Bird-Life in Labrador. 



lior, Aiiril 2, ISSO; "Schneider;" presented by Dr. L. Stejueiier. Mr. 

 'J'urner records this as "coastwise and interior especially ahnndant. Resi- 

 dent and l)reeds at Fort Chimo." 



I shouhl like to know more of Brunnich's iiuilleniot in Labrador; also 

 of the so-called " blue ijulls " of the inhal)itants, who talk of the " fresh- 

 water bine <iull " and of the " salt-water Itlue ijull " of which I " never took 

 a specimen," accordinu; to the local hnnters there, — conld they have been 

 leiicoptervs and delaivarensis f possibly. Another point, I believe that the 

 jfreat black-backed gull and the herrinjr gnll lay, respectively, three and 

 four eggs almost if not quite invariably. In Mr. Edward A. Samuel's 

 " Ornithology and Oology of New England," Mr. William Cooper, of Que- 

 bec, is credited with : rough-legged hawk ("breeds in Lal)rador " ), hawk 

 owl ("breeds in the northern portions of Hudson Bay aiul Labrador " ), 

 white-winged crossbill ("breeds"), northern phalarope P. hyperhorevs 

 ( "common"), and ring-billed gull L. deldtrarensis ( "breeds" ). In an- 

 other place he affirms Audubon's statement relative to the Blackljurnian 

 warbler, thus : "I saw numbers of this species in the woods of Labrador 

 on the seventeenth of June, but could not discover the nest." 



From the above references it will lj(» seen at a glance that it is highly 

 probable that a further careful research into the bird fauna of Labrador 

 will reveal many treasures and rarities hitherto unlooked for in so arctic a 

 climate. As a rule birds are found where Summer is. While, then, the 

 warmth of Summer o'erspreads, even for a short time, the otherwise frigid 

 climate of arctic North America, of Labrador, at least, birds swarm as in 

 more favored regions. You will see that I have bounded Labrador by the 

 bird fauija of the land north and west, and of the water east and south. 

 The interior of the peninsula remains yet to he explored. In these days 

 it is as much as one's life is worth to give a bird a scientific (Latin) name, 

 and though I have given, generally, only the English names of the species 

 here they will hardly be misunderstood I think. 



