Notes, Reviews and Comments. 71 



Natural History Notes — May, 1896. 



May 7th — During the evening large numbers of plover and 

 sandpipers were on the wing, and till midnight their shrill notes 

 were audible as they were apparantly circling round in the 

 vicinity of the Rideau river. Evidently a very large flight of the 

 late arrivals was passing over. Night, sultry and thunder to the 

 south. 



May lOth — The whip-poor-will was heard in the vicinity of 

 Ottawa, and had been heard abovs Aylmer a few nights 

 previous. 



May 14th — Night-hawks appeared in numbers. I could 

 get no reliable data of their appearance prior to this. Last year 

 they were seen on 5th May, and in 1894 on 15th and in 1893 on 

 2 1 St. This shows how variable is the time of their arrival, de- 

 pendant, doubtless, on the temperature. 



May 2 1 St — A pair of yellow-billed cuckoos were flying 

 round among some large elm trees on Wilbrod Street. A few 

 years ago they built in that vicinity but the nest was unfortun- 

 ately destroyed. They had not been seen there since till this 



date. 



H. B. Small. 



Ornithology. — I think I have never seen pine gross-beaks 

 as plentiful as during the past winter. From the beginning of 

 December until nearly the end of March, they were to be seen 

 any day almost, in the groves and small woods, and even in the 

 trees about the houses ; sometimes in large flocks, sometimes 

 three or four together — the latter being the case more in the 

 earlier part of the winter. 



Chick-a-dees have been more than usually numerous this 

 winter in this locality ; there have been the usual number of 

 blue-jays to be seen, crows in abundance, and wood-peckers a 

 few. I saw a flock of red-polls once or twice through the winter, 

 but that was all. 



I usually learn of the presence of a few owls in the neigh- 

 bourhood during the winter, either by their being driven by un- 



