﻿Note on the Earthquake of May 28th, 1897. 309 



North can compensate for such destruction. If these 

 figures are any approximation to the truth, the ordinary 

 farmer will not believe that the bobolink benefits the 

 Northern half of the country nearly as much as it damages 

 the Southern half, and the thoughtful ornithologist will 

 be inclined to agree with him. But even if the bird really 

 does more harm than good, what is the remedy ? For years 

 the rice planters have been employing men and boys to shoot 

 the birds and drive them away from the fields, but in spite 

 of the millions slain every year their numbers do not 

 decrease. In fact, a large part of the loss sustained is not 

 in the grain which the birds actually eat, but in the out- 

 lay necessary to prevent them from taking it all. At 

 present there seems to be no effective remedy short of 

 complete extermination of the species, and this is evidently 

 impracticable even were it desirable. 



Note on the Earthquake of May 27th, 1897. 



The earthquake shock of May 27th, although not as 

 severe as that of March 23rd, extended over a somewhat 

 larger area. The district principally affected was, how- 

 ever, the same as on March 23rd and 26th, the centre of 

 the disturbance being in each case the Island of Montreal. 

 Keports of this shock were received from places covering 

 a distance of approximately 350 miles along the St. 

 Lawrence by a width of 250 miles. 



The first rumbling was observed at lOh. 14m. 20s. p.m. 

 (Eastern standard time), the main shock occurred at 

 lOh. 14m. 30s., and the vibrations were appreciable to the 

 senses until lOh. 15m. 25s. A subsequent earth tremor 

 without distinct shock was also observed in Montreal, 

 commencing at lOh. 45m. 20s. and continuing for 40 

 seconds. 



The accompanying plates are greatly enlarged copies of 

 portions of the traces obtained on the Seismograph at the 



