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wings than querula, and there is a difference in the comparative length of their quill feathers. In the latter, the first quill is equal to the fifth (or to the fourth, according to Audubon), and the second and third are longest; in pusilla the first is rather shorter than the sixth, and the fourth is visibly longer than the second, though the third, or longest, very little exceeds either of them. The specimen brought home by Mr. King differs from the one referred to above, solely in being about a quarter of an inch longer from the point of the bill to the end of the tail; but the proportions of the other parts are the same.

THE ARCTIC BLUE-BIRD. (Sialia arctica.) F. B. A. 2. p. 209. t. 39.

A single bird of this species was killed by Mr. Dease at Great Bear Lake, on Sir John Franklin's second expedition. Since then, the same gentleman has sent me four specimens from New Caledonia, where it is pretty common, and is known to the natives by the name of "Thlee-ooday." Mr. King's specimen proves that it goes as far east, on the shores of Great Slave Lake, as the 105th meridian. All the individuals that I have seen agree exactly in the colours of their plumage, as well as in other respects, with the one figured in the Fauna Boreali-Americana. In one specimen only, the first quill feather almost equals the second, but in none does it exceed it, as is the case with Sialia Wilsonii.

TENESSEE WORM-EATER. (Vermivora peregrina.)
F. B. A. 2. p. 221. t. 42. f. 2.

Mr. Audubon says that this species is very rare in the

United States; but it would appear to be more common in the fur countries, having been found by Sir John Franklin's party, as well as by Captain Back's, in both instances in the 53d parallel of latitude.

YELLOW-TAILED GNAT-CATCHER. (Setophaga ruticilla.) F. B. A. 2. p. 223.

This singularly-coloured and lively little bird is very common in the Brazils, and in the islands of the Caribbean Sea. It arrives within the limits of the United States early in March; and in May reaches the Saskatchewan, where it may be seen sporting about among the lower branches of the large willows that grow in that swampy district.

REDDISH-BROWN TITLARK. (Anthus aquaticus.)
F. B. A. 2. p. 231. t. 44.

Mr. Audubon informs us, that this titlark is met with in every part of the United States; but does not breed there. It was seen on Sir John Franklin's second expedition on the Saskatchewan, and Mr. King obtained two specimens at Fort Reliance on the 3d of June. It probably breeds in the latter quarter, or still farther north.

TREE BUNTLING. (Emberiza canadensis.) F. B. A. 2. p. 252.

Three specimens of this buntling were obtained by Mr. King at Fort Reliance, which is farther north than it was previously known to range; but it most probably goes to the limit of the woods. Its winter quarters

are, according to Mr. Audubon, in the United States, north of the Ohio.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. (Coccothraustes Ludoviciana.) F. B. A. 2. p. 271.

Mr. King obtained a specimen of this charming bird on Lake Winipeg, and has made a note of its irides being red. Audubon and Wilson state them to be hazel.

THE SPOTTED GROUSE. (Tetrao canadensis.) F. B. A. 2. p. 347. t. 62.

This bird ranges from the northern districts of the United States to the extremities of the woods on the banks of the Mackenzie (lat. 68°); and from the facility with which it can be killed at certain seasons when game is scarce, is of great service to the Indian hunter. It inhabits thick forests, and particularly swampy places where the black spruce grows, and on this account is called by the Canadian voyagers perdrix de savanne. The leaves of the spruce form its food, which gives its dark-coloured flesh a strong resinous taste. Franklin's grouse, an inhabitant of the acclivities of the Rocky Mountains, and the country to the westward of that ridge, differs from the spotted grouse in the twelve upper tail coverts being broadly tipped with white, and, according to Mr. Douglas, their eggs are also dissimilar.

THE WILLOW GROUSE. (Lagopus saliceti.) F. B. A. 2. p. 351.

This ptarmigan is of still more importance to the

Indian population of the fur countries than the preceding grouse, on account of its vast numbers sufficing for the support of many of the tribes for a considerable part of the year. It inhabits the barren grounds and the summits of the rocky hills in the woody country, during the summer season, seeking shelter in the woods in winter; and it is in the latter part of the year that it is most plentifully taken. Ten thousand have been caught by nets or snares in one winter at a single fur post.

THE ROCK PTARMIGAN. (Lagopus rupestris.) F. B. A. 2. p. 354. t. 64.

This species is more peculiarly an inhabitant of the barren lands than the last, never coming into the woods except in the winter, and even then only for a short way. It is very abundant in some districts. Another species, named by Dr. Leach lagopus mutus, visits, according to Captain James Ross, the peninsula of Boothia, along with this and the willow grouse, but the rock ptarmigan is the most abundant in the islands of the Arctic sea. There is a smaller ptarmigan than any of these, peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, which may be known by the whole of its tail feathers being white, whence it has received the specific appellation of lagopus

leucurus.

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. (Centrocercus phasianellus.) F. B. A. 2. p. 361.

This bird is abundant in the fur countries up to the 61st parallel, both in the prairies and among the woods. Its flesh, though superior to that of any of the preceding ptarmigan or grouse, is not so tender or white as that of

the ruffed grouse, which is also plentiful as high as the 56th parallel. Other birds of this genus inhabit the plains of the Columbia, but those we have mentioned are the most serviceable to the Indian tribes that inhabit the districts through which Captain Back passed.

PASSENGER PIGEON. (Columba migratoria.) F. B. A. 2. p. 363.

This pigeon, which breeds in almost incredible numbers in some parts of the United States, visits the fur countries up to the 62nd parallel of latitude, but not in such quantities anywhere to the northward of Lake Winipeg, as to contribute much to the support of the natives at the south end of that lake, indeed, for a month or two in summer, when the floods have overflowed the low lands, and no four-footed game is to be procured, a few families of Indians subsist upon this bird. It visits the north after the termination of the breeding season in the United States. Captain James Ross saw a single pigeon of this species as high as latitude 73° in Baffin's Bay: it flew on board the Victory during a storm, and must have strayed from a great distance. The wind, as we find by a reference to Sir John Ross's narrative, blew from the north-east at the beginning of the gale, shifting afterwards to the eastward. As the Victory was to the northward of the island of Disco at the time, if the bird came in either of these directions, it must have taken flight from the northern part of Greenland, but it is not likely to have found food on that barren coast.

THE PIPING PLOVER. (Charadrius melodus Bonap.)

A specimen of this pretty plover was obtained by Mr. King on Lake Winipeg, and that piece of water is

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