Bird-Lore's Eighth Christmas Bird Census 263 



Our' work in tliis indescribably picturesque region was unexpectedly suc- 

 cessful, specimens of birds and plants and a large number of photographs being 

 obtained. l^'urthiTinore, the view from the heather-grown home of the Ptarmigan, 

 which will form the actual foreground of our group southward through the IMar- 

 migan pass, was, even in this land of sublime scenery, of exceptional grandeur. 

 The successively fainter timber-clad shoulders of the gap leading to the Bow 

 valley are backed by Mt. Temple towering impressively, the central peak on 

 a horizon marked, to the east, by the spire-like summits of the mountains 

 about Moraine lake and to the west by Hungakee, Lefroy, and Victoria. 



The tourists who climb these mountains or penetrate the valleys lying between 

 them, may obtain a far more striking view of the range by crossing the Bow river 

 at Laggan and ascending the mountains to the north, in which the studies for 

 our Ptarmigan group were made. 



Bird-Lore's Eighth Christmas Bird Census 



THE plan of reporting one's observations atield on Christmas Day has met 

 with such cordial and practical endorsement by bird students throughout 

 the country that Bird-Lore's Christmas Bird Census may now be con- 

 sidered a fixed event, which increases in interest as the accumulating records give 

 additional material for comparison. From a total of 25 lists received in 1900, it 

 has grown to 135 lists in 1906. 



Reference to the February, 1901-1907 numbers of Bird-Lore will acquaint 

 one with the nature of the report of the day's hunt which we desire; but to those 

 to whom none of these issues is available, we may explain that such reports 

 should be headed by a brief statement of the character of the weather, whether 

 clear, cloudy, rainy, etc. ; whether the ground is bare or snow-covered, the direc- 

 tion and force of the wind, the temperature at the time of starting, the hour of 

 starting and of returning. Then should be given, in the order of the A. O. U. 

 ' Check-List, ' a list of the species seen, with exactly, or approximately, the number 

 of individuals of each species recorded. A record should read, therefore, some- 

 what as follows: 



Yonkcrs, X. Y. Time, 8 .\. M. to 12 m. Clear, ground bare; wind west, light; 

 temperature 38". Herring Gull, 75. Total, — species, — individuals. — James Gates. 



These records will be published in the February issue of Bird-Lore, and 

 it is particularly requested that they be sent the editor (at the American Museum 

 of Natural History, New York City) not later than December 28. It will save 

 the editor much clerical labor if the model here given and the order of the A. O. U. 

 Check-List be closclv followed. 



