174 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



knots,) as if to pilot us in our course, keeping within a few- 

 inches of the vessel's head, deviating sometimes a foot or so 

 to the right or left. At length the captain prepared his 

 harpoon, but before it was ready the animal had disappeared. 

 It was about sixteen feet long, of a light grey colour, with a 

 round bluff head. I could find no description of such a 



species.* But where have we wandered? From 



the Masuippi to the St. Lawrence, from the St. Lawrence to 

 the Atlantic, from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, from 

 the Gulf of Mexico to the EngUsh Channel : a wide flight in 

 a few moments ! But let us return to our woods and fields. 

 C. — Several kinds of caterpillars are now to be found, 

 which survive the winter ; such as those of the Grey Kidney 



Moth (Polia ? ), the Buff Leopard (Arctia Isabella), 



and others with which I am not acquainted. I caught two 

 specimens of the Orange Comma Butterfly (Grapta C. 

 Album ?) a few days ago, a beautiful species. Some very 

 pretty but small dipterous flies have appeared, with bril- 

 liant metallic thorax and abdomen, glittering with green and 

 crimson gold (Sargus ? ). 



F. — The Butternut (Juglans Cinerea) has begun to 

 leaf: the buds of this tree much resemble those of the 

 ashes, but are larger, of a downy pale green, and they are 

 not so regular in shape as the ash buds. The leaves are 

 pinnate, like those of that tree, and on the whole there is 

 considerable resemblance between the white ash and the 

 butternut. This tree is considered an indication of the very 

 best land we have ; it is not abundant in this vicinity, 

 though there are many trees scattered about : on the banks 

 of the Coatacook, near Spafford's bridge, are several trees. 

 The bark of this tree is used in dying : I believe it produces 

 a snuff-brown colour ; I know of no other value which it has 



* Perhaps it was Beluga Leucas, the White Whale. 



