198 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



fall. The Horned Owls being more of wood- 

 land birds, are not so easily seen or procured 

 when the snow is deep, but it is evident that 

 all the species of Strigidae are abundant this 

 winter. It would be well to investigate why 

 these day owls appear in the neighbourhood 

 of civilization during the months of December 

 and January just for a short season, and then 

 disappearing until the next cold fall sets in 

 again. — C. 



(Eomspoitbena. 



Sir, — At the present time, when so much 

 excitement prevails at home and abroad, 

 regarding the prospective wealth of our 

 country j and when so much capital and energy 

 are being expended in developing its resour- 

 ces, it is pleasant to notice that those 

 branches of its Natural History which are not 

 directly associated with the acquisition of 

 wealth, are not being forgotten, and that while 

 hundreds are striving to gain possession of the 

 most productive lands, the richest mineral 

 deposits or the most valuable timber limits, a 

 quieter class of workers are equally, busily 

 engaged collecting, and identifying such 

 specimens of Natural History as come within 

 the range of their observation throughout the 

 country; the results of their researches are 

 being placed on record, and when the excite- 

 ment attendant on the first settlement of the 

 new country now being opened up, has sub- 

 sided, it will be a pleasant pastime for the 

 rising generation to read therein the names 

 and habits of the beautiful birds and flowers 

 which surround their homes. I have been led 

 to make these remarks on reading in recent 

 numbers of your magazine, a list of birds of 

 Western Ontario, by J. E. Morden and W. E. 

 Saunders, of London ; a list which I am sure 

 will be valued by many a lover of birds 

 throughout the country. It is very complete," 

 yet it is by no means a compilation of the 

 labours of others as such lists frequently are ; 

 on the contrary it bears (with very few excep- 

 tions) the impress of direct personal contact 

 with the objects described. Great diligence and 

 perseverance must have been bestowed on the 

 subject to enable the collectors to bring it 

 before the public in so complete a shape; yet 

 I can also imagine their having much real 

 enjoyment and many a pleasant ramble which 

 only the enthusiastic student of nature can 

 understand. In 1866, I published a similar 

 list of birds observed near Hamilton, and on 



placing the two side by side, it is astonishing 

 to notice how closely they agree ; the differ- 

 ences arising chiefly from stragglers which 

 may have appeared at one point and not at the 

 other. The following are the principal points 

 of difference which if taken along with the 

 recent list, may help to complete our know- 

 ledge of the subject. In the Hamilton list the 

 total number of specimens enumerated was 

 241 ; in the London list the total number is 

 236. In the London list the following sixteen 

 species are included which do not appear in 

 the Hamilton list. — Swallow-tailed Kite ; 

 Cardinal Grosbeak ; Red Phalarope ; Little 

 Yellow Rail ; Scoter Duck ; Tennessee Warb- 

 ler; Hooded Fly-catching Warbler; English 

 Sparrow ; Mocking Bird ; Common Tern ; 

 Wilson's Phalarope ; Forster's Tern ; Blue- 

 grey Gnat-catcher ; Long-billed Marsh Wren ; 

 Rough-winged Swallow ; Banded three-toed 

 Woodpecker. The Swallow-tailed Kite is a 

 southern species, but a wanderer of powerful 

 wing, who may occur again as a visitor. The 

 Cardinal and Mocking birds are from the south, 

 but come so close to the frontier that these 

 may be only the pioneers of larger numbers 

 yet to come. The little Yellow Rail ; the two 

 Terns, and the Long-billed marsh Wren, seem 

 to prefer the greater retirement and shallower 

 warmer water of the St. Clair Flats to the 

 cooler inlets of Burlington Bay where I have 

 not yet observed them. The Scoter, Tennessee 

 Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Blue-gray 

 Gnat-catcher, I have met with since writing 

 my list. The Rough-winged Swallow had 

 probably not appeared in Canada in 1866, as 

 I find it was not met with in New England till 

 1875, when only one specimen was found; 

 since that time it occurs breeding in little 

 communities throughout the Eastern States. 

 For the same reason, the English Sparrow was 

 not named, as he was not introduced here till 

 about 18*73; since that time, he has passed 

 through the different stages of rare, common, 

 exceedingly abundant; what his next stage 

 will be, may be affected to some extent by the 

 members of the Fruit-growers Association, as 

 I notice it as a matter announced lor their 

 consideration during the coming year. Wil- 

 son's Phalarope is a bird of the Prairie ponds 

 which may again be found in suitable localities. 

 The Red Phalarope and the Woodpecker are 

 uncertain visitors from the north. Referring 

 to the Ruby-crowned Wren, the London list 

 says " they arrive from the north in October, 

 and in mild winters remain." I was aware that 



