102 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 7 



the morning of Saturday, the 23il, the rain liad 

 ceased but everything was enveloped in thick fog. 

 I lilied the look of the morning very much, and 

 leaving the city at about 6 a. m., drove six miles 

 to a vifW known point, where I tied up the horse 

 and soon had plenty to do. From the numbers 

 of small birds which swarmed everywhere it was 

 evident that a " wave " had been passing over, but 

 had been delayed by the fog and now the only 

 dilTicuUy was to select the most desirable species. 

 I tried to do this as I best could, but after all 

 brought down some common ones by mistake. I 

 stayed till 11 o'clock, and Ihen returned with tlic 

 following " bag" ; 



1 Carolina Rail, 1 Scarlet Tanager, 1 Oven 

 Bird, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Wood Pewee, 1 Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatcher,! Swamp Sjtarrow, 2 Redstarts, 

 1 Alice's Thrush, 2 Liuculn's Sparrows, :! Bhiek- 

 burnian Warblers, 2 ("hestniit-sided Warblers, 3 

 Sp<itted Canadiai ^V'arhlers, 1 Yellow-rump 

 Warbler, 1 Black-and-yellow Warbler, 1 Nash- 

 ville Warbler, 2 Bay-breasted Warblers, 2 Green 

 Black-capped Warblers, 5 Mourning Warblers, 2 

 Connecticut Warblers. The above were collected 

 by two guns between 7 and 11 o'clock. 



In the afternoon another of our party visited 

 the same locality and returned at 7 p. m. with 1 

 Whip poor-Will, 1 Titlark, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 

 Short-billed Water Thrush, 4 Spotted Canadian 

 Warblers, 1 Hooded Warbler, 5 Bay-breasted 

 Warblers, 1 Black- throated Green Warbler, 1 

 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Black-and- Yellow 

 Warbler, 2 Mourning Warblers, 1 Connecticut 

 Warbler, 2 Green Black-capped Warbleis. 



Sunday the weather was still foggy, and on 

 Monday, the 25th, it began to clear away. This 

 day being Queen's Birthday, and a holiday, I was 

 again at liberty', and with my former companion 

 reached the same point at 7 a. m. and returned at 

 noon with the following birds: 2 Blue Jays, 3 

 Black-billed Cuckoos, 2 Carolina Doves, 1 Marsh 

 Wren, 1 Indigo Bird, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, 2 

 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 1 Warbling Vireo, 4 

 Mourning Warblers, 2 Black-throated Blue War- 

 bler, 1 Black-andycllow Warbler, 2 Blue Yellow- 

 backed Warblers, 1 Blackburniau Warbler, 2 

 Green Black-capped Warblers, 2 Black-poll War- 

 blers, 1 Maryland Yellow-throat, 1 Spotted Can- 

 adian Flycatching Warbler, 1 Redstart. 



Tuesday, the 26th, wiis bright and clear, the 

 same locality was visi'ed again by one of our 

 party, but except a few Black-polls which were 

 loitering about, all the migratory birds were gone, 

 to be seen no more for a time. We have usually 

 got one or two Mourning Warblers at this point 

 each year but never so manj' as this time. The 

 Lincoln's Sparrow, Hooded Warbler and Connecti- 

 cut Warbler are all first records for the locality. 



Notes on the Zoology of Manitoba. 



BY THE T.ATE T. B. WOOD. 



(('ommnnicatc'd l)y T. It. Nelson to Tlw Zootofiist.) 



[The following notes are extracted from the 

 letters of my late friend Mr. T. B. Wood, of 

 Middleton, near Manchester, who went out to 

 Manitoba in the Spring of 1882, and who lived 

 for some time at Brandon, in the North West, the 

 then terminus of the C. P. Railwaj'. Mr. Wood 

 was an enthusiastic naturalist, and, unfortunalelj', 

 fell a victim in the cause of his favorite pursuit. 

 One day, towards the end of Otober, 1883, having 

 shot a rare Duck (a Buffelhead, I believe) on a 

 slough, he incautiously waded into the water up 

 to his waist to retrieve the bird, thereby contract- 

 ing a severe cold .and inflammation, which result- 

 ed in his death in a very short time. 



As may be seen from his notes, the neighbor- 

 hood of Brandon abounds in animal life, espec- 

 ially at the periods of the vernal and Autumnal 

 migrations. 



Mr. Wood was busily engaged in forming a 

 collection of skins of the birds and other animals 

 which are found in the North West, and it was 

 his intention to h.ave prepared a list of Manitoban 

 Birds for publication in ' The Zoologist,' when 

 his career was prematurely cut short, in the man- 

 ner mentioned, at the early age of twenty-six. 



The period over which his observations ex- 

 tended was from the end of May, 1882, to Octo- 

 ber, 1883, the first letter after his arrival at Bran- 

 don being dated May 31st, 1882, in which, after 

 detailing his first experiences of Canadian life, 

 and describing the town of Brandon, he proceeds 

 in manner following. — T. II. N.] 



On the journey from Minneapolis to Winnipeg, 

 and thence to Brandon, we saw great numbers of 

 Ducks, Herons, Bitterns, Goatsuckers, Plovers, 

 Buzzards, Hawks, Prairie Chickens, Geese, and 

 other birds which I did not recognize ; as also a 

 great many Foxes and Squirrels. The land all 

 around here is as flat as a pancake, with a few 

 scrubby trees occasionally, and here and there 

 swamps on which you will always see Ducks and 

 a Bittern or two. The day alter my arrival I saw 

 a herd of Bisons. 



.June loth. — Early this month B. and I drove 

 out to .Jeoman city and thence south across the 

 prairie ; we camped out about ten miles from 

 Brandon and resumed our journey next day, un- 

 til we were about eighteen miles in a southerl}' 

 direction from Brandon. It is about the finest 

 country you could imagine in the wildest flights 

 of fiincy ; Ducks getting up tinder your feet at 

 everj' yard ; Hawks, Goatsuckers, Prairie Chick- 



