144 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Jan. 



Mr. Honeyman, who had visited Hearst, in New Ontario, 

 spoke briefly on the climatic conditions of that district, with 

 special reference to late spring and early fall frosts, and listed 

 the following plants which he found growing there: Spruce, 

 balsam, white birch, cedar, poplar, mountain ash, gooseberry, 

 blueberry, dogwood, clintonia, anemone, buttercup, great 

 willow-herb, labrador tea, pitcher plant, yellow pond lily, ferns 

 and botrychium. 



Mr. J. M. Macoun exhibited some English walnuts which 

 had been produced by a Canadian grown tree. Members of the 

 Club tested these nuts and found them to differ but little from 

 the regular English walnut. 



J. R. F. 



.BIRD NOTES FROM AWEME, MANITOBA. 



An interesting instance of how lack of snow is largely 

 instrumental in retarding the migratory movements of certain 

 birds was brought prominently to our notice during the present 

 winter, the details of which seem worthy of record. 



The Lapland Longspur (Calcarius Lapponicus) is an early 

 migrant, as well as a late one. In autumn its movements depend 

 largely upon weather conditions, particularly snow, but, as a 

 rule, it leaves us in Manitoba early in November. In 1913, all 

 had left Aweme by November 16th, but soon after that date 

 the weather turned mild again, causing the small amount of 

 snow to vanish, thus exposing many seeds to view. On December 

 3rd, Longspurs began to arrive from the south in small flocks of 

 from 15 to 20, and by the 17th were on the fields in hundreds, 

 singing and flying about as if it were springtime. They remained 

 common until the 24th, at which date the temperature dropped 

 to 19 below zero, preceded by a light fall of snow, causing many 

 of the birds to depart. A number remained, however, until the 

 end of the year. On January 1st and 2nd, 1914, nearly 3 inches 

 of snow fell, causing the last Longspur to depart. 



This, I believe, constitutes a record for lateness of that 

 species in Manitoba; at all events it does so in our parts. It also 

 suggests that snow covering the food supply, possibly supple- 

 mented by cold, is the chief factor in driving the species south. 



Stuart Criddle. 



