16 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI. 



November 7th to 12th, 1921, An unusually large 

 attendance was present. 



The business meeting was held the afternoon 

 and evening of November 7th, when a "Shore 

 Dinner" was given by the President of the Union 

 to the Fellows. Amongst the Members raised to 

 the Fellow class was our countryman, Major 

 Allan Brooks, of British Columbia. A large 

 number of Canadians were elected Associates. 



Public meetings given to the reading and dis- 

 cussion of papers occupied the 8th to 10th. 

 The Annual Dinner was celebrated the evening 

 of the 9th and on the 11th and 12th opportunity 

 was given to visit the Zoological Gardens and 

 points of historical and ornithological interest 

 near the city. 



One paper on Canadian ornithology was read: 

 "Some Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan," by Mr. 

 Geo. H. Stuart, who visited the vicinity of Crane 

 Lake last summer. 



Much of the pleasureable success of the meeting 

 was due to the hospitable welcome extended by 

 the various members of the Delaware Valley 

 Ornithological Club and by the Academy of Natur- 

 al Sciences, which threw its doors wide open to 

 the Union and in whose halls the meetings were 

 held. 



Among those present were: Messrs. Edward 

 Arnold, Montreal; J. H. Fleming, Toronto; 

 Hoyes Lloyd, Ottawa; W. E. Saunders, London; 

 P. A. Taverner, Ottawa. 



One visitor from England was present, H. Kirk 

 Swann, who is visiting American ornithologists 

 for the purpose of obtaining material for his 

 Synopsis of the Accipitres, now in course of 

 publication. 



The next Annual Meeting will be held in 

 Chicago. 



LECTURES TO SCHOOL CHILDREN 



During the winter of 1920 to 1921, the Victoria 

 Memorial Museum re-established the old policy 

 of providing a course of lectures for the entertain- 

 ment and instruction of the school children who 

 throng the building every Saturday morning. 

 Many members of the museum staff offered their 

 services for these lectures, and the Department 

 of Trade and Commerce co-operated by providing 

 moving pictures and an operator. In consequence, 

 every lecture was illustrated with lantern views, 

 and all but one with moving pictures as well; 

 at this one living animals were presented. So 

 popular did the lectures prove that they had to be 

 repeated each morning to a fresh audience, as the 

 hall, which has a seating capacity of 562, was not 

 large enough to accommodate the crowds. In 

 fact one lecture had to be given three times in the 



same mornmg. 



The following is the programme of the lectures; 

 a similar programme has been arranged for the 

 winter of 1921-22. 



Feb. 12. — "The Fur Bearing Animals of Cana- 

 da." By C. L. Patch. 



Feb. 19. — "The Birds of Bonaventure Island." 

 By C. L. Patch. 



Feb. 26.— "The Canadian Arctic Coast." By 

 K. G. Chipman. 



March 5. — "Wanderings with the Eskimos." 

 By D. Jenness. 



March 12. — "Roads to Wealth in Our Northern 

 Forest, or Mineral Development in Northern 

 Ontario." By T. L. Tanton. 



March 19. — "Hunting Giant Dinosaurs in the 

 Badlands of Alberta." By Charles M. Sternberg. 



March 26. — "Ottawa Three Times Submerged 

 and How We Know It." By M. E. Wilson. 



April 2. — "Conquering the Desert with Irriga- 

 tion." By Harlan I. Smith. 



April 9. — "Asbestos or Fire Proof Cotton." By 

 R. Harvie. 



April 16. — "My Sum.mer Among the Ojibwa 

 Indians." By F. W. Waugh. 



April 23. — "The Frogs, Salamanders and Snakes 

 of Ottawa." By Clyde L. Patch. 



STRANGE ACTIONS OF A DUCK. 



While on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence in the summer of 1921, I witnessed what 

 was to me very surprising behavior on the part 

 of a wild duck. 



The first occasion was at Natashquan, in the 

 month of June, where I was then tenting with 

 Harrison F. Lewis, Chief Federal Migratory Bird 

 Officer for Ontario and Quebec. 



The bird first attracted our attention by flying 

 in circles over the harbor and shore quite near 

 our tents, uttering a succession of low maternal 

 quacks as it did so. While watching it, we saw 

 it make several attempts or feints at alighting on 

 the Government Wharf quite near u*. We 

 thought it was an American Golden-eye, though the 

 total absence of the whistling sound made by 

 the wings of this species when in flight as well as 

 the subdued character of its distinctive markings 

 made it somewhat of a puzzle, to me at least. 

 After it had flown away we searched the rocks 

 and barren in the vicinity for tree or stump 

 where its nest might be, but without success. 



On a day following, I was startled by the same 

 bird flying down past me from off a warehouse 

 built on the wharf, but as it was in flight before 

 I saw it I could not locate its exact perch. 



A couple of days later we embarked in the mail- 

 boat to continue our journey along the coast but 



