G318 Birds. 



mometer stood at 76° in the shade in Gloucestershire at 2 p. m., with a dead calm ; 

 this extraordinary heat might have brought these bats out a couple of hours before 

 their usual time: two days previously the temperature was ten degrees cooler. 



Scraps from the Far West. By Thomas Blakiston, Esq., 

 Lieut. Royal Artillery. 



Dear B 



Fort Carlton, Saskatchewan River, 

 January 14, 1858. 



In a letter to J , which I suppose you will see, 



I have given a description of my journey from Hudson's Bay to this 

 out-of-the-way place, which will give you some idea of u Voyages 

 and Voyaging in the Fur Countries," the isolated portion of Red 

 River Settlement, my winter employment, position of Fort Carlton, 

 what I have done in the way of collecting, and the distance a letter 

 has to travel to reach England. You will observe that 1 have entered 

 into no particulars concerning Ornithology, the reason being that a 

 mere dry collection of observed facts could not be interesting, and I 

 refrain at present from drawing any general conclusions until I have 

 compared my observations with those of others, which I cannot do 

 until I have leisurely ran through the ' Fauna Boreali-Americana,' by 

 Richardson and Swainson, which is the great authority on this country. 

 However, as you have more knowledge of North- American Ornithology 

 than myself, and as you may have some opportunities of referring to 

 works on the same, perhaps the following notes concerning the birds 

 observed during a boat voyage from Hudson's Bay to Lake Win- 

 nipeg and up the Saskatchewan River, in the fall of 1857, may be 

 interesting. 



The first portion of the journey is from York Factory, lat. 57° — 

 long. 92j°, in a general S.YV. direction, about 300 miles to the North 

 end of Lake Winnipeg, in lat. 54°, during the first three weeks of 

 September. This may be despatched in a few words. 



Eagles. Observed on one or two occasions. 



Fish Hawk. Often seen. 



Hawks. A good many, but none identified. 



Belted Kingfisher. Not uncommon. 



Shrikes. One, which I take for Lanius borealis, I have preserved. 



Turdus migratorius. A few observed. 



Warblers. I consider I saw Sylvia a)stiva. 



