48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



example that I secured. We did not meet with the species on 

 any other occasion. 



Canvas-back Pochard, Aythya vallisneria. — The only speci- 

 men we saw was an adult female, which I shot on Long Creek on 

 the 26 th of August. I tried to make it take wing, but it preferred 

 to escape by flapping along the top of the water, its large feet 

 being very conspicuous. 



Lesser Scaup Duck, Aythya affinis. — A common breeding 

 bird at Moose Creek, at Long Creek, and on the Souris Eiver. 

 A nest which I photographed in situ, with the eleven eggs which 

 it contained, occupied a slight hollow in the centre of a strip of 

 tall grass ; it was lined with feathers and dry bents. The nests 

 which we found were uniformly placed at a very short distance 

 from the water side. 



Buffle-head, Chavitonetta albeola. — In September a good 

 many Bufne-heads were met with on Long Creek ; chiefly adult 

 males, which consorted largely with Erismatura rubida. They 

 especially favoured that portion of the creek which was nearest to 

 its exit from the lake, and, from the agility with which they dived, 

 were difficult to shoot. 



Buddy Duck, Erismatura rubida. — We often enjoyed the 

 quaint attitudes indulged in by this species, which we found 

 commonly represented on Long Creek in September. Its 

 favourite method of resting on the water is to carry its tail 

 cocked up, almost at right angles to the body. We did not shoot 

 any old birds, but obtained specimens of the young in the little- 

 known flapper stage, half down, half feathers. 



Snow-Goose, Chen hyperborea. — The " white wavy" is well 

 known to the settlers of this district as a bird of double passage, 

 but it does not appear to visit this region in autumn in numbers 

 comparable to those of the spring migration. It was on the 5th 

 of October that I fell in with a gaggle of four Snow- Geese. They 

 were extremely wary, and the fine old gander which I secured 

 cost me a stalk of about four miles. Snow-Geese, when viewed 

 swimming in fresh water, appear to be uniformly white ; but if the 

 birds rise, their black primaries at once come into prominence. 



Canada Goose, Branta canadensis. — A very abundant bird in 

 this region, especially in September. The extreme youthfulness 

 of several of those that I shot satisfied me that they must have 

 been bred in the localities where they were obtained. 



