46 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



midnight mass in the great temple of nature.' His visits to the 

 farm house are well understood, and if followed by disaster it is 

 usually to the poultry, or to the bird himself if the farmer's boys 

 have the opportunity 



Towards the little Screech Owl the feeling is quite different. 

 When the weather gets severe he frequently takes up his quarters 

 inside the barn, and remains there undisturbed till the weather 

 softens in the spring, when he again betakes himself to the woods. 

 During the day he sits on the crossbeams glowering at the people as 

 they come and go, but at night is most active in the pursuit of mice, 

 which at this season form his favorite fare. 



There is no doubt that before the country was settled, the 

 sheltered waters of Burlington Bay was a favorite resting place for 

 the vast crowds of waterfowl which annually pass to and from their 

 breeding places in the north, although now that the Beach is 

 traversed by a railroad, along which trains pass daily at full speed, 

 a:nd the bay is constantly dotted with steam or sailing craft moving 

 around for trade or pleasure, these visits are fewer and of shorter 

 duration than in former years. Gulls, Grebes, Loons and Ducks in 

 large flocks are still observed in spring and fall, In the still summer 

 evenings the bumping sound of the Bittern is frequently heard 

 coming up from the marsh, and the little Bittern is common enough 

 in suitable places all round the bay. 



Occasionally Swans and Geese are seen, most frequently in 

 spring about the time the ice is breaking up, and in March, 1884, 

 five white Pelicans spent a short time in the open water near the 

 canal, but such visits are made only by birds who seem bewildered 

 or exhausted by adverse winds, or foggy weather. 



In the month of May the bay is visited by flocks of the Velvet 

 Duck (Melanatta Velvetina). Their large size and jet black 

 plumage make them conspicuous objects on the water in the bright 

 sunny days of the early summer, yet, strange to say, they are not 

 long here till individuals are noticed dead on the beach, and the 

 number of such increases during their stay till I have counted as 

 many as ten or a dozen in a walk of two miles along the shore. 

 The birds are all in excellent condition, and I have heard no 

 satisfactory cause assigned for the mortality which prevails among 

 them. It seems to be confined to this species, and was first observed 

 two or three years ago ; — since that time it has been rather on the 



