July, 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



103 



ens, and small birds in all directions ; and, what 

 ilo you think ? the Black Tern breeding in hun- 

 dreds; over a space of six miles I saw them in 

 countless numbers. The Ducks were principally 

 Blue-winged Teal, Pintails, Shovellers, and a 

 black-looking Duck which I could not idenlifj". 

 I shot a Teal and a splendid Shoveller drake Tor 

 the pot. I can fancy I hear you exclaiming 

 against the barbarism of eating such a bird ; but I 

 am getting dailj' accustomed to birds which are 

 considered rare in England, and regard them 

 now from a more utilitarian point of view. I 

 also saw a splendid pair of [Wilson's] Phalaropo 

 swimming on a pool only a few yards away ; one 

 of them kept rising and flying round, and I could 

 distinguish the beautiful red and lilack neck 

 (pirte plainly. We camped for the second night 

 on the prairie, and the mosquitoes were very 

 troublesome to my companion, but fortunately, 

 they did not attack me ; and we returned to 

 Brandon next day. 



July 3d. — About the end of June we paid an- 

 other short visit to the swamp and brought home 

 a few more Shovellers. I have a Goatsucker sit- 

 ting on two eggs just in front of my tent ; and 

 there are any number of Prairie Chickens' nests 

 all around, most of them now containing young 

 ones. Brandon looks lovely at night with fire- 

 flies flashing about like diamonds all over the 

 |irairie. I killed a Badger, a Goatsucker, and a 

 Pintail, near here yesterday. 



.Iidy 19th. — Early this month I was staying 

 with a friend twelve miles away, at Badger Hill, 

 close to the Assiniboine River, and surrounded 

 by immense forests of Oak, Pine, and Tamarac. 

 Tlie first evening of my arrival my friend and I 

 sallied forth in search of game. I spied some- 

 thing moving along in the grass, and immediately 

 firing at it with my rifle, had the satisfaction of 

 seeing the beast roll over. On a nearer approach, 

 however, we were unpleasantly apprised of the 

 nature of the animal, for the odor which greeted 

 our' nostrils proclaimed the everlasting Skimk. 

 Needless to say, we beat a hasty retreat. Next 

 day we were busy cutting down trees, fencing 

 and digging; now and then rushing with the gun 

 after some rara avis passing near. I shot half-a- 

 dozen large Hawks and Owls, and skinned two ; 

 one, I think, the-Hawk Owl, (Surniafunerea), and 

 the other, one of the Harriers, {Circus swainaoni), 

 almost the color of a common Gull. I also got 

 a beautiful little Hawk, about the size of a Mer- 

 lin, with blue wings and back like a Kestrel, blue 

 and red head and red feet, apparently Tinnuncu- 

 liis spurverius ; and a fine Grey Shrike, exactly 

 like our English species. I could shoot any 

 number of birds if I liked, but only secure spec- 



imens when I have time to skin them, except in 

 the case of Hawks, which I slay on most occa- 

 sions when opportunity offers. All I have got so 

 far I have skinned, though I have to do that part 

 of the collecting when the day's work is over. 

 When at Badger Hill we got up at .5 a. m. every 

 morning, made up the fire, and then strolled 

 down to the river with the gtm and looked at our 

 fishing lines ; then back to cook what we had 

 caught for breakfast. We got .some immense fish 

 at times. After breakfast we had a drive over 

 the prairie or a row down the river. One day 

 we were driving out, when suddenly we were 

 s;duted by the well-known cry of the Curlew 

 (bringing back recollections of tlie Tees Mouth 

 and Mostyn to my mind). There they were in 

 couples ; one foolishly passed over us, and I fired 

 at it from the carriage ; down it came, and then 

 another bit the dust. They were very like our 

 English Curlew, but buff-colored on the breast 

 and under the wings, and the same tinge runs all 

 over the bodj'. I guess it was the Esquimaux 

 Curlew.* AVe plucked and ate them; but I will 

 get specimens to preserve. Prairie Chickens are 

 getting strong on the wing, and in another fort- 

 night I shall be after them. The other night I 

 scared a Wolf outside my tent, but did not get a 

 shot at it. 



August 5th. I have been staying at Badger 

 Hill a good deal lately, and I have done a little 

 shooting. One day early in the month two guns 

 bagged twenty-two Ducks and two Grebes. The 

 Ducks are difficult to retrieve, and we lose quite 

 one-half of what we shoot in the reeds. I shot 

 two Yellowshanks, (Totanuii flaeipes,) and could 

 have killed many more, but don't waste cartridges 

 on such small game. On the way out here I got 

 a fine Buzzard ; its crop was full of grasshoppers 

 and mosquitoes. The sail down the Assiniboine 

 is very granil : woods on both sides resound with 

 the songs of myriads of birds of different kinds. 

 I only fired two shots down the river and se- 

 cured two beautiful Kingfishers, (Geryle idcyon). 

 They are a little larger than our Green Wood- 

 pecker, and about the same shape. I saw some 

 Sandpipers very like our common Sandpiper, 

 [doubtless the Spotted Sandpiper, T. mactilariiis.] 

 Birds are beginning to flock, and in a few weeks 

 the migration south will commence. 



• [As notliing is said as to size, length of bill, wing, or 

 tarsus, it is impossible to identify the species with certain- 

 ty ; but if " very like our English Curlew," it was most 

 probably Xumenius longrrovtris ; for Xuvwnius hitdsoninus 

 would have reminded the shooter of our Whimbrel, while 

 the Esquimaux Curlew is so much smaller than cither of 

 these that it would have at once attracted attention on that 



account. — Ed.] 



(To be continued.) 



