The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIII. 



our warm appreciation of the sympathetic assistance 

 afforded by the men at the stations, particularly by 

 Mr. Johnny Jonasson. Berens Island was chosen 

 mainly because of the possibility that White Pelicans 

 would be found breeding on Pelican Island which 

 lies some four or five miles west of Berens Island. 



Pelican Island lies approximately in longitude 

 951/2 and latitude 52!/2 and is a typical, rocky lake 

 island, some ten to fifteen acres in extent. Between 

 Pelican Island and the northern shore of the lake, 

 there are no islands and so its north coast meets the 

 full force of the waves raised by the winds sweeping 

 across this 100 miles of open water. Lake Win- 

 nipeg with its area of over 8,000 square miles, is 

 very dangerous owing to its quick changes from calm 

 to storm and fishermen familiar with the whole lake, 

 declare this region between Pelican and Berens 

 Islands to be the worst. The shores of Pelican 

 Island are extremely rocky ^there are no sand 

 beaches and a landing from a rowboat requires 

 cautious management even in calm weather. The 

 island is partly wooded with birch, ash, etc., but 

 inland the ground is depressed in a basin-like central 

 hollow, overgrown with marsh vegetation. A 

 barren tongue of land juts out from the east side 

 of the island forming a shingle spit. 

 THE TERNERY. 



The first time the authors approached the island 

 in a skiff, flocks of birds were observed resting on 

 the eastern point, while with prism binoculars. 

 Herring Gulls and Terns could be distinguished 

 everywhere along the shingle spit and adjacent shore. 

 Two young Herring Gulls, still in natal down, ran 

 down the beach to the water as the boat reached 

 land. One of these was captured. The uproar 

 among the birds caused by the landing increased 

 when the shingle spit was reached. Numerous de- 

 serted Herring Gulls' nests, substantially built of 

 vegetable debris, lined the edge of the grass zone 

 or were scattered over the bare pebbles and every- 

 where were the remains of pellets disgorged by the 

 gulls. No eggs were found until the zone of 

 vegetation had ended, when, passing out onto the 

 bare eastern spit, a densely populated ternery was 

 discovered. Over this space were between 200 and 

 300 occupied nests, frequently almost touching, each 

 containing one or two eggs. After a brief survey 

 of the ternery, a low hiding blind was erected and 

 left for the birds to return to the colony. 



On returning later, the whole colony was seen 

 to be still on the wing, shrieking and screaming above 

 the breeding ground. The cause was soon revealed. 

 In the midst of the colony was a fisherman method- 

 ically gathering the eggs from the nests. The old 

 fellow could scarcely understand English and after 

 much difficulty, it was explained that some of the 



nests were to remain undisturbed. The birds were 

 now so thoroughly alarmed that an hour spent in 

 the hiding-tent in the hope of photographing them 

 proved vain and the remaining hour or so of light 

 was expended in examining and photographing the 

 nests and eggs. An adult Caspian Tern was col- 

 lected together with some clutches of eggs. A fair 

 portion of the colony had not been disturbed. It 

 was hoped that the next visit would find the owners 

 of these nests back at the task of incubation and so 

 the hiding-tent was left in position, as carefully 

 concealed as possible. 



On July 13, Pelican Island was re-visited. The 

 birds were observed as before, resting on the rocks 

 and along the shore. On approaching the breeding 

 ground, the usual alarm of the parent birds was not 

 in evidence and closer examination showed that 

 every remaining egg had been destroyed evidently 

 by crows (vide infra) and on the whole spot not a 

 single occupied nest remained. A specimen of 

 Parasitic Jaeger and two still occupied Herring Gull 

 nests were also discovered during this visit. 



Reference to the published records of Manitoban 

 birds yielded only an isolated record of the Caspian 

 Tern. It is not mentioned by Bell (3) nor by E. 

 Thompson Seton (II and 12) and is recorded only 

 by Nutting (6) whose record is cited by Preble (7). 

 Nutting collected a single Caspian Tern on Lake 

 Winnipeg at the mouth of the Saskatchewan river 

 in 1892. The A.O.U. Check List (I) says of the 

 Caspian Tern: "Range nearly cosmopolitan" but 

 gives few North American breeding records, viz: 

 "Great Slave Lake, Klamath Lake, Oregon, on 

 islands of northern Lake Michigan, on coast of 

 Southern Labrador, and also on coasts of Texas, 

 Louisiana, Mississippi and (formerly) Virginia". 

 The discovery of such a colony in Lake Winnipeg 

 is, therefore, of unusual interest. 



Although there are no published records of the 

 species breeding in Manitoba, we have reason to 

 believe that it was previously recognized by Mr. 

 Eric Dunlop, since killed in action in France, a 

 naturalist who in 1914 and 1915 collected in 

 northern Lake Winnipeg for the Carlisle Museum, 

 Carlisle, England. Dunlop is said to have found 

 the Caspian Tern breeding on the west coast of 

 Reindeer Island, but, unfortunately, his records are 

 not available. While in the north, the authors met 

 with Dunlop's chief guide, Capt. Goodman, who 

 through his work with Dunlop had become 

 acquainted with many of the birds. Capt. Good- 

 man stated that in 1914 the Caspian Terns were 

 found breeding only on the west shore of Reindeer 

 Island and had not been noted anywhere else 

 although numerous islands, including Pelican Island, 

 were then visited. 



