122 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 8 



Nova Scotia by Maj. Thos. Egan of the Hal- 

 ifax Rifles, a naturalist, a keen sportsman, a 

 fine shot, and hence, of course, a good fellow; 

 and my mind turns toward the memory of an 

 outing taken in his company, and as his guest, 

 the thoughts of which will be long in fading 

 from my memory, and I only hope that as his 

 eyes scan these lines he too will be able to 

 say, "That was a great day." 



I had spent about a week in exploring the 

 vicinity of Halifax, and one afternoon was 

 sitting in Mr. Egan's place of business when I 

 was saluted with, "Bates, how would you like 

 a day at Tliree Fathom Harbor?" Now it did 

 not take me over two seconds to make up my 

 mind, and accordingly the next afternoon 

 found us sitting behind a stout little nag with 

 the spires of Halifax fast fading in the distance. 

 My eyes were kept busy with the ever-changing 

 scenery which opened up views of lake, sea- 

 shore and foiest, in never-ending succession. 



Here was a chain of lakes stretching away in 

 the distance, an exploration of whose shores 

 wouUl disclose sjjots which would make the 

 weary heart of tlie city denizen open up like a 

 rose before the morning sun; and just beyond 

 a view of the broad ocean which would make 

 an artist tlirow down liis brush in despair 

 because he could not approach its beautiful 

 reality, and farther on the road wound thiough 

 dense forests of spruce, wliose desolate quiet- 

 ude would cause one's blood to run in icy 

 channels from the heart. 



From amidst these varying scenes we sud- 

 denly came out upon a lone house perched 

 upon a bluff, ascending which we could h)ok 

 down upon the ocean, glimmering in tlie rays 

 of the setting sun, and reflecting the shadows 

 of the myriads of gulls and other water-fowl 

 which sailed above or floated upon its surface. 



The ride of about twelve miles had given us 

 good appetites for the supper wliich soon 

 awaited us, and after a walk we sought our 

 beds, to wake only when tlie first rays of tlie 

 morning sun shone in at the windows. 



An early start and a drive of a few miles 

 brought us to our destination, and we soon 

 had our cartridges in our vests and with our 

 guns umler our arms were ready for the day's 

 work. 



A boy being dispatched for a boat, we 

 wended our way to the beach, and Dame For- 

 tune smiled upon the stranger with a Ring- 

 neck (A. O. U. No. 275) which fell to the 

 crack of the Parker, and "First blood for tlie 

 Yankee" was proclaimed. 



On the arrival of the boat we made for Shut- 



in-Island, bagging a small Scoter on the 

 way. 



Say, Tom, how many shots did it take to 

 bag that duck? 



At the island we found the Sandpipers (No. 

 242) very plentiful, and mingled with them 

 were a few Semi-palmated (No. 246). Hun- 

 dreds could have been shot in a few moments, 

 but a few satisfied us. 



Then "Canada" got amongst the Bona- 

 l^artes (No. GO) and secured a few, and while 

 retrieving these, a sharp whistling was heard 

 and a small flock of Turnstones (No. 288) 

 pitched on to the rocky beach beyond. It was 

 now creep and crawl, and every blade of grass 

 and hillock of sand was eagerly sought as a 

 refuge. Patient work brouglit its reward, and 

 three birds fell to my comjianion's gun, none 

 coming my way. 



No more "large birds" came to hand, and 

 tiring of shooting "Peeps" we took tlie boat 

 and rowed up the harbor. 



A shot at a gull brought it wounded upon 

 the flats, and before a "quietus" could be 

 given it, its cries had attracted a large flock, 

 and two more fell victims to the greed for 

 specimens, which subsequently proved to be 

 probably Ring- bills (A. O. IT. No. 54) in young 

 plumage. 



I am informed by friends in Halifax that 

 this is a soniewliat unusual occurrence, and 

 JVir. Downs, the veteran ornithologist of Nova 

 Scotia, never saw it, and does not mention it 

 in his list.* This seems rather strange as the 

 bird is common on all sides of the province. 

 Mr. Harry Austen, of Halifax, wlio possesses 

 one of the birds, writes me that tlie nearest 

 points at which lie knows of the bird is on the 

 Canadian Lakes, and until further noted we 

 must only accept it as a probable addition to 

 the List of the Birds of Nova Scotia. 



A careful examination of the sliores and 

 channel failed to disclose anything of interest 

 until we got back on to the mud flats. 



Here was seen a flock of Ring-necks, and it 

 was a question whether we wanted tlieni badly 

 enougli to wade for them, and finally concluded 

 that mud and water were good for us, and six 

 of these birds were added to our bag. 



The sun was now rapidly sliding down the 

 western sky, and after a hasty dinner we 

 started back toward Macdonald's, our stopping- 

 place of the night before. As we reached the 

 sa.idy beaches near this jflace the sound of the 



* Vide, List of Birds of \. S. Trans. X. S. Inst. Nat. 

 Hist. Vol. 7, part 2. pafie 142. 



