In North- West Oanada. 4.S 



to several ducks' nests he knew of. As it was twelve o'clock, 

 we went to the house in the rear, when. I was introduced to 

 the landlady as a naturalist who had conic all the way from 

 Toronto to explore the regions around here. Dinner over, the 

 station master telegraphed to Moose jaw to enquire if any 

 freight trains were expected to pass through Rush Lake, and 

 as none were coining through that afternoon he got permis- 

 sion for a few hours' absence, so, shouldering our guns, we 

 crossed over the railway track and reached the banks of a 

 stream that runs into the lake, we were joined by his faithful 

 setter dog who soon flushed a male shoveller duck : as he rose, 

 my companion took aim and the cluck dropped with a thud 

 to the ground. He was a handsome specimen, with his bright, 

 attractive plumage, and I wrapped him up and covered him 

 with grass so that he could not be carried off by hawks : we 

 left him, intending to come back the same way on our return. 

 We found the creek alive with broods of young ducks : there 

 were shovellers, mallards, scaups, canvas backs, and teals. 

 Streams in Canada are invariably called creeks, and must not 

 be confounded with the English meaning of the word creek. 

 In England a creek signifies a small bay or inlet, but in Can- 

 ada a creek is a stream. My English readers must also not 

 get confounded over the name " bluff." In England the name 

 " bluff" is always applied to a rocky headland or steep bank 

 overhanging the sea or river : on the prairies, a " bluff" means 

 an isolated cluster of trees, and the word " slough" is the 

 name of a wet, marshy spot, or shallow pond. The creek at 

 Rush Lake is a sluggish stream, three feet deep and about 

 twelve feet wide, and winds its serpentine course from the 

 station for two miles, and then empties itself into the lake. 

 The sides of the creek are fringed with rushes and tall grass, 

 offering good shelter for ducks and other waterfowl. On our 

 way we came to a small boat, and my companion, Macdonald, 

 advised me to cross to the other side of the creek and he 

 would walk along one side while I examined the other, so I 

 stepped into the boat and pushed it across the stream. Then 

 we began to search in earnest and soon found the place alive 



