' AN IMPUDENT THEFT. 313 
fall of the year, when the hunting and fishing- 
grounds of the Old-man (Sea-la-ca, as the 
Indians designate the eagle, on account of its 
white head) grow scant of game, hunger prompts 
them to be disagreeably bold. Constantly a fat 
mallard, that I had taken a vast amount of trouble 
to stalk, was pounced upon by a watchful eagle, 
and borne off, ere the report of my gun was lost 
in the hills, or the smoke had cleared away ; 
indeed, I have sometimes given the robber the 
benefit of a second barrel, as punishment for his 
thievery. Numberless ducks have been lost to me 
in this way. This eagle is by far the most abun- 
dant of the falcon tribe in British Columbia, and 
always a conspicuous object in ascending ariver ; 
he is seated on the loftiest tree or rocky pinnacle, 
and soars off circling round, screaming like a tor- 
tured demon, as if in remonstrance at such an 
impudent intrusion into its solitudes. The adult 
plumage is not attained until the fourth year from 
the nest. 
Mosquitos (Culex pinguis, nov. sp. )—Reader, 
if you have never been in British Columbia, 
then, I say, you do not know anything about 
insect persecution; neither can you form the 
faintest idea of the terrible suffering foes so 
seemingly insignificant as the bloodthirsty horse- 
