GRAND ROMAINE AND OLD ROMAINE 



but the hunters were unsuccessful after several 

 attempts. The men called them pussies, or so 

 the word sounded to us, and it was adopted for 

 the rest of the voyage. The Acadian word for 

 porpoise I have since. found to be poursille. 



Small flocks of Hudsonian curlews occasion- 

 ally flew by us from west to east while we 

 were at this anchorage. They were on their 

 southern migration, and are always early 

 migrants. Their long, curved bills and loud 

 calls easily identified them. It is probable 

 that they cross the base of the peninsula from 

 James Bay, follow the coast as far as Chateau, 

 cross over to Newfoundland, and so on down 

 the eastern coast of the continent. They are 

 considerably larger than the Eskimo curlews 

 that formerly existed in countless multitudes, 

 but are now nearly extinct. 



Another sea-bird worth mentioning is the 

 Caspian tern, of which I saw five or six at 

 Old Romaine. It is a fine bird, resembling in 

 plumage and habits the common tern, but 

 nearly as large as a herring gull. Its bright- 

 red bill, its large size combined with its habit 

 of flying with the bill pointed downwards, and 

 its method of capturing fish by a plunge from 

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