TOWNSEND AND ALLEN: LABRADOR BIRDS. 281 



red sandstone hills and cliffs, showing horizontal strata. The under- 

 lying Laurentian rocks appear at the eastern end of the Straits. Nar- 

 row strata of light-colored limestone appear in places. The cliffs 

 at The Battery near Forteau reach a height of 350 feet; the small 

 mountains immediately behind are 1100 feet high. The sandstone 

 is soft and, as at Paroqueet Island, makes excellent burrowing material 

 for the nests of Puffins. 



The exposed rocks of the eastern coast are largely Laurentian, cut 

 by numerous basaltic dikes. Immediately back of the coast the 

 land rises gradually from insignificant hills in the south to mountains 

 of 6000 feet near Cape Chidley. 



The coast line itself, although showing in many places evidence of 

 recent elevation in the form of raised beaches, is characteristic of a 

 depressed or drowned region. This is shown by the numerous islands 

 and the deep fiords, called here "tickles," with which the coast is beset. 

 These features furnish excellent nesting sites for many water birds. 

 The largest of the fiords is Hamilton Inlet, which stretches back into 

 the land one hundred and fifty miles, with an average width of fourteen 

 miles. Evidences of recent glaciation are shown everywhere, in the 

 roches moutonees, the glacial grooves and scratches, and the numerous 

 erratics. 



In the interior, much of which is unexplored, are high tablelands, 

 numerous hills, a few mountains, and a network of rivers, lakes, and 

 ponds. The most noticeable of these features are the Mealy Moun- 

 tains, the Hamilton or Grand, Nauscaupee, George, Koksoak, East 

 Main, Whale, Eskimo, and Natashquan Rivers, and Mistassini, Nichi- 

 cun, Petitskapau, Michikamau, Clearwater, and Indian House Lakes. 



During the long winter from October to June the lakes and rivers 

 are covered with ice and the ice along the seacoast forms a solid high- 

 way upon which the inhabitants travel on dog-sledges. Dr. W. T. 

 Grenfell tells us that the breadth of this strip of solid ice along the 

 eastern coast every winter is from twenty to twenty-five miles, while 

 outside of this is the loose "slob" ice, which drifts back and forth 

 with the winds and tides, varies greatly in thickness and density, and 

 may extend fifty or more miles out to sea. In the Straits of Belle 

 Isle, with their strong tides, there are generally a few open places even 

 in mid-winter, and Cartwright speaks of open places near some of 

 the outer islands even on the eastern coast. Even in the northern 

 parts of Hudson Bay open water is to be found in places in winter. 



