93 



bers of the club should be asked to report as soon as possible to the 



leaders of this branch, for the time being, if they should observe any 



animal which might be new to them, as important discoveries may often 



be lost for want of attention just at the time. They think also that it 



would be desirable to have printed, a list of all the mammals which have 



ever been known to frequent this neighborhood. Many of the larger 



kinds have now completely disappeared. 



Respectfully submitted, 



J. Ballantyne, ) T , 

 Ottawa, March 14, 1890. W. P. Lett. 



■:o: 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Editor of the Ottawa Naturalist: 



Sir, — In the transactions of the O. F. N. C. for 1883-84, the report 

 of the Ornithological Branch notes that one of its members found the 

 Short-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus stellaris, " very abundant " in a 

 marsh along the Rideau, about twenty miles from the city. As this is 

 a very rare bird in Ontario, and one whose acquaintance I have never 

 made, I made enquiries about the locality, and on the 9th July mv 

 brother, F. A. Saunders, and myself took the C. P. Ry. to Os^oode and 

 went from there to Kara, where we were informed the Marsh Wrens 

 were to be found. The marsh was there, with the usual quota of marsh 

 birds, viz: Florida Callinule, Bittern, Carolina Rail, Virginia Rail. 

 Red-winged Blackbird and Long-billed Marsh Wren, but though we 

 searched diligently we could find no trace of the short-billed species. 

 All we saw at short range were long-billed, and the only one we shot 

 was of the same species, but as neither of us were familiar with the 

 song of the short-billed, we might possibly have heard it without know- 

 ing it. The eggs would 'have provided a ready means of determining 

 the presence of the Short-billed Wrens had they been laid, but thouo-h 

 we examined between twenty and thirty nests, some of them almost if 

 not quite completed, none contained eggs and we were again left in the 

 dark. These nests, however, were the ordinary type of the long-bill, 

 whereas the short-bill is said to build among long rush-like grasses, 



