1918] The Ottawa Naturalist 



BRIEF NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF LAMBTON COUNTY, ONT. 



37 



By M. Y. Williams. 



With the passing of the primeval swamps, have 

 vanished the deer, wild turkey, and passenger pigeon 

 which formerly abounded in Lambton and the ad- 

 jacent counties of the Ontario peninsula. To-day 

 wild life IS mconspicuous, especially to passengers 

 m the automobile. However, a few species of birds 

 and mammals, either because of their size, color, 

 numbers, or special liking for the roadside, can 

 scarcely be overlooked. 



To the visitor from Northern Ontario, or the 

 Ottawa valley, perhaps the most conspicuous bird 

 along the roadside and in the woods as well, is the 

 tri-colored beauty, the red-headed woodpecker. His 

 striking and contrasting coloring, of red, black and 

 white, atracts attention, whether the bird is clinging 

 to a tree limb, or telegraph pole, whether it is pur- 

 suing its undulating flight across the open fie!ds or 

 whether it is flying from tree to tree among the glades 

 of the hardwocd forest. 



Although much rarer than the preceding species, 

 the mourning dove may be frequently seen rising 

 from near a bridge over a shallow stream, or clinging 

 to a telephone wire, which seems unduly small for a 

 bird of this size. The mournful wooing of this dove 

 is a wierd sound indeed and its origin along with 

 the call of the cuckoo is rarely recognized by the 

 casual observer. In coloring and general appear- 

 ance the mourning dove recalls the extinct passenger 

 pigeon, which formerly swarmed over the country 

 in countless myrieds. Unlike its more noted relative, 

 the mourning dove is a solitary bird during the early 

 summer, and moves about only in family parties 

 later on. 



The one straggling survivor of the fine game birds 

 of the early days, is the quail or bobwhite as it is 

 appropriately called. In the early evening the low 

 but distinctly whistled "bob white," with a long 

 pause between the syllables, may occasionally be 

 heard from the open fields, and the fortunate ob- 

 server may once or twice during the summer see a 

 clean-cut cock quail sitting on the top of a fence 

 post by the roadside. The brown and white mark- 

 ings and modified chicken-like appearance of this 

 little "frierd of the farmer" serves readily to dis- 

 tinguish it. Its insectivorous habits during much of 

 the season should secure its protection, but its fine 

 game qualities have kept it in the sportsman's eye 

 and even now under nominal legal protection it is 

 to be feared that it is still being persecuted by those 

 who should be its best friends. If quail are again 

 to become numerous, absolute protection for a term 



of years is essential. So far as could be learned, 

 the quail of Lambton county are descendants of 

 ihe native quail. I heard of no quail having been 

 introduced. 



The sight of turkey vultures circling low over the 

 woods in the vicinity of Oil City and Oil Springs 

 during the first week of August, suggested strong'y 

 a more southerly latitude. These large chocolate- 

 brown birds, with naked, turkey-like head, follow 

 the woodlands en regular beats, searching intently 

 for carrion which is their favorite food. 



Some years ago, Mr. Fletcher, who formerly kept 

 the Fletcher Hcuse at Petrolia, now kept by Mrs. 

 Fletcher and her daughter, Mrs. Bain, received two 

 fluffy, white ycung turkey vultures from a farmer, 

 and raised them successfully. They were quite 

 tame and followed their owner about the town or 

 perched on the roofs of the buildings. "Moses and 

 Aaron," as they were called, were interesting 

 specimens of domesticated wi'd life, but both suffered 

 untimely deaths. 



Of other birds of prey, the marsh hawk and 

 sparrow hawk are the most commonly seen. A 

 great-horned owl was disturbed one afternoon in the 

 woods near Oil Springs, and was followed to its 

 new roosting place by a noisy flock of robins. Either 

 a long-eared or a short-eared owl was observed one 

 evening near Wyoming. 



Although there is little suitable water for waders 

 and shore birds in the interior of the county, the 

 great blue heron, American bittern, killdeer, and 

 spotted sandpiper are fairly common. The black 

 tern was observed along the lake Huron shore near 

 Perch. 



Of the smaller birds, the meadow lark is especially 

 numerous, as have been the bobolinks. The horned- 

 larks are fairly common, and the vesper is the com- 

 monest of the sparrows. Night-hawks and purple 

 martins are very numerous at Petrolia. 



Large flocks of bronzed grackles fly into Petrolia 

 to roost at nights, to the discomfort and annoyance 

 of the citizens near where they take up their quar- 

 ters. Shooting has not driven them out successfully. 



Black squirrels are occasionally seen in the woods 

 of Lamb'.on county and grey squirrels are reported; 

 but the story related by one nature lover accounts 

 for the scarceness of these fine, distinctive squirrels. 

 He said "formerly the woods back of my farm 

 contained a number of grey squirrels, but one day 

 about two years ago a number of hunters came over 

 from Sarnia and I haven't seen a grey squirrel there 



