Notes, Reviews and Comments. 93 



worthy of a mark of special attention from the local students of bird 

 life, visits to the farm were made, on Mr. Saunders invitation, by Mr. 

 W. A. D Lees and the writer, both of whom obtained very satisfactory 

 interviews at close quarters. The bird is a male in tine plumage ; the 

 sulphur-yellow breast, black throat patch and white chin are well marked, 

 as well as the ashy tracts on the sides of the head. Mr. Saunders has 

 seen it daily since 15th June, always haunting the same locality on the 

 farm, an area of not more than three acres, and singing almost all day 

 long. He has not been able, so far, to find either mate or nest, though 

 once or twice a bird has been seen which he hoped might prove to be 

 the female dickcissel, but which would not permit him to come near 

 enough for identification. 



In the hope that they may be nesting it has been thought best not to 

 "collect" the male bird. They will be protected on the Experimental 

 Farm, and possibly may return another year. 



Since the above observation was made Mr. \Y. E Saunders of 

 London, Ont., who was the first to discover the dickcissel at Point 

 Pelee in 1884, writes that he has seen several of the species this season 

 in the County of Middlesex. A G. K. 



The Air at Ottawa. Mr. F. T. Shutt, F.I.C., President 

 of the O.F.N. Club and Mr. Anthony McGill have sent the Ottawa 

 Naturalist a copy of their recent paper entitled : " Some Observations 

 on the quality of air at Ottawa."* In this paper the authors give some 

 of the results obtained by them in the work they undertook at the 

 instance of the Department of Public Works to examine the air of the 

 House of Commons Chamber at Ottawa. The methods employed are 

 described, and the results appear in the form of estimations of the 

 carbonic acid present in the air on Parliament Hill. The authors 

 say : " It will be seen that the quantity (of carbonic acid) varied from 

 3-0682 volumes per 10,000 on the 11th June to 37177 per 10,000 on 

 13th June." The experiments were made in 1892 and the presence of 

 CO_, was estimated by Pettenkofer's Process. The mean amount of 

 carbanic acid gas (omitting the first estimition made) is 3-5918 volumes 

 p^r id, odd Co.n;nred with results obtained in other cities the qu 



of the air on Parliament Hill is excellent. H.M.A. 



^> 



*Trans. Royal Society of Canada, Vol. XII, Sec. Ill, 1894. 



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