106 



THE OOLOGI8T 



jack are likely to remain for genera- 

 tions, the breeding ground of our birds 

 and mammals. 



Town dwellers are in the midst of 

 the wilderness. In plain view on every 

 side are the forested hills; in the 

 spring, misty curtains of vivid green 

 against the serried ranks of fir, mark 

 the stands of tamarack; October 

 blazes out in the flaming orange of 

 the cottonwoods, and winter, no less 

 beautiful, brings its painting of snow, 

 a glittering silver crown on the 

 sombre firs. In these mountain towns, 

 wild life comes to our very doors; one 

 hears cayotes mourning at night and 

 mule deer, lynx and cougar sometimes 

 wander into the suburbs. It is this 

 element of the unexpected, of 

 romance, that holds one and stirs 

 ones imagination. 



The following field note of a flying 

 trip through the lower Okanagan, and 

 the Limilkameen and Necola Valleys 

 may be of some interest. 



Summerland, B. C, April 22, 1917. 

 Spent the day at Trout Creek Point; 

 this is a wide alluvial flat, originally 

 covered with enormous black cotton- 

 wood and western birch. Much of the 

 land has been cleared and cultivated, 

 but there is still several hundred acres 

 of the original forest. A dense under- 

 growth of alders, dogwoods and wil- 

 lows, makes walking difficult off the 

 trails. The cultivated portions are 

 surrounded by patches of brush and 

 second-growth aspens and afford ex- 

 cellent cover for birds. 



Ring-necked Pheasants (Phaseanus 

 torquatus) have reached here from the 

 lower Okanagan; they are protected 

 locally and should do well. We flush- 

 ed several in the thick brush." 



Along the margin of the creek, we 

 found many beaver tunnels and run- 

 ways, made during the high water. 

 They had cut down several large cot- 

 tonwoods, and a large alder was half 



gnawed through, the scar stained deep 

 orange by the sap — a vivid patch of 

 color. 



A number of new arrivals were in 

 the cottonwoods. Ruby-crowned King- 

 lets (Regulus calendula) Red-naped 

 Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius nuch- 

 alis) Gambles Sparrow (Zonotrichia 

 leucophrys gambeli) and Audubon's 

 Warbler (Dendrocia auduboni audu- 

 boni). When I left Okanagan landing, 

 eighty miles north, yesterday, none of 

 these species had arrived. With the 

 exception of the early migrants and 

 the catkins on the alders and willows, 

 there are few signs of spring; the 

 ground under the cottonwoods is cold 

 and wet and one sinks ankle deep in 

 the wet brown leaves. 



A flock of Pipets (Anthus rubes- 

 cens) were feeding on a ploughed field 

 at the edge of the woods; a pigeon 

 hawk made a splendid stoop, coming 

 from the edge of the brush with in- 

 credible speed and carried off one of 

 the flock. Later my partner shot a 

 very pale male with the 22. I thought 

 at first this was (richardsoni) but 

 careful examination of tlie tail-bars 

 and the primary webs, showed it to be 

 a pale example of (Columbarius). 



Another interesting specimen was a 

 male Fox Sparrow, quite unlike the 

 breeding form (Schistacea) ; it is more 

 rupescent, less heavily spotted on the 

 underpart and the tail is reddish 

 brown in marked contrast to the gray 

 tail of (Schistacea). 



The Crows are building in the alders 

 and willows, and we watched a pair 

 of Ospreys repairing their old nest at 

 the top of a dead cottonwood. 



April 24. Left Summerland by auto- 

 mobile at 9:00 a. m., through Penticton 

 at the foot of Okanagan Lake and over 

 the Green Mountain Pass, to the 

 Similkameen Valley. This is the low- 

 est pass, 2000 feet, and is free of snow. 

 A small lake on the summit is still 



