148 EXPEDITION TO THE 



birds observed were the Canada jay,* blue jay,t hairy 

 wood-pecker, Indian hen, golden plover,^ and woodcock. 

 We killed five pheasants§ on the 7th of September ; on the 

 4th, we heard, near Rainy Lake, the notes of the whip- 

 poor-will. A rail was also seen, but it disappeared too soon 

 to enable Mr. Say to determine the species. 



The mosquitoes, which troubled us but little after we 

 left Red river, were replaced near the height of land, by 

 some dipterous insects belonging to two distinct species of 

 the genus Simulium.j| Their punctures were equally severe 

 with those of the mosquitoes, but they were not so nume- 

 rous; they principally attacked the face and neck, some- 

 times, however, they crept under our clothes ; they seem- 

 ed to prefer warm and dry weather, differing in this re- 

 spect from the mosquitoes, which prefer a humid atmos- 

 phere. 



A number of aquatic plants were observed in Cats-tail 

 river ; among these was one resembling our splatterdock,1[ 

 but smaller ; its leaf always floats, but never projects above 

 the water; its flower and seed-vessel are smaller than those 

 which we have generally seen. Besides these there is a 

 small plant, the leaf-stalks of which are elongated; its 

 leaf, which is small, floats upon the water. We saw 

 another plant with small yellow flowers, and leaves very 

 much divided ; its stalk projected six or eight inches above 

 the surface of the water.** 



The Kamanatekwoya receives no tributary of any im- 



* Garnilus Canadensis. f Garruliis cristatus. 



i: Vanellus Ilelveticus of authors, according' to Ord's reprint of Wil- 

 son's Ornitholog'y. § Tetrao umbellus. 



II One of these is the S. venustum. Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. vol. 

 3, p. 28. 



* Nuphar lutea. •* Ranunculus delphinefolius, Torrey. 



