56 TORREYA 



1927 when we camped there. They were still hunting in packs, and would tear 

 through our camp, yapping and ravenous, in pursuit of anything that looked 

 like food. It was never safe to leave anything edible unprotected even for a 

 moment. 



The title of the book should not go unnoticed, for in itself it has served a 

 purpose and raised a problem. Seton did much to correct the mistaken con- 

 cept of the "Barren Grounds" as they had been described by earlier travelers. 

 He presented abundant evidence of their richness in animal life and vegetation. 

 At the same time he called them "prairies" and thus linked them, tentatively 

 at least, with the great interior grasslands of the continent. Whether he did so 

 rightly or not is still an open question, for we do not yet know the historical 

 and developmental relationships between the northern American prairies and 

 the grass-sedge tundra of the Arctic. The solution to this problem is probably 

 to be found in the Mackenzie basin, for there are natural grasslands scattered 

 far northward through the boreal forests of that region. 



The Arnold Arboretum Hugh M. Raup 



Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 



FIELD TRIPS OF THE CLUB 



April 7, 1945. American Museum of Natural History. Our season 

 opened with a study of displays in the Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians. 

 Living pilot black snake, milk snake, raccoon, skunk, muskrat, and white 

 rats were seen and handled by those interested. The group was told of the 

 life habits of these animals. Leader, Mr. Robert Snedigar of the Museum Staff. 

 Attendance 20. 



April 14. Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research. As guests 

 of the Institute, the group was conducted through the laboratories, green- 

 houses, library, and photography department. Dr. Albert Hartzell of the staff 

 spoke at some length of his entomological work. The tour ended with the 

 showing of a wodachrome lapse time movie of the growth and opening of a 

 number of flowers, arranged through the courtesy of Dr. P. W. Zimmerman. 

 Leader, Miss Myrtice A. Blatchley of the Institute Staff. Attendance 6. 



April 15. Spring Lake, N. J. Forty-six bird species were recorded. 

 "Among the waterfowl were seen Gadwall duck, Baldpate and Red-breasted 

 Merganser. Excellent comparative views of Herring, Ring-billed, Bonaparte's 

 and Laughing gulls, all in breeding plumage, were obtained at short range. 

 An Osprey's nest was located. The mild spring had sent the waterfowl north- 

 ward far ahead of schedule. In the afternoon, an exploratory trip for spring 

 flowers was taken inland, in a westward direction from Spring Lake. No 

 rarities located, but among the violets identified were : V . sororia, V . sagittata, 



