Studies in Avian Biology No. 15: 14-26, 1994.

THE UNLIKELY 18TH CENTURY NATURALISTS OF HUDSON’S BAY

C. STUART HOUSTON

Abstract. The Hudson’s Bay Territory, which included the entire drainage basin west to the Rocky Mountains, although one of the most thinly occupied areas in all of North America, was second only to South Carolina as the North American locality which contributed the most type specimens of birds. The collectors, fur traders ofthe Hudson’s Bay Company, were Alexander Light, James Isham, Thomas Hutchins, Humphrey Marten, Andrew Graham, and Samuel Heame. My researches in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives and the Royal Society library have solved the long-standing confusion about the relative contributions of Andrew Graham and Thomas Hutchins to the Observationspublished in 1969 by the Hudson’s Bay Record Society. I have transcribed for publication the separate original “journals” of Graham and Hutchins and have compiled the largest dictionary of Indian names of birds. Isham and Graham collected the most type specimens. Heame was the best naturalist. Hutchins, the medical doctor and best scientist, was the only one to have a taxon named for him.

Key Words: Hudson’s Bay Territory; Alexander Light; James Isham; Humphrey Marten; Andrew Graham; Samuel Hearne; Thomas Hutchins; type specimens.

From the Hudsons’ Bay Territory, one of front of scientific ornithology and taxono- the most thinly occupied areas in all of North my. America, came improbable but extremely Severn, with a year-round population of important contributions to 18th-Century 20 white fur traders, and Albany with 33, ornithology. Even though it included a large became immortalized as type localities. The drainage basin that extended west to the other five trading posts around Hudsons’ Rocky Mountains (Fig. l), it seems almost Bay, including with 42 em- inconceivable today that Hudsons’ Bay ployees, gave a total population of white should have been second only to South Car- people in the Hudsons’ Bay territory of un- olina as the North American locality which der 250. Contributions from the settled, contributed the most type specimens of populated and more developed areas such birds. Even more unlikely were the men who as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York made the collections, the literate but rugged and Florida lagged far behind those from fur traders of the Hudsons’ Bay Company. the underpopulated wild reaches of Hud- By sheerest chance their timing was perfect, sons’ Bay. South Carolina, the leader thanks involving them and their specimens in a to Mark Catesby, had almost one-thousand- revolutionary new scientific endeavour led fold more people than did Hudsons’ Bay; by the Swede, Carolus von Linnaeus. in 1770, Charleston, Catesbys’ base, was the The fur traders were unaware of the sys- fourth largest city in British America with tem newly created by Linnaeus to give each a population of 10,861. species a unique binomial Latin name. Nor When Linnaeus published his Tenth Edi- could they have guessed that their speci- tion of Systema Naturae in 1758, Mark mens would be hand-painted, page-size, in Catesbys’ Natural History of Carolina, Flor- four large books by George Edwards, A Nat- ida and the Bahama Islands (1729-1747) ural History of Uncommon Birds, between was the sole source for 55 species, 43 of 1743 and 175 1. Edwards, in turn, had no them from South Carolina. (Another 14 inkling of the fact that Linnaeus would give species, 11 from South Carolina, were add- Latin names to the species illustrated in his ed in Linnaeus ’ Twelfth Edition in 1766.) book. But this improbable sequence of Edwards ’ Natural History was the next most events put these fur traders at the very fore- important source, contributing 13 species

14 EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS-Houston 15 described by Edwards from Hudsons’ Bay Hudsonius, Hudsons’ Bay Magpie” (Sabine (McAtee 1957:29 l-300). 1823). The subspecies of Striped Skunk from The Hudsons’ Bay Company was more “the Plains of the ” near Carl- than just a company with a charter for trade ton, about 1500 km from the bay, was sim- and an employer of fur traders; it acted as ilarly named Mephitis mephitis var. hud- the government of its lands. As Harold A. sonia, the “Hudsons’ Bay Skunk” Innis said in 1956, “The northern half of (Richardson 1829:55-56). Histories of the North America remained British because of Hudsons’ Bay Record Society similarly the importance of fur as a staple prod- spoke of the 17 14 negotiations “settling the uct. . . . It is no mere accident that the pres- boundary between and Cana- ent Dominion [of Canada] coincides rough- da” (Davies 1965). ly with the fur-trading areas of northern The designation of Hudson Bay as the North America.” As part of its assertion of type locality for species such as the Marbled its largely unstated hegemony, the Com- Godwit, American White Pelican and Pur- pany undertook occasional forays into ex- ple Martin is thus somewhat misleading, ploration and into science. since the overwhelming probability is that Each of the Company officers contributed these specimens came from inland, within primarily to the success of the fur trade; five what is now or eastern Saskatch- of them also made direct or indirect con- ewan. tributions to geographic exploration. Nat- Let us now look at the collectors. ural history was at best an amusing sideline. ALEXANDER LIGHT TYPE LOCALITY OF “HUDSON BAY” The first of the Hudsons’ Bay Company Quite apart from the geographic ambi- collectors was Alexander Light. A ship- guity inherent in the citation of a vast inland wright, he was sent to Churchill in 1733 for sea, up to 1600 km in length and up to 1000 four years at 2.33 per annum. Light “was km in width, the general “type locality” of sent out, . . . by the Hudsons’ Bay Com- “Hudson Bay” used by the American Or- pany, on account of his knowledge of Nat- nithologists ’ Union Check-List is inade- ural History” (Richardson 1832:ix-x). quate or misleading for several species. Few Light collected five taxa of birds (all but ornithologists have appreciated that until one new), two mammals and a turtle, each 1870 the popular term “Hudsons’ Bay” (the illustrated by Edwards. New bird taxa in- possessive form Hudsons’ is no longer in cluded one new species, the Spruce Grouse official geographic use; modern maps show (Canachitescanadensis), and three new sub- Hudson Bay rather than Hudsons’ Bay) des- species involving North American races ignated an area of nearly 3.6 million km2 which Linnaeus had correctly considered as extending west to the Rocky Mountains and belonging to the European species (McAtee draining into the bay (Rich 1958, Houston 1950): Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus 1983). In this area, officially named “Ru- albus); Northern Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula perts’ Land” for 200 years, the people, as caparoch); Gyrfalcon (Falco obsoletusrus- well as some of its birds and mammals, were ticolus). often called “Hudsonians” (cf. Hearne Light also collected specimens of the 1795). For example, when Joseph Sabine Snowy Owl and the Red-necked Phalarope. described the North American form of the Linnaeus gave the name Falco canadensis Black-billed Magpie, now Pica pica hud- to an eagle portrayed incorrectly by Ed- sonia, from a specimen collected by John wards as having feathered tarsi but a white Richardson and painted by Robert Hood at tail, obviously a composite of two eagle Cumberland House, over 1000 km by specimens. This eagle was said to have been from Hudsons’ Bay, he named it “Corvus brought alive to England by an unnamed 16 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15

Hudsons’ Bay Territory 1670-1870 0 FIGURE 1. Map of Hudson’s Bay Territory, 1670-l 870.

“Gentleman employd’ in the Hudsons_Bay’ rigid Winters.” Edwards presumed this to Companys’ Service,” in all probability Al- be the Blue colour phase ofthe Snow Goose. exander Light. Not until the Fourth AOU There was a three-way connection be- Check-List in 193 1 was this specimen des- tween Alexander Light, George Edwards and ignated on very questionable grounds as the Sir Hans Sloane. It was Sloane, the Presi- type for the North American subspecies of dent of the Royal College of Physicians, to the Golden Eagle, now Aquila chrysaetos whom Edwards dedicated his second vol- canadensis. ume. Edwards was Keeper of the Royal Col- In 1738, Light returned to begin his sec- lege Library. Alexander Light brought live ond term. Light told George Edwards (1750: birds and mammals home from Hudsons’ 152) “there is a Goose which comes in Sum- Bay for Sloanes’ aviary-zoo and skinned mer to Hudsons_Bay,’ having its Forehead specimens for the use of Edwards, who por- as it were scorched with Heat, and the Na- trayed them in his book. tives firmly Believe, that these Geese to avoid the Winters’ Cold, fly toward the Sun, JAMES ISHAM and approach so near that it singes its Fore- James Isham was the second Hudsons’ head against his Orb. It is hard to convince Bay collector of important natural history these Savages that there are Climates on this specimens. Unfortunately for Isham, al- Earth warmer than their own, to which Birds though his specimens were among the first may fly for Food and Shelter during their to receive binomial Latin names bestowed EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS- Houston 17 by Linnaeus himself, they were collected be- fore it was fashionable to name new species after the collector. There are no species named ishami-and few modern ornithol- ogists can remember his name. Isham was a capable but plodding man who neither sought glory nor received much recognition. He is not listed in the Canadian Encyclopedia (1985, 1988) or its predeces- sor, EncyclopediaCanadiana (1957), nor has he received mention in the various com- pendia of ornithological biographies. More incredibly, his writings did not come to light in time for mention by that careful historian of early North American ornithology, Elsa Guerdrum Allen. Isham was born in , England, in 17 16. He had a good general education for his time, but no special training in natural history. In 1732, at the age of 16, he was hired as a “writer” (and accountant) by the Hudson’s Bay Company. When only 21 FIGURE 2. Whooping Crane, collected by James Isham, color painting by George Edwards (I 750). years old, he became the Chief at York Fac- tory. Next he was Chief at the headquarters post of Fort Prince of Wales at Churchill. Grouse)*; Tetrao phasianellus(Sharp-tailed When he returned to England on his first Grouse)*; Ardea americana (Whooping furlough in 1745-1746, he took with him Crane) (Fig. 2)*; Ardea canadensis(Sandhill the specimens he had collected; large, in- Crane)*; Rallus carolinus (Sara)*; Scolopax teresting and edible birds were over-repre- fedoa (Marbled Godwit); Scolopax hae- sented. These specimens he entrusted to mastica (Hudsonian Godwit); Tringa fili- George Edwards who depicted them in his caria (Red Phalarope); Tringa lob&a (Red- splendid four-volume work. Edwards re- necked Phalarope); Hirundo subis (Purple ferred to Isham, who had “obliged me ex- Martin). (Only the six species with asterisks, tremely by furnishing me with more than above, were discussed by Isham in his Ob- thirty different Species of Birds, of which servations.) we have hitherto had little or no Knowl- Not until his 12th edition in 1776 did edge, the far greatest Part of them being Linnaeus describe Falco hudsonius,now a non-descripts [not yet described to sci- subspecies of Northern Harrier, Circus cy- ence]. . . . The Furs of the Beasts, and the aneus hudsonius. Skins of the Birds were stuffed and pre- Some of Isham’s birds, especially the served very clean and perfect . . . and Marbled Godwit and possibly the Purple brought to London in the Year 1745” (Ed- Martin and White Pelican, were in all like- wards 1750: 107). lihood collected inland. For these species, Edwards painted Isham specimens that the best designation of the type locality became the official “type specimens” for the would be “Hudson’s Bay territory.” following species: Ardea herodias (Great Isham provided Edwards with specimens Blue Heron); Anas caerulescens (Snow of two species mentioned in the Isham Goose, blue morph)*; Anas perspicillata manuscript, the White-fronted Goose and (Surf Scoter); Tetrao canadensis (Spruce Black-billed Magpie. Another sixteen spe- 18 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15 ties were illustrated in the following se- millions of them, which Came from the quence by Edwards: Three-toed Woodpeck- Southwd flying in Ranges as the Geese does, er, Belted Kingfisher, Pine Grosbeak (male &c.: they are of a Blew Grey and about’ as and female), Snow Bunting, American Bit- big as a dove pidgeon and Very Good Eat- tern, American Golden-Plover, Ruddy ing.” Turnstone, Horned Grebe, Loon, On the last page of his Natural History, Parasitic Jaeger, Tundra Swan, Ring Eider published in 1750, Edwards paid tribute to and Harlequin Duck. Isham may also have Isham, “to whose Curiosity and good Na- contributed the Canada Goose, White- ture I am beholden for the greatest Part of fronted Goose and Old-squaw, all from my History of Birds; and I believe the cu- Hudson Bay, although no collector was rious Part of the World will not think them- named. selves less obliged to Mr. Isham than I ac- His last two years at York were miserable. knowledge myself to be.” His gout became worse. For two months he complained of “weakness & stoppage in his throat.” He died on Monday 13 April 176 1, HUMPHREY MARTEN and was buried with a 21-gun salute. Humphrey Marten contributed from Al- Not until 1949 were Ishams’ writings bany the type specimen of the Cur- published in a 457-page book, James Zsh- lew that was named as a new species by ams’ Observationson Hudsons’ Bay, 1743- Johann Reinhold Forster in 1772. Marten 1749 (Rich and Johnson 1949). These in- is thus important as one of the first two cluded notes on 23 species of birds: the six natural history collectors (with Andrew with asterisks above and: Red-throated Graham) in what is now Ontario, and the Loon, Common Loon, American White first person known to have put up bird boxes Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Amer- in what is now Canada. The boxes were ican Bittern, Tundra Swan, Greater White- immediately used by Tree Swallows. Mar- fronted Goose, Brant, Canada Goose, ten also played a major role in planning the Hutchins’ Goose, Common Eider, Willow first inland fur trading posts of the Hudsons’ Ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan, Black Guille- Bay Company. mot or “willock,” Passenger Pigeon, North- Marten was born about 1729. An “un- em Flicker, Gray Jay, Black-billed Magpie, usually clear-headed man,” he was engaged and eagle, owl, “kite” and swallow, uniden- by the Company in the capacity of “writer” tified as to species. on 1 March 1750. He became acting chief Isham described the American White Pel- at York Factory during James Ishams’ fur- ican as “a Large bird, with a great Bill Long lough in 1758-1759. He then founded Sev- neck? and short Legd. Carrying their neck ern, acting as chief from 1759 to 1761. He Like a Swan . . . under the throat hangs a served as chief at Albany for two terms, bag, which when filld’ woud’ hold 2 Gallons, 1764-1768and 1769-1774.Herehedidhis the Substance of itt is a thin membrane, of collecting. When in charge of the head- a sky Colour, they fly Very heavy and Low, quarters post, York Factory, in 1774-1775 and fish is their Chiefest food, the Bouch, he both supported and directed Samuel as well as stomach has fish found in itt. The Hearnes’ founding of the Companys’ first Bouch or bag is purely to Keep their food inland fur trading post at Cumberland in; they are Eat by some.” House, within present-day Saskatchewan. Concerning the Passenger Pigeon he said, Marten had in many ways a difficult life “Its Very Rare to see any Pidgeons or doves, at the Bayside where journals could be writ- in these parts, or Downe by the sea side, ten only after the ink thawed, and strong tho in Land some hundred miles are Very beer froze solid in bottles two feet from a Numerious, once in 12 Year I Did see some stout fire. Yet he undertook some of the first EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS-Houston 19 farming northwest of the St. Lawrence river ANDREW GRAHAM valley, maintaining at York Factory a flour- ishing breed of cattle and pigs and a fine Andrew Graham was born about 1733, garden. probably near Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1749, During his second term as chief factor at as a lad of about 16, Graham joined the Albany, 1769-l 774, Marten was called upon service of the Hudsons’ Bay Company. In to provide the Royal Society of London with 1753 he became assistant writer at York natural history specimens and information. Factory under James Isham. Graham was He sent back to England, as Samuel Hearne so proficient as a clerk and accountant that reported, several hundred specimens of an- he became Acting Chief at age 25 while Ish- imals and plants. Martens’ initial shipment, am took a furlough to Britain in 1758-l 759; sent with other specimens from Andrew thereafter, until 176 1, Graham was second- Graham, contained 17 skins of seven spe- in-command at York Factory. He was then cies, including the skin of the Eskimo Cur- promoted to Master at Severn House where lew, described by Johann Reinhold Forster he served until 1774, with three exceptions. the next year as Scolopax borealis. Marten In 1770, on his return from his first En- also sent home “a fine brace of Partridges glish furlough and stimulated by Thomas a Cock & Hen,” both alive, and a pair of Pennant, who had published the first three snowshoe hares, only the male surviving the volumes of the second edition of his British voyage. Zoology, Graham began enthusiastically to Marten kept spring arrival dates for birds collect natural history specimens at Sevem. such as swallows, and reported late fall de- He encouraged Humphrey Marten at Al- parture dates for snow buntings. He at- bany to do the same. tempted unsuccessfully to have a domestic At Severn, Graham became “the most hen incubate eggsof the Sharp-tailed Grouse. industrious and systematic” collector (Wil- For the 26 specimens of 21 species, Marten liams 1968) among the Company factors. provided descriptions of the colors of soft Among the 64 skins of 39 bird species he parts that might fade before reaching En- sent from Severn in 177 1 were the type gland, described the color of the pupil of the specimens for the Great Gray Owl (Strix eye (!), the Cree Indian name, and for all nebulosa), Boreal Chickadee (Parus hud- but the Snow Goose, which nested farther sonicus), Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica north, the number of eggs. striata), and White-crowned Sparrow (Zo- In 1949 and 1950, when Elsa G. Allen notrichia leucophrys).These and one fish, (Mrs. Arthur A. Allen) was writing her land- the Longnose Sucker (Catostomus catosto- mark history of early North American or- mus), were given their definitive Latin nithology, her researches took her to the names by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1772, Royal Society offices in London. The li- who gives his assessment of Graham as “a brarian found for her a Marten manuscript, careful observer, and an indefatigable col- entitled “A Short Description of the Birds lector.” in a Box,” in which Marten described 26 Forster failed to recognize the pelican as specimens by their native names. Mrs. Al- a species new to science. He mistakenly len published Martens’ description of the thought that the American White Pelican swallow (Allen 195 1). was the same as the Oriental Pelican de- After his leave to Britain in 178 1-1782 scribed by Linnaeus and thus lost his op- Marten returned to York Factory just in time portunity to bestow a Latin name. His mis- to surrender York Factory to the French take was corrected when J. F. Gmelin in his admiral, la P&rouse. Marten was taken back 13th edition of Systema Naturae, 1789, be- to France and held a prisoner for one year stowed the binomial of Pelecanus erythro- until the Treaty of Paris was signed. rhynchos.Graham s’ natural history obser- 20 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15 vations in HBC Archives manuscript E.21 Hutchinss’ detailed descriptions which 12, published as Observations,included 4 1 accompanied the bird and mammal collec- mammals and 17 fish, as well as 92 species tions from York Factory in 1772, included of birds. In the as yet unpublished manu- careful notes of the colors of soft parts, which script E.2/5, Graham wrote of the Snow might subsequently fade, measurements, Bunting: “. . . we kill some of them with a and Cree Indian names for a number of spe- net made for that purpose, which is put in cies. He made a greater effort than Graham a frame and set on the ground, one side to collect small songbirds such as warblers. being kept up by two sticks, and under it is Additional evidence of Hutchinss’ scientific scattered a little oatmeal or seeds of grass, approach is the notation by Pennant in the and when they come to feed, the two sticks first edition of Arctic Zoology concerning having a string fast to them is hawled out the Burbot (Gadus Zota), “Mr. Hutchins at pleasure, when the net falls down and all counted, in a single fish, 671,248 ovaria.” that are under made prisoners. They eat very However many hours or days this project fine in a pye.” required, it is evidence of the mindset and Graham died at Prestonpans, Scotland, perseverance of Hutchinss’ scientific curi- on 8 September 1815. Few authors have to osity. wait 154 years after their death for their After Hutchins returned to London in observations to be published and recog- 1783 to become Corresponding Secretary of nized. This was Andrew Grahams’ strange the Hudsons’ Bay Company at E 150 per an- fate. num, he gave further information to Pen- nant. THOMAS HUTCHINS Concerning the Gray Jay, Hutchins said: Thomas Hutchins, surgeon, fur trader and “They feed on black moss, worms, and even meteorologist, whose name is perpetuated flesh. When near habitations or tents, they in Hutchinss’ Goose, Branta canadensis are apt to pilfer every thing they can come hutchinsii, was born somewhere in Great at, even salt meat. They are bold, and come Britain about 1742. His first visit to Hud- into the tents to eat victuals out of the dish- sons’ Bay was as surgeon on the King George es, notwithstanding they have their hoard ZZ, the Hudsons’ Bay Company annual sup- of berries lodged in the hollows of trees. ply ship, which unloaded supplies and load- They watch persons baiting the traps for ed the seasons’ furs at York Factory in 1765. Martins, and devour the bait as soon as they He returned the next summer and stayed as turn their backs. These birds lay up stores surgeon for the Company. for the winter; and are seldom seen in Jan- Hutchins had a scientific bent. He made uary, unless near habitations. . . . When his first careful measurements of tempera- caught, they pine away, and die, tho; their ture and atmospheric pressure during 177 l- appetite never fails them. Detested by the 1772 when he was with Andrew Graham at natives of Hudsons’ Bay” (Pennant 1792, York Factory. In 1774-l 775 Hutchins add- 2:290). ed a set of observations on the dipping nee- Concerning the Mourning Dove: “Mr. dle, and experimented with the congealing Hutchins informed me, a Pigeon with a red- of mercury in severe cold. For the resulting dish head, and orbits, was found far inland publications in the Philosophical Transac- . . . . ” (Pennant 1792, 3:7). tions (1776, 1783) Hutchins was presented In 1969, almost 200 years after they were with the Copley gold medal by the Royal written, Hutchinss’ observations concern- Society in December 1783, only the second ing 16 species of birds, 11 of which had not Hudsons’ Bay man to be awarded one of been listed by Andrew Graham, 14 species the highest annual prizes in science in the of fish, and seven species of mammals, were 18th century. published as Appendix C of Andrew Gra- EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS--Houston 21 hams’ Observationson Hudsons Bay, 1767- Sept. 2 1 -Snow birds & white geese plen- 1791 (Williams 1969). tiful. For example, in his account of the Pec- Sept. 27-Snow birds increased today- toral Sandpiper Hutchins tells of finding geese almost gone several bird-lice which he examined under Oct. 4-ducks, geese & plover left us his microscope, an instrument that even a Nov. 2-Snow birds taking their depar- surgeon was remarkably fortunate to own ture in 1772. The lice appeared like “very beau- Nov. 14-saw a flock of winter small birds tiful Tortoise-Shells.” Hutchins, the sur- like Tom Tits geon-scientist, provides weights of birds, perhaps the first person to record this in- Hutchins is the only one of the Hudsons’ formation in North America; 160 years lat- Bay naturalists to have a bird named for er, Dr. T. S. Roberts could find only one him, Branta canadensishutchinsii. reliable source, a taxidermist named Lano, John Richardson wrote: “On Captain for such weight information. Hutchins com- Parrys’ second voyage, several flocks of piled Cree names for many additional spe- Geese were seen on Melville Peninsula, cies, something that Graham had initiated which were thought by the officers of the for about one-third (20) of the bird species Expedition to be the Anser Zeucopsisor Bar- in 1771. nacle. . . . A number of specimens were se- Two new species are mentioned in the cured . . . I have since obtained informa- Hutchins Royal Society manuscript that do tion, which leads me to believe that they not appear in Observations: the Ruddy actually belong to a distinct species, hitherto Turnstone and an unidentifiable gull. An confounded with the A. Canadensis [Can- additional species, the Chepethewuck, ada Goose]. They are well known in Hud- weight about 25 ounces, is unquestionably sons’ Bay by the Cree name of Apistiskeesh, the Greater Prairie Chicken in E2/9: “Pin- and are generally thought by the residents nated Grow: is found about Henley Settle- to be merely a small kind of the Canada ment in Hudsons’ Bay, legs covered with Goose, as they have the white kidney-shaped soft brown feathers, toes naked & pecinated. patch on the throat, which is deemed pe- The tufts which distinguish this species from culiar to that species. . . . We have desig- all others are rooted high in the neck, not nated the Apistiskeesh by the name of far from the hind part of the head . . . .” Hutchinsii, in honour of a gentleman from Graham and Hutchins both had a firm whom Pennant and Latham derived most understanding of bird migration, as Pen- of their information respecting the Hud- nant had, in a time when Daines Barrington sons’ Bay birds.” of the Royal Society was still claiming mi- Richardson appended the following foot- gration to be preposterous. Graham and note: “Some mistake occurs in Forsters’ ac- Hutchins, knowing of Barringtons’ claim count of the Canada Goose (Phil. Trans., that swallows lie dormant during winter, lxii); the habits ofA. Hutchinsii (Small Grey made specific enquiries of Indians, both Goose of Graham) being ascribed to the A. young and old, to confirm that none of them Canadensis; while the Large Grey Goose, had observed such a phenomenon. mentioned in the same passage, is undoubt- Hutchins at times kept a meteorological edly the Canada Goose, which we know to joumalinwhichatYorkFortin 1771-1772 be the only species that breeds abundantly he included spring migration dates and per- about Severn River.” haps the first fall migration dates to be re- When P. A. Taverner (193 l), omitholo- corded in North America: gist at the National Museum of Canada, un- dertook a revision of the Canada Geese, he Sept. 12-Snow birds appear confirmed the small size of the geese from 22 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15

probable that a future Check-List of the American Ornithologists’ Union will ac- cord it full specific status.

SAMUEL HEARNE Samuel Heame’s exploits as an explorer, fur trader and author have been appreciated for more than two centuries. He is the only one of our six naturalists for whom a por- trait has been found (Fig. 3). Hearne was the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America, travelling on foot with a group of Indians from Churchill to the mouth of the . He founded in 1774 the first inland trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Cumber- land House, now Saskatchewan’soldest set- tlement. This action kept the Hudson’s Bay Company in competition with the much larger North West Company. As James Marsh has written, Heame’s “literary art- FIGURE 3. Portrait of Samuel Hearne, from the Eu- istry . . . secured his fame in letters.” Yet, ropean Magazine, June 1197. modem naturalists rarely refer to Hearne’s original and often incredibly apt observa- the arctic islands, and the “very small size tions. Ironically, only the historians appear and light breast and underbody . . . Weight to appreciate what a good naturalist he was. . . . rarely as much as 5 pounds.” Richard- Samuel Heame was born in London, En- son’s measurementswere consistentexcept gland, in 1745. He entered the navy at the that he gave the culmen as 1 inch, 8% lines ageof 11, actingas servant to Admiral Hood, or 43.5 mm., far too long. Taverner said for six years. In 1766 he joined the Hudson’s “To anyone who has measured many Can- Bay Company as a seaman and mate of the ada goosebills the solution is apparent. The Charlotte, a position he held for three years, feathering on the fore crown was worn away sailing out of Churchill. and did not give the true exposed culmen Heame was chosen by Moses Norton for line . . . there can be no doubt that it was the Company’s first major arctic explora- this little goosethat Richardson designated tion by land, to searchfor the fabled Neetha- hutchinsii and not its much larger relative san-san-dazey or “Far Off Metal River,” to which the name has hitherto been at- now known as the Coppermine River. tached. In order to avoid confusion with Heame’s first journey began from Churchill older references and to connect this bird on 6 November 1769, but lasted only one with the man who first detected its distinct- month and five days, because Heame was nessI proposethat it be known vernacularly deserted by his Indian guide, Chawchina- as Richardson’s goose.” haw. His second attempt, with an Indian Now that subspeciesare no longer given guide named Conne-e-queese, began on 23 vernacular names, but retain only their Lat- February 1770 and lasted 8 months and five in name, “Richardson’s goose” retains the days. Heame was forced to return when he single name of hutchinsii, and thereby hon- broke his quadrant, unable to make astro- ours the surgeon and naturalist who spent nomical observations. about 26 years on Hudson’s Bay. It is highly Not a man to be discouraged easily, EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS--Houston 23

Hearne set out again on 7 December 1770, With the British again in possession, this time with Mattonabee, a skillful leader Hearne returned in 178 3 to restore the fort of great prestige among the Chipewyan In- and resume charge of Churchill. He was still dians. His party reached the mouth of the working on his book. Ill-health forced him Coppermine River on 16 July 177 1 where to retire and return to England in 1787. Fol- Hearne was the first white man to view the lowing another five years of slow and from the northern shore ofthis “seemingly interminable” work on his continent. manuscript, Heame submitted it for pub- Hearne was next assigned in 1774-1775 lication in October 1792. He received the to found the first inland trading post of the high price of E200 for it. A month later, Hudsons’ Bay Company, at Cumberland when he died of “the dropsy,” he was only Lake. Occupied continuously ever since, 47. The book, A Journey from Prince of Cumberland House celebrated its bicente- Waless’ Fort in Hudsons’ Bay to the North- nary in 1974. ern Ocean, his greatest achievement, was Hearne also had a moment of ignominy, published in 1795, three years after his when he was compelled to surrender Prince death. of Waless’ fort to a French force under the HEARNES’ JOURNAL celebrated French navigator, Jean Francois de Galaup, Comte de la P&rouse, on 8 Au- Heames’ journal, readily obtained from gust 1782. La Perouse found and claimed most libraries, is one of the greatest travel Hearnes’ journal as a fair prize, but then narratives ever written. His frank and often returned the manuscript, already under re- understated accounts of hardship and star- vision, “on the express condition that he vation are still well worth reading. Surpris- publish it” (Glover 1958). If la PCrouse was ingly few of Hearnes’ usages in reference to responsible for the eventual publication, the natural history observations are dated. The world owes him a great debt; at the least, it term “willick” for the guillemot, one of the was a gentlemanly gesture. smaller seabirds of the Auk family, is now Heame then made a brazen request: that obsolete. He used the word non-descript la P&rouse let him take one of the forts’ correctly to mean a species not yet described trading sloops which had been seized as a to science. fair prize of war. La P&rouse acceded and Hearne was a century ahead of his time Hearne sailed the little boat on a risky jour- in describing the habits of wild animals. He ney from directly back to was an observer, not a collector. He was the Stromness in the Orkney Islands, a big im- first to give recognizable descriptions of the provement over being taken prisoner back Rosss’ Goose, Musk-ox, and Wood Buffalo, to Cadiz, Spain. and accounts of the habits of the Arctic Hearne did not sulk over his defeat and Ground Squirrel and Arctic Hare. He was waste his time in England, as others might the first to describe the nesting of the White- have done. That winter he met Thomas crowned Sparrow, on the ground at the root Pennant and gave him a copy of his natural of a dwarf willow or a gooseberry. history observations, a dozen years in ad- Heame described the Rosss’ Goose as vance of their publication. As Glover has having the base of its bill studded with little said, “the meeting of the two men was valu- knobs about the size of peas. This small able to both.” Pennant incorporated a num- goose was scarce at Churchill but more com- ber of Heame observations into Arctic Zo- mon 200 or 300 miles to the northwest. ology, which first appeared in print a little When another well-known fur trader and over a year after their meeting. Heame in naturalist, Bernard Rogan Ross (186 l), turn inserted a number of references to Pen- wrote about the mammals and birds used nant in his manuscript. by the Chipewyan Indians, he listed the 24 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15

“Horned-wavy Goose of Hearne” as a spe- on the Ruffed Grouse were a century ahead cies still without a scientific name. The of their time. He told how this species makes omission was quickly corrected that very its nest on the ground, generally at the foot year, when John Cassin gave the name of of a tree, and lays 12 or 14 eggs. He realized Anser Rossii to the specimen sent by Ross as many others did not, that the noise of from . Cassin remarked “drumming” was made by “clapping their that “this species has never again been no- wings with such a force, that at half a mile ticed from the time of Hearne until the time distance it resembles thunder.” He noted of the receipt of the present specimens from that the pouch at the base of the pelicans’ Mr. Robert Kennicott, an enterprising young beak had a capacity of three quarts, and naturalist, now in the northern regions of that, in the as today, muskrat houses British America, but has been constantly were favorite nesting sites for Canada Geese. insisted on as a valid species in his letters Hearne examined the “windpipes” of both to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. Ber- the Whistling and Trumpeter Swan. Al- nard R. Ross, an enthusiastic naturalist and though he noted that the convoluted wind- careful observer in the service of the Hud- pipe passed into the broad and hollow breast sons’ Bay Company.” Bernard Rogan Ross, bone of the swan and after passing the length “a tart Londonderry Irishman,” was the of the sternum, returned into the chest to chief trader at Fort Simpson, in charge of join the lungs, he erroneously reported that the entire Mackenzie district. Robert Ken- both species had identical anatomy even nicott had been the stimulus for men like though their notes were quite different in Bernard Rogan Ross and Roderick Ross pitch. Pigeons, cranes and curlews were reg- MacFarlane to collect specimens. ularly shot for food. Heame provided one Hearne owned “an excellent micro- of the earliest accounts of the Passenger Pi- scope,” a remarkable possession in that time geon, flying in large flocks in the interior and place. Being interested in the lice and near Cumberland House, where he saw 12 other parasites on the Northern Lemming, killed at one shot. The Whooping Crane even he tried to examine them under the micro- then was not common, usually seen only in scope. However the lens became damp with pairs and not very often. It was good eating. the moisture from his breath in his cold The wing bones were so long and large that winter room, delaying further use until the they were sometimes made into flutes. busy summer season. Heame was the first to recognize two dif- Richard Glover, in his introduction to the ferent species of curlew, the Hudsonian 1958 edition of Hearnes’ Journey, recog- Curlew and the Eskimo Curlew. He also gave nized that “Samuel Hearne was, of course, important information concerning the another first class observer and reporter- northern edge of the Eskimo Curlew breed- in fact, a much better naturalist than [An- ing range-Egg River, on the west coast of drew] Graham . . . head and shoulders su- Hudsons’ Bay at 59 degrees, 30 minutes perior to every other North American nat- north, about 150 miles north of Churchill. uralist who preceded Audubon.” Glover But he did not restrict his attention to edible singled out Hearnes’ accounts of the birds; he also described small birds such as Whooping Crane and the beaver as es- the chickadee. pecially well done. He understood well the concept of bird Heame understood sexual dimorphism, migration, but also recognized that other the male Willow Ptarmigan being larger. His species such as the ptarmigan and Arctic description of the variable size of ptarmigan Hare were year-round residents. He de- showed he had some understanding of what scribed the Trumpeter Swan as the first spe- was later to be described as Gaussian dis- cies of waterfowl to return in spring, some- tribution. Some of Heames’ observations times as early as late March, before the ice EARLY CANADIAN NATURALISTS-Houston 25 of the rivers had broken up. At that time grounds. Most naturalists who read Heame they frequented the open waters of falls and appear to have walked right by this one. He rapids. did not call them the Barren Geese because Hearne provided valuable information they summered on the barren grounds, but concerning the numbers of some species of rather because of the “exceeding smallness animals at the time when the fur trade of their testicles.” reigned supreme. In January 1775 at Cum- The modem status of this large goose has berland House the men brought back 26 been somewhat controversial. Hansons’ grouse on one occasion and on another day book, The Giant Canada Goose,published brought 13 sledge loads of elk meat to the in 1965, presents the results of recent re- fort. Within half a mile of Churchill as many search. Hanson believes that the Canada as 40 Arctic foxes could be killed in one Geese nesting in Minnesota and Southern night, while during one winter 120 foxes in Manitoba and Saskatchewan belong to the the traps were destroyed by other foxes. In giant race, Branta canadensismaxima, pre- 1774 Hearnes’ men killed 11 black bears in viously believed to be extinct. This race is one day of canoe travel between York Fac- characterized by a wing span of six feet or tory and Cumberland House. At Anawd more in adult males, an unusually long neck, Lake in the North West Territories 20 or and frequently a white spot above the eye. 30 hares could be snared in a single night. They weigh anywhere from 8 pounds for an One Indian could kill 20 Spruce Grouse in immature female to 18 pounds for an adult a day with his bow and arrow. Some Indians male, certainly reaching the 16 to 17 pounds would kill upward of a 100 Snow Geese in weight cited by Heame. a day, whereas the most expert of the En- Hanson also tells about the capture of glish hunters would think it a good days’ flightless Canada Geese on the tundra in work to kill 30. At Albany Fort in one sea- Keewatin Territory. Some of these imma- son 60 hogsheads of them were salted for ture birds carried bands previously placed winter consumption. Arctic Terns, ranked on them in Minnesota and Manitoba. They by Heame among “the elegant part of the had journeyed about 1000 miles north in feathered creation,” occurred in flocks of order to molt. Because they were not breed- several hundreds; bushels of their eggs were ing they arrived in the later in the taken on a tiny island. year than the other geese, as Heame had Heame once saw a flock of over 400 Wil- said. Since they did not breed that summer, low Ptarmigan near the Churchill River. The they had small testicles. Thus it took nearly Indians framed nets on stakes, placed over two centuries to elucidate the precise sci- gravel bait, to entice ptarmigans to gather entific explanation for the phenomenon under the net. When the stake was pulled noted with such insight by Samuel Heame, to drop the net on top of the birds, three perhaps the most talented of the early nat- people could catch up to 300 in one mom- uralists on this continent. ing. In the winter of 1786 Mr. Prince at Churchill caught 204 ptarmigan with two CONCLUSION separate pulls. Ptarmigan feathers made ex- The six fur traders from Hudsons’ Bay cellent beds and the feathers were sold at not only made contributions that must not the rate of 3 pence per pound. The smaller be forgotten, but they set the stage for the Rock Ptarmigan would not go under nets arrival of Dr. John Richardson, surgeon and but up to 120 could be shot in a few hours. naturalist with the two arctic exploring ex- From our point of view Heames’ account peditions led by Sir in 18 19- of the large subspecies of the Canada Goose 1822 and 1825-1827. Both expeditions, in best reveals his scientific bent of mind. He whole or in part, came and left through the met these very large geese on the barren HBC depot of York Factory on Hudson Bay 26 STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY NO. 15 and relied extensively on the Company for GMELIN, J. F. 1789. Systema Naturae, Thirteenth supplies and for manpower. Richardson was Edition. J. B. Delamolliere, London. HANSON. H. C. 1965. The Giant Canada Goose. assisted by Robert Hood on the first expe- South&n Illinois University Press, Carbondale. dition and Thomas Drummond, who col- HEARNE, S. 1795. A journey from Prince of Wales’s lected separately in the Canadian Rocky Fort in Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772. A. Strahan & T. Cadell, London. Mountains, on the second expedition. From HOUSTON, C. S. 1983. Birds first described from Hud- Saskatchewan alone, Richardson, Hood and son Bay. Canadian Field-Naturalist 97:95-98. Drummond collected and/or named seven HUTCHINS, T. 1776. An account of the success of some attempts to freeze quicksilver at Albany Fort, new species, Wilsons’ Phalarope, Franklins’ in Hudson’s Bay, in the year 1775, with observations Gull, Forsters’ Tern, Olive-sided Flycatch- on the dipping needle. Philosophical Transactions er, Chipping Sparrow, Smiths’ Longspur, 66:174-181. HUTCHINS, T. 1783. Experiments for ascertaining the and Rosy Finch, and seven subspecies. In principle of mercurial congelation Philosophical the Rocky Mountains, Drummond took the Transactions 73:305-306, 329, 341, 343. type specimens of the White-tailed Ptar- INNIS, H. A. 1956. Pp. 391-392 in The fur trade in Canada: an introduction to Canadian economic his- migan and the Black-backed Three-toed tory. University of Press, Toronto. Woodpecker, while the Trumpeter Swan was LINNAEUS, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, Tenth edition. named from Hudson Bay. As a result of L. Salvii, Stockholm. LINNAEUS, C. 1766. Systema Naturae, Twelfth edi- Richardsons’ observations, birds of the Sas- tion. L. Salvii, Stockholm. katchewan River were better catalogued, MCATEE, W. L. 1950. The North American birds of before settlement, than any other region in George Edwards. Journal of the Society for the Bib- liography of Natural History 2: 194-204. North America. MCATEE, W. L. 1957. The North American birds of Linnaeus. Journal ofthe Society for the Bibliography ACKNOWLEDGMENTS of Natural History 3:29 l-300. I wish to thank University of Toronto Press for per- PENNANT, T. 1784-1785. Arctic zoology. Henry mission to select, abridge and modify a portion of the Hughs, London. 3 ~01s. text from my forthcoming book, co-authored by my PENNANT, T. 1792. Arctic zoology, Second edition. wife, Mary Houston, 18th CenturyNaturalists ofHud- Robert Faulder, London. 3 ~01s. son Bay. The Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Pro- RICH, E. E. 1958. Pp. 52-60 in The history of the vincial Archives of Manitoba, allowed permission to Hudson’s Bay Company, 1670-1870. Vol. 1. Hud- reproduce bird migration notes transcribed from the son’s Bay Record Society, London. York Factory Journal of 177 l-l 772, HBCA B.239/a/ RICH, E. E., AND A. M. JOHNSON. 1949. James Ish- 66, by Dr. William B. Ewart. Glyndwr Williams and am’s observations on Hudson’s Bay, 1743-49. W. Earl Godfrey provided constructive criticism of Champlain Society, Toronto. portions of this material. RICHARDSON,J. 1829. Fauna Boreali-Americana. Vol. 1, The Mammals. John Murray, London. RICHARDSON, J., AND W. SWAINSON. 1832. Fauna Bo- LITERATURE CITED reali-Americana. Vol. 2, The Birds. John Murray, ALLEN, E. G. 195 1. The history of American orni- London. [Introduction is by Richardson; all useful thology before Audubon. Transactions of the Amer- bird notes are by Richardson.] ican Philosophical Society, new series, 4 1:386-59 1. Ross, B. R. 1861. An account of the animals useful CATESBY. M. 1729-1747. The Natural Historv of in an economic point of view to the various Chip- Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. Gub- ewyan tribes. Canadian Naturalist&Geologist 6:433- lished privately, London. 434. DAVIES, K. G. 1965. Letters from Hudson Bay, 1703- SABINE, J. 1823. Zoological appendix (V.). Pp. 647- 40. Hudson’s Bay Record Society, London. 703 in Narrative of a journey to the shores of the EDWARDS, G. 1750. A natural history of uncommon Polar Sea in the years 18 19, 20, 21, and 22. John birds, Vol. 3. Published privately, London. Murray, London. FORSTER, J. R. 1772. An account of the birds sent TAVERNER, P. A. 193 1. A study of Branta canadensis home from Hudson’s Bay, with observations relative (Linnaeus), the Canada Goose. National Museum of to their natural history; and Latin descriptions of Canada, Bulletin 67:2840. some of the most uncommon. Philosophical Trans- WILLIAMS, G. 1968. Hudson’s Bay Record Society. actions 62:382-433. [4 pp. pamphlet announcing the forthcoming pub- GLOVER, R., ed. 1958. A Journey to the Northern lication in 1969 of Observations.] Ocean, by Samuel Heame. Macmillan, Toronto p. WILLIAMS, G. 1969. Andrew Graham’s observations xi. on Hudson’s Bay, 1767-9 1. Hudson’s Bay Record GLOVER, R. 1969. Introduction. Pp. xiii-lxxii in G. Society, London. 423 + lxxii pp. Williams (ed.), Observations on Hudson’s Bay by WILLIAMS, G. 1978. Andrew Graham and Thomas Andrew Graham. Hudson’s Bay Record Society, Hutchins: collaboration and plagiarism in 18th-cen- London. tury natural history. The Beaver 308:4-14.