THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



207 



taken in winter, are full of eggs, and ready to 

 propagate, and instinct drives them up into 

 fresh water for that purpose. On the St. Law- 

 rence, they ascend the tributary rivers on the 

 North Shore with this end in view, but in some 

 of them, at least, they cannot penetrate very 

 far. They can go only a few miles up the St. 

 Charles at Quebec, and in the St. Maurice 

 there are falls about fifteen miles up which 

 would bar their progress. Some of the other 

 rivers between Three Rivers and Quebec may 

 be more accessible to them. The conditions 

 under which the spawn is deposited are, how- 

 ever, unknown. 



Mr. Suite says that the Tommy Cod has 

 been an article of food in Canada ever since 

 the French colonists arrived, and no doubt it 

 was relished by the Indians long before that 

 time. No diminution in the supply has been 

 noticed. To-day the quantities used, princi- 

 pally by the French-Canadian population, are 

 very great, and as Jack Frost comes to help, 

 and preserves the fish in the best manner pos- 

 sible, none of this valuable food supply is 

 wasted. H. K. C. 



BIRDS OF WESTERN ONTARIO. 



Sir, — Since the appearance of your January 

 number I have been requested to explain two 

 points in the list of Birds of Western Ontario, 

 and have pleasure in doing so: 1st. — As re- 



fards the common Tern, it appears in the 

 [amilton list as Sterna Wilsoni, and in the 

 London list as Sterna fluvialihis, both names 

 were taken from the Smithsonian catalogue, 

 but were taken at different dates, and the 

 name had been changed in the interval. To 

 be strictly correct in following the Smithsonian 

 nomenclature, we should drop the Wilsoni and 

 adopt the fiuviatilus as being the most recent, 

 and let us hope that there will soon be an end 

 of these frequent changes in specific names 

 which are so perplexing to the student. 2nd. — 

 As regards the large Rails, the specimen re- 

 ferred to in the Hamilton list was brought 

 me by a local sportsman who said it was the 

 only one of the kind he had ever seen here, 

 but he had often shot them at Baptiste Creek ; 

 that they bred there; this was to all appear- 

 ance the Clapper Rail, as the measurement as 

 also the bleached-worn appearance of the plu- 

 mage agreed with the descriptions given of 

 that species, and the entry was made for the 

 list in accordance with these facts. Whether 

 I was strictly correct or not in the identifica- 

 tion will probably not be known, as the^ speci- 

 men referred to was lost, and neither of the 



large rails has been found here since that 

 time; the one which breeds at Baptiste Creek 

 and the St. Clair marshes is the king rail, 

 Iiallus elegans. 



I have to record the capture within the past 

 ten days of a second specimen of the Barn 

 Owl, Slrix flammea ; this was a female shot at a 

 farm-house nearDundas, about four miles from 

 where the other was obtained. It is quite pos- 

 sible that this pair may have left their home 

 in the south in company, bent on a voyage of 

 discovery ; if so, they have met the fate which 

 frequently befalls adventurers in new coun- 

 tries, viz. : been skinned by the natives. 



Pine grosbeaks have been Very abundant 

 round the city since the middle of January; 

 they are nearly all in the grey plumage, being 

 either females or immature males. The ap- 

 pearance of these birds in such numbers may 

 be taken as an indication of the severity of the 

 winter in the north as I have not heard of 

 their being here at all for many years past. 

 Your trnty, T. McIllwraith. 



Cairnbrae, Hamilton, 0., 14th Feb., 1883. 



CROW BLACKBIRDS. 



Your correspondent in the January No. of 

 the " C. S. & N.," Mr. Ernest D. Wintle, pro- 

 bably refers to but one species of grackle in his 

 remarks under the above caption. The Boat- 

 tailed Grackle is a Southern species, not yet re- 

 corded as found in Canada, I believe. The 

 Purple Grackles are abundant in Canada, and 

 the " boat-like" spreading of the tail may be 

 commonly observed during the love season of 

 these birds, when the males thus display them- 

 selves, both on the wing and strutting upon 

 the ground. I have often watched these grackles 

 in the city of Three Rivers, P. Q., where they 

 breed abundantly, and being unmolested there, 

 are very tame, feeding upon the streets and in 

 gardens. The males are larger and of hand- 

 somer plumage than the females, and the con- 

 trast is quite noticeable. 



The Rusty Grackle, a smaller species is also 

 found in Canada, but Mr. Wintle's remarks 

 will not apply to this bird. 



The Boat-tailed Grackle exceeds in size the 

 Purple Grackle, especially in length, and would 

 never be confounded with any of our smaller 

 North American Grackles. In my catalogue of 

 the " Birds of Maine " I have recorded a single 

 occurrence of the Boat-tailed Grackle in this 

 State, and I do not know of any other record 

 of the species occurring so far north. 



Portland, Maine. Everett Smith. 



