98 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXII. 



traveller at night makes his observations and directs 

 his course by the stars, so it seems reasonable to 

 assume that birds may do the same. It has been ob- 

 served in Bermuda that after very dark nights, large 

 numbers of migrants are found all over the islands. 

 The first clear night they are off again. 



C. B. HUTCHINGS. 



Gannet Colonies. I was much surprised in 

 reading the May issue of The OttawA NATURALIST 

 to learn that, so far as is known to ornithologists, 

 but two colonies of gannets exist in eastern North 

 America. 



Mr. P. A. Taverner, to whom readers of The 

 Naturalist are indebted for a very interesting de- 

 scription of "The Gannet Colonies of Bonaventure 

 Island," I am sure, will be quite pleased to learn 

 that there is yet another colony of gannets that has 

 escaped the ravages of the ruthless hunter. 



On the south coast of Newfoundland, near Cape 

 St. Mary's, there is quite a large rookery, situated 

 on a very inaccessible, detached rock, standing, sep- 

 arated from the main land by a narrow chasm. 



This asylum stands with its feet in the wild surf 

 and rears its head fully two hundred feet above 

 the sea. Here the gannets "secure from guns and 

 men," congregate in thousands, and undisturbed 

 bring forth their young. 



As a lover of the defenseless things of nature I 

 am delighted to see gentlemen like Mr. Taverner 

 making so brave an effort to bring us into more in- 

 telligent and sympathetic relationship with the 

 humble things that shame us by living their little 

 lives in such perfect harmony with the will of the 

 Divine Creator. 



I hope, at a later date to submit an account of the 

 rookery above referred to. 



Arthur English, St. Johns, Nfld. 



Origin of Place Names in Ottawa Valley. 

 The Name Catineau. Referring to Philemon 

 Wright's farm Gatenoe (Keele, OTTAWA NATUR- 

 ALIST, October, 1918) Wright gives its location as 

 "4 miles up a large river called Gatenoe ". He 

 elsewhere uses the spelling Gateno. 



Nicholas Gatineau dit Duplessis resided at Three 

 Rivers from 1650 to his death in 1683. He traded 

 with the Indians on the St. Maurice river, whose 

 source is near that of the Ottawa and Gatineau. He 

 seems also to have traded on the Ottawa river. 



It is an open question whether the river or the 

 point at the mouth was first named for Gatineau. 

 Mr. Sylvain, Library of Parliament, quotes Mr. 

 Suite for the statement that Gatineau traded with 

 Indians at Gatineau Point, which became known as 

 the "Pointe de Monsieur Gatineau." 



The Name Britannia. Philemon Wright began 

 Britannia farm 1804 and hzd cleared 700 acres by 

 1823. Through the farm it is stated in Crown Lands 

 Committee Report, 1824, there is "a good road 

 running in a westerly direction and (it) also has two 

 fronts upon the great road leading from the Col- 

 umbia falls to Lake Chaudiere." 



The great road referred to was built in 1818 when 

 "we laid out a road to the lake Chaudiere, seven 

 miles in length, called Britannia road." 



Columbia farm and Britannia farm apparently 

 commemorate Wright's native country and his 

 parents'. 



Is there any connection between this Britannia 

 farm and road on the Quebec side of the river, and 

 Britannia on the Ontario side, concerning which, in 

 Murray's British America, 1839, it is stated: 



"Some distance above Bytown is Britannia, a 

 valuable property with extensive mills, finely situated 

 near the beautiful rapid Des Chenes." 



R. Douglas, Secretar\), 

 -Geographic Board, Ottawa. 



PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES, O.F.N.C. 1918-1919. 



December 10, 1918 "Natural History and Affairs 

 in the Tropics." Major J. L. Todd, Board of 

 Pension Commissioners, Ottawa, lately Pro- 

 fessor of Parasitology, McGill University. 



January 8, 1919 "New Plants for Old." Dr. M. 

 O. Make, Dominion Agrostologist, Experimen- 

 tal Farms Branch, Dept. of Agriculture. 



January 22, 1919 "The Development of a Design." 

 Dr. E. Sapir, Head of Division of Anthropol- 

 ogy, Geological Survey of Canada. 



February 5, 1919 "The Game Resources of the 

 Yukon." Mr. Frederick J. Lambert, formerly 

 of the Alaska-Yukon Boundary Survey. 



February 19, 1919 "The Work of the Dominion 

 Astronomical Observatory." Dr. Otto Klotz, 

 Director, Dominion Astronomical Observatory. 



March 5, 1919 "Our National Parks." Mr. J. B. 

 Harkin, Commissioner of Dominion Parks. 



March 18, 1919 Presidential Address. Dr. C. 

 Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist and 

 Consulting Zoologist. 



At the conclusion of this address the Annual 

 Meeting of the Club will be held for the purpose of 

 receiving reports, election of officers for the ensuing 

 year, and the transaction of other business. 



