50 ROBERT BELL ON THE 
for the purpose of swallowing. The gulls, hovering overhead and seeing what is going on 
down in the clear water, watch for the moment when the fish is raised to the surface and 
swoop down upon it. When many hungry gulls are present, this process is repeated till 
the patience of the loon is quite exhausted. The favorite spot for the female loon to hatch 
her egg or eggs is on a rock or bank a few inches immediately above the water, with a 
graded way up which she can climb but so situated that she can drop off into the water on 
any alarm. The rough-billed pelican (Pelicanus erythrorhynchus, Gmelin), although it breeds 
and is so common in the Winnipeg basin and to the northwestward, does not seem to be 
known on Hudson’s Bay. The common cormorant (Graculus carbo, Gray) breeds in some of 
the lakes northward of the Winnipeg basin, but is rare or absent on Hudson’s Bay. Indeed, 
many birds which are common at no great distance to the west of the bay never appear to 
visit this great sea itself. = 
Of the gull family, which is well represented, the skuas are perhaps the most inter- 
esting. A specimen of Buffon’s skua (Stercorarius cepphus, Brünnich) was obtained at York 
Factory, and one of the Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus, Temminck) at Fort George. I 
have seen what I took to be the latter species on a lake on one of the branches of the 
Moose River. The Arctic tern (Sterna macrura, Naumann) is very common. The closely 
allied species, Wilson’s tern (S. Wilsonii, Bonaparte) and Forster's tern are met with on some 
of the inland lakes. Bonaparte’s gull (Larus Philadelphia, Lawrence) breeds along the Nelson 
River and was also collected at York Factory. The commoner gulls are abundant on rocky 
parts of the coasts, proving the existence of plenty of fish. Among the ducks collected may 
be mentioned the mallard or stock duck, the “minik” grey duck or gadwall, both species of 
golden-eye, one of them called by the Indians the “tree duck” from its nesting in trees like 
the wood duck, the butterball, the widgeon, the green- and the blue-winged teal, the latter 
rare. The long-tail (Da/ila acuta, Linn.) was obtained from Fort George, and is not uncommon 
in the interior west of Hudson’s Bay where it is called the “ haha-wee-a.” A single speci- 
men of the male of the ruddy duck was shot at York Factory, where it is considered scarce. 
His Excellency the Governor-General informed me that he shot a male of this species near 
the Forks of the Saskatchewan, and Professor Macoun obtained the female in the same 
region. It appears to be rare. The wood or summer duck, the black or dusky duck and 
the canvas-back appear to be unknown on Hudson’s Bay. The spoon-bill or “long- 
neck,” which breeds in such numbers from Lake Winnipeg westward, appears to be wanting 
on Hudson’s Bay. The surf duck (Pelionetta perspicillata, Kaup.) was found in immense 
numbers on the east coast, between the islands and the mainland. Mr. A.S. Cochrane has 
brought a male scoter (Oidemia Americana, Swainson), supposed to be a sea-coast bird, from 
Reindeer Lake, in the centre of the continent. At Long Lake, on one of the branches of 
the Albany, I have shot a duck which appeared to correspond with the Huron scoter 
(Oidemia bimaculata, Bain), and which the Indians reported to breed in the lakes of that 
region, feeding on the small univalye shells which they obtained at the bottom of the 
water. Unless I am mistaken as to the bird, this is an important fact, helping to prove 
this to bea good species, as contended by Herbert (“ Frank Forrester”). Both species of eider, 
locally called Eskimo ducks (Somateria mollissima, Leach, and S. Spectabilis, Leach) are abun- 
dant along the east coast of Hudson’s Bay. In the month of October, 1880, I saw several 
flocks of eiders crossing Hudson’s Strait, going southward. The three species of mergansers 
