September, 1921.] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



Ill 



any of this species I have previously taken 

 elsewliere. It was first thougrht that ihey 

 would prove to be Microsorex hoyi, but a 

 dental and cranial examination rendered 

 them referable to the above personatus 

 subspecies. Dr. R. M. Anderson of Otta- 

 wa kindly identified these for me, as he 

 tlid also all the other small mammals se- 

 cured on the trip. The Islay specimens 

 of haijde)ii measure: Length, 85-82; Tail, 

 24-22- Foot, 10.5-11 mm. 



In addition, I have the following state- 

 ment from Mr. Henderson, Acting Chief 

 of Bureau, U. S. Biological Survey : 

 "Your specimens have recently been crit- 

 ically examined by Dr. Jackson, and he con- 

 siders that they are referable to Sorex 

 personatus haydeni as you suspected, al- 

 tliough, as above intimated, your speci- 

 mens are from a point considerably west 

 of the previoush^ known range of this 

 form. He reports that they approach S. 

 personatus in relative narroAvness of the 

 rostra and in color." 



Northern White-Footed Mouse. 

 Peromyscus manicxdaim horeaUs 

 (Mearns). 

 At Islay the deer mouse is either very 

 uncommon or exceedingly seclusive; I 

 favor the former view-point. In all my 

 rambles and exploring only a single spe- 

 cimen was either seen or taken, and that 

 only by merest accident. Usually a col- 

 lector secures his specimens by clear de- 

 sign and is rewarded in direct proportion 

 as he may assiduously practise it, but my 

 specimen came without that. I was walk- 

 ing near the Twin Hills on Septeml)er 11 

 and close to some old homestead buildings 

 Avhen, chancing to cross a portion of old 

 board on the ground which I kicked in 

 passing, an adult white-foot leaped away 

 and danced about looking for escape, but 

 that was rather reluctantly denied him. 

 Without this contingency I should have 

 been entirely unaware of the presence of 

 this species. It shows a very pronounced 

 darkish-brown dorsal band; buffy cheeks; 

 white pencilling on the ear rim, and pallid 

 plumbeous-grev underparts. Measure- 

 ments: Length, 140; Tail, 40; Foot, 18, 

 (Male). 



Jumping Mouse. 



S. Zapus hudsonicus. 



WV Not common. A single individual ob- 

 ^\served on tlie north-western outskirts of 



the village. As so often occurs, it made 

 its escape ; at times it requires about three 

 men and a dog under the most favorable 

 circumstances to successully compete with 

 a jumper for its life. 



The Big Game. 



To a genuin-e nature-lover, one of the 



most ominous tendencies of the day at 



Islay is the gradual depletion of the big 



Tlie game must go of course as a 



game 



natural conse(|uence of settlement, and 

 where it is going, Init not gone, it is still 

 but a prophecy of the future. The gra- 

 phic tales of eaiily days to which one 

 eagerly listens now, portraying their wild 

 and romantic abundance, perhaps on the 

 very spot you occupy, serves but to ac- 

 centuate their present absence, their ir- 

 revocalile and irreconcilable loss. The 

 comparative speed with which they some- 

 times disappear is also a significant item. 

 Previous to 1910 at Islay the moose and 

 mule deei' were tolerably common in all 

 the wooded river basins, but now both are 

 gone entirely from the vicinity and a bare 

 ten years has passed. While the moose 

 may still be fouiul in pretty fair numbers 

 a couvsiderable distance to the nortli, the 

 other is considered nearly extinct. The 

 blacktail deer, was formerly common, but 

 is now very rare. Elk in the old days, ac- 

 cording to information, came and went in 

 sizable bands, but they are a stranger 

 there now, and the nearest is a restricted 

 company to the west of Primrose Lake a 

 hundred miles to the north. The jumping 

 deer has fared much better. As mentioned 

 elsewhere, it is still found in the Saskat- 

 chewan valley, and all through the woods 

 northward to the lakes already referred 

 to. Occasional ones may yet survive in 

 the remoter nooks along the Vermilion 

 river, especially towards its confluence 

 with the Saskatchewan. AVhere other big 

 game either perish or retreat, the jumper 

 frequently loiters with impunity. It loves 

 to dabble about the skirts of civilization, 

 and even increases with a little encourage- 

 ment. At Edmonton, in 1912, I often saw 

 them or their fresh beds within three 

 miles of the city, and that with a popula- 

 tion of seventy thousand people. Instead 

 of retreating like the wary moose, they 

 linger on, secretively gazing on the strides 

 of industry, relishing the settlers' first 

 succulent crops, and then at last, succumb- 

 ing on the soil of their birth. 



&^> 



