0318 



Birds. 



mometcr 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. 



Fort Carlton, Saskatchewan River, 

 January 14, 1858. 



Dear B — , 



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 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 I 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.W. 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. 1 consider 1 saw Sylvia yestiva. 



