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J. Cassidy—The Birds of Canada



very surprised indeed at this, because of the strict bird protection now

prevailing in Brazil, but no doubt this bird is exempt from protection

as it is a commercial proposition. It is very difficult to bring about the

protection of any bird if there are commercial interests at stake. It is

a pity that some international bird protection society cannot do some¬

thing about this, for I am sure that a few more years will see the

extinction of this fine bird. I was told that the great Lac do Patos,

once the home of millions of waterfowl, used to be the home of thousands

of these Swans, but now few, if any, were ever seen. Hudson states

that in his day (the mid-nineteenth century) these birds were very

common in the Argentine.


(To be continued)



THE BIRDS OF CANADA


By James Cassidy


Probably that Encyclopsedia which under “ Canada ” states “ the

Humming-bird is not uncommon in Canada and the Battle-Snake ”

is about as well-informed on bird distribution as a great number of

the reading public ; very few, comparatively speaking, are aware

that some twenty quarto pages will scarcely suffice to list the orders,

families, genera, and species of birds in East and West Canada—as

many volumes might be filled in describing them.


In this short paper it is necessary to confine attention to three or

four birds of interest, the hope being that such an account, brief and

bare as it must necessarily be, will induce a few readers to bestow at

least a few hours’ study on the Birds of Canada. One of the best and

most useful books to consult before visiting the Dominion for research

is that published by the Musson Book Co., Ltd., of Toronto, this year,

which is worth its weight in gold to those ardently seeking reliable

information on the subject, unloaded with extraneous matter. The

scope of the book is such that it deals with all kinds of birds known to

occur in Canada and its commonsense systematic arrangement avoids

the antiquated misleading statements made by some authors of the

elder school.



