6 DwiGHT, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. \*\m 



Warblers and Maryland Yellowthroats, while swampy alders 

 suggest the probability of finding Traill's Flycatchers and Swamp 

 Sparrows. If a brook passes through the alders, Water-thrushes 

 may be heard, but it is no easy matter to get even a glimpse of 

 them. 



The birds of the fields are numerous, the Savanna Sparrow 

 probably outnumbering all the others put together. Vesper 

 Sparrows and Song Sparrows abound, while the Robin and 

 Flicker are more frequently seen in the open than elsewhere. 

 Crows stalk about in every field, though their nests are in the 

 woods. Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Crossbills and Cedarbirds 

 are generally seen on the wing in the open country, and flying 

 higher than the Swallows (Barn, Bank, and White-bellied) which 

 most frequently are noticed skimming along near the ground or 

 over the surface of a sheet of water. 



Long familiarity with the notes and habits of the birds of the 

 Maritime Provinces enabled me to accomplish much more than 

 if I had been a stranger to them, and even though my stay was 

 brief, I feel confident that those species that escaped my attention 

 were either exceedingly rare or did not occur in the localities I 

 visited. All males were in full song, and females startled from 

 their nests lost no time in beginning to scold. I was in the field 

 from morning till night, and my gun with its auxilliary was a 

 trusty friend. Of a previous visit to the island in 1876 little 

 need be said, for the egg fever was on me at that time and the 

 finding of a Junco's nest was sufficient to satisfy my ambition for 

 several days. 



While in Charlottetown I examined a hundred or more birds 

 stuffed by Prof. S. N. Earle, but unfortunately they lacked data 

 and are therefore of little use in the present connection. From 

 him, however, I obtained much interesting information. Some 

 notes upon the winter birds of the island have been published by 

 Mr. Bain (Auk, II, 18S5, pp. 262-267). 



I present here a list that embraces only the species that have 

 come under my own observation, but it includes most of the birds 

 that make their summer home on Prince Edward Island, the fauna 

 of which is thoroughly Canadian. 



Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. — The 'Sea Pigeons' used to breed 

 in great numbers in the cliffs at various points along the coast. I have no 

 doubt that they still do so in smaller numbers, although the only positive 



