JOURNEY TO FORT SEVERN 133 



was not here in April ; but I learned that it comes during 

 the summer. These two geese are closely allied. As yet 

 neither ducks nor geese were particularly plentiful, but 

 they are said to arrive in immense flocks by the end of 

 May or beginning of June. I secured but five geese. 



There were plenty of plover, and among these birds 

 I had good sport, bringing down thirteen brace one 

 day and fifteen on another. They are fair eating, though 

 not equal to the grouse of these regions. The species 

 differs but little from the common ring-plover of English 

 downs, but I am informed that it is distinct, and specifically 

 termed JbJgialitis semijMliitata. 



All the ducks and the widgeon found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Winnipeg, and described on my visit to 

 Stone Fort, were found here, and in addition the long- 

 tailed duck, Harelda gladalis, and the golden-eyed duck, 

 Vlangula islandica. Of the latter a single specimen was 

 all that was procured, but I shot sixty ducks altogether, 

 mostly for food. 



No small mammals were noticed here, and no reptiles ; 

 but the mosquitoes were beginning to be an intolerable 

 nuisance. 



Small birds were still almost absent, but they are 

 plentiful during the height of summer. My informant 

 could only give the vernacular names of the species, but 

 the Lapland bunting, the sparrow of these regions, I saw 

 myself almost everywhere. Two or three other small 

 birds haunted the reedy spots in the marshes, and seemed 

 to belong to the family American naturalists call " ground 

 sparrows." They are not sparrows, and seem to me to 

 be the representatives of the European warblers or pipits. 

 The size, appearance, and habits are much the same ; 

 while the small eggs are nearly always richly blotched 

 and clouded with various shades of purple, red, and 

 brown. The eggs are the same size as those of the 

 pipits (much less than those of sparrows). 



There is much difiiculty in classifying the small birds 



