Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/275

Rh mon Canadian Wild Goose (Anas Canadensis?) with the Grey or Calling Goose, and the Small White Goose, are abundant on all the lakes, marshes, and low grounds, as well as on th sand banks in the Columbia. They migrate to the northward in April, and return in October. The male of the Grey Goose is a handsome mottled bird. A pair of each of these Geese is in my collection.

There are three species, or else distinct varieties of the Swan. First, the Common Swan, then a smaller bird of the same color; and thirdly, another, equal in size to the first, bluish grey on the back, neck, and head, and white on the belly; it is probably specifically distinct, as the color is preserved in all stages of its growth, and it is not so common as the rest. All these frequent like places as the Geese, and migrate at the same time. To my regret, I was only able to obtain one specimen, a female of the last species.

Of the ten or twelve species of Ducks found on the Columbia. I could obtain but three.

My desire of preserving animals and birds was often frustrated by the heavy rains that fell at this season. Among the kinds of the latter which chiefly deserve attention are, Tetrao Sabini and Richardsoni, Sarcocamphos Californica, Corvus Stelleri, and some species of the genus Anas. There are several kinds of Cervus, Canis, Mus, and Myoxus, though the variety of quadrupeds is by no means so great in the northwest as in many parts of America.

The Elk (Cervus Alces), which the hunters say agrees precisely with the Biche of the other side of this great continent, is found in all the woody country, and particularly abundant near the coast. There are two other species of Deer−one is light grey, white on the belly and inside the legs, with a very long tail, a foot to fifteen inches long. It is called by the hunters le Chevreuil, or Jumping Deer (Cervus leucurus), and is very small, with horns about eighteen inches long, and much curved inward, very round, and not more than one or twice branched.

The other species is the Black-tailed Deer (Cervus