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or perhaps on the snow buntings, large flocks of which were always feeding there. At the end of January, I was shown a specimen said to have been shot near Montreal a few days before I saw it. Syrnium nebulosum. Linn. Barred Owl. I shot a specimen of this species on 21st January. It was sitting in a tree in a small wood on Nun's Island and was very tame and stupid. It had some animal like a small rat almost whole in its stomach and was the fattest bird I ever skinned, the entire body being covered with a thick coating of hard white fat. Another specimen was killed on St. Helen's Island in January, and several others were exposed for sale in the markets.

Certhia familiaris. Linn., Brown Creeper. This little bird was numerous on the 6th February in the woods on Nun's Island, flying from tree to tree in company with the black-capt tits and nuthatches. I shot several specimens. The weather at the time was extremely mild.

Parus atricapillus. Linn. Black cap Tit. Very numerous every where round Montreal throughout the winter.

Turdus migratorius. Linn., Robin. One shot November 6th in a swamp near Monklands. I saw a bird which I thought was a robin in December and another at the beginning of January.*

*

Plectrophanes nivalis. Linn., Snow Bunting. Very abundant, In January large flocks were always to be seen feeding in the farm-yard on Nun's Island. When alarmed they would fly up and pitch in a long row on the ridge of the roof of the farm buildings, alighting again as soon as the danger was past. One specimen which I shot there had its crop full of the sprouted seeds of onions or leeks, and its whole body partook of their odour. In others, shot at the same time, I found grains of wheat and some small seeds. They also feed much on the seeds of a species of Euphorbia when the snow is not too deep. Their white bodies and black wings give them a very curious and peculiar appearance when seen against a clear winter sky.

Niphaa hyemalis. Linn. Common snow-bird. This species continued abundant up to the second week in November, after which I lost sight of them.f

Linaria minor. Ray, Lesser red poll. First observed 24th November, but not numerous till beginning of February, when immense flocks appeared in the neighbourhood and continued

• Spring arrival, 13th April, 1857. †Spring arrival, 5th April, 1857.

here till middle of April. A great number were in very handsome plumage, and some small flocks consisted entirely of males with red breasts, whilst in others, all were destitute of the red on the lower parts, but I met with flocks towards the end of the winter consisting indiscriminately of males and females. Hundreds were exposed for sale in the markets, and appeared to have been taken by means of nets or traps, as they had all been killed by crushing the skull, and none exhibited any shot marks. These large flocks fed on the seeds of the birch and alder, but principally on those of thistles, &c., not covered by the snow and must have been of great service in reducing the progeny of those noxious weeds. The Canadian farmers however, who are themselves too indolent to rid their farms of the weeds which are so injurious to their crops, for the sake of gaining a few coppers, destroy without mercy these useful and harmless birds,-the means which a wise providence has provided for checking the increase of those troublesome plants which on some of the Canadian farms threaten to entirely usurp the place of the crops.

Linaria pinus, Wils. Pine Linnet, I met with only one small flock which was feeding on an alder tree in a swamp near Mileend Road, November 20th, 1856, and of which I shot two specimens.

Corythus enucleator, Linn, Common Pine Finch or Pine Grosbeak. The first time I observed a flock of this fine bird sufficiently close to identify, was on the 6th January, but I saw some birds at the beginning of December, which I could not distinguish, but which were very probably of this species. When I first saw them they were feeding on the berries of the Mountain Ash in company with a large flock of Waxwings as noticed in the "Canadian Naturalist and Geologist" for February, page There cannot be a greater contrast than exists in the manner of feeding and internal formation of these two birds which subsist on the same berries. The Grosbeak with its strong bill and hard muscular stomach, discards the skins of the berries, swallowing nothing but the pulp and pips or seeds, which are ground to pieces by the action of the gizzard aided by small stones which I found in all I opened. The Pips thus crushed communicate a strong odour of Prusic acid to the whole body. The pulp seems to be very easily digested as although always present in the throat and crop, I could never detect it in the true stomach. The Waxwing on the contrary having a comparatively weak bill, capacious throat,

and soft membranaceous stomach, swallows the berries whole and unbroken, and the pips pass out of its body without having undergone any change by the process of digestion and imparts no smell to the flesh, the fruity portion only being retained for the nourishment of the bird. At first sight it would appear as though the strong bill of the Pine Grosbeak was not needed in opening such soft berries as those of the Mountain Ash and Cranberry on which they principally feed in winter, but when the thermometer is many degrees below Zero the berries are frozen as hard as stones, and it must require great force to crush them. This species was most numerous at the end of February and beginning of March, when very large flocks were constantly feeding in every garden in Montreal where there were any berries to be obtained and they were extremely tame rendering it difficult to avoid blowing them to pieces by discharging the gun too close to them. I did not see any after 11th March, so I suppose they must have left about that time. These flocks consisted almost entirely of dull coloured individuals, females and young birds, and I saw but two or three old males in their handsome red plumage.

Corvus Americanus-Aud.-American Crow. Plentiful up to 10th December, only a few seen in January and beginning of February-became abundant at the end of February and extremely numerous at end of March. They subsisted on such scattered grain as they could find amongst the stubble in such fields as became bare of snow during the frequent thaws.

Garrulus cristatus-Linn.-Blue Jay. I was given a specimen shot on 25th November, near Mile-end Road. Its stomach contained a little fur and the lower incisor of a mouse. I did not see any myself during the winter months, but I am told they were common at Cote des Neiges feeding on Mountain Ash berries &c. This is not unlikely, as I am aware they winter at Sorel.

Lanius Borealis-Vieill.-Great American Shrike. I shot the first specimen of this species on 11th October, on the common near Mile end road. Its stomach was filled with the black fieldcrickets so abundant in this country. I met with several other examples in October and November, and the stomach of one shot on 20th November contained the fur of mice. The smaller Rodentia appear to constitute the staple article of food of a great many birds in the winter season. I saw the last Shrike on 2nd of December when the ground was covered with snow. All I saw were sitting on the topmost branch of a tree or bush. This

bird when wounded is extremely bold and fierce, giving very hard blows with its powerful bill. *

Bombycilla garrula-Vieill.-Black throated Waxwing or Bohemian chatterer. This was the most abundant bird round Montreal during the winter. From the beginning of January to the 22nd April, large flocks were constantly flying round the city frequently feeding in the gardens even in the very heart of the town. They were however much more shy than the Pine Grosbeaks, readily taking alarm, and were often difficult to approach. Comparatively only a small portion were in really handsome plumage, many specimens being entirely destitute of the waxlike prolongations of the shafts of the quill feathers and the yellow band across the wings, and having nothing but a narrow white stripe on the wing feathers. I obtained specimens showing every gradation from the bird of last year to the full plumaged male. The mature females are nearly as handsome as the males. The ovarium and eggs of an old female dissected by me on 22nd April, were still very small. They fed on the berries of the Mountain Ash and Cranberry, at first, and when these failed on the dried fruit of the common Thorn. It was a remarkable thing to see this species feeding on the same trees frequented by its almost sole congener the Cedar bird in the autumn. The one exclusively a winter visitor the other as strictly a summer bird of passage. I have not seen any more of this bird since the last heavy fall of snow on 27th April.

Sitta-Carolinensis-Linn.-White breasted Nuthatch. I shot one specimen on 19th November, and saw several in the woods on Nun's Island, on 6th February.

Picus pubescens-Linn.-Downy Woodpecker. Tolerably plentiful throughout the winter. Rather numerous in the woods at Nun's Island in January. Capt. Macdonald, A. A. G., showed me a remarkable variety which he shot there on 16th January. It was a male and had a large olive coloured patch on the wing coverts of each wing.

Tetrao umbellus-Linn. Rather numerous all through the winter on the Mountain, and in the swamps near the mile-end road. It is curious to see the tracks of this bird on the snow, round every small bush it has come to, and of which it has nipped off all the buds it could reach.

* Spring arrival, April 13th,

Besides the above species it is very probable that several escaped observation. I received a specimen of the Gos-Hawk, Astur palmnbarius, shot near Laprairie at the end of December or beginning of January. It is not unlikely that several species of Hawks occurred here at the beginning of the winter, which I did not observe. An announcement appeared in the Montreal papers at the end of February, to the effect that a yellow bird (or Goldfinch) and a Rossignot (or Song Sparrow) had been lately seen at Cote des Nieges. What reliance is to be placed on this statement, I am unable to say. The weather at the time was so mild that it seems not improbable there may be some truth in this and other reports of the kind, which came to my knowledge. I will conclude these very rough and hasty notes by expressing the hope, that they may be the means of eliciting further and more valuable information on the birds of this and other parts of Canada, from observers with abler pens than my own, for the "Naturalist," and should such be the case, any trouble they may have cost me will be most amply repaid.

Montreal, 13th May, 1857.

W. S. M. D'URBAN.

ARTICLE XIX.-Notes on the Bermudas and their Natural History, with special reference to their Marine Alga,

by the Rev. ALEX. F. KEMP; read before the Botanical Society of Montreal.

The small group of Islands called the "Bermudas," or the "Somers Islands," make up together a "miniature Archipelago," on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 32° 15′ North, and long. 64° 51′ West, about 600 miles from Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina. They are alone amidst the waste of waters, as solitary sentinels at the most northerly outposts of the West Indian group. It is said that they number as many islands as there are days in the year, and perhaps were every little rock which lifts its head above the water and is adorned with a sage bush or a cedar tree to be counted, this might be true; but there are not more than from twelve to twenty islands which properly deserve to be designated as such. The four principal of these are, the Main Island, or Bermuda proper, which is about 15 miles long,

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