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ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. lO-No.5 i 



minute. They had now acquired a soft gray 

 coat of feathers. The remaining tliree were 

 placed on a limb of a tree one morning for exer- 

 cise, and the smaller and weaker one of them, 

 wlio liad not yet learned to fly, fell from the limb 

 and hurt himself. lie was wrapped in a strip of 

 cloth and put in a bo.x alone, and when seen half 

 an hour later, he had swallowed about two inches 

 of the rag he was wrapped in, and seemed bent 

 on swallowing the rest. It was cut otf, for he 

 would not, or could not, let go. After tjiking 

 this medicine he pined away and — -was as well as 

 ever in a few days, and better, for he began to 

 pick up, and was soon as strong as the rest. 



It was now July, and I noticed a few red featli- 

 ers pushing their way tlirough the gray ones, and 

 it was not long before they were clad in the red 

 or mottled plumage. Tlie Owls suffered a great 

 deal from tlie hot weather, and wei'e panting all 

 day long, so I got a tin pan full of water and set 

 it in the shed, then set tlie Owls on the edge, and 

 they went in and enjoyed themselves. They al- 

 ways wet themselves completely thnmgh, and 

 were unable to fly for some time after. After a 

 bath they would go to a sunny spot and sit there, 

 with their wings spread and their eyes half 

 closed. They also look sand and sun batlis, and 

 would sit in the sun with tlieir wings e.vleiuled 

 tor some time. 



One morning an Owl was missing, and the fol- 

 lowing day another, and nothing was heard of 

 tliem afterwards. The remaining one was re- 

 moved with his cage to a sliady i)Iace in the o|)in 

 air, but he preferred the shed in the day time. 

 When allowed the freedom of the shed at night 

 he did not molest the chickens, nor did lie gel in 

 their way himself, but if a lighted candle was 

 taken in there after dark, he would put it out with 

 his wings. He would pounce on live mice and 

 birds that were brought to him, always being 

 sure^to get his claws about the throat of his vic- 

 tims. I generally found him in a certain corner 

 behind some bo.xes, in . the day time, wliere he 

 would remain undisturbed until evening. He 

 liked grass-hoppers, especially the large ones, of 

 whicli I used to get him a lirge number. When 

 placed before him alive, he would stand erect and 

 gaze at the hopper for some time, then lie would 

 go prancing around il, stamping his feet, seem- 

 ingly to get a favorable position to pounce 

 from, and suddenly come down on it with both 

 feet, as if it was something that would require all 

 the strength he c niM mister. II' always tore 

 off the legs of the hoiijiers, and the wing and 

 tail feathers of birds. 



One day he was found in his fitvorite corner 

 looking rather worn out, and the cause was ex- 



plained next day by his throwing up a pellet in 

 which was a nuil oiie itnd three-fourtkg incites l-oiig. 

 He w.as never in a hurry unless after something, 

 or soinet'iiing was after him. He paused after 

 everything he ate, and eveiy swallow he took 

 while drinking. Whenever he saw a cat or dog, 

 he would mvke off in the opposite direction in 

 short time. He diil not seem to be troubled at 

 all by the liglit, and would look at Buzzards and 

 Chimney Swifts, following their flights with his 

 eyes. It was amusing to see liim pounce on red 

 ants. He would watch one and wait until it got 

 some distance away, then run after and pounce 

 on it, after his manner of pounc'mg on grass- 

 hoppers. He seldom got tlie ant, but a clawful 

 of dirt instead. He would nibble at the dirt and 

 th^'n drop it to see where the ant had gone, then 

 after it again. He went through the ((ueerest 

 notions when looking at anything; would bob 

 his head first to one side and then the other, then 

 draw it forward and backward, while all the time 

 the pupil of his eye would srrow large, then small. 

 I kept him tlirough the Winter, and the follow- 

 ing Spring he disappeared. 



Notes on the Birds of Manitoba. 



BY UOHEUT MILLER CHRISTY. 



(The Xmlorjkt, April. IKH.j.) 

 During the last two years I have several times 

 had occasion to visit that newly-opened but mucli- 

 talked-of region known as Manitoba; and as on 

 each visit I devoted as much time as I was aide 

 to spare from other branches of Natural History, 

 to tlie study of the Ornithology of that country, 

 — a subject to which very little attention has 

 hitherto been directed, — I now propose to offer a 

 few remarks upon it. It must, however, be 

 clearly understoo.l that ray observations are put 

 forward strictly as iioten. Many, even of the 

 cuninnnest birds, are not so much as referred to 

 lierein, simply because they did not happen to 

 come specially under my notice. Most of the 

 following notes were made near the town of Car- 

 berry, 10) miles west of Winnipeg, during the 

 months of August, S.-ptember, and October, 1883. 

 I cinnot too fully acknowledge the assistance 

 given by my friend Mr. E. E. T. Seton, of Toron- 

 to, who for several years i):ist has resided in 

 JI initoba, and has done much towards investiga- 

 ting its avi-fauna. The nomenclature used is 

 that employed in the new edition of Dr. Coues' 

 " Key to North American Birds." 



The popidar idea of Manitoba as an icy and 

 inliospitaMe country is not altogether wrong, as 

 far as the Winter is concerned ; hut of the Sum- ' 

 mer season it is wholly incorrect. While the lat- 



