278 ASSINNIB01NE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



by a pole 8 feet long, so that when the birds passed under 

 the net to pick up the grain strewed beneath, a man or a 

 boy concealed by a fence or bush, withdrew the prop by 

 means of a string attached to it, and sometimes succeeded 

 in entrapping a score or more of pigeons at one fall. Near 

 the net some dead trees are placed for the pigeons to perch 

 on, and sometimes stuffed birds are used as decoys to 

 attract passing flocks. 



In pursuing our course to Stony Mountain we endea- 

 voured to follow the ridge before alluded to, but after tracing 

 it for several miles it became imperceptibly blended with 

 the level prairie. Several ridges were crossed after we 

 lost the first, but in all instances they died away after 

 having preserved their rounded form for two or three miles. 

 Stony Mountain is a limestone island of Silurian age, 



Stony Mountain. 



having escaped the denuding forces which excavated the 

 Eed Eiver valley. It is about four miles in circumference, 

 its highest point is sixty feet above the prairie level. Ho- 

 rizontal layers of limestone, holding very few and obscure 

 fossils, project on its western chff-like sides. Its eastern 

 exposure is gently sloping, and some ten feet from the 

 summit, the remains of an ancient lake beach are well pre- 

 served. Viewed from a distance, Stony Mountain requires 



