THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 



VOL. XXXIII. 



APRIL. 1919. 



No. 1. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



With the March, 1919, issue, The Ottawa 

 Naturalist, the official organ of the Ottawa Field- 

 Naturalists' Club, ceased to exist under that name. 

 The Ottawa Naturalist had a long and honour- 

 able career. Like all similar publications it had its 

 trials, its ups and downs, financial troubles, etc., but 

 it weathered all storms and appeared fairly regularly 

 during its thirty-two years of existence. In its 

 pages are to be found many articles of great scientific 

 value and we would like to have space to remind 

 our readers of at least some of the more important 

 of the contributions which it presented. With the 

 increase in its size, improvement of paper, specially 

 prepared articles, etc.. Vol. XXXII, certainly may 

 be regarded as an excellent production and one 

 which has brought forth many words of encourage- 

 ment from its readers. 



This, the April issue of the organ of the club 

 appears under a new name — The Canadian Field- 

 Naturalist. Such a change was intimated in the 

 April, 1918, issue of The Ottawa Naturalist, 

 and at the recent annual meeting of the Club, held 



on March 18, 1919, the same was duly approved. 

 This change in name will not, of course, affect in 

 any way the spirit of the publication. Such change 

 only reflects its widened sphere of influence. We 

 hope it will develop along improved lines and 

 ultimately be accepted as the organ not only of The 

 Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, but of similar 

 organizations throughout Canada. There is an ex- 

 cellent opportunity for the naturalists of Canada to 

 assist in building up this publication and making it 

 truly representative of Canadian scientific research. 

 The popular side will, of course, not be overlooked. 

 Special efforts will be made to make it useful to 

 amateur naturalists, teachers and the public gen- 

 erally. 



The subscription price for the present volume 

 which will contain six issues, namely for the months 

 of April, May, September, October, November 

 and December will be $1.00. Thereafter the volumes 

 will consist of nine issues each volume beginning 

 with the January number; the subscription price of 

 each volume will be increased proportionately. 



NOTES ON THE CASPIAN TERN (STERNA CASPIA) AND THE 

 PARASITIC JAEGER (STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS) IN MANITOBA. 



By Professor Chas. H. O'Donoghue, D.Sc, and J. Nelson Gowanlock, B.A., 



Fellow in Zoology, Zoological Department, 



University of Manitoba. 



Island faunae, ever an interesting field in orni- 

 thology, become particularly attractive in contin- 

 ental areas where lake islands afford the only suit- 

 able breeding grounds for certain water birds. 



The following observations refer to a small but 

 interesting island in the northern part of Lake 

 Winnipeg visited on July the 9th and 1 3th, 1918, 

 whereon a colony of Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) 

 was found. No record of this species breeding in 

 Manitoba has hitherto been published. A specimen 

 of Parasitic Jaeger (SlercoTanus parasiticus) was 

 also secured and constitutes the first inland record 

 for this province. 



Through the courtesy of the Riverton Fish 

 Company, of Riverton, Man., the authors were 

 enabled to make the journey — a round trip of some 

 500 miles — from Hnausa to Berens Island. The 

 objects of the trip were first to study if possible, 

 breeding colonies of White Pelicans (Pelecanus 

 er^throrh\)nchos) and second, to gather some idea 

 of the biological conditions on the northern portion 

 of the lake. The original intention to make Rein- 

 deer Island the base proved impracticable and a 

 camp was estciblished at Swampy Bay, Berens 

 Island, where the Riverton Fish Company main- 

 tained a large fishing station. We desire to express 



