November, 191 6] 



The Ottawa NATuRAHsf 



97 



The clay extends about 10 miles west of Arnprior 

 and about 6 miles to the northwest. Beyond these 

 limits certain patches in the upland underlain by 

 crystalline limestone are capable of cultivation. 



Brick and tile are made from the upper part of 

 the marine clay in the banks of Dochert Brook just 

 outside the town limits. The tile are extensively 

 used for underdraining the clay lands in the 

 neighborhood and are also shipped to distant points 

 for this purpose. 



This is an example of supplying geographic needs 

 by using the natural resources at hand. 



Outcrops of limestone both of Archean and 

 Paleozoic are abundant in this vicinity. The former 

 IS a banded grey and white marble which was used 

 for the interior of the senate and commons chambers 

 in the house of Parliament at Ottawa 

 fire a few years ago. 



(Fo be contin 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



A Correction. In a list of amphibians and 

 reptiles of the Ottawa, Ontario, district, published 

 in the September, 1918, number of The Ottawa 

 Naturalist, Pseudacris triseriata should be Pseu- 

 dacris feriarum. 



Clyde L. Patch. 



The Nesting of the Black-crowned Night 

 Heron in Southern Ontario. In answer to W. 

 E. Saunder's query as to the nesting locality of the 

 Black-crowned Night Heron in western (southern) 

 Ontario, I think it well to record some evidence that 

 I obtained in 1909 at Detroit, Mich. In the first 

 week of May of that year I was presented with a 

 female bird that had been killed by a Mr. Meredith, 

 of the New York Coal Co., in the preserves of the 

 Toronto Shooting Club on the Indian reservation, 

 Walpole Island, St. Clair Flats. Mr. Meredith 

 stated that they were very common and nested on 

 the ground in such numbers that he could have 

 gathered a bushel of eggs with ease. This species 

 usually nests in trees often in company with Great 

 Blue Herons, but ground nesting has often been 

 recorded for the species. Without doubt this was 

 and may still be one of the important nesting colonies 

 of this heron in the section. Herons feed at great 

 distances from their rookeries and it is not improb- 

 able that the London specimen hails from this one. 



P. A. Taverner. 



A Bird Caught in a Tree. Last summer while 

 walking on the north side of Watson lake, British 

 Columbia, I heard a woodpecker give a startled or 

 pained cry, and, on approaching, found it caught by 

 the neck in the crotch of a tree, and clinging vigor- 

 ously to the tree at a point above its head. Watson 

 lake is on the somewhat arid Eraser plateau of the 

 interior of southern British Columbia. The country 

 is monotonous, being rather flat but slightly rolling, 

 with interspersed jack pines, poplars and but few 



other trees, with small lakes and meae 

 of the lakes are saline. 



The bird, so far as I am able to judge, was some 

 species of sap sucker. 



I took hold of the bird and with some difficulty 

 unclasped his feet from the tree, at the expense of a 

 slight prick from one of his talons. Lifting the bird 

 I was surprised to find that his head was not held 

 tightly in the crotch, but was simply loose in it the 

 bird being apparently too greatly frightened to let 

 go with his feet. In fact, had he done so, a fall of 

 his body might have either wedged his neck in the 

 crotch or broken his neck. 



After carrying the bird some distance, while 

 thinking of his disposal, I concluded that I did not 

 care to skin him in order to make a museum speci- 

 men. I released him, and to my surprise, instead of 

 falling or flying a short distance and gathering him- 

 self together, he flew strongly out of sight. 



Harlan I. Smith. 



Bird Migration. Just what power birds possess 

 in shaping their migration flights and what directs 

 the course they persue is not definitely known. It 

 has been attributed to their instincts. They never 

 fail to reach their ultimate destination. In a very 

 interesting article which appeared some time ago in 

 the St. Louis Republic, the writer, a scientist, dis- 

 cussing the subject of bird migration, considered the 

 idea of birds flying in the rarified atmosphere three 

 miles above the earth's surface, and being guided 

 by the topography of the country at night when 

 flights are mostly made, as being somewhat erroneous. 

 He was of the opinion that on their long flights birds 

 are guided by the stars, and he supported his theory 

 by citing as evidence the fact that "when the stars 

 were obscured by clouds the flocks become be- 

 wildered and seek the ground. " Birds possess the 

 sense of perception and orientation in a much greater 

 degree than man and under like conditions, as a 



