1919 VOL. XXXIII 1920

The Canadian
Field -Naturalist

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

Organized March, 1 879 Incorporated March 1 884

LIBRARY

THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ^

f^SiiAA

VOL. XXXIII.

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 Naturaust 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 The CANADIAN FlELD-
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

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.

NOTES ON THE CASPIAN TERN (STERNA CASPIA) AND THE
PARASITIC JAEGER (STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS) IN MANITOBA.

By Professor Chas. H. O'Dongghue, D.Sc, and J. Nelson Gowanlock, B.A.,

Fellow in Zoology, Zoological Department,

University of Manitoba.

Island faunae, 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 1 3th, 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

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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
951/2 and latitude 52!/2 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

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 (II 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 (I) 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

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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.

The Canadian Field-Naturallst

[Vol. XXXIII.

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 algae 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 cff-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 '.he 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
m'lnuta) (9) and not that of the Common Tern
(Sterna hirundo) (10) which most frequently builds
quite 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
being made by the new tenants. In no case did the
number of eggs in a nest exceed two. 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 m 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.

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-

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
Avere 66 X 45 and 63 x 43 m.m.

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
he-^vily spotted and blotched wi;h 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 (of 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 ^5.
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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

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

RING-BILLED GULLS ( LaTus delaTvarensis) 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 mar'da or M. affinis) were
observed, five or si.x individuals together, resting on
the water not far offshore from the ternery.

MALLARD (Anas boschas) were observed 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 (P'uob'.a minu-
tilla) were observed on the beach.

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

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

Several SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (Aciitis maculaia)
were found feeding along the shore.

Night hawks (Cbordedes virginianus) were
noted at Swampy Bay and very probably inhabit
Pelican Island. None 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 sandivichcnsis
savanna) were in song and apparently breeding near
the ternery.

CEDAR WAXWINGS (Bombyc'dla cedrorum) wers
common in the trees on Pelican Island. They were

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

RED-EYED N'IREOS (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 (Dendroiza aestiva aesliva)
were common and breeding.

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS (D^ndroica blacff-
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 circuitcusly out by way of
Hudson's Bay and the Atlantic coast. Analagous
to this might be cited the case of the Bobolink
y'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
of 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

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIU

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 not 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, Checlt
List of Nortli American Birds, Tliird Edition, New
Yorl\.

2. Atkinson, George E.. 1904. Rare Bird Re-
cords of Manitoba. Transaction 6.5, The Historical
and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

3. Bell, Robert, 1879. Report on Expeditions on
the Churchill and Nelson rivers, etc. Report Prog.

Can. Geo!. Society, 1878-79. Ottawa. Birds, pp. 67c
to 70c.

4. Cooke, Wells W., 1913. Bird Migration. U.
S. Dept. Agricul. Bulletin No. 18.5. Washington.

Ti. 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 tlie Lower Saskatchewan river. Bui.
from the Laboratories of the State University of
Iowa, Vol. IT, No. 3. Article IV, pp. 235-293.
January, 1893.

7. Preble. E. A., 1902. A Biological Investiga-
tion of the Hudson Bay Region, N.A. Fauna. No.
22, Wash. Birds, pp. 75-131.

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,
Jul'a, 1914. On Homotyposis and allied characters
in the egg of the Common Tern. Biometrika, Vol.
X, No. 1.

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

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. Davidson, F.L.S., F.B.S.F., 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 laxifolia) 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 insec's.

April, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

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
wh]ch 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-

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

APPEARANCE OF THE SUGAR.
The sugar appears as white masses varying in
size from '/4 of an inch to I J/2 or 2 inches in diam-
eter. The smaller masses are formed like white drops
at the tips of single leaves, occasionally two or three

Brancli of Douglas fir laden with white masses of .sugar.
(From B. C. Hot. Office Rep., 1914).

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.

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 m.ou'h; 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 Canadian Fik'.d-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

sugar ofl 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
daes 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 af^cr it, causing the
breakage of many branches.

EXUDATIONS BY OTHER PLANTS.

A.s is well known, many plants have structures
known as walerpores,, 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 witli 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, "Ilka 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; ihese 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 cond tions, in which temperature of the
soil and atmosphere, and water content of the soil
are important factors.

FACTORS INFLUENCING EXUDATION OF SUGAR.

A review of the disfributicn, and various factors
influencing the prcduction of sugar by Douglas fir,
will prove of especial interest to physiological and
ecological botanists, to whom the phenomenon will
serve as a splendid illustration of the influence of
environment en a plant which under ordinary con-
ditions in Bntish Columbia does not exude sugar.
DISTRIBUTION.

The region in which sugar-bearing Douglas firs
are most abundant, lies between the 50th and 51st
parallels and between 12l-122 long. This in-
cludes the driest and hottest part of the dry-belt of
British Columbia. Within this area they are rather
common in the Thompscn valley west of the mouth
of the Nicola river, also near the junction of the
Thompson and Fraser rivers at Lytton ; they have
been found a little above Lilloet in the Fraser
valley, but according to present information are not
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

Fraser rivers, lies 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
Kamloops 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-
ported 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 conditions these carbohy-
drates would be removed from the leaves and trans-
ported to growing tissues 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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

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

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, bui
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 96.25%

Reducing sugars 23.3

The analysis of the 1917 sample furnished the
following data:

Total sugars after hydrolysis 91.91

Reducing sugars 24.86

Foreign matter, etc., insoluble in water .64

Moisture 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
abcul 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 fruc"^ose. The percentage
composition of the sample of dry manna that we
examined was approximately:

Melezitose 75-83%

Sucrose 2.9%

Reducing Sugars 11.5%"

Melezitose is an extremely rare trisaccharide of

the formula C H O which on hydrolysis yields

IS n2 16 ^ J J

plucose and turanose, the latter is very difficultly
hydrclyscd to glucose 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 Manna
from the Douglas Fir, by C. S. Hudson and S. F.
Sherwood fjoiirnfil of the American Chemical
Societv, Vol. XL,, No. 9, 1918).

library'

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 of 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 b;rd 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
some of the largest meteorites known. Among them
are included Peary's wonderful specimens from
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 implements, 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. Volumes 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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

II

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 and 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 palaeontology, hcwever, that the Geological
Survey Museum ranks especially high. All the
type specimens described by the noted Canadian
palaeontologists, Elkanah Billings and J. F.
Whiteaves (that is the specimens which were first
studied and upon which the species were founded)
are contained in the invertebrate collection, along
with the types cf more recent workers, and thou-
sands of valuable specimens gathered from all parts
of Canada during 75 years of exploration. In
vertebrate palaeontology, many line 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.

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 fos-^il 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 cf 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 of Canada), should fascinate
all bird lovers. Musk ox, moose, polar bear, beaver
and other groups of cur 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.

12

THE BIRDS OF SHOAL LAKE, MANITOBA.

By p. a. Taverner.

(Continued from page 164 of The Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXXII.)

103. *BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, Cocc^zus eryhro-

phihalmus.
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, CeT^le 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. The 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. ^HAIRY WOODPECKER, Dryohates villosus.
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
our specimens are c learly referable to D. v.
leucomelas though one, Sept. 22, 1917, falls slightly
short of leucomelas measurements.

106. *DOWNY WOODPECKER, Dryohales 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 WOODPECKER, MalanepTes

eryihrocephalus.
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. "^FLICKER, Colapies 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. ^NIGHTHAWK, 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
near!y light enough 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
?nd noted bv Young occasionally in 1918 from
June 1 to end of August.

1 12. """whip-poor-will, Anirosiomus 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, Tyrarmus tyrannus.

First seen in 1918 on May 18; very common by
the 29th. On Sept. 18 a flock of six were seen.
Common in 1918 from May 17 to Sept. 10.
1 14. ^PHOEBE, Sayornis phoebe.

One taken by Young, on Aug. 30, 1918, is our
only record.

1 1 5. ^CRESTED FLYCATCHER, MyiaTchus crinitus.
In 1917 only one was seen, June 1. 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 McGiifon took a set of eggs
locally.

116. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, Nutallornis

borealis.

In 1917 one reported on June 5 and one taken on
ihe 14th. In 1918 Young noted several on June 4
to 9, and again a single bird on Aug. 17.
1 1 7. "^WOOD PEWEE, Myiochanes yirens.

Our only record for this species consists of two
specim.ens 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.

118. "'"yellow-bellied FLYCATCHER, Empidonax
flavlventris.
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. 1 5.

April, 19i9]

The Canadian Fielx)-Naturalist

13

119. *TRAILl's flycatcher, Empidonax trailli.
First seen on May 9, becoming almost common by

the 1 4th. 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, Oiocoris alpesiris.

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 alpesiris
nearly fully fledged young of praticola were col-
lected. Thus local biids had young out of the nest
before more northern nesters had left for their
breeding grounds.

122 MAGPIE, 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, C\^anocilta cristata.

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

124. CANADA 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 hrachyrhynchos.
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. h. brachyrh\)nchos, the female falls well within
the measurements for C. b. hespris. Considering
other Canadian prairie specimens with these, I do

not consider the two races satisfactorily differentiated.

127. ^BOBOLINK, 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. *COWBIRD, Moloihurus ater.

Very abundant. Noted by Young in 1918 to
Sept. 7.

129. *YELLOW-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 one 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, Agelanius
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 arctolegus, 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

[Vol. XXXIII.

Comparing Shoal Lake birds with other material,
I have made use of the following adult male mater-
ial: 9 from Mass., southern 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 24.5.1 121.7 (116.0-128.0)

7. Manitoba 1.96 264.1 124.4 (120.5-128.0)

7. Sasic.. Alta.,

Mack 1.8 229.2 127.2 (111. .5-132. .5 )

10. plioeniceus

(H.C.O.) 1.8 269.2 118.8 (114.0-122.0)

12. arctolegus

(H.C.O.) 1.88 304.8 125.4 (121.5-130.0)

11. fortis (H.C.O. )_- 1.88 254.04 129.7 (125.0-134.0)

In color, I find Shoal Lake females showing a
slightly greater amount of white below, most 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 systematic separation and
nomenclature. Irrespective of such judgment on
the races concerned it is evident that these Shoal
Lake birds are just about intermediate between east-
ern and v/est plains birds though personally I do not
care to separate them from phoeniceus.
131. '%ESTERN MEADOW LARK, Sternella neglecia.

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. However, eastern ears may be par-
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

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, Icterus 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 crackle, Quisculus quiscula.

In 1917 there was a thriving colony of Bronzed
Crackles 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 domg 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 of 1917, but Young noted the species
as late as Sept. 27, in 1918.

136. ^'EVENING GROSBEAK, Hecperiphona vespcr-

iina.
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-
winter specimens. The difference is probably sea-
sonal rather than subspecific. Unfortunately these
are amongst the birds that were lost. In 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 1 1 to Aug. 26, and a
single individual on Sept. 25.

April, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

15

138. ^GOLDFINCH, Asiragalinus Irisiis.

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, Spirtus p'nus.

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

140. *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 LONGSPUR, 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

ornaius.
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. ^SAVANNA SPARROW, Passerculus sand-

fvichensis.
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.

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
adu't 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 ochracecus-fuscous with dark shaft.
One specimen shows adult plumage appearing in
the juvenile dress indicating that full plumage is
assumed the first winter.

148. ^Harris's sparrow, Zonolrichia 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 individuals
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 char-
acters. This is unusual enough amongst autumn
birds to justify special mention, as usually juveniles
greatly outnumber adults.

149. *WHITE-crowned sparrow, Zonolrichia

leucophrys.
In 1917, single individuals seen on May 15 but

16

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIIi.

common throughout the autumn stay. In 1918,
present in limited numbers from May 6 to May 23
and rather more numerous Sept. 1 7 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. I. gambeli.
The other has it faintly interrupted across the lores
and must therefore be regarded as intermediate be-
tween Z. I. leucophrys and gambeli.

150. white-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia

albicolUs.
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. *TREE SPARROW, Spizella monticola.

Not noted in 1917. In 1918 observed Iron: April
26 to May 4, and again on Oct. 1 and 2. One
specimen, female, April 30, I refer to 5. m.
monticola.
1 52. ^CHIPPING SPARROW, Spizella passehna.

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 I
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 h^emalis.

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 1 5 and from Sept.
6 to Oct. 2.

155. *SONG 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 1. 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. 1.

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. %0X 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.
1 59. ^TowHEE, Pipilo eryihropthalmus.

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 observed irregularly from May 16 to
Aug. 5.

161. ^PURPLE MARTIN, Progne subis.

A few seen daily in 1917, probably the same
ones. 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, Peirochelidon lunifrom.

In 1917 a few seen daily with the flocks of Barn
Swallows about camp and occasional birds else-
where. Seton noted twenty-five nests on a barn in
1891. In 1918, noted from May 24 to Sept. 17.

163. ''^BARN SWALLOW, Hitundo erylhroga&ier.
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.

1 64. *TREE SWALLOW, IridopTocne 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. 1 7.

165. *BANK SWALLOW, Riparia 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, 1 91 9]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

17

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, Bomhycilla cedroTum.

In 1917, a flock of a hundred or so seen on May
1 1 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. I.
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, Vireos^lva oUvacea.

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 17 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 1 and Sept. 24.

170. ^WARBLING VIREO, Vifeosylva gilva.

In 1917, quite common after May 28. In 1918,
Young found it constantly present in fair numbers
from May 20 to Sept. 26. All 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.

1 73. ^NASHVILLE WARBLER, VermivoTa ruhri-

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.

174. "^ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, VermivoTa

celala.
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. celala, the geographical
probability.

175. "^TENNESSEE WARBLER, Vermivora 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 aesiiva.

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. I.

178. "^MYRTLE WARBLER, Dendroica coronata.

In 1917, the commonest Warbler on both visits.
In spring i; disappeared abcui June 1, after which
but occasional individuals were seen.
1 79. "^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. *BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, Dendroica

caitanea.
In 1917, only seen on June 2 and 6. In 1918,
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. 1 7.

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.

18

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIIL

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 v^ere 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, SeiuTus 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, 5. 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 UDon very
inconstant characters.

188. ^CONNECTICUT WARBLER, OpOTornis agiUs.
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, OpoTotnis 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, Ceothlypis

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

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, Wihonia 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. "^sprague's pipit, Anthus spraguei.
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-
scendmg Ree-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 mere 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. After 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.
11.

April. 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[^

197. %RO\VN THRASHER, Toxostoma rufum.
Fairly 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.
parl^mani.

199. 'WINTER WREN, N annus h'.cmalis hiemalis.
Not seen in 1917, but in 1918 \ oung observed

single individuals from May 20 to 23,. and on
Sept. 16.

200. "^SHORT-BILLED MARSH WREN, Cislotlwrus

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 1 to Sept. 25.

201. ''^LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN, T elmaiodyies

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. A 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-biiled 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, Cerlhia familiaris.
Young took two specimens of the Brown Creeper

on Sept. 23 and 26, 1918.

203. ^"red-BREASTED nuthatch, Sitta canadensis.
One individual seen by Young on Sept. 24, 1918.

204. '*^black-capped chickadee, Penihestes

airicapillus.
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

any but extreme eastern specimens and hence are
referred to P. a. sepientr'ionalis.

205. "^RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, Regains calendula.
In 1917, single individuals seen May 20 and June

1. In September a few were seen nearly every day.
In 1918, noted by Young daily from May 7 to 24
and Sept. 9 to 30.

206. ^Wilson's thrush, Hylocichla fuscescem.
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. All specimens show the slightly olive back of
the Willow Thrush, H. f. salicicola.
1^1. "^Alice's thrush, H\)locichla alkiae.

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. *0LIVE-BACKED thrush, Hylocichla ustulata.
In 1918, Young noted thrushes under this head-
ing from May 15 to June 1 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 juvemle 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.
sn>ainsoni 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, Hylocichla 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.

21 1. ^BLUEBIRD, Siala sialis.

Though not known by the Ward brothers as a

20

The Canadian Field-Naturali3T

[Vol. xxxiii.

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

Recent Bird Records for Manitoba by E. T. Seton,
Auk, XXV, 1908, pp. 450-454.

20. (anlea) BLACK DUCK, Anas ruhripes.

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. (aniea) WOOD 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, Ixohrychus exiUs.

Seton says: "Frank M. Chapman saw one at
Shoal Lake, June, 1901".

BRIEF REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB FOR

THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 18, 1919.

The fortieth year of the existence of The
Ottawa FieM-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-
cne members serving overseas have been carried
gratis.

The lecture programme consisted ot 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 excursions were 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 Ottawa Naturalist, 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.

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-
ahsts' Club to be the medium of publication.

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

President, M. Y. WiUiams; 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.

Fufc/ica/ions 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.

Nlc

C. Gord

ordon

Trust Funds W. T. Macoun,
Hewitt, H. M. Ami.

Auditors]. Ballantyne, E. C. Wight.

Leaders at Excursions.

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

Botan^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.

Entoniology 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.
E. Lemieux, E. A. LeSueur, C. H. Young, C. E.
Johnson.

Photography W. S. Hutton.

21

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

American Society of Mammalocists. 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 h?s 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 Launces. There
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 (Ammod^les personatus) obtained from
Barclay and Clayoquot Sounds, British Columbia.

The genus Ammo(i^)ies is represented on our
coasts by three reported species m all, and all of
which inhabit sandy shores.

The geographical ranges of the three are as
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
Cap:; 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.

Andrew Halkett.

THE mountain BLUE BIRD, AND ITS IRREGULAR
APPEARANCE. Every 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 21st of the month
I was very much surprised to see three Blue Bird
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

11

The Canadian Field-Naturali?t

[Vol. XXXIII.

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. Farley,

Camrose, Alberta.

On the early life-history of the American
LOBSTER (Homarm 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

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 AND REVIEWS.

Injurious Insects and Useful Birds. By
Prof. F. L. Washburn. J. B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia and London; 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-
ers generally. Chapters one to six deal with the
losses to agriculture due to insects and rodents ; farm
practices to lessen these; external structure of in-
sects; collecting and preserving insects; insecticides,
spraymg and fumigation. Chapters seven to
eighteen discuss insect affecting various crops, such
as apple, pear, small fruits, grain, roots, etc.
Chapter XIX on "Our Insect Friends"; XX, "The
Relation of Birds to Agriculture" and XXI, "Some

Fcur-Footed Pests of
volume. A. G.

Outlines of Economic Zoology. By Albert M.
Reese, Ph.D., Professor of Zoology in West Vir-
r;inia 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 ; IX,
Arthropoda; X to XIV, Chordata. The importance
of the study of economic zoology is becoming more
apparent every day. A.G.

'UJ

,^

^>

LIBRARY) a

THE CANADIAN FIELD-

VOL. XXXIII.

MAY, 1919.

No. 2.

CANADIAN ABORIGINAL CANOES.

By F. W. Waugh, Geological Survey, Ottawa.

Canoeing, it may be remarked by way of in-
troduction, is one of a number of thmgs 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 "candt" by the early
French in 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
Plams) 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
Ankara, 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 pap^rijera), 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 Icist mentioned

24

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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
Whale River Indians (Eastern Cree) is that the

iDr. E. Sapir, in "Time Perspective in Abor-
iginal American Culture," Memoir 90, of the
Geological Survey (Canada), p. 20, remarks: "Sim-
ilarly, 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 cojiy 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."

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
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 arc"
we find at least two somewhat divergent forms which
suggest an attenuation of eastern accultural influence,
combined, possibly, with modifications from other
sources. The 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.

sTurner, Lucien M., "Ethnology of the Ungava
District." llth Annual Kept, of the Bureau of Eth.,
Washington, D.C., p. 182.

sMention of this resemblance is made by Pet-
itot, m "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]

Plate I.

/.

2.

3.

CANADIAN CANOES.
1, Alaskan Eskimo umiak, or open boat: 2, Labrador Eskimo kayak: 3, Dog-rib canoe; 4, Malecite

canoe: 5, Algonquin canoe; 6, Montagnais canoe.

26

The Canadian Field- Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

Thin strips of cedar (Thuja occ'idenlal'is) 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 is
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
Sevang, 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.

r.Other 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
longitudinal seams where barks are joined). Both
of these schemes are employed by the Dog-ribs
Slaves and Chipewyans.

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 ihe
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 Mclnnes, 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. Mclnnes 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

May. 1919]

Plate II.

/.

3.

f^it^- -'1 J I '' II "_' in'L^ - i V V]-,-!] ,JT

Illllllll1ll |)l |!)l|l |lll\llllllll| f!l^

i)\

CANADIAN CANOES.

1, Ojibwa canoe (Northern Ontario): 2, Chipewyan: 3, Slave; 4, Kootenay, Shuswap and other

southern B.C., tribes; .5, Haida.
No.s. 3 to 6 on plate 1, and 1 to 3 on plate 2, are arranged consecutively to show how one form

may have developed from the preceding.

28

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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

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

^

^

/

V

/. 2. 3. ^ .' 6. 7. 8. fl.

SOME TYPICAL TADDLES.
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 who employ it mainly from
economy or conservatism.

ESKIMO CANOES.

In only one region, the great insular area of the
North Pacific Coast, was a true seafaring culture

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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

29

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. The sewing, as in the case of the
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.

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 cf
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

DISTRIBUTION MAP, the dotted portion showing the
Eskimo kayak and umiak region, and tlie part
covered by oblique lines, tlie bircli-bark canoe region.

According to E. W. Hawkes, from whose memoir wider than those of the Alaskan, which gives it a
on the Labrador Eskimo the foregoing description is clumsier appearance. It is usually about twenty-
taken, "Great speed is maintained by the Eskimo in five feet long and is steered with a rudder, quite
their frail kayaks. It is said that a single Eskimo likely an Asiatic borrowing, as are also the oars.

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. . . .''"
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

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

clumsier in form. In other respects it does not Asiatic influence.

differ materially, a fact which would suggest it as Jhe light and rather easily upset birch-bark

the form from which the kayak was derived. canoe was evidently unsuited for propulsion by such

An open skin-covered boat used by the Kutchin a contrivance, except in very light breezes, or when

GHawkes, E. W., "The Labrador Eskimo,"
Memoir <J1, Geol. Survey, Ottawa, p. 72. Tibid., p. 68.

30

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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

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 Dene, 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 Dene.^^
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.

SAULTEAUX CANOE-MAKl i\<; : i'laciiig upper barks in position and trimming.

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 tlie Man-
ners, Customs and Conditions of the North Amer-
ican Indians," London, 1842, p. 214, and plate 294.

sDenys, Nicholas, "Description and Natural
History of the Coasts of North America," The
Champlain Society, Toronto, 1908, p. 422.

loSkinner, Alanson, "Notes on the Eastern Cree
and Northern Saulteaux," Anthropological Papers
of the American Mus. of Nat. Hist., vol. IX, part 1,
p. 43.

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

iiMorice, A. G., "The Great Dene Race," Anth-
ropos, vol. 5, p. 441.

May, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

31

certain adjoining tribes, such as the Aleuts and the
western or northwestern Dene, 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-pomted.
WINTER TRANSPORTATION.

A conveyance of the type represented by the
canoe, which is suitable mostly for summer, natur-
ally supposes a corresponding wmter cor.trivance,
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 sledg= 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-

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 in.serting' 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.^-

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

iL'Buslmell, D. I., jr.. "The Choctaw of Bayou
Lacomb. Louisiana," Bulletin 48, Bureau of Amer
Ethnology, p. 18.

32

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

and are said to have had their ends sHghtly 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 m
which it is used.

A tree of suitable material and size was first cut
Jown 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 Dene, 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. A 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

those of the West Coast, are sufficiently different
in general character to suggest a development under
differing conditions. r^FTS

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 Dene, 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 strips 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
observed 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

isMorice, A. G., "The Great Dene Race," Anth^
ropes, vol. 5, p. 443.

May, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

33

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 1 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).

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 ggin 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.
^^\As a 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 im-
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 aeons 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 (Pirtus
Banlfsiana) are occasionally found, and the Moun-
tain Ash (P^Tus 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.

^vy

34

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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 botanizmg. Kap-
uskasing has treated me but poorly in this regard
for here I have met only four species, all familiar.
I found some Habenaria hyperhorea 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

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 roles 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 Trilhums,
Bellworts, Leeks, or Dog Tooth Violets. I have
found a few unhealthy specimens of Sanguinaria
canadensis, Viola cucullata, and Anemone parvi-
fiora, but there is little else reminiscent of an Old
Ontario spring. Trillium cernuum, a smaller plant
than its brother T. grandiflorum, and characterized

Weiswinin Falls, May 22, 1917.

Microst])lis 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. Coptis Irifolia is plentiful in June.

The slashed clearings and "brule" 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-
iiacea, var. occidentalis, being an erect dioecious 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 dcm. 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 Field-Naturalist

35

Epilohium angusiif olium and Cirs'ium muticum. An
abundant companion of these is Merlensia panicu-
lala, a sturdy vagabond with purphsh-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. penns^lvanicus, 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 borcale, Pyrola chlorantha, Pyrola asarifolia,
Moneses uniflora, and quaint Milella 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, Apoc})num 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 (Sis\)r-
inchium angusiifolium), two less common Cinque-
foils, Polentilla fruticosa and P. tridentata, and two
unfamiliar Fleabanes, Erigeron b\)ssopif alius and E.
racemosus grew there in abundance, along with
Aquilegia 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 (Silenc nociiflora), Chickweed
(Stellaria media). Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum
Lcucanthemum), Vetch (Vicia Cracca), Hound's
Tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), and Shepherd's
Purse (Capsella bursa-pasloris), but none grow yet
in sufficient quantities to harrass the farmer.

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 E. 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
"brUle" 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, Crapta, Vanessa, Eycaena, 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 (Earus 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 (Nydea) 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

[Vol. XXXIII.

BIRD PROTECTION IN CANADA.

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 Perce 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 Ottawa 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-

erty of quoting from this chapter some suggestions
wh'ch 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. Townsend.

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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

37

as far north as Hamilton Inlet, I observed that the
Newfoundland cod fishermen were in the habit
of raiding all the islands and adjacent mainlands on
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 Captam 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
crews of various vessels. He said that the egg hunt
was contmued 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
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

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.

Robert T. Morris.

BIRD MIGRATION.

By H. Mousley, Hatley, 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 Naturalist, page 97, that a writer
in the 5/. 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

can be energized, so in the case of telepathy and
teloesthesia 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 teloesthesia (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
reahze 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 teloesthesia
we have the means of answering some of those
awkward questions which are for ever perplexing the

followers and believers in the old idea that birds
are self-conscious beings, and perform their wonder-
ful feats by a process of reasoning. 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.

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
have come and gone likewise. 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.

THE WHITE PELICAN, PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS, IN ALBERTA

By F. L. Farley, 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. I 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 Hock were at
such an altitude that they did not look larger than
Rmall 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

M

ay.

1919]

The Canadian Field- Naturalist

39

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

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 numbsr
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. All 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 Canadian Field-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 mfluenza, which in various ways prevented
the exodus of city gunners.

Clyde L. Patch, 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.

Clyde L. Patch, Ottawa.

An Hermaphrodite Lobster. 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 Halkett.

Reading Mr. Harlan I. Smith's note in a recent
issue of The Ottawa Naturalist, 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, Preston, Ont.

of the most delightful of birds in spite of its bad
qualities Wis-Ka-Tjan 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 noticed 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. It would also come into our
tent and wake us up by walking over us if break-
fast was delayed too long. p' p Davne

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

An Epidemic of Roup in the Crow Roosts 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

M

ay.

1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

41

to gather in flocks about October. The number I
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
cold spell hundreds of them died. I am told that
the place where they have been in the habit of
roosting (McGavin's) the ground is now (Feb.
10 h, 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 stocks. 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

described by Eldon Howard Eaton''^ as occurring
in the Canandaigua Crow Roost 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
"in 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
d sease 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

^'^^'"^- M. Y. Williams.

*Auk. Vol. XX, isio:;, pi). .^T-r.n.

BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS.

Class Book of Economic Entomology, 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 Unr.ea
States and Canada. It is a companion voluipe 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 Fabre. 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

"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 Flora, 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

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
vAlh 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 ordmary 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 schcol-
eachers, ranchers, farmers and others who are in-
terested in knowing the names of the flowers which
'^jcw near their homes. J. M.

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

.4

telLIBRARY

THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALISK4C

.<5*

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. esI(imo (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. TTie
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, ete. .

Total length about 6'/2 inches (166 mm.); tail
vertebrae, 1'/^ inches (32 mm.); hind foot, 13-16
inches (21 mm.)

Measurements of a large meadow mouse (M.
penns^lvanicus) taken Feb. 17, 1918, coll. No. 243,

1 Seton, E. T., Life Hist, of Northern Animals.
Vol. II, p. 861, 1909.

liRlioad.s, S. N., Mamm. of Penn. and N.J., pp.
IT.'^-lTe, 190.3.

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 Long-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 shpuld be ex-
perienced in the field.

44

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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. The immediate region comprises con-
ditions peculiar to the north-west, such as the oc-
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. Withm
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. In a
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

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 Weasel, Musiela noveboracensis
(Emmonds).
In comparison with other weasels this species has
a relatively restricted range within which also occurs
Musiela cicognanii. 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 (12^4 ins.); tail vertebrae, male,
140 (5'/2 ins.), female, 108 (AVi ins.); hind foot,
male, 47 (P/j ins.), female, 34 (Wi 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. This was near

sMiller, Jr., G. S., Mammals of Ontario, VoL 28
No. 1, 18'J6.

4Seton, E. T., Life Hist., N. Animals, Vol. II,
p. 865, 1909.

"'Rhoads, S. N., Mammals of Penn. and N.
Jersey, p. 172, 1903.

cMiller, Jr., G. S., Mammals of Ontario, Vol. 28,
No. 1, p. 44, 1896.

September, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

45

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. Some specimens taken near Christmas
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
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 to'.d me years ago by a farmer
which portrays nicely the intrepid nature of this

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 I 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 ( WLXTER FURj OXE-HALF NATURAL SIZE,
a Putoriu.s rixosus. c Putorius noveboracensis.

b Putorius cicoqnaiiii.

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 accompanying 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
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.

d Putorius longicauda.

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,
pullfd 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

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

46

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

June I, 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 cicognanii
(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 1 1 '/2 inches (292 mm.); tail vertebrae, 3%
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-
loo. In a recent letter, Mr. Saunders informs me
that he had no record of this species from London
or the western part of the peninsula, but has skins
from Durham and Ottawa, and a record by Hobson
from Woodstock.

Winter is the time when this weasel is most
in evidence. 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 bcunding animd is not as regula-r between in-

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. cicognanii. 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 Canaoian Field-Naturalist

47

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, coincidmg 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

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-
appearances and reappearances. 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
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 pulkd along the ground. It was not be-
cause of food scarcity that orompted this, for hares
existed in plenty throughout the region 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 I suppose his
curiosity was fully satisfied. 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 v/ild life, open, free, unsuspecting, thougk
usually occult and mysterious.

48 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIIl

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. resiit.

Melanerpes erythrophlhalmus 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, Fergus County,
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-
mg, and central Colorado; south to northern New
Mexico, northwestern Texas, and southern Okla-
homa; and east to central Oklahoma, central
Nebraska and eastern North Dakota. Casual
northern Utah and southeastern Arizona.

/^emar/fs. Size is the best and most reliable char
acter for distinguishing this subspecies.. The foil
ing measurements of Melanerpes erythrocephaL.
erythrocephalus from the central eastern United

in

ow-
us

iBulL U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt. VI 1914 p 4"
Q :uV} fPecimen.s, from Colorado. Wyoming, and
South Dakota, measured by Mr. J. H. Riley

3Six specimens, from Colorado, Wvomin- nnri
Oklahoma, measured by Mr. ,J. H. RileV. "'

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 biid 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.
"Five specimens, measured by Mr. .J. H. Riley.
oBull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt. VI, 1914, p. 43.

September, 1919]

The Canadian Fielx)-Naturalist

49

eryihrocephalus 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 Melancrpes erythrocephalus eryihrocephalus
becomes restricted to the following area:

Eastern United States and southeastern Canada:
north to New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and
southern Ontario; west to Minnesota, Iowa, Mis-
souri, 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. Casual in Nova
Scotia.

The technical name to be used for the western
red-headed woodpecker 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 Melancrpes 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

"^i. Kiagway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, pt.
Vr, 1914, p. 43.

sBull. Fergus County Free High School, No. 1,
1903, p. 36.

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,
Montana; 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 Zoology, 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, __).
Kansas. Hart's Hill, east of Fort Riley (June
13, 1856).

Montana. Custer's Creek (August I, 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. Valenline (September 8, 1891).
New Mexico. Bear Canyon, Raton Range (Sep-
tember 10, 1903).

North Dakota.~V alley City (June 25, 1912);

KloicL, ij. 7o.

iiirPicu.s] Erythrocephalus Linnaeus, Syst: Nat.,
ed. 10, I, 1758, p. 113 fsoulhern South Carolina:
based on Catesby, Nat. Hist. Car., Florida, Bahama
Is., I, 1743, p. 20, pi. XX.)

50

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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. Cuslei County (July 7, 1894);

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

Texas. Vernon (April 30, 1894).

Wyoming Deer Creek (May 21, 1877); Fort
Laramie (May, 1864; May, 31, 1878); Black
Hills (August 3, 1856); Saratoga (June 4, 1911);
Greybul! (June 8, 1910).

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

By F. C. Whitehouse, Red Deer, Alta.

Owmg to the fact that ichthyology has never
apparently appealed to amateur naturalists ^o 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
of enthusiastic fishermen. In spite of their en-
thusiasm, however, I find that most sportsmen are
lamen'ably ignorant concerning their catches, and
in speakmg of trout for instance, either generalize
in calling everything "speckled-trout," or go ^o 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 transmontanus 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.

Hyodontidae.
52. Hyodon chr^sopsis Richardson. Western
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 rod 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.

67. Coregonus Tvilliamsoni 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. Tvilliamsoni "is found in almost
all the park lakes and streams," and both in the text.

September, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

51

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. Oncorh})nchus kcnnerl^i 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. Salino clark'n 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
bodies 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

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. Sahno rivularis l(amloops 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 and 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 3'/2 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. I quote from recent corre-
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 5. I^amloops which is blue-black
on the back. There also exist some very small var-
ieties of this species which are to be found 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

52

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

Jordan and other authorities could find no difference
in the structure of these two varieties (i.e., S. J^am-
loops and 5. I^amloops . . ..-) 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. Crisiivomer namaycush Walbaum. Great Lake
Trout.

Nama\)cush, 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 "nama}^cush" ?
but the body 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 Crisiivomer or Salvelinvs.
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 (?)
nama^cusb.

100. Salvelinus foniinalis Mitchell. Speckled
Trout: Brook Trout.
Disregarding the importations from Lake Nipigon
to the waters of the Mountains Park, this species
does not occur in western Canada. 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. Foniinalis 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

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 parkU Suckley. Dolly Varden

Trout: Bull Trout.
( )Salvelinus ? Silver Trout: Bull Trout.

In the Classified Guide to the fish in the Rocky
Mountains Park, the author, Mr. Vick, separates
par/fi'i, 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 spots, 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
or garter snake: are voracious feeders, but poor
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
out, 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. Th^mallus tricolor montanus Milner. Mon-
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 AlbertaZv
Grayling, but the curator of the Calgary Museun/%)

vcf:

September, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

53

(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
Tpilliamsoni. 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. yvilliamsoni) that no small percent-
age of the catches of "Grayling" taken by fisher-,
men are Rocky Mountain Whitefish. If T. 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:
Catostomidae.

136. Pantosieus jordani Evermann. Mountain
Sucker.

137. Calostomus griscus Girard. Gray Sucker.

138. Calostomus casostomus Foster. Northern
Sucker.

140. Catostomus commersonii Lacepede. 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:

Cyprinidae.
168. Notropis jordani Eigenmann and Eigen-
mann. Jordan's Shiner.
%^^, 1 ^^- Notropis hudsonius selene Jordan. The
^ ^-^ Spawn Eater.

181. Notropis scopifer Eigenmann and Eigenmann.

Prairie Minnow.
186. Rh:nichlh\)s cataractae dulcis Girard. Long-
nosed Dace.
195. Couesius dissimilis Girard.
197. Platvgobio 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 h?s an extremely long nose, with protruding
upper lip or snout.

Luciidae.
210. Lucius lucius Linnaeus. Common Piko
(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 m 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. As 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 Canadian Fielx)-Naturalist

[Vol. xxxni

ful form I have in mind is Lucius reticulatus, the
Green 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 other 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. Loia maculosa Le Sueur. Fresh-water Ling:
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
as follows: The fish, a strong but slow swimmer,
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.

Percidae.

315. Siizosiedion viireum Mitchell. Pike-perch

(O'd English), Pickerel (Canadian); Dore
(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
8'/'2 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. Stizosiedion 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
body. 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 position 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. Yellow Perch:

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

September, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

55

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

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. Saunders, London, 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 adul;
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 I
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 Canadian Field-Naturaust

[Vol. XXXIII

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 nests,
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 iheir
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 hning 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. At one point at the 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

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 11
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 appeared 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 Mc-
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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

57

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-

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

AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN 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.

BARROWS 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

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

a:\ierican goldeneye.

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 Canadian Fielx)-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

pipes of the males of the two species just before
they enter the body at the merry-thought, are
strikmgly 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

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.

miujlllij

M^NDPIPE 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 hfe. 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

WINDPIPE OF AMERICAN GOLDENEYE.

Male, jv: Barklev Sound, Vancouver Island, B.C.,

Jan. 1, 1916; No. 8916.

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 ^."rijigratory game birds," "migratory in-
sectivordfsJjirjJjAand "migratory non-game birds."
Further*^e'tails 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
Fringillidae, 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 .1. Bernard Gilpin: Proc kncl
]L';?"/-T^- ^- ^"'^t. Nat. Sci., IV, 1875-1878, 398-t99

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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

59

these birds to the agricuhurist 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 msects,
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 wculd expect to find unusually accurate
and correct in such a Treaty. The "migratory
game biids" 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, "Anatidae
or waterfowl, mcluding brant, wild ducks, geese
and swans." "Migratory insectivorous birds" is,
however, stated to mean the following: "Bobolinks,
catbirds, chickadees, cuckoos, flickers, flycatchers,
grosbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, martins, me.\d-
owlarks, nighthawks or bull bats, nuthatches, orioles,
robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tanagers, titmice,
thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whippoorwills,
woodpeckers and wrens, and all other perching

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 protect, 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 cf 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 objection 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXJII

A RATTLESNAKE, MELANO GARTER SNAKES AND OTHER REPTILES

FROM POINT PELEE, ONTARIO*

By Clyde L. Patch, Ottawa, 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 archaeological interest, as
Indian skeletons and pottery are from time to
time uncovered by the ploM- 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 permission of tlie Geological
Survey of Canada.

an

d 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. HoG-NOSED SNAKE, Heterodort conioTtrix.
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. Bu^CK 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. 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

61

abundant species. It here 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. ohsoleta) 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 T. 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 Irhis 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

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. Mush turtle, 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. Spotted turtle, Clemm})s guttata. .

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

10. Blanding's turtle, Em\)s blandingU.
Two small individuals of this species were col-
lected.

1 1 . Painted turtle, C/jri;scmi;5 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.

Canada How an Algonquin Country Re-
ceived AN Iroquois Name. 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
Archaeological Report. 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 Onondaga

To inhabit Tienageri

Inhabitants in Canada Tiochtiage hotinageri

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-

62

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXill

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 Bird 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 contri-
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. By E. L. Marsh. Musson
Book Co., Toronto.

Of the several means by which we may check
the disappearance of so many of our native birds
m settled districts the creation of bird sanctuaries
constitutes one of the most effectual. Such sanc-
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 forms a most valuable contribution to
our Canadian literature for the promotion of wild
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 Hows 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. Gordon Hewitt.

!ii(LIBRARY)a

'?4?

THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST

VOL. XXXIII.

OCTOBER, 1919.

No. 4.

ARCH.^OLOGY AS AN AID TO ZOOLOGY.*

By W. J. WiNTEMBERG.

INTRODUCTION.

The important bearing of palaeontology on
zoology has long been recognized by zoologists, but
it IS not so generally known that archaeology also
can give valurole aid to zoology. To the arch-
aeologist, however, the saving of the bones and
shells of animals found in the course of his ex
plorations of the graves, mounds, shell-heaps and
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 archaeologists 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-
aeological 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
archaeologist 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-
teological and Historical Society in Columbus. One
can get an idea from this of the large accumula-
tions of shells and bones sometimes found.

*Besicle.s tho.se whose help i.s acknowiedged 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 archaeologist 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
archaeological explorations. It is also possible lor
him to greatly extend the range of some species
thus filling in gaps in distribution.

As practically all the bones owe their presence
in archaeological sites to the fact tnat they are
those of food animals it would probably be possible
to get an approximate idea of the relative abundance
of any of these animals in a certain region. 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.
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 Mpa 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 observed 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 Nalica in the
Japanese shell-heaps."'

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

to the student of animal pathology. It is of in-
terest to note here that the shells cf 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-
aeologists 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.- 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
holobodon 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
pcnmylvanicus). 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

iClianges in Mya and Lunatia since tlie De-
position of tlie New England Sliell-lieaps, Proc
Am. Assoc. Adv. Science, 30tli meeting, Cincinnati
(Salem, 1882), p. 345.

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

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

4L,oomis, F. B., and Young. D. B., On the Shell-
heaps of Maine, The American .lournal 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. XXXI, pp. 227-229:
I). W. Prentiss, Description of an Extinct 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. Hardv on The Extinct Mink from the Shell-
heaps, Forest and Stream, 1903, Vol. LXI, p. 12.S,
Hardy thinks the animal became extinct about 1860.

'An exploration of Durham cave in 1893, Pub-
lications of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.
VI, p. 175.

tiCarr, Lucien, Report of the Exploration of a
Mound in Lee county, Virginia, etc., Report of the
Peabody Museum, Vol. II. 1876-78, p. 80.

October, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

65

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 archaeological 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
horiensis Miiller,^- 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

"Wyman, Dr. Jeffries, An Account of Some
Kjoekkenmoeddings, or Shell-heaps, in Maine and
Massachusetts, The American Naturalist, 1868,
Vol. I, p. 572.

sLyon, Marcus W., jr., Mammal Remains from
Two Prehistoric Village Sites in Xew Mexico, Pro-
ceedings of the L^. S. National Museum, 1907, Vol.
XXXL pp. 647-648.

oldentification confirmed by Dr. Gerrit S. Miller,
of the L'.S. National Mu.seum.

i"Description and Natural History of the Coasts
of North America (Acadia), translated and edited
by W. F. Ganong. Published bv the Champlain
Society (Toronto, 1908).

iiChamberlain, Montagu, Mammals of New
Brunswick, Bulletin Natural History Society of
New Brunswick (St. John, 1884), No. Ill, p. 39.

i2ldentiflcation confirmed bv C. W. Johnson,
Curator, Boston Society of Natural History.

i3Discoveries at a Village of the Stone Age at
Bocabec, N.B., Bulletin Nat. Hist. Soc, New Buns-
wick, No. Ill, p. 24.

i4Johnson, C. W., Helix hortensis from a Maine
Shell-heap, The Nautilus, 1914-1915, Vol. XXVIII,
p. 131.

1 "..Johnson, C. W., The Distribution of Helix
hortensis Muller, in North America, ibid., 1906,
Vol. XX, p. 76.

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. This 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 Httle snail Zua lubri-
coides" Stimpson (now known as Cochlicopa
lubrica Muller), is also, according to Morse, "in-
consistent with the view that it is an introduced
species. -

It is still doubtful whether Litorina litoreci
(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 archaeological

i6The Land Snails of New England, The Am-
erican Naturalist, 1868, Vol. I, p. 187.

irWyman, op. cit., p. 566. Also Proceedings
of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1866-1868,
Vol. XI, pp. 301-302. The presence in the lowfr 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.

issee Johnson, op. cit., pp. 73-80. See also Dr.
W. H. Dall's Land and Fresh-water Mollusks
(Harnman Alaska Expedition, New York, 1905),
Vol. XIII, p. 20, for its occurrence in the glacial
Pleistocene of Maine.

i9See Scharff, R. F., Distribution and Origin
of Life in America (New York, 1912), p 14

20Wyman, op. cit., p. 566.

66

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 archaeological discoveries of interest to
the conchologist. The Mahone bay shell-heap,
besides shells of Mlja arenaria Linn., Pecten Magel-
lanicus (Gamelin), Venus mercenaria Linn., Spisula
solidissima (Dillwyn), Spisula pol})n\)ma (?)
(Stimpson), Mytilus edulis Linn., Ensis directus
(Conrad), Lunatia heros (Say), Purpura lapillus
(Linn.), and Buccinum undaium 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.-^ 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.-"^^ 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.-*^

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 Rocltslielter, 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., p. 98.

240p. 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-
ional Museum, 1881, Vol. IV, p. 293.

26Catalogue of tlie ;Marine Vertebrata of
Eastern Canada (Geological Survey, Canada), Ot-
tawa, 1901, p. 115.

THE PREHISTORIC FAUNA OF THE ST. LAWRENCE
AND OTTAWA VALLEYS.

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 ."ite. 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 archaeological and other evidences.

The first column in the table below iodicaces 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.-' 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.

Names of Mammals

o

o

>>

^f*

X

it

O ni

0)

HO

Co 11 ON-TAIL RABBIT,

S^lvilagus ftoridanus (Allen)

X

Varying hare.

Lepus americanus Erxleben-*

X

Canada porcupine,

Erethizon dorsatum (Linn.)

X

X

Jumping mouse,

Zapus hudsonius (Zimmer-

man)

X

X

Red-backed mouse,

Evoiom^s gapperi (Vigors)

X

o
3

O)
O

O 3

0->

X
X

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, etc., by Outram Bangs,
in Proc. Boston Society of Natural History, 1895,
Vol. XXVI, p. 413).

October, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

67

Names of Mammals

o

K

tf

<h

o

XZ CS

n

&is

s eS

'/. -*

.-^

Meadow mouse,
MicTotus pennsylvanicus

(Ord)-

MUSKRAT,

Ondatra zibcthica (Linn.)__ X
White-footed mouse,
PeTomyscus leucopus

(Rafinesque) X

Canadian beaver,

Castor canadensis Kuhl X

WOODCHUCK,

Marmota monax (Lmn.) X

Chipmunk,

Tamias striatus (Linn.) X

Black or gray squirrel,
Sciurua carolinensis Gmelin_ X
Red squirrel, I I

Sciurus hudsonicus

(Erxleben) X

Flying squirrel.

Glaucomas volans (Linn.)__ X

Short-tailed shrew,

Blarina brevicauda (Say). _

Brewer's mole,

Parascalops brerveri

(Bachman)

Star-nosed mole,

Coridylura cristate (Linn.)_ X

Brown bat.

Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois) X

Say's bat,

M^otis subulatus (Say)

Silver-haired bat,
Lasionycteris noctivagans

(LeConte)

Virginia deer,
Odocoileus americanus

(Erxleben) X

Wapiti, |

Cervus canadensis

(Erxleben)'" X

bo

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X

29The incisor teeth of tiiis species, identified by
Dr. R. M. Anderson, of the iJiological Division,
Geological Survey, Canada, were recovered from
the faeces of some animal, probably the aboriginal
dog.

soRepresented 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.

l^

o

Xi

C-

c

^

J

o

Names of Mammals

c

g

. ^

K

c

^

n iS

o c

>

t >

o~.

r- J-

11

0/ cd

^ cd

O cd

,~-t -*-

t.

u-S^

!i[x.

^ o

L >

Moose,

Alces americanus Jardine''_

X

X

Woodland caribou.

Ran^ifer caribou (Gmelin)^-

X

X

Raccoon,

Procyon lotor (Linn.)

dLACK bear.

Ursus americanus Pallas

X

X

Otter,

Lutra canadensis (Schreber)

X

X

X

Common skunk.

Mephitis mephitis

(Schreber) '

X

X

Wolverine,

Culo luscus (Linn.) '^

Pine marten,

Martes americana (Turton)

X

Fisher,

Martes pennanti (Erxleben)

X

X

Mink,

Mustela vison Schreber

X

X

New York weasel,

Mustela noveboracensis

(Emmons)

Small brown weasel,

Mustela cicognanii

Bonaparte

X

X

Red fox,

Vulpes fulva (Desmarest)^_

X

X

Gray wolf.

Canis lycaon Schreber

X

X

Wild cat,

Lynx ruffus (Gueldenstaedt)

X

Canada lynx.

Lynx canadensis Kerr

X

X

siRepresented 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
Gallinee 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.

ssAlthough 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.

34The 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 archaeological or historical
evidences.

It will at once be apparent how important our
archaeological 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 Linnaeus, there are now four recognized var-
ieties, as follows:

Meleagris gallopavo silvesiris 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.

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, IMO), pp. 145-146.

As may be seen from the map these varieties are
found distributed over a considerable area in
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. Brcdie 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-
aeological evidence, seemingly confirmatory of the
prehistoric presence of the bird in this very town-
ship, has been discovered by Dr. Brcdie, ''' 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 archaeological 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.

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 hed spread there only a short
time before the arrival of the whites. Carver (circa
1766-1768) saw "great plenty" of them near Lake

3.j"Explorations of tlie 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. 31.

30A. O. U. Checklist of North American Birds,
;i7Macoun, John and .lames M., Catalogue of
Canadian Birds (Department of Mines, Geological
Survey Branch, Ottawa, 1909), p. 234.

HSBrodie, Dr. William, Animal Remains Found
on Indian Village Sites, Annual Archaeological Re-
port, 1901 (Ontario), p. 48

October, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

69

70

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 archaeological remains of the bird have so
far been found on prehistoric Mandan sites.

Now, turning agam to the map, it will be ob-
served that the farthest western archaeological 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
Arizona 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 archaeological remains.
Another cause, and I think this is probably the
principal one, is that in some regions archaeological
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 archaeological work to be done in a
thorough, systematic manner.

PREHISTORIC RANGE OF THE GREAT AUK.
Archaeological finds of bones of the Great Auk

(Plauius 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." Further evidence has been dis-
covered since this map appeared and I take the
liberty of presenting one here on a larger scede
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 archaeological evidence I 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. *-

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 (Columbus
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.^"* Wyman found its bones in a

a'.iTravels through the Interior Parts of North
America, etc; Third edition, (London, 1781), p 56

4(iC. 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). ^. "

4iLucas, Frederick A.: Animals Recently Ex-
tinct or Threatened with Extermination ,etc., Report
of the U.S. National Museum, 1889, p. 639.

isSharpe, 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, B., Jour-
dain, F. C. R., Ticehurst, N. F., and Witherby. H.
F., A Hand-list of British Birds, etc. (London,
1912), p. 206.

43jones, J. M., in Smithsonian Report for 1863,
p. 371.

440p. cit., p. 297.

4-jWyman, o]). cit., p. 574.

40Op. cit., p. 296.

470p. cit., p. 29.

48Baird, op. cit., p. 297.

October, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

71

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. -

ground that the bones are probably those of birds
taken during their migration southward.'' Miss
Hardy, on the other hand, maintains that the bones
are those of summer residents and not migrants,"^
because she thinks she "can show the best of
reasons for believing that nineteen-twentiethg 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,
or even principally. On the contrary, the remains
of many birds which visit our coast in the autumn

Summer Hi>itat of G/'2-t/^aK. Winter RewT^e . Archzeolo^ic^l Elvidence.

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

4oSecond Annual Report of the Peabody
Museum (Boston, 1869), p. 17.

.".fiThe American Naturalist (Salem, Mass., 1870),
Vol. Ill, p. 540; Note.

oiEaton, George F. : The Prehistoric Fauna of
Block Island, as Indicated by its Ancient Shell-
Heqps, The American Journal of Science (New
Haven, Conn., 1898), Vol. VI, pp. 143 and 147-148.

nsHay, 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.

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
archaeological 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

-.sGreat Auk Notes, The Auk, 1888, Vol. V,
p. 232.

^iHardy, Fanny P., Testimony of Some Early
Voyagers on the Great Auk, ibid., p. 384.

."..-.Op. cit., p. 148.

11

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 archaeology, aside from what
many may consider its purely academic interest, is
also, as I think I have succeeded in demonstrating
above, of indirect value from an economic stand-

ocForbush, E. W.. A History of the Game Birds,
Wild Fowl and Shore Birds of Massacliusetts and
Adjacent States. (Issued by the State Board of
Agriculture, 1912), p. 406.

point. There is, of course, a reciprocal dependence
of one science on another archaeology depending
on zoology for the determination of animal remains
and zoology on archaeology for useful osteological
material.

One of the main points to be remembered is that
archaeology 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. Holm, Clinton, Maryland, 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 Qarex 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, Carcx petricosa Dew., and C.
Franklmii 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 speciabilis 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. praiensis Drej., C. g^nocrates
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 /^^
field by John and James M. Macoun. Even the./j^Cf
remote districts in Yukon, explored by John Macoun. /
have proved rich in Carices, of species closely allied^JJ 1 1
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 \^2
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, 1 91 9]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

73

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.

Most 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 origm. 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 wilh superficial characters in a mere
analytical way. And, while all other Carico-
graphers considered the "Indicac" distinct from
"Vigneae" and "Carices genuinae" Drejer in his
excellent work "S])mbolae Caricologicae" com-
bined these, the "Indicae" with the two others ;
thus the "Indicae" 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 "forniae
hebeiatae" 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
i^\pistillate, or a spike, the staminate.

^Z\ Now with respect to Canadian types of the genus,
is interesting to see that of the 39 greges enumer-
ed by the writer' only five are absent from Can-
^^Ada; these greges are as follows: Psyllophorae
S>/(Europe and Azores), Cbionanthae (Europe),
^ Leucocephalae (Virginia), Echinochlaenae (Aus-
tralia), and finally Podogynae (Japan).

As regards the greges present the Microrh])nchae,
Aeorasiach^ae, Echinosiach^ae and Ph^socarpae

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.e. 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 Aslroslachyae ; C. gynocrates Wormskj. and
C. ex;7is 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. siellulata
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 ^
wi;h its large and frequently ramified inflorescence.
Among the Athrostachyae, C. f estiva 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.,

iGreges Caricum (Studies in tlie Cyperaceae)
American Journal of Science, Vol. XVI, 1903, p. 443.

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 \vas used to signify both cases.

3ll 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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

C. adusia 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 Microccphalae 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
gynaecandrous resemble certam I'igneae (C. alpina
Sw.), and a correspondmg distribution of the sexes
occurs m 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. Meriensii 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, Jarnes 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

^ *The name C. alpina Sw. has been replaced by
C. Halleri Gunn., m Gray's New Manual of Botany,

L'^^^'Tt, n'",'M ""'^^ Theilung have adopted this
name (Bull, d'herb. Boissier, Vol. 7, 1907) How-
ever Gunner did only -'pro tempore" propose this
specie.s 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 naine 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.

Macoun collected in Yukon; in this species the
culm is phyllopodic, otherwise the plant resembles
somewhat C. Tolmiei Boolt, and C. spectabilis
Dew., but is, however, of a much more robust
habit.

Passing to the Microrh^nchae, Canada is very
rich in species of this grex, and several of these
are of abundant occurrence; Carex striata 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
limnopbila 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 strictaej ormis 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. chionopbila
nob. ; in the Arctic regions it is replaced by C.
starts 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. e^clocarpa
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. c^clocarpa the
perigynium is turgid of a dark brownish green color

October, 1 91 9]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

75

with purplish spots above, and the caespitose habit
reminds one of C. caespilosa L., but it lacks the
aphyllopcdic structure of this species.

Allied to C. acutina Bail, is C. Umnocharis 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. Jives
nob., from the Chilliwack Valley and Vanvcuver
Island, British Columbia. And, if we compare the
European representations of these alliances, I'he
aquatilis, rigida and acuta, we meet with analogous
types corresponding with those of this continent.

The large grex Aeorastach])ae 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. cr^ptocarpa 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 st\)gia e.xtend to the
Arctic regions.

But especially characteristic of this continent are
C. macrochaeta C. A. Mey., C. nesophila nob., C.
aperta Boctt, C. criniia 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 interestmg 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

nWTth respect to C. Magellanica Lam., this
species has been exclucied 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 (Khodora,
Vol. 8, 1906, p. 73). And Mr. Fernald haying 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
33, this author reaches the remarkable conclusion
that the North American species is distinct from
Lamarck's, wliich was collected on the shores of the
Straits of Magellan. The fact is, however, that
Lamarck (Encyclop. 3, p. 385. n. 25) described 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
gynaecandrous 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.

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.
Maccun. 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 All., 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 shoots 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. Hendersonii Bail, is a western type the
others are mainly eastern. We meet here with
the laxiflora alliance, as well as with some
desciscentes: C. 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

[Vol. XXXIII

of very peculiar geographic distribution since two
of the formae bebetalae : C. lejocarpa C. A. Mey.,
and C. circinata C. A. Mey., are known only from
Alaska and Oregon, besides some few stations on
the coast of British 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. ahlala 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 northward
through the Canadian provinces.

Nearly all the American members of the
Sphaeridiophorae h ave been collected in Canada,
and among the hebeiaiae 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 lacusiris Willd., C. trichocarpa
Muhl., with the var. aristaia (R. Br.) Bail., C.
jiliform.s. L., C. lanuginosa Michx., and the very
characteristic C. Houghlonii 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.

Of greater interest is the grex Hymenochlaenae.
Here we meet with some formae hebetatae: C.
Sieudelii Kunth, C. Willdenorvii Schk., and C.
Backii Boott, of which the Howerbearing 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.
dehihs Michx., C. longirostris Torr., C. flexilis
Kudge, C. capillaris L., C. assiniboinensis W.
Boott, and the singular, very conspicuous, C
amphfoha 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

uHolm, Thee, Studies in the Cvperaceae XIII
Carex Willdenowil and its allies (Am. Jour of Sc
Vol. X, July, 1900, p. 33).

Indicae, as pointed out above, in C. IVilldenolvii
for instance. In passing to the Spirosiach})ae, 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 C.
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 peri-
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 centrales we meet with the very
slender C. subulata Michx., and the much more
conspicuous C. pseudocyperus L., C. Schrveinitzii
Dew., C. h^stricina Muehl, and C. rotrorsa
Schweinnitz, all well known in Canada, with the
exception of C. SchTveinitzii, 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. ph\)socarpa 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
{>onds, creeks and wet swamps. The grex begins
with some formae hebetatae, C. Michauxiana
Boecklr., and C. folliculata L., passing from these
into C. intumescens Rudge, and C. Crapi Carey,
of a similar but much more robust habit, while the
more ordinary forms, such as C. lupulina Muehl.,
C. lurida Wahlenb., C. Tuclfermannii Boott, and
C. monile Tuckm., may be considered as the most

October, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

77

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,

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: desciscenies.

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 fl
during the glacial epoch.

HUNTING THE BARREN GROUND GRIZZLY ON THE
SHORES OF THE ARCTIC.

By H. F. J. Lambart, Ottawa.

One specimen of the Alaska Boundary Grizzly, Canadian side of the boundary and inland from

Ursus miernationalis Merriam,'^ a new bear of the Arctic Ocean 45 miles.

the Barren Grizzly group, was secured in July, j^e immediate district may be described as be-

I9I2, when engaged on the survey of the j^^ ^^j^^ ^^^ j^^ ^j ^j^^ g^j^j^j^ mountains, which

141st meridian. This was the year in which the ii i .l i . j- . f u i -7;; i

I parallel the coast at a distance or about Zj miles

meridian was completed through to the shores of j i i,i j c ^r\nr\ f iL u j

. ^ I . and reach an altitude or oUUU leet at the boundary;

the Arctic Ocean. Not more than two other speci- .i , j i c j tU j l

1 A '"^ mountains are deeply rurrowed, the ridges being

mens were seen by the Canadian and American i j -.l ri , ,

^ bare and open with little vegetation.

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

The burrows of the Arctic Ground Squirrel,
Citellus parryi (Richardson), are sadly rooted out
throughout 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

head of a small stream in which there was a luxur- spruce in these localities are frequent,

iant shrub growth, consisting of "buck brush" with I have definitely proved to my own satisfaction

some small scattered spruce, and was hemmed in that the Brown and Grizzly bears prey upon the

by rolling high barren ridges. The elevation of sheep (Ovis dalli) at the southern end of the boun-

the floor of the valley was about 2,000 feet above dary where they are found in large numbers, but

sea level and was situated just a little on the here at the northern end where the sheep are very

*Alaska Boundary Grizzly. Ursus internation-
allis Merrlam, Proe. Biol. Soc. Wa.shlngton, xxvii,
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 coast along
international boundary, and doubtless adjacent
mountains, between the coast and the Yukon Por-
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

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 inolar 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 Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIIl

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 m 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

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-

,"4 "w^^^ ,i^.'.

ALASKA BOUNDARY GRIZZLY, Ursus internationalis Merriam.

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

ary, as well as the little black variety, was en-
countered.

Some interesting experiences could be sketched
of 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 Field-Naturalist

79

BIRD STUDY FROM A DUCK-BLIND.

By J. A. MuNRO, Okanagan Landing, 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 passmg 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
swmgmg 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 food 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

[Vol. XXXIII

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
Potamogeton 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 saihng 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 loses his
pursuers. Crows are arrivmg m 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
close to the ground. Soon the beach is black with
a cawing multitude. This is the great pre-migra-
tcry caucus; only a few of these will winter in this
part of the valley. 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 oozy mud near the water's edge
where some dead kokanees have washed in. As
they feast on these a passing merlin sees them and

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 vsrind. 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

Oclcber, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

Aj

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 of 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-vciccd 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
forwaid, 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 Poiamogeton and
their feeding call, a cat-like meoTV comes softly
across the water. Into this large raft, small flocks
are continually flying, one sees a successicn 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

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
hundred were present at one time. As they readily
fly toward the half-dozen canvass-back decoys, it
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-
coys, calling at regular intervals with a singular un-
duck-like voice, l(iil(coo, l(uf(coo. 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 more buoyancy than other diving ducks. They
are equally quick in the air, rising with a spring
and without the preliminary splashing o ne as-
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.

The Canadian Field-Naturalist
BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS

[Vol. XXXIII

The GameT^BtrdS''^ California. Contrlbu- gulaled gun clubs, occurring as it has, at a critical
tions from the University of California, Museum of stage in the adjustment of natural to artificial con-
Vertebrate Zoology. By Jos. Grinnell, Harold ditions, is to be looked upon as a propitious rather
Child Bryant and Tracy Irwin Storer. Univ. of than an adverse factor in the conservation of our
Cal. Press, Berkeley, 1918, large 8 vo. pp. i-x plus duck supply. Whether or not, as further changes
1-642, 16 colored plates and 94 text figures. Price, result from the increased human population, this
cloth, $6.00 net. valuation of the preserve will persist, remains to be

This is one of the most notable bird books and seen"
one of the handsomest examples of popular book- The History of the Attempts to Introduce Non-

making that has been published under the auspices native Game Birds in California, is an illuminating
of a public institution in some time. It is a credit chapter, and deserves study by all who contemplate
to the University and Museum in whose name it such introductions elsewhere.

appears, as well as to the printer who executed it f he Propagation of Game Birds is an equally

and the artists and authors who illustrated and important chapter and includes a valuable biblio-
wrote it. It contains a greater mass of game bird graphy on the subject.

life histories both original and compiled probably 'Yhe last chapter of the introductory part gives

than any other work generally accessible. The the history and present status of legislation relating to
colored illustrations consist of some of the best work game birds in California.

from the brushes of Louis Agassiz Fuertes and our The Key to the Game Birds of California seems

talented countryman. Major Allan Brooks. I he a^i admirable instrument. It is clear and concise
many line drawings scattered throughout the text and notable for the absence of obscure or technical
to illustrate critical points are exceptionally accur- terms and is such that any one of ordinary intel-
ate, clean and clear. The introduction states that ligence should be able to get results with it.
the work was undertaken to meet the varied re- The main part of the book is, of course, oc-

quirements of the sportsman, the legislator and the cupied with the detailed treatment of the various
naturalist and was made possible through the fin- species in their systematic order. The descriptions
ancial munificence of a patron who refuses to make of plumages are unusually complete and clear, para-
his (or her) name known. California is to be con- graphs on Marks for Field Identification, Voice,
gratulated on having such public-spirited citizens. Nest, Eggs, General Distribution and Distribution
In an opening chapter dealing with the Decrease in California of each one are given, and all are
of Game and Its Causes it is definitely proved that admirably arranged, paragraphed and picked out
game has decreased and an analysis is made of the by distinctive type for ready reference,
contributing factors. Tables of game that have The discussions of the species include much or-

iginal material, but also the most complete series
of excerpts from other authors dealing with the
life histories and other pertinent matter of the var-
ious species that can anywhere be found under <:ne
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-

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 in no one man can be an equal authority in al

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
on 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-

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.

P. A. Tavekner.

ERRATA
Page 51, Vol. XXXIII, Sept., 1919, delete word "late" in bottom line of right column.
Page 57, Vol. XXXIII, Sept., 1919, I 1 th line, left column, for "crescentic spot of purple,"
read "crescentic spot on purple."

LIBRARY! se

%

THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST

v<^

;

VOL. XXXIII.

NOVEMBER, 1919.

No. 5.

CANADIAN SPHAERIIDAE.

By The Hon. Mr. Justice Latchford.

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
throuphcut 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, e-xtending 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. Mclnnes, 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

lAnnals of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. X, 1916,
p. 431.

2Proc. Zoo. Soc. of London, 1863, p. 69.

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 worTc 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 ihe
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 without 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

64

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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 mmute; 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
not then necessary. 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.

Fig. 1
Sphaerium sulcatum X 1 Vz-^

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, beeir Sphaerium as their generic
name. The term was devised by Scopoli, an Italian
naturalist and chemist in 1777. It has priority to
C])clas (Brugaiere, 1789); and Sphaeriidae, ac-
cording to the laws of modern zoological nomen-
clature has replaced Cydadidae as the proper desig-
nation of the family to which the little mussels
belong.

iFor tliis ancl the other figures in tlie text I
am under the greatest obligation to my friend Dr.
Bryant Wallier of Detroit, Mich.

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 Veriebres," from specimens obtained in Lake
Champlain. In the same year Thomas Say de-
scribed the shell in the American edition of Nichol-
son's Encyclopedia as C^clas 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.

5. 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 still
produces sparingly the most remarkable specimens
I have ever seen anywhere of Anodonta cataracta
Say ( = fluviaiilis Dillw.) and, in addition, Ll;mnaea
megasoma, and the shell called Ph})sa lordi in our
lists.

In the Laurentides, north of Meach lake, 5.
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

N

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1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

85

delightful impressions that may be derived from
flowers 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 5. 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 slew and difficult, even though the
collector is equipped with a good dredge, and
what are indispensable in such localities rubber
boots. This stream is again productive near its
outlet into the Ottawa below the Deschenes rapids.

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 5. 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 palmaiuiu.' He describes it as smaller

OS.

aa^^

a rp -

ot'-

Vh

a. a. Anterior adductor mu.scle.
a. p. Ant. retractor-pedis muscle.
ar.^Auriele.

b. Byssal gland rudiment.
bs. Branchial sii)hon.
eg. Cerebral ganglion.
cs. Cloacal siphon.

f. Foot,
ig. Inner gill.

1. 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 m.iles 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

m Mantle.

ob. Organ of Bojanns.

06. Oesophagus.

ot. Otocyst.

pa. Posterior adductor muscle.

pg. Pedal ganglion.
prp. Post retractor-pedis muscle,
psg. Parie to-splanchnic 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:

4Preliminarv Catalogue of N. A. Sphaerlldea,
An. Carg. Mus., Vol. X (1916), p. 432.

86

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

The fcot 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 cuter 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 Un'ionidae in which each individual
is dioecius, that is, either a male or a female, as is
the case also with our native oyster (O. v'lrgin'ica,
Gmelin), though not, strange to say, with its Europ-
ean relative (O. edulis, Linn.), 5. sulcatum, like all
other species of the Sphaeriidae, is monoecious, or
produces both sperm and ova within the same shell.
However, it is net harmaphrcditic 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,
en 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

fertilization is impossible naturally, and could not
be induced artificially were another Mendel to arise.
The reproductive organs are located behind the
stom.ach, 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 reach
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. .sulcatum
are treated at length by Ralph J. Gilmour in The
.N'autilus, Vol. 31 (iyi7), pp. 16-28.

Note. It is my intention to place in tlie Museir.Ti
of the Geological and Natural History Surve> at Ot-
tawa specimens of the forms and varieties of S.
sulcatum, and of the species mentioned in the con-
tinuation of this paper, of which I possess
iiuplicates.

FIELD STUDY OF LIFE-HISTORIES OF CANADIAN MAMMALS.

By Rudolph Martin Anderson, Biological Division, Geological 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 matters of common
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

iPublished by permission of the Geological
Survey, Ottawa, Canada.

^Suggestions 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-
doubtedly 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 ether 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 methods of capture, and what
may be termed 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

N

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The Canadian Field-Naturalist

87

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 anmial
durmg the trapping season, putting its pelt on the
stretcher or drying-beard, and increasing his own
personal fur-return for the time being. As 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 of 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-
out 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 and other property in cne 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

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 Biological 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

[Vol. XXXIII

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
illustrated many times during the late war. As an
example of this, the pest of rats became exceedingly
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 expeditionary forces of the Allies. The use
of poison was impracticable around such great
quantities of food stuffs, but by detailing field biol-
ogists 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
difficult 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 of 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 of 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:

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, size, color, com-
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.

HABITAT RELATIONS.

Relation 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, particularly be-
tween those closely related.

TIMES OF ACTIVITY.

Hours of beginning and cessation of daily
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
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.

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The Canadian Field- Naturalist

89

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,
swimmmg, flymg.

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, roaring, 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.

Food 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 concealing, disruptive, directive,
warning, mimicking.

BREEDING HABITS.

Courting antics.

Relations of the sexes in general ; polygamy
(manner of acquisition of harem by male, mode of

protection of harem, bachelor males); polyandry;
promiscuity; monogamy.

Dates of heat and copulation; associated habits.

Length of period of gestation.

Date of birth of young.

Number of young.

Family life; relation of father to family; care
of young feeding; mode of carrying; how lonr;
cared for by parents; precocious or backward;
length of time in nest ; behavior.

Behavior of adults in postbreeding season; in
winter.

Hybridization 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 measurements;
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 or in other ways.

Habits associated with nest approach.

Extent of home range.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Are any mammals strictly crepuscular?

Periodic phencmcna 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 of various sorts, as hip glands of
meadow 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; methods 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 Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

WILD LIFE AND THE COMMUNITY.

Local names; local ideas concerning wild life.

Sentiment regarding game laws and legislation.

Trapping and hunting methcds 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

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 'iro-
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

I

November, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

91

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-
virosira 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. Later as
the nestlings learn to fly all find their way to the
sunflower patch and from then on make tlieir 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.

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

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 cut with a gun, but to my joy found
it 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. Chickadees 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 m 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 Canadian Fielx)- Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

obstructions along the rows to prevent a continuous permitted to watch these little robbers day after day,

thoroughfare. As the seeds began to ripen we cov- u i j ir i lU j

* 6 r, , busily engaged in puUing out the seeds was to me,

ered the heads with cheese-cloth. By these mea- ' ,

r . J t Ut.,; ,,fl;; > at least, surhcient compensation, and for those who

sures or precaution we managed to obtain suincient ^

seed for our purpose, which was about a tenth of love birds and gardens, I know of few better attach-

the total grown, the rest going to the birds. To be ments than a hedge of sunflowers.

NOTES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CHIPMUNK.

By a. Brooker Klugh, M.A., Biological Dept., Queen's University,

Kingston, Canada.

While in camp at Lake Missanog, Frontenac
county, Ontario, from August 19 to September 19,
1919, a chipmunk (Tamias stTiaius l^steri), 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.

Food. She was feeding on three things which I
have not previously seen this species eating the
fruits of the bunch-berry or dwarf cornel (Cornus
canadensis), the fruits of the wild lily-of-the-valley
(Maianihemum 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 tried her with various 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-one large kernels of corn
equal to two heaped-up tablespoonfuls. When full
each pouch was as broad 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 " chonJ(-chonk-chonk." The latter
note is an intercommunication call and is rarely re-
peated for any length of time unless a response is
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

cheeks are slightly distended before each "c/ion^"
is emitted.

Psychology. The shortness of the period of
observation made any detailed study of the psy-
chology of 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 associate sounds with the
securing of food. I held out 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 v/ith 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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

93

regularly every morning and usually several limes
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

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 Lloyd.

As the provisions of the Migratory Birds Ccnvcn-
tion Act and Regulations which concern the scien-
tific collector are perhaps not fully understood 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 Minister
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 should 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 contrary 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 migratory birds, their nests and
. \Leggs, 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 persons 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 use
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 reasonable prospects of caring
for and will conscientiously 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 wiih their object,
be considerate of the local feeling in the neighbor-
hood 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 good faith that
holders of permits label their specimens with the
customary scientific data and properly care for them
not only at the time of collection 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 cr
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 Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

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-

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 w:il
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 Ribes divaricaiuni
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 Eraser, Ucluelet, to whom Mr.
Knight, remembering his friend's interest in hybrids,
had sent cuttings.

In April, 1919, Mr. Eraser sent me flowering
specimens of the plant, which show pretty clearly
that it is, as Mr. Eraser surmised, a natural hybrid
between R. divaricaium 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 all 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.

Elowers (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.

Elowers (ovary and calyx), 14-20 mm. long; in
number 1-4, usually 1 or 2; peduncles glandular-
pubescent; pedicels glandular-pubescent, shorter
than the bracts; ovary glandular; style smooth;
calyx-tube dark red, pubescen! ; sepals dark red,
pubescent ; petals wedge-shaped ; anthers purple.

R. divaricatum X r. lobbii.

Elowers (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 y^. Lobbii and the deep purple of R. divari-
catum. Eurther, 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

A NEW CLIFF SWALLOW FROM CANADA.

95

By Harry C. Oberholser.

The form of Peirochelidon 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 Peirochelidon 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:- wing, 110-115 (average,
112.1) mm.; tail, 49-52 (50.7); exposed culmen,
6-8 (7.2); tarsus. 11-13 (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-

12.5 (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
lunifrons to to PetrocheUdon albifron.s, of. Rhoade.s,
Auk, XXIX, No. 2, April, 1912, pp. 19o-19.5.

-'Five specimens, from Alaska, Mackenzie, and

Mont:iii I.

' This is the largest of the races of Peirochelidon
albifrons, and differs from Petrochelidon albifrons
tachina still more than from the typical Peirocheli-
don albifrons albifrons. The difference in measure-
ments between Peirochelidon 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 Peirochelidon 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,
11-13 (11.9).

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 Slates, as sprmg examples from
Wyoming and southern California indicate.

All the specimens of Petrochelidon albifrons
hypopolia examined are included m 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 Gocd Hope (June 20, 1904); Fort Norman
(June 11, 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.

lElevcn srcc>.:ens.

96

The Canadian Field-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 Bcekmantown 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 al Hawkesbury.

a. Sandstone with coarse sand and fine gravel
in upper part and fine sand in lower. Num-
erous vertical worm tube impressions (Base
of Chazy) 2

b. Thin bedded limey shale (top of Beekman-
town) 2

c. Dark grey fine grained limestone with
botryoidal fracture 8'

d. Coarse textured grey limestone full of small
fossils 1 6

e. Thin bedded shaly limestone 3'

/. Heavy bedded grey limestone and covered 10'
g. Thin bedded grey argillaceous and mag-

nesian limestone with mud-crack throughout
the upper 4' Resembles sandstone when
weathered 6

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
most noteworthy feature. 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-
gons rising above the centre as much as !4 inch.
Associated with these is a surface structure suggest-
ing raindrop impressions.

It has been shown experimentally' that this type
of mud-crack results from the dessication of fresh
water mud and that flat or slightly downwarped
polygons develop from saline mud. Since mud-
crack with upwarped margins is produced only 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 al
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.

Published with the permission of the Director
of the Canadian Geological Survey.

1 Kindle, E. M. Some factors "affecting the de-
ve]i)i)m<iit of mud-cracks .Toiirn. Geo!., vol 2,5
1!117. pp. 140-H2. " '

Separation of salt and saline water and mud
Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. 29, pp. 479-483, 1918.

-Bull. N.Y. State Mus. Nat. Hist. No. 145, p. 76.
1917, pp. 13.5-144.

3The Ordovician Limestones of the Kingston
Area. Rept. of the Ontario Bureau of Mines, vol.
25, pt. 3, p. 8, 1916.

4Kindle, E. 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. Mousley, Hatley, 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 e.xcuse 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 ccme 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 gen.-fally 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 1 5 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 I
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, wnen
there is hardly a vestige of the latter left. During
the above week I found the following species and
varieties, viz: Maiden hair (Adianium pedatum).
Common Brake or Bracken (Plcris aquilina).
Silvery Speenwort (Asplenium acrostichoides),
Christmas Fern (Polystrichum acrostichoides).
Marsh Fern (Aspidium ihelypleris). Crested Shield
Fern (Aspidium crislalum), Clinton's Wood Fern
(Aspidium cristatum var. Clinionianum), Boott's
Shield Fern (Aspidium Bootlii), 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),

Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana), and last
but by no means least the Ternate Grape Fern
(Botrychium ohliquum), 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. ohliquum, 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. ohliquum, 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
been 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. ohliquum 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

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Remarks on the metamorphosis of the
Scallop (Pedcn Icnuicostaius). 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 (Mytilus)
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 fool 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 hcd 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-colored 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 Robin'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. Both young families left the nest at
about the same time, and this circumstance evidently
led to complications. 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 all 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 observations 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

November, 1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

99

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 Field-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

I did not examine if 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. ScOTT.

Tredinnock, Ottawa.

BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS.

The Birds of Middle 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 monograpliing 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, Avocets, Skimmers, Terns,
Gulls, Skuas and Auks.

The next Part, namely IX, now in course of
preparation, will contain Cranes, Rails, Gallinules
and Coots; Turkeys, American Partridge, Grouse,
Falccns, 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.

Hamilton M. Laing. 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 Woods 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 Field- Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII

"Hawks Everyone Should Know," "The Wood
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 good substratum of personal knowledge and
common sense. We can stand many more of such
popular science writers in Canada as well as else-
where. P. A. Taverner.

In the Auk for April, 1919, appears the fol-
lowing titles of especial interest to Canadians:

Winter robins in Nova Scotia, by Harrison
F. Lewis, pp. 205-217. This records 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 out 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 of 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. arciica. 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-

tinction of 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
contrary, has even been satisfactorily recorded from
America.

Reasons for discarding a proposed race of
THE glaucus gull (Larus h})perboreus) 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 based are too variable for recognition, fur-
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 absuidely small. In conclusion, he says:

"In our gropings after the truth it is wasteful of
too m.uch time to spend so much of it stumbhng over
names of groups so poorly defined that they convey
only a vague meaning to a few specialists and none
at all to evcrybcdy 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 species annotated to 194.

Fourth annual list of proposed changes in

the a. O. U. check list of north AMERICAN BIRDS
by Harry C. Oberholser, pp. 266-273. In this are
gathered together all the various proposals of the
past year that may affect American Ornithological
nomenclature. It dsals with about seventy-two
names. 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 congratu-
lation to us that this lengthy list is one of mere
proposal 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 iis own end when each genus approaches
the monospecific and in place of simplifying our
system but adds to its complexity.

Under General Notes, Harry G. Oberholser, pp.
282-283, in Status of the Generic Name Archibuieo
decides that Archibuieo is a nomen nudum and
therefore untenable and that the next name applic-
able for the genus of the Rough-legged Hawks is

N

ovember,

1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

101

Trtorchis 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 sHght
characters alone cdvccating, 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 Ibis 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,

reached 200,000, whilst the British Museum
bird collections passed the half-million milestone ten
years ago. These comparative figures are merely
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.

Wild Animals of Glacier National Park.
The Mammals, with notes on Physiography and
Life Zones, by Vernon Bailey, Chief Field Natur-
alisi. 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 Watertcn 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 cut, 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

[Vol. XXXIII

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

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, cind 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 Perce and Bonaventure re-
servation for the protection of the great seabird
rookeries at the tip of the Gaspe 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 increcising function in
popular education.

R. M. Anderson.

(The October Number was mailed on November 18, 1919.)

THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ^fjiV

VOL. XXXIII.

DECEMBER, 1919.

No. 6.

CHAMPLAIN'S ASTROLABE.

By Charles Macnamara, 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 grrdu-
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 Allumettc
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 North Sea by way
of the River of the Algcnnuin? ctherwise. the
Ottawa. One cculd travel, de Vi<rn"u 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.
Helene (opposite 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 Chaudiere Falls on the 4th of

104

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

June, and after determining the latitude of the
portage on the Hull side as 45 38' (actually
45 26) he proceeded up Lake Deschenes 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 Bonnechere. 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 after 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

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 traveller.*:
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
troubled 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.

"Ncus nous reposasmes sur le bord d'vn estang
qui estoit assez agreable, & fismes du feu pour chasser
les mousquites, qui nous molestoient fort, I'lmportu-
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
amcng 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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

105

"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

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 AUu-
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

Champlain's Astrolabe: actual size is .5% in. in diameter. From photograph kindly

supplied by Mr. Samuel V. Hoffman.

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-

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

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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 local 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 of water not many days' journey dis-
tant. Thus Champlain was led to ask Tessouat

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 Cobdeii, UuL.; uullcl Hows

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 encountermg 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

tliruugh rustles at lower right-hand corner.

dians will forgive him a little for the imphed 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 Fielx)-Naturalist

107

Regretting the waste of time and the hardships
endured to no purpose, but patient under his dis-
appointment, Champlam 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 Chaudiere 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-

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 when 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 Could, the Ottawa
Forwarding Company's steamboat on Muskrat lake.
Captain Overman had located lot 12 in the second

t.r- -

f

Stream from Green lake flows through alders on the right. Astrolabe was found near where

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

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 il
was afterwards occupied by John Sammcn, father

108

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

of Mr. Sammon, of the Copeland House, Pem-
broke. When noon came, pa sent me home for his
dinner, and when I got back with it he sat down
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 info 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
around the log, and when the log swung around it
rolled back the moss like a blanket, and there on
the ground 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.

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 554 inches
diameter. The metal is ! g inch thick at the
top and increases to Vs inch at the bottom, the
extra weight below being intended to give stead'.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
observations prove, to determine latitude by aid of
the instrument to within 1 5 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]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

109

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

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 thank
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. Fleming.

Almost the first knowledge we have of the orn-
ithology of the Saskatchewan region is contained
in a series of papers published in the Ibis of 1861-
62-63, by Capt. Blaikston, who spent the winter of
! 857-58 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. Macoiin, who in 1888 travelled
fiom 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

lAnnual Report, Geological Survey of Canada
VIII (new series) Part D, pp. 5D to 120D, Ottawa,
1896. Ibid., IX, 1896, Part F (-1897).

-A 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 I . 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

sReport of the Chief Game Guardian, 1914, pp.
33-34, 37-39, Regina, 1915

10

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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 w^ith a list of the
specimens together v^^ith 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.
Columbus holboelli, Holboell's Grebe.

Set of five eggs taken on Churchill river, June 6;
bird seen at close range.
Cavla immer. Loon, Great Northern Diver.

An adult taken on Reindeer lake, July 8.
Larus hrachyrhynchus. 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 delarvarensis. 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 ring 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
color with pale brown joints." 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
"Iris, black; pure red eye-ring; bill, black to one-
eighth beyond nostril, remainder of tip medium dull
lemon yellow; feet, black."

4Auk. XXXVI, 1919, pp. 83-84.

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 amcricanus. Merganser.

A male in very worn immature plumage, taken
on the Churchill river, June \. "Iris, dark; bill,
medium deep crimson, crown of upper mandible,
black; feet, bright orange-chrome."
Mergus serralor. 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. "Iris, 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 huffish 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 1 \.
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."
Callinago 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 Field-Naturalist

taken on the Beaver river, May 19, and a male on

Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 23.

Pisohia 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 II.
Pisohia 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.
Pisohia 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 alpirta sa}(halina. 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 niacularia. Spotted Sandpiper.

Two adults ,a male, Crooked river. May I 5, 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.

Canachiies canadensis canadensis, Hudsonian
Spruce Partridge.

Eight specimens, six adults and two downy young.

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.
Asiur atricapillus atricapillus, American Goshawk.

A female, and set of three eggs, Beaver river,
May 16.
Buleo platypierus, 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 1 5th, 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 columharius columharius, 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 halia'elus 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

12

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

[Vol. XXXIII.

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.
Surma ulula caparoch, American Hawk Owl.

A male taken on Lake Du Brochet, August I.
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.
Sph^rapicus varius varius, Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker.

Two males, Big river. May 7 and II.
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.
Sa})ornis 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. All taken in willows at edge of
marsh.
Empidonax minimus. Least Flycatcher.

A female. Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 29, and a
male, Remdeer river, June 28.
Perisoreus canadensis canadensis, Canada Jay.

One immature bird. Reindeer lake, July II, 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.

oNorth American Fauna No. 27, 1908, p. 402.

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, "Iris, 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 sandivichensis 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 leconiei, 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

D

ecember,

1919]

The Canadian Field-Naturalist

113

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 coverts
brownish-buff ta.il darker than in adult; wing
coverts tipped with buff.
Zonalrichia leucophr^s 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 monlicola. Tree Sparrow.

A male. Reindeer lake, July II. "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 riv'er, June 9; a pair,
Cochrane river, August 6, fully fledged young in
company with these last.
Iridoprocne 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 1 I ; 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.
Bomhycilla cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing.

A male, Key lake, June 25.
Lanius borealis. Northern Shrike.

A male, Cochrane river, October 19.
Vireos])lva olivacea, Red-eyed Vireo.

A male, Dead lake, Churchill river, June 17.
Lanivireo solitarius solilarius, Blue-headed Vireo.

A male. Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse, May 28.
Mniotilla varia, Black and White Warbler.

A male, Beaver river. May 17.
^x Vermivora peregrina, Tennessee Warbler.
M|\ Three males, two from Lake Ile-a-la-Crosse,

ay 27, and June 2 ,one from Dead lake, Churchill
ver, June 1 7.

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 palniarum, 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.
IVilsonia 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 25.
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 I 1 ; Churchill river,
June 18. This latter is in very worn plumage.
"Bird in company with mate."

H^locicbla ustulata srvainsoni, 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.

14

RANDOM BOTANICAL NOTES.