OCTOBEE,1902.] PBEVIOUS WOEK. 23 



area appears to be a sort of coastal plain, and occupies a strip at this 

 point about 100 miles wide on the borders of the Bay. It is compara- 

 tively level, and the Iteds of the streams are free from rocks. The 

 spruce, tamarack, balsam poplar, aspen poplar, Banksian pine, and 

 canoe birch, which have formed the bulk of the forest, are here 

 reduced in size, and the last three practically disappear near this point. 

 These conditions prevail until the Bay is reached at the mouth of 

 Hayes River. How far this Hudsonian strip extends southward along 

 the coast of Hudson Bay is not apparent, but the presence at Moose 

 Factory of Ainj>ells cedroruiii , Dendi'oic(i< iiinculoxn, Wilson /'a. CMia- 

 densis, Slalia sialis, Carpodacus pti.rjn.ireus, and Condylura cristafu 

 ■would seem to indicate that at that point the Canadian element must 

 predominate over the Hudsonian. To the northward from York 

 Factory along the coast, patches of tundra, where the fauna is typi- 

 cally Arctic, are first found not far above Nelson River. .Similar 

 barren areas occur on the coast between York Factor}' and Severn 

 River, but too little is known about the fauna of that region to deter- 

 mine whether the Arctic or the Hudsonian element predominates. 

 These barren areas, from York Factory as far north as Fort Churchill, 

 lie mainly between the mouths of the numerous rivers. Above Cape 

 Churchill the Arctic Zone is continuous on the coast, except in the 

 sparsely wooded area about the mouth of Churchill River and on part 

 of the shores of Button Bay, where a considerable admixture of Hud- 

 sonian forms occurs. Among the birds and mammals which breed in 

 the Arctic zone may be mentioned various species of Tringa, Phalaropits 

 Idbatus, Lagopus lagopus, JVumenkis ht(dson/cm, Limosa hserriaxticn^ 

 A?ithiis jyetisilvantcufi, Calcarius lapponicus, and Odcarius pictKs, 

 together with the Arctic fox and Richardson lemming, and farther 

 north the musk-ox and Barren Ground caribou. 



PREVIOUS "WOEK. 



The earliest important work referring to the natural history of the 

 Hudson Bay region is Edwards's Natural History," published in four 

 volumes from 1743 to 1751, though a few notes on the more conspicu- 

 ous birds and mammals of the region appeared about the same time in 

 the narratives of the voyage of the ship California. 



Edwards figured nearly forty species of birds and a few mammals 

 from Hudson Bay, the largest part of which were thus first brought 

 to the attention of the scientific world. His colored figures were 

 accompanied by very good descriptions, but were designated only by 

 English names. Linnaeus bestowed binomial names on most of these 

 species, in some cases referring exclusively to Edwards's figures, but 

 in others citing other authors in addition. Concerning the source of 



a For full references to publications, see Bibliography, p. 27. 



