20 



The Micmacs* of Nova Scotia and eastern New Bruns- 

 wick are a separate tribe, speaking a distinct language, 

 although all are members of the great Algonkin family. 



The following list of Milicete birds is nearly complete, 

 so far as the Indian names are concerned. Many species 

 not included would, if they came under an Indian's ob- 

 servation, receive some designation. Some species, on the 

 other hand, are known to so few that it is doubtful whether 

 the Indian name should not be classed as a synonym 

 only. It will be seen that the land birds interest them 

 more than the water birds, as befits an inland tribe. 



They make no such distinctions as we, the separation 

 being rather into big and little ; Sips is any large bird 

 whatever, but especially a " duck." A " duck," as they 

 understand the word, has also a wider application and is 

 more synonymous with "water-fowl." Sipsis, on the 

 contrary, is any small bird. It may also mean a young 

 water-fowl ; thus there is no clear line of separation there. 

 Only the commoner species are given a name, and when- 

 ever there is a superficial resemblance between what we 

 regard as widely different species, there is no nominal 

 distinction. Such differences, if noted at all, are treated as 

 not more than individual ones. Inaccuracy of identifi- 

 cation and looseness in application of names are there- 

 fore matters of course. 



Little children, even, show a profound knowledge of 

 natural history, so far as names go, like many of us. Most 

 of the stories their mothers tell them are of the trees, the 



*Mr. Chas. G Leland, whose literary attainments are unquestionable, tells, 

 in " Algonkin Legends of New England," stories of various birds and beasts. 

 Those stories relate to the Penobscots, Passamaquoddies and Micmacs, the 

 legend belonging to each being distinguished respectively by the marks " Pen," 

 "P," and "M." Labelled with an "M" are certain legends undoubtedly 

 not Micmac but Milicete, a fact overlooked in the haste with which the book 

 is said to have been prepared. With this explanation the work has an especial 

 interest in this connection, as the tales of birds and animals therein are almost 

 as much Milicete as Passamaquoddy. Note also that his " JVezowiessis," the 

 " Blue Bird," is only a " little yellow bird," the American Goldfinch. 



