Shanki.and — On Birds on Otonauee River. 7 



The farms that were passed by that afternoon were nearly 

 all picturesque and attractive, and it was a genuine satisfac- 

 tion to gaze upon the steep grassy hillside pastures, where 

 sheep and cattle were grazing in dreamy contentment. In the 

 forests through which the train threaded its way, were to be 

 seen many varieties of strange trees, such as the white birch, 

 the spruce, the cedar, the tamarack, and occasionally a tall, 

 dusky pine. 



In the meantime, I had been maintaining a sharp lookout 

 for birds while thus riding along, and although a solitary Bit- 

 tern, that rose from a marshy river bottom, was the only 

 stranger that I noted, nevertheless I had the satisfaction of 

 recording a number of very interesting species with which I 

 was already familiar. While passing along the north shore of 

 Lake Ontario, we saw numerous Herring Gulls, some wheel- 

 ing about over the water in search of food : others resting up- 

 on piles and driftwood at considerable distances from the 

 shore. As we neared Oak Point, we noticed that Bank Swal- 

 lows were very plentiful, and a little further on we passed the 

 sand bank in which a colony of these birds nested. Near Port 

 Hope, Bobolinks were ^till abundant, although elsewhere in 

 that territory but few of them were to be seen. Occasionally 

 as we sped along, a Sparrow Hawk would rise from its perch 

 on the telegraph wires and fly swiftly away across the fields 

 toward the distant forests. Meadowlarks were very abundant 

 in this territory, and flock after flock of them rose and flew 

 '^wiftly away as our train passed them by. 



But of all the land birds that we noted, none were as abund- 

 ant or as bold as the Crows. There seemed to be Crows every- 

 where — in the woods, near the rivers, in the fields and on the 

 shores of the lake. During that afternoon ride I counted hun- 

 dreds of them, and was convinced that they were at least five 

 times as abundant in that territory as they are in northern 

 Ohio. Scarecrows are also abundant, but apparently inefifect- 

 ivc. The appearnce of Crows in such numbers in this terri- 

 tory is undoubtedly due, partly to the abundance of food in 



