In North-West Canada. 47 



and the t'oui- eggs were olive brown spotted with Itlackish 

 brown, and had a few hair line streaks around the lai'ger end 

 of the eggs. Herring gulls were numerous, and Macdonald 

 shot a tine adult specimen. I expected to hnd tlie nest of these 

 gulls, as well as those of the avosets on an elevated strip of 

 stony ground at the south end of the lake, but on arriving 

 there we saw no signs of any nests. Some distance out on the 

 lake were seven white pelicans, and the dog made a rush at 

 tliem through the water, but they turned on him with open 

 mouths and the ugly creatures scared the dog and he return- 

 ed whimpering. They rose and flew over our heads, and Mac- 

 donald flred at them l)ut missed. They look tremendous birds 

 on the wing and fly heavil}^, taking big sweej)s with their 

 wings. They nest on tlie east shore of the lake, but as they 

 are early breeders we did not visit this colony. Macdonald 

 informed me that al)Out flfty pairs nest on a stony sandbar 

 at the east end of the lake, and they had fresh eggs the second 

 week in May. The nests are made by the l)irds scraping to- 

 gether a mound of sand six inches high, and on this they place 

 a few rushes carelessly, and lay generally two eggs, occasion- 

 ally three, but two is the regular number : the average size is 

 3.50x2.30. They are chalky white in colour, with a calcareous 

 <leposit on them, and are more or less stained. 



As it was four o'clock, and Macdonald had to be back at 

 the station to meet the train from the west at 5:30, we turned 

 back and reached the spot where we had left the ducks' eggs 

 and birds. We were heavily laden with all our spoils and 

 our guns began to get heavy, so we tramped along for some 

 distance without saying a word. My companion led the waj', 

 and I followed close beliind with the dog at my lieels. Some- 

 tiiing tearing its way through the rushes caused Macdonald 

 to come to a dead halt, and he dropped his birds, exclaiming 

 excitedly, " give me a cartridge, here's a wolf." I at once 

 dropped my birds and handed him a couple of cartridges from 

 my belt, and in a second he had placed the cartridge in his 

 gun and was trying to get a sight of the prairie wolf. The 

 dog's bark caused the wolf to bolt out of the rushes, and 



