nests have been described as "placed 

 among the grass on the edges of the riv- 

 ers and larger ponds of the interior." 



The Lesser Yellow-legs has some char- 

 acteristics which are opposed to its own 

 welfare. It exhibits much sympathy for 

 birds of its own kind, which may have 

 been disabled. If a sportsman allows a 

 wounded bird to flutter around upon the 

 ground, the remainder of the flock will 

 usually return to their wounded com- 

 panion after having circled around and 

 recovered from the fright of the gun's 

 discharge. The distressing cries of 

 wounded associates seems to make this 



little shore bird oblivious to all danger 

 until it is brought to its senses by the 

 repeated slaughter of its fellows. It 

 decoys easily, and its inquisitive nature 

 leads it to approach a hidden sportsman 

 who is imitating its soft and flute-like 

 whistle. The alighting of this dainty 

 bird upon the ground is one of Nature's 

 interesting pictures. For a moment it 

 stands with its wings held aloft as if 

 uncertain whether to remain or proceed 

 in its flight. It then folds them quietly, 

 "one at a time, like a yacht hauling in 

 sail, or simultaneously, as the case may 

 be." 



THE WONDERFUL ECHOES OF GOWLLAND ISLAND. 



The tiny bit of land known as "Gowl- 

 land Island" is situated off the track of 

 commerce, in the fussy northern waters 

 of the Straits of Georgia. George W. 

 Rogers, a traveler and naturalist, who 

 has recently visited it, writes the follow- 

 ing, which will be of interest to the lov- 

 ers of the strange and apparently unac- 

 countable in nature : 



"More interesting, if not more wonder- 

 ful than the recent discovery of the great 

 gold and copper deposits of Gowlland 

 Island is the marvelous repeating, or 

 multiple echoes which can be heard in its 

 harbor. These wonderful reflecting 

 sounds have again been brought to public 

 attention, decades after their existence 

 had been entirely forgotten, through the 

 recent mining activities on the island. 



The phenomenon was first discovered 

 by Captain Ferguson more than forty 

 years ago. It appears that this adven- 

 turous old Scotch mariner was the cap- 

 tain of a small steam craft which made 

 occasional voyages for the Hudson's Bay 

 Company into the then unknown waters 

 of the northern portion of the Straits of 

 Georgia, and being caught in a furious 

 night storm, was driven into the narrow 

 south entrance of Gowlland Harbor. 



Following the storm, the dense fog 

 which is not unusual in those waters, set- 



tled down upon and hung over the har- 

 bor for several succeeding days. The 

 captain having lost his bearings and being 

 short of fresh water and supplies, 

 attempted to locate his surroundings and 

 discover a landing place through the 

 answering echo to the boat's steam 

 whistle, this being the only recourse left 

 open to him. 



To the great sui prise of Captain Fer- 

 guson, and the terror of his half savage 

 crew, he not only received back the 

 answering echo^ he sought for, but such 

 a long continued repetition of unearthly 

 sounds from all directions and apparently 

 intermingling voices of demons and 

 angels, that he was not only himself dis- 

 concerted, but none of his crew could be 

 induced by persuasion or threats to take 

 one of the small boats and search for a 

 landing place. 



When the fog finally lifted he found 

 himself under the sheltering cliflfs of a 

 small island not then down on the charts, 

 and in deference to the weird and 

 unearthly voices with which it had 

 greeted him, he promptly named it 

 *Ghoul-land' Island. The spelling has 

 since been corrupted into 'Gowlland' 

 or 'Gowland,' and so appears in official 

 maps of the government. 



The cause of the wonderful echoes is 



156 



