igoo] Shutt — Soils. 69 



and more prosecuted on rational lines, a result no doubt of the 

 fact that the scientific principles underlying- the practice of agri- 

 culture are becoming more widely known. Of improved methods 

 based upon scientific truths that the Experimental Farm system 

 has been instrumental in introducing, none g^ive more promise of 

 fruitful results than the one which I have brought before your 

 attention in this lecture : The maintenance and increase of soil 

 fertility through the g-rowth of legumes. 



NOTES ON RARE BIRDS OCCASIONALLY BREEDING 

 IN EASTERN ONTARIO. 



By Rev. C. J. Young, B.A., Wolfe Island, Ont. 

 From time to time very interesting local lists of birds have 

 appeared in The Ottawa Naturalist, but I have not recently 

 noticed any additions to the Ottawa list, published in Vol. V, 1891. 

 If the radius of the district covered by that list is a little extended, 

 so as to take in parts of the counties of Leeds and Frontenac, 

 several birds may be added. 



For instance, Brunnich's Murre has been seen in numbers and 

 shot on the River St Lawrence several times during the past five 

 years, and last winter (1900) a specimen was captured in a field 

 near the village of Lansdowne, Ont., which the writer saw alive. 



2. The American Merganser breeds occasionally, selecting a 

 hole in a tree. One such location was at Bobs Lake, near Sharbot 

 Lake, Ont., where the same nesting site was resorted to for 

 several years. This bird also breeds in trees near the head ot 

 Wolfe Island, Ont. 



3. The Red-breasted Merganser is a common species and breeds 

 both at Charleston Lake, County Leeds, and on small islands aj 

 the foot of Lake Ontario. There was a nest last year on Pig-eon 

 Island, Lake Ontario. 



4. The Wood Duck is unfortunately becoming quite uncom- 

 mon, and seldom breeds now. 



5. Ttie Old Squaw {Clangula hyeiTialis) is very common this 

 year about Kingston, and many are flying- over the water at this 

 date, May 15th. 



