﻿4-6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 59 



including Mr. Hollister, and Mr. J. H. Riley of the Division of Birds 

 in the National Museum. Assembling at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 

 early in July, 191 1, they proceeded on the Grand Trunk Railroad to 

 the end of the line where they took pack horses and penetrated the 

 Mount Robson region. The land surveyed included the territory 

 lying about this mountain in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, 

 comprising the most rugged and broken country imaginable. Amid 

 this wonderful scenery Mount Robson rises in titanic outline, the 

 highest peak in Canada, probably between 14,500 and 15,000 feet 

 high, and surrounding it for a distance of 50 miles in all directions 

 lies the field of the survey. In this wild and unclaimed country the 

 party of naturalists remained nearly four months, protected by 

 special permits from the Canadian government. The natural history 

 work was divided up, Mr. Hollister and Mr. Riley collecting the 

 birds and small mammals, while the other two collectors hunted big 

 game. The collection includes some 900 specimens of birds and 

 mammals, the latter being of all kinds from tiny shrews to caribou 

 and bears. One enormous grizzly bear was obtained by a fortunate 

 shot. Much fine material for exhibition groups was secured, includ- 

 ing a series of caribou, mountain goats, mountain sheep, beavers, and 

 many varieties of smaller animals. As already mentioned, large 

 numbers of plants and insects were also collected. All this material 

 was turned over to the National Museum. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF MAINE SHELL-HEAPS 



While the above explorations were being carried on in various 

 regions, a number of minor investigations were undertaken along 

 the Atlantic seaboard. One of these had for its purpose the as- 

 sembling of animal remains from the shell-heaps of the Maine 

 coast, eastward from Penobscot Bay, in order to ascertain whether 

 the fauna at the time the heaps were accumulating was different from 

 that now existing in the same region, a question which seemed to 

 demand attention from the fact that an extinct species of mink had 

 been found in some of the heaps. The work was carried on by 

 Dr. F. W. True in the summer of 19 10, in continuation of investi- 

 gations of preceding years, the field of operations extending from 

 Sargentville, opposite Deer Isle, to Harriman's Point in Bluehill Bay. 

 Large numbers of bones and teeth of mammals and other vertebrates 

 were obtained, as well as fragments of pottery and other objects of 

 human workmanship. A part of this territory was explored some years 

 ago by Major J. W. Powell and Mr. Frank H. Cushing of the Bureau 



