which must be taken to the stamps in use to-day throughout the Dominion is on the ground of the inherent defect which I have pointed out, a defect which they have inherited from the parent stamp of 1851.

Frankly acknowledging my own responsibility with regard to the objectionable feature referred to, I feel that a peculiar moral obligation is imposed upon me to endeavour to make such reparation as may be in my power, for the evils which have been transmitted to the present day through successive generations of stamps. Accordingly I take upon myself the duty of respectfully recommending that the design of our Canadian postage stamps be reconsidered and remodelled. With this in view I beg leave to offer two suggestions, viz.:—

First. That the Queen's Head be retained but on a reduced scale and so placed that it will occupy the upper half of the stamp, leaving in the lower half ample space for a single large figure to denote the value. This course is now followed in some of the more recent English stamps, and I would instance the two pence half-penny stamp, used for foreign postage. If all our Canadian stamps were designed on this principle, the defects which have been mentioned would be removed.

Second. Another course would be to substitute the Imperial Crown for the Queen's Head, placing it over a panel or shield on which would be inscribed in large plain figures the denomination of the stamp, in some such manner as shown in the sketch.

For those who fortunately can distinguish colours, no doubt much benefit is to be found in their use, in printing stamps of different values, but I hold that the employment of colours should be secondary as a means of distinguishing one stamp from another. I humbly submit that it should be held to be an essential feature of all stamps hereafter issued, that the distinctive number be so plain and so conspicuous and so unmistakable, as to be easily recognized by all persons under ordinary circumstances.

With great respect I submit these remarks for the consideration of the members of the Canadian Institute. If they commend themselves to the approval of this Society, the Council will, I do not doubt, deal with them in the mode which they conceive will generally best serve the public. interests.

THE MIGRATION OF THE EVENING GROSBEAK IN 1890. BY J. B. WILLIAMS

(Read December 7th, 1891.)

In a chapter on the migration and diffusion of animals in his Principles of Geology, Sir Charles Lyell writes as follows:-" Besides the disposition common to the individuals of every species slowly to extend their range in search of food, in proportion as their numbers augment, a migratory instinct often develops itself in an extraordinary manner, when after an unusually prolific season, or upon a sudden scarcity of provisions, great multitudes are threatened with famine."

As instances of these irregular and spasmodic migratory instincts he mentions the Leming (Mus lemmus) in Lapland, (countless thousands of these little creatures, once or twice in a quarter of a century, leave their homes in the mountains, and march to the sea-coast ;) and the Springbok or Cape Antelope, which used to descend at intervals of three or four years from the interior of South Africa to the cultivated districts around the Cape.

Birds as well as quadrupeds are subject to these irregular migrations. In April and May, 1888, great numbers of Pallas' Sand Grouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) migrated from their home in Tartary to Europe, and appeared in England, Scotland and Ireland in great numbers.

They were first seen near Warsaw, in Poland, on April 21st; near Leipzig, in Saxony, on April 27th; but they did not reach England until about the middle of May.

Though they laid eggs in several places, they do not seem to have reared any young that first summer.

With the hope that some of them might be acclimatized to the country, Parliament passed a special Act making it illegal to shoot them until January, 1892.

Great numbers were shot before the Act came into force, but there were several well authenticated instances, of those that survived the winter rearing young ones during the summer of 1889. A somewhat similar migration of the Sand Grouse occurred, twenty-five years before, in 1863.

The Rose-colored Pastor (Pastor roseus), a bird allied to the English Starling, affords another example of these irregular migrations. An immense flock of them, numbering many thousands, appeared in the neighborhood of Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria, in the month of June, 1889. They were very tame, and were easily caught by hand.

This bird's usual habitat is in Armenia, Persia, and Southern Russia. A similar flock visited Bulgaria, twelve years before, in 1877.

In January and February, 1890, the city of Toronto was invaded by hundreds of Evening Grosbeaks (Coccothraustes vespertina).

This bird is described in Mr. Chamberlain's Catalogue of Canadian Birds as "an abundant resident of British Columbia, east of the Cascades, and occasionally found on the western slope, and in Vancouver Island. It is a common winter visitor to Manitoba, and a few specimens have been taken in Ontario." And in Ridgeway's Manual it is said to be an irregular winter visitor to Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa.

There are records of their occurrence, in small numbers, in Ontario on four occasions, viz.: in the years 1854, 1866, 1871, and 1883; but in 1890 they came in numerous flocks, and some went as far as Montreal. In the States they visited Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, States, which, with the exception of New York, they had never before been known to visit.

Some of them remained till the end of April, or beginning of May, after which they all seem to have returned to their usual habitat.

Their name was given them under the impression, which seems to have been erroneous, that they sang in the evening.

They belong to the large family of the Fringillida or Finches.

The conical shape of the beak is a distinguishing feature of this family, and this feature is more strikingly developed in the Evening Grosbeak than in any other finch of this continent, so that its beak is a very powerful instrument for cracking seeds and nipping off buds.

The European representative of the genus Coccothraustes is the Hawfinch (C. vulgaris), a bird that is often found in England. You will see from the specimen that I exhibit, that the conical bill is even more developed in this bird, than in the Evening Grosbeak.

THEIR APPEARANCE IN ONTARIO.

Mr. McIlwraith writes from Hamilton that "the Grosbeaks were first observed there on Dec. 19th, 1889. Flock after flock passed along, going

east, till near the end of January, when for a few days none were seen. About Feb. 10th the return migration began, and was very active while it lasted; but they were only noticed for three or four days."

Mr. Ernest E. Thompson reports that a flock of about twenty were seen at Lorne Park, fourteen miles west of Toronto, on Jannary 16th, and on January 18th Mr. Cross, and Master Charles Harvey, a son of our President, met with specimens in Rosedale, Toronto. A male bird, that Master Harvey procured then, he presented to our Museum. The white secondary quill feathers of the wing, in this specimen, are shaded with brown like those of the female.

The first time I saw any of these birds, was on January 22nd. I had gone out to Rosedale Heights with a gun, hoping to meet with some, as there had been a north-west wind on the previous day. After wandering about for some time, I heard what, at a distance, seemed like the creaking of a gate repeated over and over again. I walked in the direction of the sound, and, as I approached nearer, it increased to quite a number of quiet whistlings, and I saw, just in front of me, a flock of about fifteen Evening Grosbeaks. Their thick beaks gave them quite a parrot-like appearance as they ran about among the bushes, searching for seeds that had fallen on the ground. I followed them closely for some distance before they took any notice, and then the whole flock flew into a small tree by the roadside. I fired, and a pair of them fell. It was difficult to see the female bird as it lay on the greenish-brown herbage at the roadside, so closely did its plumage match the surrounding tints. The striking black, yellow, and white colours of the male bird were, of course, more conspicuous.

There are many birds that exhibit these striking differences in the colour of the sexes. The quiet tints of the female conceal the bird when sitting on its nest, and protecting its young, while the more striking colours of the male bird make him very conspicuous. Mr. Darwin attributes the bright tints of the male, very largely, to the preference of the females, and their continued selection of bright colored partners.

It often seems, however, to be the duty of the male bird to attract, not only the attention of the female, but also, that of any enemy that approaches too near her, and to lure away the enemy from the nest and eggs, by his attractive colours, or peculiar antics. The Scarlet Tanager, the Towhee, and Bob-o-link are, I think, examples of this.

The Grosbeaks were very numerous in the neighbourhood of the city until the end of January. There was very little snow about, and they fed largely on the ground.

Then, for about a week, they nearly all disappeared. On the night of February 7th, snow fell heavily, and on the 8th great numbers of them appeared again in, and around the city. They now fed largely on the Mountain Ash berries, and for three or four days were almost as common in the suburban streets as the English Sparrow.

This would be, according to Mr. McIlwraith's observations, the return journey of the main body of the migrants. Most of them had left by February the 10th, the very day on which the advance guard reached Hamilton.

Some were seen at Lorne Park on February 15th, and flocks were occasionally seen near Toronto until the middle of May, but none of them, as far as I have heard, remained to breed in this district.

Specimens were taken in Montreal at the end of January, and on February 5th. This is just the time, during which, they were absent from Toronto.

THEIR APPEARANCE IN THE STATES.

In the 1890 edition of the Birds of Pennsylvania, Mr. Warren says that they first appeared in that State on December 17th, 1889, and single birds, and small flocks, were seen until the middle of April, 1890. One flock, however, of about forty, remained at Montoursville, Lycoming Co., until the beginning of May.

Early in April, says an observer, they appeared restless, and on April 30th had separated into pairs, and seemed likely to build there, but were disturbed by a gunner, and all left on May 11th.

They were first seen in New Hampshire on January 4th; in Massachusetts January 8th; but are not recorded in Connecticut until the end of February. They seem to have entered the New England States via the north shore of Lake Ontario, and remained in them until the end of March.

THE CAUSE OF MIGRATION.

Sir Charles Lyell, in the passages already quoted, gives two causes for their irregular migrations, viz., an unusual increase in numbers, and an unusual scarcity of food.

Our Dr. Brodie thinks that the migrations of the Pine Grosbeak are often caused by the freezing of rain on the forests where the birds usually obtain food. Everything being then coated with ice, it is difficult for them either to perch on the branches, or procure seeds, and they come south for food.