250 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



upon those he may make for which we must 

 accept his unsupported authority. 



That many of the statements made would 

 be correct if applied to prescribed districts I 

 will not dispute ; but I submit it is a mistake 

 to suppose that what applies to the fauna of 

 one limited locality must perforce be equally 

 applicable to the entire Dominion. Each 

 faunal area, and there are a number of such 

 divisions in Canada, has a bird-life peculiar to 

 itself; even though some species having a 

 much wider range of distribution than others, 

 are found in several areas. But there are in 

 these books other errors of a more serious 

 nature than the question of distribution. For 

 instance, Dr. Ross gives the color of the eggs 

 of the Olive-backed Thrush as reddish brown, 

 while leading authorities have pronounced 

 them greenish blue, speckled with brownish. 

 The same author states that the Hudson Bay 

 Tit "nests in a shrub ; eggs four ; pure white." 

 Not one of these details are correct. This 

 species invariably make an excavation into a 

 dead stump or living tree, and lay from five 

 to ten eggs, which Dr. Brewer, having before 

 him the large series in the Smithsonian col- 

 lection, described as being of a white ground 

 color, but having reddish brown spots grouped 

 in a ring around the larger end. 



In his description of the plumage of the 

 Olive-backed Thrush, M. Dionne states that 

 the breast, throat and chin are of a pale 

 brownish yellow, while the best authorities 

 give the color of these parts as white, with a 

 buffy tinge, and marked with dark spots. 



In the matter of habits, this ~Bame author 

 makes such remarks as that the Blue Yellow- 

 backed Warbler delights in bushes and lower 

 branches of the trees, but a number of careful 

 and experienced observers have unanimously 

 recorded this bird's preference for the highest 

 branches of the highest trees. 



Cuvier's Kinglet is found in both books, and 

 may be taken as a fair sample of the careless- 

 ness which is so conspicuous. Dr. Ross re- 

 cords that the species occurs in Canada in 

 spring and fall, and M. Dionne repeats the 

 record and attempts to throw all responsibility 

 from his own shoulders (which, by the way, 

 he does very seldom, making most improbable 

 statements upon his own unsupported author- 

 ity) by quoting Dr. Ross ; but he should have 

 known that, to say the least, the occurrence of 

 the bird was so very doubtful that it should 

 not be placed on any list unless upon the most 



unquestionable authority, and then the date 

 and locality as well as the name of the collec- 

 tion should have been given to make the record 

 acceptable by scientists. The only example 

 of this Kinglet which has been so far reliably 

 recorded was taken by Audubon near the 

 Schuylkill River, Penn., in June, 1812. Mr. 

 Ridgway has retained the name in the Smith- 

 sonian catalogue on this authority, but Dr. 

 Coues has not placed it on his " Check List." 



Just where M. Dionne gathered his informa- 

 tion that Dr. Coues considers this species a 

 variety of calendulus is not apparent. There 

 is no such statement in the " Key," the only 

 one of Dr. Coues' works which M. Dionne 

 mentions among his authorities ; and in 

 " Birds of the North-west," Cuvieri is given as 

 a doubtful synonym of satrapa, while in 

 " Birds of the Colorado Valley " it is not 

 mentioned. 



As I have before remarked, references are 

 made in these books to numerous western 

 species, without any indication of their range 

 being given. Macgillivray's Warbler will 

 serve as an example of these. The most 

 eastern limit of the range of this species which 

 is authenticately recorded, is Dr. Cooper's 

 report of finding it at Fort Laramie, in Wyo- 

 ming Territory. Yet Dr. Ross makes the un- 

 qualified statement that "it breeds in Canada," 

 by which he must mean, to be consistent with 

 his other records, that it breeds in Ontario. 



M. Dionne follows with an unsupported 

 assertion, changed, by way of appearing 

 original, to "rarely seen in Canada," and he 

 copies the pattern so closely as to repeat an 

 error which Dr. Ross made in describing the 

 eggs as "flesh-colored." The best authorities 

 describe them as of a pinkish-white ground 

 color, but "marked and spotted with purple, 

 lilac, reddish-brown and dark brown approach- 

 ing black." 



Turning to the Owls, we find that M. Dionne, 

 on page 1 31, states : " Nos especes sont toutes 

 sedentaires en Canada"; and, again, in his 

 account of the Barred Owl, " Cette chouette 

 est commune a Pantonine et disparait au 

 printemps pour aller faire sa ponte a la baie 

 d'Hudson." These two statements do not 

 harmonize and neither is correct. By " sed- 

 entary " species ornithologists mean those 

 which remain during the entire year in one 

 locality, and it is quite certain that in this 

 sense neither the Snowy Owl, the great Gray 

 Owl, the Hawk Owl, nor Richardson's Owl 



