Febniary, li)21.] 



The Canadian Fiki.d-Xati kamst. 



many individuals are taking food from a 

 common source they have frequent com- 

 bats, two individuals grappling, rolling 

 over and over, and using their mandibles 

 but never their stings. 



This species finds its food by the sense 

 of smell, as was shown by a few experi- 

 ments which I performed. Food hidden 

 from its sight was readily discovered, but 

 similarly-coloui-ed objects without odour 

 were not visited. 



A. Brooker Klugh. 



A Gull in Niagara Rapids. — On the 

 afternoon of February 16, 1921, at Niaga- 

 ra Falls, Ontario, I was watching through 

 binoculars (x3) Herring Gulls, (Larus ar- 

 (jentatus, Pont.) and Ring-billed Gulls 

 {Larus delawarensis Ord.) which were 

 picking bits of food out of the rapids of 

 the Niagara River. So skilfully did they do 

 their work that they seemed to receive on 

 tlieir plumage not even a drop of spr^y 

 as they dipped repeatedly to the sui-face 

 of the rough water. But one adult Gull, of 

 wiiich species I cannot sa}-, must have made 

 an error as he sought to obtain some object 

 in the rapids just above the brink of the 

 Canadian Falls, for, while I watched with 

 my glasses focussed on him, he was sud- 

 denly seized l)y tlie foaming river, and in 

 a flash he disappeared beneath the sur- 

 face. I concluded that his career was end- 

 ed and that in a few moments more he 

 would go over the falls. Hardly had I had 

 time for the thought, however, when, several 

 feet down-stream from the place where he 

 had been submerged, the Gull reapi)eared 

 and succeeded in taking flight. Ai>par- 

 ently the rough handling whicli lie must 

 have received while beneath the surface of 

 the rapids had forced water into his usualiy 

 water-proof plumage, for, as he flew slow- 

 ly away, he was seen to shake hiinsolf 

 vigorou.'^ly, as a dog will do on ('(uniiig 

 out of the water. 



Harrison F. Liavis. 



The Greater Snow Goose. — Most re- 

 cent writers on the water-fowl of north- 

 eastern North America speak of the Greater 

 Show Goose (Chen hyperhorrns nivalis 

 (Forst.) ) as a rare bird in that area and 

 appea-r to pay little or no attention to the 

 fact that 'Ml'. Q. H, Dionne, on pages 109- 



110 of his book, "Les Oiseaux de la I'ro- 

 vince de Quebec" (1906), states of this 

 subspecies that it "is very common and 

 often occurs in considerable flocks in sj)riMg 

 and fall in certain places on our shores, 

 notal)ly at St. Joachim, where I have seen 

 flocks of three or four thousand individ- 

 uals, on the Island of Orleans, and as far 

 as the Sea- Wolves' Batture". The- three 

 points mentioned by Mr. Dionne are with- 

 in sight of one another. In their vicinity 

 probably all the Greater Snow Geese in 

 existence in a wild state gather each spring 

 and autumn. From the independent sta- 

 tements of various careful observers, I 

 should conclude that their number is now 

 about five or six thousand. "When I visit- 

 ed St. Joachim on March 31, 1921, I saw 

 about two thousand Greater Snow Goose 

 there and was told that the maximum num 

 ber would be present about ten days latei-. 

 Tliey are well protected by a resident 

 warden maintained by the Cap Tourmente 

 Fish and Game Club. 



Harrison F. Lewis. 



The Town of Yarmouth, N.S., Buys A 

 Bird Sanctuary. 



The municipality of the Town of Yar- 

 moutli has purchased a Bird Sanctuary. 

 This was not an area suitable for a jiark 

 or other similar purposes,but was the Island 

 in Lake George where the colony of Great 

 Black-backed Gulls nest. It is of use for 

 Bird Sanctuary purposes only, and this 

 colony of Gulls, so ably described by Afr. 

 Ilan-ison F. Lewis, will now be i)r()tected. 

 and will serve as an additional attraction 

 for bird-lovci-s in the YaniioMtii vicinity. 



The i)ul)lication of Mr. Lewis' ^ article 

 in tlie "Naturalist" assisted in crystalli/.- 

 ing local public opinion on this question 

 for it was extensively quoted in tlie Yar- 

 mouth jiress at the time that the mutter 

 was under consideration. 



The only step necessary to complete the 

 Sanctuary will be the fonual .setting aside 

 of the area by the provincial authorities. 



Large cities have parks wlicre land birds 

 find refuge and may be stuilied by the 

 student; these are bird sanctuaries with- 



I Ciinadiaii Field-Natnralist Sept. 1920. 



