vn ,i ^y;^^ m^i ir^^ HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY FROM THE LOUIS CABOT FUND (class of 1858) \ (XyV^yVU d i^^S'^p^.e.c^LiW /y /^^Y, UH!^ ^^ (yj4 'Bhe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST VOLUME XLVIII 1934 THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB OTTAWA, CANADA VOL. XLVIII, No. 1 JANUARY, 1934 " f. ulAi/i;^''' ISSUED JANUARY 15, 1934 Entered at the Ottawa Post OfHee as second-class matter ~1^ — — . THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS' CLUB patrons: THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR GENERAL AND COUNTESS OP BESSBOROUGH President: Dr. M. E. Wilson. 1st Vice-President: Mr. Herbert Groh 2nd Vice-President: Mr. P. A. Taverner Secretary: Miss Grace S. Lewis, Treasurer: Mrs. Wilmot Lloyd, 582 Mariposa Ave., 344 Lisgar Road, Rockcliffe Park. Rockcliffe Park. Additional Members qf Council: P. J. Alcock, R. M. Anderson, Miss M. E. Cowan, Messrs. H. G. Crawford, ARtnuR Crowson, R. E. DeLury, F. J. Fraser, C. E. Johnson, A.G. Kingston, E. M. Kindle, W. H. Lanceley, A. LaRocque, Douglas Leechman, Harrison F. Lewis, Hoyes Lloyd, Mark G. McElhinney, A. E. Porsild, E. E. Prince, L. S. Russell, J, Dewey SopER, C.M.Sternberg, E. F. G. White, Miss Peggy Whitehurst, R. T. D. Wickenden. W. J. WiNTEMBERG, and Presidents of Affiliated Societies. Auditors: A. G. Kingston and Harrison P. Lewis. Editor: Douglas Leechman National Museum, Ottawa, Canada. Associate Editors: D. Jbnness Anthropology Clyde L. Patch Herpetology Botany R. M. Anderson Mammalogy P. R. Latchford Conchology A. G. Huntsman Marine Biology Arthur Gibson Entomology P. A. Taverner Ornithology F. J. Alcock Geology E. M.Kindle Palxontology CONTENTS page Reclassification of the Fossil Unionidse (Fresh-water Mussels) of Western Canada. By Loris S. Russdl • 1 On the Behaviour of the Long-Finned Squid (Loligo pealii, (Lesueur)) . By J. A. Stevenson .... 4 Notes on Certain Recently Described Dinosaurs. By C. M. Sternberg. 7 Notes on the Rearing of Captive Young Meadow Jumping Mice. By H. Roy Ivor 8 Ermastrum Gallicum—A Sly Intruder. By Herbert Groh 10 Notes on the Nesting of the Duck Hawk in Ontario. By Robert Vince Lindsay 11 Birds and a Bath. By Susan K. Squires 14 Some Notes on the Winter Birds of Yarmouth and the Tusket Islands of Nova Scotia. By R. A. Johnson 15 Statement of Financial Standing, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, at the Close of the Year, 1932-1933 18 55th Annual Meeting, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club; Council Report 19 Notes and Observations: The Madeira Petrel, Oceanodroma eastro A New Bird for Canada. By P. A. Taverner. 20 Microtus tetramerus on Vancouver Island, B.C. By Kenneth Racey 21 Book Reviews;^ Birds and Mammals from the Kootenay Valley, Southern British Columbia. By Joseph Mailliard "21 ijl jjj ii! The official publications of The Ottawa Field-Naturausts' Club have been issued Iji since 1879. The first were The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, 1879-1886, two volumes; the next, The Ottawa Naturalist, 1886-1919, thirty-two volumes; and these have been continued by The Canadian Field-Naturalist to date. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued monthly, except for the months June, July Its is publication 111 IP of and August. scope the jji of the results of original research in all departments of Natural History. Iji 11: Price of this volume (9 numbers) $2.00; Single copies 25^ each 11: KH:Kn:n»:::;:H:H:::HH:H:::H:H»::::nH:HiU::::::::;::::H::H:::nn The Membership Committee of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club is making a special effort to increase the subscription list of The Canadian Field-Naturalist. We are, therefore, asking every reader who is truly interested in the wild life of our country to help this magazine to its rightful place among the leading Natural History publications in America. Subscriptions ($2.00 a year) should be forwarded to WILMOT LLOYD, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, 582 Mariposa Ave., Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, Canada. The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. XLVIII OTTAWA, CANADA, JANUARY, 1934 No. 1 RECLASSIFICATION OF THE FOSSIL UNIONIDJE (FRESH-WATER MUSSELS) OF WESTERN CANADA' By LORIS S. RUSSELL SOME TIME the writer has had in appears if FOR possible the systematic arrangement of ]ireparation a complete revision of the the fossil Unionidae is to be modernized. fossil non-marine Mollusca from western Family UNIONIDAE D'Orbigny Canada. At present only the section on the Unionidae is finished. A summary of the Subfamily UNIONINAE Swainson writer's conclusions on this family is offered Genus Fusconaia Simpson here, so that the revised nomenclature may be Fiisconaia dawsoni (Russell) available for other studies. Criticisms of the Unio dawsoni, Russell, Roy. Soc. Canada, Trans., scheme outlined will be appreciated. ser. 3, vol. 25, .see. 4, p. 9, pi. 1, figs. 1, 2, 1931. For many years the living North American Edmonton formation, Upper Cretaceous, Bow Unionidae were grouped in the three genera River, Alberta. This species has the typical form Margaritana, Unio and Anodonta. Naturally of a Fusconaia, and may be compared with F. this system was followed by the palaeontologists. jlava trigona (Lea). The great diversity of form within the family Fusconaia tuchiasana (Russell) ultimately led to more detailed classification. Unio tuchiasana, Russell, Roy. Canad. Instit., Study of the soft parts revealed that the gills, Trans., vol. 18, p. 340, pl. 1, figs. 4-6, 1932. especially in their modification as larval pouches, Upper Ravenscrag formation (Paleocene), afforded the best basis for a natural arrangement. southern Saskatchewan. This species is referred This was first completed by C. T. Simpson* to Fusconaia because of the abbreviated and and later revised bj' A. E. Ortmanns. convex shell, the anteriorly inclined beak, and the Unfortunately, such a classification based on unsculptured surface. In outline the shell is soft parts cannot be applied directly to fossil more like that in certain species of Amhlema, material, and up to the present most palaeonto- such a? A. plicata (Say). logists have followed the old method, referring the majority of extinct species to the genus TJnio Fusconaia cry-ptorhynchus (White) in the broadest sense. The time has come when Unio cryptorhynchus, White, U.S. Geo!. Surv. Terr., Ann. Rept., pt. pl. the convenience of this meth.od is outweighed by 1878, 1, p. 68, 24, figs, la, lb, 1883. its obsolescence. Some attempt, however ten- tative, must be made toward the adoption of a Judith River formation (Upper Cretaceous) of nomenclature that expresses the probable rela- Montana and equivalent beds in southern Al- berta. tionship of the fossil to the living species. The The shell in this species is somewhat more elongate writer's method involves the conchological com- than is typical of Fusconaia, but the beak structure parison of the fossil with living genera and spec- and form of umbonal sinus and ridge be ies. The resultant classification is artificial, and may compared with those in varie- ties of F. jlava probably false in part, but no other procedure (Raf.) Fusconaia? danae (Meek and Hayden) Unio danae. Meek, U.S. Geol. Surv. Terr., Rept., 1 Published with the permission of the Director, Geological Survey, Depar ment of Mines, Ottawa. vol. 9, p. 517, pl. 41, figs. 3a-3c, 1876. 2 "Synopsis of the Na'ades or pearly fresh-water mussels", LTpper U. S. National Mus., Pr c, vol 22, pp. 501-1044, 1900. "A Cretaceous and Paleocene of Saskat- descriptive catalogue of the Naiades, or pearly fresh-water chewan, Alberta, and mussels", Detroit Michigan, 1914. Montana Wyoming. This 3 "Notfs on the families and genera of the Najades", Car- is excessively elongate compared with modern negie Mus . Annals, vol. 8, pp. 222-365, figs. 1-28, pis. 18-20, 1911. "Monograph on the Najades of Pennsylvania", Car- members of Fusconaia, but in other shell charac- negie Mus.. Mtm., vol. 4, pp. 279-347, figs. 1-8. pis. 86-89, ters agrees well with that genus. 1912, vol. 8, pp. 1-384, figs. 1-34, pis. 1-21, 1919. The Canadian Field-Naturaijst [Vol. XLVIII Genus Quadrula Rafinesque. Pleurobema humei (Dyer) Quadrula natosini (McLearn) Unio humei, Dyer, Nat. Mus. Canada. Bull. No. Unio natosini, McLearn, Nat. Mus. Canada, Bull. 63, p. 8, pi. 4. figs. 1, 4, 1930. No. 58, p. 73, pi. 13, figs. 7-9, 1929. Pale beds (Upper Cretaceous), southern Al- Lower Cretaceous of southern Alberta and berta. The prominent beak distinguishes this western Montana. In general features the orna- .•species from most members of Pleurobema, but mentation of this species is strikingly like that of t' very similar form of shell is present in the Quadrula (or Tritogonia) verrucosa (Raf.), al- living P. coccineum catillus (Conrad). though there are differences in details, and in the Genus Elliptio Rafinesque shape of the shell. Elliptio hubbardi (Gabb) Quadrula mclearni (Dyer) Unio mclearni, Dyer, Nat. Mus. Canada, Bull. Uino hubbardi, Gabb, Geol. Sur\\ California, Palaeont., vol. 2, P. 190, pi. 30, Pgs 86, 86a, No. 63, p. 7, pi. 3, fig. 15, 1930. Foremost beds (LTpper Cretaceous) of Alberta. 1869. On the basis of shape and ornamentation this Lower Cretaceous. Queen Charlotte Islands, species may be referred with confidence to British Columbia. The shell of this species is Quadrula. much more convex than that usually found in Quadrida holmesiana (White) Elliptio, but may be compared with E. niger (Raf.) Unio holmesianus, White, U.S. Geol Surv., Terr., Elliptio nanaimoensis (Whiteaves) Ann. Rept., 1878, pt. 1, P 67, pi. 22. figs. 4a- Unio nanaimoensis, 4e, 1883. Whiteaves, Ottawa Naturalist, Occurs in the Upper Cretaceous from New- vol. 14, p. 177, figs. 1, la, 1901. Mexico to Alberta, in continental beds above the Nanaimo group (Upper Cretaceous), Nanaimo, youngest PieiTe shales. The species probably was British Columbia.