-2- 
     
    
   
   
    
     one usually finds mouse tracks from one side of the road directly into 
     
     shrubbery or some type of cover on the other side. If you are out 
     
     walking this time of year, you will probably notice remains of old 
     
     mouse burrows where the snow has melted. Spring, to mOSt of us, means 
     
     a liberation from warm coats, heavy boots and cold cars, but, to a 
     
     mouse, it means a loss of a protective covering! 
     
    
   
   
    
     Kathy Martin, 
     
    
   
   
    
     , Biology Dept, U. P. E. I. 
     
     3%********************************************************************* 
     
    
   
   
    
     v 
     
    
   
   
    
     EARLY SPRING MIGRANTS 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Mild weather combined with very little snow in the month of March 
     
     during the last two years seems to be encouraging songbirds to return 
     
     to our province earlier than normal. This observation is based on 
     
     records I have been keeping over the last 19 years, from 1955 to 1974. 
     
     One of the first songbirds to return to P.E.I. is the bronzed grackle. 
     
     This year, I saw the first bronzed grackle on March 9, six days earlier 
     
     than any previous arrival date recorded. This species normally arrives 
     
     between March 30 and April 9. In 1973, it returned on March 15. 
     
    

    
     Another early bird this year was the red—winged blackbird, of which, 
     
     I saw four individuals on March 16. This was , also, six days earlier 
     
     than any previous arrival date in my records. This species usually 
     
     arrives between April 1 and April 15. It arrived last year on March 22. 
     
    

    
     Other song birds which arrived earlier than normal in 1973, were the 
     
     cowbird on March 25, the robin on March 26 and the song sparrow on 
     
     March 31.. These species usually return to P. E. I. during the second 
     
     week of April. So from now on, be on the lookout for avian visitors 
     
     from the south. 
     
    

    
     Bruce MacLean, 
     
    
   
   
    
     Milton, P.E.I. 
     
     ********************************************************************** 
     
    
   
   
    
     A NATIONAL GRASSLANDS PARK 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Saskatchewan Natural History Society requests our help 
     
     in their struggle for a national grasslands park in southern Sask— 
     
     atchewan in the Killdeer—Val Marie area. The options open to this 
     
     area are to do nothing, establish a provincial park, or establish a 
     
     national park. The SNHS feels that a national park is the most 
     
     desirable for the following reasons: 
     
     1) No fully protected grassland area exists in North America. The 
     
     vast grasslands are gone forever. Neither this generation nor generations 
     
     to come can ever hope to replace them, but in the sparsely inhabited 
     
     lands between Killdeer and Val Marie, there exists a part of this 
     
     vanishing legacy. 
     
     2) The last black-tailed prairie dogs in Canada are found within the 
     
     boundaries of the proposed park. 
     
     3) A large number of species have evolved a dependence on the prairie 
     
     dog as a food source or use their burrows as protection from predators 
     
     or the elements (e.g., kit fox, black~footed ferret, burrowing owl, 
     
     ferruginous hawk, golden eagle and rattlesnake).- 
     
     4) sizable rodent populations and minimal human disturbance make the 
     
     area one of the last refuges in Canada for nesting prairie falcons, 
     
     golden eagles and ferruginous hawks. 
     
     5) Because of multiple use practises in Saskatchewan's provincial 
     
     parks and the ease of changing park boundaries by order—in-council 
     
     none of the unique or representative features of this short-grass 
     
     prairie would be fully protected. 
     
     6) More than 90 % of this area is crown land. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The short—grass prairie of southwestern Saskatchewan is the most 
     
     important natural region not represented in Canada's national park 
     
     system. Your support is urgently needed. ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     Write to: Premier Allan Blakeney 
     
     Legislature Building, 
     
     Regina, Saskatchewan. 
     
    
   
   
    
     If you don't feel qualified to compose your own letter, use the 
     
     following form letter: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dear Premier Blakeney: