NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



109 



abundance. It frequents the ice-fields 

 and bergs, and rarely travels inland 

 except in winter when the fjord and 

 inlets are frozen over. The polar bear 

 is essentially a shore-loving animal, 

 spending much of its time at sea. 



The smaller mammals that frequent 

 the northern barrens and semi-barrens 

 include the Labrador deer-mouse (Pero- 

 myscus} common as far south as the 

 52nd parallel, particularly about build- 

 ings and huts; the small and large yel- 

 low-faced Phenacomys of rather far 

 northern distribution; the Ungava red- 

 backed mouse (Euvotomys ungava) re- 

 stricted to these northern barren and 

 semi-barren areas; the small Labrador 

 vole (Microtus); two species of lem- 

 ming (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx), most 

 common about the grassy, sedgy moors 

 and bogs; and the Labrador shrew (So- 

 rex), found from Fort Chimo 'south. 



The small mammals that are of more 

 southern range, found principa llyin 

 the wooded lands are as follows: the 

 porcupine (Erethizon), ranging north- 

 ward into the semi-barrens; the north- 

 ern red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonicus) 

 of the same range; the Labrador flying 

 squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus makkovi- 

 kensis), rare even in the southernmost 

 portions; the large Labrador vole com- 

 mon throughout the wooded regions and 

 penetrating into the semi-barrens; the 

 Labrador rock vole and Labrador jump- 

 ing mouse (Zapus), rare along the 

 coast; the Hamilton Inlet red-backed 

 mouse and the northern jumping mouse, 

 common in the woodlands to the edge 

 of the semi-barrens; the Labrador musk- 

 rat (Ondatra) becoming progressively 

 less numerous from the heavily-wooded 

 tracts in the south to the semi-barrens 

 as far north as Fort Chimo, where it is 

 very rare; and the little brown bat and 

 Say's bat (Myotis L. Lucifugus and 

 M. subulatus), that may occasionally 

 be found in the extreme southern 

 portion. 



In the waters off the coast the walrus 

 is found along the whole coast, its former 

 usual range, but now it is common only 

 along the northern reaches. Six species 



of seal frequent the coast; the harbor 

 seal, common to the coast and low parts 

 of the rivers all around Labrador, and 

 plentiful in a number of northern fresh- 

 water lakes in which they breed and rear 

 their young, and from which apparently 

 they never go, having acquired a fresh- 

 water habit; the ringed seal and harp- 

 seal, common along the whole coast; 

 the bearded seal, the gray seal, and the 

 hooded seal, everywhere and always 

 rare. The white porpoise or beluga, 

 and the narwhal, are fairly common. 

 The humpbacked, the little-piked, the 

 finback, the sulphur bottom, the killer, 

 and the bottle-nosed whales are locally 

 relatively common; while the right 

 whale, the bowhead, the Pollock whale, 

 and the sperm whale are rare. The 

 porpoises and dolphins are common. 



Birds 



The bird life of Labrador, both inland 

 and coastal, is numerous and varied, 

 the number of species of the seabirds 

 being relatively small, though the num- 

 ber of individuals in many cases is in- 

 credibly large; while of the land birds 

 the number of species is relatively large, 

 the number of individuals relatively 

 small. 



Of the sea-birds, two species once 

 common, the great auk and the Labrador 

 duck, have been quite exterminated. 

 The puffin, the black, guillemot, and 

 the Mandt's guillemot, the common 

 murre and the Brunnich's murre, and the 

 razor-billed auk, are common summer 

 residents in the waters off the coasts, 

 and the dovekies are numerous during 

 the winter. The skuas, and jaegers, 

 many gulls and terns, petrels and shear- 

 waters, fulmars, gannets and cormorants 

 frequent the coast. The mergansers 

 and many species of ducks and geese 

 including the eiders, brant, and the 

 whistling swan populate the coastal 

 inlets, fjords, and lagoons. 



Along the shores, the fast vanishing 

 curlew may still be found, though the 

 oyster-catcher has been exterminated; 

 the sandpipers, the phalaropes, the 

 plovers, the ruddy turnstone, the sand- 



