Specific characters.-"Length, five inches; extent, seven; the whole back, wings and tail, are of a deep greenish olive; the tips of the wings, and the centre of the tail feathers excepted, which are brownish; the whole head is of a dull slate colour; the breast is ornamented with a singular crescent of alternate transverse lines of pure glossy white, and very deep black; all the rest of the lower parts are of a brilliant yellow; the tail is rounded at the end; legs and feet, a pale flesh colour; bill, deep brownish black olive, lighter below; eye, hazel." Wilson. The other species is the Maryland ground-warbler, (Sylvicola Trichas, Lath.) It is to be found in the same situations as the former species. Its simple note may be heard among the tangled shrubbery of low watery situations. The nest is formed in the ground among the roots of the bushes; this it arches over, leaving a small hole for an entrance; the eggs are five, white, with touches of reddish brown. It seems to be pretty common through all the United States. Around the swampy thickets of Maryland it is exceedingly abundant. The only place in the vicinity of our city in which I have seen this bird, is a small bushy swamp on the Lachine railway, beside the aqueduct road. In this place they breed, returning south as early as the middle of August. They only raise one brood here. Insects and larvæ are their general food. The song or rather the notes of this bird are confined to a simple but not disagreeable twitter.

Specific characters.-" Length, four and three quarter inches; extent, six and a quarter inches; back, wings and tail, green olive, which also covers the upper part of the neck, but approaches to cinereous on the crown; the eyes are inserted in a band of black, which passes from the front on both sides, reaching half way down the neck; this is bound above by another band of white, deepening into light blue; throat, breast and vent, brilliant yellow; belly, a fainter tinge of the same colour; inside coverts of the wings also yellow; tips and inner vanes of the wings, dusky brown; tail, cuneform, dusky, edged with olive green; bill, black, straight, slender, of the true motacilla form, though the bird itself was considered as a species of thrush by Linnæus, but removed to the genus motacilla by Melin; legs, flesh-coloured; iris of the eye, dark hazel. The female wants the black band through the eye, has the bill brown, and the throat of a paler yellow." Wilson.

The fourth genus Helinaia or Swamp-warblers, is represented

here by a single species. Indeed I was about setting it down as having no representatives here, when I accidentally fell upon this little species. It is the Nashville swamp-warbler, (Sylvia rubricapilla, Wilson.) This is a beautiful and interesting little bird; rare in our neighbourhood. Like the birds of the last genus, they are found only in low swampy grounds, and feed in much the same manner. The point of difference between the two genera, is chiefly in the form of bill, which in the present genus is much longer and of a slenderer form. A few years ago the Nashville warbler was not so rare on our mountain as at present. His notes are very singular, much resembling the breaking of small twigs. The female I have never seen, nor have their nests ever been discovered here. The specimens shot by Wilson were procured near Nashville.

Specific characters.-" Length, four inches and a half; extent, seven inches; the upper parts of the head and neck, light ash, a little inclining to olive; crown, spotted with deep chestnut in small touches; a pale yellowish ring round the eye; whole lower parts, vivid yellow, except the middle of the belly, which is white; back, yellow olive, slightly skirted with ash; rump and tail coverts, rich yellow olive; wings, nearly black, broadly edged with olive; tail, slightly forked, and very dark olive; legs, ash; feet, dirty yellow; bill, tapering to a fine point, and dusky ash; no white on wings or tail; eye, hazel." Wilson.

The fifth genus Meriotilla or creeping-warblers, contains only one species, and it is very abundant with us during spring. The term creeping, explains the difference between this and the preceding genera. This species is the black and white creeper, (Sylvia varia, Lath.) A person who is taking an early stroll over the brow of our mountain, on a spring morning, cannot but help hearing often repeated a sharp twee-a-twee-a-twee, which from its singular shrillness strikes his attention. Looking round to try and discover the creature which emits these sounds, he sees descending the large trunk of a tree, a small bird of striped plumage, and busily engaged in gleaning the bark of all injurious insects. Seldom is this bird seen among the smaller branches of the tree, but nearly always on the large branches and trunks. Its tongue is beautifully adapted to its purpose, being long and horny, and of course, therefore, better fitted for extracting insects from beneath the bark of trees than for excelling in song; 66 as the hardened hands of the husbandman are better suited for clearing

the forest or guiding the plough, than dancing among the keys of a piano-forte. Which of the two is the most honourable and useful employment is not difficult to determine. Let the farmer, therefore, respect this little bird for its useful qualities, in clearing his fruit and forest trees from destructive insects, though it cannot serenade him with its song."

A beautiful account of this little species may be found in Audubon's works.

Specific characters." Length, five and a half inches; extent, seven and a half inches; crown, white, bordered on each side with a band of black, which is again bounded by a line of white passing over each eye; below this is a large spot of black covering the ear feathers; chin and throat, black; wings, the same, crossed transversely by two bars of white; breast and back, streaked with black and white; tail, upper, and also under coverts, black, edged and bordered with white; belly, white; legs, and feet, dirty yellow; hind claw the longest, and all very sharp pointed; bill, a little compressed sidewise, slightly curved, black above, paler below; tongue, long, fine pointed, and horny at the extremity." Wilson.

The female has not the black on the throat.

ARTICLE XXVII.-Additional notes on Aboriginal Antiquities found at Montreal.

(Read before the Natural History Society of Montreal.)

Since the publication of my former paper on this subject,* the excavations on the site of the ancient Indian village, described in that paper, have proceeded to completion, and now the whole of the superficial layer of sand having been removed, the spot has forever lost its original contour and appearance, and little probability remains of farther discoveries. Throughout the past year the progress of the work has been carefully watched, and special excavations have been made in the more promising places. By these means many additional objects have been obtained, some of them of much interest. Mr. E. Murphy, of this Society, has also aided in the work of exploration, and has accumulated a large collection; and I am indebted to Mr. Dand, the overseer in

* Canadian Naturalist, vol. 5, p. 430.

charge of the workmen, for several specimens, as well as for pointing out some of the more interesting spots for exploration.

The additional facts obtained do not induce me in any way to modify the statements of my former paper respecting the certainty of this having been the site of an ancient Indian village, and probably of that mentioned by Cartier under the name of Hochelaga. These conclusions are indeed strengthened by the observations more recently made.

The space in which the remains occur extends from Mansfield Street to a little west of Metcalfe Street in one direction, and in the other from a little south of Burnside Place to within 60 yards of Sherbrooke Street. In this limited area, not exceeding two imperial acres, twenty skeletons have been disinterred within twelve months, and the workmen state that many parts of the ground excavated in former years was even more rich in such remains. Hundreds of old fire places, and indications of at least ten or twelve huts or lodges have also been found, and in a few instances these occur over the burial places, as if one generation had built its huts over the graves of another. Where habitations have stood, the ground is in some places to the depth of three feet, a black mass saturated with carbonaceous matter, and full of bones of wild animals, charcoal, pottery, and remains of implements of stone or bone. Farther, in such places the black soil is laminated, as if deposited in successive layers on the more depressed parts of the surface. The length of time during which the site was occupied, is also indicated by the very different states of preservation of the bones and bone implements; some of those in the deeper parts of the deposit being apparently much older than those nearer the surface. Similar testimony is afforded by the great quantity and various patterns of the pottery, as well as by the abundance of the remains of animals used as food, throughout the area above mentioned.

All these indications point to a long residence of the aborigines on this spot, while the almost entire absence of articles of European manufacture in the undisturbed portions of the ground, implies a date coeval with the discovery of the country. The few objects of this kind found in circumstances which prevented the supposition of mere superficial intermixture, are just sufficient to shew that the village existed until the appearance of Europeans on the stage. Other facts bearing on these points will appear in

the course of the following detailed notice of the objects found since the publication of my former paper.

1. Human Remains.-Several additional skulls have been disinterred, but many of them in a state too fragile for preservation. All are of the same type of cranial conformation with those previously described. The measurements of five of the most perfect are as follows:

The others are in my

No. 4 is in Mr. Guilbault's collection. possession. Nos. 5 and 6 belonged to a female and male skeleton buried together.. They have the Wormian bones largely developed, which is not the case with the others. No. 8 is remarkable for a lateral distortion which seems in part to have existed during life, but must have been increased by the pressure of the soil after the decay of the soft parts:

I have been very desirous to ascertain if the measurements of the skulls were capable of throwing any light on the question of the particular Indian race to which these people belonged. Prof. Wilson of Toronto, has kindly furnished for the purposes of this comparison, the following table, presenting the average measurements of about forty Huron skulls, and of about thirty believed to be Algonquin.

Huron.

Length,...... 7.37 inches.

Algonquin. 7.23 inches.

From this it would appear that the Algonquin skull is shorter, broader and lower than that of the Huron. The measurements of skulls from Hochelaga, given in this and my previous paper, present so great diversities among themselves, that any comparison with the averages above stated would seem impossible. Nos. 3, 4 and 8, approach very nearly to the Algonquin type; Nos. 6 and 7 to the Huron. No. 7 is remarkable for its length, and contrasts in