ISO The Ottawa Naturalist. [November 



a thick growth of stunted spruce, some of the trees twisted into 

 fantastic shapes by the prevaiHng winds. Around the pools and 

 swamps the mosquitoes were so bad that it was impossible to 

 lie down and watch the birds. However on one of these ponds I 

 noticed three pairs of horned grebe, and found a nest with two 

 fresh eggs floating in two or three feet of water. Unless the 

 bird is clearly identified the eggs can hardly be distinguished 

 from the pied-billed grebe. The latter is the common grebe 

 in the St. Lawrence above Brockville, Ont., but in the Mag- 

 dalens I only saw these few pairs of horned grebes, and one 

 specimen of the red-necked. In this locality, i.e., at the east 

 point of Grosse Isle, the sora rail is quite common. We found 

 a nest among some " cat-tails " with young just hatching to-day 

 and containing six eggs as well. It was built in two feet of 

 water in a very dense growth. The other eggs met with were 

 mergansers and common terns. With the exception of the 

 black-poll warbler, the fox and Savannah sparrows, I saw no 

 small birds. Wilson's snipe, however is common and breeding 

 I saw five to-day. 



The following day, June 23rd, we started early for Bryon 

 Island, some miles north of Grosse Isle, in a whale-boat, and the 

 wind being partly favourable, reached that island in three hours. 

 Though small, it is a very pleasant, and for the Gulf, quite a 

 fertile spot. In size about four miles long, varying from half a 

 mile to a mile wide. A great part of it is covered by a dense 

 growth of spruce and fir, some of the trees of a larger size than 

 I saw on the other islands, but the majority gnarled and twisted 

 to a wonderful degree. The soil is good ; the cliffs consisting 

 of a soft red sandstone, rising in places some 300 feet or more 

 above the sea. Where the land is cleared grass grows luxuri- 

 antly and oats and potatoes are raised. The lobster fishing is 

 very profitable. In the afternoon of to-day I started to walk 

 round the island and investigate the fauna and flora along with 



