16 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



For many years the Geological Survey of Canada has de- 

 voted what attention its limited staff could spare from its 

 numerous other activities towards gathering Dominion ornitho- 

 logical data and there have been a few private investigators 

 that have been observing and noting with commendable industry. 

 With the broadening out of the work of the Geological Survev 

 and its Museum, great impetus should be given to bird work in 

 Canada. Museums are also being started or rejuvenated in the 

 various provinces and the time seems ripe for a general wakening 

 of interests in zoological subjects. To call attention to our 

 shortcomings in data and workers it seems advisable to outline 

 a few fruitful fields of endeavour that can be worked by various 

 individuals whose tastes incline in that direction. 



Ornithology can be approached and studied from various 

 sides and by individuals of many different tastes and inclina- 

 tions. For the general nature lover, interested in birds from a 

 poetic or asthetic standpoint, the study of life-histories offers a 

 most attractive field. Careful watching and observing of 

 feathered friends in their secluded haunts, bloodlessly stalking 

 them with camera and note or sketch-book and divining the 

 hidden secrets of their lives is a pleasure that can be indulged 

 in by all and enjoyed by many. The most common bird of our 

 vicinity is an object worthy of the most careful and painstakin 

 attention. The Wren building in the improvised nesting box 

 in the garden, the Song sparrow of the near-by thicket are both 

 awaiting a careful record of the story of their daily lives. The 

 amount of original, valuable and interesting information, that 

 can be gathered from such homelike sources is almost infinite 

 and unexpected surprises will almost daily repay the close 

 observer. To those whose time and opportunities are limited 

 such birds about home are fruitful. By those with more leisure, 

 greater ambition or ampler opportunities work farther afield 

 may be pursued and species less commonplace can be studied. 

 In fact there is work in this line for everybody of widely divergent 

 taste and situation and even city parks and backyard gardens 

 will amply repay attention. 



As a suggestion for investigation, the following outline of 

 problems to be solved may be followed. It is merely suggestive 

 and can be enlarged indefinitely. 



Is the species a resident or a migrant ? 



When does it arrive and leave? 



What are the determining influences upon its migrations, — 

 food supply, weather, or does physiological development pro- 

 duce a periodical desire to migrate? 



