122 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Hawks, King-birds, and Nightjars swarm in the “bluffs” and 
woods; wild-fowl in the “sleughs.’’* Early spring and late 
autumn see a vast army of migrants on the move; whilst, even 
in winter, Hawk Owls, Snowy Owls, Shore Larks, Snow Buntings, 
Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, several Woodpeckers, ‘‘ Chickadees,” 
Grouse, Shrikes, &c., enliven the somewhat dreary scene. 
It will be well to say something of the haunts of the 
birds spoken of in the following paragraphs. Carberry stands at 
the south end of what is known as the “Big Plain,” which is 
merely a rather unusually large stretch of unbroken prairie. 
South of the town, and extending almost to the Assiniboine 
River, lies an extensive range of desolate sand-hills, which are 
seldom invaded by the foot of man, and are likely long to remain 
in their primitive condition ; they consist merely of wind-formed 
dunes, with hollows between which are filled with water, and 
form the home of many a rare bird and mammal. The sand of 
which the hills are formed is so pure that it can only support a 
very scanty covering of grass; and it is to this circumstance that 
we are indebted for the fact that the sand-hills, unlike the 
prairies, support a fairly abundant growth of trees, such as 
spruce, poplar, and oak. Were the grass sufficiently long and 
dense to ‘‘carry fire,” the trees would be quickly killed and burned 
to logs. Mr. Seton has just succeeded, after a long and exciting 
hunt, in killing a Moose in one of the woods on the sand-hills. 
Through the centre of the range of sand-hills runs Pine Creek, 
a sluggish stream clogged with water-lilies, and fringed with 
willows and bulrushes. For several miles on either side of the 
creek extends a huge swamp, covered thickly with trees of spruce 
and tamarac, where the Indian pitcher-plant, Sarracenia pur- 
purea, grows by the acre, and all things combine to make a true 
naturalists’ paradise. In winter, when everything is frozen hard, 
this swamp may be crossed with ease; but so wet and im- 
penetrable is it in summer, that I have little hesitation in 
claiming that no one except Mr. Seton and myself have ever 
crossed it at that time of year. Of the prairies not much need 
be said; they are flat, covered with a fine growth of grass, and 
interspersed with bluffs, which are gradually disappearing before 
** On the Manitoban prairies any isolated cluster of trees or a copse is 
known as a “bluff”; a ‘“‘sleugh” is the invariable name for a wet, marshy 
spot or a shallow pond. 
