March, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



49 



harm, the first named to our trees and the last 

 two to our grain crops and fruit trees. Weasels 

 formerly subsisted to a large extent upon rodents 

 such as gophers, voles, pocket gophers, rabbits, 

 mice and an occasional bird. Their food to-day 

 is practically as it used to be. The number of 

 poultry taken by these animals is a mere nothing 

 in comparison to the noxious rodents killed; 

 and as only one kind of weasel is known to attack 

 poultry out of the three species found in the 

 middle west, these animals can be justly classed 

 as the most beneficial of all mammals found 

 within the country. I am convinced that agri- 

 cultural interests should take precedence over 

 the fur interests in this question and that the 

 wholesale trapping of weasels should be dis- 

 couraged as not in the best interests of the com- 

 munity. At present weasels are not in any 

 way protected by law in Manitoba, though mink 

 and beavers, both much less worthy, are provided 

 with a close season, an anomaly that can only be 

 explained by ignorance of the comparative useful- 

 ness of the animals involved. 



The persecution to which most of our predatory 

 animals and birds have been subjected originates 

 from the fact that there are occasions when most 

 of them will take a barnyard fowl. Naturally, 

 the robber is, as a rule, observed, and, as its 

 every-day habits are not, the conclusions drawn 

 are usually very erroneous. Besides this, truly 

 injurious species are frequently confused with 

 useful ones, such as, for instance, a Goshawk 

 with Swainson's Hawk. In this example, the 

 former being known to take chickens, the latter 

 is suspected of doing likewise and is shot without 

 further consideration. Here then we have need 

 of education which might well be carried on in 

 the schools, but in the meantime we should adapt 

 the principle of justice whereby an animal is 

 considered innocent until it is proved guilty. 



The farmer is rapidly learning to appreciate 

 the value of wild birds. The large flocks of 

 Franklin's Gulls which were to be met with 



almost daily following the plough during 1920-21 

 v/hcn they gathered up such enormous numbers of 

 grasshoppers, will long be remembered. The 

 birds have already been spoken of as the "Farm- 

 er's Gulls," and what fitter species could be 

 chosen as an emblem? White represents purity, 

 its flight symbolizes gracefulness combined with 

 strength, while its persistency in gathering up 

 noxious insects surely indicates the acme of 

 industry and usefulness. Birds so beneficial as 

 these should be afforded every protection, and, 

 above all, they should be provided with permanent 

 breeding places from which they will continue to 

 wander far afield in search of food. Every avail- 

 able lake should be made a gull sanctuary, and 

 steps should be taken to protect the herbage 

 growing around from live stock so that nesting 

 sites may not be interfered with. A gull sanc- 

 tuary should add considerably to the value of 

 nearby farms and not a little to those even twenty 

 miles away, as was amply demonstrated in 1921. 

 Many another bird is at work along similar 

 lines to the gulls. Horned Larks providing a 

 cutworm every two minutes throughout the day 

 to their nestlings; the Crow, which has been 

 known to gather 72 wireworms for a single meal; 

 the Upland Plover, almost exclusively a grass- 

 hopper feeder and Meadowlarks and Grouse, 

 whose families are largely reared on the same diet. 

 These are but a few of the many which might be 

 enumerated, to say nothing of those species that 

 feed upon the pests affecting trees. But enough 

 has surely been written to show what the facts 

 are. Pests have increased through man's ac- 

 tivities, largely because he provided abundance of 

 food for them, but also because he killed or 

 banished many of his best friends. A majority of 

 these friends are still living in reduced numbers 

 and with care may be induced to return. As 

 they do so, insect outbreaks will grow less fre- 

 quent and the balance will become more as it 

 was before man upset it. 



SOME OF CAPTAIN HENRY TOKE MUNN'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF BAFFIN 



ISLAND AND VICINITY 



By Hoyes Lloyd 



It was recently my pleasure to discuss the bird 

 life of the Eastern Canadian Arctic archipelago 

 with Captain Henry Toke Munn, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. 

 who has had long experience in that district. As 

 any information concerning the bird life of this 

 vicinity is considered valuable, I was glad to 

 have his permission to prepare for publication 



the notes taken during our conversation. 



There is a large loomery (species ?) on Bylot 

 Island, near Ponds Inlet, and the natives obtain 

 the eggs of these birds to a considerable number 

 in June. Captain Munn once watched a polar 

 bear catching some of the adult birds from this 

 colony. The birds were diving under the ice 



