March, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalisy 



57 



does not accept this current interpretation of the 

 lateral changes in the fossil faunas and sediments 

 of Anticosti Island, but states it to be "the purpose 

 of this article to describe examples of sediment 

 and faunal variation in the shallow Ordovician 

 and Silurian seas in which were deposited the 

 sediments which now constitute the rocks of the 

 Anticosti sequence, and to show that in these 

 waters conditions in respect to the processes and 

 results of sedimentation were little different from 

 what they are in seas of the present day." 



Mr. Springer's paper describes and figures two 

 new crinoids belonging to the genus Melocrimes, 

 from the Mackenzie basin. 



The paper by Miss Wilson materially increases 

 our knowledge of the geological range of the 

 several species comprising the Black River and 

 Trenton faunas in the Ottawa Valley, and adds 

 some new species to these faunas. The author 

 has shown all that her investigations have dis- 

 closed regarding range of species by means of a 

 series of tables. These indicate at just what 

 point in the section each species makes its first 

 appearance, and just where it disappears from 

 the section. This paper is a good example of 

 the sort of precise work in collecting and studying 

 fossil faunas which is needed to make stratigraphic 

 palaeontology the exact science which it will 

 some day become. 



Mr. Whittaker's contribution deals with a 

 fossil fresh-water fauna found in the marls of the 

 Ottawa Valley which, in its time relations, lies 

 between the latest marine Pleistocene interval 

 and the time represented by the living moUuscan 

 fauna. Students wishing to study the fresh- 

 water fossils of the Ottawa Valley Pleistocene 

 will find the plates and keys of this paper most 



useful. The illustrations of the paper include an 

 aeroplane photograph showing the relation of the 

 fossil marl deposits to the present water level at 

 McKay Lake. So far as the writer is aware, this 

 is the first aeroplane photograph to be used in 

 illMstrating a palaeontological paper. 



In the paper on fossil cycads, Dr. Wieland has 

 described the first cycad ever recorded from 

 Canadian rocks. The cycads represent a singular 

 and exceptional type of plant which, in the modern 

 world, is confined to the warmer climates. Their 

 short thick trunks have sometimes been called 

 "fossil birds' nests" by quarrymen. 



The Canadian specimen of Cycadeoidea describ- 

 ed by Dr. Wieland appears to be the latest record- 

 ed from North America. "In a few words, the 

 known petrified cycadeoids come in with a certain 

 abundance, quickly culminate in variety and 

 number, and then, after long continental distribu- 

 tion, these uniquely specialized forms slowly 

 disappear toward Tertiary time, to recur no more. 

 With them, too, go the Araucarias, save that these 

 still persist in South America." 



Unfortunately, the plates for this bulletin have 

 suffered greatly at the hands cf the printers. 

 The palaeontologists who prepared the excellent 

 plates for these papers will need m.ore than "a 

 drop of patience" if they can forgive the darrage 

 done to them by printing the explanations on 

 the backs of the plates. Discarding the nearly 

 universal practice of printing plate explanations 

 on sheets separate from the plates, which in this 

 case are printed on very thin paper, illustrates a 

 variety of economy akin to that which would be 

 displayed by mounting a fine diamond on a brass 

 ring. 



E. M. K. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



A BARKING FROG 



Everyone who has studied animals at all 

 closely knows that there is a considerable difference 

 in temperament between individuals of the same 

 species, and that because one individual behaves 

 in a certain manner under certain circumstances 

 it is not necessarily true that all individuals will 

 behave in a similar manner. 



This individuality of temperament was brought 

 out very clearly in an experience I had last August 

 with a specimen of the Green Frog, Rana clomitans, 

 at St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In a very small 

 POdI in a little stream on the Golf Links were two 

 of these frogs. They were floating at the surface 

 of the water against the bank, and while one 

 swam away as I approached the other remained 

 stationary. Seeing that it was not timid I took 



the opportunity of photographing it, and having 

 done so I reached over and gently stroked its 

 back. I expected it to dart away instantly, but 

 instead of doing so it emitted a sound which can 

 most adequately be described as a bark, and 

 turning about, it snapped at my finger. I tried 

 the same thing again and again with the same 

 result, except that its "barks" became a little 

 louder and its snaps more \icious. The barking 

 sound which it made was utterly unlike anything 

 I have ever heard this species, or any other frog, 

 utter, and if one had not seen the animal which 

 was uttering it he would have had great difficulty 

 in guessing the species of animal from which the 

 note emanated. 



A. Brooker Klugh. 



