1917] The Ottawa Naturalist. 45 



53. Carychium exile var. canadense Clapp. This little mollusk 

 is extremely common at De Grassi Point, April-September, in wet 

 places in the woods. It was first found in the moss of the tamarack 

 swamp, but is much more easily collected from the under sides of 

 leaves in damp depressions in deciduous woods. Dead shells were 

 found with those of C. exiguum at Toronto in November. 



PELORIA FLOWERS ON IYYYVORT OR 

 IVY-LEAVED TOADFLAX. 



[Linaria Cymbalaria (L) Mill.] 



This Toadflax is a trailing plant, native to Southern Europe, 

 where it is said to be used as a salad. I have found it wild, as a 

 colonist, in England, growing on such ruins as St. Mary's Abbey, 

 Yorkshire, and the Roman camp at Lanchester, County Durham: it 

 is, however, rare. The flowers are somewhat small, streaked with lilac 

 and yellow, and of a personate or 'snap-dragon' form, but in a fine 

 clump growing in my window box, in the beginning of March, I 

 noticed a flower which was regular, with 5 spurs, 5 corolla lobes, and 

 5 stamens. This is the peloria form of flower, which has sometimes 

 been found on Linaria vulgaris, but lias not, as far as I am aware, 

 been recorded for this species. The French proverb says, 'The English 

 are troubled with afterthought' and doubtless it would have been 

 better if, instead of dissecting it, I had tried to secure the seed, to 

 attempt the propagation of this abnormal form. Another Linaria 

 (L. Dalmatica) which I have grown here, exhibits the peloria form at 

 the summit of each flower spike. 



Blythe Hurst, Charlottetown, P.E.I. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BLUE GRAY GNAT-CATCHER. 



To the bird student who. is continuously resident in one place 

 comes the opportunity of noting the comparative abundance of a species 

 in different years and to him falls the problem of the reasons for 

 variation in numbers, which is usually baffling. 



Around London, Ont, we have been interested in watching the 

 increase of the grasshopper sparrow, cardinal, short-billed marsh wren, 



