^iSqi^I Dwight, Summer Birdsi of Prince Ed-ward Island. "X 



The geolojrical formation of the island is a ivd, cnimliling sand- 

 stone tliat <^ivi.'s rise to low biiills ten to twenty feet hi<:;li alon<^ 

 the coast, these reachinj? a hei<;ht of sixty or seventy feet at some 

 points, notably near North Cape, at East Point, and on the 

 north shore near New London. The hlulVs (or 'clifts' as they are 

 called by the natives) are practically perpendicnlar, the waves 

 eating them away below, and usually theie is a gravelly beach of 

 detritus at their base. Tiiey are often guttered by streams, and 

 sloping down, parallel to the water's edge, may be replaced by 

 reaches of gravel or sand, or perhaps low islands, behind which 

 are tbund lagoons and salt marslies, but in a few miles, pcrliaps 

 in a few hundred yards, they may again unexpectedly rise to con- 

 siderable height. The wind-swept sand beaches are chielly 

 along the north shore, interrupted at times by the red blulfs; 

 and although there is always a perceptible reddish tinge to the 

 sand, it is surprising how white it may become in some local- 

 ities. The drifted sand-hills, fringed with more or less scanty 

 grass, suggested the possibility of linding the Ipswich Spairow, 

 and yet my elforts were unrewarded, the Savanna Sparrows met 

 with in such places being in no wise lighter-colored th;m those 

 of adjacent Helds. 



A green belt of farming country encircles the island, the pas- 

 tures in manv places extending to the very edge of the blulVs.and 

 back f>f them tiie land is slightlv rolling, nowhere reaching any 

 considerable altitude. The only marked inequalities are due to 

 the erosion of sniall brooks, and the general elfect is that of a Hat 

 country. In the central section, the best settled, the farms 

 extend from shore to shore and have succeeded the forest that 

 once clothed the whole island. The timber has been nearly all 

 cut, and no large bodies remain except in the westci.i and eas<:erii 

 sections, wiiere bears, still surviving in limited numbers, indicate 

 the nature of the unsettleil tracts. A few 'blueberry barrens* 

 were noticed. Most of the island appears to be well drained and 

 comparatively dry. I met with no extensive swamps, nor aie 

 the shores of the fresh water lagoons and lakes (particularly 

 abundant near East Point) especially swampy. The lagoons 

 have been made by the damming back of small streams behind 

 the sandbars formed by the wearing away of the bluffs. At Tig- 

 nish tlie wootls were in patches interruptetl by fields, this style of 

 country being characteristic of a large part of the island. It rep- 



