One final nature item to mention, do to the mystery of why and wherefor. 
     
     The same friends who accompanied me to watch the seal's return to the sea, are 
     
     from Halifax, N.S., and on a trip from that province, came via the Wood Islands 
     
     ferry. They were casually taking a stroll on deck when N. looked down and saw a 
     
     large butterfly lying right where they and the others were coming and going. By 
     
     means of using his large hankerchief, E., managed a careful "pick up”. They 
     
     have it mounted in a simple cellophane-covered box on the wall of their 
     
     cottage. The insect is a beauty, perhaps measuring some 5 to 6 inches in width. 
     
     One muses on where it came from, how it happened to be on the deck of a small 
     
     ferry boat: possibly as a stow-away in a crate of bananas! 
     
    
   
   
    
     NATURE SLIDES REQUIRED 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Natural History Society's slide 
     
     contest will be held at the May lst 
     
     meeting. Members are encouraged to submit 
     
     up to 10 slides for judging to Mr. 
     
     Wendell MacKay at either the March or 
     
     April meetings or by making arrangements 
     
     with him at 886-2495. It is important 
     
     that the owners name be placed only on 
     
     the outside of the slide box. If the 
     
     slides themselves are labelled the name 
     
     should be covered. The slides will be 
     
     returned after the awards are presented 
     
     on May lst. Good luck to all our great 
     
     photographers. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     THE BIRDS OF CHRISTMAS by Dan McAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
     Phone calls in the wee hours of the morning again preceded the Natural 
     
     History Society's National Park Christmas Bird Count on December 17th. 
     
     Fortunately, the storm held off until mid-afternoon across most of the zone and 
     
     counters had a fairly good day. The Hillsborough count and the fun count in 
     
     Montague went ahead as scheduled on the 26th and 6th respectively. 
     
    

    
     What was seen that was strange or at least unusual? In the National Park 
     
     Count it was the 3 Common Eider, a Northern Goshawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, a 
     
     Merlin, 2 Northern Shrike, 5 Pine Grosbeaks, 2 Common Grackle, and 22 Common 
     
     Redpoll. The Hillsborough Count featured a Great Blue Heron, a Northern 
     
     Goshawk, 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1 with a fresh Starling kill), an adult Bald 
     
     Eagle, a Common Snipe, a Short-eared Owl, 21 Bohemian waxwings, 2 Savanah 
     
     Sparrows, 22 American Tree Sparrows, a Chipping Sparrow, a Swamp Sparrow, and a 
     
     Song Sparrow. In the Montague circle, 2 Bald Eagles, 38 Mourning Dove, 3 Belted 
     
     Kingfisher, a Northern Flicker, 6 Pine Grosbeak, 139 American Goldfinch, a Fox 
     
     Sparrow, and a Song Sparrow were the highlights. 
     
    

    
     A pot luck supper followed the second count at Dan McAskill's in Donagh. 
     
     Those in attendance were having such a good time talking and eating that it 
     
     took some arm twisting to get everyone into the living room to get the count 
     
     lists together. When all the records were tallied, the National Park Count 
     
     ended up with 38 species and the Hillsborough Count ended up with 45 species on 
     
     the count day and an additional 2 in the count period. Many thanks to all the 
     
     great cooks who contributed to the feast! 
     
    
   
   
    
     _ 5 _