90 



The Ottawa Naturalist. 



[Nov. 



Echo Island, which lies but three or four miles north of the Bruce 

 peninsula. The two young birds, which were fully developed, 

 were secured. One was shot from a dead stub at the top of the 

 cliff, which was a much frequented roosting place. Just below 

 were the feathers of blue-jays and the wing primaries of a herring 

 gull. Yeo Island, which was visited July 13th, was also fre- 

 quented by duck hawks, and numerous wings of crows, gulls and 

 blue -jays lay scattered along the top of the cliffs. 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE SHEEP. 



By B. C. Tillett, Hamilton, Ont. 



To the curiotis and enquiring mind which first strikes the 

 question, viz : "What are the origins of the domesticated animals 

 and plants of mankind?" there opens out a world of interesting 

 investigation. How did man come to subdue the wild animals 

 of the earth to his uses for labour, for hunting, and for food, 

 and even for fancy and amusement? How came he to discover 

 and cultivate the leaves, roots, seeds, and even th^ flowers of 

 the vegetable world for food, as well as for ornament and artistic 

 gratification? And, what is more wonderful, how did he mul- 

 tiply and develop from single common stocks all their innumer- 

 able and diverse varities? The last question has become, in its- 

 biological aspects, a problem so profound and interesting as to 

 develop a new school of inquirers in Europe — the Mendelians. 



The Impermanence of Form. 



Charles Darwin threw a powerful and important light upon 

 these problems when he demonstrated and developed the simple 

 yet remarkable fact of life, that all living forms existing around 

 us have in reaHty no fixed permanence. 1 hey have all inherent 

 in their nature a vital flexibility of tissue, of anatomy, and of 

 function. And it is this which causes them to fluctuate and 

 vary from those qualities which, in their sum total, go to the 

 make-up of that distinctive type of life we term the species. 

 When the world was young, and reptilian monsters dominated 

 the tropical forests and swamps of the earth, the birds of that 

 period showed their affinities with these creatures in the posses- 

 sion of teeth. The teeth have disappeared, but the population 

 of the air remains. While no living bird now possesses true 

 teeth, within the jaws of an unhatched parrot there are certain 



