642 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



spicuous when sitting on the brown earth. Doubtless a walk 

 in the woods would discover many. The most obvious proof 

 of their presence, seen from the train, is the barking of the 

 brushwood. Wherever a poplar tree has been felled its top 

 is seen completely barked, the buds and finer twigs devoured. 

 In a less degree this applies also to the birch, tamarac and 

 willow ; their favourite food seems to be the poplar. It is 

 curious, however, that I see few or none of the large standing 

 trees gnawed; the bark near the ground seems less acceptable 

 than that of the fine twiggery. The few standing trees that 

 were peeled were of very small size. 



Whitemouth, same day, 1 1 :20 a. m. Though I do not 

 see any Rabbits from the train here, their work is more and 

 more conspicuous. Vast numbers of saplings, poplars, tama- 

 rac, black birch, and, I think, willows, are barked, evidently 

 this past winter. I see no Rabbits, no doubt because the 

 country is so wet with spring floods. 



Again, going eastward, May i, 1904. Near the eastern 

 boundary of Manitoba I saw the first Rabbit. It was now 

 about 6 p. M. During the next 30 miles I saw in all 38 Rabbits 

 clearly, and close to the tracks. I saw none at all dead, though 

 they would have been conspicuous in the white fur, as the 

 snow is all gone. 



As we drew near Keewatin they were no longer seen; 

 evidently they abound only in a small region about 30 miles 

 across, at the eastern edge of Manitoba. 



After this I saw no more Rabbits until next day in the 

 region along the north shore from Nipigon to Pardee, where, 

 watching for many hours, I saw 5 all told. 



All the way from Lake Nipigon to Ottawa I saw but i . 



In September of that same year I returned to Ingolf with 

 Dr. Gordon Bell and Dr. J. H. Cadham to investigate the 

 supposed plague, but was much disappointed to find how 

 scarce the Rabbits were. In twenty-four hours we saw 20-odd 

 alive, found 6 dead in the woods, and 6 dead on the railway, 

 not enough, however, to account for the disappearance of 

 those I saw. Possibly I was wrong in assuming them to have 



