144 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



a wanner latitude may have been selected. 

 But I must close; I may in my next have 

 something to say about other dear friends — 

 the Song ; White-crowned ; White-throated 

 and Chipping Sparrows, as well as of other 

 spring visitors — the Golden-winged Wood- 

 pecker; the Hermit Thrush; the Veery ; the 

 Red-start, the Red-eyed Flycatcher &c. 



J. M. LeMoine. 

 Spencer Grange, 20 May, 1882. 



Dear Sir, — In the last number of your 

 valuable paper, I notice a letter from Mr. R. 

 Rowe. As I take a great interest in Orni- 

 thology, and know how very important it is, 

 that all information on this subject should be 

 thoroughly reliable, I take the liberty of 

 correcting an error in Mr. Rowe's notes, as I 

 feel it a duty I owe to others interested who 

 may be misled by it. He says a fine female 

 Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator, Rich) 

 was shot near this city; the bird referred to 

 by Mr. Rowe was shot by Mr. Barnhill, and 

 mounted by Mr. Carnal!, and is now on 

 exhibition for a short time, in the rooms of 

 the Natural History Society of this city, 

 where I have had the pleasure of examining 

 it, and pronounce it to be the American or 

 Whistling Swan (C. Americanus, Sharpless) ; 

 the yellow spot showing distinctly in front of 

 eye; tail composed of twenty feathers; nostril 

 tar orwHid. The interior extremity more 

 forward than half the commissure; wing 

 njeasuring twenty-one inches; bill four and a 

 quarter. These lacts I think are sufficient to 

 convince any one who has studied the. 

 differences of the two species, of the identity 

 of this bird, and I think Mr. Rowe will also be 

 convinced if he will examine it again more 

 closely. Mr. Barnhill prizes this bird very 

 highly as it is the only instance of which I 

 can learn of one having been captured in this 

 Province. Can any of your readers inform 

 me of any having been taken in New Bruns- 

 wick or Nova Scotia? Would Mr. Rowe 

 kindly inform us, in what part of the Province 

 the flights of Cross-bills to which he refers, 

 been seen? If in the vicinity of St. John? 

 and during what month? I cannot learn 

 of anyone else who has seen them near here, 

 as 1 myself and several of my friends have 

 made special excursions in search of these 

 birds and their nests, and have not been 

 successful in seeing more than an occasional 

 straggler. During the winter of 1871) and 

 1880 the White-winged Cross-bill (Loxia 



leucoplera) was particularly abundant ; during 

 a two hours tramp, I secured sixteen beautiful 

 specimens and could have secured as many 

 more had I been desirous of so doing. 

 The common Redpoll (Aegioihus linaria) and 

 Pine Finch (C i.risomitris Pinus) were also 

 very abundant during the same winter, when 

 the woods were made quite lively by the com- 

 bined songs of these birds; by the middle of 

 April the\ had all disappeared, and have not 

 been as abundant since, the Cross-bills only 

 appearing in straggling pairs, while an occa- 

 sional flock of Redpolls have put in an appear- 

 ance round the farm yards. I have never 

 observed the Red Cross-bill {Loxia curvirostra 

 Americana) during the winter months ; I 

 shot a pair in July 1879, and have frequently 

 seen them late in the fall in large flocks. 



Harold Gilbert. 

 St. John, N.B. : May 17, 1882. 



PICKERING'S TREE PROG. 



(Hyla Pickeringii ) 



This little Tree Frog is usually the first of 

 its class to hail the coming of Spring. It 

 sends o.it a peculiar crepitant sound, strongly 

 resembling a cricket, hence it is sometimes 

 called "Cricket Frog." -It is a true Tree 

 Frog; the extremities of its toes and fingers 

 have round sponge-like protuberances supplied 

 with viscid matter to help it to adhere to any- 

 thing perpendicular. It is at ease on a sheet 

 of glass, and when confined in a glass vase 

 containing water, it can climb up and remain 

 on the surface of the glass for a long time, 

 perfectly motionless, as if asleep. This can- 

 not be done by a common frog, as it is not 

 provided with glutinous exudation. Ihjla 

 Pickeringii belongs to the order Anura, or 

 tailless batrachians. The Ilylidcc are arboreal 

 in summer; they are small frogs having 

 remarkable power of emitting loud and hoarse 

 notes. The ear is fully developed and the 

 family is represented in many portions of this 

 earth. It is toothless; the toes are webbed; 

 the skin more or less warty ; under portions 

 of body crowded with small papilla; exuding a 

 viscous fluid. Each toe and finger has a 

 dilated spongy disk enabling it to cling to 

 anything that it leaps on, and it relies on the 

 papillae to secure its position on a leaf or 

 branch of a tree. The toes are certainly used, 

 but not in the manner of other frogs. Its 

 back is reddish-brown with stripes resembling 

 St. Andrews cross. A triangular mark on the 



