~JOURNAI, AND PROCEEDINGS. 155 
- BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF ONTARIO. 
Read before the Hamilton Association December roth, 1903. 
BY O. J, STEVENSON, M. A. 
: The lecturer introduced his subject by the recitation of a poem 
from Whitcomb Riley, entitled “The Hoosier Folk Child,” and 
concluding, 
“The Hoosier Folk Child ! rich is he 
In all the wealth of poverty ! f 
He owns nor title nor estate, 
Nor speech but half articulate ; 
He owns nor princely robe nor crown ; 
. Yet, draped in patched and faded brown, 
He owns the bird songs of the hills, 
The laughter of the April rills ; 
And his are all the diamonds set 
In morning’s dewy coronet ; 
And his the dusk’s first minted stars 
That twinkle through the pasture bars, 
And letter all the skies at night ~ 
s With glittering scraps of silver light, 
The rainbow’s bar from rim to rim, 
In beaten gold belongs to him.” 
The lecture proper was divided into four parts, dealing respec- 
tively with Autumn, Winter, Early Spring and Later Spring. The 
first section dealt chiefly with the common mammals found in 
Southern Ontario. These were divided into two classes—those 
which are active during the day and these which are nocturnal in 
their habits. The former class includes the squirrels, black and 
red, the chipmunk and the woodchuck—the habits of all of which 
were described. The latter class includes the wood hare, the 
skunk, the raccoon and others, which were considered in turn. — In 
connection with the birds and animals whose habits are nocturnal, 
F _ the owls were described, and the following passage from the lecture 
gives an account of the two most common species : 
“Among the various sights and sounds of an autumn evening 
