230 Banr/s — Mammals from Hamilton Inlet, Labrador. 



makes traveling so laborious as to be nearly impossible, while 

 the constant annoyance from the attacks of blood-sucking flies 

 of four or five kinds becomes almost intolerable. In winter 

 traveling on snow-shoes or on dog sledges is very easy. Then 

 all the men go inland to their various trapping grounds and stay 

 through the season, and if a collector went along with them he 

 could undoubtedly reap a rich harvest. The countr}'' about 

 Rigoulette is heavily wooded with a rather stunted growth of 

 spruce and fir, but so near timber line is it that the tops of the 

 hills are devoid of trees. In some places there were large fields 

 of snow that remained unmelted throughout the entire summer. 

 The country is monotonous and offers little diversity for trapping, 

 and with the exception of the lemmings (Dlcrostonyx), which in- 

 habit only the treeless tops of the hills, all the smaller mammals 

 live under about the same conditions. 



In collecting small mammals anywhere one is sure to find some 

 pest to interfere with tra])ping by eating specimens or bait, or 

 both, and Hamilton Inlet was no exception to the rule. Mr. 

 Goldthwaite's two principal enemies were tlie Labrador jay and 

 the Esquimaux dog. The jays soon discovered what he was 

 doing, and would follow him in a loose flock, sitting about and 

 watching while he set a trap, and would then descend upon it 

 and steal the bait the moment his back was turned. Often one 

 of them fell a victim to the wicked little Schu3der trap, but this 

 never deterred the others, and no matter how many were killed, 

 there were always as many more following him.- TJie dogs were 

 even worse, for turned out in the summer to forage for them- 

 selves, they hunt over the country in packs for miles in evei'y 

 direction. They feed largel}^ on mice, lemmings, and all small 

 mammals, and were ver}' cpiick to find one caught in a trap. 

 Several of the dogs also got into baited steel traps, and as they 

 are highly prized, especially the leaders. Mr. Goldthwaite was 

 requested by the owners to refrain from setting steel traps at that 

 season of the 3' ear. 



Mr. Goldthwaite collected the following mammals : 



*o 



Lepus aniericanus ameiicanus Erxl. 



Abundant everywliere. A fine series of 14 young and adult examples 

 has led me to take up a careful study of a large number of S2)ecimens of 

 the American hare from many jioints in eastern North America, the re- 

 sults of which will be pul>lislied in a separate i)aper. 



