224 THE zZOoLOoGiIst. 
NOTES ON THE ZOOLOGY OF MANITOBA. 
By THE Late T. B. Woon. 
(Communicated by T. H. Nrtson.) 
(Tue following notes are extracted from the letters of my 
late friend Mr. T. B. Wood, of Middleton, near Manchester, 
who went out to Manitoba in the spring of 1882, and who lived 
for some time at Brandon, in the North West, the then terminus of 
the C. P. Railway. Mr. Wood was an enthusiastic naturalist, 
and, unfortunately, fell a victim in the cause of his favourite 
pursuit. One day, towards the end of October, 1888, having 
shot a rare Duck (a Buffel-head, I believe) on a slough, he 
incautiously waded into the water up to his waist to retrieve 
the bird, thereby contracting a severe cold and inflammation, 
which resulted in his death in a very short time. 
As may be seen from his notes, the neighbourhood of Brandon 
abounds in animal life, especially at the periods of the vernal. 
and autumnal migrations. 
Mr. Wood was busily engaged in forming a collection of 
skins of the birds and other animals which are found in the 
North West, and it was his intention to have prepared a list of 
Manitoban Birds for publication in ‘The Zoologist,’ when his 
career was prematurely cut short, in the manner I have men- 
tioned, at the early age of twenty-six. 
The period over which his observations extended was from the 
end of May, 1882, to October, 1883, the first letter after his arrival 
at Brandon being dated May 31st, 1882, in which, after detailing 
his first experiences of Canadian life, and describing the town of 
Brandon, he proceeds in manner following.—T. H. N.] 
On the journey from Minneapolis to Winnipeg, and thence 
to Brandon, we saw great numbers of Ducks, Herons, Bitterns, 
Goatsuckers, Plovers, Buzzards, Hawks, Prairie Chickens, Geese, 
and other birds which I did not recognize; as also a great many 
Foxes and Squirrels. The land all around here is as flat as a 
pancake, with a few scrubby trees occasionally, and here and 
there swamps on which you will always see Ducks and a Bittern 
or two. The day after my arrival I saw a herd of Bisons. 
June 15th.—Early this month, B. and I drove out to Jeoman 
city and thence south across the prairie; we camped out about 
ten miles from Brandon and resumed our journey next day, 
