JAMES BAY TO RIVER ABBITIBBE 153 



were comparatively so tame that almost any number 

 might have been shot. Not much powder and shot is 

 wasted on them here, for when ducks are wanted they 

 are trapped by the score. 



Few places visited in this journey afforded a greater 

 number or variety of birds than the neighbourhood of 

 Moose Factory. That is in the summer season, for on 

 the approach of winter, I was told, the birds migrate in 

 a body, and desolation reigns for many weary months. 

 Among the rarer birds shot here was a turnstone or 

 Norfolk plover, Strepsilas interpres, and several other 

 plovers, the only one of which I identified was Numenius 

 borealis — the Esquimaux whimbrel. The little grey 

 phalarope (which is also a plover) was rather numerous, 

 feeding in flocks on the mud of the river near its mouth. 

 Wilson's snipe, already referred to, was also seen here ; 

 and the avocet, Becurvirostra americana. Of the latter I 

 shot five or six, but it was not abundant here. Higher 

 up the river, however, flocks of it were seen, numbering 

 eighty or ninety to a hundred and fifty bh-ds. A few 

 were seen eastward of Lake Winnipeg, but I did not 

 then succeed in shooting one. 



Continuing our way up the river and moving leisurely, 

 I made a few excursions into the country on either bank, 

 and shot a few cariboo and another bear. The latter was 

 a huge animal with a dark brown coat, and was literally 

 as " fat as butter." So far from danger or excitement in 

 the shooting of it, the poor brute made desperate attempts 

 to get away, and I had to put five balls into it before my 

 victory was assured. The grease afforded us a welcome 

 stock of fat for culinary purposes. The pelt was not 

 nearly so fine a one as that of the first bear I shot. As 

 to the colour, I notice that many bears in this region 

 have brown fur, or patches of brown about their coats. 

 The Company's people classify the pelts into black, brown, 

 grizzly, and white. The grizzly and the white (Polar) 

 bear are, of course, distinct species, but I can perceive no 



