48 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May 



EXCURSIONS. - ■ 



Heavy rain made it necessary to cancel the first excursion 

 of the season which was to have been to RockHfife. The following 

 Saturday, however, May 2nd, though the weather was threaten- 

 ing, a surprisingly large number of members and friends of the 

 Club went to Beechwood. Owing to the lateness of the season, 

 none but the very earliest of the Spring flowers were found, and 

 for the same reason the insects .seen were few in number. Mr. 

 Eifrig, who led the ornithologists, recorded 21 species of birds 

 and noted their numbers. They were : One brown creeper, 

 about 50 bronzed grackles, 10 red-winged blackbirds,s5 chipping 

 sparrows, 2 kingfishers, 5 crov»'S, silent and breeding, 5 song 

 sparrows, about 75 tree swallows, 2 meadow larks, 25 robins 

 and one nest with 2 eggs, 2 bluebirds, 1 flicker, 5 juncos, 25 

 golden-crowned kinglets, 1 cowbird, 1 downy woodpecker, 1 

 bittern, 4 mvrtle warblers, 1 purple finch, 3 bluejays and 2 white- 

 throated sparrows. Under stones, bark and pieces of wood some 

 beetles and hymenopterous insects were collected. The former 

 were common ground beetles which may generally be collected 

 in such places at this time of vear. A large number of Halisidota 

 were noted under stones and some millipedes and spiders were 

 collected by the entomologists. A fine Lycos a was found by 

 Mr. Letourneau. These stout, hairy spiders, popularly known 

 as "running spiders", make conspicuous holes in the ground in 

 which they live. Two specimens of a salamander (Plethodon 

 erythronotus cinereus) were collected. 



Those interested in geology examined the Utica shales along 

 the road leading to Beechwood and in the woods north of the 

 road, but no fossils were found. Keefer Bluff, at the entrance 

 to Beechwood, was next examined and here a number of fossils 

 were collected by different members of the party. These lime- 

 stones are of the Black River formation which produces excellent 

 stone for building purposes. The characteristic coral Tetradiiun 

 iibratum, was found in abundance. 



The succession here, if complete, would be in ascending 

 order. Black River, Trenton and Utica, but the Utica is really 

 lower than the Black River, though originally there were 600 

 feet or more of Trenton limestone between them. The present 

 condition was brought about bv a fault or break which has caused 

 the Trenton and Utica to sink down about 700 feet. 



About 5 o'clock the excursionists met at the entrance to 

 Beechwood Cemetery where short talks were given by Messrs. 

 Attwood, Halkett, Eifrig and Criddle. 



J. M. M. 



