ONTARIO. 



spring and fall. In the still summer evenings, the bumping 

 sound of the Bittern is frequently heard coming up from the 

 marsh, and the little Bittern is common enough in suitable 

 places all around the bay. 



Occasionally Swans and Geese are seen, most frequently in 

 spring, about the time the ice is breaking up, and in March, 

 1884, five white Pelicans spent a short time in the open water 

 near the canal, but such visits are made only by birds who seem 

 bewildered by foggy weather or exhausted by adverse winds. 



In the month of May the bay is visited by flocks of the Velvet 

 Duck,oidemiadeglandi. Their large size and jet black plumage 

 make them conspicuous objects on the water in the bright sunny 

 days of the early summer, but, strange to say, they are not long 

 here before individuals are noticed dead on the Beach, and the 

 mortality increases so much during their stay that I have counted 

 as many as ten or a dozen in a walk of two miles along the shore. 

 The birds are all in excellent condition, and I have heard of no 

 satisfactory cause for the occurrence. The fatality seems 

 to be confined to this species, and was first observed two or three 

 years ago, but since that time it has been rather on the increase. 

 I have not heard of its being noticed elsewhere, which would 

 imply that the birds die from the effects of something which they 

 find in the bay. Whether the paper, recently read by Dr. 

 Chittenden on the evil effects of allowing the city sewers to 

 empty themselves into its waters, throws any light on the subject 

 is a matter well worthy of consideration, for if there is anything 

 being mixed with the water which causes death to the birds it 

 cannot be conducive to the health of the people. 



I have glanced but lightly at the history of a few of the many 

 species of birds to be found in the neighborhood, but should 

 farther information be wanted regarding any particular species, 

 I shall have pleasure in referring to the list which will henceforth 

 be in the library of the association, and I hope the time is not 

 far distant when the library will contain not only the names of 

 the birds, but that preserved specimens of the birds themselves 

 will be found within the cabinets in the museum. 



(Read before the Hamilton Association, April 2nd, 1885.) 



23 



