80 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



shore, or swimming from point to point. Besides the 

 clouds of mosquitoes and black flies (Simulium molestum) 

 which swarm round everything that moves in the woods, 

 there are too large Tabani, or breeze flies, that are always 

 about moose, a grey speckled fly, and one with yellow 

 bands. The former is locally termed moose-fly, and is 

 very troublesome to the traveller in the woods in summer, 

 alighting on an exposed part, and quickly delivering a 

 sharp painful thrust with its lance-like proboscis. A tick 

 (Ixodes) affects the moose, especially in winter and early 

 spring. The animal strives to free itself from their irri- 

 tation by striding over bushes and brambles. The ticks 

 may often be seen on the beds in the snow where moose 

 have lain down, and whence they are quickly picked up by 

 the ever-attendant moose birds, or Canada jays (Corvus 

 canadensis). These vermin will fasten on the hunter 

 when backing his meat out of the woods. The Indian 

 says : " Bite all same as a. piece of fire." 



So many are the Indian tales illustrating the supposed 

 power that the moose possesses of being able to hide 

 himself from his pursuers by a complete and long-sus- 

 tained submergence below the surface of the water, that 

 one is almost inclined to believe that the animal is gifted 

 with an unusual faculty of retaining the breath. I kno\^ 

 that moose will feed upon the tendrils and roots of 

 the yellow pond lily by reaching for them under water. 

 An instance occurring in the same district in Nova 

 Scotia that I w^as hunting in, and at the same time, 

 which was related to me, will serve as a sample of the 

 oft-repeated stories bearing on this point. We had 

 crossed a fresh moose track of that mornins-'s date on 

 proceeding to our hunting grounds on the Cumberland 



