1909] The Ottawa Naturalist. 25 



many birds move into the cities to winter, but apart from this 

 there is undoubtedly a movement south and back again. The 

 southern flight takes place at many odd times, but chiefly during 

 November, and the return in March and April. 



The other group confines itself almost entirely within build- 

 ings throughout the colder months and only appears outside 

 during the warmer hours of each day, or when the weather is 

 not excessively cold. Thus we have the domicile birds seeking 

 winter quarters at home and the more restless individuals pre- 

 ferring to move to milder climates, even though that entails a 

 long journey twice yearly. The question is, will this lead, in 

 time, to two distinct races? Or, will the individuals of both 

 inclinations, or habits, mix? By watching the resident birds I 

 am led to believe that these commence to breed earlier thantheir 

 migratory-inclined relatives, and if this is so it is possible to 

 conceive that use or disuse of wing power, accustoming the 

 eyes sufificiently to partly dark buildings to pick up food, 

 different winter conditions and many other considerations might 

 eventually cause a change; just as geographical conditions have 

 caused so mam^ local races to appear. 



I believe much valuable information might be secured as to 

 migration and acquired habits, by a careful study of the English 

 Sparrow, especially if observations were made in all parts of the 

 continent. The birds are already learning to migrate and to 

 build nests in trees away from buildings, in fact they are show- 

 ing marvelous powers of adapting themselves to new conditions 

 of life, and it would be a great pity to lose an insight into their 

 evolutionary characters through lack of careful study. 



It would be interesting to know how far the birds move 

 south, whether they become more plentiful in any special State 

 during the winter months than in the summer. Does the winter 

 movement exceed the southern limit of the summer range? and, 

 are there any differences in the habits of securing food, etc., 

 in those parts of the continent where shelter from cold is un- 

 necessarv ? 



THE FOREST RESERVES. 



(Synopsis of a lecture given by Mr. A. Knechtel, Inspector of 



Dominion Forest Reserves, on Feb'y 26th, 1909, under the 



joint auspices of the Ottawa Field- Naturalists' Club and 



the Ottawa Teachers' Association.) 



It would almost seem as if the white race had begun wrong 

 on this continent. Needing cleared land for agriculture, \ye 

 began in the woods, and now when we need the woods we begin 



