D 



ecemoer, 



1918] 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



II 



We have previously hinted that nothing of more 

 than usual interest was found inland, from the St. 

 Lawrence to the height of land. Special attention 

 was devoted to the collecting of Euphrasia which is 

 abundant everywhere, but all the material secured 

 turned out to be Euphrasia canadensis Towns?nd. 



Near the shore, Aster longifolius Lam., the com- 

 monest of the genus along the lower St. Lawrence 

 was found abundantly with here and there the bulky 

 heads of Angelica atropurpurea L. 



In a vale between two small and dry quartziie 

 hills, the predominant plant was an extraordmary 

 luxuriant goldenrcd. Dr. M. L. Fernald, to whom 

 the plant was referred, does not think it, however, to 

 depart materially from the ubiquitous Solidago 

 canadensis L. More experience with the golden- 

 rods has convinced the writer that this species 

 hybridizes more freely than is generally believed, 

 and this may account for many of the unusual forms 

 it assumes. 



Lake Trois-Saumons is a romantic expanse of 

 clear water lying in a trough of snow-white 

 quartzite at about 1 500 feet from sea-level. The 

 lake is well-known for its being much spoken about 

 in a book favorite with the French Canadians: "Les 

 Anciens Canadiens," by Philippe-Aubert de Gaspe. 

 Botanically, it has no outstanding features, for, 

 Chiogenes hispidula T. & G., Viola incognita 

 Brainerd, Eycopodium clavatuni L., Epipactis 

 decipiens (Hook.) Ames, Dryopleris spinulosa 

 (Muell.) Kte. var. intermedia Underw., Solidago 

 macrophylla Pursh. are familiar things in the north- 

 ern woods. 



The lake, encased in a rock very resistant to 

 weathering, is remarkably free from mineral and 

 organic debris, and altogether most unfavorable to 

 the development of plant-life. Juncus hrevicaudatus 

 Fernald, Carex Crawfordii Fernald, Potamogeton 

 eph^drus Raf., and an emersed form of Callitriche 

 palustris L., were the only species noted, and even 

 these were in no way common. 



One of the plants whose distribution is considered 

 to be typical of that of a group of many others in 

 the St. Lawrence valley, is the shrubby Juniperus 

 sibirica Burgsd. Though present in the valley of 

 the Ottawa river, at least from Ottawa upwards, it 

 has not, as far as we know, been recorded between 

 Ottawa city and the Island of Orleans. In eastern 

 Quebec, the westernmost stations known are those of 

 Saint-Cyr and Provancher: east end of the Island 

 of Orleans and Sainte-Anne de Montmorency, re- 

 spectively. On the south shore there was no satis- 

 factory record. We then profited by the opportun- 

 ity offered of an auto ride from Levis to L'Islet to 

 watch the prostrate patches which are so conspicuous 

 objects where they occur. The result of the survey 

 was that Juniperus sibirica begins to appear at 

 Saint-Vallier in the county of Bellechasse, exactly 

 where the red shales of the Sillery Cambrian crop 

 out. It is to be observed that Sainte-Anne-de- 

 Montmorency, Island of Orleans and Saint-Vallier 

 lie in a straight line perpendicular to the trend of the 

 St. Lawrence river. We may then trace with more 

 certainty than before a part of the curve that 

 encircles the wide gap existing in the range of 

 Juniperus sibirica in Eastern Canada. 



BIRD LIFE IN THE BERMUDAS. 



By Clarence B. Hutchings, Ottawa. 



The Bermudas are an ideal sanctuary for birds. 

 These subtropical islands, some 300 or more in 

 number, situated in the North Atlantic about 670 

 miles S.E. of New York, form a group of very 

 charming and picturesque low-lying lands for the 

 most part covered with junipers (Juniperus berniu- 

 diana). They are specially interesting for their 

 wealth in bird life. There conditions are right from 

 the standpoints of food, climate and protection for 

 a great variety of the wild birds of North America. 

 The many flower gardens in which roses of all kinds, 

 lilies, begonias, crotons, oleanders, palms and the 

 like, bloom luxuriantly all the year round are a 

 special attraction ; the mangrove (Rhizophora 

 mangle) glades; the juniper groves; the huge Pride 



of India trees (Melia azedarach) ; the wide 

 spreading tamarinds (Tarmarindus indicus) ; the 

 highly coloured poincianas (Poinciana regia); and 

 last, but more important than all these, the orchards 

 and numerous fruit and truck gardens where luscious 

 fruits such as grapes, figs, mulberries, pomegran- 

 ates, sugar apples, Surinam cherries {Eugenia 

 micheli), etc., hang in tempting bunches, free and 

 open to all passers-by. Altogether this forms about 

 as happy and rich a hunting ground for birds as one 

 can well imagine. 



The climate, too, is favourable. For the greater 

 part of the year the weather is delightfully mild, the 

 thermometer seldom going about 86 F. in summer 

 and never below 48" F. during the coldest days in 



