° 1912 ^ J Arnold, Summer Birds of Newfoundland. to 



ing there, our special desiderata being sets of Fox Sparrows {Pas- 

 serella iliacailiaca), Greater Yellow-legged Plover {Totanus mclano- 

 Icucus), Pigeon Hawk (Falco columharius columbarius) , Tennessee 

 Warbler (Vermivora peregrina), and Ruby-crowned Kinglet {Rcgu- 

 lus calendula calendula). We left Montreal via the Intercolonial 

 Railway and after a pleasant ride through the Provinces of Old 

 Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, arrived at North 

 Sydney, Mr. Beers, of Bridgeport, Conn., accompanying us, hav- 

 ing met us en route. There we boarded a steamer for Port aux 

 Basques, Newfoundland, a distance of 110 miles. The trip was 

 very rough and many of the passengers were sea sick. We arrived 

 at Port aux Basques early the next morning — weather foggy and 

 lots of ice and snow discernible on the bleak forbidding shores. 



The summer there is short. On our journey over the Reid- 

 Newfoundland Railway ice and snow could often be seen from the 

 car window and during the first week of June the bushes and trees 

 were just beginning to show the green of the opening leaves. 

 Along the Humber River we picked fine bunches of trailing arbutus, 

 which was just in its prime the first week in June. On the upper 

 levels, during the early part of June, water froze every night, 

 forming on edge of ponds a small coating of ice each morning. 

 The snow was from three to six feet deep on the sides of the hills 

 and we could walk on the top of it until 9 or 10 o'clock without 

 sinking in over an inch or two. Notwithstanding this cold weather 

 many birds had made their nests; some had laid their eggs, and 

 others had young or were incubating their eggs, — such species 

 as the Fox Sparrow {Passer ella iliaca iliaca), Savanna Sparrow 

 {Passcrculus sandwichensis savanna), Least Sandpiper (Pisobia 

 minuiilla), Greater Yellow-legs {Totanus vielanoleucus) , Wilson's 

 Snipe {Gallinago delicaia), Welch's Ptarmigan {Lagojms welchi), 

 were already incubating their eggs, and a Myrtle W'arbler {Den- 

 droica coronata) was building close to our camp. The Ruby- 

 crowned Kinglets {Regulus calendula calendula) were in full song; 

 the bird considering its size is a marvellous, rich singer, its note 

 being a distinctive feature of every place we stopped to collect or 

 make observations. 



The Reid-Newfoundland is narrow gauge, but very comfortable, 

 dining and sleeping cars are carried on all passenger trains; the 



