - Razor-billed Auks, 


oy 


Common Murres, Puffins, 


Gulls, and Pons. Here is an excellent, an unusual 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 155 


opportunity for the establishment of a series of 
sanctuaries which will be of great practical value, 
in that they will cause a few desolate islands, now 
of no use to any one, to become centers of valuable 
bird-life, yielding a revenue which will be a price- 
less boon to the poor inhabitants of the region, 
and which will doubtless have a marked influence 
in upbuilding this out-of-the-way part of the 
Dominion of Canada and the Province of Quebec. 
There is no doubt, in view of experience in 
European waters, that the Eider would quickly 
respond to the special protection which the 
sacntuaries would afford and would nest on the 
sanctuary islands in great numbers. Once the 
eider-down industry had become established in 
the sanctuaries, under government supervision, 
it is to be expected that the residents of the coast 
would voluntarily protect other islands, in order 
that the industry and the benefits to be derived 
from it might be increased. 

The plan to establish sanctuaries for the pro- 
tection of the birds of this coast is far from new. 
Lt.-Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C., of Quebec, 
has repeatedly urged in print* the advisability of 
setting aside areas for the protection of the wonder- 
ful wild life of this region, although he advocated 
chiefly a large reservation in which all forms of 
valuable wild life would be protected. While 
such a reservation would be very desirable, it is 
felt that, as far as protection of the birds is 
concerned, a series of reservations of comparatively 
small size is preferable to one large reservation. 
The small reservations would be less expensive and 
less difficult to guard effectively, they would 
interfere less with the normal activities of the 
people resident in any area, and yet would extend 
their benefits more widely. Lt.-Colonel Wood 
obtained approval of his plan for Labrador 
Sanctuaries from many persons of note, including 
Dr. Robert Bell, the Right Hon. James Bryce, 
Dr. John M. Clarke, Napoleon A. Comeau, 
George Bird Grinnell, the Hon. Theodore Roose- 
velt, Ernest Thompson Seton, Alfred Russell 
Wallace, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Rudyard 
Kipling, J. M. Macoun, and his Royal Highness 
the Duke of Connaught. Dr. Charles W. Town- 
send, who has often visited the north shore of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has also published$ a 
paper entitled Bird Conservation in Labrador, in 
which he states that he believes “that the whole 
problem can be solved most rationally and 


* “Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador,” by Lt.-Colonel 
William Wood, F.R.S.C., Ottawa, 1911. 

Supplement to Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador, by Lt.- 
Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C., Ottawa, 1912. 

Draft of a Plan for Beginning Animal Sanctuaries in 
Labrador, by Lt.-Colonel William Wood, 1913 (?) 

§ Bird Conservation in Labrador, by Charles Wendell 
Townsend, M.D., Seventh Ann. Rep. Commission of Conser- 
vation, Ottawa, 1916. 


pis 


a a aaa a 


156 


satisfactorily for all concerned by the immediate 
establishment of bird reservations and goes on to 
advocate the setting aside of a series of small 
reservations among the archipelagoes fringing the 
north shore. The residents of that coast them- 
selves are well known to realize the urgent need 
of giving protection to the birds which mean so 
much to them. Almost to a man they believe that 
a series of government bird sanctuaries should be 
established in their midst. The creation of such 
sanctuaries would meet with wide-spread popular 
approval and the task of patrolling them would 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


thereby be rendered comparatively easy. 
The time for the establishment of these sanc- 


[VoL. XXXVI = 


tuaries is at hand. Both the Government of the — 
Province of Quebec and the Dominion Govern- 


ment are fully informed concerning the question 


and have the necessary powers, and the creation ~ 


on this coast by joint action on their part of a 
series of well-chosen reservations for birds, similar 
to those now under joint protection at Pereé and 


the Bird Rocks, would be most welcome to all 


concerned. There is much to gain and nothing 
to lose by such action. 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


A FRESHWATER-ISOPOD NEW TO CANADA.— 
Since my article about these invertebrates was 
published in The Canadian Field-Naturalist for 
November, 1920, I have received from Prof. C. H. 
O’Donoghue of the University of Manitoba, 
Winnipeg, half a dozen specimens of Isopods 
“collected in a small stream, about half a mile 
- northwest of the Biological Station at Departure 
Bay (Nanaimo), B.C., late in July and in August, 
1921. The locality is right on the border of an 
old clearing that goes by the name of Hodgson’s 
*Ranch.”’ 

The specimens, when received, were dried up in 
the vial, but as this is the first record of freshwater 
isopods from western Canada, it was of importance 
to get them identified. I could see that it was an 
Asellus-species, but as it was little likely (see p. 
148 in my article quoted above), that the central 
and eastern form, A. communis Say occurred on 
Vancouver Island, and as I am not familiar with 
the Isopods found in the far western part of United 
States, the specimens were sent to the U.S. Nat- 
ional Museum, Washington, D.C., for identifica- 
tion. Mr. C. R. Shoemaker there has kindly 

identified them as Asellus-tomalensis Harford, a 
species hitherto known only from the three Pacific 
States. 

The type was described by S. J. Holmes on pp. 
321-23, pl. 37, in Proceed. California Academy of 
Sciences, 3rd Series, III, 1904, from a single speci- 
men, collected at Tomales Bay, California. Eight 
more specimens, collected by the Harriman Alaska 
Expedition at Lake Washington, near Seattle, are 
referred by H. Richardson to this species and des- 
cribed on pp. 431-33, figs. 487-89, of her Mono- 
graph Isopods N.A. (Bull. 54,U.S.N.M., Wash- 
ington, 1905). Specimens were also collected in 
Tanner Creek, Portland, Oregon, in May, 1905, 
by Dr. J. E. Benedict. 

The characteristics of the species are a light- 
brown, somewhat mottled colour, and a narrow, 


elongate body. The first pair of legs are sub- 
cheliform in shape, and their propodus (the joint 
next to the claw) is elliptical in outline, with the 
inferior margin straight, and furnished with 
numerous short spines or stiff hairs, by which 
latter characters it can be distinguished from A. 
communis. 

The finding of additional freshwater-isopods in 


western Canada would have considerable interest, _ 
and be much appreciated by the undersigned.— — 


FRITS JOHANSEN. 

A CLADOCERAN NEW TO AMERICA.—On June 
21st, 1922, in a collection of Entomostraca from 
a marshy pool near the Biological Station, St. 
Andrews, N.B., I found a specimen of Scaphole- 
beris cornuta, Schoedler. I placed this specimen 
in culture and it produced two parthogenetic 
young which I raised to maturity. This species 
has been known for a long time in Europe, but- 
this is, as far as I know, the first record of its oc- 
currence in America.—A. BROOKER KLUGH. 


BUMBLE-BEES ON BLEEDING HBART.—When 
I lived in Pilot Mound (1901-16) I grew Dielytra 
spectabilis for many years and can verify Mr. C. E. 
Johnson’s observations.(Can. Field-Nat., Vol. 
XXXVI, No. 3, March, 1922). The lovely pink 
of this flower’s quaint globes immediately lost 
tone and faded as the result of the pete Det s 
perforating jaws.—H. M. SPEECHLY. 

A FRESHWATER-SPONGE NAMED AFTER PROF. 
JOHN Macoun.—In the list of new species of 
plants and animals named in honour of the late 
Prof. John Macoun, of Ottawa, appearing in the 


obituary in The Canadian Field-Naturalist for 


September, 1920, p. 113, and at the end of his 
autobiography (1922) p. 304, it is stated that the 
listis as yet imcomplete. \ 


I therefore take the liberty to call attention to © 


Z the ommission of the unique freshwater-sponge 
- eollected by Prof. Macoun in the lake-pond 
situated in the centre of Sable Island, N.S., and 


described by Dr. A. H. MacKay, of Halifax, as 
Heteromeyenia macouni n. sp., in Trans. N.S. 
Inst. Scien., Vol. X, 1899-1900. 

Apart from the fact that it commemorates 
Prof. Macoun’s important stay upon the island 
during the summer of 1899, and increases the list 


of animals named after him from five to six, I 


_ think that the record is also of importance as 


showing his interest in freshwater life as well as 
in that upon land and in the sea.—F RITS JOHAN- 
sEN. 


ACUTENESS OF VISION IN Pagurus arcadianus.— 
The compound eye of Arthropods is extremely 
well adapted to perceive movement but not so 


well adapted for accurate perception of form. It 


has been shown experimentally that ants of the 
genus Formica can see large stationary objects at 
a distance of 10 centimeters, but cannot see small 
objects, that is, objects of their own size, further 
than 5 millimeters. Dragonflies, which, as far 


as known, have the most acute vision of all 


Arthropods, appear to be able to perceive the 
form of objects at 2 meters. It is not always 
easy, in fact it is often extremely difficult, to say 


what sense is involved in bringing about a certain 


action in an insect or a crustacean. Many 
reactions of these animals which are casually put 
down as being due to sight are found on experi- 
ment to be due to some other sense, and any 
exact data on this matter are of interest from the 
standpoint of animal psychology. 

At the Atlantic Biological Station in August, 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 157 


1921, we took six Hermit Crabs, Pagurus arca- 
dianus, out of the shells of the Whelk, Buccinum 
undatum, which they had inhabited, and placed 
the crabs in one of the large shallow tanks of 
running sea water in the laboratory. We then 
placed clean, sun-dried Whelk shells at various 
distances from the Hermits. Up to a distance of 
80 centimeters the crabs perceived the shells at 
once, made straight for them, ‘‘measured them 
up’’, outside and inside, with their chelae, and, if 
they found them suitable, promptly inserted their 
bodies into the shells. In this case, there is no 
doubt that vision was the sense involved, since 
the clean shells could not give off any substance 
which could be perceived by the chemotactic 
senses.—A. BROOKER KLUGH. 


Cassiope tetragona IN WESTERN ALBERTA.— 
While collecting in the Rocky Mountains of 
Western Alberta in September, 1922, I was for- 
tunate in discovering a plant whose occurrence 
at this point may prove interesting to many 
botanists. I refer to the white or moss heather 
(Cassiope tetragona). The locality was Rocky 
Pass just south of Mountian Park. with an altitude 
of about 7,000 feet. The specimen collected was 
in a mossy spruce woods near timber-line. It is 
evidently a far northern plant, for Dr. M. O. 
Malte, Chief Botanist of the National Herbarium, 
who very kindly identified this and all other 
botanical specimens for me, has this to say of it: 
“Concerning No. 673, I am glad to state that you 
have brought the southern limit of this northern 
plant a long way south. We have Cassiope 
tetragona in our herbarium from numerous places 
in the far north, the most southern locality, how- 
ever, being from the Yukon district.’””—J. DEWwRy 
SOPER. 


BOOK REVIEW 


THE CONSERVATION OF THE WILD LIFE OF CANA- 
pa.—(Concluded from Vol. XXXVI, No. 7, 


p. 140). 


While game laws with longer close seasons and 
more restricted bag limits have done something to 
prevent the rapid if not appalling diminution of 
all kinds of game from the lordly moose to the 
diminutive Plover and Sandpiper, the total result 
in comparison with the annually increasing num- 
ber of gunners and the improvement of weapons 
of destruction is not encouraging. Of recent years 
the sentiment seems to be growing among con- 


_servationists that the only hope of preserving a 
_ remnant of many species is by establishing here 


and there a nucleus in the shape of a park or 


sanctuary where destruction shall be absolutely 
prohibited. Recognizing the legitimate needs of 
sportsmen, these oases of protection, which may 
also serve as forest reserves or recreation parks, 
may preserve species which would otherwise 
become absolutely extinct, and the overflow from 
the boundaries afford a perennial and certain 
supply to surrounding territory. The United 
States haye done much along such lines, but 
Canada, a newer country with more unoccupied 
land, has as Dr. Hornaday says, “set out to get 
for herself a-plenty of national parks and game 
preserves while the getting was good. No pro- 
vince seemed disposed to be left behind in this 
conservation enterprise. As a final result, these 
red-spotted maps tell a great story of enlighten- 


oo. ee ee 


a. 
a) 


158 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


ment and progress. Until it enters its decadence, 
no city, State, or nation ever deconsecrates and 
gives back to commercial uses a park or a wild 
life sanctuary that has once been dedicated to the 
whole people as theirs.” 


Eastern Canada has four huge game reserves, 
Manitoba and Saskatchewan have thirty-one, 
mostly small ones; Alberta and British Columbia 
have seven between them, including the immense 
areas of Jasper Park and the Rocky Mountains 
Park at Banff. Maps of these parks and wild 
life sanctuaries are given, together with accounts 
of their principal attractions, and anyone in 
Canada or outside of it who expects ever to spend 
a vacation in Canada should have the book as a 
companion. 


The Buffalo Park at Wainwright, Alberta, is a 
most successful experiment. A few hundred 
buffalo purchased in Montana in 1908 have 
increased to more than five thousand and are now 
taxing the resources of the park. The whole 
story of the former abundance of the buffalo and 
its tragic extermination as a wild animal is graph- 
ically told, the future of the buffalo is discussed, 
as well as the results of cross-breeding with 
domestic cattle. An area southwest of Medicine 
Hat has been fenced to include a herd of wild 
antelope on their native range, and they are 
increasing, an encouraging sign, as antelope have 
never thrived when captured and confined. The 
extended chapter on the game animals of Canada, 
describing their distribution, habits, and present 
numbers, will be a delight to the general reader. 
Much illuminating knowledge is given in regard 
to the increase of the common deer after the settle- 
ment of the country, and the book also sums up 
the tangible part of the mass of floating data 
regarding the numbers and possibility of utiliza- 
tion of the barren ground caribou and gives a fair 
presentation of the present knowledge of the 
reindeer industry in Alaska and its applicability 
to Canada. The rapid shrinkage in the numbers 
of the muskox is lamented and Dr. Hewitt’s 
share in securing a permanent closed season for 
this interesting and valuable animal is discussed, 
as well as the latest proposals for the potential 
utilization of the muskox in a domesticated state, 


Under the heading of game birds and larger 
non-game birds of Canada, particular attention is 
given to those birds which have been recently so 
reduced in numbers as to receive special protection 
under the Migratory Birds Convention while the 
other more important game birds are fully dis- 
cussed. An excellent chapter is devoted to birds 
in relation to agriculture. Under this are most 
useful descriptions of methods of attracting birds, 
lists of native trees and shrubs bearing fruits 


attractive to birds, methods of building bird-— 3 


houses, destruction of bird enemies, and an ac- 
count of the subject of bird sanctuaries. In 
another chapter the enemies of wild life are given 


(Vou. XXXVI 


detailed attention, the most important feature in — 


this line being the wolf and coyote problem as 


affecting big game and the livestock interests. 


Taken as a whole the book may be said to 


contain something of interest to every person who 
is interested in any phase of wild life and there 
are few who can not qualify in that class. The 
year since the above was written has conclusively 
demonstrated to the writer its great value as a 
reference book and any Canadian library, public 
or private, is incomplete without it. The scientist, 


naturalist, and teacher find in Dr. Hewitt’s book — 


facts not assembled elsewhere, and made clear by 

maps and charts; the conservationist and law- 

maker find arguments for justifying their claims, 

and all Canadians may take pride in reading that 

their country has done so creditably in the world- 

wide movement for conservation, and feel grati- 

tude to Dr. Hewitt, the lamented friend of man~ 
who did so much for the cause of conservation 

and so gracefully and: graphically recorded it.— 

R. M. A. 


CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANADIAN BrioLocy, 1906-20 
(Supplement to Annual Reports of the Depart- 
ments of Marine and Fisheries and Naval 
Service, Ottawa, 1912-21.) 


The first two (1901-1902-05) numbers or 
volumes of this important Government publication 
dealing with marine and freshwater biology have 
been reviewed in the Ottawa Naturalist for May, 
1902, and October, 1907, where also the history 
and organization of the Biological Station at se 
Andrews, N.B., is recorded. 

Since then, and until the changing of the 
editorial office from Ottawa (Prof. Prince), to 
Toronto (Prof. MeMurrich), in 1921, six volumes 
(1906-10, 1911-4. 1914-5, 1915-6, 1917, 1918-20) 
have appeared, still further increasing the scientific 
value of these reports, and showing the great 
variety of subjects studied by the contributors. 
In addition to the Atlantic Station, two more 


biological stations were established, one at Depar- _ 


ture Bay (Nanaimo), B.C., and the other at 
Georgian Bay, Ont. The latter was, however, 
discontinued after some years, as similar work is 


being done by institutions in Toronto, and the | 


collections made deposited in the Government 
museums. The Biological Board of Canada has 
however up to this day, continued the investiga- 
tions of fishery-problems in the Great Lakes and 
published the results thereof. 

Apart from the many treatises on Algwe and 


"5 


oms, botanists will find several, original 
ticles on plants. Thus the 1906-10 volume in- 
udes a paper on the flora of the St. Croix River- 
ey and Passamaquoddy Bay region, N.B.,* 
scussed from an ecological point of view; and 
e 1911-14 volume (Fasc. II) three papers on the 
an s of Georgian Bay. 
Geologists will be particularly interested in two 
ticles about the geological environments of the 
iological Stations at Departure Bay, B.C., and 
Andrews, N.B., in the 1906-10 and 1915-16 
umes respectively. And entomologists will 
appreciate the three papers on Odonata and 
_ Ephemeroidea (both adults and immature stages) 
in the 1911-14 (Fasc. II) volume. 
The vast majority of articles in these six vo- 
es treat however of course hydrography (in its 
widest sense), marine biology and _fishery-pro- 
_ blems. To give an idea of the great variety of 
subjects we will first take those dealing with 
_ physiology, chemistry and bacteriology. 
_ Experiments with freezing and thawing of live 
fishes are recorded in the 1911-14 volume; while 
"examinations of the content of iodine, etc., in 
marine animals and alge are also found in the 
1914-15 volume. The 1917 and 1918-20 volumes 
_ contain half a dozen treatises on the putrefaction, 
bacteriology, etc., of fresh and canned fish, 
questions as important for the consumer as for the 


- 


~ packer. 


found in the 1906-10, 1914-15 and 1917 volumes; 
while the waters at Departure Bay, B.C., are 
treated in the 1914-15 and the 1918-20 volumes. 
t is a well known fact, that no real understanding 
of the movements of the fishes, their breeding- 
habits, etc., is possible without an examination of 
__ the surroundings in which they live; quite apart 
from the importance of hydrographic investiga- 


ce te As for the microscopic life (Plankton) floating 
in the sea and in fresh-water, the most primitive 
; forms (Phyto-plankton) occurring in the Bay of 
_ Fundy are recorded and discussed (distribution, 
cultures, ete.), in the 1906-10, 1911-14, 1915-16 
and 1918-20 volumes; the last named volume 


other Canadian localities, viz.: the Magdalen 
- Islands, Montreal, Georgian Bay, and Lake 
_ Winnipeg. The Zoo-plankton forms occurring at 
Andrews, N.B., are discussed in the 1911-14 
ind 1915-16 volumes ;and the 1906-10 volume con- 

ns an account of the different bivalve Molluse- 
e at the Atlantic coast of Canada. Also the 
utions of a peculiar family of pelagic worms, 
floating Tunicates, at the Atlantic coast, as 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


159 


shown by the collections made by the Canadian 
Fisheries Expedition, 1914-15, are described in the 
1918-20 volume. 


The importance of the study of plankton-forms 
need hardly be emphasized; the more minute and 


primitive forms serve as food for the larger ones; a 
and practically all the marine animals, from the “0 
fishes down to the lower invertebrates, have a 7a 
pelagic stage of shorter or longer duration, during “<4 
which they contribute to the make-up of the — = 
plankton. Besides the plankton forms the food 
for some of the largest whales and sharks, and for 
certain fishes, such as the herring, etc., of enormous af 


economic importance. 


As to the bottom-life, the economic value of the 
kelp-beds of the British Columbia coast is dis- 
cussed in the 1914-15 volume; while marine alge 
from Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B., are recorded 
and described in the 1915-16 and 1918-20 volumes. - 
Accounts of the marine invertebrate fauna in 
general will be found in the 1906-10 and 1917 
volumes, so far as the Atlantic coast is concerned, 
and in the 1918-20 vollme for Departure Bay, B.C. 


Coming to the diffeernt groups of invertebrates, 
observations on the Actinaria (sea-anemones) 
occurring at St. Andrews, N.B., are found in the 
1906-10 volume; while the 1917 and 1918-20 
volumes contain two papers (the one an illustrated = 
semipopular key) on the Hydroids of eastern 
Canada. 

The freshwater-leeches and polyzoa (Bryozoa) 
occurring in Georgian Bay, Ont., are recorded in 
the 1911-14 volume (Fasc. II). 


The 1911-14 volume also contains an account 
of the freshwater-molluses of Georgian Bay, Ont., 
while the pearly freshwater-mussels of Ontario are ~ 
Penge in the 1917 volume as to their economic 
value. 


A list of the marine molluses found at St. 
Andrews, N.B., will be found in the 1911-14 
volume (Fase. I) and the 1917 volume contains 
an interesting account of the ship-worm (Teredo 
navalis), so destructive an animal to the wharves, 
etc. Five papers dealing with oysters and clams 
in te Maritime Provinces (Gulf of St. Lawrence) 
will be found in the 1906-10, 1914-15, and 1915-16 
volumes, treating of their economic importance, 
proper surroundings, diseases, etc. 


Turning to Crustacea we will find two important 
contributions to our knowledge of the freshwater 
forms of Ontario in the 1911-14 volume; two other 
papers on the marine forms occurring at St. 
Andrews, N.B., in the 1906-10 and 1911-14 
volumes; and a fifth on the marine Decapods at 
the coasts of British Columbia in the 1906-10 
volume. The most. valuable of all our cursta- 
ceans, the lobster, of course also comes in for 
attention; and six articles on its physiology, 
histology, diseases, surroundings, etc., will be 
found in the 1906-10, 1914-15, 1917, and 1918-20 
volumes. The fragility of the very young lobsters, 
and their susceptibility to less perfect surroundings 
add to the importance of these papers. “te 

As to the simple looking, but highly organized 
Tunicates (sea-squirts), a detailed description, 
accompanied by twelve beautiful plates, of 
Ascidiacea collected in British Columbia and at 
Herschel Island, Arctic Canada, recording a — 
number of new species, will be found in the 1906- 
10 volume. < 


2 


~ Foe sa i \* 
ery COIR ato T'S eae aa 


PT ee ESOT RE fie ee, 


PY 


* 


ae 


s 


a 
s 

4 
: 


, . » =e 


160 


The different parasites affecting fishes are of 
course also treated. Thus, of curstaceans, cope- 
pods from Vancouver IslTnR Tr? describeR In zhe 
1906-10 volume, and from zhe Bay of Fundy in 
the 1911-14 volume. An interesting tap?-worm 
(Cestod) from Black Bass is described in the 1911- 
14 volume; while the primitive parasites (Spo- 
rozoa) affecting fishes at the Atlantic coast are 
recorded in the same volume (Fasc. I), and in that 
for 1914-15. 

Results of an investigation into the different 
kinds of bait used by fihsermen at the Atlantic 
coast will be found in the 1906-10 volumes; 
while the 1917 volume contains a long, illustrated 
report on the investigations of the herds of sea- 
lions frequenting the Pacific coast of Canada, a 
rather controversial subject, as the fishermen claim 
that much damage to the fisheries (particularly to 
the salmon) is done by these seals. 

Fishes and fisheries in a stricter sense are of 
course treated in a number of articles and reports. 

Thus the 1911-14 volume contains a long 
account of the freshwater fishes of Georgian Bay, 
Ont., illustrated by plates; while the freshwater 
and marine fishes* of Prince Edward Island are 
recorded in the 1906-10 volume. In the 1917 
volume an annotated list of the fishes ofund in 
the vicinity of Magdalen Islands and the Nova 
Scotia coast opposite will be found. 

Treatises dealing with the appearance, life- 
history, and economic value of certain fishes are 
well represented. Thus, besides a description of 
a new Cottoid (sculpin) from Departure Bay, 
B.C., in the 1916-10 volume, the Pacific Halibut- 
fisheries are traeted in the 1914-15 volume; and 
the biology, ete., of the various kinds (Spring-, 
Coho-, Sockeye-, Dog-, Humpback-) of Salmon 
occurring in British Columbia will be found ni 
four articles in the 1915-16, 1917, 1918-20 volumes. 
Of fishes occurring at the Atlantic coast of Canada, 
the utilization of the Selachians (dog-fish, etct.)is 
discussed in the 1917 volume; the aggs and larve 
of Halibut in the 1914-15 volume; and the life- 
history (as learned from scale examinations) of 
the Cod, Hake, and Haddock, and the migration 
of Eels also in the 1914-15 volume. The 1915-16 
volume contains an article about the colour- 
pattern of cod-fishes; the 1917 volume another 
about the growth of the Pollock; and the biology 
of the Mutton-fish (Zoarces anguillaris) is gtreated 
in the 1918-20 volume. 

To enumerate the names of the different authors 
is hardly necessary; they are practically all 
Canadian workers, and their writings mostly 
embody the results of their own investigations at 
the two (three) Biological Stations; often they 
are authorities upon the particular subject they 
write ablut. After the acquisition of the large 
motor-launch, Prince, specially constructe and 
fitted out for marine investigations, it has been 
possible to utilize it for research work far away 
from the St. Andrews station, where the main 
body of workers stay during the summer and have 
smaller boats at their disposal. Thus the work 
goes on, during the summer, both in the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, 
and in the Bay of Fundy; and now everything is 
running smoothly. Each ot the two stations is in 


*In the table of contents the title of this paper is given as 
Notes on the Fauna (should be Fishes) of Tignish, P.E.1. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


aN 


ivy 4 x se 
[VoL. XXXVI — 

ae 
charge of an efficient curator of scientific standing — 
and is well patronized by workers from all over — 
Canada. It is well to remember the great and — 
successful work accomplished by the former ~ 
chairman and present secretary-treasurer of the 
Biological Board of Canada, Prof. E. E. Prince, 
Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, who has the — 
main credit ofr the creation and proper functioning — 
of this institution. 


As chairman of the Board he arranged for the 
upkeep of the biological stations and the selecting 
of the workers, and also for the planning and 
carrying out of the investigations; as individual 
worker in research studies at the stations he 
showed the way and inspired his colleagues; 
finally in the onerous work of gathering in and 
editing his reports resulting from the investigations 
he was tireless in his endeavour to make the vo- 
lumes published worthy of Canadian Science. 
The important work of making outsiders appre- 
ciate the work being done by the Board for the — 
benefit of one of the principal resources and 
industries of Canada has also largely devolved 
upon him. 

It is perhaps worth mentioning that the Biolo- 
gical Board of Canada, the establishment of which, — 
in 1898, has been recorded in the Ottawa Naturalis 
for May, 1902, p. 46, is made up of a dozen repre- 
sentatives from the principal universities in 
Canada; and though in the course of time certain 
of its members have been replaced by others the 
charactre and purpose of the Board is the same 
as formerly. Marine Biology, Anatomy, Physio- 
logy, Botany, Geology and Chemistry are all ably _ 
represented upon the Board; and though its 
members serve without pay, and only meet 
occasionally, it is decidedly one of the most useful 
and successful institutions established by the | 
Canadian Government during the last thirty — 

ears’ 

.. If it is true that the value of a particular Depart- 
ment is not measured by the number of people 
employed in it, nor by the amount of printed 
matter emanating from it; but by economic and 
efficient administration, and by the courageous 
and intelligent tackling of great practical and 
scientific problems, resulting in important contri- 
butions to our knowlecge of the resources of the 
country, then the Biological Board of Canada 
occupies a place in the front rank. Similar 
institutions in the United States are supported by 
private means, and the same is mainly the case 
with the biological stations in Europe. In other 
countries instruction of university-students is an 
important part of the work; in Canada however 
the effort is devoted solely to original research by 
post-graduates, and thus the result is more im- - 
mediate. 

Is it too much to hope that the various provinces 
of Canada, who are so insistent upon the resources 
within their borders, to a far greater extent than 
hitherto will recognize their responsibilities as to 
the scientific investigation and development of 
them? Investigations of the many important 
bodies of fresh water in southern Canada could 
at least be done by the provinces at reasonable 
expense, as shown by the Universities of Toronto 
and Manitoba, leaving the Great Lakes and the 
sea (where international cooperation is often — 
necessary), and the arctic territories to the 
Dominion Government.—F. J. , Pv, 


' 


~The Topley Company 


me 


PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL. 
SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS. 


Pe 
132 Sparks St. OTTAWA. 


Grant-Holden-Graham- Limited 


Manufacturers of 
HIGH GRADE TENTS, TARPAULINS AND SLEEPING BAGS 
OUTFITTERS TO SURVEYORS AND ENGINEERS. 


Write for Catalogues. 


147 Albert Street OTTAWA, Canada 


C. A. OLMSTED & SON 


JEWELLERS, OPTICIANS, WATCHMAKERS AND ENGRAVERS. 


Dealers in Fine Diamonds, Sterling Silver, 
Electro-Plated Ware and Rich Cut Glass. 


“The Store of MODERATE PRICES.” 


208 Sparks St., OTTAWA. Phone Queen 1430 


— Oe ee © 


’ iB pene d Manufacturing Chemists 
Lyman S imite Imboies and Dealers in 
(Established 1800 CHEMICAL AND ASSAY 

APPARATUS 


344 St. Paul St., West, MONTREAL 


Grow Good Crops Seeds Plants——Bulbs. 


Our rigorous system of testing eliminates loss 
and disappointment from your garden. 


KENNETH McDONALD & SONS, Limited 


Seed and Bulb Merchanis. Market Square, OTTAWA. 

. 
.C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter 
sre LIKE A WATCH. MOST POPULAR Y DEM TO-DAY- 


OTTAWA TYPEWRITER CO., Limited. 


THE ONTARIO HUGHES OWENS CO., Limited 


SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS AND DRAWING MATERIALS. 
We have a Modern Repair Department. 


529 Sussex Street, Ottawa. Phone Q. 8028 


THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA 


CAPITAL_ .$ 9,700,000. 
RESERVE FUND AND DIVIDEND PROFITS ‘OVER. 18,000,000. 
TOTAL ASSETS OVER. 2 2) 2 OES eee 230,000,000. 


SEVENTEEN BRANCHES IN OTTAWA AND HULL. 


WARD'S NAT. SCIENCE ESTABLISHMENT. 


HEADQUARTERS FOR ENTOMOLOGICAL 
SUPPLIES AND STOMOLS Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A. 


the genuine Schmitt boxes, exhibition cases and cabinets, also of the American Entomological 


botanical mounts always on hand, also Riker botanical presses. 
ly catalogue and other lists of interest to collectors. 


. 
The Toronto General Trusts Corporation 
CAPITAL, $1,500,000. RESERVE, $2,000,000 
Successful administration of ESTATES ranging in value from $500 to $5,000.00 each, is 
the best guarantee that you may confidently name as your Executor and TRUSTEE this Cor- 
poration 


JAMES ‘DAVEY, Manager. Ottawa Branch: COR. SPARKS and ELGIN STS. 


The Mortimer Co. Limited 


PRODUCERS OF THOUGHTFUL PRINTING. 
Lithographers, Engravers, Bookbinders, Creators of Advertising Literature. _ 


OTTAWA, MONTREAL TORONTO 


The Ottawa Monotype Composition Co. 
COMPOSITION—MAKE UP—TYPE FOR CASES 
Makers of “CAPITAL TYPE”’ 
TELEPHONE QUEEN 6704 171-175 NEPEAN STREET 


Henry Birks & Sons Limited 


GOLD AND SILVERSMITHS 
101-105 Sparks Street, 


OTTAWA 


| 

a 

a -o 
| 


OR ey AA 


* 


SUBSCRIPTION BLANK 


opin hit Sie 


The Membership Committee of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club is making 
a special effort to increase the subscription list of THE CANADIAN FIELD- 
NATURALIST. Every member of the Club is urged to assist in this campaign 
by showingthis number to a possible subscriber and endeavoring to have the 
attached blank filled in and forwarded to the Treasurer. 


MR. C. B. HUTCHINGS, Treasurer, O.F.-N.C. 


Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. 


I enclose herewith One Dollar and Fifty Cents subscription to THE CANADIAN 


FIELD-NATURALIST for one year. 


W. A. Rankin Fine Builders’ Hardware 


410-412 Bank St., Ottawa. Refrigerators and Hammocks. 
PHONES—QUEEN 1023-1024. 


a 
Inspected Milk Gal Fresh Butter 
Ice Cream Qilawe Buttermilk. — 


JAMES HOPE & SONS GEO. E. PRESTON & SONS 
MERCHANT TAILORS 


We make everything we sell and guarantee 
everything we make. 


Booksellers, Stationers, 
Bookbinders, Printers. 


63 SPARKS STREET OTTAWA. 217-219 RIDEAU ST., OTTAWA. 


THE C. C. RAY Co. Limited| Dr. Mark G. McELHINNEY 


Dentist to certain of 


Best Quality. Lowest Prices. the cognoscenti. 
COAL 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA 
46 Sparks St., Ottawa Phone Q. 461 Phone Queen 2438. 


ALWAYS at your SERVICE 
The Ottawa Gas Co. 


The Ottawa Electric Co. 
pegs ere pA ee 


FOR SALE—Back Numbers of The Ottawa Naturalist. 


The Club has for sale complete sets of its publications. Enquiries regarding price should 


be addressed to the Secretary of the Club, Mr. C. L. Patch, Geological Survey, Ottawa. 


Any member having copies of the March, 1896, January, February, March and August, 
1898, and December, 1900, issue of the Ottawa Naturalist, and who desires to dispose of the 


same, is requested to communicate with the Secretary. 


-- 


As 


- VOL. XXXVI 


The Canadian Field-Naturalist 


OTTAWA, ONT., DECEMBER, 1922 


No. 9 


THE BIRDS OF NORTH BAY, ONTARIO, AND VICINITY IN 1904 


By Stuart L. THOMPSON 


ORTH BAY is situated on the northeast 
shore of Lake Nipissing, in the District 
of Nipissing, Province of Ontario. At the 


time of my acquaintance with it, 1904, it was a 


“town of some 3,500 inhabitants of French-Cana- 


- ¢ 


dian and British stock, with a sprinkling of 
Indians, living for the most part in the outskirts, 
the territory to the west of the lake being an 
Indian reserve. 

Speaking generally, the country surrounding 
the town slopes very gently towards the lake, is 
fairly level and extends north and east some four 
‘miles where it rises abruptly into a sort of bushy, 


rounded cliff between 100 and 200 feet high. 


_ This ridge extends in a south-east to westerly 


direction, forming a sharp contour on the sky line. 


In the south and east it rises abruptly, but it is 


we 


. 
r. 


gradually lost towards the west in the general 
level. Below this ridge is the flat sloping surface 
covered with low woods that form the immediate 
background to the town. North and east of the 
town the country is flat or gently rolling, with more 
or less stony mounds, and dips down into a damp, 
boggy thicket which becomes locally grassy 
-muskeg. To the west the same character of 


- eountry prevails except that the mounds become 


fie 


ie? ol 


at eae SF 


LS 205) eas ee 


-s 


ie < 


- 


_ the shore is a level sandy beach, but to the west it 


rocky hills, sometimes of bare rock with little 
vegetation of any size. Lake Nipissing, occupy- 
ing the south and west outlook from the town, is 
18 miles in length and empties into Georgian Bay 
by way of the French River. It is generally 
supposed to be a treacherous lake due to its shal- 
_lowness and the sudden wind storms to which it 
is subject, which raise comparatively rough water. 
For many miles along the north arm of the lake 


becomes rocky and wooded. 
On the south side of the town flows Chippewa 
_ Creek, a small stream but a few feet across. Its 


course is very crooked and its banks for the most 
_ part are covered with alders and similar shrubbery. 


It rises to the north in the low-lying woods behind 
the town. A mile or so west of town is Chien 


ef Creek, a much larger stream, rising in. the rocky 
~ hills and flowing through rock channels and small 


gorges. 
lake. 

Speaking generally the country about North 
Bay could at that time be called rocky woods. 
The only exception to this description was the low- 
lying grassy and bushy marsh. The only spot 
that could be called a field was a certain clearing 
of 40 or 50 acres in extent, grass grown between 
great pine stumps, bounded by the lake on one 
side and by dense woods and the town on the 
others. Here alone were seen such species as 
Vesper Sparrow and Meadowlark. 

The forest was a mixture of coniferous and 
deciduous trees. The commoner of the former 
species were Red and White Pine, Cedar and 
Balsam Fir, with Tamarack in the damp parts. 
Of the latter, Black, Yellow and White Birch; 
Maple, Cherry, Poplar, Willow, Alder, Dogwood 
and other of lower growth were found. The 
character of the country on the whole is very. 
suitable for both migrant and resident birds. 

The climate does not differ greatly from that of 
Northern Ontario generally, and is not greatly 
modified either way by the immediate presence of 
Lake Nipissing. The summers are short and hot 
but the nights are always cool enough for comfort. 
June and July are the hottest months; August, 
especially towards the end, usually suggests the 
return of autumn. The winters are long and 
fairly cold. Heavy night frosts begin in October. 
November is cold and December usually sees 
winter fairly well begun. January and February are 
the coldest months. Temperatures of 40 and 45 
degrees below zero are not rare and the snow lies 
about two feet deep. Towards the end of Feb- 
ruary the sun shines brightly and the days appear 
almost mild. In March, real winter may be 
considered to be past. April is a rather cold 
spring month and May is likely to be showery. 


Like Chippewa Creek it empties into the 


1. Podilymbus podiceps. PIED-BILLED GREBE. 
—Common summer resident in the reedy parts at 
the west end of Lake Nipissing.- August 29, I 
secured two specimens. 


A, ; 


aa" 


162 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


2 & 3. Larus argentatus and L. delawarensis. 
HERRING and RING-BILLED GULLS.—Both tolerab- 
ly common summer residents on Lake Nipissing. 

4. Mergus serrator. RED-BREASTED MERGAN- 
SER.—Very common around Manitou Island, Lake 
Nipissing, where in August we constantly saw 
adults with young. They rarely permitted close 
approach, pattering off over the water as we 
approached. The young, though unable to fly 
were well able to care for themselves. It was no 
rare thing to come upon a flock of ten or fifteen 
Mergansers as our canoe rounded a point. We 
secured one specimen which proved to be this 
species. The only adults seen were females, the 
males never appearing. 

5. Ardea herodias. GREAT BLUE HERON.— 

Common summer resident. Frequently seen on 
the lake shore and occasionally flying overland. 
In August I found them very abundant in marshes 
and on rocky islets in the West Arm of Lake 
Nipissing. 
_-6. Marila sp. ScauPp Duck.—A Scaup Duck 
frequently seen on the lake in September. 
Whether Greater or Lesser Scaup could not be 
determined. 

7. Botaurus lentiginosus. AMERICAN BITTERN. 
—Rather rare. Seen only on two occasions in 
low-lying open muskeg country. There is not 
sufficient open marsh to lead one to expect many 
Bitterns. 

8. Pisobia bairdi. BAtRD’s SANDPIPER —The 
only actual record I have of Baird’s Sandpiper is 
that of a specimen collected September 7 on the 
shores of Lake Nipissing. This day I found shore 
birds quite common and saw several small flocks 
of Baird’s. Although I have seen Sandpipers in 
spring that might be Baird’s I have no certain 
spring record. 

9. Ereunetes pusillus. SEMIPALMATED SAND- 
PIPER.—Found commonly in the fall. A specimen 
collected September 7. I think I have seen it in 
spring but never certainly identified it then. 


10. Actitis macularia. SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 
—Common summer resident both on the lake 
shore and on muddy flats of the creek. 


11. Ozyechus vociferus. KILLDEER.—Owing to 


-the lack of open fields that flood and remain 


muddy into late spring the Killdeer is rather rare 
in the North Bay country. Occasionally near the 
shore of the lake I have heard or seen it flying over. 
The only time I ever met the Killdeer at close 
range here was in June, 1903, when I came upon 
one amongst many Spotted Sandpipers on the 
beach near the mouth of a sewer. 


‘12. Circus hudsonius. MARSH HAwkK.—Com- 


‘mon summer resident. It was often seen winging 


back and forth over the muskeg country or the 


(Vou. XXXVI 


rough open clearings. Many were in high 
plumage, being quite pearl gray. In fall it is 
seldom seen even in immature plumage. ars 

13. Accipiter velox, . SHARP-SHINNED_ HAWK.— 
Rather rare summer resident. I have seen the 
Sharp-shin only on rare occasions and in the more 
or less wooded regions where his small size and 
long, slim appearance helped to identify him. 

14. Buteo platypterus. BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 
—Rather rarely seen. On several occasions I have 


_ seen Hawks that might have been Broad-winged 


but only when the familiar “Chuck-kee-e-e-e” 
was heard was I sure of the species. 

15. Halizxetus leucocephalus. BALD EAGLE.— 
Rather rare. Saw one pair one day while walking 
to Powassin. Though-they were flying over I 
could see the markings plainly. In August on 
French River I saw a fine specimen flying back 
and forth for some minutes over the marsh, when 
the white head and tail were quite easily seen. 

16. Falco sparverius. AMERICAN SPARROW 
Hawk.—Common summer resident. This species 
is often seen sitting on a stump top or telegraph 
pole overlooking a stretch of rocky clearing below. 
It is more common in early fall. One specimen 
shot September 9th had in its stomach the re- 
mains of a small rodent. On several occasions 
I have found the Sparrow Hawk in tree tops in 
deep woods but generally it is a bird of the open 
¢ earings. ; 

17. Pandion haliaetus. Fish HAawk.—The 
Osprey is quite common on Lake Nipissing. — 
Several seen on a trip on the French River. A 
female was collected August 30th at the west end 
of Lake Nipissing. 

18. Ceryle aleyon. BELTED KINGFISHER.— 
Common summer resident. Kingfishers are always 
to be seen on the lake shore or near Chippewa 
Creek. They were quite common on Manitou 
Island, some six miles from town in Lake Nipissing. — 


19. Dryobates villosus. HArRY WOODPECKER. — 
—Unlike the Downy, the Hairy is rather rare in 
summer, being found only occasionally, and being ~ 
then solitary and silent. On the approach of fall © 
it becomes common and is often seen flying over 
the brulé, uttering a sharp “wick” and sometimes 
following the note with a rolling call. 


20. Dryobates pubescens. DOWNY WOODPECK- — 
ER.—Very common summer resident. It may be — 
seen in almost any wooded part of the country, — 
often in twos and threes. Throughout the sum- — 
mer it is common and in early fall abundant— — 
certainly the most numerous of the Woodpeckers ~ 
here. eke. 

21. Picoides arcticus. ARCTIC THREE-TOED 
WoopPECKER.—The three-toed Woodpecker can 
not be considered a common bird in this ree 


ot: 


* December, 1922. 


- Loccasionally met with it in winter, working away 
on tree trunks in silence except for the noise of its 
own chiselling. I never heard it utter a note. 
_ The only fall record I have is that of one seen 
_ September 22, 1904. One collected at Toronto, 
-. October 27, would give rise to the belief that the 
_ Woodpecker was working southward. 
22. Sphyrapicus varius. YELLOW-BELLIED 
_ SAPSUCKER.—Fairly common in open deciduous 
woods in spring, but it becomes scarcer as the 
season advances. No fall records. 
. 23. Phloeotomus pileatus. PILEATED Woop- 
_ PECKER.—Rare summer resident. I have only 
one record of this large Woodpecker though it is 
distinctly at home here as evidenced on canoe 
trips in various parts of adjacent country from 

1907 to 1922, when it has been frequently seen 

and more often heard. 
+24. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. RED-HEADED 
WoopPECKER.—Found quite frequently in the 
_ more open parts of the country. I never saw it in 
the deep woods with the Hairy and Downy Wood- 
peckers but always in clearings, where it finds 
upright stumps of trees, 10 to 30 feet high, for 
resting and nesting sites. Another common 
- place for it was on the telegraph poles along the 
railway lines, which of course are “upright stumps” 
__ to them as much as those in the other clearings. 
Jt is usually silent except for its cherr, which it 
repeats from an elevated spot. 
25. Colaptes auratus. FLICKER.—Rather rare 
summer resident. Although in a _ well-wooded 
~ eountry I did not find Flickers very abundant. 
I fancy they prefer more cultivated regions. 

26. Chordeiles virginianus. NIGHTHAWK.— 

_ Abundant summer resident. This species is a 
-_ eommon object in the evening sky from May 
until the end of August, where it spends most of 
its time in “booming”. Occasionally through the 
day I flushed Nighthawks in the open woods, 
_ when they were nearly always silent. Several 
_ flights were seen in the late summer or early fall 
. (September), when many passed overhead erratic- 
ee ally in silence. 
: 27. Tyrannus tyrannus. KINGBIRD.—Com- 
mon resident from late April to September. 
_ Generally seen near town and in the more settled 
parts. 


28. Myiarchus crinitus. CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
—Rather rare summer resident. I found this 
flycatcher in a clump of tall trees known as “The 
Park” several times, uttering its usual note. I 
. eannot recall having seen it elsewhere in the 
a neighborhood or in the fall. 
«29. ~Sayornis phoebe. PHOEBE.—Tolerably 
= ~ common summer resident. While walking along 
a pag track, the best road for any distance 


se 


> 


es 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 163 


in the neighborhood, I have often observed it on 
the telegraph wires and have thought that it 
seemed as if it had learned that along the tracks 
it could find suitable culverts for nesting. Oc- 
casionally I have found the Phoebe some distance 
from any bridge or clearing, generally in some low- 
lying land, where it probably nests in the roots of 
upturned stumps. 

30. Nuttallornis borealis. OLIVE-SIDED FLY- 
CATCHER.—Tolerably common summer resident. 
This bird is more often heard than seen. His high 
clear whistle can readily be heard half a mile 
away. It is generally to be found on a dead tree- 
top or similar commanding position, noisily 
repeating a lusty “qui-qui’’ or which it frequently 
continues into the loud call of “qui quee-queer’’. 
Like the Chebec, the Olive-side ceases to sing or 
call as summer closes and about the end of August 
disappears from these northern haunts. 

31. Myiochanes virens. Wood PEWEE.—Tol- 
erably common in the taller and more open 
woods. I never failed to find it in the grove 
by the lake front commonly known as “The 
Park’’. It was generally in full song and evidently 
nesting for it remained in the same vicinity 
throughout the entire season. 


32. Empidonaz trailli. TRAILL’S FLYCATCHER. 
—Common summer resident. This Flycatcher can 
always be found in the dense low bushes of the 
muskeg country. I found it abundant any time 
I walked any distance along the railway tracks. 
It is heard even more often than seen. Its note 
can be readily recalled by the words “‘Right here’’. I 
have never heard any other note nor pretense of 
flight song such as the Chebec sometimes utters. 
So characteristic of the flycatcher family is this 
bird’s note that I recognized it as such before I 
first saw the bird. The scrubby country, thick 
with low bushes, that it inhabits also assists in its 
identification. 


33. Empidonax minimus. LEAST FLYCATCHER. 
—Abundant summer resident. The Chebec may 
be seen at all times in his bushy haunts, constantly 
ealling his snappy ‘‘Chebec.”” On many occasions 
I have seen him execute a flight song after he had 
been chebecing for a long while. He springs into 
the air and utters a “‘Too-oorle too-oorle’’ several 
times, ending in his usual “chebec,”’ which identifies 
him at once. With the coming of summer the 
Least Flycatcher becomes silent and by early fall 
has slipped away from the northern woods. 


34. Otocoris alpesiris. HORNED LARK.—There 
is very little country about North Bay suitable 
for the Horned Lark. I saw it once in the rough 
clearings and twice met it in the large open field 
called “The Park’’, near the lake. Probably a 
pair nested there the season of 1904. 


y : 
“Tl Ps ° 
OS 


164 


35. Cyanocitta cristata. BLUE JAY.—Through- 
out spring and summer the Blue Jays are fairly 
common, but for the most part silent. In Sep- 
tember, when the first chilly days come, they be- 
come more or less abundant in small roving flocks 
in woods and clearing and are more noisy. 

36. Perisoreus canadensis. CANADA JAY.—In 
my experience the Canada Jay is not a summer 
resident about North Bay. Although I spent 
much of the summer of 1903 and all of 1904 in 
this vicinity, it was not until late in September, 
1904, that I actually saw the species. Then while 
grouse-shooting I came suddenly upon a little 
flock of them in the thick woods. Although they 
kept in the higher branches of the trees, the one I 
secured had a grasshopper in its stomach which 
had probably been secured in a neighboring grassy 
clearing. Several were seen during the winter 
and occasionally they appeared in the town gar- 
dens where they seemed quite at home. 

[Corvus corar. AMERICAN RAVEN.—Although 
I never positively identified Ravens at North Bay 
nor had opportunity for directly comparing sus- 
pected birds with Crows, I saw several times Crow- 
like birds with an apparently different flight, 


which croaked hoarsely or grunted instead of 
eawing clearly.] 


37. Corvus brachyrhynchos. AMERICAN CROW. 
—Tolerably common permanent resident. Seen 
in flocks in varying numbers all the year, particu- 
larly in summer on the lake shore where doubtless 
they are attracted by the refuse thrown upon the 
beach. 

38. Molothrus ater. COWBIRD.—A rather 
rare summer resident. During the whole season 
of 1904, I saw only three Cowbirds. I attribute 
this to the densely wooded nature of the locality, 
there being but one open pasture field where it 
would be likely to find cattle, in the proximity of 
which they are usually seen. 

39. Sturnella magna. MEADOWLARK.—Very 
rare summer resident, probably for the same reason 
that the Horned Lark is rare—lack of open coun- 
try. The only actual record I have is that of 
a specimen in immature plumage collected Sep- 
tember 21st. I thought I had seen it previously 
on the 19th. This was in a large field called “The 
Park”. I think the Meadowlark may be found 
near Azilda on the C.P.R., where there is much 
more open country and some crops are raised. 

40. Euphagus carolinus. Rusty GRACKLE.— 
The Rusty Grackle appears to be a transient 
visitant. I first met it suddenly in a large flock in 
September in a rough clearing. They were all in 
the “‘rusty’’ plumage and appeared restless, mov- 
ing hastily through the clearing. The whole 
flock kept up a constant babbling chorus which 
could hardly be ealled a song. From that date 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


2 cae! 
> 2 ae 
fa 


¥ a 


|VoL. XXXVI 


on they became more and more common until ab eS 


length it was no rare thing to meet a flock of fifty 
or so at any time. 

41. Quiscalus quiseula. 
These Grackles are always abundant on the lake 
shore and by Chippewa Creek where they appear 
to find plenty of food along the shore. They live 
chiefly upon refuse and drowned insects sometimes 
thrown up by the waves in great numbers. Also 


< 


c 


2 
e 
fe 
— 
2 


BRONZED GRACKLE.— : 


™ 


seen in The Park. As fall approaches they become ~ 


less common. 

42. Pinicola enucleator. PINE GROSBEAK.— 
Very common winter resident. Small flocks of 
from five to ten might be found almost any day 
here and there in the woods. They were generally 


seen near the ground, feeding on berries and buds © 


that showed above the snow. A common food in 


Manitoba is Wolf-berry, Symphoricarpus occiden- 
talis. : 

43. Carpodacus purpureus. PURPLE FINCH.— 
Abundant summer resident. To be seen at all 
times in the summer, especially amongst the 
deciduous trees. They have a marked preference 


for Poplars, coming, probably, in search of insects _ 


that are attracted by its sweet smell when it is in’ 


flower. In May and June they are especially 


abundant and in full song but as fall approaches 


they become less noticeable or depart. 

44. Loxia curvirostra minor. AMERICAN CROSS- 
BILL.—A few seen on one occasion during the 
winter of 1903-4. 

45. Acanthis linaria. 
in winter and early spring. Although I have seen 
large flocks of these little birds in the thickets and 


REDPOLL.—Abundant | 


on edges of clearings I was never able to distinguish ~ 


any but the common variety among them. My 
earliest winter record is the middle of November 
(1903). 


46. Astragalinus  tristis. 
FINCH.—Common summer resident. 


AMERICAN GOLD- 


tolerably common in loose roving flocks. From 


The Gold-— 
finch is most abundant in May and June, decreases - 
in number as summer advances, but in fall is still 


May till July they are in full song but as August = 
comes and fall approaches their song is replaced — 


by a plaintive two-note call. I have no record of 


the Goldfinch in this country in winter but there — 


is no reason why they should not occur as do the 
Redpolls which they resemble in habits. 


47. Plectrophenax nivalis. 


before the heavy snow has fallen. 


sand as shore birds might. 

found them in the clearings inland. 
48. Passerculus sandwichensis. 

SparRRowW.—Although tolerably common, it i 


SNow BUNTING.— — 
Found very commonly along the beach in late fall — 
In small 
companies or a few pairs they run along the frozen — 
Occasionally I havens 


- December, 1922. 


- muskegs. 
_the summer in song and evidently breeding. 


naturally restricted to the small areas of open 
country present—clearings, fields and grassy 
In such places it remains throughout 


49. Zonotrichia leucophrys. WHITE-CROWNED 
SpPARROW.—The White-crowned Sparrow in its 


“season is one of the most abundant of the Spar- 
Tows. 


It arrives in April with the White-throats 
and rivals that bird in both numbers and song. 
As the season advances, it becomes less numerous 


~and is met with only occasionally in summer. 
Again in September it appears and becomes 


common with many other sparrows and granivor- 
ous birds. The well-marked adults during this 
month are conspicuous but the duller immatures 
are far in the majority in point of numbers, 
although there is no mistaking even the latter, for 
their lively actions and choice of haunts at any 
season or in any plumage are characteristic. 


During the spring migration here, the White- 


crown sings a clear, plaintive little song somewhat 
resembling that of the White-throat but lacking 
the pure whistled quality. This is sometimes 
heard during the fall migration but the most 
usual note in September is a quavering, hesitating 
warble into which odd notes, chick and tweet, are 
brought. The whole is sung in an undertone, not 
delivered clearly and freely. I have heard this 
song a number of times from the immature but 
I think the adults utter it as well, 


50. Zonotrichia albicollis. _WHITE-THROATED 
SPARROW.—The White-throated Sparrow is cer- 
tainly one of the most abundant birds of the 
northern woods. It seems to be everywhere at all 
times. Though frequently seen, it is stil more 
often heard. Sitting on a log one day w th watch 
in hand I counted 25 White-throat songs to the 
minute. And this goes on hour after hour 
throughout the day. It is difficult to realize that 
any species could be so persistent a singer. 
no rare thing to hear the White-throat in the 
darkest hours of the night in May and June. The 
season of song continues until the middle of July. 
It is not unusual to hear it in August and even in 
September, especially if it is encouraged by a 


-whistled imitation, a thing not difficult to do. 


In spite of this plenteous singing I-have never seen 
a single bird indulge in a flight song of any kind. 
The clear, fine, controlled character of his song 
seems not to lend itself to flight singing. If we 


recall the bubbling song the Bobolink utters on 
the wing and compare it with the deliberate notes 


of the White-throat we may surmise that special 


__voeal qualities are best adapted to flight singing. 

-. The White-throat nests here on the ground. In 
_ September it joins the sparrow flocks in the weedy 
iy _.clearings where it compares favorably with all the 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


Itis ., 


165 


other birds in numbers but rather surprisingly 
does not exceed them as would be expected by its 
abundance in spring. 

51. Spizella monticola. TREE SPARROW.—A 
transient visitor, common in spring and abundant 
during September and October. Genera'ly when 
present they are one of the most abundant spec’es 
in the sparrow flocks in the weedy clearings. I 
have seen them occasionally in small flocks in 
early winter after the other sparrows have de- 
parted. 

52. Spizella passerina. CHIPPING SPARROW.— 
Common summer resident. The Chipping Spar- 
row is perhaps the commonest bird found about 
the outlying houses of the town. The nest is 
common in shade trees and bushes in the gardens. 
I recall a terrific thunder and hail storm on June 
21st that raged for half an hour or more, tearing 
limbs from trees and breaking windows, which did 
not drive a female “‘Chippie” from her nest in a 
maple tree near the window. After it was all 
over I looked into the nest and found one young 
bird and an egg. 

53. Junco hyemalis. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. 
—The Juncos appear about the middle of April ~ 
and become very common in the more open woods. 
They are sociable and can be se n at a’most any 
time in large loose flocks “foraging’’ about the 
ground. During this time they are constantly 
uttering their twittering note which from the 
whole flock has the effect of quite a chorus. About 
May they disappear in a body but all through the 
summer an occasional Junco may be met with and 
I found one pair*nesting. Again in the fall from 
September to late October they are common if 
not abundant but are not -so leisurely in their 
movements and commonly associate with White- 
throats, White-crowns, Chipping and Tree Spar- 
rows in rough clearings. 


54. Melospiza melodia. SONG SPARROW.— 
Contrary to what might be expected, the Song 
Sparrow is not an abundant bird here. The 
country appears to be too well wooded for it, with 
not enough patches of open woods and hedgerows. 
However it can safely be termed a common sum- 
mer resident. 


55. Passerina cyanea. INDIGO BUNTING.—A 
rare summer resident. June 10th, I collected a 
singing male on a rocky hill above the town and 
later in the day I saw and heard several others 
about the same spot. This was the only occasion 
on which it was noted. 


56. Bombycilla cedrorum. CEDAR WAXWING. 
—Tolerably common through May and June but 
seems to disappear in early summer except for an 
odd pair or so. It was not because they became 
more silent in summer, for when is the Waxwing 


166 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXVI _ 


otherwise than silent? Im August they appeared 
again in increased numbers and besides living on 
the ripening wild fruits they became more or less 
flycatcher-like, sallying forth at passing insects 
and catching them quite readily in the air. 

57. Vireosylva olivacea. RED-EYED VIREO.— 
Abundant summer resident from May to the latter 
part of September. Its persistent warble is one 
of the commonest sounds of the woods. They 
often sing well into August. Several nests were 
found. 
~58. Lanivireo solitarius. SOLITARY VIREO.—I 
have met with the Blue-headed Vireo only on two 
occasions, both in May. I was first attracted by 
its song which seemed to my ear somewhat like 
that of the Red-eyed Vireo yet sufficiently different 
to induce investigation. There were longer 
pauses between the bars. I found it in a small 
poplar and easily identified it. A day or so later 
I recognized another. They did not remain in 
the neighborhood through the summer or I 
probably should have found them again. 


WARBLERS.—There is no group of birds more 
abundant than the Warblers. Every clump of 
thicket or woods had its own population of birds 
and amongst them were often several kinds of 
Warblers. When I arrived in May, many of the 
trees were just bursting into bud but the Warblers 
were already in force and continued so into 
July. The whole bird population seems to 
dwindle in August so that with the exception of 
the Redstart and the Myrtle the Warblers were 
nearly missing altogether. About the middle of 
September the woods became again tenanted with 
the lively little birds. In the spring they are 
constantly in song, and the males are in gaudy 
plumage, but the majority of fall birds are in 
immature or female plumage and silent, and 
difficult to find or to identify when discovered. 
In general these remarks apply to all the Warblers 
noted here. I arrived at the conclusion that most 
of them are transient visitors at North Bay, 
passing beyond to breed. The only actual 
breeding records I have for the Warblers are for 
the Redstart. It is quite possible that other 
species of Warblers were seen but as they were not 
taken or determined with certainty they are not 
here noted. 

59. Mniotilia varia. BLACK AND WHITE 
WARBLER.—Common. 
' 60. Vermivora ruficapilla. NASHVILLE 
WARBLER.—Abundant. 

61. Vermivora peregrina. TENNESSEE WARB- 
LER.—-Tolerably common. 

62. Compsothlypis americana. PARULA WARB- 
LER —Very common. 


63. Dendroica tigrina. CAPE MAY WARBLER. — 
—Rare, one seen and taken. As 

64. Dendroica aestiva. YELLOW WARBLER.— 
Very common. yates > 

65. Dendroica caerulescens. BLACK-THROATED : 
BLUE WARBLER.—Very common. f 

66. Dendroica coronata. MYRTLE WARBLER. ~ 
—Very common. Abundant in September. 

67. Dendroica magnolia. MAGNOLIA WARB- 
LER.—Abundant. 

68. Dendroica pensylvanica. CHESTNUT-SIDED 
WARBLER.—Very common. 

69. Dendroica  castanea. BAY-BREASTED 
WARBLER.—Tolerably common. 

70. Dendroica fusca. BLACKBURNIAN WARB- 
LER.—Very common. 

71. Dendroica virens. BLACK-THROATED 
GREEN WARBLER.—Very common. 

72. Seiurus aurocapillus. OVENBIRD.—A rare 
species in the North Bay neighborhood. I have 
seen it there but once or twice though there is 
much country that seems suitable for it. I regard 
it as a rare summer resident. : 

73. Oporornis philadelphia. MOURNING 
WARBLER.—Very common. : 
74. Geothlypis trichas. MARYLAND YELLOW-_ 

THROAT.—Very common. 

75. Wilsonia pusilla. WILSON’S WARBLER.— 

Tolerably common. 


76. Wilsonia canadensis. CANADIAN WARB-_ 
LER.—Very common. 


77. Setophaga ruticilla. AMERICAN REDSTART. 
—The Redstart is the commonest Warbler. Its 
numbers are perhaps double those of any other “ 
small bird during its season and its voice is the 
one most often heard. Long after I had learned 
unmistakably a score of other Warbler songs the 
Redstart continued to puzzle me with new at- 
tempts and variety. It sings through May, — 
June and July, and it is not until August that it is 
silent. Even then occasional notes are heard and — 
it is seen flitting about. I found far more Red- 
starts’ nests than those of any other species. ee 


78. Anthus rubescens. AMERICAN PIPIT.—One 
of the most abundant of fall migrants. I have no 
record of them either in spring or summer, but 
about the middle of September they begin to — 
arrive in small numbers, increasing daily until by 
the end of the month they are the most abundant __ 
bird present. In flocks of 50 to 100 they swarm 
the open clearings, feeding on the ground. They ‘ 
are very active and seldom linger long in one spot. i 
Often for no apparent reason the whole flock will 
rise in a weak vaccilating flight and seek another i 
part of the clearing. They perch on stumps, — i. 


bobbing their tails and the hinder ends of their 
bodies with a regular teetering motion, The. — 


~ December, 1922. 

movement serves no apparent purpose, being 

- merely a nervous habit. It would be interesting 

_ to know whence it came and what was its original 

- purpose. Why have the American Pipit the 

_ Palm Warbler, the Spotted Sandpiper, and others 

_ this tail teetering habit. The Pipit leaves about 
the middle of October. 

79. Troglodytes aedon. House WrREN.—This 
Wren can often be found in the same localities as 
the Winter Wren, thus belying its name. The 
facts are that there are far more old Woodpecker 

holes and hollow stumps in the woods than nooks 
and crannies about the settlement. It is not 

- unusual here to find the two Wrens nesting but a 

few yards from each other. On one occasion I 

_ put a number of tin cans in suitable places but 

- none were occupied as the birds evidently preferred 
their natural cavities. The House Wren dis- 
appears earlier than the Winter Wren. By the 
first of October the former is gone whilst the latter 
remains until later in the month. 

80. Nannus hiemalis. WINTER WREN.—This 
mouse-like little bird was commonly seen slinking 
amongst the underbrush. It is difficult to observe 
on account of its dull markings and its retiring and 

active habits. I found that it uttered, when 
alarmed, a single note not unlike that of the Song 

Sparrow and it often escaped from one brush pile 

to another, flying very low and even under the 

leaves of the low shrubs that crowd the floor of 

_ the forest. When undisturbed the Winter Wren 
indulges in a beautiful liquid song, full of little 
runs, trills and warbles given in different keys, 

_ the whole being continuous and lasting several 

moments. In fall it is less abundant and quite 

silent. 

81. Certhia familiaris. BROWN CREEPER.— 

_ Rather rare transient. The Creepers appear in 

May and occasionaliy then I have heard them 
break into a faint wheezy song of five notes not 
unlike that of the Black-throated Green Warbler, 
but less musical. Creepers are absent all summer 

_ but appear again in September when they are 

silent but for a long, wiry ‘“‘scree’’ a note which 

seems to keep the flock together. 

82. Sitta canadensis. RED-BREASTED NUvt- 

_ HATCH.—This is the only Nuthatch for which I 
have records in the locality. It is a common 

_ summer resident, usually confined to the coniferous 

woods. It may appear in the winter but I have 

_ never seen it then. 

83. Penthestes atricapillus. | BLACK-CAPPED 

_CHICKADEE.—The Chickadee appears to be a 

ansient visitant, being common in late spring, 

absent or not observed in the summer and re- 
appearing in the fall about the end of September. 

_Thave seen them on one or two occasions in winter. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 167 


In fall migration when in greatest numbers they 
are always in company with Kinglets, Brown 
Creepers and Red-breasted Nuthatches. 

84. Regulus satrapa. GOLDEN-CROWNED KING- 
LET.—A common summer resident. There were 
usually two or three together when met with in the 
thick woods but as far as I could see they showed 
no signs of nesting and were never long in one 
place. They were most abundant from September 
10th until October. 

85. Regulus calendula. RUBY-CROWNED KING- 
LET.—Found only rarely throughout the summer 
and then generally but single individuals. About 
the middle of September they became mor com- 
mon along with the Golden-crown but never in as 
great numbers. They move freely about in a flock 
of many mixed Kinglets and I should judge the 
proportion of numbers to be about five to one. 
The note of the Golden-crowned Kinglet at this 
season is the usual quiet ‘‘s-s-s’‘ like three s’s and 
rarely anything else. In fall, besides having a 
loud “‘cack” not unlike the note of a Wren, the 
Ruby-crown often breaks forth into a fragment of 
its spring song. They are evidently migrants 
through September and October for they are very 
restless and seldom seen later. 

86. Hylocichla fuscescens. VEERY.—Tolerably 
common summer resident. Generally found in 
the same habitat as the Olive-backed. I have 
sometimes heard the two singing together in the 
the same woods in the evening. The Veery is the 
least shy of our common Thrushes and the least 
suspicious of man. I have never heard it sing in 
the fall. 


[Hylocichla alicie. _GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 
—There is every probability that I have seen the 
Gray-cheeked Thrush but have not been able to 
separate it with certainty from the very similar 
Olive-backed.] 

87. Hylocichla  ustulata. OLIVE-BACKED 
THRUSH.—A common summer resident. Unlike 
the Hermit Thrush, it does not diminish in num- 
bers as the season advances. It is by far the 
commonest Thrush in song, especially in the 
evening and to be heard even into August. Dur- 
ing September it is even more silent than the Her- 
mit Thrush, though I have reason to believe it 
then just as common. 

88. Hylocichla guttata. Hermit THRUSH.— 
Apparently a transient. Throughout the month 
of May it is tolerably common, several being seen 
on almost any extended walk in their haunts. 
In the evening they are often heard in full song, 
a much fuller one than we ever hear in Toronto on 
migration. There it seems to be fragments 
uttered in a quiet way, but here the Hermit 
Thrush gives himself up to a full, free, extensive, 
singing. Through July, August, and the first 


168 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


part of September it is nearly or quite absent or 
else very quiet. In late September and October 
it is in evidence again. Towards evening they 
call to each other with a soft mellow whistle but 
there is no true song in the fall. 

89 Planesticus migratorius. AMERICAN ROBIN 
—Tolerably common summer resident. In full 
song throughout the summer. Late in September 
Robins gather in the clearings with the Bluebirds. 

90. Sialia sialis LASTERN BLUEBIRD.—Blue- 


(Vou. XXXVI 


birds do not appear in any great numbers in spring 
or summer but occur in loose flocks of several 
hundred individuals in September. They are 
generally silent and spend much of their time 
passing along in a desultory way, following the 
line of open stumpy clearings. They perch on the 
stumps, fly down into the grass for insects and 
return to their perches to devour the catch. The — 
only note I have heard at this season is the usual _ 
plaintive “‘dee-dee.”’ 


SOME INTER-RELATIONSHIPS OF BOTANY AND THE SISTER SCIENCES 
Vancouver Natural History Society Presidential Address 


By Pror. JOHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., F.B.S.E. 


S I look back to our first meeting some four 
or five years ago, when about 60 ladies and 
gentlemen gathered in this room to estab- 

lish a Natural History Society, and when I think 
of the size of our present membership, and the 
enthusiasm displayed by the attendance of large 
numbers of active members at our summer excur- 
sions and annual camp, it tends to emphasize the 
responsibility and the honor of the position to 
which you have elected me. I trust that the en- 
thusiasm and fine spirit of fellowship and co-opera- 
tion which characterized our summer work will be 
maintained and augmented during the winter, so 
that we may enlarge the scope, and increase the 
usefulness of the Society as a factor in the uplift 
and enlightenment of those with whom we come in 
contact; for it cannot be denied that the study of 
any phase of God’s work must have an elevating 
influence on the minds of those who participate in 
it. 

The subject of my address, ‘‘Some Interrela- 
tionships of Botany and the Sister Sciences,” might 
have proved more attractive to some of our mem- 
bers had I omitted the word Botany from the 
title, but as I never call a spade a spoon I refrained 
from using the higher sounding term PHYTOLOGY, 
knowing that many of our members would not 
recognize this modern synonym for Botany. 


I do regret, however, that, to some people, the 
word BoTANY should act like a red rag to a bull. 
The mere mention of the subject almost infuriates 
them; it arouses recollections of hard and un- 
interesting work, of long strings of unintelligible 
terms; they detest it; they hate it. I know this 
to be true; high school students have told me, and 
teachers have admitted it. 

I have no fault to find with those people; I am 
sorry for them, they have my sincere sympathy; 
they have been misinformed and misled by out-of- 


date instructors, and it arouses intense indignation. 
within me to think that so many people have been 
deprived of much real pleasure and enjoyment 
through the fact that, during their school days, — 
they were unfortunate in being placed under 
unqualified or incompetent teachers. : 

The Botany of to-day is no longer the Botany 
of the 16th or 17th century; though some teachers © 
continue to give the old, obsolete Botany, and do 
not know it; yet they wonder why their pupils 
make such a poor showing at the examinations. 
Those teachers probably do not realize that the 
subject is evolving, that new discoveries shed more 
light than was available in the dark ages, revealing 
new problems and sending old ideas into the — 
shadows of oblivion. 


DEPENDENCE OF ANIMALS ON PLANTS 


The botanist of today is essentially a biologist. — 
He is studying life, and all the factors which in any 
way influence or affect the life of the plant. He 
recognizes the absolute dependence of the Animal 
Kingdom on food manufactured by plants. It is" 
therefore of considerable importance to us that 
we should know something of the vital processes 
which enable us to maintain and enjoy our lives. — 
On the success or failure of the vegetable kingdom ~ 
depends the success or failure of the animal king- — 
dom. The distribution of big game in Canada is — 
closely related to the distribution of the plants on ~ 
which the animals feed, and so with the distribu- 
tion of birds and insects. To illustrate this: a 
During the gale of 1894 many thousands of trees — 
in the forests in the North of Scotland were blown 2 
down; so many that it took several years to clean ; 
up the forests again. This devastation was © 
followed by the visits of several birds which . 
previously had not been recorded for that region, 
and as these new comers were insectivorous birds — 


a4 
X 
, : 


e 


- pollination. 


December, 1922. 


larve of beetles and other insects which attacked 
the dead timber. Ordinarily the forests of Scot- 


- land are kept so free of decaying logs that there 
- is little material for such insect pests, and there- 


fore no food for the birds which visited the scene 
on that occasion. Similarly in British Columbia 
the destruction of our forests by logging and fires 
must be accompanied by a change in the flora and 
finally a change of fauna. 

In his study of factors influencing the life of 
plants, the modern botanist finds that his work 
leads him into some branches of the sister sciences: 
Zoology, Geology, and even Astronomy and 
Meteorology. 


ASTRONOMICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL INTER- 
RELATIONSHIPS 


He can show that there is a relationship between 
sun-spots and the high cost of living. This can 
be verified by consulting the records of sun-spots 
and temperatures for a given number of years and 
comparing these with the price of wheat during 
those years. Astronomers and meteorologists have 


' observed that the occurrence of. sun-spots is 


succeeded by a spell of cold weather, this adversely 
affects the growth of wheat and other food plants, 
resulting in an appreciable diminution of the crop, 
and 2 consequent increase in cost of the world’s 
food supplies. 


ZOOLOGICAL INTER-RELATIONSHIPS 


To show how plants and animals are similarly 
bound together by a web of complex relations, one 
need only mention Darwin’s classic explanation as 
to how the Clover crop may depend on the num- 
ber of cats in a district. Many of you are familiar 
with the details, and I will only summarize them 
for the benefit of those who may not have read 
Darwin’s “‘Origin of Species’. It is well known that 
Clover is largely dependent on Humble bees for 
Darwin states that seventy heads 
of Dutch Clover yielded 2290 sedes, and twenty 
heads protected from bees produced not one. 
One hundred heads of Red Clover produced 2700 
seeds, and the same number of protected heads 
produced not one single seed. The number of 
Humble bees depends in great measure upon the 
number of field mice, which destroy their combs 
and nests; the number of mice depends on the 
number of cats. Col. Newman is quoted as 
saying that ‘Near villages and small towns I have 


found the nests of humble bees more numerous 


than elsewhere, which I attribute to the number 
of cats that destroy mice.’ 
We could go further, and show that a ‘failure of 


_ the Clover crop might result in a scarcity of fodder 
-and of nectar thus preventing our fair Province 


from becoming a land flowing with milk and honey. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 169 


Co-OPERATION OF ANIMALS 


The inter-relationships of Botany and Zoology 
are so numerous that in studying the life of plants 
it is also necessary to study the habits and life 
of some animals. I have already referred to 
pollination in the case of Clover, and if one had 
time to discuss the pollination of some of our 
native flowers you would find it a fascinating 
branch of the subject. The ingenious devices or 
adaptations of flowers to secure the visits of 
suitable insects; and the contrivances for the ex- 
clusion of unsuitable visitors; how flowers open, and 
shed perfume only when suitable insects are on the 
wing; how others hold the insect prisoner until the 
flower is ready to li berate it, to be again imprison- 
ed by another flower; how others set water traps, or 
exude sticky fluid to prevent unsuitable insects 
from robbing the nectar in the flowers; these are 
mere incidents in the life of the plant, yet they 
cause us to enquire into the orders of insects which 
are suitable or unsuitable in effecting the pollina- 
tion of different flowers. 


To illustrate how complete is the relationship 
between insects and the structure of flowers, I 
may mention that in studying the flora of Mada- 
gascar, botanists discovered many flowers not 
found in any other part of the world. Amongst 
these was an orchid Macroplectrum sesquipedale, 
which secreted nectar at the end of a tubular 
spur 10 to 18 inches in length. Naturalists 
doubted the existence of any insect with a pro- 
boscis long enough to reach the nectar, and cer- 
tainly at that time no such insect was known. 
Darwin, however, prophesied that a butterfly 
would be found in the same locality with a pro- 
boscis long enough to drain the tube; and several 
years later a naturalist named Forbes, working in 
the same region, confirmed the prediction by 
discovering the insect. 


In studying the distribution of plants through- 
out the world, we have to consider the method of 
seed dispersal, and many plants use animals as 
distributing agents .Botanists in all parts of the 
world are endeavouring to ascertain the origin of 
many genera and species of plants, and we have 
to take into account the migration of birds and 
other animals to ascertain if some of our British 
Columbia species came from the north or from the 
south. Take for example a problem which has 
interested me for many years, namely, the origin 
of Dogwood, Arbutus, and Cascara. These trees 
range from California to British Columbia, they 
all reach their northern limit in this Province, and 
they are generally referred to as southern plants, 
but it is just possible that they may belong to 
British Columbia and have spread south. These 
trees have edible fruits and the seeds are distri- 


1@ 

: ee 

170 THE CANADIAN FIeLp-NATURALIST ' [Vou. XXXVI 
buted by birds. Many birds come here in spring _ bined eatohi duet and botanical points of view : 4 


and return south in the fall when the fruits are 
ripe. There seems little likelihood of the seeds 
having been brought from the south, as the birds 
leave the southern climes before the trees have 
come into flower. We have therefore to know 
which birds eat the fruits of those trees and to 
ascertain if such birds are migratory. 

This is a comparatively new branch of our work, 
and its importance is rapidly gaining ground. It 
means an examination of the crops of birds at 
different seasons, and is of value to ornithologists 
interested in the feeding habits of birds. As an 
aid to this work we have in the University a 
collection of seeds of nearly 1000 native plants. 
We have most of the common species and many 
of the rarer ones. 

While speaking of the inter-relationships of birds 
and plants I should emphasize the fact that when 
birds feed on berries and act as agents in the 
dispersal of seeds they are not to be regarded as 
parasitic. When a plant or an animal obtains its 
food from another living plant or animal to the 
detriment of the host, it is a parasite; therefore 
when birds eat the cherries or the strawberries in 
your garden they are rendering a service instead 
of doing an injury to those plants. : 


STRUGGLE BETWEEN PLANTS AND ANIMALS 


It is different in the spring, however, when you 
have sown sweet peas, and just as you see the 
rows of little shoots appearing through the surface 
of the ground, pheasants or other birds come along 
and cause the seeds to come up faster than nature 
intended they should. Birds may then be 
regarded as biological parasites because their 
feeding is detrimental to the host. Farmers and 
gardeners frequently apply other terms to those 
birds; but, from the omission of such terms from 
our dictionaries, we may assume that they are 
superfluous. 

The relationship of Botany to Entomology is 
perhaps closer than that of any other branch of 
Zoology; no one can become an efficient botanist 
without some knowledge of Entomology; neither 
can one become an efficient entomologist without 
some knowledge of Botany. 

Two or three years ago I showed you how man’s 
interference with natural conditions around Van- 
couver caused a change in the flora, with a con- 
sequent change in the fauna, including the plague 
of tent-caterpillars. Entomologists, working on 
this problem from a purely entomological point of 
view, had only one remedy—spraying—which 
was noremedy. The plague inéreased the follow- 
ing year because the food plants were protected 
for the next generation of caterpillars. It was 
not until the problem was tackled from the com- 


that an effective remedy was inaugurated; and — oy 
the destruction of food plants on vacant lots and — 
waste ground soon made an impression on the — 
plague and reduced the menace to our garden 
crops. 9 


PLANTRDISEASES CAUSED By ANIMALS 


Most of you are aware that the tent-caterpillar 
is the larva of a moth, and I think all of you are 
familiar with the devastation brought about by 
its ravages; but we may be thankful that, so far, 
we have escaped a plague of saw-flies. During a 
short holiday in the State of Washington this fall, 

I saw many Alder trees absolutely stripped of 
every leaf, with myriads of small, green, smooth- 
skinned caterpillars all over the trunks and bran- 
ches; the ground under the trees was strewn with 
hundreds of thousands of the wriggling creatures 
with the characteristic coiled posterior end. In 
one locality, about half way between Seattle and 
Tacoma, we stopped for lunch at an auto-campers’ 
picnic ground. There were several large tables 
set out for the use of campers in what was once a 
beautiful grove of large Alder trees; at the time of 
our visit they were practically leafless. You have ~ 
probably heard the expression “‘Raining cats and 
dogs’; it was literally raining caterpillars. You 
could scarcely find room on the tables to set a 
eup down; in some places the caterpillars lay in 
small heaps; if you wiped off a table with a news- _ 
paper you had to do it carefully because the cater- 
pillars were so easily squashed; and in the pitter 
patter of falling caterpillars you were fortunate if 
one did not fall on your sandwich or in your tea. — 
If this pest ever reaches our locality where we 
have so many hundreds of thousands of Alder 
trees we will have a plague many times more 
disgusting than the one through which we have ~ 
passed. 

It is true that for purely local application spray- 
ing may be effective in protecting individual trees 
from the ravages of such pests, but it is useless in 
combatting a plague. 

There are many diseases of plants caused by 
insects and other animals which can not be reached 
by sprays. I refer to those parasitic aninals ~ 
which cause malformations, tumours or galis on 
roots, stems or leaves of plants. The study of — 
plant-galls and their makers necessitates an 
intimate knowledge of plant physiology and histo- 
logy, combined with a knowledge of the life history _ 
and habits of certain groups of animals, particu- 
larly mites, and some orders of insects. Nema- — 
todes frequently cause galls on roots, but as these 
are underground they are rarely seen. Any one, 4 
however, with open eyes will find a great variety. re 

Hof plant galls i in this vicinity. 


~ December, 1922. 


- The Spruce gall is perhaps the best known, 
though novices often mistake it for a cone. The 
_ maker of this gall spends one half of its life history 
on Spruce, and the other half on Douglas Fir, and 
- in its two stages may be mistaken for two different 
- animals. 
The large knotty growths on branches of the 
- Thimble berry are caused by another type of gall 
_ maker related to the Saw-flies and Ichneumon 
flies, known as gall flies (Cynipidae). Then on 
~ leaves we find the Spangle galls, Currant galls,and 
Apple galls formed by Cecidomyia and other allied 
- nsects. Perhaps the most beautiful result of such 
_ infections is to be seen on leaves of the Mountain 
Maple, where the upper surface is beautifully 
_ marked or streaked with carmine, red, or crimson. 
I have seen such diseased trees transplanted to a 
_ garden because the leaves were more beautiful 


_ than the leaves of the healthy trees, and I once ~ 


received specimens of diseased shoots of this Maple 
_ from a correspondent who thought he had found 
a new variety. 


This reminds me of a somewhat amusing 
experience I had about ten years ago. An en- 
 thusiastic amateur botanist called at my office 

_ with specimens of one of our native roses (Rosa 
gymnocarpa), the Naked-fruited Rose, which, 

F instead of the small globular fruits, had enlarged 
pear-shaped fruits. My friend was convinced 

; he had discovered a new variety and desired my 
_ opinion before he published a description of it 
under the varietal name pyriforme. At his 
request I visited Kitsilano, where these roses 
3 grew, and, although most of the rose-fruits were 
_ pear-shaped, I found some bushes bearing both 
_ globular and pear-shaped fruits. This aroused 
some doubt in my mind as to the validity of the 

_ proposed variety pyriforme. I made a col- 
lection of seed for the botanical garden, to see 
- if the offspring would bear similar fruits. I also 
_ retained a supply of seeds for the seed-collection 

in my office. 

_ The following year the gardener informed me 
that not one single seed of this rose had ger- 
_ minated; he asked if I could let him have some 
more. On inspecting the supply in my seed 
collection I discovered that every seed had a little 
hole in it, and along with the seeds I found a large 
number of small gall-flies. The pear-shaped 
fruits were diseased ones, they had all been galled 
a by these tiny flies, Whose appearance confirmed 
a my reason for doubting the validity of variety 
a pyriforme. I may say that ‘ast month (September, 
1922), during a botanical visit to the West Coast of 
E Vancouver Island, I found the same rose with 
__ pear shaped and globular fruits on the same plant. 
I smiled, and said to my colleague, Professor 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


171 


Hutchinson, who was with me, “Variety pyri- 
forme.’’ Like Darwin I can prophesy that some 
day a gall fly similar to one found at Kitsilano 
will be discovered near the Great Central Lake on 
Vancouver Island. 


TABLES ARE TURNED—PLANTS ATTACK ANIMALS 
ANIMAL DISEASES CAUSED BY PLANTS. 


In the time at my disposal I cannot do more 
than merely mention some instances of parasitism 
where plants are the offenders and animals the 
hosts; even man is not immune to attack by plant 
parasites. Dandruff on the scalp is a fungus 
similar to mildew, the so-called Ringworm is not 
a worm but a fungus, like a mould, living on the 
skin. Another mould is sometimes found in the 
stomach of man, more frequently of horses, caus- 
ing the disease known as Aspergillosis (named after 
the fungus). The so-called vegetable-caterpillar 
is merely a caterpillar skin filled up with woody 
substance formed by a fungus which attacked the 
living caterpillar, killed it, and used up all the 
internal organs. Salmon disease which attacks 
young fish and injured salmon is a skin disease 
caused by another parasitic plant, and all our 
bacterial diseases belong to the Schizomycetes or 
splitting fungi—belonging to the vegetable king- 
dom. Then we have the carnivorous plants which 
capture and digest small animals. The ingenuity, 
approaching sagacity, exhibited by the many 


_ kinds of insect-eating plants, and by some which 


entrap small crustaceans and other water animals, 
is so extraordinary in its diabolical effiicency that 
to study them from an insect’s point of view is to 
invite hideous nightmares of tortures unsurpassed 
by those which martyrs suffered in the dark ages. 

Imagine walking along the street, when a door 
suddenly opens and you are drawn by an unseen 
hand into a dimly lighted room containing scores 
of bodies in all stages of decomposition. From 
the walls of the room shoots a fine spray of fluid 
which dissolves your skin and flesh; you are being 
digested alive. This has been the experience of 
millions of creatures which came into close prox- 
imity to the bladder-like traps of the Bladderwort 
which is to be found in Trout Lake, Vancouver, 
and many other akes in British Columbia. 

The beautiful Sundew, which most of you have 
seen on our Burnaby Lake Excursions, appears to 
an insect as a deadly monster, like a giant devil- 
fish with many fiery tentacles ready to seize and 
devour the first creature to come into contact with 
it. The baited traps of different Pitcher plants 
which lure their prey by intoxicating drinks, then 
drown the unfortunate victims in a digestive fluid; 
and the miniature bear-traps of the Venus Fly- 
trap and Aldrovandia, the latter an aquatic plant 
like Bladderwort, all have their romantic story to — 


172 


tell, but I have not time at present to do more 
than mention them. 


GEOLOGICAL INTER-RELATIONSHIPS 


I mentioned Burnaby Lake excursion a moment 
ago. Those of you who were present at that 
outing may remember how intimately the flora 
of the district is connected with its Geology. 
Prof. Rigg of the Department of Botany, Univer- 
sity of Washington, has for a number of years 
been studying the composition of bogs in the 
United States and Alaska. He collects samples 
of peat or muck from various depths and sends 
them to a geological friend in California to have 
his report on the plants which formed the bog. 
This summer he visited Vancouver and I had 
pleasure in showing him over the bog at Burnaby, 
from which he secured a number of samples. He 
declared it one of the most interesting bogs he had 
seen, and was delighted to see such a beautiful 
illustration of plant successions as we see along 
the path of the edge of the lake. 


With special apparatus which he brought up 
with him, we sounded the bog at various points 
and found that the vegetation extended to a depth 
of about 21 feet; between 21 and 22 feet we found 
blue clay. At the time of our visit there was 
only about an inch of water at the end of the 
floating path near the lake margin, but our 
soundings showed that under this was 14 feet of 
liquid mud, and it was not till we reached a depth 
of 16 feet that we could get mud firm enough to 
obtain a sample. 


From a study of the flora we know that near 
Burnaby Lake is one of the oldest bogs in our 
locality, and similarly we know that the bog on 
Lulu Island is comparatively recent. From a 
study of the geology of those districts the geologist 
arrives at the same conclusion. The inter-rela- 
tionship of Botany and Geology is so important 
that one of our members, Prof. M. Y. Williams, 
has charge of the branch of Geology known as 
Palaeontology, which is devoted to the study of 
the prehistoric plants and animals as recorded in 
fossils from all parts of the world. 


We are indebted to geologists for our knowledge 
that in the past ages many plants and animals 
existed which are now extinct, and from the 
enormous amount of material collected by these 
scientists we have a very large and important 
branch of Botany--Palaeontological Botany—which 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


deals only with the examination and classification $ 
of the fossil remains of the early forms of vegeta- 
- tion; and the work of palaeontological botanists — 


has had a very important bearing on our present 
system of classifying our modern plants. 
say that the main groups of our natural system of 


I may 


is 


: 
“ 
. 
* 


classification are based on what we believe to be — 


the approximate order of creation. 


The Creator 


has written the record of his work on tables of 


stone, and it is for us to exercise our God-given 


intellect in an endeavour to read and interpret 
correctly the story of creation which He is gra- 


dually revealing. Truly we can find “Sermons in 
stones, books in the running brooks, and good i in 
everything.” 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTER-RELATIONSHIPS 


Before concluding I should like to draw atten- — 
tion to the importance of Botany in studying the - 


Natural History of Man. Ever since his first 
appearance in history, man has been dependent 
on plants for his existence and all his comforts. 
In the garden of Eden, apple trees and fig trees 
furnished his food and clothing, and though in 


modern times our needs in this direction are not 
so easily satisfied, we are just as dependent on — 


plants as Adam is reputed to have been. 
The study of the uses of plants by ee 
races and native tribes has given rise to a com- 


paratively new branch of Botany known as Ethno- — 
botany, which deals with the plants used for food © 


or medicine, fibres, dyes, woods, etc., used in the 
making of apparel or implements of various kinds. 

From the crude beginnings of our ancestors 
came our modern Economic Botany which deals 


with our botanical resources in furnishing the : 


many requirements for textile and other industries. 
We are liable to forget our dependence on plants — 
for rubber tires and electrical insulation; gums, — 
resins, oils, and alcohol for the manufacture of 
paints and varnishes; dyes and disinfectants, 


fabrics and hides; for without the green blade we 


should have neither wool, nor silk, nor footwear. 


Y 


If my address has proved dry and uninteresting — 


because the main part of my subject is Botany, 
it is my fault. 
after one has learned the botanical alphabet, 


I find it a fascinating subject — 


t 


and I enjoy every opportunity I get of helping ~ 


others to share the fascination I find in its study. 
If I have failed on this occasion, I promise I will — 
never address you on Botany again. Next time, — 
if there is a next time, I shall call it Phytaleny: 


_— 


a 

ws 

% 

7 

» ao 
fe a 


bloom. 


December, 1922. 


THE CANADIAN FIBLD-NATURALIST 


173 


FURTHER NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, 
| QUEBEC, 1921-1922 


By HenrY MOUSLEY 


N MY last paper on the Orchids of this district, 
“The Canadian Field-Naturalist,’’ Vol. XXXIV, 
1920, No. 9, pp. 169-173, I pointed out that so 
far as I knew, Hatley tied with Fairlee in Vermont 
for first honours, as regards the greatest number of 
species to be found in a given area, which at that 
date stood at thirty-three for both places. Since 
then my most optimistic hopes have been more 
than realized for out of the eight remaining 
possibilities, as mentioned on page 172, no less 
than three have been found during the present 
season, 1922. These consist of the Small Wood 
Orchis, (Habenaria clavellata), the Ragged Fringed 
Orchis (Habenaria lacera), and Menzies’ or the 
Northern Rattlesnake Plantain (Epipactis deci- 
piens), all of which will be dealt with hereafter in 
‘an annotated list as before. The findng of these 
three new species now places Hatley at the very 
top of the list, in fact, it is doubtful if any other 
place in Eastern North America can produce such 
a record as thirty-six species for so small an area. 
Very little work was done with the orchids during 
the season of 1921; indeed, I was absent from 
Hatley for part of July and the whole of August, 
and never once visited the famous swamp near 
Beebe, nor had I an opportunity of verifying the 
four supposed plants of Epipac is decipiens found 
on September 3, 1920, and recorded in “The Cana- 
dian Field-Naturalist,’’ Vol. XXXIV, 1920, No. 9, 
‘p. 170. The only event of any real interest was 
the finding, on June 30, of several nice plants of 
_ Habenaria orbiculata and H. macrophylla in full 
It was not until the following spring 
(1922), that I decided to give the orchids especial 
attention again as in 1920, in an endeavour to 

break all existing records, and at the same time to 
satisfy myself of the further possibilities, or other- 
wise, of the great swamp near Beebe, With this 
object in view, I repaired there on May 24, hoping 
to find Calypso, which was already in bloom at 
Hatley. In this I was disappointed, for no trace 
of the lovely little orchid could be found, at least, 
not in that part of the swamp I was able to work. 
My next visit there was on J uly 1, principally with 
the object of seeing Orchis rotundifolia once more. 


On arrival I made immediately for the spot where 


Mr. Ludlow Griscom and I found it in 1920. Four 


-. plants only were in bloom, and it was whilst locat- 


ing these, that I was also fortunate in discovering 
_ four plants of Habenaria clavellata, as these were 
- jn bud only. Later on I found a plant of Micro- 


-H. bracteata, 


stylis unifolia, both these latter being new to the 
swamp list which already stood at eleven species 
as previously recorded in 1920. Arethusa was 
decidedly on the wane, but Calopogon and Pogonia 
were in fine condition, and more generally dis- 
tributed than I had previously been able to ascer- 
tain. One interesting plant of Calopogon had the 
tips of the three blooms snow white, whilst the 
petals and sepals were of a much paler shade of 
magenta-crimson than usual. I allowed a month 
to elapse before paying my next visit on July 29th, 
when I found Habenaria clavellata fully out, and 
one fine plant of Habenaria lacera partly in fruit. 
The Northern White Orchis (Habenaria dilatata) 
was in great profusion, but the var. media could 
not be found, although many times I thought I 
had it, when coming on fresh examples of H. 
hyperborea which were growing with dilatata. 
Fine specimens of the Hooded Ladies’ Tresses 
(Spiranthes Romanzoffiana) were also met with. 
This orchid has an interesting history behind it, 
having been discovered in Ireland on August 3, 
1809 or 1810, by Mr. J. Drummond, this being 
the only European station known for the species. 
How it got there, did it ever occupy other Euro- 
pean territory, or was it a migrant from America 
or vice versa, or was it common to both Con- 
tinents are interestng problems At ail events 
it is probably extinct in Ireland by now, as in 
1886 two of the very few stations where it used to 
be found were ploughed up, and the one planted 
with potatoes, and the other with oats. Thus 
perish some of our treasures, not always by the 
hand of the unscrupulous collector! This species, 
with the other two named, was new to the swamp 
list, and brought the total up to sixteen species. 
It hardly seemed likely that anything further 
could be added, but I paid the place another visit 
on August 12th, when Epipactis repens var. 
ophioides and Corallorhiza maculata (in fruit) were 
met with, thus bringing the list of orchids found 
in this swamp up to a total of eighteen species. 
Never having made a list of those to be found in 
the large swamp to the northeast of Hatley village 
already referred to, “Ottawa Naturalist,’ Vol, 


XXXII, 1919, No. 8, p. 144, I decided to do so, 
and found the following thirteen species there, viz: 
Cypripedium hirsutum, C. parviflorum, Habenaria 
hyperborea, H. obtusata, H. orbiculata, H. dilatata, 
Calopogon pulchellus, Arethusa 


ee Bee’ 


i, at Pot AY 


174 


bulbosa, Listera convallarioides, L. cordata, Coral- 
lorhiza trifida, and Liparis Loeselit. 

Most of the other known localities in the im- 
mediate neighborhood of Hatley were visited, but 
without any great results, until August 5, when the 
four supposed plants of Menzies’ or the Northern 
Rattlesnake Plantain (Epipactis decipiens), before 
mentioned, were found to be this species, a fuller 
account of which, however, appears in the follow- 
ing annotated list of the three new species dis- 
covered this season. 


SMALL Woop ORCHISs, 
(Michx.) Spreng. 

This species was first discovered on July 1, 1922, 
in the large swamp near Beebe. At this date only 
four examples were noted, and these were not 
fully grown and were in bud only. Visiting the 
swamp again on July 29th, I discovered a much 
larger colony, some distance away from the other 
one, and now the plants were in full bloom, and 
it was interesting to note that many of them had 
emarginate spurs, the same as found by Mr. 
Edward A. Eames near Damariscotta, Maine, 
early in August, 1920, a description and plate of 
which will be found in “Rhodora,” Vol. XXIII, 
1921 ,No. 270, pp. 126-127. 


RAGGED FRINGED ORCHIS, Habenaria lacera 
(Michx.) R. Br. 

This interesting species, with its deeply incised 
lip, was also met with in the above swamp on 
July 29th. Unfortunately, it was not discovered 
until just as I was leaving for home,aand only one 
plant could be located, so that at present I am 
unable to give any idea of its abundance or other- 
wise. The plant in question was a fine one, but 
at this date only the upper part of the raceme was 
in flower, the lower portion being in fruit. Inci- 
dentally, I might mention that the exact height of 
this swamp above sea level is 850 feet, and not 
about 700 feet, as previously conjectured. 


MENZIES’ or THE NORTHERN RATTLESNAKE 
PLANTAIN, Epipactis decipiens. (Hook.) Ames. 

This, the largest of the Rattlesnake Plantains 
was first definitely identified on August 5, 1922, 
although on September 3, 1920, I had found four 
plants in fruit, which I took to belong to this 
species, as previously recorded. The site wasin a 
somewhat large wood, which, however, I had not 
visited for some years (although it was within a 
mile of my house), at least, not at this particular 
time of the year. There I found quite a number 
of plants, and, later on, a few more in an adjacent 
wood. After this discovery, I decided to visit 
another wood some miles away, where I usually 
take E. repens var. ophioides and E. tesselata. 
This wood is a somewhat damp one, mostly 
covered with sphagnum moss, in striking contrast 


Habenaria clavellata 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[VoL. XXXVI 


to the ones containing E. decipiens, which were — 


dry, the plants being found mostly on hummocks 
under hemlocks. 


At first I could find nothing but — 


tesselata (this was on August 9) which at that date > 


were nearly all in fruit, but, moving away to a 
drier part of the wood, which I had not previously 
examined, I came upon a small colony of repens 
and decipiens, the former in fine condition, and the 
latter with at least the upper half of the spikes in 
bloom. I was thus enabled to compare ail three 
species on the ground, and note the general dif- 
ference in the size and shape of the racemes, 
flowers and leaves of decipiens, as compared with 
those of repens and tesselata, irrespective of the 
technical difference in the lips, ete. 


The first record for this orchid in the State of 


Vermont was obtained by Miss Inez Addie Howe, 


who gives a pleasing account of her find of two 
plants in August, 1917, together with a beautiful 
illustration of one of them from a photograph by 
the late Wm. Everard Balch; see ‘“The Vermonter’’, 
Vol. XXV, 1920, No. 7, p. 87 and 107. 


It will be noticed that I have adhered to Epipac- 


tis and Microstylis as the generic names for the 


Rattlesnake Plantain and Adder’s Mouth families 


respectively, This has been done in order to keep 


in line with my previous papers, which were based 
on the nomenclature of Gray’s Manual of Botany, 
seventh edition. At the present time it would 
doubtless be more up to date to revert to Goodyera 
for the former, and use Malazis for the latter. 
With these changes, and the revision of Pogonia 
by Prof. Oakes Ames, ‘‘Orchidacex’’, Ames, Fascicle 
VII, 1922, pp. 3-38, nomenclatural matters will 
probably be settled for some time to come. To 
those interested in luxury-symbiosis or the depen- 
dence of orchids on a mycorrhizal fungus for their 
propagation, I would recommend the following 
most interesting papers by Prof. Oakes Ames, viz.; 
‘Seed Dispersal in Relation to Colony Formation 
in Goodyera Pubescens’, “The Orchid Review” 
Vol. XXIX, 1921, pp. 105-7, and “Observations 
on the Capacity of Orchids to Survive in the 
Struggle for Existence,” “The Orchid Review’’ 
August, 1922, pp. 1-6. 


In conclusion I may say that it is my intention . 


to present pressed examples of all the orchids 
enumerated in my papers to the National Her- 


barium of Canada, Victoria Memorial Museum, - 


Ottawa. This was partly accomplished in Feb- 


ruary, 1921. phe 


4 


ia” 
\ 


ae at fe Ne sea 


- December, 1922. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


175 


: a BIOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF PORTIONS OF NIPISSING AND 
TIMISKAMING DISTRICTS, NORTHERN ONTARIO 


By J. DEWEY SOPER 


INCE my study of the bird and mammal life in 
the Ridout region, District of Sudbury, some 
years ago, it seemed fitting to make a trip 

into the wilds of Temagami as a sort of a continua- 
_ tion of that study. The two regions, not far separ- 
ated geographically, are essentially the same in 
- eharacter, being extremely rugged and principally 
_ inthe Canadian Zone. With one or two exceptions, 
I could hardly hope to swell the list of species 
_ obtained in the Ridout country, but there was a 
_ possibility of discovering something new in respect 
_ to the distribution of some of the forms. As an 
added inducement, too, I understood that no 
faunal naturalist had previously visited this 
; region. Also, Zapus had hibernated by the time 
I reached the Ridout Country in 1918, and in 
_ planning the Temagami trio I was particularly 
anxious to visit the country at such a time, if 
' possible, as to insure filling the Zapus gap in my 
list. In this I was succcessful, as the following list 
' discloses, obtaining not only the common jumping 
mouse, but the much rarer one, Zapus insignis— 
the will-o’-the wisp of many a collector. 


The region here referred to lies about one hun- 
_ dred miles north of North Bay, embracing the 
Temagami Forest Reserve, the valley of the 
_ Montreal River, and the Ontario side of Lake 
_ Timiskaming. The Temagami country is es- 
‘pecially typical of the Canadian zone, being 
_ forested throughout with such characteristic 
_ conifers as white, red and banksian pine; white 
and black spruce; hemlock and balsam fir; 
Aspen, larch, balsam poplar, yellow and canoe 
_ birch completed the forest. On the lower Mont- 
real River from Latchford to Lake Timiskaming 
we encountered an intrusion of the Transition 
Zone where additional species were met with, 
such as black ash, red oak, mountain and sugar 
maple, white elm and white cedar. 


The geological formation is pre-Cambrian, 
- eonsisting of Lower Huronian and silver-bearing 
_ Keewatin, with isolated igneous masses of diabase 
- and anorthasite. The country for the most part 
is extremely rocky, with a fairly good forest 
ys ~ covering and profusely sprinkled with deep, clear 
Ne lakes of all sizes. 
= Accompanied by Mr. Herbert Allan, of Toronto, 
I commenced the canoe journey at Temagami 
a Station on the morning of August 29, 1920. The 
: Toute lay by way of the main Temagami Lake, 
_ Wakimika, Ababika, Diamond, and Lady Evelyn 


Lakes, thence to Sucker Gut Lake, back to Lady 
Evelyn and down the Evelyn and Montreal 
rivers to Lake Timiskaming where our trip came 
to a close at Haileybury about the middle of 
September. 

One of the most interesting features of the trip 
was the consciousness of passing from one zone to 
another while descending the Montreal. The 
demarkation was. by no means abrupt or even 
pronounced, but of sufficient distinction to attract 
attention. Later, the antithesis became more 
marked. Early in our descent of the river I was 
conscious of an increase in birds, not only in 
relative numbers but in species as well. The 
Transition element becomes particularly con- 
spicuous below Latchford. On the morning of our 
leaving the latter place we heard the first Red-eyed 
Vireo of the trip, and his talkative outbursts met 
our ears frequently from then on. Song Sparrows 
and Robins, both of which were very scarce in the 
Reserve, now became more conspiciuously com- 
mon. Large flocks of the latter were met with in 
the vicinity of Poigan Rapids and below, where 
such hardwoods as red, sugar and mountain 
maple, black ash, white elm and red oak were 
first seen or became decidedly more numerous. 
Two of these species at least find their northern 
limit in this vicinity—the sugar maple and the 
red oak. Some of these, notably the black ash, 
are not confined to this particular portion of the 
valley, but the hardwoods as a whole and especially 
the white elm are decidedly more common at this 
point. Canoeing down stream one detects the 
change almost at once. And with them, becom- 
ing comparatively common, are certain species of 
birds which in the areas of pure stands of conifers 
were nearly, if not entirely absent. Ruffed 
Grouse, Flicker, Crow and Grackle are examples 
which I readily call to mind, while such species 
as Sparrow Hawk, Red-eyed Vireo, Whip-poor- 
will and Red-winged Blackbird were now seen for 
the first time. The appearance of many of these 
‘was, perhaps, merely fortituous as regards a 
choice of locality, but to any one more or less 
versed in ornithology the general enrichment of 
bird-life was readily apparent. 


In the Temagami Reserve none but the “little” 
or Lake Superior chipmunk was observed, and 
that only once or twice, while on the Montreal it 

“became quite common. The larger and more 
familiar chipmunk (Tamias) put in its first 


176 


appearance below Latchford, persisting in con- 
siderable numbers down stream at least as far as 
our last river camp below Poigan Rapids. I 
realize that none of this evidence is strictly con- 
elusive as regards the segregation of the two zones 
under discussion, but it does point to a very real, 
though subtle infusion of the Transition. An 
observer with more time at his command than I 
had on this trip, should certainly discover further 
and more minute distinctions between these two 
interesting and adjoining regions. 


THE MAMMALS 


Maries pennanti (Erxleben). FisHER.—The 
only clue I have of the occurrence of this species 
is that of a well-marked trail which I saw at 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vow XXXVI 3 


zs. 


ae 


Ababika Lake on Sept. 2. The foot impressions — 
were very distinct in the wet sand of the beach — 
and therefore easily deciphered. 

Mustela vison Schreber. MINK.—Presence of — 
the mink was noted at all points enumerated below 
for muskrat. Their trails were particularly 


common on the mud beaches above Sucker Gut 


Falls, and along the river which flows into the 
lake of the same name from a north-westerly 
direction. The muddy bottom, in parts, of 
Sucker Gut Lake is a most prolific breeding 
ground of the freshwater clam, and all along the 
shores at intervals we noticed various-sized piles of 
their empty shells which signified the presence of 


mink and rat. 
(To be concluded in the January issue) 


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 


NOTES ON A SASKATCHEWAN MUSKRAT COLONY. 
—In August last, two parent muskrats and their 
four half-grown young went overland into a 
sedgy pond of about an acre in extent and two 
feet in depth in the centre. After two days a 
burrow was obtained in the state of commence- 
ment. A trench was dug from the deepest part 
of the pond straight toward the shore with a very 
slight incline. The width of the trench was 
fourteen inches and the earth piled at the end of 
the trench. All weeds were removed from the 
deepest part of the water for a radius of thirty 
feet. The trench gradually deepened until at the 
water line of the pond it was twenty-eight inches 
in depth and fourteen inches in width. 

In September the main trench was driven a 
distance of one hundred and seven feet. At the 
extreme end a large nest the size of a bushel 
measure was made three feet under the ground 
under the roots of a willow. This nest was made 
of soft dry grass and was completed before the 
first of October. The burrow was raised three 
inches above water level at the entrance, and the 
entrance was thirty feet inland from the water 
line of the pond shore. That is, there was an 
open drain from the pond edge to the place where 
the ground closed over the burrow. Where the 
burrow proper started under the hill the water 
measured eighteen inches in depth. . 

The three-inch air space at the entrance of the 
burrow gradually increased until there was no 
water in the burrow at a distance of forty feet 
from the entrance. The burrow at the highest 
water mark was fourteen inches high and nine 
inches wide. The extra height is used in the 
spring when the ponds are flooded. The colony 
can use the burrow without being pressed for air 
even in case of abnormal floods. 

From the first to the twentieth of October four 
tunnels eight inches in depth were driven above 


the high water level parallel with the main tunnel 
and branching from it. Digging into these four tun- 
nels showed that they averaged a length of twelve 
feet or forty-eight feet in all. These tunnels 
were packed with tender bulrush roots, sedges, 
mints, young grass and reeds. The bulk of the 
store was white and crisp, and very tightly 
packed. Each of these tunnels was plugged with 
clay at the junction with the main tunnel to 
exclude air. Wherever the tunnel tapped a 


P. 
cs 


- 
7 


cattle track or other hole the same was tightly — 


plugged and the tunnel continued. The young 
muskrats aided the parents by carrying earth from 


the tunnel and also in bringing in the food store. 


These six small animals must have carried several 
hundred pounds of earth and food in the last two 
months. As the pond is very shallow and will 


freeze to the bottom before Christmas I am going _ 


to find out what these creatures will do when the 
supply fails——THOoMAS D. CARTER. 


PRAIRIE WARBLER, 
would appear from the literature on the Prairie 


Warbler that this bird is a casual visitor in On- 
My first record was made during a visit to — 


tario. 
the southern portion of Georgian Bay, known as 
Nattawasaga Bay. While walking along the 
shore (August 1, 1914) I saw four Warblers high 
up in a pine and on examining them through my 
glasses I found them to be the Prairie. On 


revisiting this spot in 1921, from June until — 
September, I had occasion to study these birds. — 


They were localized and followed the shore line 
for about fifteen miles, never further than two — 


hundred yards inland. This locality was com- 


posed of a few scattered oak, white and norway 
pines, numerous ground juniper, a typical jack 
pine ridge. In June the male could be heard 
singing his characteristic song. These Warblers 


Dendroica discolor —It 


3 
% 
: 


next to the Myrtle, are the commonest a this 


“ 
4 
¢ 

7 
: 
> 


= 


~ 


ack 


December, 1922. 


3 
% 
ing 
“ie 
Ss 
Bo. 
* st 
fh 3: 
= 
on 
> 
3, 
a x 


#, 
¥. 


district and I have never, but once, found them 
_ elsewhere, and then in Toronto, on April 17th, 


1916, a male was observed. The bird generally 


- chooses a dead branch on a fairly tall pine 


tree from which to deliver his song, and I found 
them generally to sing while feeding. They have 


- two songs; the first and most common consists of 


six or seven Zee’s on an ascending scale, it being 
often very difficult to locate the singer. The other 
song, which I have only heard a few times and 
then always in the evening, is shorter, similar, 


- but not so loud. 


On June 19th, 1922, Mr. F. A. E. Starr, who 
was spending a few days with me, and myself 
started to find a nest and before our search ended, 
succeeded in finding four. All were placed in 
ground juniper, about one foot off the ground, 


_ half way up the stem, on the outer branch of the 


juniper, never in the middle. The nests were 
neat, cup-shaped structures composed of plant 


fibre, grasses, pine needles and white bark off 


birch trees, lined with down a and few hairs. One 
nest contained two young ready to leave the nest 


_and one young Cowbird, which were destroyed by 


a red squirrel before I could obtain a photograph. 
Evidently this bird commences breeding around 
May 24th. As I have never found a complete 


~ nest of eggs I hope to do so in the coming season 


An adult male was taken in breeding plumage 


and is now in the Collection of Mr. J. H. Fleming. 


—PAUL HARRINGTON D.D.S. 


BEES COLLECTING Hemp POLLEN.—During the 
past summer, hive bees were frequently observed 
gathering pollen from plants of Hemp (Cannabis 
sativa) growing at the Central Experimental Farm, 
Ottawa. That this pollen must have a great 
attraction for them is evidenced by the fact that 
on one large plant as many as twelve bees were 
seen at the same time busily employed. 

In Hemp the staminate and pistillate flowers are 
on separate plants, the pollen is powdery, and the 
plants are normally pollinated by wind. As the 
bees did not visit the pistillate plants they pre- 
formed no useful service in return for the pollen 
provided by the staminate plants. They were 
there simply in the capacity of robbers.—J. 
ADAMS. 


-Birps THAT ARE LITTLE KNOWN IN MANITOBA. 


_ —Might I add a few little notes on my friend, Mr. 


Norman Criddle’s, observations under the above 
caption. At the extreme south end of Range 12, 


_ west of the prinicpal meridian, I saw one Burrow- 
ing Owl on May 6, 1913. The Arkansas Kingbird 
was first seen by me between Crystal City and 
Pilot Mound on May 21, 1909. Hamilton M. 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


177 


Laing, formerly of Oak Lake, Manitoba, reports 
in the Winnipeg Free Press in a recent article this 
year that he observed the bird first in 1907 at 
Oak Lake, Manitoba. In my 15 years’ residence 
in Pilot Mound, commencing in 1901, I saw the 
Lark Bunting on June 27, 1910, and June 15, 
1911, as first appearances for those years when 
the bird was seen in fair numbers. I saw no nests. 
—H. M. SPEECHLY. 


NEW MAMMAL RECORDS FOR ALBERTA.—During 
June, 1922, I collected a specimen of the Richard- 
son’s shrew (Sorex richardsoni) on the Battle 
River, Alberta, a short distance south of Camrose. 
So far as known, this is the most southern record 
for this species in Alberta. 

In late August, 1922, while on a trip with Mr. 
J. A. Munro and Mr. F. L. Farley to Battle Lake, 
Alta., I trapped a single specimen of the northern 
lemming vole, Synaptomys borealis, in a sphag- 
num swamp near the north-west end of the lake. 
This also, so far as known at present, constitutes 
the most southern record in the province. [ 
submitted this specimen to Washington to have 
it compared with typical borealis collected by 
Preble in the far north. I thought perhaps speci- 
mens from a locality as far west as Battle Lake 
would begin to show characters of the sub-species 
dalli, but it is pronounced typical borealis —J. 
DEWEY SOPER. 


PINE WARBLER TAKEN IN Nova Scotia.— 
During some twenty-five years of bird study in 
the field in Nova Scotia I have not found the 
Pine Warbler until this year, although I am 
familiar enough with the species during the breed- 
ing season in New England. On November 4th. 
1922, I saw a small Warbler in a birch covert at 
Gaspereau, near Wolfville, N.S., and noticed that 
it was neither a Myrtle nor a Yellow Palm. At 
so late a date this was worthy of note and I 
decided to take the specimen. It proved to bea 
Pine Warbler (Dendroica vigorsi). The bird was 
subséquently mounted and presented to the 
Provincial Museum at Halifax and constitutes a 
species new to the splendid collection of Nova 
Scotia birds there. —R. W. Turts. 


FRESHWATER AMPHIPODS FROM CANADA AND 
NEWFOUNDLAND.— Since my note about this 
subject, in “The Canadian Field-Naturalist’”’ for 
May, 1921, p. 99, I have been able to get a num- 
ber of additional records for three of the half 
dozen species of freshwater amphipods occurring 
in Canada. 

In addition to the records for Gammarus 
limnzus given on pp. 130-132 of “The Canadian 


Pas * 


178 


Field-Naturalist’’ for October, 1920, I have received 
from Dr. C. McLean Fraser of the University of 
British Columbia, Vancouver, a vial with many 
full grown and some new born specimens “‘collected 
by one of the university students in a small lake 
or pond on Botanie Reserve (near Kamloops), 
B.C., about a dozen miles from Spence’s Bridge, 
at an elevation of 4000 feet.’’ The collector states, 
“that the females were carrying the young under 
the flexed tail of the abdomen, and hence were 
unable to swim readily. To get over the difficulty 
they were hauled along backward by the males 
who grasped them with their anterior legs, and 
pulled them along quite readily.” (July 6, 1922). 


On my way from Gaspé to Newfoundland in the 
autumn of 1922, I stopped over at Charlottetown, 
Prince Edward Island; and in the freshwater lake 
in the west end of the town I secured, among the 
vegetation along the margin, a number (20) of 
specimens, from young to full grown, of Gam- 
marus (Dickerogammarus) fasciatus Say, on August 
22. The Amphipod was apparently very common 
in this lake; and its occurrence here is rather 
interesting, because hitherto it had not been 
collected anywhere else in Canada except in the 
Great Lakes area (see “‘The Canadian Field- 
Naturalist’ for October, 1920, p. 129). These spec- 
imens from Prince Edward Island have been ident- 
ified by Mr.C. R. Shoemaker of the U.S.N.M., who 
has also verified my identifications of the other 
freshwater amphipods mentioned in this note. 


We now come to the new records for the third 
species, Hyalella knickerbockeri (H. azteka), in 
addition to those given in “The Canadian Field- 
Naturalist’ for October, 1920, pp. 131-132; and for 
February, 1921, p. 36. When I visited St. Helier 
on the north coast of the Gaspé Peninsula (between 
St. Anne de Monts and Gaspé Basin, P.Q.) on 
August 15, 1922, I secured a dozen specimens (new 
born to half grown) of this species under stones in 
the shallow part of the outlet of Grant Etang 
Lakes, next to the old water-mill here. These are 
the first records from the part of Quebec Province 
lying south of the St. Lawrence. 


In the footnote, p. 131 of “The Canad‘an Field- 
Naturalist” for October, 1920, I expressed the sur- 
mise that, owing to its occurrence on Cape Breton 
and the Magdalen Islands, H. azteka would pro- 
bably be found to occur also on Newfoundland; 
and by visiting this island in the end of August and 
the beginning of September, 1922, I secured 
definite evidence of this. Thus 3 new born speci- 
mens and one half grown specimen were collected 
under stones in Burton’s Pond, St. John’s, on 
August 25; and a dozen specimens, from new born 
to half grown, on the same day among vegetation 
in the pond at the sand-pits outside St. John’s; 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


[Vou. XXXVI a 


and two days later 60 specimens, from new born — 
to half grown, were secured by turning over stones _ 
at the margin of Quidi Vidi Lake, St. John’s, near 
its outlet. Also 22 specimens of the same ages 
were collected in a swamp pond near Sugar Loaf 
Hill, north of (outside) St. John’s on August 28. 
Finally two dozen specimens, from young to half 
grown, were secured in Rocky Brook, a stream 
emptying out into the west side of Grand ake, — 
near its north end,in the western part of New- 
foundland, on August 31. 

It will thus be seen that freshwater Amphi- 
pods are as common in the lands surrounding the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence as farther west in Canada; 
and we have now good reason to suppose that they 
also occur on Anticosti Island—F. JOHANSEN. 


A UNIQUE BIRD TRAGEDY.—During the past 
late summer and autumn months (1922), Pine 
Siskins have occurred in great abundance in 
Nova Scotia. : 

Some weeks ago I was driving by auto near 
Bedford (Halifax County) and at a point where 
there was elaborate road construction going on I 
was held up by one of the workmen who informed 
me that a dynamite charge was about to be fired” 
He pointed to a pile of brush about 150 yards 
down the road which was placed in the customary 
manner over the charge. AsI waited [heard the — 
familiar sweet notes of a rollicking flock of Pine © 
Siskins. Glancing upward I saw them coming 
toward me, about thirty in number, and straight 
for the ominous brush-pile. At a height of about 
60 feet they passed directly over it at the instant 
the charge went off and the air was filled with dust 
and bits of flying rock. The birds appeared to be 


literally swallowed up in it and as none were seen 


to emerge in any direction I believed that many 
if not all were killed.—R. W. Turts. 


SomME NORTHERN RECORDS OF THE TURKEY 
VULTURE. 

Mr. L. H. Cole, of the Mines Branch, Otten 
took a specimen of the Turkey Vulture, Cathartes. 
aura septentrionalis at Dawson Bay, Lake Win- 
nipegosis, Manitoba, on September 15, 1913.. 
His excellent manuscript notes of the occurrence 
identify the bird beyond perddventure and include 
a life-size sketch of the head, as well as a sketch 
with measurements and colour notes of the dorsal 
aspect with wings spread. RS. 

In August, 1921, at Dauphin, Manitoba, Mr. 
P. A. Taverner and I were shown a photograph of a 
a young bird from the nest. We were told by — 
Mr. R. M. Watt, Forest Supervisor, Duck Moun- — 
tain Forest Reserve, that the nesting had recently 
occurred in the Duck Mountains. 


3 


“3 
os 
z 


a: 
+ 


i 
gee ae 
a 2 ae 


oe 
re 


§ 


ots 


December, 1922. 
Mr. Alex Coxford, Superintendent of Elk 
Island National Park, Alberta, informed Mr. P. A. 
‘Taverner and me in September, 1920, that Turkey 


- Vultures nested on an island in Lake Astotin in 


the summer of 1919. The nest was under a fallen 


tree, and fortunately Mr. Coxford had a photo- 
graph of the young bird which made the identifica- 
_ tion absolute. 


This nesting occurred at approxi- 


mately 53°40’ N. Lat.; 113° W. Long.; which, 


according to the records in the Victoria Memorial 


Museum, is the most northern breeding place yet 


_ recorded.—Hoyes LLoyp. 


A BELATED SWALLOW.—Friday, November 


- 17th, 1922, was cold and wintry. The ground was 
__ whitened as the result of a recent snow flurry, and 


altogether it was decidedly cheerless. 


I was 
travelling by train from St. John, N.B., to Mon- 


_ treal and was impressed by the scarcity of wild 


bird life. Not even a funereal Crow in many 


- miles to break the lifeless monotony of the land- 


 seape. 


—_ 


Finally about nine o’clock in the morning 
we stopped and I noticed that the sign read 
“Birchton”. I was told we were in Quebec. An 
open field lay between the train and some farm 


- buildings 100 yards or so away. Suddenly my 
- attention was arrested by a small bird flying slowly 


my vision so that I might reassure myself. 
sently it reappeared and this time passed my win- 


across the field. It sailed along leisurely with an 
occasional familiar wing movement and I saw 
that it was a Tree Swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor). 

It disappeared behind the train and I eagerly 
watched, .hoping it would return within range of 
Pre- 


+ 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


‘179 


dow within 40 yards and as it wheeled on several 
occasions I was able to note the pearly white 
breast which clearly distinguishes this from others 
of the Swallow family in eastern Canada. 

On such occasions one naturally asks why should 
this frail bird have remained while others of its 
kind went south some two months or more ago? 
I believe it is true that the Tree Swallow is one of 
the hardiest of the Swallows. It has frequently 
been seen feeding on berries of various kinds, 
either from choice or when insects failed to abound 
in sufficient numbers to sustain it. Nevertheless 
it is essentially an insect-eater and is one of the 
first of our summer birds to leave for the south at 
the approach of autumn. Possibly this might 
have been an injured bird, hence unable to com- 
plete the long flight, though on the wing it showed 
no evidence of any physical defect. Might it not 
be that sometimes individuals among the birds 
reach maturity, lacking that marvellous sense 
which we call the “migration instinct”? Separat- 
ed from their fellows, they linger aimlessly about 
their native haunts, eventually succumbing to the 
natural forces which apparently must soon destroy 
the frail bird I have described. 


Since writing the above I have received a report 
from an observer in Port Mouton, Queen’s County, 
N.S:, under date of November 20th, 1922, which 
reads as follows: ‘‘...A Tree Swallow has 
been with us for some time and was last seen on 
Nov. 18th. Referring to my records covering 
the autumn migration of this species, I find that 
the first week in September is an average date for 
‘last seen’.’”’-—R. W. Turts. 


It is expected that an exhibition of Canadian photographs of wild 
life, ancluding both fauna and flora, will be gathered together at Ottawa 
before February 28, 1923, and will later be shown by those affiliated 


Societies that may desire to arrange to show tt. 


Full information may 


be obtained from the Secretary of the Ottawa 
Field-Naturalists’ Club. 


+ 


BOOK REVIEW 


with a short list of 200 commoner birds and 


_ Allen’s Key to Birds’ Nests. Published by the 


_. Illinois Audubon Society, Chicago, 1922, Map, 
_ pp. 80. No author is given on the title page 
and we are informed the price is fifty cents. 


FTXHIS is a small octavo volume, with stiff 
cardboard covers, convenient for carrying 
in the pocket. The list of the two hun- 

dred birds is naturally an arbitrary one but is 

probably as satisfactory as any that could be made. 

It will probably be a convenience to the amateur 


180 


in keeping his attention focused on probabilities. 
The policy of reversing the sequence of species 
and beginning with the Thrushes instead of the 
Grebes, reverting to an obsolete system, is, to 
any one taking an active interest in modern 
ornithological literature, an exasperation rather 
than the assistance it is claimed to be. 


The Key to Birds’ Nests, by Dr. Arthur Allen, 
republished from “Bird-Lore,” is an attempt to 
- identify nests without knowledge of their owners. 
It is an interesting attempt and shows much 
field knowledge on the part of the author, but who 
wants to make records on such evidence? No 
word of caution is given as to its use and it can 
easily be imagined what a host of new breeding 
records may be given to Illinois when the enthus- 
iasm that outruns experience begins to use it. 
Such a key may have value but is a direct en- 
couragement to the hasty identification that is the 
prevailing weakness of the beginner. 


The bulk of the brochure is taken up with a 
Comprehensive List of the Birds of Illinois 
prefaced by an introduction by Robert Ridgway 
that contains an interesting discussion of the life 
zones shown on the accompanying map, and some 
valuable facts regarding recent and past changes 
in the bird life of the state. It almost goes without 
saying that this section is absolutely satisfactory 
and authoritative. When it comes to the Com- 
prehensive . List itself we regret that we cannot say 
as much. 


The fact that no scientific names are used is 
probably no objection in a popular work of this 
nature but giving subspecies the same prominence 
in treatment as full species without even trinomial 
nomenclature to distinguish the lesser facts from 
the greater cannot very well be defended. It 
certainly exalts the subspecies above its proper 
relative importance and leads the beginner out of 
his depth before he learns to swim. Surely no 
bird-man or woman to whom scientific names are 
stumbling blocks is competent to make the finer 
subspecific distinctions. 


With all due regard to the popular nature of the 
list the annotations under the species are far from 
satisfactory, reflecting standards of thirty years 
ago rather than of to-day. The term “positive 
record”’ is used freely, but without further explana- 
tion it means little more than the similar expres- 
sion, “‘Identification positive”, did on the old egg 
labels. A great many old records are quoted 
without further comment than the authority’s 
name, These names are great enough to com- 


THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 


mand respect but the implied assumption that 


(Vou. XXXVI 


present day ornithological experts knew as much ~ 


about birds in their youth as they do to-day is 
Doubtless they'them- _ 


straining the probabilities. 
selves would be the first to urge caution in ac- 
ceptance of many of these early records. In 
many cases too, there is nothing to suggest that 


: 


they may represent an ancient order of things — 


that has passed forever. 
upon which further information is desirable. 
The Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers are given, 
but not the Parasitic; Great Black-backed Gull 
is inferred “not uncommon’; Laughing Gull, 
Gull-billed and Least Tern, Cinnamon Teal, 
Barrow’s Golden-eye, 


Greater Snow Goose (given as “probably more 


Harlequin Duck, The 


Many species are noted, 


numerous” than the Lesser), Cackling Goose, — 
Brant, the Western Sandpiper (given as of regular — 


occurrence), Western Goshawk and others occur 
in the list. Some of these records are probably 
correct, but others undoubtedly should not bave 


been included without more careful investigation - 


than is evident in the context. It is interesting 
to note that amongst the more generally familiar 
small land birds fewer surprises are evident: — 


It seems rather regrettable that at least a brief 


bibliography of the local field has not been in- 


cluded. A list of the principal works on the birds — 


of the state would offer suggestions for side reading 


and additional information to the beginner and 
assist the more serious student in verifying or 

examining the evidence on some of the Pets 
points. 


It is an ungracious task to slate sincere enthus- 


iasm but when enthusiasm takes up a difficult — 


task it should be sincere enough to take it seriously. 


The making of a proper faunal list is an immense 


undertaking, how immense few realize, but unless — 


well done it is better not done at all. Even, or 


perhaps, especially when it is planned for popular — 


consumption, is accuracy necessary. The ex- 


perienced ornithologist can often recognize loose 


work and guard against being misled by it but the 
amateur has no such safeguard of knowledge. 
If we leave out the question of accuracy for its 


own sake, and undoubtedly a popular work can — 


be just as accurate within its scope as a scientific 


one, there is the question of example. The begin- 
ner can hardly be blamed for loose work when a 
low standard is set before him as a text book. 


If this plain speaking suggests to ite a 
realization of responsibility in work of this sort it 
will compensate for the pain it may incidentally — 
cause the author of the work whom we errs 


oe 


esteem most highly.—P. A. T. 


ZF 


<a 


” 
. 
» 


QH The Canadian field-neturalist 


& Medical 
Serials 


PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE 
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET 


UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY 


STOR AGE 


ee as 


ities, soe 


UA ie se eeER 


Vermeer 


vaNayirat@ 
vob Se A 
= . went Seen 


“a pate 


. ree 


% . > . < * 
° oe b : a Antenne, Sa Ney oe 
TEENA 2c re AOE er pL A ee eee ORT A Oeil ee geen tin hae eine Iv ah vihrtraags omueg . 1 awies a bh ee eH a cet anny Sep 
~ Dctpe! one — ene - I SY a PSE ae eee yy Ie aC UN yy VP EN ST 
i - : 7 < 2 3 2 
ie . we - . a , y ‘ : “n 1 AE 02 em Oe Ses 4g 
~ “ we ae een a “4 
at = oe Pn hie: tel ages i 
- - A oa ee ae ~ : 5 
ov ae - ~= 
pa ' _~ a ie 
” t f “= 
“~¥ si tae 
* t Pa 
~ <a “ 
- ng -_ 
= ~ ; 
a ; < ‘ 
- er: 
. ¥ - pd — < 
i fn 
. - ~ 
- v ny 
: ~ = 7 
a. > 
o- + : 
o.- — “ ~ 
. = : 


i 
et PON 


Ape teers sae ye 


Oks hanesdb leaked a reenter — 
ie 
Lahn etn woes Dias Stn ceewweses 


at a a: 


eed 


“_ * 
hs CME EN Dt hh 6 OOO SOT OE ~ 
ae as a < « ee 
oe ws 


ove a svanbe hak hy 
+ Boo. 
Litre bea 
ae