116 



The Can.^ian Field-Natlr-MJst 



[Vol. XXXIW 



followed b\- marine Upper Triassic. Then there is 

 no sedimentary record of any kind until the deposi- 

 tion of the Miocene fresh-water beds wth ligait'rs. 

 As Per Schei died soon after the return of the ex- 

 pedition, the fossils are described by O. Hiltedahl. 

 The land plants of the Upper Devonian and the 

 very few from the Miocene are described by A. G. 

 Nathorst; the Devonian fishes by J. Kiaer; the 

 Devonian invertebrates by O. E. Mayer and S. 

 Loewe; the Upper Carboniferous fauna by T. 

 Tschemyschew cmd P. Stepanow; and the Triassic 

 marine invertebrates bv E. Kittl. 



Points of interest to be noted are the richness of 

 plzint life in certain sp>ots during the very short 

 growing season. It was noted that flora was most 

 abundant on granite lands eind least developed on 

 Paleozoic limestone. It was richest on bird grounds 

 and around Eskimo habitations, and on the whole 

 was sufficient to support the few land animals. The 

 waters are alive with animal life, from minute 

 forms to seals, walrus zmd whales. The marine 

 fauna dees not include a great variety of species, 

 but makes up for this in the abundance of in- 

 di\-iduals. R. M. .Anderson. 



NOTES .-XND OBSERVATIO.NS. 



A Pigeon Ha^xk \^'inters .at Ottaw.a The 

 past winter 1919-20 with its hea\y snow and ex- 

 treme cold could scarcely have been a worse one 

 for any bird wintering north of its usual range. 

 However that may be, a Pigeon Hawk (Falco 

 columhanus) did spend part of the winter in Ot- 

 tawa and was seen in Mr. E. G. WTiite's garden 

 from Jcinuarv- 8th to Februarv- 4th, 1920. This 

 sojourn gave an opportunity to study its food habits 

 to a certain extent. It braved the great cold of 

 Januarv' during which month the thermometer regis- 

 tered 29 "F. below zero on at least one occasion. 



Mr. White had many chances to observe it dur- 

 ing that time and we both watched it through field 

 glasses for about half an hour on February 2nd. 



During its stay it often flew^ anK>ng Mr. White's 

 pigeons, but apparent!}' took no toll of them. It 

 was observed eating a House sparrow on January- 

 9th, cuid captured a Pine Grosbeak shortly before 

 my visit en February 2nd, strewing its feathers 

 about the garden. Chickadees were apparently 

 beneath its notice, and on Februarj- 4th, it remained 

 peacefully op its perch while a Ruffed Grouse 

 budded the bare upper limbs of an adjacent crab- 

 apple tree. 



Consultation of some of the bird literature shows 

 that this species occurs occasionally in Quebec and 

 Ontario in winter, although its winter range ex- 

 tends to South America. 



Some recorded winter occurences are: 



Fleming: Auk, Vol. XXI\', 1907, p. 73 

 Given in the Canadian Journal, 1, ]S52-3, as a 

 winter resident at Toronto in 1853. 



Nash: Occcisionallv seen at Toronto in winter. 



Terrell: Otiav;a Naturalist, Vol. XXIV, 1910, 

 p. 39 One seen at Compton County, Quebec, 

 December 2 15, 1909; and ibid seen at Mont- 

 real, Quebec, on December 9, 1908; Januarv' 2nd 

 and Januar>- 30th, 1909. 



HoYEs Lloyd. 



The Birds of the \%'ilderness of Nova 

 Scotia On pp. 36 and 37 of The Canadian Field- 

 .\aturalist. Vol. XXXI\', No. 2, February-, 1920. 

 .Mr. H. A. P. Smith, of Digby, N.S., tells of notic- 

 ing an absence of birds, especially song birds, in 

 the interior wilderness of Nova Scotia, and enumer- 

 ates the ten species which he has found there, one 

 of which, the Song sparrow, he has observed there 

 but once. 



It would appear that either Mr. Smith has been 

 ver>- unfortunate in the times and places of his 

 journeys into the Nova Scotia %%-ilds, or that in 

 some way he has overlooked many birds ordinarily 

 to be found there in the breeding season. On the 

 open sphagnum bog, it is true, birds may be scarce, I 

 but if there are a few bushes and dead stubs, 

 the White-throated sparrow, the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, and the Chestnut-sider warbler are almost 

 certain to be present. Among the grzinite boulders 

 the Nighthawk lays its eggs, at the numerous lakes 

 Spotted Sandpipers, Lcons, Great Blue Herons, 

 Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls fre- 

 quently occur, and, where even a small area of 

 woodland has escaped the fire and the axe. Hermit 

 Thrushes, .Magnolia Warblers, Chickadees, Red- 

 starts, and a great variety of other woodland birds 

 proclaim their presence. 



I have had the pleisure of making a number of 

 journeys into the interior of Nova Scotia, and 

 while, unfortunately, I did net always make notes 

 on the birds, especially the common birds, to be 

 found there, yet I am able to state that I have ob- 

 served at least fifty-nine species of birds in the 

 Nova Scotia wldemess, the home of the moose 

 and the wild-cat. As the avifauna of Nova Scotia 

 is fairly well known, no attempt will be made to 

 take up space here by enumerating these species 

 (to which no doubt many more might be added) 

 in detail, but the following resume of them may 

 serve to prevent any impression that the interior of 



