8 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



they are exceedingly expert swimmers and divers, and 

 have a better chance of escaping in that element than by 



The bird I killed was thirty-four inches m total 

 length, and weighed seven pounds two ounces. I never 

 found more than one pair of these birds on the same 

 lake. Several other lakes within a few miles of Wolf 

 Pond were frequented by pairs of loons; and I always 

 saw these birds in couples, but I cannot say whether or 

 not they pair for life, as they migrate at the approach 

 of severe weather. On a subsequent occasion I took the 

 eggs of these birds. The nest, which was scarcely more 

 than a lair, was situated among thick marginal herbage ; 

 and the eggs, two in number, were very dark — a greyish 

 brown sprinkled, rather sparsely, with dusky spots. They 

 were about the size of those of a goose, and were lying 

 within a foot of the water. 



On the borders of this same pond a couple of ospreys 

 had also taken up their quarters, having their nest in a 

 tall pine tree, some eighty feet above the ground. One 

 of the Indians climbed up and brought down the eggs, 

 three in number ; but the birds laid again : for they had 

 two young ones which showed themselves at the end of 

 July. The eggs were light buffish-grey in ground colour, 

 much blotched with deep crimson-brown, so that the 

 larger ends were an unbroken blotch of colour. 



The osprey is always called the fish-hawk here, and 

 in the States ; and they are so plentiful that almost every 

 little lake which contains fish harbours a pair ; and the 

 hunter knows, when he sees these birds near the water, 

 that it is well stocked. There are never two paii's in near 

 proximity ; and they fight fiercely if an intruder dares to 

 invade the territory of a neighbour. In such combats 

 one of the birds is frequently killed. 



About the 18 th of September many of the Lapland 

 buntings had gone, and they all disappeared by the end 

 of the month. The loons migrated about the same time. 



