boreal ones such as these scarcely a mile apart and both on the same level, we must look to more than one cause for their occurrence. The only difference detected by me is one of situation and, should those species having a southern origin obtain dry soil, they will be found far to the north, while the Arctic species will obtain the necessary coolness in the peat bogs and marshes of the undrained areas lying far to the south.

The practical aspect of this question is one of great importance and, should further investigation confirm my views, we can predicate another 100,000,000 acres, in our NorthWest, of land north of the present available area, which has a climate, in the drier parts, suitable to the ripening of grain. Should the meteorological station be established at Fort Rae, north of Great Slave Lake, I am convinced that its records will show a summer temperature quite high enough for the ripening of wheat and barley in that distant region. The occurrence of maritime plants in the interior of the continent has called forth numerous theories regarding their origin. In my opinion the problem has only one solution, viz., the migrations of birds.

Besides numerous examples of the Chenopodiacea and other orders, we have what I take to be truly maritime species. These are:

Ruppia maritima,

Potamogeton marinus,

Plantago maritima,

Scirpus maritimus,

Heliotropium curassavicum,

which are found in abundance in certain localities in the interior. These species either grow in sea water or so close to it that their roots are constantly in it.

In the interior they grow either in or on the shores of salt or other lakes which are the resort of birds that winter on the sea coast where they occur.

At Edmonton, 890 miles west of Winnipeg, the farmers cultivate a variety of rye or barley under the name of Wild Goose Barley, the first sample of which was obtained from the crop of a wild goose in that vicinity. I have seen this grain and am quite sure it came from some locality far to the north-west, as it is altogether unlike any sample produced in the east. Geese, it may be remarked, are the gleaners in the barley fields at all points in the far North-West.

The salt lakes in which I obtained Ruppia maritima and Potamogeton marinus are on the migrating lines of the water birds coming from the sea coast and are the breeding places of the ring-billed gull and Bonaparte's gull, both taking their specific names from points on the coast of the southern United States.

The heliotrope lines the shores of brackish lakes in the great plains as far north as lat. 52° while on the sea coast it is only found from Virginia to Florida.

This is another instance where a plant will bear a severe climate in one locality and shuns coolness in the other. Why does it occur so far north in the interior and keep so

far south on the sea coast ?

More curious still, last summer I obtained specimens of the western grebe (Podiceps occidentalis) on Lake Winnipegosis, where it was breeding in great numbers, and around salt springs at the head of the lake the Pacific form of Plantago maritima was growing in profusion.

Coues, in his "Birds of North America,” says that the winter home of this grebe is on the Pacific coast, and specimens of the Plantago obtained on Vancouver Island by Dr. George M. Dawson are identical with those obtained by myself at the head of Lake Winnipegosis.

My localities for Ruppia and Plantago are the only ones known in the interior of the American continent and in both cases the birds which could have brought the seeds were breeding in the neighborhood.

Did time permit, I could show by numberless instances that certain species of waterfowl always migrate on fixed lines and that their occurrence in certain localities is as certain as the spring itself. I conclude, therefore, that, in every instance where a truly maritime species is found in the interior, the seeds were brought there by birds.

VI.-Notes on the Birds of Hudson's Bay.

By ROBERT BELL, M.D., LL.D., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Canada.

(Read May 26, 1882.)

Having collected upwards of one hundred species of the birds of Hudson's Bay, and made some notes with regard to their plumage at different seasons, and also on their migrations, nidifications and other habits, I beg to offer a few observations on some of the more interesting points which have come under my notice, and which may be new facts in regard to some of the species. These notes have been made incidentally, in the course of the somewhat extensive opportunities which I have enjoyed during several journeys on Hudson's Bay and in the surrounding country; still they have been sufficient to convince me that we have yet much to learn as to the range of many of the birds of this continent. For example, some rather rare species which are supposed to belong to the Arctic regions come far south; others, hitherto believed to inhabit only Mexico and Texas, are found on the shores of Hudson's Bay and westward. Again, some birds, which are stated in the books to be of continental distribution and which we would naturally expect to find, have not yet been seen by any one in a great part of this region. This is probably due to the absence from Hudson's bay and the region to northward of the food or other conditions necessary for their existence. In some cases, species are represented by straggling individuals which are regarded locally as curiosities and are only met with at long intervals. Most of the specimens which I brought home were not sufficiently good to be worth keeping, and they were destroyed after the species had been carefully determined. A considerable number of them are, however, deposited in the Government Museum and may be examined by the members of this society. As the object of this paper is to elicit, if possible, some discussion on the subject of the distribution of the birds of Canada, I shall proceed at once to give a few notes on some of the species observed and on others which were conspicuous from their absence in the region under consideration.

Among the swimming birds, I have not noticed nor heard of any of the Arctic puffins, garnets, etc., which are common in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The black guillemot is found everywhere, but always singly or in small numbers. Of the grebes, the horned species (Podiceps cornutus, Lath.) was collected at Fort George on the east side of James' Bay, and at Fort Severn and York Factory on the west coast of Hudson's Bay. The divers are well represented, the Arctic loon (Colymbus Arcticus, Linn.) was, however, found only on the Eastmain coast. The red-throated diver is found in spring and autumn on both sides of the bay. A specimen was shot a few years ago at the north end of Lake Winnipeg. The great northern diver is at home in and all around Hudson's Bay. In the spring, as soon as the water opens at the mouths of the rivers, they sometimes assemble in incredible numbers, as if by a previous understanding about a common meeting-place. At such time they may be much more easily shot than usual. These birds are said to spear their fish with the bill closed and to bring them to the surface so that they may turn them endwise Sec. IV., 1882. 7

for the purpose of swallowing. The gulls, hovering overhead and seeing what is going on down in the clear water, watch for the moment when the fish is raised to the surface and swoop down upon it. When many hungry gulls are present, this process is repeated till the patience of the loon is quite exhausted. The favorite spot for the female loon to hatch her egg or eggs is on a rock or bank a few inches immediately above the water, with a graded way up which she can climb but so situated that she can drop off into the water on any alarm. The rough-billed pelican (Pelicanus erythrorhynchus, Gmelin), although it breeds and is so common in the Winnipeg basin and to the northwestward, does not seem to be known on Hudson's Bay. The common cormorant (Graculus carbo, Gray) breeds in some of the lakes northward of the Winnipeg basin, but is rare or absent on Hudson's Bay. Indeed, many birds which are common at no great distance to the west of the bay never appear to visit this great sea itself.

Of the gull family, which is well represented, the skuas are perhaps the most interesting. A specimen of Buffon's skua (Stercorarius cepphus, Brünnich) was obtained at York Factory, and one of the Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus, Temminck) at Fort George. I have seen what I took to be the latter species on a lake on one of the branches of the Moose River. The Arctic tern (Sterna macrura, Naumann) is very common. The closely allied species, Wilson's tern (S. Wilsonii, Bonaparte) and Forster's tern are met with on some of the inland lakes. Bonaparte's gull (Larus Philadelphia, Lawrence) breeds along the Nelson River and was also collected at York Factory. The commoner gulls are abundant on rocky parts of the coasts, proving the existence of plenty of fish. Among the ducks collected may be mentioned the mallard or stock duck, the "minik" grey duck or gadwall, both species of golden-eye, one of them called by the Indians the "tree duck" from its nesting in trees like the wood duck, the butterball, the widgeon, the green- and the blue-winged teal, the latter rare. The long-tail (Dafila acuta, Linn.) was obtained from Fort George, and is not uncommon in the interior west of Hudson's Bay where it is called the "haha-wee-a." A single specimen of the male of the ruddy duck was shot at York Factory, where it is considered scarce. His Excellency the Governor-General informed me that he shot a male of this species near the Forks of the Saskatchewan, and Professor Macoun obtained the female in the same region. It appears to be rare. The wood or summer duck, the black or dusky duck and the canvas-back appear to be unknown on Hudson's Bay. The spoon-bill or "longneck," which breeds in such numbers from Lake Winnipeg westward, appears to be wanting on Hudson's Bay. The surf duck (Pelionetta perspicillata, Kaup.) was found in immense numbers on the east coast, between the islands and the mainland. Mr. A. S. Cochrane has brought a male scoter (Oidemia Americana, Swainson), supposed to be a sea-coast bird, from Reindeer Lake, in the centre of the continent. At Long Lake, on one of the branches of the Albany, I have shot a duck which appeared to correspond with the Huron scoter (Oidemia bimaculata, Bain), and which the Indians reported to breed in the lakes of that region, feeding on the small univalve shells which they obtained at the bottom of the water. Unless I am mistaken as to the bird, this is an important fact, helping to prove this to be a good species, as contended by Herbert (" Frank Forrester"). Both species of eider, locally called Eskimo ducks (Somateria mollissima, Leach, and S. Spectabilis, Leach) are abundant along the east coast of Hudson's Bay. In the month of October, 1880, I saw several flocks of eiders crossing Hudson's Strait, going southward. The three species of mergansers