igoi] Gould — Bird Notes. 15 



BIRD NOTES FROM POINT PELEE, ONT. 



By Harry Gould, London. 



(Read before the London Ornitholog-ical Section of the Entomological 



Society of Ontario.) 



Point Pelee, in Essex County, is a narrow spit of land jutting 

 out into the lake at the west end of Lake Erie. It is interesting 

 in many ways ; looking at it from Leamington, about 12 miles 

 distant, one might imagine that a huge Cleopatra's needle had 

 ages ago toppled over and was now lying on its side with the tip 

 stretching out into the lake. Judging from the chips cf flint and 

 other indications this point was in times gone by a favourite resort 

 for Indians. Fish and game of all kinds would be plentiful and it 

 is known that many years ago a number of whites were murdered 

 here by the red-skins for the sake of their belongings. It was not, 

 however, to study the archaeology of this interesting locality that 

 my friend Mr. W. E. Saunders and I visited it on Sept. 19th and 

 2oth 1900, but on account of it being such a favourable place for 

 the crossing of birds during migration. There is perhaps nothing 

 so interesting in connection with the study of our native birds as 

 their arrival in spring and departure in autumn. We listen with 

 delight in early spring to the first sound of the Bluebird or Robin 

 and with sadness in the fall, to the chirp of the little bird overhead 

 at night as he seems to say good bye. Point Pelee is 10 miles from 

 the base to the tip and 4 miles across the base, from which it 

 gradually tapers the whole distance to the tip. A great part of 

 the base has a government ditch or dyke running through it ren- 

 dering it very good farm land. On the east side towards the tip 

 is a marsh which is rented to a gun club for duck shooting, but on 

 the west side is natural wood-land, which gets more stunted in 

 growth as the tip is approached. Across the lake to the west, 

 about 8 miles distant, is Pelee Island and further south are several 

 smaller islands called the Sister Islands making it a very easy 

 passage for birds crossing the lake into Ohio. With all these 

 advantages it is only natural to suppose a great many of our birds 

 cross at this particular point. Upon the evening of September 



