Shankland — On Birds on Otonabee River. 15 



watch the sunset and enjoy the wild beauty of the surrounding 

 landscape. The scene that lay before us was typical of the 

 Canadian wilderness. The deep, black waters of the Otonabee 

 were spread out before us like a vast mirror, reflecting per- 

 fectly the forest-clad slope across the river, the sun, slowly 

 sinking among the distant wooded hills, was painting the 

 few scattered clouds with exquisite shades of red, purple 

 and roseate ; a silence, deep, impressive and soothing, per- 

 vaded the wilderness. Once a Great Blue Heron came flying 

 slowly down the river, and momentarily broke the silence 

 with its heavy flappings, and once a large muskrat swam down 

 the river past our camp, but at sight of us it dove out of sight 

 with a splash. As darkness began to settle down over the 

 river a large bullfrog began to twang away from the marsh 

 in a superlatively deep basso voice : not long after many other 

 frogs added their notes to the stentorian chorus, and the effect 

 was novel and pleasing indeed. Just as the moon was rising 

 above the tops of the spruce trees in the rear of our camp, 

 some large bird, probably an owl, flew noiselessly past us, and 

 after crossing the river, disappeared in the forests beyond. 

 .A.11 such sights and sounds have a peculiar charm for a lover 

 of the wild things and they help to stimulate his interest in the 

 study of the different creatures and natural wonders about 

 him. 



But camping on the banks of the Otonabee is not without its 

 drawbacks, and during the course of that first evening I discov- 

 ered that one of the greatest of them was the abundance of 

 mosquitoes. These persistent little nuisances fairly swarmed 

 all along the river and in the adjacent marshes. They were 

 so bothersome that the campers along the river were com- 

 pelled to remain closely indoors during the evening and to pro- 

 tect their porches and windows from invasion by means of 

 wire netting. Our porch had been rendered almost mosquito- 

 proof by having been completely enclosed in a set of screen 

 doors and screens. Even then a few tormentors were always 

 on hand to bother us, although we did not let them prevent 



