THE BIRDS 385 



out before them like most ducks. The king eider, a wonder- 

 fully marked bird, breeds in scanty numbers along the 

 coast, and the Greenland eider is a breeder in the northern 

 parts of the country. 



The three species of scoters, or sea-coots, as they are 

 called, breed in the interior, but numbers of each species are 

 always to be found in summer along the sea-coast. A small 

 duck that is diminishing in numbers still breeds in the 

 interior of Labrador along the course of streams. This is 

 the harlequin duck, as curiously variegated in colours as is 

 the individual for which it is named. After the breeding 

 season, this bird resorts to the salt water. 



Of the geese, the Canada goose alone breeds commonly 

 in the interior of Labrador, and is often caught by the 

 natives during its helpless moulting period. 



The heron and rail family are represented in Labrador 

 by but few species, and those mostly stragglers. 



The upper limit of the Hudsonian Zone coincides with 

 the upper limit of the tree growth. The lower limit cannot 

 be accurately placed, for it glides imperceptibly into the Ca- 

 nadian Zone. There are frequently offshoots and islands of 

 the Canadian Zone in favourable localities in the Hudsonian 

 Zone, just as there are offshoots and islands of the Hud- 

 sonian Zone in the Arctic Zone. The most characteristic 

 Hudsonian bird and one that clings closely to the out- 

 skirts of the Arctic Zone, often indeed invading its territory, 

 is the white-crowned sparrow, well called the aristocrat of 

 its family. A most distinguished-looking individual he is, 

 with his snow-white crown and white bars over the eyes. 

 The area of the white crown is enlarged when he erects it 

 in pride or passion, or when the wind blows it up. This is 



2c 



