288 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
ern Labrador. As long as there are stretches of open water near shore 
they can obtain food, but when the bays and inlets.are frozen and the 
ice floes become more or less solid for miles from land, the birds are 
forced to keep farther south. 
Bell (’ 83 , p. 54) describes the fall migration to the west of Labrador 
in the following words: “On Hudson’s Bay in autumn, the geese, 
ducks, plover, etc., come from the north, and also gather from either 
side, and fly southward along each line of shore, congregating in large 
numbers where these two meet at the head of James’ Bay, from which 
they fly so as to pass eastward of Lake Superior.” Doubtless many 
of the water birds that reach the St. Lawrence River basin in Ontario, 
during the fall migration, come by this route, overland from James 
Bay. 
The immense numbers of Eskimo Curlew that formerly migrated 
to the south and east shores of Labrador before departing over sea 
for the Antilles and South America are elsewhere mentioned, as 
well as the migrations of the ptarmigan from the interior to the south¬ 
ern coast of Labrador. 
Regarding the spring migrations there is comparatively little known. 
Audubon mentions the arrival of the Loons on the south coast, that 
had apparently came directly across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
passage of the Brant from the southern shores overland to the polar 
seas is said to be accomplished at a single flight. Cartwright speaks 
of the flights of ducks in early spring looking for water and the 
great flocks of eiders in the spring migrations are described by him 
and by Stearns. 
An interesting wanderer is the Snow Bunting that passes south 
in great numbers from the far north during fall. This is a bird of 
strong flight but appears often to be carried out to sea by the north¬ 
westerly gales and is known to reach even the Azores. That many 
of the smaller land birds do cross the full breadth of the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence in their spring and fall migrations seems to be indicated 
by the observations recorded by Trumbull ( 05 ). It is not clear, 
however, to what extent the presence of small birds crossing this wide 
stretch of water is accidental. 
In addition to the migration of many of the land birds to more 
southern climes in winter, there is some evidence of a more restricted 
movement on the part of the hardier species, from the interior or 
northern part to the coast of southern Labrador. Thus the Labra- 
