200 



The Ottawa Naturalist. [January 



The following observations regarding mammals may be of 

 interest. Rodents, especially the little gophers, were very 

 plentiful all over the prairies, and a few specimens of different 

 kinds of rodents obtained. A covote, or prairie wolf, was seen 

 walking over a field, some 50 yards away, in the Qu'Appelle 

 Valley; and having an opportunity Mr. Halkett paid a visit 

 to the park in Alberta where the recently acquired herd of buffalo 

 have been introduced. He saw about 30 of the bulls herding 

 by themselves, but the park vvas too extensive to devote the 

 time to go over the whole of it. They were massive animals, 

 but whether owing to their transportation, or because the en- 

 vironment did not suit them, the most of them, appeared to be 

 in poor condition. The tracks of the escaped bull, of which so 

 much was mentioned in the newspapers, were also seen along 

 the shores of Beaver Lake. A shrew was found in the village 

 of Chipman, Alberta, and three bats were obtained in the 

 Qu'Appelle Valley. 



Whilst horses and cattle appear to be in the finest condition 

 in the valley of the Qu'Appelle, Mr. Halkett was struck with the 

 entire absence of sheep on the ranches. On enquiring for the 

 reason of this, he was told that it was impossible to keep them 

 because they eat the leaves and plumose styles of a plant which 

 the people call the prairie crocus {Puhatilla hirsutissima) which 

 are said to fomi masses in the stomachs of the sheep and cause 

 their death. Cattle, on the other hand, are said to eat this plant 

 with impunity. 



An tmusually handsome toad {Biijo amerkana) was obtained 

 by Mr. E. E. Lemieux at Victoria Park, Aylmer, P.Q., and the 

 same gentleman secured a specimen of the milk-snake (Natrix 

 sipedon) in the vicinity of Chats Falls, containing over 40 

 perfect young, each about 6 inches long. The date was October 

 1st, and the capture is remarkable, not only as illustrating the 

 viviparous character of this species, but extending its breeding 

 season to a much later date than before recorded. Fuller notes 

 on this capture will appear immediately in the ' Ottawa Natural- 

 ist.' 



Several specimens of the lake sturgeon (Acipenser rubicundus) 

 from Lake Deschene and the Ottawa River, near the Rifle Range, 

 Ottawa, have been mounted and placed in the collection ^in 

 the Fisheries Museum; but the most remarkable local find of the 

 season, perhaps, is a specimen of the soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx 

 spinifer) from I'Ange Gardien, Province of Quebec. This turtle 

 belongs to the Super-family Trionychoidea, whereas the most 

 of the turtles of Canada belong to the Super-family Cryptodira, 

 and it is surelv a rarity. 



