8 Dwight, Summer Birds of Prince Ed-ward Island. \ j" n 



Anas obscura. Black Duck. — This is the only Duck of whose 

 presence I have conclusive evidence. I saw a brood on a fresh water lake 

 near Souris, and I found dried up on the sand one day the carcass of an 

 adult. In several other localities I heard of nests having been found. 



Botaurus lentiginosus. American Bittern. — A tolerably common 

 bird in suitable localities, and known by the name of 'Mud-hen.' 



Ardea herodias. Great Blue Heron. — I learned of at least two 

 heronries of this bird, but did not visit them. One near Charlottetown 

 was described to me as containing several hundred birds. The nests were 

 in hard-wood growth, and were warranted to contain young each year by 

 July 4. The Herons were seen at many points on the island, notably along 

 St. Peter's Bay, where I saw upwards of twenty as the train skirted the 

 shore. They paid little or no attention to it, although often less than a 

 gun-shot distant. 



Philohela minor. American Woodcock. — The sportsmen are ac- 

 quainted with this bird but it is considered rare. I saw a stuffed specimen, 

 and well recollect the one I shot at I don't know how many times when I 

 visited Hunter River in 1876. The country about there is better suited to 

 it than much of the ground visited this time. The partiality of the 

 Woodcock for clean alder swamps still obtains on Prince Edward Island. 



Gallinago delicata. Wilson's Snipe. — This species breeds, sparingly 

 I fancy, at suitable places on the island. I saw a young bird in first 

 plumage among Prof. Earle's birds and talked with several men who had 

 found nests. The tussocks in boggy places along brooks seem to be the 

 usual site — in one case a nest was found in a bunch of iris. 



Actitis macularia. Spotted Sandpiper. — Generally distributed along 

 brooks in the open country and fairly common. A nest was found in an 

 odd situation at Tignish. It was under a decayed logon a boggy slope, 

 and was carefully lined with bits of rotten wood. 



./Egialitis meloda. Piping Plover. — Frequented the sandy or gravelly 

 beaches in considerable numbers. 



Bonasa umbellus togata. Canadian Ruffed Grouse. — A few only 

 were met with, although said to be abundant. A novel method of hunting 

 them reached my ears. They come out upon the railroad in a certain 

 section to sun themselves, and it is said the sportsman riding to and fro 

 on a track-velocipede shoots them so that sometimes he can pick them up 

 without stopping. I was informed by gunners that Dendragapus cana- 

 densis does not inhabit the island. 



Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk. — Birds of this species were occa- 

 sionally seen, recognizable at long distances by the white bar on the tail. 

 It was almost the only Bird of Prey met with. 



Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. — I examined a live specimen in 

 young plumage, captured June 23, in a fox trap set for it, near New London. 

 The man who caught it thought there was a nest near by in a piece of 

 woods, and expected to trap the old birds as well, one of which he had seen. 

 After visiting the locality I am inclined to doubt whether the bird was 

 bred on the island. Eagles are considered rare birds there by all the 



