November, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



143 



"My idea was to keep same on the Bow 

 Park Farm which is nearly surrounded by 

 water of the Grand River. I thought they 

 would stay there but in winter when the ice 

 came they escaped. I had no particular 

 . reason for importing them to Canada except 

 that I am a lover of nature, especially harm- 

 less, useful animals. . . . Here it is a 

 well known fact that their usefulness exceeds 

 their destructiveness. There is certainly a 

 great industrial value in these hares even if 

 they do eat an occasional cabbage head or a 

 turnip. 



If this species is the native hare of Germany as 

 Mr. Herold's letter suggests, it is Lepus euro-pens 

 Pallas. Miller's Catalogue of the Mammals of 

 Western Europe in the Collection of the British 

 Museum gives the range of Lepus europeus Pallas, 

 as "Central Europe from Great Britain to Russia 

 and from the Baltic south to the Pyrenees, Italy 

 and Greece" and of the typical subspecies L. 

 europeus europeus as "Central Europe from Ger- 

 many to the Atlantic Coast and from Denmark to 

 Central France." The distribution of Lepus 

 timidus Linnaeus, is "Northern portion of Europe 

 and Asia. In Europe throughout Norway, 

 Sweden and Northern Russia, also in Scotland 

 and the Alps. Represented in Ireland by a dis- 

 tinct though nearly related species." Attempts 

 to acclimatize L. europeus in Ireland have failed. 



according to the Cambridge Natural History. 



The British Museum Catalogue referred to 

 above gives the distinction between these two 

 species in part as follows: 



L. timidus and related forms. Tail, including 

 pencil, much shorter than hind foot; its upper 

 surface white or clouded with brown or grey, 

 never with clear black median area. 



L. europeus and its relatives. Tail, including 

 pencil, about as long as hind foot; its upper sur- 

 face with conspicuous clear black median area. 



I have not had an opportunity of examining 

 specimens and am anxious to hear from anyone 

 familiar with this animal in Ontario. They are 

 apparently spreading quite rapidly. Last winter 

 they were reported from the Niagara Peninsula, 

 Ingersoll and Guelph. No complaints of their 

 destructiveness have been heard. On the other 

 hand, there is some agitation for their protection 

 because of their value as game. 



Since the above was written, the Museum has 

 received from Mr. A. G. Montgomery of Brant- 

 ford two specimens of this hare. They prove to 

 be L. europeus as was expected. Reports of in- 

 jury to crops have also come from sections where 

 the hares are numerous. 



A RECENT BREEDING RECORD OF THE TRUMPETER SWAN IN ALBERTA 



By Hoyes Lloyd 



IN OCTOBER, 1920, Mr. R. F. Jones, the 

 Manager of the Longfellow Zoological Gardens 

 at Minneapolis, Minnesota, wrote to the 

 Canadian National Parks Branch, Ottawa, asking 

 permission to export a live Swan from Canada, 

 this bird being then in the possession of Mr. L. E. 

 Bodie, of Clairmont, Alberta. Mr. Jones wished 

 to obtain this bird as a mate for one in his pos- 

 session and upon inquiry stated concerning Mr. 

 Bodie's bird: "It is known as the Trumpeter, or 

 Piping Swan. This is the only species that I 

 have ever been able to secure in the Northwest. 

 They are a large white bird with black feet and 

 bill. Are very tame when domesticated and thus 

 a rarely attractive one." 



Possibly ornithologists who have access to Mr. 

 Jones' zoological collection at Minneapolis may 

 be able to record some occurrences of the Trum- 

 peter Swan if they study his specimens and 

 records. 



After consulting the Advisory Board on Wild 

 Life Protection the Canadian National Parks 

 refused permission to export this Swan from 



Canada, at least until its identity was established. 



Colonel Perry, Commissioner, Royal Canadian 

 Mounted Police, was furnished with complete 

 descriptions of both Trumpeter and Whistling 

 Swans and plaster casts of the heads of the two 

 species and requested to have one of his officers 

 cndeavourto identify the bird in Mr. Bodie's 

 possession. 



On January 26, 1921, Sergeant T. C. Davies, 

 in charge of Grande Prairie Detachment of the 

 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, made a patrol 

 to carry out his ornithological mission. He visited 

 the Bodie farm, which is 10 miles west of Clair- 

 mont, Alberta, and immediately north of Bear 

 Lake on the south half of Section 3 Town- 

 ship 73, Range 7, West of the 6th Meridian. 

 This is almost 55 North Latitude, 119 West 

 Longitude. 



He found that the bird had died on January 

 14th, and that its body was still in one of the 

 sheds. The officer took the wing measurement 

 as 22 H inches, and found the weight of the frozen 

 body on spring scales to be 193^ lbs. 



