12 Bird-Life in Labrador. 



STONE CHAT 



Saxicola oenanthe. (L.) BKCHST. 



Dr. Elliott Cones secured a single specimen of this extra- 

 ordinarily rare bird at Henley Harbor, August 25, 1860. It 

 has not been known to occur in Labrador since, to my know- 

 ledge. It was said to have been " in company with two 

 others/' and " in immature plumage, very different from that 

 of the adult, and excessively fat." It a common European 

 bird. 



RUBY CROWNED KINGLET 



Regulus calendula. (L.) LIGHT. 



IN my " Labrador," (p. 85,) under date of Monday, October 

 11, my notes read : In the afternoon I shot perhaps the most 

 cunning bird known about these regions, where it is never 

 common, the ruby-crowned wren. It was flitting about in a 

 small clump of bushes when I first saw it and it me. I was 

 then obliged to wait around for over half an hour before I 

 could again catch sight of and shoot it. It will cunningly crawl 

 or flit from place to place, and it is a mere question of who 

 will continue this game of hide-and-seek the longest. It has 

 been taken several times in Labrador, and in various places 

 along the coast, so that it is probably a more or less common 

 visitor if not resident. My manuscript notes are much more 

 explicit and read : October 11, at Old Fort Island. Much to 

 my surprise, to-day, I shot one of these birds. He was fl) - 

 ing about, appearing and disappearing, in the low evergreen 

 firs and spruces of a little patch of undergrowth. I had 

 thought that I had detected a slight noise, and listening intent- 

 ly I heard it again. After nearly fifteen minutes of careful 

 watching and diligent searching I found the little fellow. 

 So shy and careful was he that I pursued him fully fifteen 

 minutes more before I was able to shoot and ascertain what it 

 Avas. It uttered no note while I was watching it, but crept 



