The Ottawa Naturalist 



[April 



SEEDS. 

 A material to which greater attention might in 

 some instances be given, is the wild rice, Zizania 

 aquaiica. This makes an excellent ingredient in 

 soups, especially meat soups. At present it is ob- 

 tained mostly from the Indians. It has frequently 

 been sown in marshes to attract wild fowl, also as 

 an article of food. 



search of mammalogical literature has failed to re- 

 veal detailed references to it and I think, therefore, 

 it may be worthy of record in these pages. 



THE SONG OF THE PORCUPINE. 



By p. a. Taverner. 



Mr. Macnamara's interesting paper on the Porcu- 

 pine in the January, 1918, number of The 

 Naturalist, reminds me of an experience I once 

 had with this species that may be of interest to the 

 readers of the article referred to. 



I was paddling close along the shore of Lake 

 Muskoka late one bright moonlight night in early 

 spring, probably May. As I crossed the mouth of 

 a small deep dark bay, I heard a most peculiar 

 succession of cries coming from the shadows at its 

 foot. It was like the continued ya-ya-ya-yaa-a-a-a 

 of a young baby and rose and fell with prolonged 

 querulous quaverings. Wondering at what could 

 originate such sounds in the woods I knew so well, 

 I followed up the sounds, landed and forced my 

 way into the underbrush in their direction. They 

 seemed to proceed from near the top of a large ash 

 tree near the shore. While manoeuvring about 

 trying to get the newly leafing branches outlined 

 against the best illuminated parts of the sky, the idea 

 suddenly suggested itself that such cries might well 

 proceed from a cub bear. The thought was dis- 

 quieting for if the mother found an intruder about 

 she might misunderstand the purely scientific designs 

 of the investigation. I retreated immediately and 

 with haste, and soon had a safe body of water be- 

 tween myself and possible danger. The sounds 

 continued for some time, longer in fact than I cared 

 to stay, and I left without discovering their origin. 



A few days latp;r, however, in broad daylight, the 

 same cries were heard just back of the house and 

 immediate investigation showed that they proceeded 

 from a big fat "porkey" in a small maple tree, who 

 was telling the whole world how mournfully happy 

 it was in the warm spring sun. I presume it was of 

 the nature of a love song and for the attraction or 

 delectation of a mate, at least another porcupine, 

 presumably a mate, was found in the vicinity shortly 

 after. 



I have never heard this spring song of the Porcu- 

 pine since, nor have I ever met a northern woods- 

 man who seemed acquainted with it. A superficial 



MAMMAL FOOD OF THE GREAT- 

 HORNED OWL. 



Late in the afternoon of December 31st, while 

 following skunk tracks in a small strip of hardwood 

 bush, four miles north of St. Thomas, Ontario, 

 I observed a Horned Owl in a maple overlooking 

 what appeared from external signs to be the winter 

 den of a skunk family. The bird was secured and 

 on picking it up I found the odor of skunk very 

 pronounced. 



On opening the carcass three days later for sex 

 determination, was surprised to find the ligaments 

 and fat surrounding the stomach full of porcupine 

 quills. They were quite pliable, slightly bleached 

 and appeared to have been in the bird's body for 

 some time. Two pellets of skunk hair about the 

 size of robin's eggs were the only contents in the 

 stomach. The owl appeared in spite of the quills 

 to be in a healthy condition. 



C. E. Johnson. 



A CROW POLYGAMIST? 



In the latter part of May while passing through 

 the Rideau woods near Ottawa, I saw an exception- 

 ally large nest situated about forty feet up in a 

 white pine tree, and a crow circling and cawing 

 above it. As I climbed the tree two more crows flew 

 from the nest which contained eight eggs, without 

 doubt two sets, as four of them had the light ground 

 colour blotched chiefly on the larger end, while the 

 other four had a darker ground colour, and were 

 profusely blotched. 



Clyde L. Patch. 



UNUSUAL FOOD OF THE 

 GARTER SNAKE. 



While two friends and I were standing by Kings- 

 mere Lake on May 5th last, a green garter snake left 

 the shore, swam a few yards into the lake, ducked 

 its head under the water and swam back to shore 

 with a trout about three inches long in its mouth. 

 The fish was held by the middle but on reaching the 

 shore it was dropped on a small piece of wood and 

 immediately taken up again by the head and 

 swallowed. Not more than three or four minutes 

 had elapsed between the time the snake left the 

 shore and it was back again with other fish in its 

 stomach. 



J. M. Macoun, 



