and are happy in the naturally acidic soils of the Island. Furthermore, 
     
    

    
     they thrive only in areas that are not too hot and do especially well in 
     
     places where night temperatures are cool. Fortunately, they are winter 
     
    

    
     hardy. Ideal locations for them include: their native Pacific West Coast, 
     
    

    
     New England, the Maritime Provinces and regions just north of the Great . 
     
     Lakes. New Zealand also grows lupins well. 
     
    

    
     In other parts of the country, ********************************* 
     
     such as southern Ontario, lupins may ‘ 
     
     grow but they will not thrive as they fl 
     
     do here — it is simply too hot in sum— I   
     
     mer for their liking. 
     
    

    
     Lupin seeds scattered about in 
     
     late summer will not germinate until 
     
     the following spring. The seed coat is 
     
     extremely hard and it takes the harsh 
     
    
   
   
    
     winter weather to crack it. It is one    
     
     nature's ways to prevent the seedling H 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     from emerging at the wrong time. The 
     
     young plants grow vegetatively their » 
     
     first year and generally do not flow—  
     
     er until they are 2 years old. Once 5* 
     
     flowering, they may continue to do so 
     
     for a few years but, as a rule, lupins . 
     
     are not long—lived perennials. However 
     
    

    
     new plants coming along each year keep if? M 
     
    

    
     the stocks healthy. “y '«rat Greenwich. Geoff saw 
     
    

    
     Sometimes lupins are considered a \/ 
     
     noxious weed on the premise that they %%V I 
     
     are harmful to livestock. Indeed, I ,1 
     
     have read that they may cause sick— 
     
     ness in cattle although one would as- 
     
     sume that this is not common nor se— 
     
     vere as the plants grow so freely now 
     
     and few reports of lupin poisoning are 
     
     heard of. 
     
    

    
     The reputation of P.E.I. as the 
     
     Garden of the Gulf never seems truer 
     
     than when the lupins are flowering. 
     
     This is one introduced alien plant 
     
     that I for one am glad we have. **** 
     
    
   
   
    
     fl Geoff Hogan, recording 
     
     gsecretary and past- 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     / president of the Nat— 
     
     \gy,ural History Society, 
     
     -%/has confirmed that 
     
    

    
     ~‘Lsigns of pileated wood; 
     
    
   
   
    
     hpeckers have been found 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
                
     
       
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     V 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
    
   
   
    
     angular excavations in 
     
     trees on October 6 and 
     
     7. There have been no . 
     
     confirmed sightings of 
     
     the birds on the Island 
     
     since the turn of the 
     
     century. Geoff will be 
     
     doing a feature story 
     
    

    
     in the next issue of the 
     
     Island Naturalist with 
     
     more information. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     w 
     
    
   
   
    
     ***’******************~k****** 
     
    
   
   
    
     Quite a performance 
     
    
   
   
    
     (The following report came from NHS member Geoff Robinson of Tyne Valley) 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dorothy and I want to report a most unusual sighting last night about 
     
     1900 hours ten miles west of Wood Islands terminal on the Trans—Canada 
     
     Highway. Sitting on a post was a large hawk - with the road side ditch and 
     
     nothing more separating the road from the post. We watched it for about 
     
     ten minutes together with several other people who stopped th eir vehicles. 
     
     It was quite unafraid — almost tame. On three occasions it flew down into 
     
     the undergrowth of the ditch but we are not sure what it was after. After 
     
     one of the sight-seers got a little too close, the bird crossed the road 
     
     appearing to fly normally and landed in some foliage on the other side. 
     
    

    
     It was much too large for a Cooper's Hawk. Unfortunately I am not ex- 
     
     pert enough to make a positive identification but I would feel it was an 
     
     immature Goshawk (Plate 33 of Petersen's Field Guide to the Birds). Perhaps 
     
     someone more expert than I may be fortunate enough to see‘it. 
     
    
   
   
    
     _ 4 _