ib THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



covered with dusky hair, crawling on the snow; and yester- 

 day I found in the same situation, a great many specimens of 

 a small Carrion Beetle, about one-sixth of an inch long, with 

 antennae slightly clubbed (Omalium — ?) ; they gave out 

 a rank smell. These are the first beetles I have yet seen 

 abroad. A few small brown spiders were likewise straggling 

 over the melting snow. 



F. — The larvae of the Ox Gad-fly (Oestrus Bovis), com- 

 monly called wormuls, (originally worm-holes,) are now to 

 be found in the bodies of oxen and cows. They make large 

 lumps chiefly in the backs of these cattle, in the middle of 

 which is a hole large enough to admit a quill : if you press 

 the lump, a quantity of pus comes through the orifice, and 

 if the pressure be increased, the large, fat, white maggot him- 

 self is squeezed out. I forced out two fi'om one of our oxen 

 this morning. They will not go into the pupa state, after 



having been thus violently ejected. Let us walk on 



the ice of the river: here are some large Muscles {Anadonta?), 

 and a number of their empty shells lying on the mud at the 

 bottom of the water. I can see them through the open space 

 between the ice and the bank of the river : as the water is 

 shallow we may reach them with our hands. I have occa- 

 sionally eaten them, and could not perceive any difference in 

 taste between them and marine muscles. 



C. — What trumpet-like note is that ? 



F. — It is the " honk" of the Wild Goose {Anas Cana- 

 densis) : yonder is the bird, standing on the frozen river ; 

 some stray individual out of the many flocks which at this 

 season are pursuing their aerial course to the desolate regions 

 around Hudson's Bay, or perhaps yet farther north. 



C. — Has the Canada Goose been domesticated ? 



F. — Yes ; it is extensively kept as a domestic fowl 

 in Europe, and is not the least important addition which 



