36 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Migratory Birds Convention Act Prosecutions. 



The following is a condensed list of some of the 

 cases brought into court by officers of the Dominion 

 Parks Branch, of the Department of the Interior. 

 The Dominion Parks Branch will be pleased to 

 receive notice of cases brought by pnvate individ- 

 uals or societies. 



Marr Millinery Company, Limited, St. John, 

 New Brunswick, pleaded guilty to having posses- 

 sion of gull plumage, and a fine of $10.00 was im- 

 posed. 



Nettie McKinnon, Digby, Nova Scotia, fined 

 $10.00 for having gull plumage in her possession. 



Miss G. P. MawleY, Summerside, Prince Ed- 

 ward Island, fined $10.00 for having Brant out of 

 season. 



George ArsenAULT, St. Elinor's, Prince Ed- 

 ward Island, sold Brant in June and was fined 

 $10.00. 



Mr. McAdam, manager, Island Cold Storage 

 Company, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 

 fined $10.00 for having Brant in his possession and 

 birds confiscated. 



Francis Ruggles, Caledonia, Nova Scotia, fined 

 $10.00 for shooting White-rumped Sandpipers. 



Edgar Fromm, Frank Dixon and John Ting- 

 ley, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, were 

 convicted for having black duck cut of season, and 

 penalties of $20.00 each imposed. 



The Absence of Song Birds in the Wilder- 

 ness OF Nova Scotia. ^Any "bird man" who for 

 the first time makes a trip to the wilderness country 

 in the interior of the Province of Nova Scotia will 

 be struck by the absence of bird songs. There are 

 birds, it is true, but no real singers that at times 

 compel us to pause in the act of dipping our paddle 

 in the glassy lake or arrest our hasty step as some 

 of our best feathered performers of the orchards and 

 the clearings do. Occasionally the croak of a 

 raven is heard or the dee-dee of chickadees, both 

 the common variety and the Hudsonian, and at 

 night the hoot of the Great-Horned Owl. The 

 Canadian Jay is quite common and well known 

 with his extremely slow and noiseless flight, and 

 his discordant ca-ca. Occasionally a flock of 

 Crossibills will pass overhead with undulating flight, 

 spreading out and closing together again in fan-like 

 fashion, leaving one wondering why they do not 

 collide and injure their frail wings. The flute-like 

 whistle of these little acrobats is quite pleasant when 

 nearby, and yet it would be impossible to describe it 

 as a song. During the fall months, one meets more 



T. G. Butler, Ottawa, fined $10.00 for having 

 a mounted loon. 



James Baker, of Clam Harbour, Nova Scotia, 

 found guilty of illegal possession of eider duck and 

 fined $10.00. 



Victor Grain, of Boston, Massachusetts, found 

 guilty and gun confiscated for shooting shore birds 

 in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. 



Wallace Hatfield, of Central Argyle, Nova 

 Scotia, was convicted of shooting Willets. 



Charles Muse, of Central Argyle, Nova 

 Scotia, also convicted for same offence. 



Freeman Deviller, of Lower Melbourne, Nova 

 Scotia, ordered to release young flock of ducks held 

 in captivity. 



The following mounted birds were confiscated at 

 Ottawa: A Great Blue Heron, a Flicker, a Wood 

 Duck, 3 Loons, a Herring Gull, and a Pileated 

 Woodpecker. 



Eugene Van Anberg, of Lockport, Nova 

 Scotia, found guilty and fined $10.00 for shooting 

 an eider duck. 



Ernest ThobURN, Lower Jordan Bay, Nova 

 Scotia, fined $10.00 for shooting eider duck. 



Winslow Buchanan, Lower Sandy Bay, Nova 

 Scotia, shot an eider duck, and was fined $10.00. 



birds in the wilderness than in the spring or summer. 

 These, also, however, are not real singers, with the 

 exception of the robins which at this time are in- 

 different to song, being too busy fattening upon the 

 luscious berries that cover the barrens in great pro- 

 fusion. When seen far from habitation and especi- 

 ally in the autumn they will nearly always be ac- 

 companied by Flickers, migrating together in perfect 

 harmony, the latter "sticking" against the dead pine 

 trunks while the robins seek the bare branches. I 

 have watched them many times while moose calling 

 in the early frosty mornings of September and 

 October, and never have seen any discord among 

 them. It is quite the reverse with the Canadian 

 Jays, which seem to agree when not feeding, but 

 quarrel fiercely, though ludicrously, when engaged 

 in stealing from a moose carcase. These latter are 

 very bold and it is a common sight to see them 

 tearing at a moose carcase while the operation of 

 gralloching is in process. Perhaps one will tear 

 off a piece' of fat and fly through the swamp with 

 two or three others pursuing him, the tit-bit chang- 

 ing ownership many times before the fortunate one 



