81 



howling. Time permits mention of only two other mammals — the 

 Gopher and the Musk-rat, both characteristic of the Canadian 

 fauna. The former is known as the Thirteen Striped Ground 

 Stjiiirrel {('itelliis tridecemlineatiis). This extremely pretty little 

 creature was very common, and comparatively tame. It was a joy 

 to remain quite still and watch them at the edge of a field. One 

 would pop up suddenly out of its hole in the ground and sit on its 

 haunches, very erect and vigilant, with its little paws folded on itis 

 white furry breast, in the very attitude of a tiny child repeating a 

 lesson. 



The Musk-rat, Fiber zibet/iicii.'^, is a rodent of the size of a small 

 rabbit. Like the Beaver, it has semi-webbed hind feet and a 

 flattened scaly tail, very useful adaptations to its amphibious life. 

 Musk-riits likewise resemble the Beavers in their gregarious habits 

 and their highly developed skill in the construction of dome-shaped 

 huts of interwoven reeds, etc., mingled with clay. It was amusing 

 to watch the playful gambols of these little folk from the opposite 

 margin of a small sheet of water situated within a few hundred 

 yards of the town. Their beautiful soft fur was, and still is, in 

 great demand ; the skins at that time being worth to the captor 

 from one to two dollars apiece. The cost of a fine Musk-rat coat in 

 Bond Street is outside the precincts of Natural History ! 



One of the most beautiful birds was the Golden Oriole, Oriolus 

 ijalbula, which was quite common in the north-west, its brilliant 

 yellow plumage flashing like a golden sunbeam. Among others 

 were the Blue-jay, Kingfisher, the Cedar Waxwing, Atnpelis cedro- 

 riiin, and a White-throated sparrow, Zouotiichia albicollis. The 

 Black-throated Loon, Vriiiotor aicticns, frequenting the lakes, is a 

 clumsy bird as big as a goose. The Canadian Robin, Menda iiiii/ra- 

 toria, does not belong to the same genus as our little friend, but is 

 a red-breasted thrush, of the size of our own song-thrush. A pair of 

 these birds constructed a nest on the naked beams supporting the 

 railway bridge across the stream mentioned, over which the trains 

 thundered twice daily. Four blue eggs were duly deposited in 

 this nest, but before they were hatched the nest was destroyed by 

 Bome mischievous youngsters. Without loss of time a second one 

 was constructed in an exactly similar position, and within a yard or 

 two of the site of the first. After two eggs were laid herein the 

 nest met with the same fate as its predecessor. 



In the bush, where I seldom ventured very far, having been 

 warned against the danger of getting lost, I often heard a remark- 



