100 The Ottawa Naturalist [September 



REPORT OF THE ZOOLOGICAL BRANCH, 1906. 



The Zoological Branch of the Ottawa Field Naturalists' 

 Club have the honour to report as follows: Two meetings have 

 been held during the past season, the first on November 9th, 

 when the principal business was the making arrangements for 

 the zoological exhibit at the soiree on December 4th; but the 

 zoologists present afterwards joined in a general discussion upon 

 various topics of interest. On March 16th, the second meeting 

 took place, and the season's work was reviewed, but it is'neces- 

 sary in the report now presented to refer only to such matters 

 as may have general interest and in some cases have an element 

 of novelty. Both the meetings, it may be added, were held at 

 the house of the convener of the Branch (Professor Prince). 



An important feature of the season 1906 was the abnormal 

 lowness of the water in the Ottawa River and tributary waters, 

 affecting, indeed, the whole district. Many creeks and ponds 

 which in previous dry seasons have retained a quantity of water 

 were perfectly dry, and the usual stock of aquatic animals and 

 plants seemed to have disappeared. Whatever the cause, the 

 effect of this drought upon aquatic life in many localities near 

 Ottawa has been serious. Certain ponds in the suburbs of the 

 Capital which have been favourite hunting grounds for members 

 of the Club, and have not been dried up before, or not for many 

 years, were perfectly parched, and one member instanced some 

 most prolific ponds along the upper Ottawa River, near Pembroke, 

 in which the destruction of young fishes and amphibians, and of 

 invertebrates, had been most disastrous. One pond was visited 

 when in the last stage of drying up, and in a small area of two 

 or three square yards, were huddled together in a seething^ 

 mass, thousands of living creatures, including tadpoles of 

 various species of frogs and toads, numerous young fishes, 

 Lepomis, Microptems, Perca, Etheostoma, Lucius, etc., and 

 myriads of insect larvae, Coleoptera and Neuroptera, and 

 numerous specimens of Argyroneta. Several enthusiastic young 

 naturalists, with nets and tin vessels, rescued most of these 

 imperilled creatures and deposited them in shallow places in 

 the main river. It will be interesting to see the effect generally 

 of this drought upon the aquatic life in the dried-up ponds 

 referred to. 



Of mammals mention must be made of a band of wolves 

 heard howling near Pembina Lake in the upper Lievre River 

 district, these animals uttering their weird cries even in the day 

 time, it is asserted. Virginia deer were reported at the Rockliffe 

 Range in the fall, and bears and deer at Hammond. A black 

 musk-rat, Fiber zihethicns, was captured near Ottawa and 



