150 



Cope). Careful research may i-eward the student in this branch, of 

 which very little is known in this district. 



Mention was made in a paper on the fish of the Ottawa district, 

 read before your Society last winter, of a red-bellied minnow, supposed 

 to be a species peculiar to this district, but of the existence of which as 

 a sej)arate species there is miich doubt. Nothing has been ascertained 

 further during the p^ast year, but information is desired respecting it. 

 The sheepshead [Ilaploidonotus grunniens, Jordan), which, years ago, 

 was abundant, hut which of late has been a i-arity in the Ottawa River, 

 is again making its appearance on our markets, and it would be inter- 

 esting to ascertain whether its reappearance is due to fish protection 

 and the absence of universal netting, or to local causes affecting the 

 water, or to the reappearance of certain food it preys upon. Mr. 

 Harrington noted a large number of dead fish — pike, bass, suckers, 

 perch, etc.- — in St. Louis Dam on 28th April. This circumstance has 

 been frequently noticed in that locality in spring, and has been 

 attributed to impurities draining into that body of water during winter 

 from factories and tanyards in its vicinity. Another probable cause of 

 this recurring mortality might be traced to the solid coating of ice over 

 the shallows which are left after the water has been let out of the canal at 

 the approach of winter, and which pi-e vents the fish which remain there 

 from obtaining air. It is a well known fact that, in a pond completely- 

 frozen ovei-, unless an opening exists whei"e the fish can approach the sur- 

 face for air, the majority of them will perish during winter. As the water 

 of the canal is not let out until ice of a considerable thickness has 

 formed, the superincumbent weight settling down with the outflow of 

 the water ])robab]y prevents tlie passage of the fisli from many of the 

 pools or .shallows, and even presses upon them, or they may congregate 

 in the slightly dee])er parts of the dam which later in the winter freeze 

 to the bottom. 



A close study of the lake trout of this district is desirable, as it is 

 a disputed point amongst naturalists whether there ai^e really more 

 thin one species, and if the so-called different species are not only 

 varieties, influenced by locality, water and food. 



Two .species of field mice weie noticed, the wliite-footed or deer- 

 mouse {Ilei^peromys lev<;oj)us), aiul tlm meadow mouse {Ar^v'cold riparia). 



