January, 1920] 



The Canadian Field- Naturalist 



19 



ihe use of a mirroscope for showing specimens, Mr. 

 F. C. Whitehouse. 



Sept. 26 Edible fungi, Mrs. Powell. 



In January a meeting was held at Wetaskiwin 

 and special papers were given by members from 

 Red Deer. 



The Society's publication of "Dragonflies 



(Odonata) of Alberta" by F. C. Whitehouse, 1918, 

 was followed this year with "Annotated Check 

 List of the Macrolepidoptera of Alberta," by Mr. 

 K. Bowman. 



The society's report is published annually in the 

 Report of the Provincial Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 



Six New Fishes from Northwestern Can- 

 ada. By Francis Harper and John Treadwell 

 Nichols. Bulletin of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, Vol. XLI, Art. 1 1 , pp. 263-270, 

 plate XV. New York, Sept. 22. 1919. 



A collection of fishes made by Francis Harper, 

 while on an expedition of the Geological Survey 

 of Canada to Great Slave lake in 1914, in com- 

 pany with Charles Camsell "An Exploration of 

 the Tazin and Taltson rivers. Northwest Terri- 

 tories," by Charles Camsell, Memoir 84, Geo!. 

 Series 69, 1916, pp. 1-124, plates 18, map 1), has 

 been found to comprise fifteen species, represented 

 by approximately 120 individuals. Although pre- 

 vious collections of fishes from the region had been 

 scanty and the material in poor condition, the col- 

 lection described contained a surprisingly large 

 proportion of previously unknown species. The 

 new species described are as follows: 



Catastomus richardsoni Harper and Nicho's. 

 Richardson's Gray Sucker; "Gray Sucker." Type 

 locality, Talston river, at its junction with Tazin 

 river, south of Great Slave lake. Geographic 

 range, Mackenzie and Winnipeg (?) Basins. Al- 

 though this species was discovered by Dr. Richard- 

 son, it has been either disregarded or considered 

 identical with various other species for nearly a 

 century. 



Opsopoeodus borealis Harper and Nichols. 

 Athabasca Minnow. Type locality. Lake Atha- 

 basca, at Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Type spec- 

 imen. No. 1048, Victoria Memorial Museum, 

 Ottawa. 



Coregonus preblei Harper and Nichols. Pre- 

 ble's Whitefish. Type locality, Tazin river, about 

 one mile above its confluence with the Taltson 

 river. Type specimen, No. 1038, Victoria Mem- 

 orial Museum, Ottawa. 



Leucichthys enlomophagus Harper and Nicholr-. 

 Tazin River Cisco. Type locality, Tazin river, 

 at the foot of Kolethe rapids. Type specimen. 

 No. 1021, Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 



Leuc'ichthys athabascae Harper and Nichols. 

 Cisco of Lake Athabasca. Type locality, Lake 

 Athabasca, at mouth of Chariot river, northern 



Saskatchewan. Type specimen. No. 1020, Vic- 

 toria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. 



Leucichthys macronathus Harper and Nichols. 

 Cisco of Great Slave lake. Type locality, Shore 

 waters of Great Slave lake, near Fort Resolution. 

 Type specimen. No. 1031, Victoria Memorial 

 Museum, Ottawa. 



All but one of the above are valuable food 

 fishes. The commercial use of these fishes is be- 

 coming more important as settlement advances into 

 this borderland of the north, and the work of 

 Mr. Harper is an indication that much is to be ex- 

 pected when the fish fauna of the region is more 

 thoroughly examined scientifically. 



R. M. Anderson. 



The Birds of the Red Deer river. Al- 

 berta, by P. A. Taverner. Reprinted from the 

 Au}f, January and April, 1919. A report of 

 work done on and near the Red Deer river in the 

 su.nmcr of 1918, by the author, assisted by the 

 keen intelligence of Mr. C. H. Young, both of the 

 Geological Survey staff. 



The party floated down the river in a rough 

 but roomy and competent boat made for the pur- 

 pose, of which the author says that he knows of 

 no important detail where a change would have 

 been advantageous. Camps were made at con- 

 venient locations for several days at a time, and 

 each locality was worked as thoroughly as time and 

 circumstances permitted. A map js attached, 

 showing the location of the various camps, and the 

 topography of the country in general. 



The present account, including additional infor- 

 mation available from local sources, doubtless in- 

 cludes most of the breeding birds of the region. 

 A commendable feature of the report of the ex- 

 pedition is the treatment of the matter of geogra- 

 phical variation, that bugbear of the field natur- 

 alist. There are specialists whose energies are 

 (or appear to be) wholly devoted to the discovery 

 of infinitesimal shades of difference between ex- 

 amples of a species from different habitats, and far 

 be it from us to hint that theirs is not a useful 

 niche in the world of ornithology, but the results 



