116 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIV. 



followed by marine Upper Triassic. Then there is 

 no sedimentary record of any kind until the deposi- 

 tion of the Miocene fresh-water beds with lignit'^s. 

 As Per Schei died soon after the return of the ex- 

 pedition, the fossils are described by O. Hiltedahl. 

 The land plants of the Upper Devonian and the 

 very few from the Miocene are described by A. G. 

 Nathorst; the Devonian fishes by J. Kiaer; the 

 Devonian invertebrates by O. E. Mayer and S. 

 Loewe ; the Upper Carboniferous fauna by T. 

 Tschernyschew and P. Stepanow ; and the Triassic 

 marine invertebrates by E. Kittl. 



Points of interest to be noted are the richness of 

 plant life in certain spots during the very short 

 growing season. It was noted that flora was most 

 abundant on granite lands and least developed on 

 Paleozoic limestone. It was richest on bird grounds 

 and around Eskimo habitations, and on the whole 

 was sufficient to support the few land animals. The 

 waters are alive with animal life, from minute 

 forms to seals, walrus and whales. The marine 

 fauna does not include a great variety of species, 

 but makes up for this in the abundance of in- 

 dividuals. R. M. Anderson. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



A Pigeon Hawk Winters at Ottawa — The 

 past winter 1919-20 with its heavy snow and ex- 

 treme cold could scarcely have been a worse one 

 for any bird wintering north of its usual range. 

 However that may be, a Pigeon Hawk (Falco 

 columbarius) did spend part of the. winter in Ot- 

 tawa and was seen in Mr. E. G. White's garden 

 from January 8th to February 4th, 1920. This 

 sojourn gave an opportunity to study its food habits 

 to a certain extent. It braved the great cold of 

 January during which month the thermometer regis- 

 tered 29 "F. below zero on at least one occasicn. 



Mr. White had many chances to observe it dur- 

 ing that time and we both watched it through field 

 glasses for about half an hour on February 2nd. 



During its stay it often flew among Mr. White's 

 pigeons, but apparently took no toll of them. It 

 was observed eating a House sparrow on January 

 9th, and captured a Pine Grosbeak shortly before 

 my visit on February 2nd, strewing its feathers 

 about the garden. Chickadees were apparently 

 beneath its notice, and on February 4th, it remained 

 peacefully on its perch while a Ruffed Grouse 

 budded the bare upper limbs of an adjacent crab- 

 apple tree. 



Consultation of some of the bird literature shows 

 that this species occurs occasionally in Quebec and 

 Ontario in winter, although its winter range ex- 

 tends to South America. 



Some recorded winter occurences are: 



Fleming: Auk, Vol. XXIV, 1907, p. 73— 

 Given in the Canadian Journal, 1, 1852-3, as a 

 winter resident at Toronto in 1853. 



Nash: Occasionally seen at Toronto in winter. 



Terrell: Otlaiva Naturalist, Vol. XXIV, 1910, 

 p. 39 — One seen at Compton County, Quebec, 

 December 2 — 15, 1909; and ibid seen at Mont- 

 real, Quebec, on December 9, 1908; January 2nd 

 and January 30th, 1909. 



HoYES Lloyd. 



The Birds of the Wilderness of Nova 

 Scotia — On pp. 36 and 37 of The Canadian Field- 

 Naturalist, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2, February, 1920, 

 Mr. H. A. P. Smith, of Digby, N.S., tells of notic- 

 ing an absence of birds, especially song birds, in 

 the interior wilderness of Nova Scotia, and enumer- 

 ates the ten species which he has found there, one 

 of which, the Song sparrow, he has observed there 

 but once. 



It would appear that either Mr. Smith has been 

 very unfortunate in the times and places of his 

 journeys into the Nova Scotia wilds, or that in 

 some way he has overlooked many birds ordinarily 

 to be found there in the breeding season. On the 

 open sphagnum bog, it is true, birds may be scarce, 

 but if there are a few bushes and dead stubs, 

 the White-throated sparrow, the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, and the Chestnut-sider warbler are almost 

 certain to be present. Among the granite boulders 

 the Nighthawk lays its eggs, at the numerous lakes 

 Spotted Sandpipers, Loons, Great Blue Herons, 

 Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls fre- 

 quently occur, and, where even a small area of 

 woodland has escaped the fire and the axe. Hermit 

 Thrushes, Magnolia Warblers, Chickadees, Red- 

 starts, and a great variety of other woodland birds 

 proclaim their presence. 



I have had the pleasure of making a number of 

 journeys into the interior of Nova Scotia, and 

 while, unfortunately, I did not always make notes 

 on the birds, especially the common birds, to be 

 found there, yet I am able to state that I have ob- 

 served at least fifty-nine species of birds in the 

 Nova Scotia wilderness, the home of the moose 

 and the wild-cat. As the avifauna of Nova Scotia 

 is fairly well known, no attempt will be made to 

 take up space here by enumerating these species 

 (to which no doubt many more might be added) 

 in detail, but the following resume of them may 

 serve to prevent any impression that the interior of 



