Notes on Land and Sea Birds. 413 



Jesuits reared a great number on a farm they had near Bourges, 

 in France ; that this is one amongst the many blessings the Jesuits 

 showered on France, and that this fact was so well known to the 

 French people, that the common folk were in the habit of 

 calling a turkey, " un Jesuite,'* a Jesuit. Notwithstanding the 

 profound respect I entertain for Brillat-Savarin as an oracle 

 second to none on points connected with gastronomy, I think his 

 theory falls to the ground, since, far from having been imported 

 into France about the end of the seventeenth century, Governor 

 Boucher, in 1663, speaks of the " domestic turkey," as common 

 in France long before he wrote. * 



• This old writer makes mention also of three kinds of partridges 

 in Canada, the black or spruce with red eyes, the brown part- 

 ridge or grouse (Tetrao umhellus), and the ptarmigan (Tctrao Ja- 

 gopus) or Hudson's Bay partridge, a most beautiful bird, entirely 

 guided in its migration by laws of climate. It is seen near 

 Quebec only when the winter is unusally severe, and was fre- 

 quently for sale on our markets last winter ; several were shot 

 within a few miles of the city limits. This species had not before 

 been seen since the winter of 1844, a very rigorous season. 

 Nothing short of arctic cold will bring this snowy visitor from its 

 northern fastnesses. 



Little seems to be known concerning the breeding place of the 

 Utarde. Many imagine they lay their eggs on small wooded 

 islands in the northern lakes of the Saguenay district. Large 

 flocks are seen winging their icedgc-like flight over Cape aux Oies, 

 on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. 



The wild duck, until lately, was in the habit of rearing its 

 young brood on the Crane Island swamps, and Sorel Islands, 

 where the young birds, before they could fly, were caught with 

 the assistance of dogs. Incessant annoyance has, however, driven 

 them away from their old breeding places, except from the Sorel 

 Islands, where they still breed. There is one of the Canada 

 ducks, of which the country is justly proud ; that is, the Wood- 

 duck, a most gorgeously dressed individual, whose head quarters 

 seem to be the Sorel Islands and the Upper Canada lakes. 



I must not omit a singular occurrence during the late severe 

 winter. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, the 



* Our correspondent of course does not intend to maintain that the 

 Turkey, a strictly American bird, was known in Europe before the 

 discovery of America. — (Eds.) 



