150 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Feb, 



to be almost invisible. It seems a pity that the rangers cannot 

 be imbued with the spirit of protection which ought to be one 

 of the great features of such a reserve as this park. 



Many persons who visit the northern woods complain of 

 the small number of birds seen, and the limited number of 

 species, but the truth seems to be that their faculties have not 

 been trained to observe the birds under altered conditions. On 

 this trip we noted never less than 35 species each day, and the 

 smallest number of individuals was 160, while for the whole 

 trip we saw exactly 90 species. And when it is remembered 

 that the song season was over and most of these birds had to 

 be seen to be recognized, ninety is not such a small number for 

 a short two weeks trip. 



Coming from a region where rock ferns have no existence, 

 we were both much interested in meeting a number of un- 

 accustomed species, and besides the Common Polypody, we 

 brought home roots of Dicksonia, Woodsia ilvensis and Aspi- 

 dium noveboracense, which, though it is not strictly a rock 

 fern, appeared in large clumps in some of the deeper woods. 

 A few other plants which were unusual or unknown to us were 

 Hieracium. aurantiacum and Trillium erythrocarpuyn. A gentle- 

 man from Toronto whose acquaintance we made in the park 

 told us this was Trillimn cernuum, but reference to Gray's 

 Manual shows that our surmise was correct, and it is erythro- 

 carpuyn, the proof being in the long, attenuated points of the 

 leaves. 



The last day was spent in walking along the railway track 

 for the sake of possible additions to our bird list, as there were 

 a number of common species, such as the Crow, Vesper and 

 Chipping sparrows which we did not see when canoeing. 



We heard from Ranger Robinson of the occurrence of 

 Spruce Partridge near Joe Lake station, and made a little walk 

 through the region indicated, but without success. 



It seemed strange that on the return journey we should 

 meet a brother botanist at the station at Scotia Junction, in 

 the person of Mr. Stevenson of Oshawa, who had been devoting 

 special attention to the ferns, and was just then making a 

 journey with the hope of finding the Dicksonia, of which we 

 had seen such beautiful patches. 



This little trip into the park left us filled with the desire 

 to visit it again in the springtime, when all these interesting 

 northern species would be nesting, and we could enjoy and 

 study their songs and their home life. The songs of the Thrushes 

 alone would probably repay any interested persofluipr the time 



