THE OOLOQIST 



13^ 



ON THE GREAT LAKES 



During the month of September, 

 1920, I made several trips on an ore 

 boat up the Great Lakes, and was sur- 

 prised at the number of birds tlaat be- 

 coming tired or otherv/ise lit on the 

 boat usually far out of sight of land. 

 The birds did not appear to be 

 fatigued and evidently found it a good 

 place for insects bein?; constantly 

 gleaning the deck for them. They 

 were noted to be the mos". numerous 

 during the early morning, having pre- 

 sumedly lit on the boat at night. 



The mate informed me of the cap- 

 ture previous of a pair of Blue Herons, 

 which took refuge on the ship during 

 a storm. 



Sept. 6th. Pair of Barn Swallows 

 flying high over the St. Mary's River. 



The 7th. Soo Locks. Junco's and 

 Horned Larks. The Horned Larks 

 (Sub. Sp.?) were of a decidedly more 

 yellowish cast than any I have ever 

 seen before. Anyone wishing to create 

 a new sub-specie of 'alpestris' would 

 do well to investigate this region. For 

 myself they are simply Horned Larks. 



The 8th. This morning away out of 

 sight of land in Lake Superior, a 

 female Redstart came abroad and re- 

 mained all day. My first hand bird 

 recorded as a passenger. 



The 9th. Lake Superior. While in 

 sight of land a Downy Woodpecker lii 

 on the forward spar but soon left for 

 the mainland about ten miles away. 



The 10th. Whitefish Bay. A fine 

 male Rusty Blackbird, and also a male 

 White-throated Sparrow, making them- 

 selves at home. At 10 a. m. we 

 entered the Soo Locks, noted two 

 Crows and a Song Sparrow, from the 

 boat. How fine the rapids looked to 

 the north of us as we were lowered 20 

 feet to the water level of the Soo 

 River. These rapids were a' favorite 

 fishing place of the Indians who came 

 from great distances to spear the 



whitefish which were ascending the 

 rapids during the spawning season. 



This is certainly a beautiful region, 

 one I would like to visit during spring. 

 The shore line is irregular, dotted 

 here and there with light-houses and 

 a' background of Jack Pines to com- 

 plete the panorama. 



The 11th. St. Mary's River. Up to 

 this time only the Herring Gull had 

 been noted and they were very com- 

 mon, one or more being constantly 

 about the ship. 



Ring-black Gulls now became equal- 

 ly common though they were only 

 noted at the Lake Huron entrance. 

 Their more slender build together with 

 their long narrow wings with a con- 

 spicuous black-tip called my attention 

 to them at once. All were in the dark 

 plumage and more timid than the 

 Herring Gulls. Their marked bills 

 were noted on several occasions as 

 they swung in near the boat. 



As we were clearing the river and 

 entering L. St. Clair, thousands of 

 Common Tern and a few Black's were 

 noted congregated on a sandbar. They 

 made a fine sight as we steatned by 

 until our boat had left them behind — 

 a white streak on the blue horizon. 



The 20th. Soo River. Pintail Duck. 

 Other ducks seen but not identified. 



The 22nd. Lake Erie. Pine Warb- 

 ler. 



The 24th. Lake Erie. Nashville 

 Warbler. 



The 25th. Lake Huron. This morn- 

 ing found 2 Hermit Thrush, 3 White- 

 throated Sparrows and a Palm Warb- 

 ler on board, and the following morn- 

 ing 3 Bobolinks and a pair of (Prairie) 

 Horned Larks. 



The 26th. Arrived at Byng Inlet at 

 10 o'clock. While going up the inlet 

 we were at times but a few yards 

 from the shore. The following birds 

 were noted from the boat: Myrtle W., 

 Tree Sparrows, Crows, Blue Jays, 

 Goldfinches and, of course, the ever 



