92 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Jan. i6, 1909. 
island. This will show how unsafe it is to be 
too positive in matters of this sort, and the 
final securing of undoubted caribou there will 
come in the nature of a shock to many. 
The herd or herds are confined to the ex¬ 
treme northwestern corner of the Northern 
Island in the neighborhood of Virago Sound. 
Three animals, two bulls and a cow, were shot 
by two halfbreeds, named Yeomans and White, 
in the first week of last November, and the fresh 
skins photographed by Rev. W. E. Collinson, a 
missionary of Masset. 
The photographs show the animals to be re¬ 
markably light colored, in marked contrast to 
its nearest geographical relative, the dark- 
colored mountain caribou of the interior of 
British Columbia. Their coats seemed to be 
lighter—in the photograph—than those of any 
other reindeer, while the fact that they are from 
a locality possessing the mildest climate of any 
portion of the reindeer’s range, would naturally 
lead one to expect a dark-colored form. An¬ 
other notable feature which shows in the pho¬ 
tograph is the smallness of the feet. 
The female is hornless, and the horns of the 
two bulls are both deformed, as were the horns 
of the type. The horns show little or no palma- 
tion, but it is unsafe to argue too much on 
this feature, as horns from the southern por¬ 
tion of the range of Rangifer t. Montanus show 
a surprising variation. 
The malformation of the antlers may be due 
to two causes—either to interbreeding or to the 
density of the brush, which would tend to de¬ 
form them when in the velvet, 
I had hoped to see the specimens which were 
said to be on the steamship Vadso, on her last 
trip from Masset, but their owners are holding 
them for a good price, and they may not be 
shipped for some time, as no other steamer 
calls at Masset until next spring, 
I am indebted for the photograph to Mr. F. 
Kermode, of the Provincial Museum at Vic¬ 
toria. Allan Brooks. 
Baldwin Polar Expedition. 
The E. B. Baldwin Polar expedition proposes 
to leave the Pacific Coast in September next in 
a steamship, which will be the main ship of the 
expedition. There also will be two or more 
supply steamships, which are to be employed in 
transporting many heavy timbers from the Ore¬ 
gon or Alaskan forests, and also thousands of 
strong casks, which will be filled with oil, 
clothes, food, emergency supplies and other 
things needed for the long voyage. There also 
will be portable houses, sledges, small but 
strong boats, forty or fifty dogs and three or 
four Siberian horses. The horses will be used 
the first year of the drift or until provender 
runs out, and then they will be killed and eaten. 
The exploring party will consist of about 
twenty-four persons, including probably two 
American navy officers, who already have ex¬ 
pressed eagerness to go on the expedition. Not 
more than two or three Eskimos will be taken 
along, because they will be of little use on an 
expedition conducted for purely scientific pur¬ 
poses. Baldwin says he does not expect to find 
land at the pole. He will not be surprised, 
however, to find it to the east of that point. 
“The initial point of the drift will be to the 
northwest of Point Barrow, Alaska,” he said. 
“There we will make fast to one of the large 
ice floes at the southern edge of the ice pack. 
The supply steamships will discharge their sup¬ 
plies on the surface of the ice floes and then 
leave us in charge of the main steamship. We 
will proceed at once to form a settlement upon 
the floating ice island. These ice floes are from 
eight to thirty feet thick and in size as large 
as Central Park, or even Manhattan Island. 
They are close together, and the edges con¬ 
tinually rub, thus forming the ice pack.” 
He said the reason for scattering thousands of 
logs and casks on the ice floe is that if the floe 
should split they can be recovered easily from 
the water. 
The Birds’ Calendar for 1909. 
Through the mossy wildwood, 
Down the briery glen. 
You and I and snowy owl. 
Redstart and wren, 
Vireo and waxwing. 
Plover and chewink 
Purple finch and whippoorwill. 
Lark and bobolink; 
Over mountain ledges. 
Thro’ the tangly hollow. 
You and I and little scops. 
Bluebird and swallow. 
Wild January greets us; through her drifting snow 
wreaths hark; 
Where that fleck of red is glinting ’tis the woodpecker 
tapping the bark. 
The February sunlight on her glittering ice streams 
down. 
And gay is the crested kinglet with his leathery golden 
•crown. 
The robin, brave and jovial, airy, alert and round, 
In March comes bouncing cheerily along the frozen 
ground. 
The scent of the April gloaming, the curve of a soft 
brown wing; 
The hermit pours from the woodland that marvelous 
song of the spring. 
In May a rich contralto from a gorgeous burnished 
breast; 
The elm tree laughs above me while the oriole builds 
his nest. 
June—and the grosbeak’s rose breast, his satiny black 
and gray; 
Her piercing, piteous pleading in the stress of their 
danger day. 
July—through brazen sunlight over hill-crest and wood¬ 
land and wold 
The goldfinch flutters his beauty of velvety black and 
gold. 
In -August swoop the swallows athwart the shimmering 
blue; 
No fires of the seething summer can fetter that swift¬ 
winged crew. 
September’s ocean thunder and the lift of the waves’ 
foam white; 
Thro’ the tossing spume the petrel is winging his 
dauntless flight. 
October’s nut trees rustle and a dazzle of blue out- 
starts ; 
The jay’s triumphal clamor, the thief and the knave— 
of hearts; 
November—gay, confiding, yet the sparrow shrills at her 
mate: 
“Good luck, O small Petruchio, a-taming thy shrewish 
Kate!” 
December’s winds are wailing; from the gloom of the 
hemlock tree 
Hark to that blithesome echo, “chick-a-dee, chick-a-dee- 
dee.” 
Thro’ the mossy wildwood, 
Down the briery glen. 
You and I and snowy owl. 
Redpoll and wren; 
Vireo and snowflake, 
Pleron and chewink. 
Purple finch and yellowthroat. 
Quail and bobolink. 
Over mountain ledges. 
Thro’ the tangly hollow. 
You and I and little scops. 
Blackbird and swallow. 
Charlotte VV. Thurston. 
REDUCE THE CARES 
of housekeeping. One decidedly practical way 
is to use Borden’s Peerless Brand Evaporated 
Milk in all cooking where milk or cream is 
required. Results will be more satisfactory 
than with most “fresh” milk. The conven¬ 
ience and economy will please you. Dilute 
Peerless Milk with water to any desired rich¬ 
ness.— Adv. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
CARIBOU FROM QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 
Shot at Virago Sound in November last. 
