1 6 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



on the 25th of December, 1854; at Woodstock, in May, 1866 ; 

 at London, in 1871, about the same time of year ; at West 

 Flamboro, in 1883, on the 17th of March ; and along tlie shores 

 of Hamilton Bay and other points east, 1890. The usual range 

 of this bird is Western North America, east to Lake Superior 

 and south to Mexico. 



During the year, notes have been taken on 1 16 species of 

 birds which is considered fairly good, considering tne few per- 

 sons who made observ^ations. The dates on which these birds 

 were first seen will be found in the ''Naturalist.' 



The scarcity of bluebirds {Siah'a sm/i's) was again noticed 

 this year, but very few having been seen. It is a matter of great 

 regret that this beautiful bird is disappearing so rapidly. 



An increase in the number of meadow larks {^Sturnella 

 magna), was ver}' apparent, several pair breeding on the E.xperi- 

 mental Farm, where their peculiar call in early spring was heard 

 very frequently. 



On the 19th of July the Olive-sided fl\-catchcr (6"^wA^/«j- 

 horealis) was seen at Kazabazua, P.O., b>' Mr. \\\ E. Saunders 

 of London, Ont. It is not often that this bird is seen in the 

 Ottawa district. The Red -tailed hawk {Biitco horealis) which is 

 also a rare bird, was seen at the same place on the 20th by Mr. 

 F. A. Saunders. 



A Fox-sparrow {Passeirlla iliaca) was seen by Mr. Geo. R. 

 White along the Aylmer road on the 4th of December, which is 

 a late date for this sparrow to remain here. 



A very interesting record was the passing up the Ottawa 

 river of Brunnich's murre, ir guillemot {Uria louivia) in large 

 numbers,onthe I2th of December. The birds, in flocks of from 20 

 to 100, were passing Rockliffe from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Several 

 were shot. On Monday the 13th, one was caught alive in a 

 field between Metcalfe aid Osgoode station, which lived for two 

 day.s. On examination the stomach was found empty. All of the 

 birds obtained were in very poor condition. 



Birds have been scarce about Ottawa this winter, probably 

 due to its great severity and abundant snow-fall and the lack of 



