Additional Notes on the Birds of Labrador

THE AUK: A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY. VoL. xxw. JANJARY, 1910. NO. 1. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF LABRADOR. ! BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND• M. I)., AND A. C. BENT. Plates I-III. THE followingnotes are intendedto supplementthe 'Birds of Labrador'2 publishedin 1907. They are the resultof an ornitho- logicalexcursion to the southernLabrador coast in the springof 1909. The itinerary was as follows: Leaving Quebec on the mail steamshipon May 21, 1909, we reachedthe beginningof the LabradorPeninsula on May 23, some345 milesfrom Quebecand 30 miles to the west of SevenIslands. This point is where the 50th parallel strikesthe coastin the Gulf of St. Lawrence. From here, stoppingat a few places,we skirtedthe coastas far as Esqui- lnaux Point, wherewe left the steameron May 24. The next day we startedin a smallsail boat and cruisedfor •t weekalong the coast and ainongthe islandsto the eastwardas far as Natashquan, about85 milesfrom EsquimauxPoint and some255 milesfrom the westernmostpoint on the coastot' the LabradorPeninsula. On thistrip we landedand exploredat Betchewun,Isles des Cornellies, Piashte-bai where we ascended the river five or six miles to the falls, Great Piashte-bai,Quatachoo and Watcheeshoo. We spent two days at Natashquanand returncdby steameron the night • Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, November 1, 1909. • Birds of Labrador. By Charles W. Townsend, M.D. and Glover M. Allen. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 277-428, pl. 29. Boston, July, 1907. See also Townsend, Labrador Notes, Auk, Vol. XXVI, p. 201, 1909. 1 THE AUK, VOL. XXVII. PLATE ISLANDSAT WATCHESHOD,LABRADOR. NESTINGSITES FOR GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS AND EH)EHS. PIASHTE-BAI RIVER AND LAKE, FROM BEGINNING OF HIGH I,AND. 2 TOWNSZN•)AND BZNT, Birds of Labrador. kJ•n.['Auk of June 1-2 to EsquimauxPoint, which we establishedas our headquartersuntil June 14, makinga numberof day trips on foot along the coastto the east and west to the distanceof five or six miles, and inland the same distance to the Romaine River. We alsoexplored Esquimaux Island and tooka threedays sailing trip to Bald Island near Betchewun. On June 14 we took the steamer to Mingan wherewe exploredthe surroundings,and ascendedthe Mingan River three miles to the beginningof the height of land, and traversedthe Indian portagepath back for a few miles. On June21 we tookthe steamerfor our returnhome passing the westernmostpoint of the Labrador Peninsulaon June 22. In the publicationof the BostonSociety of Natural History it was statedthat the "arctic area extendsin a narrowingstrip along the entireeast coast and on the southcoast as far westas Mingan." • The latter part of this statementwas based on previouslypublished records,and we found it to be not quite accurate,for the coastto the eastwardof Mingan in placesas far as Natashquanis forested to the water'sedge, as is alsothe casewith the groupof limestone Mingan Islands. Eastof the MinganIslands, however, the islands are largelybare and arctic in appearanceand flora, but we found no evidenceof breedingarctic birds such as the Pipit and Horned Lark, so common in such localitiesfurther to the eastward. In fact, at Natashquanin the barrenplains we foundthe onlyinstance of breedingHorned Larks. The continuationof the range of granltic LaurentJanMountains looms•tp to a height of 800 to 1200 feet as a forbiddingbarrier all along this coastat a distanceback of 2 or 3 milesat Mingan to 30 or 40 miles at Natashquan; it is the beginningof the high land of the interior. To the eastwardof the MoisieRiver it is largelybare of tree growth, and presentsfrom a distancea typically arctic appearance. That it is not arctic, however,our short excursion inland at 3,linganproved, for we foundeverywhere on thesebarren hills evidenceof a formerforest growth of considerableproportions in the shapeof tree stumpsand trunks, which althoughwhitened by longexposure to the weather,showed in their crevicesthe charred and blackenedsigns of a previousfire. Mr. J. A. Wilson, the • Loc. cit., p. 282. Vol.1910XXVII] ] TOWNSENDAND BENT, Birds of Labrador. 3 factor of the tludson'sBay Company'sPost at Mingan, told us that this wasthe resultof a greatfire xvhichstarted at the Grand (IIamilton) River about forty yearsago and sweptthe interior out to the shores of the Gulf where the fire front was over 100 miles wide. From the high land back of Mingan we couldsee some still higher land where there were patchesof unbrokenspruce forest, showingstill moreclearly the HudsonJancharacter of this country. All this of courseexplained the absenceof such arctic breeding birdsas the Pipit and Horned Lark. Betweenthis high land and the seathe countryconsists of a successionof flat terraces,showing evidence of recent elevation above the sea, which are covered in placeswith spruceand fir forest,in placeswith extensive sphagl•um bogs containingnnmerous small ponds. The whole region is dissectedby rivers,some of whichare of considerablesize, and all at this seasonwere pouringgreat quantitiesof dark brown water into the greenwaters of the Gulf. All arefrequented by sahnon whichbegin to ascendthe riversthe secondweek of June. The more importantof theserivers are the Ste. Marguerite,Moisie, Manitou, Shelldrake, Magpie, St. John, Mingan, Roinaine, Corneille,Piashte-bai, Watcheeshoo, Nabesippi, Agwanus, Little Natash(tuan,and Natashquan. In the high land theserivers form •mmerousrapids and falls, while in the coastalplains there are in placescuttings with high sandcliffs. Alders,paper birches and latchesare commonclose to the water of the rivers,while the generalforest consists chiefly of spruces,--thewhite, black and red,--and of balsmnfir. A few mountainashes and poplarsalso occur. The vegetationof the bogsor barrensis similarto that of those described on the eastern coast2 Sandybeaches abound along this strip of the Labradorcoast. Theseare in placesbacked by sandcliffs, which near Clearwater Point, six miles east of EsquimauxPoint, attain to a height of over 100 feet. In other places,as to the west of the Hudson'sBay Company'sPost at Mingan,and alsonear the mouthof the Natash- quan River, there are extensivesand-dunes regions. At various placesalong the coastbetween Mingan and Betchewunthere are • Loc. cit., p. 282. ANDBENT, Birds of Labrador. LJan. gray limestonerocks, of which also the large group of Mingan Islands,from the Peroqueetson the west to St. G•nevieveIsland on the east, are composed.These limestonesare in horizontal strata and are carvedby the sea into numerousshapes of pillars, mushrooms,arches and caverns. The high land at the westerlyentrance to the Bay of Seven Islands as well as the mountainousislands there, and the islands to the eastwardof the MinganIslands are composedof Laurentian gneissesand granites,as are alsothe coastalranges of mountains alreadyreferred to. The largerMingan Islandsare forestedand containelevated barrens or bogslike the mainland. The bird faunaof this regionof Labradorwe foundto be chiefly Canadian with a considerable Hudsonian element and of some birds that are oftenfound in the Alleghanianzone. The onlyelement of arcticfauna that we foundwas, as already stated, a pair of breeding Northern Horned Larks at Natashquan. Horned Larks, Snow Buntingsand Pipitswere, however, found duringthe earlierpart of our stayon the coast,but wereevidently late migrants. Of HudsonJanbirds the followingwe found to be summerresi- dents in this part of the Peninsula: Pigeon Hawk, Lincoln's Sparrow,Fox Sparrow,Wilson's Warbler, Ruby-crowncd Kinglet, and Alice's Thrush. White-crownedand Tree Sparrowswere migrantsonly to the westof Betchcwun.Whether they remaincd to breed to the east of this point we do not ka•owas we left that regionon June 1 beforethe migrationwas fiuishcd. We saw a few White-wingedCrossbills and Redpollswhich were apparcntly wanderingor migratingbirds. Althoughsome of the othersare birdswhose range includes the Hudsonianas well as the Canadian .zones,such as the Spruce Grouse, Labrador Jay, Black-poll Warbler, Winter Wrer/ and HudsonJanChickadee, the majority are birds of the Canadianzone, while a few, althoughoften found in the Canadian zone, are sometimesclassed as birds of the Alle- ghanianzone, such as the Marsh Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Bluejay, Black-and-whiteand Black- throated Green Warblers, and Redstart. While the American Eider, Great Black-backedGull, Common Tern and Double-crested Cormorant still breed in considerable numbersalong this strip of southcrncoast, it is evidentthat Puffins Vol.XXVII]19•.0 J TOWNSENDAND BENT, Birds of Labrador. 5 and Razor-billedAuks are rapidly diminishingtheir breeding numbers,while Murres and Gannets, as far as we could discover, no longerbreed there. At Bald Island we found about 150 pairs of Puffinsbreeding, and a very few pairs probablystill breedat the PeroqueetIslands. As far as we coulddiscover, probably less than two dozenpairs of the formerlyabundant Razor-billed Auk breedon this coastwest of Natashquan. The cause for this diminution is not far to seek:- Indians and fishermenvisit the islandswith pailsand collectthe eggsfor food. They alsoshoot the breeding birds. Eidersthat concealtheir nests underthe spruce bushes are able to resistlonger this war of extermi- nation,but nearMingan and Seven Islands, where there are Indian villagesoccupied by thesepeople during June and July,the Eiders are diminishedvery greatly in numbers. We found Indians cruisingand camping at variousplaces along the coast and witnessed their depredationson the birds. Birdsthat

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